Did The Good Old Days Really Exist

November 11, 2002 10:28 AM

Did The Good Old Days Really Exist or was it just the iconography that was cute? Not to mention the cars. Or the clothes. Or the refrigerators. And the music. Or the supermarkets.... But were any of these commodities and comforts actually any good? Could we live with them today? Accomplished websites like Ephemera Now and Fifties Boulevard give the impression of an increasingly unrealistic American Dream that's still fighting against waking up. Is there - can there be - any equivalent nowadays? [First two links from today's Bifurcated Rivets.]
posted by MiguelCardoso (20 comments total)

Not to mention the cars.

Indeed.
posted by y2karl at 10:59 AM on November 11, 2002

I have to wonder when I'm old and cranky if I'll look back and have fond memories of my 1985 Honda Accord.

But, while those who look upon the 50s for their cars, everyone who will look back at the 70s, 80s, 90s will fondly remember video games. This is already apparent with the cult of classic arcade gamers.

As for music, it may seem strange but I'll be getting down to Ludacris' "Fantasy" when I'm 80 for sure. I once had a conversation with a gentleman who complained that all that music is about is cars and girls. I pointed out that's all the Beach Boys ever sang about.
posted by Stan Chin at 11:05 AM on November 11, 2002

There were Big Star stores in Tennessee and Mississippi well into the 1970s. I went to one frequently as a child in the '70s. I don't think Big Star's actually a chain anymore, but you can still see some with the name and the old sign around in small towns, at least. (Trivia: The cult band Big Star took its name from the Memphis chain.) The strawberries and fresh fruit were, I think, vastly superior on the whole - even if Kiwi fruit weren't commonly found. Otherwise, today's grocery stores are far more diversified as far as products go.
posted by raysmj at 11:14 AM on November 11, 2002

I once had a conversation with a gentleman who complained that all that music is about is cars and girls. I pointed out that's all the Beach Boys ever sang about.


And LSD?
posted by y2karl at 11:21 AM on November 11, 2002

Oh my lord... this must be the weirdest recipe of all time. Bleh! No wonder the 60's generation turned to drugs, they needed them to block out the memories of things like this.
posted by dejah420 at 11:45 AM on November 11, 2002

Yep, the frosted sandwich loaf is some screwed up recipe. Reminds me of this...
Yum.
posted by Fabulon7 at 11:57 AM on November 11, 2002

And today ice cream doesnt taste the way it used to. Except for Ben and Jerry's.
posted by Postroad at 12:02 PM on November 11, 2002

I don't know where you live Postroad, but we've got mom and pop shops around here that make ice cream better than I've EVER had it.

I guess it all depends on what aspects of life you mean when you say "good old days"? I wouldn't say that race relations were so much better in say 1952 or that it would be great if cars were still pumping out all those lead filled emissions on their 4 miles to the gallon, but they sure did look cool!
posted by Pollomacho at 12:11 PM on November 11, 2002

I love cars from all eras, and that '57 Chevy is gorgeous. But technologically, it wasn't particularly advanced even in its day, much less in comparison to modern cars. Would anyone really want to go back to fade-prone drum brakes, bias-ply tires, lap-belts (if any), fussy carbs, dangerous emissions, 8 miles-per-gallon, or a bakelite and chrome steering wheel boss aimed like a torpedo at your sternum?

The fact is we live in a golden age of automobiles, with more choice, safety, comfort, performance, economy, style, reliability and engineering genius than anytime in history. I can buy an SUV, a "crossover" SUV/car mongrel, a roadster, a sports car, a hot-hatch, a muscle-car, a station wagon, a 4-door sedan, or a pickup and have a level of performance that would have been unheard of just a few years ago. Our MINI Cooper S cost 21 grand, looks fantastic, is safe (ABS, 6 airbags), and has performance numbers that not long ago you'd have needed a Porsche or a Ferrari to better.

My head will always be turned by beautiful old cars, but whenever I hear someone say they don't make 'em like they used to, I agree and add a quick "Thank goodness."
posted by jalexei at 12:27 PM on November 11, 2002

Is anyone old enough to remember when you had the milkman deliver milk to your home and you left the empties in the silver box outside? That's one memory of the 60's I have and I have the feeling my midwestern town was behind the times then ...
posted by pyramid termite at 2:22 PM on November 11, 2002

They brought back delivery in the SF Bay Area for a little while in the late 70's, it never really caught on though. I begged my mother to get our milk delivered, but she said it was silly and more expensive than at Safeway. Oh fine mother!

Thanks for the links Miguel, I love this stuff!
posted by Woolcott'sKindredGal at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2002

I've lived in Great Falls, Montana for about three months, and this is heaven...it really is the closest thing that I've ever seen to a "fifties ideal" than any other place I've lived. The downtown is simply charming, the parks are clean, the people are super-friendly...this place is awesome.
posted by davidmsc at 2:59 PM on November 11, 2002

The 50's & 60's food jibes are funny. Most food was WAY overcooked. I didn't know meat was really RED until I was an adult. And that jello-mold greenish milky ring thing is a hoot. I can just see the tin TV tray it would get served on.
posted by HTuttle at 3:07 PM on November 11, 2002

The servant problem wasn't any better either.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:10 PM on November 11, 2002

Great stuff Miguel...love all the artwork on all these sites, these links are keepers...but hey, I didn't see any of these....
posted by madamjujujive at 5:52 PM on November 11, 2002

Weirdness.

I swear that #23 (The Party's Over) looks like George W. Bush.
posted by bwg at 7:19 PM on November 11, 2002

Is anyone old enough to remember when you had the milkman deliver milk to your home and you left the empties in the silver box outside?

Yes, with the cream at the top. We were supposed to shake it up before we poured it but sometimes I "forgot" when I was having a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

And I remember going to the movies before TV and seeing newsreels.
posted by y2karl at 7:31 PM on November 11, 2002

A beautiful site, if derivative. Very wry, very lovely. I wonder what the car manufacturers, the brochure designers, and the auto engineers would have to say about this copyrighted material? He's selling his scans? I dunno...
posted by boardman at 8:32 PM on November 11, 2002

A beautiful site, if derivative.

Derivative links? Like to see more!

I think advertising of the 1950s reflects real life as accurately as advertising today does. My Levis can help me hurdle (and hurtle) through walls of solid brick, and models love beer.

I say the real good old days were back in 1903 when a real man could strap a motorcycle engine onto a kite and fly!
posted by hama7 at 9:03 PM on November 11, 2002

Is anyone old enough to remember when you had the milkman deliver milk to your home and you left the empties in the silver box outside?

I'm only 26, but I remember this. The milkman in Columbus, Indiana continued to deliver until the mid-eigthies I suppose. We also had one of those weird bread drawers that looked like the drawers that a bank teller uses. The bread man puts bread through the drawer and it magically appears in a drawer in the kitchen. Great stuff.
posted by ttrendel at 9:41 PM on November 11, 2002