Kinda makes me feel very sad reading this article. I feel a profound sense of loss. Because it described the day and age I once knew. But, no more. :-/
Growing up in a small Lowcountry, SC town, life was very "Mayberryish". Doors were not locked. The rules were, "respect your elders" and "be home before dark". A neighbor or friends mom was just as likely to discipline you as your own. A switch and ivory soap (to clean out the potty mouth) were standard measures of discipline. The teacher was always right ...
Then the 60s happened.
Total cultural upheaval. I spent most of the 70s in the Navy and even there the cultural changes were taking place.
Thankfully God finally got hold of my life before I self-destructed .
Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 21, 2023Liked by Jim McCraigh
Thanks for this walk down memory lane. I tell some of these things to my daughter - who listens, mainly w/surprise - but my grandchildren can barely comprehend. The first gas price I recall was 25 cents/gal. Also recall walking to school in kindergarten thru early elem, none of my parents friends or my friends parents being divorced, playing outside until dark, and the oft-repeated slogan, "I like Ike."
Another world. Also recall the "family car" (Ford, if memory serves) in your photo. Friend's parents had a black model, which reminds me that the typical family household operated quite adequately with 1 car and 1 breadwinner - and 1 landline telephone.
I remember some of these times! I was born in 1965 and I grew in the 1970s! To me as a kid "The Partridge Family" and "The Brady Bunch was what normal America was like and the people I knew and Families acted that way! But my parents divorced in the early 1970s and I woke up one day and experienced a different world! It was just me and my mother and I was raised by a bitter and angry single mother! But at the time my parents divorced I felt like everybody knew it! At school everybody knew that my parents divorced! My classmates treated me differently and I basically became an outcast and felt out of place! I pretty much became a loner and stayed to myself much of the time all through school and high-school! I actually hated school because I didn't fit in! I of course had friends that felt the same way I did at school! I just basically bided my time all throughout school because we all had to go whether we liked it or not! I felt free after graduation! I decided what I wanted to do and went to college! I'm still a loner today pretty much today too, my husband is my only family! I never had any children. My husband had 3 children from his previous marriage when we met and he had just been divorced from his first marriage! This year me and my husband have been together for 31years! My husband is a little older than me and he definitely remembers what life was like back then! When I was growing up in the 1970s some of those things were still around too! Comparing life back then to what life is now is as different as night and day! Things were hard back then at times but it was nothing like today is, people have just thrown away morality and decency!
"We studied American history, math, science, and civics in school."
American history AND civics- the good, the bad and the ugly.
True, many younger Americans do not appreciate the Bill of Rights because they have never read it, or even if they do, they struggle to understand its significance due to negative preconceived ideas.
Thank you for such a timely article, on Veterans Day! Thanks for allowing comments. I found your article today. Growing up, in the 1960s & 1970s, it's certain that, whatever this once great nation is now, the country isn't the one, in which I grew up. Wake up, not woke up, America -- if it's not already too late. A good spanking from the Lord and a spiritual revival are needed!
Ditto for Australia Jim. I could not believe the crap all governments blurted during Covid. Even Donald Trump was sucked into the Fauchi vortex. Now we see the orchestrated anti-Jewish rallies all over the world. Why can’t we all feel the hands up our backs? Answer: Satan is a master of deception. Thanks God for Jesus and His escape pod.
I'm so glad that I got to experience "the America that once was..." . What treasure. Such an America for these later generations, must be very hard to fathom and aspire to.
Excellent point Tim, the seeds of where we are today were silently sprouting in the 1950s. They were planted beginning the late 1800s and began to blossom in the 1960s. Today we are reaping the bitter harvest. Watch for my upcoming series of posts on the "paganization" of America coming soon.
Yeah you're right Jim! Things got started falling with the assassination of Lincoln! More started falling with the start of the federal reserve then the depression! The assassination of Kennedy and so on! The break down of the American family which I am one of the victims of that because my parents divorced in the early 1970s and divorce was still unheard of pretty much back then! I was just 6-7 years old and the youngest child when my parents divorced! That left a pretty bad taste in my mouth and I never had a close relationship with my father because he stepped out on my mother while they were married and that's just wrong and completely selfish of my father and my father obviously didn't consider the consequences of what he did! My father got visitation rights with me and I always hated that and I didn't want to go but my mother made me go! I have 2 older brothers and an older sister and we aren't in contact with each other, I haven't seen them in years! So I grew up not knowing what family is! I just figured while growing up that it was normal for family members not to get along and hate each other! So my 3 siblings have definitely let me know where I stand!
Kinda makes me feel very sad reading this article. I feel a profound sense of loss. Because it described the day and age I once knew. But, no more. :-/
Thank you for the comment Walt... it saddened me to write it.
BTW, I believe in the power of brokenness. Like a skilled surgeon, God wounds to heal.
My memories exactly.
Growing up in a small Lowcountry, SC town, life was very "Mayberryish". Doors were not locked. The rules were, "respect your elders" and "be home before dark". A neighbor or friends mom was just as likely to discipline you as your own. A switch and ivory soap (to clean out the potty mouth) were standard measures of discipline. The teacher was always right ...
Then the 60s happened.
Total cultural upheaval. I spent most of the 70s in the Navy and even there the cultural changes were taking place.
Thankfully God finally got hold of my life before I self-destructed .
Loved your comment!
Thanks for this walk down memory lane. I tell some of these things to my daughter - who listens, mainly w/surprise - but my grandchildren can barely comprehend. The first gas price I recall was 25 cents/gal. Also recall walking to school in kindergarten thru early elem, none of my parents friends or my friends parents being divorced, playing outside until dark, and the oft-repeated slogan, "I like Ike."
Another world. Also recall the "family car" (Ford, if memory serves) in your photo. Friend's parents had a black model, which reminds me that the typical family household operated quite adequately with 1 car and 1 breadwinner - and 1 landline telephone.
I remember some of these times! I was born in 1965 and I grew in the 1970s! To me as a kid "The Partridge Family" and "The Brady Bunch was what normal America was like and the people I knew and Families acted that way! But my parents divorced in the early 1970s and I woke up one day and experienced a different world! It was just me and my mother and I was raised by a bitter and angry single mother! But at the time my parents divorced I felt like everybody knew it! At school everybody knew that my parents divorced! My classmates treated me differently and I basically became an outcast and felt out of place! I pretty much became a loner and stayed to myself much of the time all through school and high-school! I actually hated school because I didn't fit in! I of course had friends that felt the same way I did at school! I just basically bided my time all throughout school because we all had to go whether we liked it or not! I felt free after graduation! I decided what I wanted to do and went to college! I'm still a loner today pretty much today too, my husband is my only family! I never had any children. My husband had 3 children from his previous marriage when we met and he had just been divorced from his first marriage! This year me and my husband have been together for 31years! My husband is a little older than me and he definitely remembers what life was like back then! When I was growing up in the 1970s some of those things were still around too! Comparing life back then to what life is now is as different as night and day! Things were hard back then at times but it was nothing like today is, people have just thrown away morality and decency!
I, too, mourn for the days when the Western consensus was reason and faith.
Indeed, thank you for such a timely article!
"We studied American history, math, science, and civics in school."
American history AND civics- the good, the bad and the ugly.
True, many younger Americans do not appreciate the Bill of Rights because they have never read it, or even if they do, they struggle to understand its significance due to negative preconceived ideas.
It is clear now that the schools don't educate but only indoctrinate...
Thank you for such a timely article, on Veterans Day! Thanks for allowing comments. I found your article today. Growing up, in the 1960s & 1970s, it's certain that, whatever this once great nation is now, the country isn't the one, in which I grew up. Wake up, not woke up, America -- if it's not already too late. A good spanking from the Lord and a spiritual revival are needed!
I believe that punishment has already started...
America always had positives and negatives. In the time you described Jim, the positives greatly outnumbered the negatives.
Ditto for Australia Jim. I could not believe the crap all governments blurted during Covid. Even Donald Trump was sucked into the Fauchi vortex. Now we see the orchestrated anti-Jewish rallies all over the world. Why can’t we all feel the hands up our backs? Answer: Satan is a master of deception. Thanks God for Jesus and His escape pod.
I'm so glad that I got to experience "the America that once was..." . What treasure. Such an America for these later generations, must be very hard to fathom and aspire to.
So true. This world is near it's expiration date
Jim, you read my mind. This was on my to do list, but it is done now!
I miss it too. It creates a deep sadness. It's been a slow and long process. Praise God for the hope of heaven, this world has nothing for us.
I miss it too! Life had more value, people were kinder and happier.
Excellent point Tim, the seeds of where we are today were silently sprouting in the 1950s. They were planted beginning the late 1800s and began to blossom in the 1960s. Today we are reaping the bitter harvest. Watch for my upcoming series of posts on the "paganization" of America coming soon.
Yeah you're right Jim! Things got started falling with the assassination of Lincoln! More started falling with the start of the federal reserve then the depression! The assassination of Kennedy and so on! The break down of the American family which I am one of the victims of that because my parents divorced in the early 1970s and divorce was still unheard of pretty much back then! I was just 6-7 years old and the youngest child when my parents divorced! That left a pretty bad taste in my mouth and I never had a close relationship with my father because he stepped out on my mother while they were married and that's just wrong and completely selfish of my father and my father obviously didn't consider the consequences of what he did! My father got visitation rights with me and I always hated that and I didn't want to go but my mother made me go! I have 2 older brothers and an older sister and we aren't in contact with each other, I haven't seen them in years! So I grew up not knowing what family is! I just figured while growing up that it was normal for family members not to get along and hate each other! So my 3 siblings have definitely let me know where I stand!