And with Watergate, the media's ascension
to serial killer status in that from that time forward, they've made
it their goal to destroy anyone in office.
-
Except W

"Jeffrey D Angus" wrote in message
...
Hagstar wrote:
I don't remember much of anything good about the old days. They're gone-
that's good. Mostly I remember JFK's death, duck and cover
drills, Cuban Missiles, Vietnam body counts, Selma, Watts, Newark,
then RFK and Martin Luther King,

Lest we forget, "The gun control act of 1968" and wage and price
controls. Charles Manson and the Manson Family. The Symbionese
Liberation Army. The John Birch Society. The Great Society. Students
for a Democratic Society. And with Watergate, the media's ascension
to serial killer status in that from that time forward, they've made
it their goal to destroy anyone in office.

Oh, and personally, graduating from high school just in time for the
first collapse of the aerospace industry. "Help wanted: Service
station attendant. NO engineers!"

Oh yeah, trying to make sense of it all trying to grow up living under
the fear of a nuclear holocaust or ending up as a box gift wrapped by
the Army.

The only nice thing about that time was not knowing about AIDS,
crack cocaine, crystal meth, disco or reality TV.


Jeff,

There is good and bad in every time and in every endeavor.

Things I remember from the 60's:

Television worth watching, where the most violence you saw was on Road
Runner cartoons.

Tuning across the (AM) dial at night to hear all the interesting things..
programs (mostly all different) from thousands of miles away, it was almost
like being there.

Going to school to learn things, from teachers that went there to teach. And
the most dangerous thing in school was the playground bully.. and he only
used fists.

Riding bicycles without having to get geared up to look like some sort of
unearthly monster.

Being able to do things like mow lawns or do field work to earn money (try
that now if you're under 16!)

Secret prisons were something that the bad guys had.

You could drive for a week (or more) on $5 worth of gas. (now you can just
about get home from the gas station)

I could walk into a radio shop and watch the tech work on things for hours,
and not only did he not get upset, he tought me as he went. (now there are
virtually no repair shops left, and most of the ones that are, don't repair,
they exchange).

A hamburger was 19 cents. If you wanted fries and a Coke, it was 45 cents.
If you felt like going to eat at a real cafe, sit in a booth and have
someone serve you, the price went up to a dollar.

You could take a Greyhound to ANYWHERE for under $20! (now they have
cancelled most routes completely, and stop in far fewer towns on the ones
they still have)

Sometimes, kids would get in a fight during a Little League game. The
parents broke it up, instead of participating.

You weren't worried about whether your neighbor was a serial killer,
abductor, or politician.

You could go out all day, and never lock your door.

You knew your neighbor, and even shared your time, your lawn mower or your
BBQ with them.

Kids played outside, instead of sitting endless hours in front of the TV or
computer.

So, yeah. There was Richard Speck, Sirhan Sirhan, Jack Ruby, Herbert
Hoover's dossier's, the Cuban missile crisis, the Watts riots... but
overall, things were not so bad. The Russians did a lot of sabre rattling,
but I don't recall any bombs.

Things I remember from the 60's:

Television worth watching, where the most violence you saw
was on Road Runner cartoons.

An odd remark, as we're now living in the Platinum Age of television... The
Soparanos, Mythbusters, and The Simpsons/King of the Hill/South Park, to
name just a handful of great shows. I ought to throw in the live version of
The Tick, one of the most wonderfully written TV shows I've ever seen.


I could walk into a radio shop and watch the tech work on things
for hours, and not only did he not get upset, he tought me as he
went. Virtually no repair shops are left, and most of the ones that
are, don't repair, they exchange.

This appears to be because most modern electronics cannot be economically
repaired. And even if it's built to last, changing technology has an
irritating way of rendering it obsolete 5 to 10 times as fast as it used to.


A hamburger was 19 cents. * If you wanted fries and a Coke,
it was 45 cents. If you felt like going to eat at a real cafe, sit
in a booth and have someone serve you, the price went up to
a dollar.

You're looking at Ye Olde Days through rose-colored glasses. How did those
prices compare to your disposable income?

* More like 15 cents.


You weren't worried about whether your neighbor was a serial killer,
abductor, or politician.

grin


You could go out all day, and never lock your door.

In Bermuda, perhaps, but that was hardly common in the US.


So, yeah. There was Richard Speck, Sirhan Sirhan, Jack Ruby,
Herbert Hoover's dossier's, the Cuban missile crisis, the Watts riots...
but overall, things were not so bad. The Russians did a lot of sabre
rattling, but I don't recall any bombs.

You are ignoring WWII, as it occurred before you were born (or you were very
young). Post-WWII America was certainly its Fat 'n Stupid era.

I'll agree with one thing... We're entering an era where it appears that the
utter stupidity of world leaders (and I'm condemning all of them) will lead
us into a global war that will make double-u double-u 2 (punning reference
intentional) look like a tea party.

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
. ..
Things I remember from the 60's:

Television worth watching, where the most violence you saw
was on Road Runner cartoons.

An odd remark, as we're now living in the Platinum Age of television...
The
Soparanos, Mythbusters, and The Simpsons/King of the Hill/South Park, to
name just a handful of great shows. I ought to throw in the live version
of
The Tick, one of the most wonderfully written TV shows I've ever seen.

When we were kids, William, shows like those you listed would never have
been allowed on television, let alone during primetime or any time kids
would be watching. And that includes "The Tick" (which, BTW, I agree with
you that it is a very well done show. Patrick Warburton does The Tick to a
tee.. he was made for the part). But it would never have passed the
Television Code.

A hamburger was 19 cents. * If you wanted fries and a Coke,
it was 45 cents. If you felt like going to eat at a real cafe, sit
in a booth and have someone serve you, the price went up to
a dollar.

You're looking at Ye Olde Days through rose-colored glasses. How did those
prices compare to your disposable income?

Actually pretty favorably. As a preteen/early teen I spent a lot of my time
working and earning money. At 12 I worked the strawberry fields (ate up half
their profits... LOL), at 13 and 14, I worked in the (sugar) beet fields.
Early season I would thin (weed), late season I would help with the harvest.
I made up to $8 a day. That may not sound like much, for so much work, but
for a kid back then, it was a lot of money, considering our largest outgo
was 10 cents for a bottle of soda from the machine (5 cents if we bought it
by the glass in a cafe) or a nickel for a candy bar. For the 'bad kids',
the big money was 30 cents for a pack of cigarettes from a machine (a
quarter if they could forge a note from mom or dad and buy them at the
store..)

* More like 15 cents.

The 19 cent figure was at Dee's (at the time the only chain in the Salt Lake
Valley) at a time (1968) when I was actually interested in going to fast
food places.

You weren't worried about whether your neighbor was a serial killer,
abductor, or politician.

grin


You could go out all day, and never lock your door.

In Bermuda, perhaps, but that was hardly common in the US.

In most any place, except maybe the larger cities. Nobody in Salt Lake ever
locked their doors (except businesses), let alone any of the several small
towns I lived in growing up. It was also quite common for people to leave
the keys in their car or pickup so they didn't have to look all over the
house when they wanted to go out. I actually lived in houses that never had
a lock on the front door at all.

"You can linger too long in your dreams
Say goodbye to the oldies but goodies
'Cause the good old days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it
seems"

Billy Joel
"Rick" wrote in message ...
"Pepperidge Farm remembers. But I forget!"

Anyone besides me remember what show that 2 liner was in?

Rick

Television worth watching, where the most violence you saw
was on Road Runner cartoons.

An odd remark, as we're now living in the Platinum Age of television...
The
Soparanos, Mythbusters, and The Simpsons/King of the Hill/South Park, to
name just a handful of great shows. I ought to throw in the live version
of The Tick, one of the most wonderfully written TV shows I've ever seen.

When we were kids, William, shows like those you listed would never have
been allowed on television, let alone during primetime or any time kids
would be watching. And that includes "The Tick" (which, BTW, I agree with
you that it is a very well done show. Patrick Warburton does The Tick to a
tee.. he was made for the part). But it would never have passed the
Television Code.

My point was about "television worth watching". There was little
"entertainment" programming really worth watching in that era.

William Sommerwerck wrote:
snip
My point was about "television worth watching". There was little
"entertainment" programming really worth watching in that era.


Yet we all watched with rapt attention. There were some shows which I
will still catch today, notably 'The Twilight Zone'. It was the best we
had, and for those of us in rural areas, perhaps the best that can be
imagined at the time.

Like Brenda, I did a lot of odd jobs...mostly farm stuff. I was bucking
hay bales at 14. Before that I drove the tractor and the trucks in the
field. Machinery played a big part in my life, and sometimes I think I
missed my calling as a heavy machine operator. OTOH, being a farm boy,
animals were a constant concern and joy as well...horses especially.

The atmosphere, despite the Cold War, Vietnam and the Six Day War (among
others), not to mention the almost annual political assassinations, was
somehow more relaxed.

jak

Nobody in Salt Lake ever locked their doors

Don't tell anyone, but in our previous old country-ish house outside Redmond
WA, we never locked the doors. Too far off the path for anyone to bother.
Plus, we had neighbors with guns.

When we left on a longer vacation, I would make a show of locking the front
door, to instruct our kids that locking up is a Good Thing, but a child
could have gotten into the house within a minute or two.

Phil Nelson

The atmosphere, despite the Cold War, Vietnam and the
Six Day War (among others), not to mention the almost
annual political assassinations, was somehow more relaxed.

This was probably because "things" changed more slowly, and we weren't
deluged by what has become nearly omnipresent media.

Don't tell anyone, but in our previous old country-ish house
outside Redmond WA, we never locked the doors. Too far
off-the-path for anyone to bother. Plus, we had neighbors
with guns.

This must have been many years ago, because Redmond and surrounding areas
are now so heavily developed that there's no longer any "outside".