SLOW FOOD

[Richard Burley]

The latter generations have their strengths and weakness and life moves on.

...and the sun also rises.  

There's so much cross-pollination of knowledge between generations now, thanks especially to the internet and realistic movies.  I am stunned by what some of the young people I work with know, as far as "old stuff" goes.  I once asked a guy in his early 20s if he had ever seen the movie Cool Hand Luke.  He answered by quoting every significant line in the movie.

There's a slight difference.  I can remember when Marilyn Monroe, to stick with the movie example, was just an actress working in Hollywood.  To the younger guy, she's a cultural icon.  Yes, I'm older than dirt, and got most of the o.p. questions.  Had to google "PF Flyers" for some reason, perhaps my loathing for gym class and team sports.  They're still available, btw.

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[Mad Philosopher]

Ah, if only I could have lived when DDT was still considered a good thing. It'd also be amusing to be instructed by public school teachers how to protect yourself from a megaton bomb blast by hiding under your desk. Then there is also the blissful memory of Jim Crow and all the other pleasant memories prior to the civil rights movement. Frankly, I don't understand 20th century nostalgia. Certainly the first half of it is a black period in our collective history.

 

[RDPipes]

Ah, if only I could have lived when DDT was still considered a good thing. It'd also be amusing to be instructed by public school teachers how to protect yourself from a megaton bomb blast by hiding under your desk. Then there is also the blissful memory of Jim Crow and all the other pleasant memories prior to the civil rights movement. Frankly, I don't understand 20th century nostalgia. Certainly the first half of it is a black period in our collective history.

Like things are so much better now? :suspect:
If I had a choice, I'd like to forget everything starting from the late 70's till now. :fpalm:

 

[Simple Man]

Ah, if only I could have lived when DDT was still considered a good thing. It'd also be amusing to be instructed by public school teachers how to protect yourself from a megaton bomb blast by hiding under your desk. Then there is also the blissful memory of Jim Crow and all the other pleasant memories prior to the civil rights movement. Frankly, I don't understand 20th century nostalgia. Certainly the first half of it is a black period in our collective history.

Like things are so much better now? :suspect:
If I had a choice, I'd like to forget everything starting from the late 70's till now. :fpalm:

Amen, brother. Most everything, anyway... there's still some good along the way.

 

[Mad Philosopher]

Ah, if only I could have lived when DDT was still considered a good thing. It'd also be amusing to be instructed by public school teachers how to protect yourself from a megaton bomb blast by hiding under your desk. Then there is also the blissful memory of Jim Crow and all the other pleasant memories prior to the civil rights movement. Frankly, I don't understand 20th century nostalgia. Certainly the first half of it is a black period in our collective history.

Like things are so much better now? :suspect:
If I had a choice, I'd like to forget everything starting from the late 70's till now. :fpalm:

If I had a choice, I'd rather own up to how tragic the recent past has been and bloody do something about it.

 

[RDPipes]

Ah, if only I could have lived when DDT was still considered a good thing. It'd also be amusing to be instructed by public school teachers how to protect yourself from a megaton bomb blast by hiding under your desk. Then there is also the blissful memory of Jim Crow and all the other pleasant memories prior to the civil rights movement. Frankly, I don't understand 20th century nostalgia. Certainly the first half of it is a black period in our collective history.

Like things are so much better now? :suspect:
If I had a choice, I'd like to forget everything starting from the late 70's till now. :fpalm:

If I had a choice, I'd rather own up to how tragic the recent past has been and bloody do something about it.

That would be just fine if I could fix the world by myself but, you see it takes ALL of us to change the way things are and good luck finding enough to agree on what to do.
And we can't change the past, in fact we can only change ourselves.

 

[beardedbassguy]

If I had a choice, I'd rather own up to how tragic the recent past has been and bloody do something about it.

How tragic the RECENT past has been? History much?

Man has been brutally destroying each other since life was breathed into us.

It's still happening in various ways all across the globe every day.

 

[Richard Burley]

Ah, if only I could have lived when DDT was still considered a good thing. It'd also be amusing to be instructed by public school teachers how to protect yourself from a megaton bomb blast by hiding under your desk. Then there is also the blissful memory of Jim Crow and all the other pleasant memories prior to the civil rights movement. Frankly, I don't understand 20th century nostalgia. Certainly the first half of it is a black period in our collective history.

You are context-dropping as far as this thread goes, but compared to what?  All periods of U.S. history were stupid, hellish, corrupt, exploitative, and "black."  Isn't that that pretty much what you've been taught?

 

[Mad Philosopher]

If I had a choice, I'd rather own up to how tragic the recent past has been and bloody do something about it.

How tragic the RECENT past has been? History much?

Man has been brutally destroying each other since life was breathed into us.

It's still happening in various ways all across the globe every day.

Technology has enhanced the destructive capacity of mankind, compounded with increased agricultural efficiency meaning there are more people to compete with economically and destroy militarily. Mass starvations have also met record deaths because there are (or were, yet still are) an unprecedented amount of people to feed. Total war is a recent invention, rising at once with the supremacy of air power and the strategic bombing of cities.

I knew I was going to face obstacles by posting a contrary opinion to this whimsical nostalgic view of the past when everything was just so grand....but in making it such a large target I couldn't help but put my two cents in. If you compare the 1950's to hunter gatherer prehistory, of course one is not going to sound as preferable to the other. That dosen't make the opposite a paragon of progress.

 

[beardedbassguy]

If I had a choice, I'd rather own up to how tragic the recent past has been and bloody do something about it.

How tragic the RECENT past has been? History much?

Man has been brutally destroying each other since life was breathed into us.

It's still happening in various ways all across the globe every day.

Technology has enhanced the destructive capacity of mankind, compounded with increased agricultural efficiency meaning there are more people to compete with economically and destroy militarily. Mass starvations have also met record deaths because there are (or were, yet still are) an unprecedented amount of people to feed. Total war is a recent invention, rising at once with the supremacy of air power and the strategic bombing of cities.

I knew I was going to face obstacles by posting a contrary opinion to this whimsical nostalgic view of the past when everything was just so grand....but in making it such a large target I couldn't help but put my two cents in. If you compare the 1950's to hunter gatherer prehistory, of course one is not going to sound as preferable to the other. That dosen't make the opposite a paragon of progress.

I'll say again... Do you even know history? Your notions of total war and mass starvation are nothing new. And are definitely not recent inventions. Mankind has been fighting, committing genocide and utterly destroying whole civilizations since before we could even keep a written record of it. And there have been famines and lack of food recorded for THOUSANDS of years. there is nothing new with what is going on. We like to think ourselves more "civilized" in the western world, but in reality we aren't.

And for the record, my objection isn't to your " posting a contrary opinion to this whimsical nostalgic view of the past when everything was just so grand". Everyone's nostalgic view is rose colored. Mine included. (The 90's were the best!) My objection is to your assertion that we are somehow a more terrible society now more than ever. That's a complete load of crap from a historical context. Mankind will do everything in it's power to destroy itself, and better technology will never change it. Technology may even make our mutual destruction much more efficient. But that doesn't make us any different than those who came before.

 

[Mad Philosopher]

If I had a choice, I'd rather own up to how tragic the recent past has been and bloody do something about it.

How tragic the RECENT past has been? History much?

Man has been brutally destroying each other since life was breathed into us.

It's still happening in various ways all across the globe every day.

Technology has enhanced the destructive capacity of mankind, compounded with increased agricultural efficiency meaning there are more people to compete with economically and destroy militarily. Mass starvations have also met record deaths because there are (or were, yet still are) an unprecedented amount of people to feed. Total war is a recent invention, rising at once with the supremacy of air power and the strategic bombing of cities.

I knew I was going to face obstacles by posting a contrary opinion to this whimsical nostalgic view of the past when everything was just so grand....but in making it such a large target I couldn't help but put my two cents in. If you compare the 1950's to hunter gatherer prehistory, of course one is not going to sound as preferable to the other. That dosen't make the opposite a paragon of progress.

I'll say again... Do you even know history? Your notions of total war and mass starvation are nothing new. And are definitely not recent inventions. Mankind has been fighting, committing genocide and utterly destroying whole civilizations since before we could even keep a written record of it. And there have been famines and lack of food recorded for THOUSANDS of years. there is nothing new with what is going on. We like to think ourselves more "civilized" in the western world, but in reality we aren't.

And for the record, my objection isn't to your " posting a contrary opinion to this whimsical nostalgic view of the past when everything was just so grand". Everyone's nostalgic view is rose colored. Mine included. (The 90's were the best!) My objection is to your assertion that we are somehow a more terrible society now more than ever. That's a complete load of crap from a historical context. Mankind will do everything in it's power to destroy itself, and better technology will never change it. Technology may even make our mutual destruction much more efficient. But that doesn't make us any different than those who came before.

Yes, I've taken 6 history courses at university, and I have no real quarrel with what you're saying. But since there are more people alive than ever before, that also means people are dying more than ever before, aided an more efficient weapons. Not that I'm knocking scientific progress; rather what our cousins tend to do with such technology.

What I don't abide, is nostalgic picture painting of history, which is precisely what the older generation tends to like to do. I don't care to return to an era where I have to keep my sexual orientation a secret. I don't care to return to an era where it's socially acceptable for men to beat their wives and genitally mutilate their children. Nevermind matters of race. And don't get me started on our diet in those days. There is such a thing as progress, and I'm thankful for it.

 

[Bullwinkle]

How many do you remember?

Head lights dimmer switches on the floor. yes

Ignition switches on the dashboard. yes

Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall. yes

Real ice boxes. no

Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards. yes

Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner. no

Using hand signals for cars without turn signals. no

Older Than Dirt Quiz :

Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about. Ratings at the bottom.

1.. Blackjack chewing gum yes

2.. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water yes

3.. Candy cigarettes yes

4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles  yes, coke bottles had the city where they were made on the bottom and a game we played was to see who got the bottle from the longest distance away.

5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes yes

6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers no

7. Party lines on the telephone yes

8 Newsreels before the movie no, we got cartoons

9. P.F. Flyers yes

10. Butch wax yes

11.. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels... [if you were fortunate]) yes

12. Peashooters yes

13. Howdy Doody yes

14. 45 RPM records yes

15. S& H green stamps yes

16. Hi-fi's yes

17.. Metal ice trays with lever yes

18.. Mimeograph paper yes

19.. Blue flashbulb yes

20. Packards no

21. Roller skate keys yes

22. Cork popguns yes

23. Drive-ins yes

24. Studebakers no

25.. Wash tub wringer no

 

[Bullwinkle]

sorry I only read the first couple of pages before posting didn't realize the thread had been taken down the crapper. cheer up dude it's not good for you to be so depressed.

 

[puros_bran]

I actually scored a 16.. I'm only 41, but I am from South East Ky... You know what Mark Twain said about Kentucky? "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years after it happens anywhere else.".. Well 'regular' Kentuckains think the folk from Eastern Ky are backards and the folk from North East Ky think the folk from South east Ky are backards.. So by Twian time I reckon out to be about 81 or so.

 

[puros_bran]

sorry I only read the first couple of pages before posting didn't realize the thread had been taken down the crapper.  cheer up dude it's not good for you to be so depressed.

Fukem Bullwinkle.     You post what lightheartedness ya want.

 

[Simple Man]

Dude sounds emo to me... they're supposed to be depressed anyway, aren't they? Well, at least we have better mental healthcare now to deal with depression.

I don't look through rose-colored glasses at my past. I went through a lot of crap over the years. But I do remember living in a small neighborhood where all of the neighbors knew and liked one another. I remember all of my uncles getting together in the yard to smoke and talk, tinker on an old automobile, showoff the deer they had just hunted, etc. Folks would gather just to talk at my grandparents house late into the evening. It was a better time then. Now, I would venture a guess that most of us have very few people that we just sit around with and talk to on a daily basis, unless you're under 30. Most of our social interaction takes place right here or some other social media... that's not good. Whether we like to admit it or not, people need people. No man is an island unto himself...

I remember when they bulldozed the old neighborhood down in the name of "progress", I guess I'm still waiting on that progress, because times have not been the same since.

I've lived in both times, and yep, I'd go back to earlier times in a heartbeat if it were possible.

 

[Fumus]

My dad told me once that he thought cows were smarter than some people. You give your average old cow a bad bale of hay with briars and sticks and such mixed in it, she'll nose it around some and eat the hay then walk off and leave the rest. Whereas some people would just stand there screaming about all the sticks and briars and eat nothing.

Maybe I'm making an assumption here (and we all know how those normally work out) but it seems to me a tad arrogant if your complaining about people older than yourself looking back on the past fondly. Even if your their age or older it still seems like your making an assumption that they're either ignorant of the problems of the past, or else they're just audacious enough to view those "problems" differently than yourself. Perhaps since they lived through those times, they are aware of the problems then and when they look back fondly on the good parts, they're simply choosing to "eat the hay".

 

[Bullwinkle]

when I was a small kid (50's) we lived in a village of about 2k people and we lived a block from 'uptown'. I would tag along with Mom to walk up to the grocery. We never had to carry bags home as the grocery owner would make the rounds delivering to everyone. but, I remember it would take forever to get there and back as we had to stop about every other house and visit with whomever was out on their front porch. one lady in particular had a herd of siamese cats that I thought was cool.

every kid had a bb gun by first grade. every kid played little league, no kids had 'play dates' you just headed out in the morning and went around gathering up you buds and wondering what to do maybe walk a mile to the creek, maybe go to the one kids house that had black-top and a BB hoop.. etc. as long as I was back for supper at 5 all was good.

we had 62 kids in our HS grad class and over half had started first grade together.

sure beats the crap out of what I hear and see these days.. our Kroger parking lot is busy every Sunday afternoon as fathers who get the kids on the weekend pass them back to mom. there are more kids at parents night during football and BB season that are walking with one and not two parents.

 

[Hawker]

Monbla, i have never seen the butane car heaters. The heater in the VW is definitely gasoline. Some of these heaters were dealer installed and some came installed from the factory.

I had a VW Baja Bug that had the auxilery gas heater and remember when it was 30 below the heater burnt more gas than the car did try to keep it warm enough to keep the windshield clear of frost.
Scored 16 on the test and if things keep progressing at the rate we've seen in the past 50 years the next 50's going to be scary.

 

[Simple Man]

I scored around 17, if I didn't lose count. :lol: