Fifties Dive

 Women's Roles During this time women's roles were quite strict and they had to do all the cleaning, cooking, raising the children.  On top of these they were pushed to be healthy and workout to stay fit for their husbands.  The men on the other hand were supposed to support the family based only on their one income and back in this era wages were for keeping people off the streets.  The 1950's were all about the family life and living to be peaceful after the war ended.  Women were taught to socialize as well but by hanging out with their girl friends and talk to people when going to the grocery store.  Many of the women did not have any social anxiety or felt isolated because they made time to hang out with others and made sure to be out and about even if it were to get coffee.  Lots of them did not rely on TV's to keep their time occupied and kept themselves busy by doing chores, socializing, doing fun activities, taking vacations with their familie...

What You Can Experience When looking through these photos you get a sense of realness just looking at these people on the street or walking to stores. Everything seems so busy and full of life but it was not polluted.  The cars are so unique and bulky but brings a sense of what your grandfathers and mothers did during this era. How there was little to none of social anxiety going on within these pictures.  Seems as if everyone had their own place in this world and had their lives picture perfect almost.  The signs along with the lights are enticing to spend your money on and just to enjoy life.  Looking at all these pictures in color makes my brain put together that they are real and were living like regular people during this time period.  Compared to those black and white photographs you cannot relate to.  The Vibes The type of vibes these give off of is where there is a world without people relying on technology and speaking more face to face.  Alth...

Psychiatrists in the 1950's  I do like psychiatrist attitude towards their patients especially the guy from the YouTube channel named, "Pika Grape Snack."  They have great content they post regarding many patients with mental disabilities.  The man in these films that I have found, I like that he talks about them like they are human beings and not people who are disgraceful or have something terribly wrong with them.  Some people from this time period may think of people with mental disabilities like this since it is not widely known like they are today.  The psychiatrist speaks calmly to them and tries to understand them rather make fun of them or immediately dismiss them. He is actually interested in getting them help and finding out why they have these specific mental disabilities. Why Psychiatrists Were Disliked in This Time Period One thing I did not like though is their medical solutions to these mental issues such as using shock treatment or locking patie...

The psychiatrist asks this older woman to sit across from him and watches her carefully. What I like about this man is that he talks to this woman humanely and calmly as if he really does want to help her. This older woman seems to be anxious and stumbles over her words and you can't help but feel as if you want to comfort her. He keeps talking about how two months ago that she talked a lot and how she was feeling cheerful.  How she has changed since then and asks her if there is anything she'd like to do. This woman seems so down and shamed of her behavior it seems like to be wanting to ask for help from this psychiatrist.  The most famous line she says is, "I don't know." Then she keeps looking at the floor and looks as if she is about to be scolded by this authority figure.  He keeps asking her questions about what she does in her days, what she feels, and what would she would like to do in this moment in the film.  The psychiatrist talks about treatment and sh...

What I love about this Psychiatric interview is that the medical professional does not judge this woman at all but has patience and talks to her kindly.  It seems as if he knows she's having a rough time and only wants to help her as she seems lost and uninterested in anything in life but the mention of death. To others she may seem as if she is a normal person without a chemical imbalance in her brain making her struggle internally but do not dismiss her as if she is faking or just wants attention.  I know many people from this 1950's era would disagree with this statement but mental illnesses should be taken more seriously and should have a fragile approach.  At the next part of the scene they show this woman's wrists that are covered in bandages but the interviewer does not ask about them right away only later in the film.   He goes onto ask questions about her personal life, what she does in the day, how she feels, and if she eats enough. When explaining how...

Commercial radio broadcasting started within the 1920's and moved through the 1950's era.  Soon enough people listened less to the radio and went for televisions as they became cheaper.  This is because TV's back in the early 50's were very expensive that only the rich got to watch any shows or interviews. As you know lots of people tuned into the radio to hear about politics, Broadway shows, news broadcasts, and more to hear about what is going on in the world.  What is shocking to find out is that people who were in radio broadcasts and in motion picture films sounded so similar was because they were taught to speak a certain way.  Many people who taught what is called the transatlantic accent in radio and motion picture studios at the time.  When the radio was introduced to the world, microphones sounded tinnier and had a very different frequency.  Many companies wanted their speakers to adopt and accent so that they were heard clearly by the public and ...

Some books about the 1950's are not that well written in my opinion as they leave some good details out from this era or do not have good enough information.  Others though are so detailed and are so interesting that you cannot put down not matter if it is already 1:00am. 1) Wishing you were here by Catherine Chant.   This novel is about how a woman who makes a wish that ends her in the 1950's. Where she tries to save a teenager from dying but gets caught up in knowing him. Which she eventually falls in love with him.  2) A 1950s Housewife by Sheila Hardy.   This book is all about the strict rules and expectations housewives had to do and abide by. How married life was like during the post-war period. What did women and men do to spice up their marriages as well.  3) Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.   Many people usually read this book in school but not for all. This book is about how a young man goes through adulthood while staying in NYC. We as reader...

This is a colorful and fun hoodie for those who love the golden age! The outfit has red, orange, peach, green, and blue colors. It is a big sized hoodie and has a huge front pocket. The front of this outfit has two strings that can tighten the hood and has a white print that says, “1950.” This hoodie looks comfy and cozy! My best friend has this outfit and she wear this when she does her college course online because she gets cold easily. She always tells me stories on how her boyfriend teases her for getting cold so quick.

This video starts off with a woman doing a montage of picking out her clothes, making dinner, and trying to bring in the audience's attention. She starts off with getting her husband's newspapers, books, and other things he likes to enjoy when he gets home from work. Many women nowadays would not go this extreme for their husbands but there are still some of them out there.  It seems sweet that the women back in the 1950's wanted to do these sweet gestures for their partners. What does surprise me is the amount of cleaning the ladies did while their husbands were at work and did not seem to do much else. I would have expected that women took a break within the day and read a book or gardened. Then again, people in the 1950's wanted to have their perfect lives shown to others and be represented to their husbands as well.  This is not to sound mean or rude but this is what their words and actions showed the public. The lady in this film then moved onto setting the table a...

A pin up girl is a person who is sexually attractive and usually a famous person that wears little clothes. A good example to compare is people who are Instagram models.  The difference is that women were less shamed about how their bodies looked back in the 1950's such as they did not nit pick about how a woman has arm fat or that she is too curvy. It was more they were judged about how they were showing their bodies so freely and wore scandalous clothes that turned their husbands heads.  Which today some people still do that but it is more encouraged now to show your body freely and not judge women on how much skin they show unless it is nudity.  Pin up girls mostly wore high-waisted bottoms to show off their curves and hips. They also included high-waisted skinny jeans with buttons on the sides, Capri pants high-waisted shorts, and pencil skirts.  It was so scandalous if a woman were to show their stockings, wore a deep V-neck, and showed any clothing items that r...

Coming at number one that is the most popular name for a boy in the 1950's is the name James. For a girl the number one name of this decade was Mary.  It is no surprise that Mary is the number one name that was most used for babies during the 50s and I am sure everyone had to add their last name for signing up for anything. The name James is not what I expected as a list of names that people came up with to name their children in this time period.  I honestly thought it would have been John or Charles since you have seen so many movies with these type of character names that represent earlier decades.  What surprised me the most was that some women named their baby girls Cynthia. This is not a name I would have thought blended in the 1950's era.  Another one to add to this list is a boy name Michael although watching some shows that were within the 1920's decade, I should have caught on to this sooner.  I know one thing for sure is that names can be shocking to ...

These rules paint the picture that during the 1950's children have no rights and should not be taken seriously at all.  The first etiquette rule is that children should been seen but never heard. Kids in the 50's knew to wait until they were spoken to respond.  Otherwise they were expected to sit and listen but to never interrupt at all.  Next, is that children should never wear sweatpants to the dinner table.  I think this is an unfair rule as what if kids want to get ready for bedtime to occupy their time and then eat their dinners.  How children have to shake adults hands not matter who they are when they walk into the room.  Some kids could feel uncomfortable shaking a hand of a person they heard conversations about or how they seem to be creepy for their liking.  Lastly, the notion that children should write thank you notes for the gifts they receive. This I think is just unnecessary as a child could just say thank you right then and there and be ...

 As you know from my last post that being a bad boy/greaser is not that hard to do but obtaining those items though is difficult.  One item that you will need for sure is a leather jacket .  This will piece the whole outfit together and is essential in becoming a greaser from the 50's. Next, is obtaining some plain blue or black jeans.  These do not have to be perfect at all and can be baggy or skinny jeans as your 1950's pair of pants.  I also forgot to mention for shirts is it is key to getting a white top. This is an item of clothing that everyone has in their house but there are options to choosing a pattern one just like this one guy in this photo.  The pattern may not be the exact one but it is good to put in your own style as well.  Finally on to the shoes. Greaser men shoes have two options they have the shiny black stylish shoes or the converse running shoes.  Both are fun and look like you are apart of the greaser 1950's club.  Men...

These type of men/teens were the most idolized people in the 1950's along with some celebrities.  One celebrity in particular that had the bad boy style and his name was James Dean.  This type of outfit melted the girls/women's hearts at the time. Males would wear a leather or denim jackets, white or patter button up top underneath, blue or light jeans, either a quiff hair or leave it natural with some gel in it.  I think of the outfits that Johnny Depp would wear in his Crybaby movie with his slicked back hair, leather jacket, and a rebellious but hot vibe.  Today we label these type of people as bad boys but back in the 1950's they were called the greasers and apart of the greaser subculture.  Looking back at these photos you never saw older men wearing this style, it was mostly teenagers and young adults.  Those who dressed this way were definitely very popular in high school. Let's also not forget they added a cigarettes to compliment the look. If any o...

Many people in the 1950's lived simply and it is what most of us would want in the modern world of 2021.  Everyone had a routine that they followed such as making our beds when you woke up, take a bath, cook breakfast, etc.  Once in a while they would change up their routine to have a variety and not to get bored but for the most part they never strayed away from their routines.  This was true, especially those with children. They always said that kids need stability and a routine or else they were cranky and rebellious.  Many people from the 1950's were all about their houses being so spotless and were to be shown off to others as well.  They always followed the mantra of cleaning up after yourself as you went and making sure you had good cleaning habits.  Lots of educational advertisements at the time wanted the public to wake up and dress in presentable clothes, it did not matter that you were a housewife.  You had to look and had to have the attitu...

What is good about this video is that they do not shame you because you are overweight but they try and tell you that your health is at risk. They seem to care about your health and weight but this may be just this film they produced.  The narrator expresses the concern that excessive calorie intake can cause you to have a lower lifespan.  How men and women should not eat too much and stay fit not only for themselves but their children too.  Looking at what the 50's called "fat" seems to be skinny in the modern age today and they look healthy.  They do not have rolls that break the clothes nor seem to have them altered to their body shapes.  This video caters more towards older people as they look at a picture frame from when they used to be young and thin.  Although I do not think that older people should be bashed a lot but I think that they do what is right for their bodies and health.  Elders do not have good metabolisms like they did when they wer...

You would think that 50's fashion did not have many restrictions but that is a false assumption.  There was some hidden pieces of clothing that were scandalous at the time and many people were criticized so much for them. One that made huge headlines were coned bras and the reason these bras got so much hate was because it resembled a lot to nipples poking through the fabric.  This clothing item made people distracted and disgusted by looking at this piece.  I can only imagine what the older ladies thought of this clothing trend back in the day. Another clothing outfit that was widely criticized was a dress that had too deep of a V-neck line.  Many women were bashed because they exposed too much of their breasts with these sharp necklines.  Which makes no sense to me but people had different opinions back then.  Wearing no make up made lots of controversy as women were supposed to look presentable not only for their husbands but for the public.  Women ...

Illnesses from the 50's were not as bad as the Spanish flu, which I assume was in the early 1900's. The common illnesses for people back in the 1950's were scarlet fever, diphtheria, typhoid fever, yellow fever, rheumatic fever, pellagra, influenza, smallpox, and cholera.  For some people it was not surprising or was even expected that children died from measles or from a whooping cough. A doctor from Chicago states that these illnesses from the 50s were feared as much as the public feared AIDS back in the 80's or 90's. When someone catches the scarlet fever they do not feel good at all, they become pale, have a red rash, and a pallor around the mouth. After this they just die.  As you know many people in this time period were cautious about illnesses like the pandemic today.  Although there were still many people who did not take diseases seriously nor believed in them since they have not gotten them yet. Others were forgetful about these illnesses or were not care...

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is made from leave of the South American coca plant.  Many people during the 1950's people did not use cocaine that much because it was outlawed around the era of 1914.  During this time it was said that African Americans were the ones who were the dangerous criminals since they used this drug the most.  The reason cocaine became illegal was because the community feared that southern women were in mortal danger of being attacked by cocaine African American men.  It was the Harrison Act that became the law and one of the first pieces of American legislation on the issue of drug regulation.  What shocked me to find out was the use of cocaine in soda and opium products. Many people in this era just took them without a second thought.  They did not know the harsh effects it has on the body now and how it makes you look older and unhealthy. Although Cocaine was banned many people were still using it and secretly snorting it all t...

It is no surprise that the 1950's did so bad with health in general. This is definitely their downfall in this era. The ways or actions they did to try and cure their patients seems so much like torture.  Some good examples are how they used to leave their patients in a solid big metal bathtub and physically lock them in, shocked them, did blind brain surgery, and more.  I read some articles saying they whipped these patients and were not taken care of in good conditions either.  In the 50's, it seemed that physical health was of toddler age but on the other hand they had to have experience to see what helps and does not help patients.  During the war era, many doctors or nurses had to cut off their patients legs and arms because they did not know who to stich them back up or get an infection out.  One thing about knowing all this information is that I feel so sorry for everyone in this era who had a serious physical or mental illness.  Some patients were t...