# What would you do if you had to live in 1950s America? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053 "2014-04-01T05:40:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/41 "2014-04-01T16:43:03Z")
Load up my Kindle with stocks and sports statistics and resign myself to being a lawyer back in the good old days (presumably my law license date of joining will be back dated appropriately). Oh, and while I’m at it with the Kindle, bring all the California Appellate and SC Reports on pdf with a sd card and adapter. San Francisco, here I come! ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/42 "2014-04-01T16:46:03Z")
Step aside Elvis and let me show you how it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/43 "2014-04-01T16:47:32Z")
I’d become history’s greatest “songwriter,” penning massive hits for decades. I’d be credited with the invention of punk, metal, hip-hop, and hopefully do something to avert the dreadful 80s synthpop era. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/44 "2014-04-01T16:55:06Z")
I’m a white dude and, while Catholic, I’m sure there was enough Catholic Poles in the 1950’s era Chicago area to not stand out by name or religion. I mean, hey, my grandparents managed it. My job though is heavily math based and most of that is handled by technology these days. I’d go insane doing it all by hand (and frankly don’t know how consistently accurate I’d be). So I’d need a new job. There’s also the issue of being in my 40s with no wife or kids (assuming I’m time traveling solo) which might not be a touch-of-death socially speaking but I’d be pretty depressed at the change on a personal level. I guess I’ll take everyone else’s track and bring along information to game the stock markets and live the swinging middle-age bachelor life off that. I thought about sports betting but that seems like an invitation to problems with organized crime. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/45 "2014-04-01T17:01:36Z")
Get a black leather jacket and T-shirt. Comb my hair a lot. Play chicken with my car. Race up to Dead Man’s Curve. Hang out in a diner drinking milk shakes. Go to a sock hop. Invent rock and/or roll. Bang some square chick on the beach over the summer. Start a rumble. Stab a madras wearing “Soc”. Fall in love with a Puerto Rican girl. Go cruisin’. Find a cause. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/46 "2014-04-01T17:41:40Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This supposition is not exactly correct. > > It’s true that such laws, called _coverture_ laws, were part of the common law of England and survived in the United States’ adoption of the common law. > > But in the nineteenth century, states began passing married womens’ rights laws, and by 1950 in no state in the United States would a marriage cause you to lose title to your separately owned property. [Not quite true in Lousiana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_and_Master_laws) up until 1979. When we lived there in 1978 the head and master law was in effect. My wife - who was making most of the money - could not get a check cashing card in the grocery store without my permission. My understanding is that Louisiana law does not operate under common law, but stems in large part from Code Napoleon. At least one state legislator was quite upset at the repeal of the law, since he said he got married under it and liked it. Natch. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/47 "2014-04-01T18:05:08Z")
Teach myself to home-brew as fast as I fucking could. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/48 "2014-04-01T18:32:53Z")
I would freak people out by spoiling episodes of _Leave It To Beaver_. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/49 "2014-04-01T18:45:26Z")
Women should also know that the first law making marital rape illegal in the US didn’t pass until 1978. True fact. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/50 "2014-04-01T18:49:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > [Not quite true in Lousiana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_and_Master_laws) up until 1979. When we lived there in 1978 the head and master law was in effect. My wife - who was making most of the money - could not get a check cashing card in the grocery store without my permission. > > My understanding is that Louisiana law does not operate under common law, but stems in large part from Code Napoleon. > At least one state legislator was quite upset at the repeal of the law, since he said he got married under it and liked it. Natch. My state still has Va Code § 18.2-361, “Crimes against nature,” on the books. It forbids, among other things, “…carnally know[ing] . . . any male or female person by the anus or by or with the mouth, or voluntarily submit[ting] to such carnal knowledge…” and punishes same as a felony. But since the Supreme Court’s decision in 2003 in _Lawrence v. Texas_, that statute is essentially unenforceable. It’s true that Louisana is a civil code, rather than common law, jurisdiction, but they are still bound by the Supreme Court, which invalidated such laws well before the 1979 date you cite. Now, it’s certainly possible that the store chose a policy based on a mistaken understanding of the law, or even chose to enforce a old version regardless of what the law actually was. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/51 "2014-04-01T19:44:01Z")
Maybe a lot of music with lyrics from 60’s to today. I know enough about which stocks to invest in, where to buy real estate, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/52 "2014-04-01T20:03:00Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Women should also know that the first law making marital rape illegal in the US didn’t pass until 1978. True fact. Yeah. I’m old enough to remember when that happened. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/53 "2014-04-01T20:06:55Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Hang out in a **diner** drinking milk shakes. Drive-In. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/54 "2014-04-01T20:11:52Z")
I’m bringing blueprints for the flux capacitor. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/55 "2014-04-01T20:19:22Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Step aside Elvis and let me show you how it’s done. Wait a minute, I re-read the OP and it appears that I have to go as the old fart that I have become and not some devil may care teen. :mad: I’m getting a rifle and climbing a tower unless I get to come back. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/56 "2014-04-01T20:28:12Z")
There was a lot of that shit - enforcing old versions of the law, or treating custom as law - well into the 1980’s. There’s a major difference at times between what is legal and what actually happens. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/57 "2014-04-01T20:36:24Z")
I’d be fine. I’m a straight white guy so race or gender wouldn’t be an issue. There was no videogame industry back then … hell, there was barely a boardgame industry … so I’m guessing I’ll wind up as TV producer/director. Not a bad gig in the 1950’s – lots of opportunities to make money and do creative work. Working in TV means that I’m probably living in New York or L.A. Not everyone was a racist, sexist jerk back then and if I’m in a big city I can find a more progressive crowd to hang out with. I’d prefer not to live back then, but I actually think I’d be able to do okay. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/58 "2014-04-01T20:37:10Z")
I’d be spending most of my day trying to avoid cigarette smoke. This would be a MAJOR challenge, as back then everybody smoked everywhere, all the time. I’d also be very, very careful about my diet and get plenty of exercise. In the 1950s, if you got a heart attack, you were in very serious trouble. Ambulances were operated by funeral homes. If you did survive long enough to make it to the hospital, they’d just dump you in a room and keep an eye on you. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/59 "2014-04-01T20:46:04Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > It’s true that Louisana is a civil code, rather than common law, jurisdiction, but they are still bound by the Supreme Court, which invalidated such laws well before the 1979 date you cite. > > Now, it’s certainly possible that the store chose a policy based on a mistaken understanding of the law, or even chose to enforce a old version regardless of what the law actually was. I’d have to look up cases, but the repeal was not treated as a formality to get the law in line with the Supreme Court ruling. I remember reading about cases where it was in effect in a more significant way than check cards, but I don’t know when these would be. This is the first I’ve heard of the supreme court case, which is odd given the amount of coverage given to this issue. On the other hand I was not aware of anyone directly affected by it, and I sure wasn’t going to test it. The average people we knew still considered it to be in effect. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/60 "2014-04-01T20:48:45Z")
I’d bring my Kindle filled with books (I like modern books mostly) and some music, and a box of Instead. I’m not dealing with 1950s menstrual products. Maybe I’d bring some modern clothes too. I want to wear jeans and I don’t care if I stand out because I wouldn’t have any interest in fitting in with 1950s people. Life would suck because I’d have no family or friends. I’d probably end up just spending my time lithium’ed out, reading my secret Kindle. Maybe I’d write a book about my experiences, to be published later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053.md?page=4)