# The 1950's Were Better! (than today) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 24, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881 "2000-03-24T19:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/1 "2000-03-25T06:55:00Z")
In viewing the movies of the 1950’s, you can learn a lot about life in the USA-“then” vs “now”. One thing I’ve noticed: America was a lot cleaner then-people didn’t throw their trash around the way they do now (of course, fast food chains were but a dream in Ray Kroc’s brain back then). Another thing: people dressed much better back them-the typical college student wore a jacket and tie to classes-as opposed to the backward baseball cap, size XXXL grunge look favored today. The girls also took more care of their appearence. Am I a retro? maybe-but in some respects I’d rather this be 1950 iso 2000! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/2 "2000-03-25T06:56:00Z")
Lemme guess. You’re a white guy. * * * [Change Your Password, Please](http://204.95.48.199/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getannounce&ForumNumber=3&Start=2451545.99&End=2451911&Session=2451598.1854) and don’t use HTML, as it has been disabled, but you can learn about superscripts [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000795.html) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/3 "2000-03-24T19:10:00Z")
I think there was a thread awhile back about how people used to dress better. Look at photos from 100 years ago: even poor people looked better then than rich people do now! I have worn corsets and floor-length skirts (it’s a long story), and they’re not as uncomfortable or hard to get around in as rumor will have it. Even in NY, there’s no place to dress up anymore! People wear sweats to the opera, for pete’s sake. As far as the rest of the OP . . . I can’t quite remember the '50s, but I don’t imagine being a woman, or black, or gay, or handicapped could have been much fun then. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/4 "2000-03-24T19:13:00Z")
I don’t recall the exact book, but it was written in the late fifties, and a passage described the downfall of a young lady from a good family. One sentence that has stuck in mymind went something like: “As the year went on, she began to attend parties with the wrong kind of people, where the men didn’t wear ties.” That was the fifties! - Rick ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/5 "2000-03-24T21:13:00Z")
Um, I don’t think it’s such a good idea to judge a decade from the way its movies portray contemporary people. If we did, we’d have to conclude that the 1990s consisted entirely of explosions. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/6 "2000-03-24T21:16:00Z")
Maybe (I wish) people started to realize that what you drape over your body does not define you as a person. Judging by the endless parade of fashion shows and Gap outlets, I’m probably wrong, though. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/7 "2000-03-24T21:21:00Z")
Neutron, don’t you believe that how you present yourself to the world says something about your personality, about who you are? You can indeed hudge a book by its cover, most of the time. I always try to look my best when I go outdoors; I figure the world is ugly enough without me making things worse. No, I don’t wear tons of makeup or Chanel suits (I hate Chanel, the Nazi whore), but I always make sure I am neat, well-groomed and wearing flattering clothes. Would I be morally superior somehow if I wore raggedy sweats, dirty stringy hair and falling-apart tennis shoes? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/8 "2000-03-24T21:22:00Z")
“Judge” a book, of course. “Hudging” a book is darned difficult. ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/9 "2000-03-24T21:24:00Z")
Thanks eve, you really said what I tried to convey: surely the sloppy way people dress today says something about the image they want to project. I agree, clothes do not mean everything, but every time I see a college student dressed like a bum, I feel that something is wrong. I guess I don’t like the ghetto-hip/hop look! ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/10 "2000-03-24T21:26:00Z")
Ugly is an opinion. And I couldn’t care less if the guy in front of me at the convenience store is scraggly-looking. Fashion, as an industry and as a hobby, is a joke. Who decides what’s going to look cool next year anyhow. And who cares? My closet is filled with clothes from 5 or 6 years ago. Jeans, t-shirts, and sweat shirts, that’s all I wear. I usually toss something on without even looking at it. I have more important things to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/11 "2000-03-24T21:29:00Z")
If I was going to some sort of business meeting or formal function, I’d dress up, but only for the benefit of the others there who think you’re a monster if you’re not in a tux. If I threw some kind of formal party and someone showed up in sweatpants, it wouldn’t bother me one damn bit. ---
**Author:** ![Moose\_and\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Moose\_and\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moose_and_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/12 "2000-03-24T21:31:00Z")
> [@](#): > > “Hudging” a book is darned difficult. I’ve hudged books before . . . :::glancing furtively around room:::: **WHAT?!?** There’s _nothing_ wrong with that! ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/13 "2000-03-24T21:32:00Z")
Oh yes, the 50’s were just a lovely time! We still had segregation, the cold war and polio. Women knew their place was in the home. But everybody _dressed_ so neatly. And so much like everybody else. We didn’t have any of this corrosive individuality. Oh yes, life was much better in the 50’s. * * * Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/14 "2000-03-24T21:34:00Z")
You do realise that fifty years from now, people will look back at with nostalgia, wishing that their era had our taste, our moral fiber, the honesty of our politicians, the manners of our children, our modesty of dress and the general happiness that we have today. P.S: The fifties weren’t all that hot, anyway. Read \* The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap \* by Stephanie Coontz. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/15 "2000-03-24T21:36:00Z")
Well, Neutron, I am glad there are people who feel the way you do . . . Makes the rest of us look all the better by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/16 "2000-03-24T21:39:00Z")
Eve: I absolutely agree, the amount of care someone puts into their appearance sends a message. I would submit, however, that: a) not everyone wants to send the same message; and b) the professional garb which you and I sport requires time and attention – however, other forms of attire cost the wearer equal effort and expense. I didn’t live through the 50’s so I have no personal knowledge to objectively make a fair evaluation of their culture. However, media portrayals of that decade make me think our culture was homogenous, sanitized, repressive and stultifying. * * * Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/17 "2000-03-24T21:40:00Z")
I talk to people and judge them for who they are, no matter what they’re wearing. There SHOULD be more people like that. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/18 "2000-03-24T21:43:00Z")
And let me clarify : I’m not talking about people who smell really bad and haven’t taken a shower in a year. That’s just gross. I’m talking about looking down on someone because they’re wearing a sweatshirt and a baseball cap. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/19 "2000-03-24T21:43:00Z")
Well, let’s just agree to disagree, then (she says, brushing a piece of lint from her crisp and stylish cotton frock). ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881/20 "2000-03-24T21:45:00Z")
Yeah, I suppose so Eve. (Brushing potato chip crumbs off my Penn State Nittany Lions t-shirt) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1950s-were-better-than-today/17881.md?page=2)