to those that survived the 30s 40s 50s 60s &70s?

Question

TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED the
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.


We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.


We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.



We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as
kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives

for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.



Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

i know that this is a long entry and that things arent as safe as they used to be but when you think about it its all true.

Answer 1

yes it is true. And it is good. The issue is not that all these things are bad. The issue, as I see it, is that there are people who died or were severely injured from the lack of things we have now. My own father-in-law wanted to know what the big deal is with every kid always having to be in a car seat. He said, "We survived." And ya know what? His own daughter was killed in a car accident 50 years ago. Talk about denial.

Answer 2

I have received this before and I love it each time. It is all true.... I ran around all day from morning until night and I was ok. Everyone within a ten block radius knew whose kids were whose and they didn't hesitate to call your mom if they saw you misbehaving. If you did do something wrong, you knew your mom would know before you got home. We played outside. We actually climbed the trees and played in the street without fear that some one would speed down the street and kill us. Everyone knew there were kids in the neighborhood and watched out for them. Once in awhile one of us would fall and skin a knee or even break an arm and no one got sued over it. Ourt parents would actually ask US what we were thinking and then tell us to be more careful! I remember fondue night and game night and jiffy pop popcorn. We didn't have 1000 channels of endless junk on TV. We had something like 12 channels. And our legs were the remote control. There were no VCRs or TiVOs to record the shows. I remember when HBO was new and one one or two households on the whole block even had a suscription to cable. Getting up to go change the chanel with the little rotary dial box on top of the TV. I remember watching the very first video on MTV (back when they actually played videos!) It was The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star! I remember my ATARI 2600 and the games that looked nothing like the ones at the arcade. And the arcades! Who could forget the tokens and the innocent little games we played. No realistic shootouts and death scenes.

Wow. Thank for stirring memories of good times!

Answer 3

It's not ALL true. Diabetes runs in my family. Many relatives died of this disease before it became a treatable disease. Currently, at least 5 relatives who are still living have diabetes.. one is a type 1.

We survived sleeping on our tummies... many, many children did not. Hence the discovery that more children survive infancy when placed on their back.

Some of what you wrote (not original, btw, as I've seen it in emails) is true. Like riding bikes without helmets and eating white bread (both of which I still do). But some progress is based on the tragedies of others, especially the repeated tragedies of others. Airbags are a good invention... car seats and seatbelts are, too. When I was five and in the car with no seatbelt, Mom drove forward when the light turned green, and I flew off the seat (station wagon seat facing back of car), hit my head on a protrusion and cracked my head open...

I think, as a whole, we are all still experiencing uncharted waters of life and are still surviving - some of us. So, despite the fact that Mom and Dad were born in the 30's and I in 1961, I would add the decade of the 80's and 90's and the current decadeas well, to that "congratulations to survivors."

Answer 4

i'm 70 years previous ( Born July 1940 interior the midst of an air raid ) and that i does not prefer to have been born later. even although the conflict circumstances have been risky, all and sundry enjoyed the leisure and freedom of the 50s / 60s and 70s. because of the super form of the track which became made by utilizing musicians with out using digital contraptions . I never observed an amplifier till i became 18 . in easy terms the super dance halls had sound structures. whilst i became a youthful guy, there have been evening golf equipment, Social golf equipment, Dance Halls and stay overall performance Halls on merely approximately each and every highway end the place the musicians could benefit their adventure ( We did have expertise shows yet maximum bands grew to grow to be common by utilizing enjoying in close by golf equipment then moving up into the super city venues like the Beatles / Stones / The Animals / Lindisfarne and maximum different nicely-prevalent bands did ) i began out enjoying interior the close by church hall then took instructions and slowly began to play in extra desirable bands till I grew to grow to be stable adequate to connect a huge Swing Band. over the years I extremely have performed in many kinds of bands ( Swing / Jazz / Rock / Orchestral / Dance Band / Latin American / Scottish / Irish / 40s, 50s, 60,s 70,s Pop communities. and others. you may not try this immediately ! whilst I performed interior the different bands, I have been given to work out the diversities of style. The Teddy Boys with their pink and black velvet collared suits and the girls in beautiful 'A' line clothing that have been lots extra attractive than immediately. The Rockers, The Mods, the long Hair of the Beetles era ( mine became all the way down to my shoulders and blow waved ! ) i think of immediately's pop scene, the track and the clothing is somewhat bland and monotonous in assessment and the mechanical digital noise produced has no soul or rhythm. even although i'm 70, I nonetheless play drums with a band and enjoy all the track from the previous 60 years. additionally for the duration of my musical lifetime I hardly witnessed violence, drugs, binge ingesting or foul language.

Answer 5

And let's not leave out the kids who lost eyes to BB's from BB guns (yes, I know some), the ones who ended up brain damaged after flying through the car windshields, the babies who were born with low birth-weight and who struggled with their health their entire lives because their mothers smoked and drank. Yes, riding in the back of pick-up trucks was fun, but I've personally seen a kid fly out of the back of one and land on his head. The only things you mentioned that are controlled by the government are the ones about seat belts, car seats and riding in the back of pick-up trucks. Mothers can still drink, smoke and eat what they want while pregnant, kids still get BB guns, you can still let your kid play outside for hours or hitch-hike, it's just that we now know better. I do agree about the use of electronics, It's a shame that parents are letting the TV, video games and computers be their baby-sitters. The solution to it all is get out their with your kid, let them enjoy childhood but don't take unnecessary risks with their safety.

Answer 6

i know its true........ i may only be 18 but i have heard all the stories of the past trough my grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles and i used to wish that i could have been as lucky as that .......but then i think as time changes its less and less safe to be out side alone playing with friends..... as sad as it is to say there are way too many risks now days.... kidnapping & rape have become a real problem .... and broken bones cost money that most parents cant afford because of living from pay day to pay day on only BASICS but yes it would be great to grow up back then but now ......even with out lawsuits, its still too unsafe for children , and even adults to be out alone now

Answer 7

Thanks for that reminder of the lighter years. I was born in 1960, grew up in the 70's. We had farms and woods all around us and I was free to explore at my leisure. I interacted with friends and siblings, never expecting my parents to interact with me to any great extent - in fact, interaction with parents was something to be avoided since they were most likely to object to whatever you were doing or thinking of doing. We had one TV, it was in the living room, and your parents controlled what was on the thirteen stations that came in if the weather was good. If the president made a speech that night all the stations carried it and you did NOT get to see Flipper or Bananza. Regarding remote controls for TV's - as the youngest in the family, I WAS the remote control.

Answer 8

you said it i suppose you are one of the survivors, man we had it the best and my kids think i am silly drinking out of the tap aaa that was the life

Answer 9

You forgot we married and did not walk away at the first problem~~

Answer 10

Too bad there are more perverts out there preying on our kids...