I Remember The 1950s Vaguely

 1951

For a kid, it was a very cheesy era.  Were we all crackers?  You'd sure be excused for thinking so, when considering the media and the popular arts of the decade.

I remember Frank Sinatra singing on the radio.   You Could Be Swinging On A Star!  There were several movies.  Fantasia was memorable.  I remember mostly some of the fantastical happenings in the Alice movie.  I found out later that the drawings were pretty bad compared to the illustrations in the book.

  My upbringing was most definitely working class so there were only a couple of movies...though at some point my father brought home a small black and white tv.  Micky Mouse club, and various local kid's programs became our main commercial entertainment.  We mostly entertained ourselves outside the house, as children did in that decade and the one following.

I remember some sad stuff too.  I was very aware of a kind of depression in men we knew of, who still were feeling the war.  Some of the culture was very noir. There were whispers of crimes back in the woods.  Mothers would hush up when we came near to listen.  We children were nosy!  Criminals of perception, ht/ E.L. Doctrow, Book of Daniel.

 I remember sitting in an old car out in the dark and the rain while my parents were in some office paying a bill.  This was Seattle in the 50s.  I swear I hear Harlem Nocturne in my head when I think back to that night.

Towards the end of the decade and into the next, I did some babysitting in the neighborhood and I got to see some sad situations, and know some parents who were struggling a bit.  After all they were hiring a big child to take care of their little children.  It seems a bit risky now.

My mother was a school bus driver, so after school I was taking care of three younger siblings every week day.  Always with the kids.  I cooked for them too.  When I say I am all cooked out you can see why.  Its been a long time in the kitchen.

Of our small group here, I believe Deputy Dogge and I are the only children of the end of the 40s.  I'm sure he could tell about the 50s from his side of the country.  I may be forgetting Bakokitty?

It was all pretty good, mostly.  We went to school.  We did college. Some of us were pretty hip!  lol  Music was EVERYthing to us.  It spoke for us.  A very big subject.  I won't even start tonight.

None of my sibs went into the service.  But we were mostly girls.  We grew.  We married.  We raised children.  We became the Boomers.

I thought maybe this was true.  And maybe it is.  In the 50s you could still watch Disney Programs..

Yes, my youngest sister was a bit of a nut.  Somebody always has to mess up a photo.  Its traditional.