Lost 50s - Full Documentary
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2015
- Full HD Version Now Available: • Lost 50s - Full Docume...
Take a trip back in time to the fabulous 50s in WDSE•WRPT’s new historic documentary. It was an era when drive-ins were all the rage, and a music icon began his legendary journey at a Duluth concert. It was a decade when the Arrowhead region met a major mining challenge, and the region played a strategic role in the Cold War. The 1950s were years of prosperity, as the American way of life revolved around the car, families moved to the suburbs, and television became a part of everyday life. And local milestones included the passing of the last Civil War veteran Albert Woolson, and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
#history #historical
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams............................
Thought-provoking
So true. It's great to be a grandparent but, the grandchildren are growing so fast; Sigh! As you say: soon it will only be a memory.
Yes, without a memory life is sadly diminished ask anyone suffering memory loss, not only short term, but long term memory loss. So sad to grow old and not be able to remember stuff or folks!
And when you're old, all you have is your memories of when you were young. This way you can repeat your stories over and over to your younger family members, until they tell you that they've heard them about a hundred times already!😄
Mason Williams on the present: “Here it ..was.”
Such a great guy: wrote “Classical Gas”, humor for the Smothers Brothers, Glen Campbell, SNL and poetry.
My favorite quote of his: “I never realized how mediocre the world was until I got involved with some of its supposedly top people.” That one is even more true today.
The best memories of the 50's for me are of my dad & mom who were still young & alive..If you were to go back to the 50's and tell the people what would become of the country in 2023, they would thunk you were nuts.
No. They were warning you since the 60’s.
It’s all this nostalgic reminiscing about the pretence to the situation were in now that got us here when; like I said, they’ve been warning you since the 60’s.
You sit thinking about mummy and daddy when they’d probably sign you up if they seen what your generation let happen today.
Yes and old people in the 50s thought that the country was going to hell and young people were out of control. In a lot of ways our society and country are a lot better today
@@fenian123 Really? The US has turned into a 3rd world ,police state , sh*t hole. with a 1st stage dementia ridden ,Chi com puppet as POTUS And 50% of those under 30 feel that the country should be changed into a Communist state.
I am 67 1/2. The 50s and 60s were just like that. And I remember all of it. And I miss those times so much.
This video is making me feel so nostalgic. I’m 73…I just said to my 75 year old husband…”Wouldn’t you just love to go back to these times, even if it was just for a day? We live in the UK, we didn’t have drive-in’s, I wish we had, it looks so much fun. We didn’t even have drive through diners, until McDonalds moved here in October 1974. How I wish we had a time machine, I would jump right into it and travel back in time to experience fifties America.
72 also. It just seemed like a happier friendlier time. If you forgot to lock your doors there was rarely any problems. Cars didn’t have alarms and no security systems. ☹️ I miss the trust in those days
And it would be nice if you was back in time that you were younger also
@@kxp.1496 Yes…that would be an added bonus 👍🏻😊
@@kxp.1496 it sure would!
I remember at about 12-13 we wished we were older. Well here I am wishing I was younger 💔
@@precisionbrown6829 So true 😊
I have a typewriter from 1959. It still works great and it doesn't need any updates or my login information. It works every time I sit down to use it. Its made of steel. Not fricking plastic!
before they invented planned obsolescence...
WOW, a 60 year old ink ribbon that still works. that's way better the ink cartridges in my copier/printer/fax machine.
I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but how are you finding replacement ribbons? My mother has a 1940's Royal that she bought back in the '70's at a garage sale. We'd love to get it working.
Jason McCann that is great I’m jealous.
And its obsolete....get use to it
Oh the memories of the drive-in the commercials lol I was born in '73 and miss my grandparents stories. They helped raise me and made a big impact on my life. Grandpa was from Texas served in army ww2 and Korean War. Cement truck driver. Grandma was 1/2 Cherokee from Arkansas only learned 4th grade picked cotton and wore newspapers and rubber bands for shoe's .worked in the factory making ammunition. I miss them so much they always told me I was smart and bought me my first car.
Arguably the greatest generation.
I have lived thru the the 50’s to the present and in my opinion the 50’s was definitely the best era of time.
Agree!! Born early 50s, and am happy to have lived during that amazing decade!!
Hi Cindy,,, Ronya Swaim here...... Love your last name.. i married into the Swaim family years ago... good to see there is more of us,, lol
we all live in Alabama
Me too, and yes!
I was born in December 1949 so grew up in the 50s with black and white tv with 3 channels and Dad was always trading cars . We live in small towns and the country. Love the country. Everyone was friendly and safe.
Very true. Lots of jobs & friendly neighbors and very few perverts.
We had three channels also… 3, 6 and OFF!
My dad used to pick the third one if Sis and I bickered over what watch! lol
"black & white tv" No racism back then....
You're deluded.
We had no internet and 24 hour a day news , and most people still respected their families and neighbors
My dad was born in 1928 (he had me when he was 46). My mom, who’s 82 now, tells me my dad always drove a Cadillac. He owned his own tile business and did well for himself. At the same time, they didn’t talk much of their upbringing and I wish they would’ve. Everyone is gone now or dealing with illnesses (my mom has Alzheimer’s now, but still has some long-term memory).
I'm with you, as my dad was born in 1914 and was 43 when I was born. But he and mom had done so many things worthy of books...I tried for a lifetime to get them to tell stories, but ended up with peacemeal, as they might talk for a few minutes on any given day and then stop/lose interest/or somehow feel like it was bragging to repeat any tales? they were definitely cut from another cord...but i do note the '50's faced a long recession and was dealing with Polio. And you could even catch it swimming in pools. And Sputnik was a matter of "the commies" vs. our national pride. And Eugene Mccarthy was making a name for himself by calling out any potential followers of said party. He was not a man of very much conscience, even though he did have some common threads of truth in his attacks. I wish someone would've told him he used the wrong word. Communism can never work-as human beings are too selfish/to greedy/to self-indulgent to ever work together in the long run while collecting equal pay. There will always be some who demand more than everyone else...and that's where socialism comes in. And we're now seeing the despots replace that political philosophy. Does this sound familiar" "there can be only one"...such a great line from a "B" movie in the 1980's...but you all know who hose leaders are!
I remember taking my young daughter of three months old ,to Manchester England on a train
I sat next to an older lady , she thought I was very. Brave taking a young baby to see my
In-laws on my own . I remember the sound of the train , the wheels making that musical
Sound , and people in the countryside waving at us . This was 1953 , I remember it well.
Never been on a train and have always wanted to. It would be nice to take a train through the mountain.
Indeed you were brave
I started school in '53. How's your daughter doing now?
Sounds like a thrilling adventure to me and it's a pleasure to know that nonagenarians too use UA-cam.
Remember taking my then 2 year old on a train to Widnes ( had to get off at Runcorn) in the early 90s, older women telling me, how brave I was to be travelling the country alone, just me and my daughter, off to see her nan and dad ( before I moved up there and we got married) strange how the older folk even these days think that some things the younger women do is so daring and brave. It's a train, only travelling from South Worcester to the North West, I didnt think it was brave or unusual... although to be honest I dont think many people go much further than their town centre and feel as if they have survived a major threat to life and limb. I loved getting on the train on a Tuesday and returning on Sunday, even my now 29 year old daughter, remembers those journeys, fondly
I grew up in the 50's and I am so glad I did.It was a great time in this Great Country.
not for people who look like me
@@kennethmcbride1790 ....IT'S A BRAIN THING...STOP BEATING THE HORSE! MOVE ON..
@@kennethmcbride1790 Get over yourself, pal. Not everything is about black people.
I should mention, though, that the black family was in MUCH better shape back then. Mull that over for a while.
I grew up in the late 70s and 80s. I wouldn't change it. My dad though would go on about how great it was to be a kid in the 50s and teen in the 60s. I still wouldn't change my time line. 😊
@@kennethmcbride1790 You're talking (and probably thinking) just the way some politicians want you to think so they can exploit the crap outta you. You have got to let it go if you really want some peace and a good relationship with others. Do not allow yourself to be defined simply by color. You need to know that most people really do not see color as an issue. This is not the 50s. There were lots of good things and, yes, some bad. But many people fought to make this country kind & decent enough that we all should be able to get past that sorta thing. You're so much more than your color, as am I. God made you in His Image!! Remember that!!
Cant believe I'm watching a documentary about my childhood.
Ur age?
50s - optimism, 60s - sex revolution, 70s - wackness, 80s - no identity, 90s - optimism, dawn of the Internet, 0s - muslism invasion, 10s - dawn of PC culture, 20s - collapse of PC culture
50s optimism is attributed to the end of the War. 90s optimism thanks to cultural maturity from 70s and 80s, technological advance, and thanks to Regean economy. The cancerous PC culture we are experiencing right now, largely due to the worst president ever: Osama, what a disgrace.
And unfortunately, that nostalgic era was 100% evil and racist per the Progressive Left.
The 1950s will soon be obliterated with all decades back to 1776 as the DemonRats re-write American history.
@@seanleith5312 the 70s and 80s were nothing short of amazing kid, keep dreaming
@@seanleith5312 If you want to come to some agreement on having more positive solutions for the future and less pitch fork brigades about the past ? Then yes we can do something .
But marinating in nostalgia for the past with dystopia for the future ... IS THE CANCER that will kill our future if left un checked.
So I'm sorry to say , since it looks like to many are willfully stuck in that rut ...
The 50's will be getting CANCELLED !
It was a great time growing up during the 50's and 60's, I miss it and the people.
not for people who look like me
@@kennethmcbride1790 sorry to hear that.
@@kennethmcbride1790 that's very true! The 50s weren't good for everyone! I hope we are
moving to a more inclusive society. We need everyone!
My favorite mode of traveling was the train. My dad worked for Southern Pacific so I was really proud and excited to just go to the train station. It was the end of the first era of romantic rail travel. My coming of age holiday was a 3-week cross country trip with my dad from California to see our relatives in Louisiana. That trip remains pivotal in my life as it set a lifelong course of adventure, happiness and self discovery.
in the apartheid of the1950s the only job a black man could do on the railway was be a porter
Bobby Babylon ya that's 50 years ago bro how about now?
Bochanable At 7 yrsI took a train ride across to Eastern Canada with my Mother and sis. I loved it!
If you were a young person you used to be able to get on a train with no money give your details to the conductor and arrive at your destination. They sent you a bill. Trust, honesty and honor were part of American society.
Boch I'm old enough to have traveled on the old freight trains before amtrak! Those old berths made the traveling easier when one could lay down to sleep! Amtraks beds are too expensive! However train travel is the best way to go!
this is for sure a 2 am type of getting lost in UA-cam doc
I agree. I now get 100% of my entertainment from UA-cam. Favorite channels and video creators. My wife has about 12 favorite TV shows. I sit next to her but with Bluetooth headphones and either my cell or tablet to view. We’re both happy that way. It’s nice getting real news too. It can be found just not from any network.
It is currently 2:18 as I'm reading through these comments.
UA-cam is amazing. Probably the best vehicle to connect people and times.
12 : 53 am time I read comment.
2:13 for me lol
There was a drive inn theatre in Kermit, WV. We went as a child. They only charged adults and mom would pop huge brown paper bags of popcorn and a cooler with kool-aide. Of course we still got to go get hot dogs in the concession stand. I loved it.
I like the 50's and the 60's,What a nostalgia to watch the old past times
Same
This were great days good time to live in the 50 60
Me too, I was not even close to being born, but somehow I feel nostalgic watching all this movies.
I don't care how old I would be now, but I would have loved living in the 1950s and 1960s!
@@manzanaresantonio I don’t. I would’ve hated to live in a country where black pepper live under state sponsored terror. These people were violent people who suppressed other groups for their own pleasure.
@@this-is-not-just-a-pr-fail3263 black pepper
When I go antique shopping I actually use most of what I buy. I prefer old stuff especially if it "works" which it often does.
'X.. wfwm??88i⁸⁸uuuuuuuuuuje:
@@johnnygarcia7882 ?!?
when I take my daughter looking into Antique Shops and Stores , she tells me , "Mom , you already have all this old stuff. "..😂😂😂
Electric can opener...?....yup...still working
Since I was born in 1951, the 50s ia an important era for me. Thank you, PBS for this excellent presentation. It has really conveyed the essence of that period.
My dad was an Iron Ranger. We grew up on Minnesota stories. Many years later I attended the University of Minnesota.
Thank you for these wonderful memories.
Here in my small town, we still have a lot of the great 50s and 60s nostalgia things, like the drive in, and lots of ppl young and elder have these cars. I love this town.
Where are you?
You’re very fortunate!! I’d love that!!
Where are you? Is it still like this?
The mid-50's were just coming out of the big band era and along came Elvis,Little Richard,Bo Didley,Jerry Lee,Carl Perkins,Chuck Berry and the list goes on and on.🗽👍
Don't forget the great Ricky Nelson!
My dad drove a 1958 Buick Special. No seatbelts, air conditioning, air ride shocks, special additions, and solid to the road. I was never in fear of us being rear ended and the steel chrome bumpers was the main factor of that. Nothing foreign about that car. It was American made steel and American labor built for a family of six to head out into the countryside to visit relatives or that leisure Sunday drive.
Allen, the elites that orchestrated funding both sides of ww2 to stop the threat socialism posed to capitalism are the same gang that destroyed unions (who elites accused of being communists) and chose to ship production oversees to cheaper labor, shifting to the warmongering financialization we suffer with today. Replace u$a's elitism with ecodemocracy, or loose the planet.
That chrome bumper still looks brand new in junk yard today.
All the newer cars are plastic.
When you got in a minor accident back in the chrome and metal car days you rarely got hurt as bad as you would in today’s cars
@@precisionbrown6829 I’m not so sure about that.
Why did it change?
I loved seeing the '50s revisited. This was just before my time in the sixties. It was a wonderful time and a horrible time scary with the nuclear threat and promising with the economy and life in general. Thank you this was great.
I was born in 1950 and I remember many things about the later 1950s when I was old enough to understand what was going on.
I was born in 53 but I wish I was born earlier so I could have grown up then.I would love to go back in time to those early days to see what it was like.❤️♥️💖
Wouldn’t it be great to have a time machine and actually go back to those days! And really experience what it was like. I was born in 62 and wold like to revisit this times!
Most at my church are still highly civilized. They cook and eat dinner at the table and read nonfiction books.
I was born Jan 1951 I remember a great deal of it,Got drive license@ 15 Dad needed help driving trucks😇
I'm now 87 (born 1933) and I can tell you this: It was a bummer.
@@billfarley9167 do tell! What part of the US where you born in? Was it significantly different than this video shows? My dad was born in 45, mom 51.
Most dirt poor, yet quite innocent enough to be happy. You don't miss what you don't know about. Living in that quite remote part of the most southern part of Texas, Laredo, County of Webb, 20 or so miles west of Laredo, almost parallel with the Rio Grande, a stones throw away. We most certainly invented our ways of play and fun in that almost arid land full of brush and rock and cacti. Most memorable of games was the rolling of old tires thru beat up paths, and another was riding down hill in an old metal 55 gallon barrel, crushing over rocks and cactus and all kinds of briars, enough to make it challenging, if and when the got inside, rolling along with you. Another game was jumping into the river off of a rope tied to huge tree branch.
Tying a rope to a big tree and swinging on it. We just made up games
1 am 45. And completely in love with the 1950s. I love the cars the homes the furniture. Things aren't made the way they were back then
I grew up in the 50👍s
and I love this video. Thanks
The 50 's were exciting for all sorts of reasons, but these cars like the 57 classics, are just works of art in their own right !! I'm 59, and looking back to this period, it just seems so natural and right for me, although I 'm a 60's child, and too young to know this 50's period, I always seem drawn to it. Modern technology all well and good, but modern life just does not appeal to me. If I could start all over again and actually remain there , I would not hesitate. If time machines existed, (fat chance of that) I would be using it.
robert harding I am with you brother!
Me too.....I wish for a back to humans and humanity.
@@johnnyhawkins5061 take me, take me!!
@bad dog Lucky YOU! ;)
@Charles Ross Charles shhhh. (go to ustvgo.tv) It broadcasts the History Channel... along with 80 other cable channels for free!. (don't pass it on) ps- you're welcome.
I was born in 1950, but didn’t start experiencing the American dream until 1965 when my mom brought me to California and have a lot of great and pleasant memories to dwell upon!
I remember when I was very young. Our parents would bring me and my sister to the drive-in movies dressed in our pj's. Of course, we'd dose off leaving Mom and Dad free to "neck" as we slept. We were joined by two more brothers since then. It was a wonderful time of everything being bigger than life!
Thank you for the great memories. 👍
I have a humorous note to share.
Probably at a minimum one quarter of the population at that time was conceived in the back seat of cars at drive-in theatres!
Drive-ins were often fondly referred to as the"CORNFIELD BROTHEL" in casual banter by boys when adults and ladies were not present!
We loved going to the drive in places and getting food, while sitting in your car. I am 78 and am thrilled to grow up in this era.
The 50's are not lost. Just many of the morals and values.
such a sanitized WHITE version of the 1950s. no mention of the apartheid or lynchings or shootings and beatings. not the 1950s i remember being shot by kkk for having a white wife.
The computer punch cards reminded me of my first time writing something in high school that was sent to our local telecom to be processed by their computer. When I got my card back it had GIGO written on it. When I asked my teacher what it meant he said " Garbage In Garbage Out"
You deserve a LOT more likes for this comment.
Luckily today, I only have to wait a second or two to get those results
@@renc3920 Amen to that!!!
It also means our education system today. We were figuring out reality better when we were learning to talk at the age of 2.
Ate breakfast, then outside playing with friends until the street lights came on.
@Charles Ross - I was abused in the same way as a child; gone after breakfast, home when the street lights came on. If I got thirsty while outside, my parents made me and all my friends drink from the water hose outside. My friends parents did the same. They say, "It takes a neighborhood to raise a child". Parents in my neighborhood took that seriously. One time, all us kids made a Rocket from left over fire works powder. We almost started the neighborhood on fire and could have killed someone. One parent told the other parent, who told another parent and we all got an a$$ whooping; couldn't go out for a week. Oh, the Irony!
@Charles Ross vvt
Still that way in small town Iowa in the 70's. :)
We had to be home for dinner, but right back outside after dinner `til the lights came on.
@Charles Ross you can't be serious, right?
I actually found this really inspired. This is perhaps one of the great centers of this country. The fact that people made their homes in such a rugged area, it reminds me how tough Americans were braving the bitter colds of the North. The automobile was the great equalizer that made the vast spaces somehow manageable. With planes and ships, radio and technology, this area was connected to everything, as far removed as it was from the east and west coasts.
Still cold as all get out and tough to make it now that Brandon is president. Folks are suffering.
You mean Biden is president and YES we are suffering. The prices of food 🍱 , gas⛽️ and electric ⚡️ are at an all time high. (Just to name a few things)
Praying 🙏 for better times.
@@paulyosef7550 Oh how I long for the days.. when rockets and starburst were all of the rage.✨🚀✨🚀✨
LGB-FJB
I remember the drive in theaters very well. The ones we went to in the fifties and right up until the early seventies had long mounds in which the cars would be parked on an incline so the car was tilted up slightly to see the screens better. Our folks had a 1954 Pontiac and would pile all 3 of us kids in our pajamas in the back seat with pillows and a blanket. The speakers were a problem because after the double feature was over, we were all so tired and more often than not our dad would forget that the speaker which was hooked on the window, and drive off ripping the cord off the metal stand. Going to the movies was an exciting night out for us as television was new and many homes in our area didn't even have one. If you did have a tv, it was all black and white and had only one channel.
We got 4 channels ABC, NBC and 2 CBS from two different cities.
sounds like my tv that just died 2 weeks ago,yes my son got me a new one .i cant work that thing yet
There is still a drive in theatre in Coldwater, Michigan.
My town is lucky to still have a triple screen drive inn... We all love it
My boyfriend had a 57 buick 2 door hard top, boy did we think we were hot, we got married in 1962 and sold the car in 1993. Boy did II CRY.I Wanted to go buy it back, I still think we lived in the best of times for lots of reasons
Jeez, Louise I miss drive-ins. My parents used to take us kids a couple of times a month and we'd have our PJ's on and usually we fell asleep. Boy, some of those "feature films" were pretty bad. Funny more like it. And of course the "snack" shack, which they reminded you of every chance they got. One time my dad drove the car off with the speaker still hanging in the window.
@@johnallen2771 My dad had a 69 Bonneville convertible. I was born in 64. We'd do the PJs, brought pillows and bankies (blankets).
My mom, dad and us 5 kids.
My dad would have my brother and middle sister get in the trunk 😂, so he wouldn't have to pay for all 5 of us.
I remember watching giant monster movies, like Godzilla and King Kong. I still love those kaiju and am looking forward to the newest movie this November. Sucks, no drive in 😞.
We took our kids to the same Drive in too. Sometimes I go by myself.
Lots of memories at the drive in.
@@johnallen2771 that's cool and funny!
It honestly was a great time to be alive.. Things weren"t instant...but after it was done, no matter from cooking, or building, farming, it was an achievement that gave you pride, and respect. Families werent so far apart. And yes, neighbors were almost like family. Ive lived 8 years where i am now, I have no idea what my neighbors names are. Churning ice cream on Sundays, having Koolaid stands, croquet, the sound of window fans.....so many many sweet memories lol. Im having a hard time thinking what kids today will remeber 20 years from now. hmmmm the latest Samsung Note 8, music filled with vulgar lyrics. Silly me..
There won't be an America 2o yrs from now if big tech is not dismantled.
Believe dat yo!!
@@kevinbarry4325 So you want socialism ... but a destructive kind ?
Otherwise free market capitalism will yield the same result.
@@Mk101T Free market capitalism is what built this country and made it strong. Because of that it has always been the only country where you can start with nothing and acquire just about anything you wish if you're willing to work for it. Right now the radical Democrat leaders pulling the strings on Joe Biden are trying hard to destroy our economy and drive us all to socialism worse than China. They want total control of everything. If we don't start fighting back and fighting hard they're going to accomplish their goal.
@@3Ddude101 Oh plz ... you couldn't compete in freemarket capitalism were it to really exist here in America.
Why are those hard working jobs in the US continually being done less and less by so called true Americans ?
How bout you stop using the biggest form of welfare in the US , and get off the roads ... you social welfare baby with your flag and gun profile pic.
Which you are easily controlled by being made to believe you are being controlled.
I remember when you picked-up the receiver and the operator asked, "Number Please.."
In the mid-sixties it cost $1.50 more per month to have a push button phone instead of the dial up.
i worked in the country and when u picked up the phone people were talking on it. party line.and i
think it was in the 80's.
@Charles Ross ..i have my first phone on my desk.got it when i worked my first summer job. it's a pink rotary w/ wires- not a easy connect. my dad wouldn't let us get a phone. so i had to get the house wired & i put it in my bedroom.
..dad said to me" who's paying the bill when i go back to high school?" the bill was only $6.& change. no phone till 17. imagine!
I'll take a rotary phone stuck on the wall. And a computer on the desk.
By my time with phones, they did not answer with an operator unless you were calling long distance from a pay phone. But the audio quality was much better than the phones today,---that often get put to shame by the 1969 moon landing transmissions. The kids don't know the difference.
Blessed to have grown up in the fifties. Born in 1949 started first grade in 1955.
GREAT VIDEO SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY LOVED THE 50S
As an Englishman visiting the USA at 21 year old back in 1969 one of the things I wanted to do was go to a drive in movie,I did and it was great.No drive in movies in the UK. Are there no drive movies in the US anymore ? We drove in in a Cadillac Bonneville painted a gorgeous deep red metallic, I have loved those big American cars ever since.I have retired now and its still my dream to come back to the USA,maybe next year.
blackvulcan100 about 330 drive-in theaters from the 1950’s are still in operation today. You can find a few along Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Probably one of the more famous drive-ins, the Admiral Twin (featured in the movie The Outsiders), is located just off of Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Most states have at least one drive-in so no matter what state you visit you should be able to find one. Hope you can make it soon!
@@TheChoochooboy99 Cheers EL, my son works for Fed Ex so he often visits the US although his post for Fed Ex is in Dubai.Where you from in the US ?
blackvulcan100 well it’s hard to say where because I’ve lived all over the US. I spent a good chunk of my life in Tulsa and in Chicago, but I currently live in Largo, FL which borders Clearwater and St. Petersburg in the Tampa Bay Area.
My grandparents had a Cadillac back then and my mom drove a 78 Lincoln town car. Those are what I learned to drive. They were HUGE and I could pile in a ton of my friends. I loved the drive in and we still have one here in Texas. I miss those days.
Classic years to be alive and have real fun for what we had
Thank You for posting this video! I loved it!
I agreed with sam
The best part of living in the '50s was that there were no "Cell Phone Zombies" wondering around or driving. I was in college in the 50s and it was great. I even drove a beautiful 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop around the campus. Wish I still had it. We also had a great US President Eisenhower from 1953-1961. "I like Ike"
Those are all good things for you. But I really suffered under segregation, so no thank you for me.
@@this-is-not-just-a-pr-fail3263 Sorry to hear that.
Ike built up u$a's military complex, an error that would have been avoided had the anti-populist dem party bosses not pushed aside FDR's pick Henry Wallace and his peace platform in favor of a compliant pro-warmongering Truman. Huge and horrific long term choices were made in this era. And blocking Black GIs from the GI bill. Jim Crow. Continued erasure of indigenous tribes. etc etc. Great for naive white folk tho.
Ike was the last of the sort of OK Republican presidents. Since then they've been phonies and scumbags..
President Eisenhower was one of the best.
I was a kid in the 50's living in the countryside near Superior. One thing I find missing here is that there is no mention of winter. Winter is nearly half the year and can be very severe, but I have good memories of it. Think of "Fargo" by the Corn Brothers.
I had forgotten that you turned your headlights on for service at a drive-in restaurant.
McGrottomaster ī
We still have a drive in restaurant!
facebook.com/TheFenceDriveIn
I remember going to the Big Boy drive in restaurant and getting a big boy burger, onion rings and a large Vernor's ginger ale for $1.51 + tip. Oh, now I'm hungry, but that Big Boy's is a Thai restaurant now. No longer a drive-in and probably closed for the virus. The new normal...and the beat goes on.
@@jimburig7064 ...THE SHONYS BIG BOY ..GIRLS HAD ROLLER SKATES!! ....AND A HAT!!
Wonderful! Thank you for posting this.
What a treat that was. Thank you for sharing and great music as well. I appreciate all of your efforts in putting this together.
if i had a time machine that's the era i would keep going back to over and over and over .
I'd go back to about May, 1955 and bust the machine!! Never to return.
@@autobug2 That's the year Einstein died.... I'd go back another five years with hope I'd get to pick his brain....lol.
It was so good I wouldn't leave.
What if the time machine put you in a black person's body? Would you still want that?
Liberals destroyed everything
How I wish those days were back. They were truly the good old days!! Nothing like today!
You want to go back state sponsored terrorism against black Americans? Wow!
Go wine somewhere else.
It feels like yesterday, this shows how short life is, I can imagine in 2050 searching about life in 2021
So nice to hear people being proud of this great country. Kids today need to watch this
Thats the problem
There is still a drive in just about 2 miles from me. Only open on weekends. I’m 71, so I’ve been there lots!
This is before my time but there's a lot of things that were still happening in the 80s. Like drive-ins and the cool old cars hanging out at the A & W. Too bad drive-ins disappeared.
Back when the cars were built like tanks, with bumpers...nowdays you have to replace the front or back end if you want to repair a minor collision.
Around 15 yrs ago my local drive-in was re-viltalized, showing a double feature everyday, while still using the grounds for the swap meet on Sat-Sun
While I grew up in the 50's, my experiences were not nearly as much fun as this portrays. They have picked the best and flashiest examples of that era. Many of us only saw that from the outside.
Charles Ross love this comment!
Thanks for that. I was actually wondering myself what the reality of the era was for the men and women who didn't live the "charmed," PR-friendly version of the 50s romance. It's as they say -- the victors write the history books. In this case, the victors are interviewed for the documentaries. I don't want to hear about the guy who came back from the tail-end of the war and got a cushy job. I want to hear the stories of the guys who struggled, because struggle is real and the one constant throughout all generations.
The photo of the man and 2 kids with the salmon reminds me of when there USED TO BE salmon in the river by our house that dad would catch and we had photos like that of them. The government now protected all the seals and sea lions that used to have a bounty on them. Now there are VERY FEW SALMON for anyone to catch for food, and only the RICH can afford the licenses to fish for the few that are left.
My mother and uncles were fortunate enough to be part of such a great generation in our country. I have always thought if time travel was an option, the 50's would be my destination. Maybe the last great American time in history.
Hello! I was born in October of 1950 in MINNESOTA. I lived there until 1974. Thank you for this wonderful time to look back.
If you look you will notice obesity wasn’t so chronic back in those days
Proof the big 7 corporations control people. I like their channel, you created.
Also interesting that its so common in ur country now. Here it's not that bad. Fully industrialized and all though. Also food and production. Speaking from Western Europe. Wonder what's up with that. I was triggered by it also when visiting the US.
@Olivia Purcel Today there is to much salt in the food--
no laws that said you had to buy insurance on the cars
Its funny, because animals used for food were less lean themselves. Modern obesity is probably more a result of food additives like Corn Syrup, MSG, Hydrogenated Oils, etc....and a whole lot of cable TV, social media and gaming. Autism was also far less...but people like Bush and Rumsfeld were beginning to commercialize the wares?of the military industrial complex under the direction of the New World Order. Selling us the stuff that would eventually make us beg for the antidote which now they also sell us. A vicous circle. They sell us the disease and also the cure and then they start over and do it again.
Much more fast food, which is crap
I lived for 5 months in the 50's. I've now lived in 8 different decades.
Me too born July 18, 1959
I was born Jan 7, 1959.
13 actually
Good for you
How I wish I had lived during the 50's!! All these free trade agreements killed the middle class such a shame!!
@e You don't know what free trade agreements are?
That was the intent...sad
Today it is only a matter of where you live. Every city is different as is every community. Same with people and how they live. I managed to settle a days ride from home after traveling the whole Country for work for 30 years. Some things are gone. Basic trust has been ruined, morals, and acceptance are gone. But if you look hard you will find all the good people you need.
I miss the 50's ... I missed them by 4 years! Born in 64...
Tom Maika Me, born in 65’ but we too grew up in some of the best of times.
Born in 1962. I also think that we grew up in the best of times.
I was born in 1964. Called the N word for the first time in 1969. That was the beginning. My dad told me stories of segregation in the 50's.
@@michaelsimmons3524 so sorry
Greg Appelgren oh yea.., I just wish I could have convinced my Pa to buy a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner... and just drive it home and store it. Maybe 3 of them.
That's a beauiful old art building you mention here in Duluth Minn. I truly hope you can restore it. The story that Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan play in it's history is also inspiring.
We still have a Drive In Theater where I live and the kids love it! Teenagers still put people in the trunk sometimes!
that's nice. We had one but they sold out and it was torn down. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but the buyers just wanted the land for another commercial project. Big bummer.
A Drive In Theater can only survive in an area with a good community with good people. My guess is that you live in rural America. God Bless your Community.
When the future sucks, nostalgia from the past is more appreciated and longed for.
That's the only thing that got me through this, was great growing up with our family's. 🇨🇦
We still have atleast 2 drive in theaters in our area. And they are well attended!
This is probably one of my favorite documentary films. It was very well made
Was born in 56. Was a good time to grow up.
I concur...
Me too, just had my 1st BD in 2 yrs & now 66 and had the best times on Feb 17th. Cheers baby boomer from Vancouver Island, B.C, 🇨🇦
I was born in Texas in 1951 and Ill never forget my parents picking me up at the Cinema in town and they had bought a Star Chief Pontiac.....
A child of the 50s, so wish i could go back
You must be white?
It was great living in the 1950's! I loved Rock and roll! We didn't have much; mother making $9.00 a week. Dad had died. We made fries and got together on the porch listening to the radio to the dedications. Great memories.
I may very young but I envy the 50’s even though I was born 50 years later
sgt Johnson, the 50s were NOT as pleasant as this ' documentary ' depicts.
@@billduckworth6760 Care to elaborate on that, Bill? Did you actually LIVE that time? To myself who did, it is pretty much as this describes. The anxieties and worries existed then, but not as orders-of-magnitude increased and their damnable numbers as now. We are headed (and almost there) for 'equality of misery.' THIS is what promises, not Heavenly perfection as is sold by the pushers.
. : .
There was Segregation and lot of racism but at least folks said please and thank you
@@jamesmiller4184 I was raised in the 50es 1944 and I miss that time enjoyed life much more to bad Bill Duckworth had a hard time
@@michaelbacon5404 You were born in 1944? If so you were a 'war baby'. There are a lot fewer of those around than from the 'Baby Boom' of later. I was in mid-45 when Germany was about to surrender; Japan half-a-year later. @Bill Duckworth from before did not say if he was of the era or not. I suspect not. Very many of such commenting thusly are TOLD by others what the score was like as-supposed.
What is "knowledge certain and true"? It is what one has WITNESSED. This is admissible as testimony in court, but not repetitions of hearsay or opinions, unless a court-accredited "expert witness." Too much is not taught that otherwise if so would allow one to separate reality from ALL the rest that is for the greater part but presumed, self-serving garbage. It is the teaching institutions' fault, basically.
Indeed, the Fifties and early Sixties were a whole OTHER WORLD, one pre- the forced integration of all with all. Now, the beautious glory of it manifests; it's marvelous blessings lived modernly. It took a long time but, finally IT IS HERE almost perfected!!!! Indeedy! Let us all get down on our knees and thank fundamental Federalism, and it's irresistible APPLIED COERCIVE FORCE for it.
Ahhh, our enjoyed perfect universal "FREEDOM" is always 'just-just-just about' upon us !!
. : .
wonderful walkthrough history!
I hate to think how many kids were a result of the Drive-In !! lol!! Remember it well fondly!
the passion pit
Harreson Garner we still have two drive inns where i live.Go almost every weekend in the summer..
In the old drive in you had a box for a speaker you hung on your window (not very good audio). The newer drive ins actually transmit the audio over an FM frequency which you listen to over your stereo ( much better audio quality)!
I miss the Drive Ins. The town where I live is lucky enough to still have one remaining. Drive Ins were hurting in the 80s and 90s, but the final blow came when the movie studios changed from film to digital. most Drive Ins and smaller Theaters had to close down due to the very high cost of switching over to digital projectors.I set up a large movie screen in my backyard for the last 10 years and do my best to keep the spirit of the drive in alive. It's sad that there's a generation out there that has no clue what a Drive In Theater was.
@@1959blantz the ridiculously wealthy movie stars and production companies shoulda foot the bill for the change over to digital for these small town drive ins. after all,the people watching the movies are paying thier salaries.
So weird I came across this today. I wasn't fortunate enough to have lived during the 50s but love many of the aspects about it from having heard so much about it from my parents while I was growing up - even today they still share old memories (they are both 78 now). Makes me sad to hear Deluth, Minnesota, while all of that horrible stuff is going on there now. Is our country EVER going to make it back to some semblance of the amazing place it clearly was at one time?
Though I, sadly, have spent a large part of my life certain I was born too late (of course I was!), lately I am finding more gratitude when I see what younger people are dealing with now. I can say, even though just a sliver, I did get to experience a small portion of good and normalcy as a child in the 70s and teen in the 80s. I was fortunate to grow up in a very nice "middle America" suburb and enjoy an active childhood and teen years that did not revolve around cell phones and internet. Physical activity/bike riding was a constant and there weren't many overweight kids even as recently as the 90s even...so much changed after the internet in the late 90s and of course after 9/11 I think many of us could see things were forever altered.
I didn't think it could be topped, but what we are living in now is unprecedented and not in any positive way whatsoever as far as I am concerned. I am almost ashamed to be an American when I see how badly our "watch dog" and "protector" media peddle their propaganda and lies and what we see playing out "politically" online, on tell-LIE-vision and the papers is a circus freak show that is enough to make the strongest person cringe.
I love watching stuff like this but it would be nice to be able to make good memories NOW instead of having to take trips down memory lane - it's a bit depressing and now I am nostalgic for a time I didn't even live in.
God, please help us get this mess fixed, and please hurry.
OK, I've lived in Duluth, MN since 1976.....what "horrible stuff is going on" here?
@Danielle Marin Let not your heart be troubled! Remember that somehow and in someway --- GOD AND JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL! 🙏💪🙏😊 This has ALWAYS been my personal experience! God's time MAY NOT BE our time -- but He is always ON TIME! 🙏👍😍
Duluth was horrible a long time ago. The frequency of lynchings there in the 20's is literally the reason anti-lynching laws were enacted. This documentary is a white-washed tunnel vision view of the past. Its innappropriate that it was paid for with public funds to be honest.
@@trevorbrooks2552 Right, "WAS", not "IS" still happening. The original poster, Danielle Marin, writes about "all that horrible stuff IS going on there now". The only thing horrible happening in Duluth NOW is the utterly nasty way below zero F temps and then wind on top of that. But no more lynchings. Matter of fact there is now a memorial to these truly horrible lynchings as a constant reminder of how shitty our racist ancestors used to be.
@Danielle Marin Well you could always just go live in a 1950's simulator ... and stop bothering the Real~World with your selfish nostalgic delusions . Because obviously the realities of time and evolution are not something you can deal with.
Looking at the bigger picture of it ... you could say the 50s set in motion what it became today.
Because with the post WWII economic boom and child labor laws ... kids not having to work 14 hrs a day started creating lazy self entitlement in each successive generation there after to what it is you seem to hate about today.
And with people wanting to marinate in nostalgia for the past instead of embracing solutions for the future ... is just a death spiral for society.
BuT!!! We ain't gona let you do it to Us ... so Boo Hoo for you , that the 50s is getting CANCELLED !!!
There was a drive in theater down the road from my highschool that my mom took us too when I was little. It was closed down by the time I was in highschool. My friends and I gathered discarded furniture from the side of the road, took it to the big "room" under the screen and used it as a flophouse when skipping classes. There's a Menards sitting on the site now (State St., Saginaw Mi)
All of us 60 yr. olds..70 yr.olds..back then.. we had the world by the tail..never even knew it... sad how it has deteriorated.. hold your head up high..
We lived well!!!👍👍👍😊😊🇺🇸🇺🇸
You could put on a fairly nice dinner party for 6 for about $100 in 1962 but now with wine and an appetizer, try $400.00!!! And cooking from scratch.
I remember my dad he bought a 56 Chevy nomad station wagon with the pipes yellow and black. Those pipes sure did sound good for stock.
I bet it sounded like Flo master exhausts......😎😎😎
Back when America was truly great.
+Breda Jake
It was the greatest period of wealth ever created. An average person could afford a nice home and a luxury car.
+bighands69 It will be again!
+GEMINITREKKER I wish what you said is true. The US is dying, very quickly. Back then we were proud of our Country. We worked hard to keep the Country working. We were one...we were Americans. Now we are all divided and the divisiveness is encouraged and hailed...If you are a white male you need to be ashamed...if you are female you are still saying you are discriminated against. LGBT is put on a pedestal. Now Americans are supposed to be hyphenated; African American, Latino American...it's disgustingly sad, because now we are not all together being Americans, so there is no pride in being a Nation. There is no Nation. The Commander in Chief has done an amazingly successful job at dividing this Country in three ways; racially, politically, and socially. He has fueled a fire over the last seven plus years that would take at least two or three generations to correct. Unfortunately, the divisions are so strong there will be no corrections because the younger generations are brainwashed, and they will raise their young with the beliefs they were brainwashed with. The US is done; dead. I am no longer proud of the Country, for it is full of entitlement demanding, whining, driveling idiots. If you ask me who the most influential person is in the US, it is not a person; it is the media. They are the driving force behind spewing the hatred and division of the current Commander in Chief. Liberals have now become the new Fascist Party. They want to suppress the First Amendment for those that don't think exactly as they do. The former Beatniks of the 1950s and the Hippies of the 1960s who touted free love and free expression; who said they respect diversity; are now Fascists.
I'm 66, and I think America is greater than ever. To be a real happy American, it's essential that you embrace CHANGE! Change and adaptation is the core of America! As is toleration of everybody's free speech and diversity.
GFYS.
this brings me back to fond memories of dad working on the tv tubes.. oh lordy lordy right up there with the fuel oil furnace memories
I was born in 1940 and came of age in the 1950s. It was such an exciting and interesting era. Grew up on a farm where we had no electricity or telephone service. The only technology was a battery powered radio. By 1960 there was a massive transformation in the way we lived and worked. I had not yet decided what my future would be. The most obvious path was to remain on the farm and take it over some day. But I had a great interest in radio and electronics that lead me into a career in the mainframe computer business.
The 50's are fascinating. They had no clue how much their optimism partnered with ignorance, and "keeping up with the Jones's" would change the world and not necessarily for the best. The 60's response to the 50's was to tear down the old. Fight the establishment. Change everything NOW, Tune In, Drop Out was too extreme. We are still paying for it today.
The cars of thr 50s were actually works of industrial art. They were created during a time of amazing American optimism and innovation. All you have to do is notice how much a well-restored 50s-era American car goes for at a Mecum auto action.
I have a 1951 Ford Custom Coupe, and it's absolutely amazing. Original 239 flathead v8. My 6yo kid and my dad and I go cruising all around in that sucker, and everyone loves it. It's a beautiful machine.
@@user-qt5eh9wb7g Awesome! My brother was quite a bit older than me. When he was 20 he got a 1954 Ford Crestline Sunliner with the glass top. I loved it when we went for a ride with him.
wow- I remember those drive in movies. That was big date place where all the young guys would take their dates. It always turned into a wrestling match with me. I don't think I ever watched the entire movie at a drive up theater while being a teenager on a date. Oh to be young again If only I could.
The drive in theaters were great. Lots of good memories.
Lots of rape at drive ins. Sad but true,
I like how people who didn't even have cars we're still allowed to come down and hang out and that they wanted to hang out with the car club
yes, but not Black people
I was born in 1952..... I wish we could go back to this era.
i was born in 1935. you must be a white racist. such a sanitized WHITE version of the 1950s. no mention of the apartheid or lynchings or shootings and beatings. not the 1950s i remember being shot by kkk for having a white wife.
@@bobbybabylon1385 Why do you call anyone a racist for wanting to go back to their childhood era? Attitudes like yours are so cancerous to society, calling anyone "racist" for anything does more harm than good, but anger cannot see straight.
By this point in time the word itself, "racist" has truly lost its meaning, and good riddance to it.
Bobby...you Did Not have a white wife in the 50s if you were black...I was born in the 50s
pennellkay negative you are. Mostly exaggerated your claims are.
Bobby Babylon here we go boohoo;you lying ;go to bed little child stop being a troll ;before the real troll 👹under your bed gets you ;smh Kkk 😁white wife 😁lol what a imagination 😂
There was many drive ins in Hawaii too! I think my last drive in experience was watching ghost busters in the early 80s. Out of about five drive ins in Oahu, the last one to close was Kam drive inn in pearl city, Hawaii. Believe it or not, it stayed open until 1998.
The days when you could live and prosper on a average wage, now its all about cutting taxes at the top. Taxes were higher for the corporations , wages were higher compared to cost, and not only did America survived, she prospered.
If not for Republicans America would still be great!
@@larryallen4674 its the Libturds who want DIEversity and helping Everyone one else.. but Americans !
You realize that the federal tax rate has decreased since the 1950s, right? The marginal tax rate was 92% for income over $200k. It was about 50% for the average income. Today it is 28%.
The cost of living is what makes it more difficult to make a living wage.
@@lauraz2896 Yup my point
tonycavanagh1929 Oops I read your post wrong. I think that the inflation in the 70s ruined everything. And the 80s when manufacturing started to leave.
The drive-in made a comeback due to the pandemic in 2019...
Where I live we have a drive-in near a small town. It's always a popular destination for movies. I am so glad I got to experience that as a kid. Once a month my dad would pile all of us into the station wagon and take us to the movies. He would put the back down and lay out a blanket for all of us.
Rural America is great due to the values of its people.
It did? Not anywhere I know. Please share the location.
@@BrittMFH There were even concerts that people attended in their cars without getting off.
If society could only be like this again. No spandex, tattoos all over, staring into a phone.
Spandex can stay😂
Wow....children playing outside and inventing ways to entertain them selves.
poor fellas....no playstation, no obesity....thank god for progress.
Shut it old man you're jealous you didn't have access to the stuff we do. It's not our fault so don't shame us for it. you're acting like more of a child then us
Baby boomers are assholes
Guy Rutledge IKR!👍
@@aye3781 the only A hole is you
The Minnesota part of this documentary makes me reconsider getting a gold old pair of Red Wing Iron Rangers just for the nostalgia.
Our fabulous classic car show every Saturday night thru the summer at the sycamore.
Great video!