# Back To The 1950's..for real! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154 "2013-04-30T23:22:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/21 "2013-05-01T05:59:00Z")
See of you can hire Morgan Freeman to drive you and your mom around for a bit and give you a taste of white Southern superiority, ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/22 "2013-05-01T08:54:29Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Give the party a _Mad Men_ theme. Wrong decade. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/23 "2013-05-01T10:44:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Wrong decade. I remember that the very first episodes were set in 1958 or 1959.( They mention a politician named John Kennedy , who is not yet president.) So that’s the decade of the 50’s, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/24 "2013-05-01T11:56:54Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Actually, this sounds like it could be a fun day! Til you get to the [food](http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html)! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/25 "2013-05-01T13:23:38Z")
Where are you going to find a fedora? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/26 "2013-05-01T14:49:14Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I remember that the very first episodes were set in 1958 or 1959.( They mention a politician named John Kennedy , who is not yet president.) > So that’s the decade of the 50’s, right? 🙂 The pilot episode of Mad Men, “[Smoke Gets in your Eyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_Gets_in_Your_Eyes_(Mad_Men)),” takes place in March 1960. Kennedy wasn’t elected until November of that year. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/27 "2013-05-01T15:39:05Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > We’re going to go round and round with examples and counterexamples here. > > Windows in general were made of wood and had to be painted. > Those metal kitchen cabinets you speak of were porcelain over (usually) steel and chipped easily. > Aluminum siding was never as good as vinyl. > Screens and storm windows had to be swapped depending on the season. > > We can agree to disagree here, but I still insist your average homeowner spent more time maintaining a home built in the 1900s-1950s than today’s homeowner spends on a house built since 1960. I have a mid-century home, built in the fifties. I also decorate in a mid-century style. (I do not, however, dress or eat in a fifties way, nor do I drive a fifties car) The house still has most of it’s original exterior and it’s held up extremely well, much **much** better than my father-in-law’s house exterior, and his house was built new in the 90’s. We do maintenance, but it’s nothing odd or difficult. Living in a period-correct home, and spending a LOT of time reading about mid-century houses, I think you’re mostly wrong here. Sorry. I would say it’s more work, but only slightly more. Things were just built incredibly well back then (which is why I’m such a fan of the period!). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/28 "2013-05-01T18:23:03Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Actually, this sounds like it could be a fun day! > > Hold a party and a barbecue in the back yard. Make it a full-day event, and invite a lot of friends and extended family. Give the party a _Mad Men_ theme. > Send out invitations.(by mail, of course. Email hasn’t been invented yet, and long-distance phone calls were expensive, remember? ) > > Require everybody to dress appropriately. > Put ashtrays on every available spot in the house. > Tell one of the kids manipulate the rabbit ear antenna on the TV set, so you can try to get a clear picture. > Talk to people proudly about your new Fridgedaire, with its E-Z Glide drawer and handy ice cube trays. > Hire a black maid (if you dare!), and have her address everyone as sir and ma’am. …sexually harass the women… ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/29 "2013-05-01T18:50:47Z")
I still wear y 1956 campaign button (“I Like Ike”). Its a good conversation starter. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/30 "2013-05-01T19:54:53Z")
When you are bbq’ing in the backyard be sure to show your neighbors the hole you started digging for the family bomb shelter. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/31 "2013-05-01T20:07:25Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > You don’t have power tools so even sawing a 2x4 takes three times as long as it does these days. Why wouldn’t you have power tools? [DeWalt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWalt) [Black and Decker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_%26_Decker) [Stanley Power Tools](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Works) [Craftsman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craftsman_(tools)) And other manufacturers around since the 1920s, if not earlier? I still use my Dad’s 1950s DeWalt Radial Saw, works fine. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/32 "2013-05-01T20:50:15Z")
I wouldn’t have far to go if I wanted to do the same. My house was built in 1956 and still has a lot of the original stuff like the front screen door, doorbell, gutters, bathroom cabinets, and a few other things. It also has the original boiler and windows. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/33 "2013-05-02T08:02:53Z")
Apparently, there are some people who choose to live a 1950’s life style (1940s and 1930s too) according to the Daily Mail: [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1042702/Time-Warp-Wives-Meet-women-really-live-past.html](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1042702/Time-Warp-Wives-Meet-women-really-live-past.html) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/34 "2013-05-02T09:23:06Z")
There’s a good chance that you’re racist, sexist, anti-semitic, xenophobic or homophobic. The universe you live in is black-and-white and often succumbs to vertical hold, horizontal hold and ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/35 "2013-05-02T12:33:56Z")
Of course, stop reading this immediately. Imagine trying to explain the Internet to the average American in, let’s say, 1953. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/36 "2013-05-02T17:12:15Z")
You might have a hard time buying leaded gas for that 1950s car. By the way, what do owners of vintage autos put in their tanks? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/37 "2013-05-02T19:35:01Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > You might have a hard time buying leaded gas for that 1950s car. By the way, what do owners of vintage autos put in their tanks? [Lead substitutes](http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Lead+Substitute/N0401/C0126.oap). ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154/38 "2013-05-02T20:01:44Z")
I use premium unleaded…it’s not that big a deal in cars that aren’t daily driven. The 66 Caddy gets used about 500 miles a year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-1950s-for-real/657154.md?page=1)