# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/121 "2014-04-03T05:07:51Z")
I would get involved in politics as much as possible in order to push for 1) universal health care and the rest of the modern welfare state when we had the opportunity to do it, 2) civil rights legislation, 3) repeal of Taft-Hartley, and 4) the candidacies of promising liberal Democrats such as Hubert Humphrey. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/122 "2014-04-03T07:10:43Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Being a non-Christian unmarried childless woman professor, there really isn’t a way that you can convince me that returning would benefit me in any way. Why not? Back then you wouldn’t be as miserable as you are now… You’d have been a Christian married housewife, and you wouldn’t even have to work hard as a professor to have money…Your husband would do all the work, and you’d have plenty of time for cooking. You could go get your hair done every week, while the colored maid cleaned the house. What’s not to like? 🙂 I find it absolultely bizarre, almost incomprehensible, to think about how much earth-shaking change can happen in one person’s life, and how we all somehow keep going. For somebody born after 1970 or so, there’s nothing comparable. Take, for example, the current changes in gay rights. It’s nice, but not earth-shaking the way that other changes profoundly affected all of society (e.g. the elimination of Jim Crow laws , the acceptance of women in the workforce.) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/123 "2014-04-03T08:35:31Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I find it absolultely bizarre, almost incomprehensible, to think about how much earth-shaking change can happen in one person’s life, and how we all somehow keep going. For somebody born after 1970 or so, there’s nothing comparable. Take, for example, the current changes in gay rights. It’s nice, but not earth-shaking the way that other changes profoundly affected all of society (e.g. the elimination of Jim Crow laws , the acceptance of women in the workforce.) Working with Black Senior Citizens is like a constant smack in the face with the history they didn’t teach us in school. One of them grew up tearing up old sheets to use a menstrual pads and being caught without her girdle (as a child, before she had anything to jiggle) was worth a whippin’ with her Daddy’s belt. She picked cotton after school. In a girdle. :eek: She told me recently about when she moved to Chicago from Mississippi at 19 years old. They were still using horse drawn carts to move her heavy trunk of belongings to her new room. Room, not apartment, and under the very close supervision of the residential Landlady so she wouldn’t bring men into the place or otherwise act in a “unbecoming manner”. She went to Marshall Field’s one day to buy a lipstick and stood at the counter for 45 minutes before a (White) customer whispered to her, “Honey, ain’t no one going to come help you. They’re not going to serve you here.” Horse drawn carts to real-time ridesharing in one lifetime, and she could easily have another 15 years to live. Mind boggled. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/124 "2014-04-03T08:37:34Z")
Well I, for one, would be delighted. I’d at last be able to buy all those cool things they advertised on the back of comics which I could never buy as a child in Australia (x-ray glasses, supersonic eavesdropping devices etc) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/125 "2014-04-03T09:32:02Z")
I presume all of us Dopers are being notified of the transition. I propose that we pool our resources, as it were, hold a virtual Dopefest '52 in MPSIMS, and decide on a location in which to institute an enclave of Dopers from the twenty-first century. Perhaps in one of the early planned communities, we could ensure that no one is barred from home ownership, or otherwise subjected to victimization inherent in the social conventions of 1952 USA. Once ensconced in Dopertopia, we could quickly establish ourselves as a revolutionary center for scientific and technological innovation, business acumen, and social advancement. I figure by 1970, we could take over the world. ---
**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 3, 2014, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/126 "2014-04-03T09:58:57Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I presume all of us Dopers are being notified of the transition. I propose that we pool our resources, as it were, hold a virtual Dopefest '52 in MPSIMS, and decide on a location in which to institute an enclave of Dopers from the twenty-first century. Perhaps in one of the early planned communities, we could ensure that no one is barred from home ownership, or otherwise subjected to victimization inherent in the social conventions of 1952 USA. > > Once ensconced in Dopertopia, we could quickly establish ourselves as a revolutionary center for scientific and technological innovation, business acumen, and social advancement. I figure by 1970, we could take over the world. So we could become thr Village of the Damned? I think society would quickly catch on to our overly successful economic situation and tire even more quickly of our better than thou smarty pants ways of trying to “better” society. I envision crowds with pitch forks and burning crosses chasing us down. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/127 "2014-04-03T13:04:03Z")
Wouldn’t even have to make our own village, just move to San Jose and wait. Within 4 years, Shockley is going to come and start [Fairchild Semiconductor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Semiconductor) (the most influential electronics company nobody has ever heard of, counting among its employees Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce), H/P is already a thriving concern, and [Frederick Terman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Terman) had just (in 1951) started [Stanford Research Park](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Research_Park). Since we know where the future is going to be built, we can just go there and start building it. Hell, this might even be why San Fran became such a “liberal” haven to begin with. 😉 ---
**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 3, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/128 "2014-04-03T13:15:51Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Wouldn’t even have to make our own village, just move to San Jose and wait. Within 4 years, Shockley is going to come and start [Fairchild Semiconductor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Semiconductor) (the most influential electronics company nobody has ever heard of, counting among its employees Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce), H/P is already a thriving concern, and [Frederick Terman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Terman) had just (in 1951) started [Stanford Research Park](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Research_Park). > > Since we know where the future is going to be built, we can just go there and start building it. Hell, this might even be why San Fran became such a “liberal” haven to begin with. 😉 And we could live next to Burt Bacharach and be his friends in San Jose [(he has lots)](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/burt+bacharach/do+you+know+the+way+to+san+jose_20025964.html). Thanks for putting that damn precursor of Muzak song into to mind today. :mad: Baa baapa baapa baa baa baa baa indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/129 "2014-04-03T13:22:33Z")
I would fill the suitcase with warming layers made of modern fabric. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/130 "2014-04-03T13:23:42Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Well I, for one, would be delighted. I’d at last be able to buy all those cool things they advertised on the back of comics which I could never buy as a child in Australia (x-ray glasses, supersonic eavesdropping devices etc) You could buy them, but you’d be really disappointed when they arrived. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/131 "2014-04-03T13:31:25Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > And we could live next to Burt Bacharach and be his friends in San Jose [(he has lots)](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/burt+bacharach/do+you+know+the+way+to+san+jose_20025964.html). Thanks for putting that damn precursor of Muzak song into to mind today. :mad: Baa baapa baapa baa baa baa baa indeed. Well, every neighborhood has residents who bring down the tone of the place, granted. 😉 Don’t forget we’re travelling to a time when people cooked with lard and made [Jello molds with mayonnaise and seafood](http://nesbitsvintage.com/wp-content/uploads/jello-mold-lime-cheese-salad-seafood-1954.jpg) - sacrifices will have to be made by all. ---
**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 3, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/132 "2014-04-03T14:53:40Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m pretty sure no state had lotteries back then. That’s a more recent invention. 1990s? Certainly not earlier than the 1980s. If I recall correctly, Michigan’s lottery started in the late 1970’s. After the Arab Oil Crisis but before Chrysler reorganized under Iacoco. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/133 "2014-04-03T18:00:25Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > As a woman it will be entirely legal to discriminate against me in the workplace, cutting me off from many potential professions. It will be completely legal to pay me less than a man for the exact same work. I can be summarially fired from any job for getting married or getting pregnant. Many marriage laws discriminate against me based upon my gender. I will not be able to get a mortgage or major loan without a male co-signer, and if I am married in most states everything I used to own prior to marriage will wind up in my husband’s name, not mine. Sexual harassment up to and including unwanted touching of ass and tits will not only be fairly common in the workplace, there will be absolutely no legal recourse for it. Should I have the misfortune to be raped my personal history and sex life will be ruthlessly dragged out in open court and dissected, assuming I can get anyone to take it seriously enough for it to actually get before a judge. It will be harder for me to obtain further education and as it is still considered laughable by many the notion that women can handle college or higher education. IOW, you’d have it better in essentially every measurable way than 99.3% of all the women who’d ever lived. What percentage of the world’s women in the 50s were better off than those who lived in US suburbs? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/134 "2014-04-03T18:18:58Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > IOW, you’d have it better in essentially every measurable way than 99.3% of all the women who’d ever lived. And worse in essentially every measurable way than she has it now. Gosh, I have no idea why she wouldn’t want that. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/135 "2014-04-03T18:43:02Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I have no idea why she wouldn’t want that. Note that the OP’s premise is that you _will_ be going - not “would you like to?” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/136 "2014-04-03T18:47:50Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Note that the OP’s premise is that you _will_ be going - not “would you like to?” So, she’s not allowed to think it’s going to suck? You want people to address the premise but can only talk about the shiny, happy people dancing around in 50s musicals or what? ---
**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 3, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/137 "2014-04-03T19:01:29Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > So, she’s not allowed to think it’s going to suck? You want people to address the premise but can only talk about the shiny, happy people dancing around in 50s musicals or what? What if I were a black man in prison? Would I be forced to leave my cushy modern air conditioned facility with good food, TV, life partner and then be forced to be in chain gang in Mississippi? And not complain? What good would my future knowledge do then? I’ve watched enough Twilight Zone to know that this stuff happens; sounds great let’s go . . and then oh-oh! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/138 "2014-04-03T19:03:46Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > So, she’s not allowed to think it’s going to suck? Well, it’s appropriate to address the questions raised by the OP, e.g. What can you do to adapt? Do you face any special challenges? I’m questioning the implication that a life better than that enjoyed by the vast majority of all women (and almost certainly men) since the dawn of time is borderline intolerable. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/139 "2014-04-03T19:26:10Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Well, it’s appropriate to address the questions raised by the OP, e.g. What can you do to adapt? Do you face any special challenges? > > I’m questioning the implication that a life better than that enjoyed by the vast majority of all women (and almost certainly men) since the dawn of time is borderline intolerable. It was better than the time before it. It was incredibly worse than things are now. If you were being transported there from the 1890s, you’d be amazed at how much better your life was. If you’re being transported there from 2014, you’d be amazed at how much worse your life was, unless you have some reason to think that you’d be in a better position then than now, and if you’re a woman, gay, a person of color, in a same-sex or interracial relationship, or of a minority religion, there is no reason to think that. So yes, borderline intolerable if you knew what we know now, which is that it doesn’t have to be that way. ---
**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 3, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053/140 "2014-04-03T19:41:33Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I’m questioning the implication that a life better than that enjoyed by the vast majority of all women (and almost certainly men) since the dawn of time is borderline intolerable. Right, and therefore there was no need for tranquilizers and “mother’s little helpers” during the 50’s … oh, wait… Even a lot of the “privileged” women were effing unhappy during the 1950’s. What’s next, you’re going to tell the black posters to stop bitchin’ because Jim Crow laws were so much better than being actual slaves they have no right to complain? Just because someone’s situation sucks less than someone else’s doesn’t mean there is no suck. Or, to put it another way, sure, your broken back might hurt worse than might broken finger _but my finger still hurts_ and I don’t like pain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-to-live-in-1950s-america/685053.md?page=8)