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Originally Posted by mtdjed
Interesting observation but I would question the statements. I was born in Sep 1944 and cannot really relate to anything much prior to the 1950's.
I don't recall the winds of war, ration books. When I was of age there was Little League, city parks were abundant. TV was not missed since it was actually new and anticipated. Wasn't concerned about Interstates until I drove, and they existed at that time.
I can recall living with people who experienced some of those things.
When I became a Boy Scout , my grandfather thought they were like a German Nazi Youth Corp.
I can remember Uncle walking to store with tin can to get milk.
Remember Slide Rule in college, Kool Aid, Spam, School buses, Crystal Radios etc.
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Thought-provoking post and comments. My dad is 94, born in 1928. One thing about the Depression people forget is that while up to 25% of the working population (mostly men) were out of work, 75% of workers DID have work. For many people then, the unemployed were numerous, but a lot like the homeless today in California—you saw them, but that doesn’t mean you interacted with them. We came very close to falling into that in 2020, but fortunately Congress chose to borrow trillions and support businesses and people during the previous administration as well as in this one—a daring but very expensive rescue. The Depression hit much harder in some areas and neighborhoods than in others. One of my grandfathers was a preacher, and his family, including my dad, did fine until 1936, when my grandfather went temporarily blind, and the family had to move from a very nice house to a tarpaper shack in Idaho with no plumbing except an outside cold water tap. That only lasted less than a year, but it was a frightening year. My maternal grandfather lost his job at a candy factory, and he and his wife and four daughters moved in with his sister’s family in New Jersey for several years.
I was born in Virginia in ‘53. We had milk delivered to our home in Alexandria until ‘62. We were given a used black and white television around 1960. By then 90% of American households had one, but in 1950 it was only 9%. 1960-62 we drove once or twice a year from Alexandria to Nashville to visit my grandparents, who had moved there. The first time, most of the drive was on two lane highway. Motels were rare. What people stayed at when traveling on two-lane highways were things called Motor Courts, or something like that. Little cabins, often in a row, often with bare studs on the inside, maybe with a bathroom or maybe a bath-house everyone shared. Then can still be seen here and there. There is one on Highway 301 just north of Wildwood. People still live there, but now it’s full-time rentals. By 1962, parts of it was interstate highway. In late 1962, we moved to Northern California. At that time, only parts of I-80 were complete. Every time we drove on I-80 or I-70 during the 60s and early 70’s we marveled as new stretches were opened and our journeys grew faster. People tend to think that Eisenhower gave commands and we had an Interstate Highway system, but that’s not the way it was at all. With the interstate highways came Howard Johnson’s motels and restaurants, and endless Stuckey’s gas stations and shops.
I need to call my dad today and ask what he remembers about rationing during World War II. He was a teen then.