I wonder what the 1950s were like?

The 1950s, a decade we all have come to know as the decade of America.  I often wonder what it would actually be like to live in a time when everyone knew each other, neighborhoods were nice and kept up, and all of the stores for shopping were all located in the downtown district of the city. Due to the fact that I was not born in the 1950s and do not currently have a Delorean with a flux capacitor to travel there, my primary source of information as to what life was like in the 50's is my grandparents. I enjoy going through the black and white pictures of their childhood. In many pictures, I can sometimes identify where the picture was taken. It's very interesting to see how nice the houses were kept in the area. Unfortunately, many older city neighborhoods today suffer from the neglect of the current inhabitants to perform basic property upkeep and its is often a shame to see the places my grandparents used to socialize completely in disrepair. What a neighborhood looked like isn't as important as the things my grandparents did to entertain themselves.

My grandpa often tells me the story of how him and his friends used to go to the nearest dump to find an old car hood to use as a sled in the winter or how he and the rest of the second generation Italian Americans in his neighborhood thought they were unstoppable at basketball until they went to high school and played against much taller kids (anyone over 5'7).

My grandmother, the youngest of her siblings, went to an all girls catholic school and her father, my great-grandpa, owned a bowling alley and a gas station in nearby Lockport, Il. The most interesting story that she can remember taking place in the late 50's was one where she and her friend spotted a UFO while they were outside in the front yard of her friend's house.  I like this story due to the fact that UFO sightings after the Roswell incident were common and were therefore an actual piece of that time period.  Of the many stories my grandmother has told me, none of them can be more important than the ones she tells about going up north to the same lake my family goes to today. She tells me what the nearby towns looked like and what the lake was like. What is so important about these stories, is the fact that most of everything she described from going up there sixty years ago is still the same.  My dad even brought up one of the old 1955 Johnson 10 h.p. boat motors for the smaller rental boats a few years ago.  While using the motor, I imagined my great grandpa using the same motor to fish in the same spots.

In all, the 1950s from what I have been told by my grandparents, was a time of adventure, fun, excitement and freedom. I will continue to ask my grandparents to provide me with many more details of their childhood so that when I have children of my own, I can tell them the stories that go along with the pictures that were taken.