Top 18+ People Describe Life in the '50s To Those Who Weren't Yet Alive

What was life like in the 1950s? When reddit user u/waves-360 asked, dozens of people responded with their memories of life during the decade. Here are 18 of the top responses. What do you remember?

1. "The beginning of the 50's still had a lot of WWII carry over influence. Navy dad got stationed on Oahu from '52 to '54. We were living on Kaneohe Marine Air Base for a time..."

"The attack on Pearl Harbor and its significance was still very much on the minds of island residents."

2. "There used to be a cartoon shown before the movie started" - u/Beefbuggy

3. "There was broken glass and garbage everywhere. Totally acceptable to litter. Lady Bird Johnson changed that with a campaign to keep America beautiful" - u/mary_mary1

4. "2 television stations, off at midnight. Radio was king. Everything closed on Sundays. The 50's for me was farming, being outside in the country, playing all the time." - u/driverman425. "I remember you for sure didn't back talk the adults." - u/IToldYouIHeardBanjos

6. "For me a few things stand out : people were getting polio before the vaccine, toilets still labeled black or white, you were called a beatnik if you were a bit different, orphanages were everywhere,poodle skirts were real" - u/kfinches

7. "Obviously the civil rights movement was monumentous, as well as the suffragette movement etc. but it’s crazy that men and women actually used to fall in love with each other; the happiest people I know are people from that generation." - u/Specialist-Ad-8. "The 50's weren't kind to women. no maxi pads or tampons no hair dryers or curling irons menopause sucked w/out hormones had to dress up all the time, even housewives cleaning their houses" - u/bznbuny1239. "My mother wrote down her experiences in London. She said it was a time of joyous celebration. People had lived through the war and were happy to have survived, and intent on enjoying life."10. "this is the era that made automobiles, (and as result paved roads, motels and traffic lights) indoor electricity and women's knees routine parts of life. While we still had wide swaths of agriculture, this time period saw the dramatic upswing in American11. "When Americans remembered “the Fifties,” they thought of Joe McCarthy witch hunts, of an “age of anxiety,” of the “shook-up generation” diving under their desks during A-Bomb drills, of the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit selling out and Holden Caulfield cr12. "You didn't sass your parents or you were pretty much guaranteed to be spanked or backhanded. If you misbehaved at school you were paddled and then you got it again when your parents found out." - u/alanamil13. "Children had “school clothes” and “play clothes,” and were scolded if they got their schools dirty or torn. Girls wore dresses or skirts to school, no pants, no tennis shoes with the dress" - u/RainInTheWoods..."and boys wore slacks and collared button down shirts to school with loafers or brogues, no tennis shoes. Kids brought their tennis shoes to school for playground time or gym hour."

14. "People were usually slender back then compared to how things are now in America. Fast food was substantially less frequently available, and snacking at home was not common except for special treat days." - u/ RainInTheWoods

15. "Cooking was mostly from scratch ingredients and dishes were washed by hand. It meant a lot more standing time in the kitchen. Most homes didn’t have a clothes dryer so wet clothing was hauled outdoors to be hung on a line." - u/RainInTheWoods

16. "You were supposed to be patriotic and to love God. You were supposed to marry and have a family. Men were supposed to land a good job and provide for their families, and women were supposed to take care of the home." - u/SubatomicGoblin