Baby boomers–wow, was our life different!

A lot has changed since the 1950s and 1960s, and I’m sure much of it is for the best. Stricter safety measures and laws, awareness of toxins, and “stranger danger” instruction keeps the younger generation safer and healthier. But when I think of how we lived back in the day, I’m amazed that most of us survived the hazards of growing up.

In 1960, the population of the United States was around 170 to 180 million, according to one source. In 2020, the population was 331 million, so it is understandable that certain aspects of life had to change. It’s much like living in a small town versus a big city. While dangers exist everywhere, a city’s crime and accident rates are usually higher than most small towns.

But back to The Wonder Years era. Things we did that would never work today.

Piling into the back of your dad’s pickup truck to go somewhere. Riding in the middle of the front bench seat of the car without wearing a seatbelt, even standing up there if you were small enough. Crawling into the little space behind the back seat to stretch-out and see the cars traveling behind you. Riding bicycles and skateboarding without helmets. Drinking water from the garden hose, licking fruity powder from the palm of your unwashed hand.

At my house, my germ-phobic mother used bleach and Pine Sol regularly. My cloth diapers, I’m sure, were soaked in a bleach mixture before being washed. Our only bathroom was sanitized daily. The smell of Pine Sol was the air freshener of choice since she mopped the floors religiously.

On Sundays, Mom always took off her church dress and hung it up to wear again to Sunday night services. She wore a cotton housecoat all afternoon. Dad took off his coat and tie, but kept his dress pants and shirt on for the same reason. We kids played outside at all times. I don’t remember ever playing inside at a neighbor’s house. We roamed the neighborhood and walked as a small group to a small store to spend our nickels and dimes on candy like candy cigarettes and pink bubble gum cigars. Mosquito trucks sprayed the streets, and although my parents instructed me to come inside when they came by, it wasn’t unusual for other kids to run behind the trucks or ride their bikes and get the spray all over them as well as breathe it in.

We jumped on trampolines without protective sides, walked home from school without an adult, and sat close to the TV to watch our favorite shows, of which there weren’t many since most programming was targeted to adults. Romper Room, the Mickey Mouse Club, and a local kids’ show were my fare.

I’m not saying life was better then, although in some ways it was. I’m not saying the dangers we were exposed to out of ignorance weren’t present. But I’m glad I grew up in a time when kids were still fairly innocent, when doing chores for your allowance and playing outside with friends for hours was the norm, and when families could watch TV shows together without worrying that something might not be appropriate for kids. Sure, someone died on Gunsmoke every week, but it didn’t scare us because there was no blood and it had happened in the past, not the present. Besides, we knew it was just pretend.

We endured name-calling and bullying just as kids do today. We had mean teachers and nice teachers, and we had the popular crowd and the rest of the school. We had all of that. We grew up hearing about Vietnam and said good-bye to loved ones who went there to serve. Anti-war protests kept the news media hopping, and the Cold War with the Soviet Union was ever present.

It was not a perfect time, but it was our time. And if you’re a baby boomer and reading this, you understand that it was, in many ways, a special time for many.