Aibu to think

[Anneofgreengableslondon]

That I would love to have been born in the 1950s?
Seriously no Facebook which is such a negative thing no social media at all things seemed to be so much simpler and less drama etc.
I watch call the midwife and I wish I was child bearing back then 😂

[beluga425]

Ha ha because it was exactly like Call the Midwife back then!!!
😂😂😂

[TenancyTroublesAgain]

Yanbu to think that! Think what you like. But you don't have to have social media.

[RedPanda2]

I would only want to be born in the 1950s if I was a white, well off man. Otherwise, it pretty much sucked from what I hear.

[MissionItsPossible]

YABUIMO!

[DianaPrincessOfThemyscira]

You’re saying this based on CTM?! Have you only watched the recent ones? Because no, growing up in a filthy tenement with a communal toilet is not for me.

[meredintofpandiculation]

Probably no fridge. Almost certainly no deepfreeze. No tampons, just really bulky pads that you discreetly burnt on the living room fire (because there was no central heating). Making toast under the grill because you didn't have a toaster. Or a microwave.

Yogurt was exotic, take-away food was confined to fish and chips and a a chinese restaurant if you were lucky. No pizza, pasta was not normal - most often seen as macaroni in stews. Rice was quite exotic too.

No disposable nappies, so you spent a lot of time washing nappies, and hanging them out on the line because you didn't have a tumble dryer.

TV was great - there was BBC and ITV, both in black and white. Both had long periods of blankness in the middle of the day, and they went off at about 11pm.

This was pre-several childhood vaccinations, so as well as chicken-pox, you probably had whooping cough, mumps and measles to go through. Fortunately the polio vaccination had just come in, and TB, so you escaped both of those.

But yes, it was OK as a child. Rubbish for a young mother - many were no longer living near their families because direction of labour during the war had taken them far away, and that's where they met their husbands. So they were stuck at home (it was still expected that you resigned, if not when you married, then certainly when you had your first child) with few child care options, no mother and toddler groups, and school only once the child had reached its 5th birthday.

[iklboo]

Washing done in a twin tub or dolly tub as well. Most people still had coal fires, no central heating. People with mental health problems & disabilities were routinely put into homes 'for the best'.

[MotherforkingShirtballs]

If I was child bearing back then I'd be dead three times over. Eldest DS would be one of the children put in a home "for the best". Presuming I did somehow survive childbirth, DD1 would have died of an infection at 2mo as they wouldn't have had the right IV antibiotics and medical support she needed and DD2 would have died during delivery or shortly after.

Postwar austerity, rationing, poor nutrition, widespread racism and disabilist attitudes, homosexuality and abortion both illegal, marital rape legal, abuse of all types swept under the rug, few opportunities for women beyond marriage and homemaking, cigarette smoke everywhere, social mobility frowned upon as like should stick with like, and so on.

It was a shitty era for a lot of people.

[MotherforkingShirtballs]

No readily available contraception either.

Vaccination, contraception, and sanitation - the three "-tions" that mean we no longer have to have ten kids in the hope that at least two or three will survive to adulthood.

[meredintofpandiculation]

It was a shitty era for a lot of people. Literally. A big change is in the amount of dog poo on the pavements. You used not to be able to walk anywhere without having to keep an eye out for poo.

[CurcubitaPepo]

CTM does however portray an unrealistic and sanitised version of inner city life at the time. I’ve read the books and the gritty reality is somewhat different. And not necessarily suitable viewing for a Sunday evening.

[MatildaTheCat]

Full shave and a big, hot enema, anyone?

CTMW is lovely Sunday telly but not aspirational lifestyle fodder, for me at least.

[LondonHereICome]

I thought call the midwife ( which is a load of rubbish imo) was set in 1960's

[OutyMcOutface]

Oh yeah-the polio sounds like a blast especially!

[Time40]

social mobility frowned upon as like should stick with like

I don't think that's at all true. I think there was more social mobility then than there is now.

[MotherforkingShirtballs]

My parents grew up in the 50s, they and relatives who were also around back then, talk about being actively discouraged from progressing themselves. My uncle was clever enough to go to the grammar school but didn't because of the cost and because it was thought it would give him stuck up ideas.

[DonnyAndVladSittingInATree]

Seriously no Facebook which is such a negative thing no social media at all

You know you can do that now, for yourself? Social media isn’t compulsory. Just deregister.

[meredintofpandiculation]

I think the war may have helped with social mobility. Direction of labour was in force, so apart from the obvious ones of land girls and work in munitions factories, girls with no qualifications could be sent at 17 to work as eg lab assistants in research establishments, where they would mingle with middle class male graduate scientists who were feeling quite lonely at being sent away from their own families.

After the war there was an expansion in "middle class" jobs, and I've seen it suggested that the social mobility of the 60s, 70s and 80s was almost entirely due to the increased opportunities - it wasn't an upward movement by the brighter working classes matched by a downward movement by the less able upper and middle classes, it was just that there was more room in the middle than previously.

And now it's going the other way, middle class jobs disappearing, plenty of room at the bottom.

[Situp]

OP it sounds like you are looking for a simpler way of life. That is definitely achievable today without having to go through polio and giving up your freezer!

//Www.theminimaliasts.com has some great suggestions on how to cut the negative things from your life whilst still having the modern conforts!

[Anneofgreengableslondon]

I get the negative points, however I can point out more negatives for today's society.
For example back then parents could be parents.
Mums sometimes could afford to stay home if they wished.
Community was exactly that.

[cjferg]

Take off your rose tinted specs, OP.

For example back then parents could be parents.
Mums sometimes could afford to stay home if they wished
They'd have to stay at home even if they didn't want to because no childcare bar school, and you couldn't expect a man to give up his job and stay at home to look after kids
You'd have to look after children all day and have then quietened down, hot meal ready and the house clean for husband after he got back from work.
Great if you want to do those things anyway but there wasn't much of a choice.

Social media is a creation for spare time, it's only a thing because we have so much spare time these days.

Agree with the community part though.

[MotherforkingShirtballs]

parents could be parents

In what sense? Parents now can be parents, all of the parents I know are parents.

[Lizzie48]

No washing machines, a lot of time spent washing clothes and nappies. No major supermarket chains, shopping took a lot longer as you had to visit lots of different shops. No central heating, most people still had coal fires.

Women had far fewer options. These days we can be SAHMs if we want to be, but we don't have to give up work when we have children.

[LondonHereICome]

I don't understand the "parents could be parents" comment either

Domestic violence was swept under the carpet back then and those with disabilities swept away with them!

Still fancy it op?

[LondonHereICome]

My aunt was 'mentally handicapped' back then

Hidden away. Gran made to feel ashamed of her. No support. Shipped off to a home eventually

Such a great time to be alive