If you are under 40 ... chances are you won't understand this.

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You could hardly see for all the snow,
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set,
"Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet."

Depending on the channel you tuned,
You got Rob and Laura - or Ward and June.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.

I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys,
Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys,
Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,
Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane.

Father Knows Best, Patty Duke,
Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too,
Donna Reed on Thursday night!
Life looked better in black and white.

I wanna go back to black and white.
Everything always turned out right.
Simple people, simple lives...
Good guys always won the fights.

Now nothing is the way it seems,
In living color on the TV screen.
Too many murders, too many fights,
I wanna go back to black and white.

In God they trusted, alone in bed, they slept,
A promise made was a promise kept.
They never cussed or broke their vows.
They'd never make the network now.

But if I could, I'd rather be
In a TV town in '53,
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.

I'd trade all the channels on the satellite,
If I could just turn back the clock tonight
To when everybody knew wrong from right.
Life was better in black and white!

Ah, the 50s...when women couldn't go to many colleges, when segregation was accepted as good and right by whites, when the cold war was in full force, when domestic violence was 'good comedy' (see The Honeymooners)...ah, the 50s.

Just a reminder of the 'other side' of change. It ain't all bad.

The 50s were great, if you were a white male and middle-class. Otherwise, well, not so romantic. This nostalgia forgets a lot of people.

John

Not to mention Senator McCarthy. Interracial marraiges were illegal in many states. Hey! Does that make me a radical? There's a novelty.

Try Nick at Night. LOL

JReddoch - you a radical, not in this lifetime... 😉

Domestic violence on the Honeymooners?
I must have missed that episode.

Verbal threats of physical violance are a form of domestic violence.

"One of these days Alice. One of these days.............BANG! ZOOM! TO THE MOON!"

(Funny thing is, I allways felt that one of those days Alice was going to beat the @#$% out of Ralph!)
Audry Meadows was truly the greatest!

I can remember when we got our first color TV... I was the Remote.... LMAO!!!!!!
there were no Buttons all dials... and you sometimes had to stand by the rabbit ears to have the tv come in better....

Laurin & Martin (sp) Laugh-in...

Milton Burrel...
Just a few yrs back he went on Howard Stearn show.. Howard was cutting him down like he does allot of folks... he say's So Milt! I hear you were quite the lady's man in your time... Milt said well I had my share... He Say's yea I hear your pretty well hung? Milt after about a half hour or so of Stearn says well
Howie I tell you what.. You lay yours out on the Table and I'll toss out enough to beat ya!!!!! THAT Ended the Show!!!!!!!

Hog

Leave it to the professor to belittle the greatness that was America in the '50s.
Yes, it was a white-male society. We all know that women and minorities were treated as second class citizens, and that is most unfortunate.
But Americans were proud. People worked for a living. Families were institutions. Right and wrong were clearly defined. Authority was respected. Children were disciplined. Their Tomorrow had hope for an even brighter future.
Today, it's OK to lay down in the middle of a shopping plaza to pray to allah in the wake of 9/11, yet it's offensive to say "under God" in our Pledge. Families are dysfunctional and our government is Expected to pay for it. Children learn about drugs and sex on the school bus...in third grade. Teaching your son to protect himself no longer involves gloves and a punching bag. And many kids feel there may not be a tomorrow.
America in the '50's was NOT perfect. But it was a lot closer than we are today.

In the 50's when not a door was locked
when was heard a lot of knock knock jokes
on halloween you couldn't walk on sidewalks for the number of kids in search of tricks or treats
and now we bar our windows and fear the knock on the door. The times,they are a changing. X

Those WERE the good old days!

I'm 44 and remember all those references except, "Rob and Laura - or Ward and June". Maybe I'm not quite old enough for them.

Great post Slim!

Mag

Mag that would be Rob and Laura Petree and Ward and June Cleaver...

Petrie

jdrabinski

boy, are you a spoil sport. we know, or should know, the inequities in the 50's. we know that if you were not a wasp, you had different memories. you never saw someone on tv representing a minority in a good light.

but the war was over and you could go to college on the gi bill. a house in the suburbs was under $10,000. a new car 3,000. for a fancy one.

and for a few moments, slim took me back to a time i remember with joy.

spoil sport.

... of the ****** Van **** Show and Leave it to Beaver!

"Ward, you were kind of hard on the Beaver last night."
-June Cleaver

Thanks, I now remember them too. Leave it to Beaver was a favorite as a kid.

Mag

Our black & white set my parents had was one of those fancy ones with the Radio & Record player built all in one. Bet one of those are worth bucks in good condition now.

Mag

If you see any tapes of any 50's TV shows that pan the audience,see if you see any blacks. X

""But Americans were proud. ""

We're not now? try reading some of this forum.

""People worked for a living. ""

Those that have a job still do.

""Families were institutions.""

And today they are?

"" Right and wrong were clearly defined.""

The KKK were sure they were right with every lynching.

""Authority was respected. ""

Persons in authority had earned it.

""Children were disciplined.""

Many are today as well. sadly not all. Not all were then.

"" Their Tomorrow had hope for an even brighter future. ""

Not for minorites. Wasn't much hope at all for them.

""Today, it's OK to lay down in the middle of a shopping plaza to pray to allah in the wake of 9/11,""

OK to pray to Jesus as well. Some malls even have churches.

""yet it's offensive to say "under God" in our Pledge.""

To those who's personal beliefs prohibit it.

""Families are dysfunctional and our government is Expected to pay for it. ""

The Clutter family wasn't dysfunctional? 1950's. The Barker family wasn't dysfunctional? 1930's. The Bordon family wasn't dysfunctional? 1890's.

""Children learn about drugs and sex on the school bus...in third grade.""

I learned it from watching the folks drink booze and by getting into Dad's Playboy stash.

""Teaching your son to protect himself no longer involves gloves and a punching bag.""

With .82 guns per capita, thats no surprise.

""And many kids feel there may not be a tomorrow. ""

Only if we fail to leave them one.

The 50's were no better and no worse then the 80's or any other decade. It's all in your perspective.