# What would surprise someone from 1959? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585 "2009-11-14T20:17:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/101 "2009-11-18T04:51:21Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Boobs on display. Really. If you’ve ever seen someone (ok, a guy) come from a more repressed culture, they don’t know what to do, or where to look. Yeah, I don’t know what year but I remember Playtex bra commercials where the bra on the model (or even a mannequin) was worn over a turtleneck sweater. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/102 "2009-11-18T19:42:17Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Bobby Garwood, who as a controversial Vietnam War prisoner of war who returned years after the others were released, gave an interview to “Playboy” magazine in the early 1980s. He said the thing that shocked him the most was the language of women, compared to the mid 60s when he left the US of A. I’d imagine a visitor from 1959 would find todays acceptance of “foul language” even stranger. 30 years ago it was surprising for a female artist like Chrissie Hynde or Marianne Faithful to use “the f word”. Today a rap record or a “Die Hard” movie will use it as much as possible.[Robert R. Garwood - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Garwood) Also the total disuse and unacceptance of gender/racial/ethnic slurs. The first time our time traveler called someone a “colored boy” or referred to any female over 18 years old as a “girl,” I’d like to see the expression when the response is "What is your fucking shit of a problem? As many people have pointed out: There is something wrong when you say “Fucking (insert gender/racial/ethnic slur here)” and the first word gets beeped while the second doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/103 "2009-11-18T21:37:27Z")
2009 person: And with this device I can send messages I type to any of my friends who also have this same device. 1959 person: Wow, I bet in a few more years people will actually be able to talk back and forth on them. 2009 person: Oh, we’ve already been able to do that for the past few decades. 1959 person: I see. So people in 2009 are retarted then? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/104 "2009-11-19T03:05:54Z")
200 channels of TV. And nothing on. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/105 "2009-11-19T03:59:25Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Also the total disuse and unacceptance of gender/racial/ethnic slurs. The first time our time traveler called someone a “colored boy” or referred to any female over 18 years old as a “girl,” I’d like to see the expression when the response is "What is your fucking shit of a problem? But was “colored boy” always used as a racial slur? I know it sometimes was, but always? Didn’t they just naturally refer to people we now call “African Americans” as “colored” without any malice meant? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/106 "2009-11-19T04:12:22Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > But was “colored boy” always used as a racial slur? I know it sometimes was, but always? Didn’t they just naturally refer to people we now call “African Americans” as “colored” without any malice meant? “Colored” wasn’t he problem, it was the word “boy” after it. You’re right about “colored” and “negro” being considered pefectly acceptable (even Civil Rights leaders used them), but using them today will still raise eyebrows regardless of the speaker’s intent. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/107 "2009-11-19T05:51:20Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > 2009 person: And with this device I can send messages I type to any of my friends who also have this same device. > 1959 person: Wow, I bet in a few more years people will actually be able to talk back and forth on them. > 2009 person: Oh, we’ve already been able to do that for the past few decades. > 1959 person: I see. So people in 2009 are retarted then? Bwwwwaaahhhh. I imagine a 1959 person would be looking for a phone booth. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/108 "2009-11-19T06:58:58Z")
The 1959 person would wonder whatever happened to Woolworths, TWA, RCA,Montgomery Ward, the Baltimore Colts,and Pan AM. ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/109 "2009-11-19T07:30:58Z")
That Christianity is no longer ubiquitous. That Jews are accepted in all aspects of society. That Wiccan, Buddhism, Islam and especially Atheism are accepted belief systems. This may not be the first thing that out time traveler notices but it will be one of the most unexpected aspects of 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/110 "2009-11-19T15:05:32Z")
The change in attitudes towaords rape and wife abuse. Back in 1959 the prevalent idea was that any woman subject to these crimes was “asking for and deserved it.” Don’t forget, back then the rape victim’s past could be brought up at trial, but accused rapist’s past couldn’t be. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/111 "2009-11-19T15:31:23Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I was a teenager in 1959, and I agree with everybody’s answers. The changes would be amazing. But I think the #1 surprise would be that the Soviet Union collapsed without a war. I don’t think one single 1959 person would have predicted that. Yes, I too am a time-traveller from 1959, and the peaceful end of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe would be the most surprising thing to me. The second is how communication has speeded up. I lived in London in 1961 when [Yuri Gagarin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin) first orbitted the Earth, and they set up a special TV link between Moscow and Britain so that his arival back in Moscow could be seen live on British TV. Now we think it’s no big deal if you can see inside a Russian teenager’s room live on TV on the other side of the world, without a special link up, but that was the first time that they had transmitted TV live from Russia to the UK. The increased use of air travel has made the world smaller too: back then, the normal way to travel long distances was by ship, so Britain to Australia took about 4 weeks. (I did it four times, but I can’t remember the first time since I was two years old then). Now it takes about 24 hours, because air travel is so much cheaper in real terms. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/112 "2009-11-19T16:29:29Z")
I would love to go back to that time. With a lot of savings. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/113 "2009-11-19T22:57:40Z")
I turned 14 in 1959, and I already knew I was gay. There was absolutely no male/male pornography available to me back then. I think I know exactly what I’d be doing very shortly after arriving in 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/114 "2009-11-19T23:37:57Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > Gotta gripe? Lawsuit! > > Child under performing in school? ADD, ADHD, Sure, because it was so much better just to tell kids they’re lazy, stupid, and contrarian than to address an identifiable and highly treatable condition. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/115 "2009-11-19T23:47:10Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > The 1959 person would wonder whatever happened to… Pan AM. I was on the train today, and I saw a boxcar painted with the markings of Pan Am _Railways_. With the classic globe logo, even. [Wikipedia link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Railways) Seems the railway company bought the Pan Am logo in '98. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/116 "2009-11-22T00:11:56Z")
I still am not used to stores being open 24 hours, or for that matter, stores being open on Sunday, or stores being open on Saturday nights. Do you think you sell “more” stuff just because you are open Saturday nite and on Sundays? Do you think people really buy more milk, buy more brake shoes, buy more televisions, buy more gold clubs, buy more t-shirts, etc. just because you dont close for the weekend at 5:00 pm Saturday? If you were never open on Sunday, then hundreds of thousands of families would never be able to buy a televison or a computer? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/117 "2009-11-22T19:35:38Z")
Look at it from the other end–being open more hours means employing more people who can then buy TVS/computers/bread/whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/118 "2009-11-22T20:24:22Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > I still am not used to stores being open 24 hours, or for that matter, stores being open on Sunday, or stores being open on Saturday nights. > > Do you think you sell “more” stuff just because you are open Saturday nite and on Sundays? If you’re not open, and the other guy is, he’ll sell more stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/119 "2009-11-22T23:08:38Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Do you think you sell “more” stuff just because you are open Saturday nite and on Sundays? > > Do you think people really buy more milk, buy more brake shoes, buy more televisions, buy more gold clubs, buy more t-shirts, etc. just because you dont close for the weekend at 5:00 pm Saturday? Yes. Absolutely. The amount of goods that people buy is not fixed. One of the biggest factors affecting this is whether they have the opportunity to buy stuff. Milk: Let’s say a family unexpectedly runs out of milk on Sunday morning. These days, we’d just run to the store and pick up more. If the store wasn’t open, the kids wouldn’t have milk with their dinner Sunday night. They’re not going to make up that consumption the next night. That’s milk sales lost. Televisions: If something is inconvenient to purchase or obtain, people are likely to put it off longer and/or find an alternative to purchasing it. They may buy the new TV eventually, but when a big percentage of the customers waits longer before purchasing, that results in many fewer sales. I could go on, but instead, I’ll explain what happens to retailers in bad weather. It’s a slightly different situation, but I trust you’ll understand the connection. It’s the middle of December, and your retail store is expecting to do $10,000 in sales every weekday this week. There is a big snowstorm–not big enough to close the stores, but big enough to keep most people close to home. You end up doing $3,000 on Tuesday. You will not make up those sales. Ever. You might do a little extra business on the following days, but it will be a fraction of the missing $7,000. The above poster pointed out that if you’re open and your competitor is not, you’ll sell more. That’s undoubtedly true. But even if you kept the same hours, if those hours or longer, you’ll both sell more stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585/120 "2009-11-23T00:04:30Z")
People pumping their own gas, including women. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-surprise-someone-from-1959/517585.md?page=7)