TV screen was 10 inch roundish fish bowl lookin thing and our remote control was my younger brother who sat one foot away..., We'd yell at him to "Change the Channel!" as not to miss what was on the other station...! The TV would go on the "FRITZ" and my Dad would pull out a handful of "piping hot tubes" for us kids to test and replace at the local Pharmacy tube testing station!
My nick name as a child was "Fritz" because of the old Billy Barty Maytag commercials. My dad says i wouldn't answer to anything but "Fritz" and as much **** as i tear up i guess its well deserved.
Interesting post. Lot of good writing and remembrances about times past. Rather than knock out some words, here's a few pics of the era. First up, the main administration builing at the high school. Summer after I graduated, the building - about 90% cl***rooms - was torn down to make way for another admin building with more offices for more administrators and only a handful of cl***rooms. Sound familiar? The new admin building was a pre-fab pile of **** and there wasn't much to be proud of. I can't believe all the cl***y buildings that have been torn down so as to make some beauracrat happy.
This is a good representation of how the girls of the era dressed for school, dates and shopping. More casual times called for pedal pushers, capris and ladies jeans, modest shorts and one piece bathing suits. B&W Saddle shoes were popular although none shown here. Boys wore saddle shoes as well. Pic of some girls and a guy in my cl***, circa December 1956.
This one shows the Christmas Formal, circa 1956. Suits for the guys most times, an occasional tux along with sport jacket and slacks for some. Quite a variety of formals for the girls as far as strapless and strap dresses go. The interesting thing here is, there were no straight dresses. All of the girls wore formals with a flared skirt and many slips underneath. It was more than fun loading these beautiful young ladies into a lowered coupe and trying to get the ****y skirt inside with no damage. Most times we made it ok and any damage incurred came later....
THanks guys keep em comming.Anybody from the east coast got any.Esp anyone that can tell me how NC was in that era?
C9 Those were awesome shots..., didn't they replace those buildings because of the earth quake dangers? My uncle told me that the older buildings had cracks everywhere and it was simply less expensive to Bull Doze and build new..., is that true...? (Of course he was in the development biznez in SF and Oakland after WWII...!)
Here are some of my memories of the 50's. Scout masters Pontiac with the Indian head hood ornement that lit up at night. Neighbors 56 Olds with dim, bright and super bright headlamps ya should a seen the lights dim for a mile when he hit super bright. My walk up town on Sunday night to the Arctic Circle, It was on main sreet and I would see maybe 3 cars go by the hour I was there. Leon and me picking up hubcaps out of the bar pit on the washboard road about a half mile from home. Evan Swenson's big brother's 50 shoebox coupe, louved hood, sectioned, frenched headlights with scoops with the br*** knuckles on the front seat. Switching the wires on Dad's 50 chev so when he pushed the horn ****on the headlights would go on and when he pulled the headlight switch the horn would honk. ( me and my brother got into a lot of trouble for that one ) Talking Dad into a smitty for his 57 Chev 210 2 door, 6 cyinder then after he got home from work and it was still hot putting the garden hose up the exhaust to destroy the gl***. ( we got into a lot of trouble over that one too, but it made a cool sound like a B-29 ) Wearing the gr*** down in Dad's back yard playing basketball cause nobody had a cement driveway. Watching him shake his head as he walked away. Me and dad building a pigeon coup from redwood my buddy stole from the local lumber yard, we didn't know it was stolen till years later. Old man Sandberg with a shed full of model T's and A's that he wouldn't let anybody in to see. Listening to the Intersangtom, Green Hornet, Gunsmoke and the Lone Ranger out of a 4 foot tall radio with a dial that looked like a Packard speedometer. Then after we got a TV ( second one on the block ) watching the wrestling with Gorgous George, Wild Red Berry and The masked Mauder. It was mayhem with all the parents going crazy. Helping my brother tow home Model A pickups and anything else we could find. Parking all these on the front yard and Dad not giving us hell. ( Dad was really cool ) I could go on and on but it's probably boring you all to death so I'll leave ya with this. THOSE WERE THE DAYS.
[ QUOTE ] C9 Those were awesome shots..., didn't they replace those buildings because of the earth quake dangers? My uncle told me that the older buildings had cracks everywhere and it was simply less expensive to Bull Doze and build new..., is that true...? [/ QUOTE ] Not in this case. They did claim it was because of earthquake safety, but that was an easier sell than trying to get an additional building put up just for the administrators they wanted to add. A few years back I read that 80% of California's school budget went to administration and the late 50's was about the time administration became more important than teachers and personnel who actually maintained the school. I'm guessing here, but I'd be surprised if the admin budget was in excess of 5% during the time I was in high school. Teachers try hard and spend a lot of their own money on supplies for students, but admin keeps getting bigger and the kids are getting gypped on their education. Anyhoo, nuff o' dat. Interesting part about the old admin building needing replacement was it went through several major earthquakes with very minor - easily repaired cracks in the ceiling - to no damage at all. And from what I heard a couple years back, the guy who won the bid to tear the old building down darned near lost his shirt cuz the old building was a lot tougher than anybody thought.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And since this was supposed to be about 50's culture and memories, here's a pic of the beach right around the corner from where we spent a lot of time. This particular beach mentioned in a Beach Boys song....
Great photos C9, thanks for posting. I was laughing (from memories, not at) when I saw the group pic in front of the car. Some how during physical education hour, some girls would end up playing softball in those long, straight down shaped skirts. It was amazing how they could run the bases restricted by those clothes. It was a weird running technique using very short steps.
A little more 50's stuff. Memories to an extent, but written for an upcoming book. This is a rough draft so take it for what it's worth.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hot Rods werent everything though. Living on the coast, the beach was definitely the place to go in the summer. The winter too. If you could stand it. Ventura had other places to go and other things to do, but for the most part, they were a weekend deal. The simple fact of the matter was, if you were a kid, liked the beach, liked to swim and best of all liked hot rods and customs, the beach at the end of Seaward Avenue was the place to go. Most times anyway. Normally, on a bright and sunny Saturday like this was, a day when a lot of guys would be cruising the beach in their cars, we hardly saw any. In fact, there werent a whole lot of high school kids there. It looked pretty much like any other weekday with the young moms and the little kids and a few Junior High School kids there. Kinda weird, but it happened that way sometimes. The best part was when a couple of guys who lived up on the north part of Seaward near the High School showed up with a homemade wooden raft. We knew em, they were in the same grade as us and they were glad to have some help in carrying it down to the water line. They were lucky they got it as far as they did. Lucky too, that one of their dads owned a pickup. It wouldnt be the first raft that languished at home and eventually rotted away because there was no way to get it to the beach. A pickup, just about any of the short bed half tons was, to my eye just about the perfect vehicle to hot rod. If you were lucky enough to get the right one, it looked good, ran good and they could be used for all kinds of stuff. At first, the raft looked a little crude, but looking it over, we could see that it was fairly well built. The big failing in the whole deal from what I could see, was that there were no paddles other than a couple of 1 x 6's. It didnt make any difference. Raft or no raft, the tide was almost all the way in, the swells were up and the breakers made for some great body surfing. It was well worth the long hot hike down the hill. It was hot out too, no doubt about that. Course, hot in Ventura was an 85 degree day and with the temps touching on 90 as it was today, we figured it was really hot. Making the beach, the surf and the raft, all part of one of those perfect days. I was glad that mom ran me out of the house. The only bad part and it wasnt a bad part for us, was when a couple of high school guys figured theyd take over the raft. They got it, but it didnt last long. We launched the raft, got it through the surf line and were floating just outside the breakers. When the big guys came out they got on the raft and started shoving us off. It was probably good for them that the raft was there. They werent the greatest swimmers in the world and it looked like they were glad to have a place to rest. Wed seen the bullies at the beach before and knew that along with being clumsy swimmers, they didnt have a clue as far as body surfing or even swimming in the ocean went. They wouldnt let us back up on the raft, but they didnt have a problem with us hanging onto the sides. With six of us casually working the raft into the surf, they were fat, dumb and happy. Theyd taken away our raft and were laying on it enjoying the sunshine, the bluish-green water and watching the white foam from the breakers as they rolled toward the shore. All in all, pretty much enjoying the perfect day. As far as they were concerned. It didnt take us long to work the raft into the right place and when we did, we swam away, caught a wave, rode it into the shallows, stood up and waited for the action to start. It didnt take long. We knew how the wave sets were running and figured the raft was ripe to catch a big one. Sure enough, a big wave picked up the raft, carried it darned near to the top when it crested, broke and tossed the raft down the front of the wave turning it upside down. The two hapless occupants were flung off right in front of the raft and the wave rolled over em like a runaway freight train. Between the raft and the wave, they got a bit chewed up. The hanger on of the two guys, the one who just followed the head dummys lead got tossed out front, run over by the raft and came up choking and spitting salt water. The ringleader of the two idiots took the full brunt of it all. He was too stupid to realize that sooner or later the raft would eventually drift into the breakers. He went over the falls, the raft right behind and it drove him right into the sandy bottom. He was underwater for a little while, not any longer than usual though. Although to him it must have seemed like forever. The big trick when a wave tossed you to the bottom was to relax, conserve air and after the wave decided it was done with you, swim to the surface. Sometimes though, the wave would shake and vibrate your body so hard, you couldnt hardly believe it and youd get a real feel for the power of the ocean. Even if it was on a small scale as far as the ocean was concerned. Eventually the wave let him go and the way he acted, we thought for a while that we darned near had a drowning victim on our hands. Not really though, he was just in a bit of a panic. He did get cut up pretty good by the sharp lumber edges and no doubt hed picked up more than a few splinters along with some s****es and cuts from the sand bottom, but those were the least of his worries. His main interest had been in not drowning. He struggled to shore, getting knocked down by a couple more waves in the process and eventually made it up onto the sand where he sat down and then laid down. Looked to us like he was all through for the day. His partner in crime wasnt far behind. We had absolutely no sympathy for him. Wed seen him bully more than one Junior High School kid and figured that what goes around, comes around. He probably didnt learn a damn thing from it all, but it sure made us feel good. Revenge is sweet some say. For us it was more than sweet to see one of the local bullies get what was coming to him. We walked off the beach leaving the raft floating in the shallows. Last time I saw it, it was trying to wash up on shore and not making it. The littoral current was carrying it south and at the rate it was going, give it a week and it would be in Mexico. ...
What I remember of the 50's hmmmm. I was just swimming around in my dad's testicle (the left as I recall). Waiting until New Years Eve 1963.
I remeber everything everyone has posted except one thing. WTF is a Sail Cat ?????? My Ma caught me once whipping a cat by the tail over my head and letting it fly, is that what you are talking about. Did I ever catch hell about that little trick.. B B
Sail Cat...CAt crosses road, doesnt quite make it before getting squashed by car. After a couple days of getting flattened and dried out in the sun its ripe for peeling off the pavement and throwing it like a frisbee. Well thats what they were in my little part of Mid Michigan.
You can't just click on one web site. If you really want to learn about hot rodding in the '50's I suggest you go to the library or book store. There are several good books about the history of hot rodding, starting long before the '50s. Hot Rod Pioneers is very good, Hot Rod History by Tom Medley is another good one. Authentic Hot Rods, just to name a few from my own collection. Don't just look at the pictures, read! (I have a friend who collects all the literature, but dosnt' READ it. You don't absorb the info just by holding it!) Barris customs of the '50's is good too, but only a hand full of show rods in there, but still informative. Read as much as you can and you will learn. Then, go back and look at the first 12 issues of Hot Rod, and other old mags from then. After you know about the history from the books the little mags will be that much better.
Ah! if we only could return to the 50s. Jimn[/QUOTE] Jim now I KNOW I was born in the wrong ERA !! Rat
Some GREAT reading there, guys. Absolutely fabulous! Thanks! Stone. Explaining the soul of the 1950's isn't easy, even if you lived at that time. Everybody's lifes were different. I guess you want to know about more things than just cars. Clothes and music too ? To find out about the look, you have to look at pics and movies from that era. And also what kind of style you're after. I guess most guys and girls today are looking for the J.D. style. You can look at the movie "Wild One" with Marlon Brando for one. Also the tough gang in "Rebel Without A Cause" with James Dean to mention some easy-to get-a-hold-of movies. The style of the cars will be found in books, books and books (and also on the internet nowadays). The music was mostly "Cat music" and ranged from what was hep at that time. Rockabilly didn't come around until mid 50's, so to be absolutely "period correct" and drive a time- warp perfect A-V8 built with no part newer than 1948 incl. the license tags and listen to Rockabilly is not correct... BUT, the good thing is... it's NOT 1948!!! It's 2005 and anyone can choose whatever music they want and what kinda car they want. Myself I only (with a few exceptions) listen to music pre -59. But I wouldn't be caught in a car newer than 1953. Or in a car styled in a later fashion than that. This is my world and I'm happy about it. Anyone else can have their choices. This is mine! Go here ! A-BOMBERS OLD STYLE WEEKEND
In the 50's my dad had a 52 ford sedan delivery that was our only means of transportation,,,,,it had been used at the local Ford dealership before my dad got it. He hauled my sister and I in the backbehind the drivers seat,,,,and told us not to touch the walls,,,,,he installed(threw) a couple of ol' moving blankets in the floor and that was our seat or bed,,, In the 50's during the summer trips to visit grandmother we would travel at night because nobody had air conditioning and it was cooler in the pre dawn hours. We were poor by most standards,,,,but I never really knew it,,,, All the kids at the small school I attended had paper bag lunches and the boys sported flat tops or crew cuts dependion on the season,,,,jeans,,,new around the first day of school and Christmas,,,,knee patches the rest of the year,,,,,,,,,,,then they were turned into cut offs during the summer. The girls had bobbed hair styles,pigtails or very long hair,,,,and dresses,,,not pants. Times were simple,,,,,, HRP
Nothing to do with Hotrods but interesting non the less. 1. Mom was alittle cranky at times. Probably because she tired of the 24/7 undivided attention she gave us. A Very loving and very caring lady. 2. Yep dad did all the work, Not only making the money but also all the home and car maintenance. Mom did all the domesticated duties. We would have starved if dad had to take care of us. 3. A typically morning before school was... Get out from under a five inch thick comforter made from scratch by my grandmother. Throw on some shoes because the toilet was in the ba*****t and the access down there was outside. Cold Cold.. Go up to the first floor and set on top of the register that was directly above the coal furnace. Fighting for a spot with my younger sister. Patiently waiting for the heat to start after dad went down to bank the coal. No instant heat here. By morning, depeding on the outside temps, the house was usually 50-55 and any amount of heat coming up felt great. I still remember that horrid smell of a coal furnace. 4. Time to get ready for school and then walk to the bus stop. A 15 minute walk. On cold days we were exposed to the weather and cuddle together sometimes 20-25 minutes waiting on a bus. Felt great to get into that small bus that was packed and warm. 5. Arrive at my school, everyday was church service there, right after that it was the pledge to the flag. We didn't change rooms at school but stayed in the same room with the same teacher all day. One recess before lunch and one right after lunch. That was all. eating lunch wasn't a choice, and what we ate wasn't a choice either. If we decided not to eat our lunch, we would not be permitted to go out for recess. 6. finally after school, it was 2 hrs of homework and supper prepared by mom was always ready at 4:30 sharp as soon as dad got home. 7. On cold nights dad would turn on the TV. yep the world was B and W back then. I can remember..watching .. I love Lucy, Ed Sullivan, Ed Skelton and others. I loved to hear my dad laugh uncontrolably at those shows. I miss him. I could go on and on...
From 1950 to about 1965 I knew the make and model of every car. We never had more than one family car at a time. I lived in Missouri in the 50's and it was a very homogenous world. It was also safe and predictable. As a kid I was totally free in the summers to leave the house in the morning and be gone with my friends all day with out my folks having to worry that some perv would get any of us. There were no "California style Hot Rods" where I lived but lots of 4 or 5 year old cars tricked out with skirts and do-dads. And LOTS of cruising on the week-ends. Cars were cheap(not good, just cheap)and most of my friends got one at around 16 or 17. Parents never paid for these cars. We did. If I could step into the "way back machine" would I go back? Maybe, but I think every generation probably feels that way about the time they grew up in. I was just lucky enough to have done so in the 50's. Rusty.
I first started liking the 50s during the Reagan 50s revival of the 80s, and the 50s of the 90s were kind of cool with all that dark gothic 90s style 50s, But of all the 50s, I think the best 50s were those 'Fonzariffic' 50s that were in vogue during 70s.
Go and get the movie American Graffitti.It's exactly what life was really like in the late fiftys and early sixties.
I grew up in New Jersey during the fifties, about 30 or 40 miles or so west of NYC. I had no idea where to find a key for our house because it was never locked. Especially in the summer when we had windows open day and night. We never heard of such things as home intrusion robberies, or child abductions, or any of that stuff. People trusted each other. People dressed up more. I could not wear jeans to school. They were called dungarees and they were for work or play, not school. I couldn't wear T-shirts to school either. Girls wore dresses or skirts mostly. When my big sister went away to join the Air Force we had to get dressed up to take her to the airport. My dad wore a suit and tie! Everybody I knew had a .22 rifle and nobody thought anything of it to see three or four 9-year old boys walking down the street carrying their rifles, uncased, on the way to the makeshift range we had out in the woods. Those same boys could walk into any sporting goods store and, without any permission slips or raised eyebrows, buy ammunition for those rifles. If we spent a summer morning finding empty soda bottles and returning them to the store where we collected the $.02 deposit, we could buy all the ice cream and penny candy we wanted. Movies weren't rated because they didn't need to be. Married couples on TV slept in seperate beds. You NEVER heard 4-letter words in public. I learned what Ivory soap tasted like when I said "damn" once in front of my mother. I never did THAT again! When you picked up the phone a female operator would ask, "Number please". You then told her the number you wanted to call, like Woodside-nine, three-four-seven-five, and then she would connect you. Car stuff: My father drove a '50 Buick Roadmaster. Black, 4-doors, straight eight, and huge! I remember riding standing up in the center of the front seat between my mom and dad. Child seats? What were those? When you turned on the radio in dad's Buick, it would hum for a few seconds while the tubes warmed up. You always lost the signal for a second when you went under bridges. You could tell a Pontiac from an Olds a mile away. Even at night because the taillights were so distinctive. My sister once dated a guy who could borrow a friends brand new '56 Chevy convertible. That thing was red and white and I thought it was the most beautiful car I had ever seen! I remember new car intros were a big deal. Most dealerships had searchlights scanning the sky that you could see for miles. I remember the whole family going down to see the new '56 Fords and I was disappointed because they didn't change them all that much from the '55s. The first time I saw a '58 Chevy I thought that the designers had gone nuts. How could they F-up that bad after the '57! Japanese cars? Never heard of such a thing! England made some funny little two seat things but only rich guys had them. American cars were the only things on the road. Those new Corvettes were hot but who could afford one? The only place I ever saw a hot rod was in the pages of Hot Rod magazine. Pick-up trucks were only for work and four-door cars were un-cool! Only rich people had more than one car.
My dad sprung for the top-o-the line entertainment center..10" B&W TV, record player (78 RPM only) with a tilt out AM FM radio. There was nothing on the FM band. You'd get sent home from school for wearing "Dungarees" (blue jeans) Bombers were a fad shoe design with very thick soles. Shoe laces were replaced for a while by a leather covered metal flap that mechanically closed the shoe similar to the velcro flaps today. We always checked Flagg Bros. shoes for the latest styles but of course we had to wait until Kresge's(spl?) could whip out some affordable clones. Until the B movies made it fashionable, in our area 5" cuffs were for ****s like me where their legs were too short for their wasteline. Fat kids had 5" cuffs. 1" rolled twice and pressed with an iron was the proper cuff. T shirt sleeves were rolled as well...twice. In our area it was yellow Top Value stamps that you got with your purchases at the grocery store and the "filling station" but my grandmother bought our Christmas presents with S&H Green stamps (Penn.). We'd help her lick them and put them in the books. Hot rods were pretty common on TV. Bud on Father knows best had a T roadster I believe. Life of Riley had a show with a hot rod. Of course 77 Sunset strip, Ozzie and Harriet and the Beaver came later. Any lady in the neighborhood was not only en***led to discipline you but felt obligated to do so. You ended up getting it twice once your mother was alerted. Embar***ing her and the family by not behaving brought extra wrath. We all bought 25 cent kites in the spring but when the Duncan yo-yo man showed up we all lusted after the 4 rhinestone yo-yo that would sleep. I'd spend hours in the hobby shop ogling the U-control gas powered airplanes but was resigned to the plastic models. Most of the cars and planes were 98 cents plus 2 cents tax for the nice round number of a buck. Highway Pioneers were the first that I remember. Model T, curved dash Olds and the very impressive Stutz Bear cat. What would the safety police say today to a kit designed for kids that called for using a match to melt the axle end and quickly mash the soft platic to keep the wheel on? Lots of hot rod model kits that fit our style that we try to duplicate today. Watch Mr. Wizard was my favorite kids show. I really liked the Mickey Mouse club, especially the Spin & Marty episodes. I was the first one to spot Annette on the back row. Yeah right! Howdy Doody was the best but Pick Temple was a local western kids show in the D.C. area where the guest kids all wore their best Roy Rogers and Hopalong C***idy cap pistols. (The really good holster sets had fringe and rawhide lashes to tie the holster to your leg for quick draws.) It was a live show. You'd do a quick draw and fan the hammer with your left hand trying to pop the ballons on top of the fence. It created quite a stir when the ballon popped and one of the kids blurted out "I got that sum-*****!". All of this contributed to our at***udes and mores. Cursing was reserved for the garage. You were alerted if someone brought thier girlfriend into the garage. It was a comon coertesy afforded all kids and ladies. It could start a fight if you dropped an F-bomb in front of someones girlfriend. It was rare though. We all knew the rules. Boy has that changed. (I'm as guilty as most) Lowered, skirts and duals made a hot rod out of a shoebox Ford or an early 50's Chevy. I think lots of guys left the primer spots where it was nosed and decked just so you'd notice the modifications. I remember the early 50's, as a kid, as being more of the mild custom street cars. By the late 50's performance (street racing) was taking over but mild customs were still popular. That spawned the expression..."If it don't go ...chrome it!" Two camps racers and customizers. Sorry to ramble on like this. I'm just old. ignore me and I'll go away.
I just read this whole thread and I have to say most of my experiences as a kid in the 70's are echoed here. Fat Hack hit it right on the head with his comments. All this really brings up a good point. If you wnat ot know what any era or event was really like you need to go to the source - the people who lived it. Every generation has a rosy view of their formative years but they also remember the bad things as well. We do live in a very different world now and it seems to change faster every year. What will the world be like when my 10 and 4 year old sons are my age (42)? I bet they'll look back at the 00's and teens with a wistful look in their eyes and say "Hey, do you remember...?"
I started driving in 59, I remember all the "cool " guys i looked up to drove 49-54 Fords and Chevys. Very few were driven in primer, that just wasent considered something you did then. most were stock colors.Metallic's were unheard of yet No chopped tops,only nosed and decked, (bullnose strips were good) . Fender Skirt's were cool and maybe a sun visor. Lowering blocks in the rear.Only ******** guys would even think of lowering the front .Usually by heating ,and ruining the coils. You had to have smithy's mufflers.There were no corner muffler shops then.Dual exhaust kits were mail ordered from Honest Charlie's or J.C. Whitney and you put them on yourself. The Ladies men would take the "three on the tree" and move it over to the lert side and put on a Brodie knob so they could drive with thier arm around thier girl. All this makes me want to watch "A Christmas Story" It's allmost that time or year
If you dig Western series and watched it during the 50's, here's a quiz for you: WHO IS THE MAN on my right side ?
The Jalopy Journal
