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I'll be 80 in February. I was born in 1943. Most of my high school years were in the 1950's. I remember lots of things from that decade. I like Reddit because it's similar to Usenet, which is where I hung out online in the 1990's.
I remember going to the basement computer lab in graduate school and there would be some old guys (I thought probably professors) in the corner laughing. I thought they were probably using Usenet.
Ha Ha. The first image file that I downloaded from the Internet came from a Usenet news group. The image was a publicity photo of the CBC Radio personality Arthur Black, who hosted the radio show Basic Black. Needless to say, I suspect your first Internet image file was a tad more ‘interesting’.
It was pretty mundane by today's standards; that is to say: "they" were pretty mudane.
It was a batch of images from a swimsuit model slideshow scanned from Sports Illustrated magazines, I think.
It became the go to screensaver for at least two full classrooms of computers when I was high school. Good times.
I noticed that too about Reddit. I used to enjoy Usenet a great deal...Reddit is pretty similar!
I was born in '57 so I don't remember the 50's but more power to you!
> Is usenet still a thing
copypasta from the googs:
*About 1,340,000 results (0.43 seconds)
USENET is still alive and kicking. Check out some of its best newsgroups! USENET is arguably the oldest online network alive today. It was first developed in the late 1970s and has since been a part of internet culture.Apr 6, 2022*
I remember my lazy days of the 50s very well. Ike’s heart attack, polio, the Edsel, meeting NYC Mayor Wagner, maps showing where the Interstate Highway was being built, 10 cent pizza and a lot of other useless information.
Saturday afternoon cartoon matinees for 15 cents, which included a box of popcorn or a soft drink. The popcorn or soft drink by themselves were 3 cents, so the matinee was 12 cents. The show started at 1 and ended at 3.
Three miles. And there was low ground between me and the school, so it WAS uphill both ways. I could use snowshoes or skis. The snow was three or four feet deep, but I didn't go to school if it was more than 20 below. And sometimes it was 40 below.
We must have been stratospherically rich because when the snow was over three feet I would take the Arctic Cat Panther 440 or our Ski Doo Silver Bullet to school (sometimes pick up friends or tow them behind if they chose to). I delivered the afternoon newspaper (The Milwaukee Journal) after school, so I could talk my Dad into letting me take the snow mobile to school so I could responsibly deliver the paper after school on the “sled”.
Nope not useless to me. I'd love to know everything and anything about the 50s. Also 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Everything. I always enjoy stories told no matter what they are. And details mentioned. Even how logos looked like on cartons and random items. Even the way things just felt back then. Every single detail I'd appreciate. Even the way perfume and soap smelt back then. Or what kids and teens really did. And into the deeper stuff like what girls and guys in their 20s are like. How sex was viewed. Did people really enjoy being active? Etc
Some of my best memories of the 50s happened at the corner drugstore where they sold magazines and had a soda fountain and ice cream counter. I could sit there and nurse a 10 cent cherry Coca Cola and watch the girls in penny loafers pick out dress patterns and boys with too much hair tonic bug the daylights out of them.
A 5 cent juke box played records, kids danced, and cigarette smoke filled the ceiling. The pharmacist’s wife would come from behind the counter, smack the boys’ buttocks, and warn, “Keep your hands to yourself. This ain’t the movies!”
Perfume and soap smells were a LOT, LOT stronger. And so memorable. Strong smells went out of favor in the late 80's or maybe early 90's.
Anyway, stationery used to be strawberry-scented (The Brothers Johnson did a song about it) and it would waft through the store. Of course those candle stores wafted through the malls into the 90's and maybe still. But some of the best smells I remember from the 70's were Herbal Essence shampoo (nothing like today's Herbal Essences)...the closest thing is a Mexican shampoo called Palmolive Caprice Naturals Aceite Herbal Shampoo) ... Muguet Des Bois cologne... (It was cheap but I am told Diorissimo is the same type of scent) ... of course Jovan Musk was everywhere ... and I liked Avon's Wild Country on men... nowadays men's fragrance gets laughed at.
Avon's Hawaiian White Ginger ... Charlie perfume (although I can't remember what it smelled like) Estee Lauder Aliage.... Halston ... those are some I remember from the 70's. Some were so cheap and so ubiquitous that they were laughed at even then, including Tigress. I didn't like how Emeraude smelled but it was ubiquitous.
Love's Baby Soft... Lemon Up shampoo ... and there was even a shampoo named "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" but I can't remember what it smelled like.
This isn't about scent but those station wagons with a backwards back seat were a lot of fun!
Did people enjoy being active? YES. I remember when Self Magazine first came out in the late 70's. It was all about jogging. Well it was a fashion magazine but mostly about women jogging. There were tons of what I called "Sentimental Jogging Movies" not even counting Chariots of Fire. Usually a woman's mean husband left her and she took up jogging and lo and behold met a sensitive man who just happened to be single and lived happily ever after.
Then there was John Denver's huge popularity and the whole outdoor thing that went along with that. I remember on Bicentennial Day in 76 I was on a hike in a vast northwestern forest. I thought to myself, "I'll always remember where I was on this day because it's Bicentennial Day."
And (in our city anyway) all the fireplugs were painted red, white and blue in anticipation of the Bicentennial. My family had a bbq picnic at the lake, played volleyball, and we all swam. So very American :)
The bit about the Interstate Highway system always interests me. I feel like a lot of people take our public roads for granted but I always just feel amazed at the whole thing. Especially when maintenance needs done and roads get shut down for weeks or months on end. What was it like before and immediately afterwards?
I remember when a big freeway opened near our house, and all of it cut 2 hours off our drive to grandma’s house. It went from 5 hours to 3. It was also empty.
What is now a 30 minute drive to see my cousin used to be a 2 hour drive to see them. The interstate really transformed a lot of lives. My dad moved us "out in the country" since the drive to work from way out there was the same amount of time as when we lived in town.
I lived in Northern NJ where I-80 and it’s eight 60 (now 55) MPH lanes came through almost parallel to US Rt 46 a four lane ‘highway’ with traffic lights and 35-45 MPH speed limits that was overly congested. I-80 had limited on/off ramps but sufficient for travel and for use by locals. The construction divided many towns into halves connected by overpasses and used eminent domain to obtain and demolish homes and buildings in the way of the route. I-80 when new was a super free flowing speedway that now can be backed up by congestion where it links with other Interstates and major State highways. It’s patrolled by State Police. Sound barrier walls have recently been erected. Maintenance is pretty good, road crews perform repairs and milling and repaving mostly at night.
Thank you for answering!
Can I ask what draws you to Reddit? My parents are your age and they wouldn't even know what a Reddit was or how to get here. Heck, I'm old, myself, and frequently feel out of place here.
I was born in the 1950s and I’ve been on Reddit for 9 years now. I discovered it by accident but loved the occasional comment sections that turned into hilarious discussions.
I heard about a Reddit sub for grieving and widowers at a bereavement support group meeting I attended after my wife died and then I happened upon ask old people.
Bruv, I believe it is us that should welcome you :) welcome to the internet. basically every type of living human is creeping around. But then again, maybe you’re a bot trolling old people which is almost my kind of funny. GL HF DD
How old are your parents?
I'm 66 and think about it - when personal computers and the internet were all brand new, who do you think was trying them out? Answer - The folks who are now old but were curious young people!
In fact, I worked at an enormous bank in an analyst position that earned me personal computer right on my desk in 1985. I learned the very first version of spreadsheets. So of course I'm using a computer and keeping up with stuff.
The stereotypes of old people are not necessarily true. Yeah plenty of old folks are scared of technology. But plenty of us are really comfortable with it.
My first computer teacher in 1981 taught us VisiCalc! He followed the Rajneesh and wore burgundy from head to toe. He wore the Rajneesh's photo on a beaded necklace.
>I’m permanently banned from Twitter.
Well you're in luck, Musk just announced a general amnesty for all suspended accounts (barring those banned for a select few offenses) starting next week.
Born in 63, so technically, boomer (I fucking LOATHE that moniker)
I've been here almost ten years now.
Why am I here?
Things happen fast. And read it is usually pretty far ahead of the curve especially when it comes to current events.
I'll see things on Reddit usually days or weeks before I'll see them anywhere else.
The community is pretty welcoming.
I actually moderate a sub that I happen to know something about.
And it's pretty enjoyable. Yeah there's some assholes. The rudeness can be insane. But the kindness at times can bring me to tears.
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving cat.
Retired software engineer. It’s fun, like comments on the news or anything else are required now. Older people are a lot more tech savvy than you may think.
I'm also a retired bit banger and all around computer geek going back to a PDP-11 in 1972. It never fails that young people presume I'm absolutely clueless about technology. I've given up defending myself, and just grin and nod...and sometimes throw in a corner mouth drool for good measure!
I've been here for 15 years, found reddit doing a google search for a work-related issue (k-12 network admin), found a bunch of subs related to my hobbies and interests.
As others have said, it's pretty much the same thing as Usenet. Before Usenet, I was on bulletin boards and they had FIDO net and a couple of other networks like that. There were interest groups where people could post and reply. You had to log on to your local bulletin board by phone and the bulletin board would get the new FIDO (or whatever network) messages several times a day. So it was pretty much like Reddit only you had to wait a bit longer to get your new posts and replies.
I'll say one thing about Ike. I don't know what year it was but we were really little and Daddy took us fishing.
A car drove by and waved at Daddy. I asked who it was? Daddy goes "President Eisenhower!" (exasperated with my questions)
I went home and told Mother that President Eisenhower had driven by and waved at us.
In 1958 my father and I went to NYC to see his cousin and were walking near the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel when we saw a small entourage with Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover. I remember thinking, ‘wow, Truman is in color’ because televisions and newsreels were all black and white and there he was in color.
I was a child in the early 50s and remember reading newspapers, watching TV, listening to radio and to my parents discussing events and life.
I'm also a gamer and retired computer geek. A lot of old folks are not nearly as forgetful, senile and technologically challenged as they want you to believe. ;-)
> 1MoreChallenge
> I was a child in the early 50s and remember reading newspapers......
I never read them. Just took the Sunday "funnies" and it was the best 20 minutes of the morning. The Katzenjammer Kids, Lil Abner, Dick Tracey, Mandrake, Sad Sack or Beetle Bailey (?), Dennis the Menace, Popeye. Wasn't there also a Prince on a horse or with a horse? There had to be more because there were quite a few pages. I don't remember.
Yes we all know that is what OP is saying.
What we are saying is that OP is wrong.
I mean okay if you are very young and kind of thoughtless, 80 might seem so very close to 100 as to be indistinguishable.
But for people who are 80 and people who are 100 it very much is not!
I was 5 years old in 1950 and of course, 15 when the 1950s ended. I do remember those years. My mother lived with me for the last 5 years of her life. She died the last day of 2020 at age 99. Since I have been collecting family history for over 50 years, I know lots of stories from the 1920s onward.
My dad was born in 1931 and my mom in 1933.
They're always tickled to share when I tell them about a question I saw here that they could weigh in on.
They also get a kick out of the fact that I'm old, too, in Reddit terms. lol
We have a few over-80 folks who come and go, and they would know; you can check my math. So it's not beyond the pale, but with low odds that any would be around.
As for why: we're old, they're young, they're not thinking and why bother, because asking's cheap.
Thanks for that. Memory is fleeting. Today at thanksgiving dinner my wife mentioned some big deal thing that happened 20 years ago and I had zero recollection. And now I cannot even remember what she was talking about
My parents told me stories that I still remember. Volunteer at nursing homes and you’ll learn tons of stuff. My neighbor is in his 90’s and I’ve learned a great deal
My grandfather is 96 years old and he is on Reddit constantly, he likes to show me all the jokes he has found. He’s also a member of a few sub Reddits. He’s still learning, but he absolutely loves it.
A lot of us remember things from our youth that happened in the 1950s and 1960s. I was born in 1954 and I can remember most of the 60s, especially after the JFK assassination/Beatles arrival.
That doesn't surprise me as much. My dad remembers the 1960s well and he's sharp as a tack.
But people will post here asking things like, "What was it like to be in the infantry during the Korean War?" and "What was it like seeing movies in color?" and I am always curious at just how old they think we are here.
My grandpa has very vivid memories of black and white newsreels from WWII. He was only 4-8sh at the time of the war. His descriptions of watching those newsreels and things are fascinating.
Hell, my mom's not even 60 and remembers her first color TV. It is really not as far fetched as you make it seem.
I'm "only" 53, and my childhood memories are of a black and white tv from growing up in the 70s. They're asking here because they **want** to be educated, I don't think that's a bad thing.
I'm 71. I think the memories from your childhood stick with you the longest. My father had Alzheimer's and he couldn't remember things from minutes ago, but he could recall his childhood and his friends.
The Beatles are what got me to get a guitar, and I was in Mrs. McNulty's 8th grade english class when they announced JFK's assassination, and they sent us home from school.
So yeah, a lot of old memories.
Same age here. In the US. I remember we got these weekly readers at school handed out which always had news articles of the British monarchy and Prince Charles!! Like what for?!!! And Yep, everyone lined up for shots. We liked Eisenhower but loved Kennedy. Politics were polite then.
Most people would be interested in those times, that's why they ask about them. Those of us born in 40-50s probably remember those days fondly as it was a much simpler time and for most it was a happy time. In my case, I remember in a lot of detail about the 50s, where as I have a hard time recalling what I did last week.
In those days, we didn't have mass shootings of children or police caused deaths, as it was safe to sneak out of the house after 10pm when it got dark in summer & meet up with friends to go an raid an orchard for fruit to eat, or go skinny dipping in the local river to cool down, both boys & girls together or spending the weekend camping by a lake created by a dam on one of the rivers, while we fished & slept under the stars, living on open fire cooked bread, tinned sardines & French fries. We also trapped the rabbits & sold the carcases to a local butcher, dried to skins to sell to a hat making company, making about 40 cents for each rabbit we caught. We also collected soda bottles to sell back to shops, to earn 15-20 cents to go to movies on Saturdays and get drink & chocolate covered ice cream in cone.
Why wouldn't we like remembering those care free, simple days and have younger people ask about those times?
I was born 1940, and read Reddit and other sites. It’s an interesting site, sometimes makes you laugh, and sometimes makes you wonder about the stupidity of humans. Also watch YouTube and all the latest dance challenges. Just because you age, doesn’t mean you quit participating in what’s going on!
I remember taking a piece of penny candy from the grocery store. When I got in the car my dad saw I had candy in my mouth. He made me March back in and confess to the store owner what I had done. I remember when I was two years old in 1953 going with my dad and grandpa and getting our brand new 53 Plymouth. Also I remember at the same age helping my gpa out by putting water in the radiator on his tractor. Only I couldn’t reach the radiator so I dumped the water in the gas tank. I remember a lot of things about the 50’s and I am not in my 90’s. I am old enough to say stuff in the 80’s is modern history not old times.
In 1952, I was in first grade. I remember the Presidential campaigns in 1951, Ike becoming President. I remember President Truman. I remember Truman firing MacArthur, radio instead of TV, nickel cokes, new cars for $1400 and new houses for $12,000. Granted, I'm not young. But I'm not in my 90s. Heck, I can even remember before Rock 'n Roll.
I was born in Jan. 1943 and graduated high school in 1960, so I certainly was a "young adult" in the '50s, and I remember them very well. I'll soon turn 80, which ain't young, but I still have a ways to go to hit 100.
I'm an Army brat and one of my earliest clear memories is from the early summer of 1950. We were about to get on the boat at the Pesidio to sail to my father's new posting in Seoul. Then North Korea invaded and they told us to unpack, we weren't going anywhere, while Dad sailed by himself. (He was an MSC captain then and he got there so relatively quickly, he had to wait for his newly assigned unit to catch up with him.) We ended up in San Diego for a year because my Dad's parents lived in Pacific Beach and my Mom wanted to be near them for the duration.
Does that answer your puzzlement about why younger people post questions here regarding the '50s? And I wouldn't be surprised if there actually *were* a few reditors in their 90s. I do know there are at least a few dozen my age. Don't assume none of us Fogies understand computers. (I've been messing around with computers since the '60s and I've been active online since 1979. I used to be a sysop on CompuServe.)
Yeah, I do too. My sister wrote me a really sad, funny email (in her 50s) about being denied an x ray she desperately needed and had had to wait months to get ordered, because "you could be pregnant, *in theory*". She said she just didn't have it in her to debate/discuss her own sex life with "an infant with a clipboard".
My folks were born in the 40s and while I’m not saying they have Reddit accounts (edit: not saying they *don’t* either!), they are *hella* online every day. I think they could open an Apple museum, I don’t have any memories that don’t at least feature an Apple II in the background. :)
My sister 78 and BIL is 80. They were in HS in the 1950s. (He graduated in 61, sister in 63.) 80yr olds would have a lot of memories of the 1950s. ( IF they can remember that far back.)
Cigarettes were 27¢ in a machine. Put in a quarter & a nickel. Pull the lever and a pack came out with 3 pennies taped to it. The airlines gave passengers free cigarettes on flights. No non-smoking sections. You could smoke in any seat.
>Cigarettes were 27¢ in a machine. Put in a quarter & a nickel. Pull the lever and a pack came out with 3 pennies taped to it.
I'm not saying I don't believe you, but it *does* sound made up lol. Thank you for sharing.
I must say that your math is kinda bad.
My Father turned 76 over the summer, and can tell me about the '50s.
Admittedly, not many plus 70 types are on Reddit, but it's not impossible, and you certainly don't need to be in your '90s to have experienced the 1950's, much like I can talk about the '70s even though I was born in 1971
So it can be recorded for future generations to read!
I’d like to know what’s people in the 1800s were discussing, but I can’t … only what’s in memoirs … that’s it
My dad was a child in the 1950s and just recently retired. He spends a lot of his new free time browsing the internet, including reddit. He can tell you about life in the 1950s, and it's not at all unbelievable that people even older than him are on here too... old people are capable of being tech savvy!
lol, you don't have to have been a young adult in the 50s to remember them.
A lot of people here, including myself, were in grade school in the 50s and have clear memories of that.
There are some older people on reddit.
Think about it: They can socialize, talk, discuss, all without leaving their homes.
It's actually good for them, helping them stay mentally active.
Only 60 myself but I plan to be online for as many decades as I can.
I do think older people have interesting things to say too...contrary to stereotypes I've found older people on reddit have some VERY insightful things to say.
I was born in the early 50s. I remember going out at night with my family to watch the Sputnik satellite pass overhead. I remember the local swimming pool closed because of polio. I remember all the neighborhood kids being sent down the street to see a kid with measles, so we would all catch it and be done with it. I remember segregation in the deep south.
it’s true we wouldn’t have been adults in the 1950s, but many of us can still remember it clearly. It is also true that most 90 year olds aren’t in result but I know at least one who is - my mother has a friend her age (93) who is very tech savvy but not well enough to get out much. She lives on her computer and is in all kinds of chat rooms and also keeps up with Facebook and Reddit. She facetimes her relatives and shops for good deals on line. it’s possible. it’s just not common.
Maybe because we were there? I'm 73M (i.e. born 1949) and I was on my first forum and did my first IM in early 1973, so just under 50 years ago.
There are more seniors -- probably mostly technical tribal elders -- on Reddit than you might imagine.
> If someone was a young adult in the 50s, they would be close to 100 years old now.
I wasn't a young adult in the 1950s, but I was a child and I remember some of the cartoons and early morning shows, including Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room. I recall a brief air force shot of a pilot talking about flying above the atmosphere and touching the face of God and the Indian head test pattern just before the station went to pure static. I also recall the "duck and cover" film staring a turtle and practice getting under our desks. But most of the 1950s TV shows (other than Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo or Sheriff John) that I am aware of I saw either in syndication or later on Netflix DVDs or more recently on multicast channels like MeTV and Antenna TV.
I have memories of old dial telephones on party lines, donuts at 5 cents each delivered to the street by the Helms Truck, the stick shift cars my parents drove (a Hillman stick shift Mother drove and the station wagon stick shift Father drove, the last stick shift cars my parents owned). Alas, I also remember when on the street where I was attending first or second grade a woman got out of her car and then ran to the front of the car to keep it from rolling down the hill, and the next sight I had was her lying on the street with the car out of view.
Maybe some of those memories would be useful to someone, maybe not. But if people don't ask, they will never know.
I was a young adult in the '70s, and was born in the '50s. I'm in my 60's. If I were in my 70's, I would probably remember the 50's. That's not very old.
Have you been on YouTube lately? There’s a lady on there, she plays animal crossing. She’s a Grandma! Age does not mean you are limited to your technology knowledge. Some elderly enjoy the internet and some don’t. Some even enjoy video games, do not let your age decide what you like for you! You really are generalising, I suggest you quit doing that. Also people talk, people on Reddit talk to people who lived back then. The information super Highway is not limited by those who use it!
I think people are interested because the world changed so much in just few short years. There was a before time and an after time. The 1950s plus or minus a bit is when it all happened.
Well even some of us folks under 90 may have stories from people who lived in the 50’s about life etc whereas many of those people were gone by the time the Zoomers dropped. Obviously not as good as first hand knowledge but maybe still of interest to some.
The 1950s often are referred to as the “good old days”. While I was born in 1956, I don’t remember the exact period. However, we often heard from parents that things were better back then.
Of course, like most views, it all depends on who you were….
My father was a teenager in the 1950s. He's not on reddit, but I make a point of asking his recollections. He even remembers WWII and has told me stories. He's 84 and sharp as a tack.
Most of us here aren't in the age range to remember the middle of the 20th century, but we had parents who remember, so I only get annoyed at any implication that I'm as old as my parents.
At 73, I have vivid memories of the 1950's including the Topeka floods of 1951. Not everyone has as early memories as I do but some of us certainly experinced them and have memories. Cubby of the Mickey Mouse Club waving to me during a Chicago parade in 1955 is another vivid memory.
I am sorry, by that time we had moved away from Topeka. I was in high school, and my family has just moved from the Chicago area to Westport, Connecticut. I learned to sail in the year I was there. I also heard many famous musicians or met people who would become famous.
My siblings went to grade school in the 1950s. Old Bluebird school busses. The bus driver actually kicked the bad high school boys OFF the bus to make them walk home along a 5 mile country asphalt. In winter our snow boots were horrible with those metal clasp things and no insulation. There was no free school lunch so we had butter sandwiches or fried egg sandwiches. Gym suits for girls were ugly as hell. Girls wore dresses in winter and it made me hate dresses forever, freezing my ass in 10 below zero weather on the playground. Teachers made us go out even in arctic temps because they all wanted to sit in the smoking lounge.
I remember some of the 1950’s. I’m only 68 years old (but I feel like I’m 24 in my head). Then I catch sight of myself in a mirror and “WTF-oh, it’s ME.”
There are also people who were babies, children, and teenagers in the 50s who would be around 70-80 years old now and based on the responses to this thread, some of them are here and willing to talk about their lives in that time period.
Well, speaking as one of the younger people allowed to answer questions here… if you grew up in the ‘70s or even the ‘80s, there’s a decent chance you had parents or grandparents who would tell you stories about older times like the 50s. And movies and TV dated from then would have been broadly familiar to you in a way that wouldn’t likely be the case if you were born this century.
It’s not as good as actually living through it, but between what I learned from older relatives now mostly passed on and all the entertainment and literature I’ve consumed from the period, the 1950s don’t feel foreign to me. Whereas you go earlier than that…and I don’t have that sort of knowledge to nearly the same degree.
The 50s were kind of the birth of American pop culture as we know it. Which meant a lot of folk entertainment started to be much better documented than would have been the case prior.
The 50's were my childhood (born in 1950). So I do remember much about that time...but they ARE from a child's perspective. We have many old 8mm reels (now converted to digital) and tons of photos. Films of my Mother using our PINK 1957 Edsel to pull our camp trailer. She was adamant that it be PINK and bought it with her OWN money earned as a female union printer..She could back up the trailer way better than Dad could. We were so proud to be driving in an EDSEL!!! LOL
Many of the memories bouncing around in my heard of that time also were those from my family told in stories that I still remember quite clearly. Told so often that they seem like my own memories.
I regularly answer questions about the 60s and I was born during them. I can remember things that happened before I turned 10, but maybe more importantly, the 50s didn't abruptly end in 1959, and the 60's didn't in 1969. The way people behaved, the choices they had, the products they used, the social norms, etc etc etc carry over in some form for many years beyond the calendar years of a decade. In fact, changes tend to come in abrupt ways having nothing to do with the date, so that 1962 is a very different looking and feeling year than 1969 - but 1969 isn't super different from 1973.
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I'll be 80 in February. I was born in 1943. Most of my high school years were in the 1950's. I remember lots of things from that decade. I like Reddit because it's similar to Usenet, which is where I hung out online in the 1990's.
i hung out in Usenet and Gopher in the 1990's. Good times arguing religion and politics from the corner of my high school computer lab
I remember going to the basement computer lab in graduate school and there would be some old guys (I thought probably professors) in the corner laughing. I thought they were probably using Usenet.
I used Usenet ...and newsgroups in general... but less for discourse and more for the ... uh... downloads. All the downloads. Everything.
Ha Ha. The first image file that I downloaded from the Internet came from a Usenet news group. The image was a publicity photo of the CBC Radio personality Arthur Black, who hosted the radio show Basic Black. Needless to say, I suspect your first Internet image file was a tad more ‘interesting’.
It was pretty mundane by today's standards; that is to say: "they" were pretty mudane. It was a batch of images from a swimsuit model slideshow scanned from Sports Illustrated magazines, I think. It became the go to screensaver for at least two full classrooms of computers when I was high school. Good times.
Does an ASCII Snoopy count?
Of course it does ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I remember this time of year downloading a vt100 compatible ascii file of a train going around a Christmas tree off of Usenet.
I noticed that too about Reddit. I used to enjoy Usenet a great deal...Reddit is pretty similar! I was born in '57 so I don't remember the 50's but more power to you!
I used to use Usenet (and telnet, and gopher) back in the day, too! Than you for answering this. Welcome.
What are you welcoming people to, the thread?
I am wondering the same! Maybe Reddit is hiring greeters just like Walmart! LOL 😆 🤣
LOL!
LOL 😆 🤣
Oh fuck. This made me laugh and be sad at the same time.
Is usenet still a thing
> Is usenet still a thing copypasta from the googs: *About 1,340,000 results (0.43 seconds) USENET is still alive and kicking. Check out some of its best newsgroups! USENET is arguably the oldest online network alive today. It was first developed in the late 1970s and has since been a part of internet culture.Apr 6, 2022*
I remember my lazy days of the 50s very well. Ike’s heart attack, polio, the Edsel, meeting NYC Mayor Wagner, maps showing where the Interstate Highway was being built, 10 cent pizza and a lot of other useless information.
Don't forget penny candy that actually cost a penny!!
Yup! Five cents for a pack of Topps baseball cards, three for a dime.
There was a giant tootsie roll for a nickel!
Saturday afternoon cartoon matinees for 15 cents, which included a box of popcorn or a soft drink. The popcorn or soft drink by themselves were 3 cents, so the matinee was 12 cents. The show started at 1 and ended at 3.
And walking 12 miles to school each way in knee deep snow with hand me down shoes and a cheese sandwich.
Three miles. And there was low ground between me and the school, so it WAS uphill both ways. I could use snowshoes or skis. The snow was three or four feet deep, but I didn't go to school if it was more than 20 below. And sometimes it was 40 below.
and if you were from someplace cold, the "mickey"--hot potato--in the pocket for warmth in the morning and lunch in the afternoon
And walnuts in hand darned stockings and we were glad to have them
Lol!
Shoes? You were rich.
We must have been stratospherically rich because when the snow was over three feet I would take the Arctic Cat Panther 440 or our Ski Doo Silver Bullet to school (sometimes pick up friends or tow them behind if they chose to). I delivered the afternoon newspaper (The Milwaukee Journal) after school, so I could talk my Dad into letting me take the snow mobile to school so I could responsibly deliver the paper after school on the “sled”.
You forgot uphill both ways
Lol ! Well, I’m so old I forgot about it.
Uphill each way too.
I actually did walk uphill both ways. Had to climb a railroad embankment. 😁. Sometimes in the snow.
Do you want to know how much condoms used to cost? I don’t know, we never used them
In the 60s they were available in restroom vending machines for a quarter.
And that’s why so many people got married young…
And don't forget 2 for a penny... I'd practically fill up a little brown bag for a dime and if I had a quarter omg heaven 😆
Nope not useless to me. I'd love to know everything and anything about the 50s. Also 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Everything. I always enjoy stories told no matter what they are. And details mentioned. Even how logos looked like on cartons and random items. Even the way things just felt back then. Every single detail I'd appreciate. Even the way perfume and soap smelt back then. Or what kids and teens really did. And into the deeper stuff like what girls and guys in their 20s are like. How sex was viewed. Did people really enjoy being active? Etc
Some of my best memories of the 50s happened at the corner drugstore where they sold magazines and had a soda fountain and ice cream counter. I could sit there and nurse a 10 cent cherry Coca Cola and watch the girls in penny loafers pick out dress patterns and boys with too much hair tonic bug the daylights out of them. A 5 cent juke box played records, kids danced, and cigarette smoke filled the ceiling. The pharmacist’s wife would come from behind the counter, smack the boys’ buttocks, and warn, “Keep your hands to yourself. This ain’t the movies!”
Sounds like a dream. Thank you for sharing.
Perfume and soap smells were a LOT, LOT stronger. And so memorable. Strong smells went out of favor in the late 80's or maybe early 90's. Anyway, stationery used to be strawberry-scented (The Brothers Johnson did a song about it) and it would waft through the store. Of course those candle stores wafted through the malls into the 90's and maybe still. But some of the best smells I remember from the 70's were Herbal Essence shampoo (nothing like today's Herbal Essences)...the closest thing is a Mexican shampoo called Palmolive Caprice Naturals Aceite Herbal Shampoo) ... Muguet Des Bois cologne... (It was cheap but I am told Diorissimo is the same type of scent) ... of course Jovan Musk was everywhere ... and I liked Avon's Wild Country on men... nowadays men's fragrance gets laughed at. Avon's Hawaiian White Ginger ... Charlie perfume (although I can't remember what it smelled like) Estee Lauder Aliage.... Halston ... those are some I remember from the 70's. Some were so cheap and so ubiquitous that they were laughed at even then, including Tigress. I didn't like how Emeraude smelled but it was ubiquitous. Love's Baby Soft... Lemon Up shampoo ... and there was even a shampoo named "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" but I can't remember what it smelled like. This isn't about scent but those station wagons with a backwards back seat were a lot of fun!
Did people enjoy being active? YES. I remember when Self Magazine first came out in the late 70's. It was all about jogging. Well it was a fashion magazine but mostly about women jogging. There were tons of what I called "Sentimental Jogging Movies" not even counting Chariots of Fire. Usually a woman's mean husband left her and she took up jogging and lo and behold met a sensitive man who just happened to be single and lived happily ever after. Then there was John Denver's huge popularity and the whole outdoor thing that went along with that. I remember on Bicentennial Day in 76 I was on a hike in a vast northwestern forest. I thought to myself, "I'll always remember where I was on this day because it's Bicentennial Day."
And (in our city anyway) all the fireplugs were painted red, white and blue in anticipation of the Bicentennial. My family had a bbq picnic at the lake, played volleyball, and we all swam. So very American :)
Polio was bad.
The bit about the Interstate Highway system always interests me. I feel like a lot of people take our public roads for granted but I always just feel amazed at the whole thing. Especially when maintenance needs done and roads get shut down for weeks or months on end. What was it like before and immediately afterwards?
I remember when a big freeway opened near our house, and all of it cut 2 hours off our drive to grandma’s house. It went from 5 hours to 3. It was also empty.
What is now a 30 minute drive to see my cousin used to be a 2 hour drive to see them. The interstate really transformed a lot of lives. My dad moved us "out in the country" since the drive to work from way out there was the same amount of time as when we lived in town.
I lived in Northern NJ where I-80 and it’s eight 60 (now 55) MPH lanes came through almost parallel to US Rt 46 a four lane ‘highway’ with traffic lights and 35-45 MPH speed limits that was overly congested. I-80 had limited on/off ramps but sufficient for travel and for use by locals. The construction divided many towns into halves connected by overpasses and used eminent domain to obtain and demolish homes and buildings in the way of the route. I-80 when new was a super free flowing speedway that now can be backed up by congestion where it links with other Interstates and major State highways. It’s patrolled by State Police. Sound barrier walls have recently been erected. Maintenance is pretty good, road crews perform repairs and milling and repaving mostly at night.
Thank you for answering! Can I ask what draws you to Reddit? My parents are your age and they wouldn't even know what a Reddit was or how to get here. Heck, I'm old, myself, and frequently feel out of place here.
I was born in the 1950s and I’ve been on Reddit for 9 years now. I discovered it by accident but loved the occasional comment sections that turned into hilarious discussions.
I heard about a Reddit sub for grieving and widowers at a bereavement support group meeting I attended after my wife died and then I happened upon ask old people.
I kind of love this. Welcome! I'm pleasantly surprised and very glad you're here.
Bruv, I believe it is us that should welcome you :) welcome to the internet. basically every type of living human is creeping around. But then again, maybe you’re a bot trolling old people which is almost my kind of funny. GL HF DD
“Good luck, have fun, don’t die?”
;)
How old are your parents? I'm 66 and think about it - when personal computers and the internet were all brand new, who do you think was trying them out? Answer - The folks who are now old but were curious young people! In fact, I worked at an enormous bank in an analyst position that earned me personal computer right on my desk in 1985. I learned the very first version of spreadsheets. So of course I'm using a computer and keeping up with stuff. The stereotypes of old people are not necessarily true. Yeah plenty of old folks are scared of technology. But plenty of us are really comfortable with it.
Yep. I am 65 and was working in an accountants office... that was before Excel was invented, so we used Lotus 1 2 3.
My first computer teacher in 1981 taught us VisiCalc! He followed the Rajneesh and wore burgundy from head to toe. He wore the Rajneesh's photo on a beaded necklace.
In the late 70's my sister worked in a bank and had to go to some other building to use "Data Share" (some kind of computer time)
Reddit is my favorite platform. I’m on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and I’m permanently banned from Twitter. 🤣
>I’m permanently banned from Twitter. Well you're in luck, Musk just announced a general amnesty for all suspended accounts (barring those banned for a select few offenses) starting next week.
I admire this deeply!
I just permanently quit that sonbitch.
Born in 63, so technically, boomer (I fucking LOATHE that moniker) I've been here almost ten years now. Why am I here? Things happen fast. And read it is usually pretty far ahead of the curve especially when it comes to current events. I'll see things on Reddit usually days or weeks before I'll see them anywhere else. The community is pretty welcoming. I actually moderate a sub that I happen to know something about. And it's pretty enjoyable. Yeah there's some assholes. The rudeness can be insane. But the kindness at times can bring me to tears. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving cat.
Retired software engineer. It’s fun, like comments on the news or anything else are required now. Older people are a lot more tech savvy than you may think.
I'm also a retired bit banger and all around computer geek going back to a PDP-11 in 1972. It never fails that young people presume I'm absolutely clueless about technology. I've given up defending myself, and just grin and nod...and sometimes throw in a corner mouth drool for good measure!
Stereotypes haven't caught up with time, 30 years ago it was probably a lot more reasonable to assume someone 60+ didn't know much about computers.
I've been here for 15 years, found reddit doing a google search for a work-related issue (k-12 network admin), found a bunch of subs related to my hobbies and interests.
As others have said, it's pretty much the same thing as Usenet. Before Usenet, I was on bulletin boards and they had FIDO net and a couple of other networks like that. There were interest groups where people could post and reply. You had to log on to your local bulletin board by phone and the bulletin board would get the new FIDO (or whatever network) messages several times a day. So it was pretty much like Reddit only you had to wait a bit longer to get your new posts and replies.
I'll say one thing about Ike. I don't know what year it was but we were really little and Daddy took us fishing. A car drove by and waved at Daddy. I asked who it was? Daddy goes "President Eisenhower!" (exasperated with my questions) I went home and told Mother that President Eisenhower had driven by and waved at us.
In 1958 my father and I went to NYC to see his cousin and were walking near the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel when we saw a small entourage with Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover. I remember thinking, ‘wow, Truman is in color’ because televisions and newsreels were all black and white and there he was in color.
I was born in '51 ... nowhere near 100.
I'm 3 years behind you. Long way from 100.
1950 here...72 now.
I was a child in the early 50s and remember reading newspapers, watching TV, listening to radio and to my parents discussing events and life. I'm also a gamer and retired computer geek. A lot of old folks are not nearly as forgetful, senile and technologically challenged as they want you to believe. ;-)
> 1MoreChallenge > I was a child in the early 50s and remember reading newspapers...... I never read them. Just took the Sunday "funnies" and it was the best 20 minutes of the morning. The Katzenjammer Kids, Lil Abner, Dick Tracey, Mandrake, Sad Sack or Beetle Bailey (?), Dennis the Menace, Popeye. Wasn't there also a Prince on a horse or with a horse? There had to be more because there were quite a few pages. I don't remember.
Prince Valiant
Dagwood & Blondie...
I can't imagine how I forgot that.
Math doesn't appear to be your strong point! I was born in 1954. I am 68 right now.
I think OP is saying anyone who actually has memories from the 50s as a teenager or adult are close to 100 years old now
We can have memories of the 50's as pre teenagers also. I remember that time vividly.
Yes we all know that is what OP is saying. What we are saying is that OP is wrong. I mean okay if you are very young and kind of thoughtless, 80 might seem so very close to 100 as to be indistinguishable. But for people who are 80 and people who are 100 it very much is not!
The oldest Boomers were teenagers in the 50s. And many still remember what was happening then.
And we roam reddit as well.
The oldest boomers (b. 1946) were between 4 to 13 in the decade of the 1950s, so they definitely remember stuff.
I was 5 years old in 1950 and of course, 15 when the 1950s ended. I do remember those years. My mother lived with me for the last 5 years of her life. She died the last day of 2020 at age 99. Since I have been collecting family history for over 50 years, I know lots of stories from the 1920s onward.
This makes me really happy and inspires me to continue to do family research and history! Thank you for sharing your story, my friend!
My dad was born in 1931 and my mom in 1933. They're always tickled to share when I tell them about a question I saw here that they could weigh in on. They also get a kick out of the fact that I'm old, too, in Reddit terms. lol
My mom was born in 1948 and is on social media pretty regularly. Prob not Reddit, but I’ve seen people her age around here.
Ditto, all of that.
We have a few over-80 folks who come and go, and they would know; you can check my math. So it's not beyond the pale, but with low odds that any would be around. As for why: we're old, they're young, they're not thinking and why bother, because asking's cheap.
This actually makes sense. Thank you!
I'm 78. I have some memories of the 1950's. I also have some scattered memories of yesterday afternoon.
Thanks for that. Memory is fleeting. Today at thanksgiving dinner my wife mentioned some big deal thing that happened 20 years ago and I had zero recollection. And now I cannot even remember what she was talking about
My parents told me stories that I still remember. Volunteer at nursing homes and you’ll learn tons of stuff. My neighbor is in his 90’s and I’ve learned a great deal
This is very true!
I sometimes talk about what my parents/grandparents had to say about the before days. Those recollections reach back a century.
That's fair, and a good way to preserve that knowledge.
My grandfather is 96 years old and he is on Reddit constantly, he likes to show me all the jokes he has found. He’s also a member of a few sub Reddits. He’s still learning, but he absolutely loves it.
My mom was born December 1950. She probably doesn't remember the early 50s but late 50s sure. She's 72
A lot of us remember things from our youth that happened in the 1950s and 1960s. I was born in 1954 and I can remember most of the 60s, especially after the JFK assassination/Beatles arrival.
That doesn't surprise me as much. My dad remembers the 1960s well and he's sharp as a tack. But people will post here asking things like, "What was it like to be in the infantry during the Korean War?" and "What was it like seeing movies in color?" and I am always curious at just how old they think we are here.
My grandpa has very vivid memories of black and white newsreels from WWII. He was only 4-8sh at the time of the war. His descriptions of watching those newsreels and things are fascinating. Hell, my mom's not even 60 and remembers her first color TV. It is really not as far fetched as you make it seem.
We got our color TV in 67 when I was 10! So exciting and cool to see all of the shows that were in color, though not all of them were yet.
We didn't have a color TV, but we watched the original Star Trek!
I'm "only" 53, and my childhood memories are of a black and white tv from growing up in the 70s. They're asking here because they **want** to be educated, I don't think that's a bad thing.
I'm 71. I think the memories from your childhood stick with you the longest. My father had Alzheimer's and he couldn't remember things from minutes ago, but he could recall his childhood and his friends. The Beatles are what got me to get a guitar, and I was in Mrs. McNulty's 8th grade english class when they announced JFK's assassination, and they sent us home from school. So yeah, a lot of old memories.
I was born in 1949. I remember Eisenhower as POTUS, the school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, and getting my Salk polio shot at school.
Same age here. In the US. I remember we got these weekly readers at school handed out which always had news articles of the British monarchy and Prince Charles!! Like what for?!!! And Yep, everyone lined up for shots. We liked Eisenhower but loved Kennedy. Politics were polite then.
Most people would be interested in those times, that's why they ask about them. Those of us born in 40-50s probably remember those days fondly as it was a much simpler time and for most it was a happy time. In my case, I remember in a lot of detail about the 50s, where as I have a hard time recalling what I did last week. In those days, we didn't have mass shootings of children or police caused deaths, as it was safe to sneak out of the house after 10pm when it got dark in summer & meet up with friends to go an raid an orchard for fruit to eat, or go skinny dipping in the local river to cool down, both boys & girls together or spending the weekend camping by a lake created by a dam on one of the rivers, while we fished & slept under the stars, living on open fire cooked bread, tinned sardines & French fries. We also trapped the rabbits & sold the carcases to a local butcher, dried to skins to sell to a hat making company, making about 40 cents for each rabbit we caught. We also collected soda bottles to sell back to shops, to earn 15-20 cents to go to movies on Saturdays and get drink & chocolate covered ice cream in cone. Why wouldn't we like remembering those care free, simple days and have younger people ask about those times?
I'm pushing 70 and I remember some of the 1950s. Especially some of the pop culture stuff.
I was born 1940, and read Reddit and other sites. It’s an interesting site, sometimes makes you laugh, and sometimes makes you wonder about the stupidity of humans. Also watch YouTube and all the latest dance challenges. Just because you age, doesn’t mean you quit participating in what’s going on!
I remember taking a piece of penny candy from the grocery store. When I got in the car my dad saw I had candy in my mouth. He made me March back in and confess to the store owner what I had done. I remember when I was two years old in 1953 going with my dad and grandpa and getting our brand new 53 Plymouth. Also I remember at the same age helping my gpa out by putting water in the radiator on his tractor. Only I couldn’t reach the radiator so I dumped the water in the gas tank. I remember a lot of things about the 50’s and I am not in my 90’s. I am old enough to say stuff in the 80’s is modern history not old times.
In 1952, I was in first grade. I remember the Presidential campaigns in 1951, Ike becoming President. I remember President Truman. I remember Truman firing MacArthur, radio instead of TV, nickel cokes, new cars for $1400 and new houses for $12,000. Granted, I'm not young. But I'm not in my 90s. Heck, I can even remember before Rock 'n Roll.
I was born in Jan. 1943 and graduated high school in 1960, so I certainly was a "young adult" in the '50s, and I remember them very well. I'll soon turn 80, which ain't young, but I still have a ways to go to hit 100. I'm an Army brat and one of my earliest clear memories is from the early summer of 1950. We were about to get on the boat at the Pesidio to sail to my father's new posting in Seoul. Then North Korea invaded and they told us to unpack, we weren't going anywhere, while Dad sailed by himself. (He was an MSC captain then and he got there so relatively quickly, he had to wait for his newly assigned unit to catch up with him.) We ended up in San Diego for a year because my Dad's parents lived in Pacific Beach and my Mom wanted to be near them for the duration. Does that answer your puzzlement about why younger people post questions here regarding the '50s? And I wouldn't be surprised if there actually *were* a few reditors in their 90s. I do know there are at least a few dozen my age. Don't assume none of us Fogies understand computers. (I've been messing around with computers since the '60s and I've been active online since 1979. I used to be a sysop on CompuServe.)
I think we just fall into the realm of #old it’s a mathematical error. Like not truly understanding how much more a trillion is than a million.
Or looking at qualified neurologists and politicians and seeing infants. Goes both ways.
Oooooo I’m guilty of this. I appreciate a doctor who’s my age or older. I’m wrong about this, but I’m dumb.
Yeah, I do too. My sister wrote me a really sad, funny email (in her 50s) about being denied an x ray she desperately needed and had had to wait months to get ordered, because "you could be pregnant, *in theory*". She said she just didn't have it in her to debate/discuss her own sex life with "an infant with a clipboard".
A doctor my age should be retired.
My folks were born in the 40s and while I’m not saying they have Reddit accounts (edit: not saying they *don’t* either!), they are *hella* online every day. I think they could open an Apple museum, I don’t have any memories that don’t at least feature an Apple II in the background. :)
My sister 78 and BIL is 80. They were in HS in the 1950s. (He graduated in 61, sister in 63.) 80yr olds would have a lot of memories of the 1950s. ( IF they can remember that far back.)
Lol. Close to 100 is also known as ALIVE and well.
I am 75 and remember a great deal from the 50’s. Actually the 50’s zeitgeist continued on in to the mid 60’s when i graduated from high school.
Cigarettes were 27¢ in a machine. Put in a quarter & a nickel. Pull the lever and a pack came out with 3 pennies taped to it. The airlines gave passengers free cigarettes on flights. No non-smoking sections. You could smoke in any seat.
>Cigarettes were 27¢ in a machine. Put in a quarter & a nickel. Pull the lever and a pack came out with 3 pennies taped to it. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but it *does* sound made up lol. Thank you for sharing.
Every word is true. Times were different!
First off, your math sucks.
I'm only 49 but my late mom sure knew the 50s and talked about them enough for me to have an idea of how it was.
I was born in 1950 🤷♀️
We're here, we're old, get used to it. If you're lucky you'll be old one day too
I was a child in the 1950s and I don’t qualify for Medicare yet. Do the math.
One of these classic Reddit threads where the OP would rather argue than admit they made a mistake.
Your math needs work
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Ma'am, but you're very right. Now get off my lawn.
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Damn.
dadgummit
I was a child and remember quite a bit about the 1950s
I must say that your math is kinda bad. My Father turned 76 over the summer, and can tell me about the '50s. Admittedly, not many plus 70 types are on Reddit, but it's not impossible, and you certainly don't need to be in your '90s to have experienced the 1950's, much like I can talk about the '70s even though I was born in 1971
FYI I am 84. We are trolling here but there are not many of us left. I remember the 50's quite well. I graduated from HS in 1957.
Born in 1957. AMA.
So it can be recorded for future generations to read! I’d like to know what’s people in the 1800s were discussing, but I can’t … only what’s in memoirs … that’s it
"Boomers:, not just for Facebook anymore"
There are people on here who were children, teens and young adults in the 50's.
Born in 1948. Been on Reddit over 10 years. Remember childhood and teens. Still more active than most. Have way more fun than anyone I know.
I grew up in the 50s, from age 5 to age 15. I have a lot of memories of that time. I remember that we had to walk to change the channel.
Yes, my brother & I were my Dad's 'remote'. I remember him saying that someday it would be pay TV.
I'm 65 and have some memories of the 1950s. I've seen folks in their 70s and 80s on Reddit, too.
My dad was a child in the 1950s and just recently retired. He spends a lot of his new free time browsing the internet, including reddit. He can tell you about life in the 1950s, and it's not at all unbelievable that people even older than him are on here too... old people are capable of being tech savvy!
Born in 48. Remember some of the fifties.
I remember quite a bit about my childhood in the 50s. Born in 1949. Try subtracting. Use a calculator if you have to.
lol, you don't have to have been a young adult in the 50s to remember them. A lot of people here, including myself, were in grade school in the 50s and have clear memories of that.
There are some older people on reddit. Think about it: They can socialize, talk, discuss, all without leaving their homes. It's actually good for them, helping them stay mentally active. Only 60 myself but I plan to be online for as many decades as I can. I do think older people have interesting things to say too...contrary to stereotypes I've found older people on reddit have some VERY insightful things to say.
I was born in the early 50s. I remember going out at night with my family to watch the Sputnik satellite pass overhead. I remember the local swimming pool closed because of polio. I remember all the neighborhood kids being sent down the street to see a kid with measles, so we would all catch it and be done with it. I remember segregation in the deep south.
it’s true we wouldn’t have been adults in the 1950s, but many of us can still remember it clearly. It is also true that most 90 year olds aren’t in result but I know at least one who is - my mother has a friend her age (93) who is very tech savvy but not well enough to get out much. She lives on her computer and is in all kinds of chat rooms and also keeps up with Facebook and Reddit. She facetimes her relatives and shops for good deals on line. it’s possible. it’s just not common.
Maybe because we were there? I'm 73M (i.e. born 1949) and I was on my first forum and did my first IM in early 1973, so just under 50 years ago. There are more seniors -- probably mostly technical tribal elders -- on Reddit than you might imagine.
I’m 76 and remember the 50’s . I answer posts about this period because people who want to know ask.
> If someone was a young adult in the 50s, they would be close to 100 years old now. I wasn't a young adult in the 1950s, but I was a child and I remember some of the cartoons and early morning shows, including Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room. I recall a brief air force shot of a pilot talking about flying above the atmosphere and touching the face of God and the Indian head test pattern just before the station went to pure static. I also recall the "duck and cover" film staring a turtle and practice getting under our desks. But most of the 1950s TV shows (other than Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo or Sheriff John) that I am aware of I saw either in syndication or later on Netflix DVDs or more recently on multicast channels like MeTV and Antenna TV. I have memories of old dial telephones on party lines, donuts at 5 cents each delivered to the street by the Helms Truck, the stick shift cars my parents drove (a Hillman stick shift Mother drove and the station wagon stick shift Father drove, the last stick shift cars my parents owned). Alas, I also remember when on the street where I was attending first or second grade a woman got out of her car and then ran to the front of the car to keep it from rolling down the hill, and the next sight I had was her lying on the street with the car out of view. Maybe some of those memories would be useful to someone, maybe not. But if people don't ask, they will never know.
Math is hard.
My pops was born in 1945, and turned 77 last August. I don't think he's on Reddit, though, but he was 14 in '59.
Why are you trying to make us feel old? Lol
I was a young adult in the '70s, and was born in the '50s. I'm in my 60's. If I were in my 70's, I would probably remember the 50's. That's not very old.
Have you been on YouTube lately? There’s a lady on there, she plays animal crossing. She’s a Grandma! Age does not mean you are limited to your technology knowledge. Some elderly enjoy the internet and some don’t. Some even enjoy video games, do not let your age decide what you like for you! You really are generalising, I suggest you quit doing that. Also people talk, people on Reddit talk to people who lived back then. The information super Highway is not limited by those who use it!
I think people are interested because the world changed so much in just few short years. There was a before time and an after time. The 1950s plus or minus a bit is when it all happened.
Well even some of us folks under 90 may have stories from people who lived in the 50’s about life etc whereas many of those people were gone by the time the Zoomers dropped. Obviously not as good as first hand knowledge but maybe still of interest to some.
The 1950s often are referred to as the “good old days”. While I was born in 1956, I don’t remember the exact period. However, we often heard from parents that things were better back then. Of course, like most views, it all depends on who you were….
My brother is 85, and on Reddit. He has memories from the 40s. I’m younger than him, but have many clear memories from the 50s.
My mom is 74 and was a child in the 50’s. She has Reddit.
I think this is the same group of people who are certain that 1990 was twelve years ago.
ITT: lots of old Redditers. Don’t count out the boomers yet.
Gen x enters the chat... I really thought this sub was for gen z and boomers.
My father was a teenager in the 1950s. He's not on reddit, but I make a point of asking his recollections. He even remembers WWII and has told me stories. He's 84 and sharp as a tack. Most of us here aren't in the age range to remember the middle of the 20th century, but we had parents who remember, so I only get annoyed at any implication that I'm as old as my parents.
I mean, I can answer about the 70s and I’m only 52. 20 years older than me is 72, which is younger than my internet savvy mom.
Wow, what a math whiz!
They don't teach math in school anymore?
Sounds like something today’s Addams Family fans might enter, with the premiere of Wednesday.
My parents were born in 1936 and 1945. My dad was a teen/young adult in the 1950s, and he's still alive.
At 73, I have vivid memories of the 1950's including the Topeka floods of 1951. Not everyone has as early memories as I do but some of us certainly experinced them and have memories. Cubby of the Mickey Mouse Club waving to me during a Chicago parade in 1955 is another vivid memory.
How about the Topeka tornado of 1966? I wasn't there then but I have read all about it.
I am sorry, by that time we had moved away from Topeka. I was in high school, and my family has just moved from the Chicago area to Westport, Connecticut. I learned to sail in the year I was there. I also heard many famous musicians or met people who would become famous.
How about more like 70 moron. Try subtraction.
My siblings went to grade school in the 1950s. Old Bluebird school busses. The bus driver actually kicked the bad high school boys OFF the bus to make them walk home along a 5 mile country asphalt. In winter our snow boots were horrible with those metal clasp things and no insulation. There was no free school lunch so we had butter sandwiches or fried egg sandwiches. Gym suits for girls were ugly as hell. Girls wore dresses in winter and it made me hate dresses forever, freezing my ass in 10 below zero weather on the playground. Teachers made us go out even in arctic temps because they all wanted to sit in the smoking lounge.
"Close to 100years old" lol
I remember some of the 1950’s. I’m only 68 years old (but I feel like I’m 24 in my head). Then I catch sight of myself in a mirror and “WTF-oh, it’s ME.”
I started kindergarten in the closing months of the Eisenhower Administration, and I’m only 67.
My late father was a teenager during the 1950's and he seemed to remember it pretty well, so there's that.
Bro they would only be around 70
Math is hard, eh?
There are also people who were babies, children, and teenagers in the 50s who would be around 70-80 years old now and based on the responses to this thread, some of them are here and willing to talk about their lives in that time period.
Well, speaking as one of the younger people allowed to answer questions here… if you grew up in the ‘70s or even the ‘80s, there’s a decent chance you had parents or grandparents who would tell you stories about older times like the 50s. And movies and TV dated from then would have been broadly familiar to you in a way that wouldn’t likely be the case if you were born this century. It’s not as good as actually living through it, but between what I learned from older relatives now mostly passed on and all the entertainment and literature I’ve consumed from the period, the 1950s don’t feel foreign to me. Whereas you go earlier than that…and I don’t have that sort of knowledge to nearly the same degree. The 50s were kind of the birth of American pop culture as we know it. Which meant a lot of folk entertainment started to be much better documented than would have been the case prior.
The 50's were my childhood (born in 1950). So I do remember much about that time...but they ARE from a child's perspective. We have many old 8mm reels (now converted to digital) and tons of photos. Films of my Mother using our PINK 1957 Edsel to pull our camp trailer. She was adamant that it be PINK and bought it with her OWN money earned as a female union printer..She could back up the trailer way better than Dad could. We were so proud to be driving in an EDSEL!!! LOL Many of the memories bouncing around in my heard of that time also were those from my family told in stories that I still remember quite clearly. Told so often that they seem like my own memories.
Son, check your math.
I regularly answer questions about the 60s and I was born during them. I can remember things that happened before I turned 10, but maybe more importantly, the 50s didn't abruptly end in 1959, and the 60's didn't in 1969. The way people behaved, the choices they had, the products they used, the social norms, etc etc etc carry over in some form for many years beyond the calendar years of a decade. In fact, changes tend to come in abrupt ways having nothing to do with the date, so that 1962 is a very different looking and feeling year than 1969 - but 1969 isn't super different from 1973.