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Thought this might be a fun topic ~ what would be the most difficult/interesting thing to explain to someone last alive in the 1950s? My vote? The microwave - what say the rest of you?

For kitchen things only, using the computer to search for recipes, viewing YouTube to see how to make things (I learned how to make kimchi by watching YouTube), and reading cooking blogs, and things like that.
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Cell phones....trying to explain having phones you can take with you and use everywhere you go!

Great thread.

I'd say digital clocks and touch pads on appliances.

That the "health" foods margarine and shortening aren't good for you...and why.

Any small computer and Internet access would have to seem almost magical to someone who only knew computers as a room full of tape drives and cathode tubes. Add the instantaneous availability of almost any data, video or audio via the Internet and I think someone from the 1950's would be fascinated.

Women working and paying someone else to raise their kids.

In general, television programming--can you imagine them watching the Victoria's Secret fashion show? On a prime time general network station? In living color...and high def at that?

I'll never forget the look on my mother's face when she first saw me use a remote to open my garage door. She thought it was magical!

flboy, is that some kind of slam on working women? I was born in 1948 and my mother worked "outside the home" my whole life. Given the state of things these days, I'm thankful to have had her as a role model. The days when a woman can depend on getting married, staying married, and living in something more than abject poverty while she stays at home with her children are LONG GONE!!!!

I play this game with a twist. I often wonder what J*sus would think about modern conveniences--and I also wonder if the Queen has to put up with this sh*t--such as changing her own light bulbs, etc.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sms29s66,

I think they would be shocked to see how often we eat out. That was a rare thing in the 50's.

Fun topic...thanks!

The advances we've made in medical testing and the health field. Also the prices we pay for gas, bread, milk.etc and why we put up with it!

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Originally posted by sms29s66:
I also wonder if the Queen has to put up with this sh*t--such as changing her own light bulbs, etc.

I'm kinda thinking NOT! I think she is a very busy person running an empire.

I don't know what the *most* difficult modern invention to explain would be but I'm glad I don't have to try and explain to my DM why I gave away so many of my old cookbooks! She treasured books especially cookbooks and loved being in her kitchen. I felt I was drowning in books, didn't use a fraction of them since I started looking up recipes online, so severely culled and don't regret it. I still have a few but mostly look them up online and have many saved on a memory stick.

Maybe trying to explain that a man had actually walked on the moon. That would be difficult for someone from that era to comprehend. Yes, it happened only a few years later (1969) but I doubt my DGF who died in the mid-50's could have believed it possible.

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Originally posted by Graciepj:
Any small computer and Internet access would have to seem almost magical to someone who only knew computers as a room full of tape drives and cathode tubes. Add the instantaneous availability of almost any data, video or audio via the Internet and I think someone from the 1950's would be fascinated.

This.

DVRs. As a child growing up in the 50s we had a Saturday routine. My mother went grocery shopping in the morning. My older brother and I (age 10 or 11) took care of the three younger kids and our responsibility was to do the chores -- dishes, sweep the floor, dust the living room, etc. If chores were done when my mother came home from shopping, then we were allowed to go skating in the afternoon.

Only thing was -- Saturday mornings was when Sky King, The Lone Ranger, The Hardy Boys and other shows were on in the morning. I CLEARLY remember wishing there was a way to "save" my TV programs so I could watch them later.

Cell phones and the computer, I think.

I just want to comment, when I was young, raised in a big city in the 60's, none of the mom's worked outside of the home. Neither gram did, no aunts, no neighbors. I remember one classmate of mine in grammar school whose mom had a job. One. Everyone other mom I knew of both in my family and outside of it just did not work outside of the home.

Think this is a fun topic - besides the microwave and the computer, I have to say cell phones would be right up there! I remember when **** Tracy had a wrist watch that was also a TV and telephone that we all knew was just imaginary!!!

As for women working? When I was at the ranch, yes, they worked harder than any of the men but when I was in town for school in the late 1950s/early 1960s? Nope, very few women worked outside of the home - only two that I remember. One was d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d and the other one worked part-time in the most up-scale women's clothing store in town after a b-a-n-k-r-u-p-t-c-y ~ Yes, those words really were spelled out back then.

I agree about the DVR - that was my most fervent wish - to "somehow" be able to watch "my" shows at a later time... magical thinking! Especially since we only had one TV and 3 stations (when in town ~ none at the ranch) and it would NEVER have occurred to us to argue with Mom and Dad about which show to watch. Just didn't happen and, btw, there were no fights over the remote control - didn't exist back then!

PS. Oh, for goodness sakes, HGTV can't manage to monitor these boards for spam but their computers are still doing a great job of "editing" ~ lol ~ see above where I typed a name - they substituted some asteriks - just think of the most common nickname for Richard to fill in the blank. Really, HGTV?????

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Idaho Resident,

Just to be clear. I was born in 1948 to a two-parent home and lived with both parents until I left home to get married myself. AND my mother worked "outside the home" from the time I was about four. I remember being so proud when she came to my school for various reasons because she was so much more beautiful than the other kids' mothers. Apart from being younger than the other mothers (and prettier), she was dressed up for work, but I never put all that together until I was an adult myself.

sms29s66, I do understand what you are posting and think you were lucky to have a role model ahead of her time but many of the rest of us didn't - at least not in the 1950s - so give us a break, ok?

In my case, my mother was insistent that her daughters would get the education she, herself, never did ~ and we did thanks to her never-ending penny-pinching to save for college along with my Dad's full-hearted agreement.

But this is simply a fun thread to imagine the looks on people's faces from the 50's if they were able to, somehow, drop by for a visit today! Yes, I think many would be surprised to see women going to work, their children being raised in day-care and school while the women are making salaries that let the families eat out quite often and live in homes no one would even have imagined back in those days.

IR, I sent you a PM a day or two ago. Not sure if you received it.

Great thread!

I'd agree all the information and communication at a click or two of keys from so many devices. No need to go to the library to look up info in physical books.
And the fact that so many of us spend so much time on boards like these, communicating with familiar people from all over the country/world we will never know or meet face to face.

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sms66,, Wow, calm down. The subject matter was change. I worked nights after my baby was born and I am married almost fifty years. I also worked my whole life.

Thanks Idaho, I guess you said it better!

flm sorry if I am too sensitive, but as a working woman surely you must know how it sounds to suggest that we didn't raise our children ourselves. That's only a few steps away from the word a mother fears most--unfit.

I thought of a few more: dvd's and cd's, tanning beds, little vacuums that vacuum FOR you, GPS.

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Originally posted by GypsyDancer52:
I thought of a few more: dvd's and cd's, tanning beds, little vacuums that vacuum FOR you, GPS.

Oh, yes...the Roomba. Right out of The Jetsons!!

sms66, Enough. You are looking for a disagreement and I refuse to argue. Read my post again, both. I would never and did not say any working mother is unfit. I never said that, or ever mentioned anything like that or even close to that. I already tried to answer your insulting post directed to me once and this is the end of it. I didn't insult working mothers or call them unfit. Hang it up!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: flboy,

fl, I agree. Enough. But talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Re-read your first post. You took what SHOULD have been a fun thread and made an incendiary remark about the good old days when women stayed home and raised their own children. What sort of response did you expect?

I stated what had changed since the fifties. I did nothing more. You turned what I said into something ugly and you continue. You have a nasty mind set where my post is concerned and I refuse to let you continue to slam me without cause. Good day!

And I stated that I grew up in the 50's with a working mother. And if you think that suggesting that working mothers did not raise their own children will not offend, you can only expect push back. But, obviously, you are never wrong.

I would like to apologize to all the posters here for the turn this fun post has taken. I should have ignored the turn of events that my response to a poster caused.

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Originally posted by flboy:
I would like to apologize to all the posters here for the turn this fun post has taken. I should have ignored the turn of events that my response to a poster caused.

I can see why she is upset because of what mothers were told during the 50's. According to a friend's mother who worked in the 50's they were told at the time that their children would go to the de*vil if the mother worked. This woman wanted to be a career woman and only worked part-time because of the social pressure.
However, that having been said, I agree that you are right because during the 50's men were expected to provide for their families and the wife shouldn't have to work. Also if most women were working during the 50's we wouldn't have the situation today where women earn less than men for the same job. During the 50's there were families where both worked and didn't think anything of it. There were families where the husband wanted the wife to work too. But for the most part women didn't work. Also woman only worked in professions that were considered women's jobs with few exceptions. Nurses were expected to stand up when a doctor entered the room. No one said to a woman "What do you do"? Therefore if someone from the 50's saw today that women working is the norm they would be wondering why. Can you imagine trying to explain a stay-at-home dad?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: still tryin,

I would find it difficult to explain pot and pan handles that don't get hot.

It always amazed me that my grandparents were born before automobiles, but lived to see us land on the moon--though my grandfather refused to believe it! With that in mind, I wonder if the marvels of our age, such as the internet, would be all that marvelous to someone from the 50's.

I think the most surprising thing would be, as others have posted, Home computers and what things cost these days.

Just 44 years ago my parents bought a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath brick house in the best neighborhood in town for $21,000. Spent $50.00 every two weeks for groceries to feed a family of six. I can imagine it cost a lot less 55 years ago.

I have been thinking about this question for a few days. (great question!)

I think the most difficult thing to explain would be the social changes we have experienced. Back in the 50's you couldn't show a toilet on TV, or a couple in the same bed. Pre.gnancies for the unwed were whispered about with raised eyebrows, as were divorces. Certain people were still in the closet with the door firmly shut. Women rarely wore pants. Men wore belts so their underwear remained "under". No one said the word br.east cancer out loud.

So many things have changed in our society, that I would think a person from the 50's would have a hard time taking it all in.

A high school friend has been posting photos of her DDs slides showing Christmas parades in the mid-late '50s. All the women wore dresses with dress coats AND white gloves. Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls marching in the parade wearing dresses/jumpers.

Two different local high school bands marched in the parade...the band from the all-white school and the band from the all-black school.

I know that the following items have happened since the beginning of so-called civilization but are much more prevalent now:
Teen pregnancies are common-place
Absentee parents - both genders.
Grandparents and sometimes great-grandparents raising yet another generation.

Oh...for the car enthusiasts...
cars with no carburetors!

A lot of things have changed drastically in the last 20 yrs, let alone 50 yrs!!!
Even people in jail for a long time come out, not knowing anything about cell phones, computers, printers, Ipads, Ipods, Microwaves, everything techy!!! You didn't have to "baby proof" everything back then, we didn't have car seats for babies and 3 people sat in the front seat of cars with no seat belts. We didn't have cell phones at 12 y.o. and somehow we all managed to get to adulthood in one piece....
I'd say for me everything was hard to learn.... starting with my first cell phone a few yrs. ago. The 2nd cell phone I bought was the same as my teenage dd's then, so I could practice on hers and then she can teach me further.
In the 50's, the parents knew more than their children. Now, the children know much more than their parents do about anything techy. That's not fair!!!! Great topic!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Wavy,

Well, I posted what I thought would be a fun topic to amuse most of us through these grey, gloomy days of January. Don't know about the rest of you but we've had snow on the ground that hasn't melted since mid-December and the inversions/fog have been constant.

So what happened with this thread? Seems like a bit of political correctness gone wrong? I didn't ask for any opinions on whether or not things were better now than they were in the 1950's ~ just thought it might be fun to imagine our grandmothers and others from that era if they should, somehow, be able to drop in for a visit!

So I'll post a few thoughts to get it back on track and hope it revives the thread. I only mentioned the microwave before; what I'd have to say would surprise them the most is the WIDE variety of processed foods available ~ a Marie Callender's pie that comes frozen and can be cooked in less than 2 hours?

My Grandma spent months growing the berries, the hens for the eggs, taking care of the cow for the milk and butter, the wheat fields for the flour and the result was always applauded with sincere appreciation. But, you know what?

I think she would take one look at the finished product - say "well, it's nowhere as good as my pies were" but "this might be fun. Let me put my feet up for a few hours before making supper for 30 hungry men and I'll get back to you." She always had a great sense of humor....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Idaho Resident,

It is a fun topic. I love watching the film shorts on the home of the future that were made in the early 1950's. The great ideas were so Rube Goldberg in design it is hard to consider them the prototypes of the appliances we have today. I loved the round dishwasher in one. I think what would be most surprising would be the electronic sewing machines.

Idaho, even in the Depression my grandparents lived in town and bought their milk and flour, but raised their own chickens for eggs.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charming,

My grandmother who had been orphaned at a young age was raised on a large coffee farm in the 1890s.

As a married woman with children in the 1920s and 1930s in a small city, she would roast her own coffee out in backyard on a large metal pan over a wood stove. She always had a few chickens for eggs and s.laughtered them for dinner. She did her cooking on a coal-fired stove. She boiled her own starch and heated a flat iron on the coal stove to press clothing. They had electricity and and running water, but no electrical appliances.

By the time the 1950s rolled around, she was in her 60s and was very happy to give up all that drudgery. She embraced most appliances such as the vacuum cleaner, the electric range/oven,the frig and the washing machine, except for the percolator. She did not care for the taste of perc coffee and continued to use her old manual drip method for making rich dark roast coffee.

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I didn't ask for any opinions on whether or not things were better now than they were in the 1950's ~

Being the OP of a topic in no way substantiates one the dictator of the conversation or one that will direct the conversation unless the OP is a moderator, in which this case he/she is not. If other posters choose to deviate from the original post, it's their choice and that should not be interfered by one that thinks they "own" this post, or for that matter, at times, this board. IN other words... you don't own a post just because you posted it, and you can't control what another poster wants to post it's that simple It's a free posting world out there!! as long as you stay within the posting limits!! Have a nice day!!

Since the boards are basically unmoderated it is up to the users to police ourselves. I think it is only being considerate of the OP to not make her light hearted topic a battle of philosophies.

I had 2 long winded posts disparaging what others had posted and went back and deleted one and edited the other in deference to Idaho who was just trying to have a little fun.

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Originally posted by Spanish Revival:

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I didn't ask for any opinions on whether or not things were better now than they were in the 1950's ~

Being the OP of a topic in no way substantiates one the dictator of the conversation or one that will direct the conversation unless the OP is a moderator, in which this case he/she is not. If other posters choose to deviate from the original post, it's their choice and that should not be interfered by one that thinks they "own" this post, or for that matter, at times, this board. IN other words... you don't own a post just because you posted it, and you can't control what another poster wants to post it's that simple It's a free posting world out there!! as long as you stay within the posting limits!! Have a nice day!!

WELL SAID!

aychi, I still use my old drip pot. It's at least 40 years old and no longer being made. I will be very sad if I ever have to get another pot. It makes the very best coffee ever!

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Originally posted by aychihuahua:

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Originally posted by Spanish Revival:

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I didn't ask for any opinions on whether or not things were better now than they were in the 1950's ~

Being the OP of a topic in no way substantiates one the dictator of the conversation or one that will direct the conversation unless the OP is a moderator, in which this case he/she is not. If other posters choose to deviate from the original post, it's their choice and that should not be interfered by one that thinks they "own" this post, or for that matter, at times, this board. IN other words... you don't own a post just because you posted it, and you can't control what another poster wants to post it's that simple It's a free posting world out there!! as long as you stay within the posting limits!! Have a nice day!!

WELL SAID!

_______________________

For the record, I posted what I did to dissociate myself from the negative turn this thread was taking and the ill feelings that were being generated by some of the personal attacks that were being made.

The point, as I understand Spanish Revival's snarkey comment about me with which aychihuahua concurs and quoted is that every poster is entitled to post whatever they wish ~ except, apparently, the OP of the thread. Seems to me to be a bit contradictory and more than a little hypocritical....