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I do not remember any one talking about how great the 50s were in the 60s and even into the 70s! It was not until well into Happy Days that the nostalgia hit. I do remember in the 60s, a longing for the good old days, the 19th century, cowboys and farmers! Add in a little Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone for good measure. Also driven by rose colored glasses in the movies and television!
My mom was born in '32 and her family struggled financially. When I talk to her today, she doesn't see the '50s as a happy era of sock hops and early rock and roll, but as a struggle to pay bills. So she has no romanticized notions of the '50s, but she does say that the world, to her, seemed less complicated then, than it did after the late '60s.
She is not very political and supported the changes of the 60s in social justice (like my Dad, she comes at it very pragmatically in that she believes everyone - of every religion, gender, race, etc. - deserves a fair shot to earn a living and pay their bills - the fancier social justice theories don't hit her radar, but she believes everyone should be able to try to work and pay bills - that comes from growing up in the Depression), but said that all the sexual freedom and "everything goes" standards that also came out of the '60s has made the world more complicated and, to her, a bit scary.
When I drill in on this with her, I get a jumbled answer of "everyone knew how they were suppose to dress, how women and men were suppose to behave toward each other, how one conducted oneself in public and now it is all kinda chaotic and confusing." One thing I take from my conversation with her was that it was the late '60s when "it all changed," in her view. When all the things, values, social customs, standards that seemed established started to break down. So, she's not nostalgic for the '50s, but she does see it as a period of "before" to the late '60s and beyond "after."
Final thought: It would be interesting to see, regarding Lizzie's interesting and thought provoking theme of how the '50s is marketed to us today, if this effort has been successful with the generations - like my Mom's - that actually lived through it. All the Boys in Marketing efforts have not done a thing to change her view.