[Sandtrap328]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

The fifties were great, if you were a white male in the USA. Not so much for women and minorities.

Agree 100%.

Too many forget what others went through in the 1950's. It was not "Father Knows Best" with Bud, Princess, and Kitten for many families.

My family was great - but we knew others where the father was physically abusive to his wife and kids but she couldn't leave due to financial reasons and turned to alcohol.

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by Sandtrap328

Agree 100%.

Too many forget what others went through in the 1950's. It was not "Father Knows Best" with Bud, Princess, and Kitten for many families.

My family was great - but we knew others where the father was physically abusive to his wife and kids but she couldn't leave due to financial reasons and turned to alcohol.

A very common story.


Since women were basically chattel during that time, it was very easy for the husband to meet the cops at the door, send them away by telling them that it was just a 'marital issue'...wink, wink.

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by Sandtrap328

My family was great - but we knew others where the father was physically abusive to his wife and kids but she couldn't leave due to financial reasons and turned to alcohol.

Actually the incidence of alcoholism among women has risen since the 1950's. Furthermore no one is "driven to drink". They become alcoholics because they have alcoholic tendencies which are largely genetic in nature.

Elizabeth Pena and the Truth About Alcoholic Women

Frankly I miss the civility of the 1950's and despise the barbarity of today.

[affald]

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore

A very common story.


Since women were basically chattel during that time, it was very easy for the husband to meet the cops at the door, send them away by telling them that it was just a 'marital issue'...wink, wink.

Yes a story.

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by affald

Yes a story.

The Story of Women in the 1950s | History Today

Women might have had the vote on the same terms as men since 1929, but for most that was pretty well the limit of their equality: working women were paid much less than men and despite the responsibilities and sheer hard graft many had endured in wartime, were still regarded as submissive and inferior beings. Educational opportunities were limited. The 1944 Education Act was supposed to give everyone ‘parity of esteem’, but that is not how it worked out. Many teachers and parents had narrow expectations for girls whose destiny was to be marriage, a home and a family, with work just an interim measure between leaving school and walking down the aisle, rather than a career. Just 1.2 per cent of women went to university in the 1950s.

In many cases, a woman’s lot seems to have hardly improved by marriage. Imagining wives to be fulfilled by having an easy-to-clean Formica worktop and a twin-tub washing machine, husbands could be harsh taskmasters, most regarding running the home and parenting solely as a woman’s responsibility, expecting meals ready when they returned from work, making all the household decisions of consequence and largely continuing to inhabit a separate sphere of pubs and football.

[manaboutown]

• Americans with a college degree 1940-2016, by gender | Statista

[affald]

Overwhelmingly people were happier in the 1950s. Google it.

[xNYer]

Originally Posted by affald

Overwhelmingly people were happier in the 1950s. Google it.

Which groups wer happier? Are those the ones you call "people"?

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore

A very common story.


Since women were basically chattel during that time, it was very easy for the husband to meet the cops at the door, send them away by telling them that it was just a 'marital issue'...wink, wink.

Chattel? Did you grow up in another country where women wore scarves?

[Inexes@aol.com]

This has been a very interesting read.... and I have to add that I agree wholeheartedly with Carl in Tampa, everything he has said is "spot-on". What has become evident to me in reading the posts is you can quickly tell who was actually growing up in the 40-50 era, versus those who were born in the 50's. And you can tell who lived in the North and who lived in the South. I lived in the North, was born in 1937 and there was NO segregation in my town. Everyone attended the same schools, our parents held the same type jobs.... our Postmaster was black. My class valedictorian (1955) was black. My first experience with any difference between black and white was in 1976 when my daughter and I were walking in Virginia Beach (on vacation). An elderly black man was coming toward us on the sidewalk and when he got close, he stepped off into the street. I got tears in my eyes.... I could not believe this was happening. That was my introduction to the South !!! And so it is with this thread..... our views depend on where & when we grew up in that era...... but I still say.... I thank God everyday that I was blessed to be a part of the 40s-50s....