Some Mental Ramblings about Fifty Years of Living History

At fifty-seven, I have the blessing of half a century of witnessing history.  As a mother, I like to think about what life was like when I was the age my children are now.  My son Michael is ten years old and goes to fifth grade.  When I was in fifth grade, Lyndon Johnson was president.  The Verazzano Narrows Bridge, Shea Stadium and The Mets were brand new.  The Beatles had been one of the first performers to give a concert in the new stadium.  We had a black and white TV we used to watch four channels. National Educational Television had not re-branded themselves as the Public Broadcasting Service.  If I wanted to watch a silly children's show, I watched Soupy Sales who was like Sponge Bob and Adam Sandler rolled into one zany guy.  I listened to my transistor radio to hear Cousin Brucie and Big Dan Ingram.  The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Herman's Hermits, and The Rolling Stones were the bands popular at the time.  If I liked something I heard, I could buy a 45 rpm record or a 33 1/3 rpm record album. 

Computers, microwave ovens, Mr. Coffee, Touchtone phones, mobile phones,  calculators, remote controls, copy machines, fax machines, none of those were consumer ready.  We had a milk man deliver dairy products.  We had to walk to school due to a bus strike.  There was no such thing as middle school.  The Viet Nam War was in the middle stages.  We had not landed on the moon.  And yet, we had so many more modern conveniences than our parents and grandparents.

When I did homework, if I wanted it copied, I had to use carbon paper as I wrote it.  If I wanted instant photography, I had to get an expensive Polaroid instant camera with expensive cartridges and smelly developer.  If I wanted to communicate with my friends, I really dialed them up on the telephone.  If I was away from my house, I had to use a dime in the pay phone.  If my friends were far away, I had to write letters and mail them at a mailbox or the post office.  If I called them it would be an expensive long distance call.  Mary Poppins was a new movie.  My parents were younger than I am now.  All my uncles and aunts were alive and middle aged. 

Charles DeGalle was president of France.  Generalissimo Francisco Franco was dictator of Spain.  Nikita Krushchev was in charge of the Soviet Union.  I think Thailand was Siam.  Many countries were becoming independent of European imperial powers.  It made stamp collecting fun trying to keep track of the new countries.  I will be revising this article periodically as I remember things.