Could you live in the 1950s?

Lysander

Lysander

Lysander

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I was watching Rear Window last night and it got me thinking. If you were suddenly transported back to the early 1950s, with all your current knowledge and experience up till now, how do you think you would cope? A lot of things will be very different: different popular music, different popular literature, different dress codes, different codes of conduct, no Internet, no computers, no mobile phones.

I don't think I would mind the lack of Internet so much, though of course one's 'social' circle would be very much real. No virtual conversations or relationships. As for music, well - no metal for people like me. The prevailing music of the time is still jazz, bebop, big band and blues, though rock & roll and rockabilly are emerging as new and controversial music forms. Lord of the Flies, Casino Royale and Catcher In The Rye are very much the new literary content of the moment - the first two Lord of the Rings books have also just hit the bookshops for the first time [as has Playboy]. Sci-fi and horror are very popular in the cinemas, and High Noon, Seven Samurai, Singin' in the Rain and Sunset Boulevard are the most watched films.

Researching things is a lot harder - no Googling for quick access, so you'd have to read around a lot more, buy magazines, journals, listen to the radio... and though television exists it is far less common than it is now. Niche and underground culture hardly has a soapbox. These days the underground IS the underground, not just what you can find through Tor. As for gaming? Well, once again you're restricted to games in the real world - cards, Yahtzee, Cluedo, Monopoly, Scrabble. At least beer and wine exist in abundance.

So how do you think you would fare in such a society? Do you think you'd take it all in your stride or tear your hair out through the absence of Black Ops?
 
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I'd love to live in the 50's... the fashions and cars were fantastic not to mention the rock 'n' roll scene! Love it.
 
think I'd like to live then more than now. more simple but equally more challenging. I often wish I had less of a reliance on modern day amenities, especially as it looks as though, in my lifetime, access to those amenities as well as availability is going to become less and less.
 
I don't know, it would mean I would have to pass the age of the shell suit and nasty electro music on top of the pops 30 years later in the 80's.
 
Mat said:
I'd love to live in the 50's... the fashions and cars were fantastic not to mention the rock 'n' roll scene! Love it.
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So you'd like to live in America in the 50s?


I imagine England would be a very different place. Colossal debt, rationing, the last remnants of a class system, etc.. No thanks.
 
twist3d0n3 said:
we could arrange for some form of keyboard thompson to be made for you :p
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:p nah i'd love to live in America and work in some sort of design and research lab for new planes and weapons, just think how much of an advantage we would have!

Clearly i'd need a case full of textbooks....
 
I was born in the late 50's; it was a more innocent and much friendlier time. Still had some crime and bullying, but not as much or as bad as today.
You were more likely to get a thick ear rather than stabbed in those days.
There are advantages and disadvantages too then and now:)
 
Living in the fifties meant going through the industrial change later. For many, transition wasn't so easy.

Also, we take for our working and living lives today for granted.
 
Our social skills would be terrible compared to those of the 50's. Plus are sense of humor would be different. I think if our current forms were thrown back to the 50's, we would have a terrible time trying to adjust and fit in.
 
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It would have to be 50's USA for me, the cars, the science breakthoughs of the time, be great to see, but I would have to have a get out clause to get back to here and now.
 
Today/tomorrow is where it's at for me, I look around my front room at the tech & can't believe my eyes half the time, Then there's my other toys & lets not forget the women didn't put out like they do these days, Back then you had to marry then before you could chain them to the sink. :rolleyes:
 
I would hate it, i love my modern techology and would get very depressed without all the culture we have today.

In fact i wish i was born 10-20 later
 
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