Would you rather live then or now?

[Big Man]

Age is Relative

I was reading over some of the older posts (slow day at work, thank goodness!) and came across this thread, and it got me to thinking; how would we view the "golden era" is we were living then? Also, how would our past life experiences impact on how we thought/felt about that time?

I really like the 1930's. I enjoy the music, the styles, and find the history fascinating. I have a close "connection" with that time period, as being 50 years old the 1930's weren't but 20 prior to my birth. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and aunt, who lived in a house that had (and still has not) changed much at all from the 30's (and before), and almost daily heard stories, listened to music, looked at old (well, they weren't that old at the time) pictures. All of these experiences were shared with me by my parents and grandmother in a nostalgic kind of reminiscence.

However, had I actually lived in that time, how would I have thought during the time? For example, if I were 50 years old in 1935 would I have liked swing music or would I have preferred music of my youth (1900 to 1910)? I am roughly the same age as my grandfather was during the golden era. He was born in 1878 in Kansas during the Indian wars, returned with his family back to NC when he was about three or four, lived on a farm, fought in the Philippine Insurrection (1899), and was married and starting a family by 1905. By 1930, he was 52 years old. He probably wasn't big on being "in style" with the newest fashions, nor did he think much about the "new" kind of music. This, of course is speculation, but I'm trying to put myself in the same relative time line.

My Dad, on the other hand, was a teenager during the 30's. He has the fondest of memories of that time, and thinks anything not by Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman is not "real music." He could care less about the popular tunes from the 1900 era.

So, all this to bring me to asking the question: Given your present age today, if you were the same age in, say, 1935, how do you think you would view the golden era?

Age is relative.

 

[Michaelson]

Using your benchmark (I, too, am looking at 50 years in my rear view mirror), I'd probably fit right in at 1935 at my current age, as I usually listen to mostly Scott Joplin and ragtime...which was at it's zenith from 1899 to 1917. (grins) I'd probably be sitting on my front porch smoking stogies, griping about the kids 'today' and how they couldn't hold a patch to the kids I knew and fought with back in the 'War to end all Wars!", all the while bragging about those heroic exploits I had experienced (when in reality, I had more than likely been a truck driver for supply back behind the lines. )

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Michaelson]

You're not in the least bit odd. If you'll recall, Mitch Miller was popular back then, and the songs of the 1890's were VERY popular in the 50's and early 60's, and were on the radio just about ALL the time then. I remember it well, and my Dad STILL has some of those old records in his collection....including complete collections of old college songs sung BY the college glee clubs. Popular stuff during those times.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Lauren]

Let's say it's 1935, which would make me born in 1910. My teenage years would have therefore been spent in the 20's... so my real "growing" years where I figure out who I am as adult would have been in the hardest days of the depression- the stock market crash having been when I was 19. It's hard to say- Actually, I think everyone I know would be trying to figure out who they were again regardless of age. And since I have many friends in many different economic situations I'm sure it would have been difficult- though it is not likely I would have even had the chance to meet friends in different social circles. It seems I would have been hanging about with the early indy car people and their families (my dad makes racing wheels). I'll be thinking on this all day now...

 

[Veronica Parra]

You can't believe how happy I am to be living today. Of course, I would have probably said the same thing back in the '30s, had I been living then.

 

[Big Man]

Let's say it's 1935, which would make me born in 1910. My teenage years would have therefore been spent in the 20's... so my real "growing" years where I figure out who I am as adult would have been in the hardest days of the depression- the stock market crash having been when I was 19....

Here's a picture of my Aunt taken about 1934 or 1935. She was was born in 1908, so in Lauren's example above, they would be about the same relative age. My Aunt graduated high school in 1925, then went to college for three years to get her teacher's certificate. She began teaching in 1928. Her Dad (my Grandfather) died in 1932. That, combined with the effects of the Great Depression, impacted her views of the 1930's which she still related to well into modern times. My Aunt is now 97 years old, and does not have the best of memory, but still does recall how difficult times were for the family in the 30's. That is her memory of the 30's. The picture suggests, that while times were indeed difficult, they were happy.

Time really is relative.

 

[Lauren]

Great picture! Love the fabric of her dress.

 

[Big Man]

Great picture! Love the fabric of her dress.

Here's another one of my Aunt, this one was taken in 1932 (at the time of her Dad's death). I wish some of their old clothing survived, but there is only one piece from the 30's left. Most everything was "used up" (of course some pieces of the old clothing are left in the patch-work quilts my Grandmother made over the years).

 

[green papaya]

I wish I could go back in time for a month to the year 1905 San Francisco

 

[Lauren]

Adorable! LOVE the collar! And the shadow of the photographer

 

[Big Man]

Here is another one of my Aunts in the dress she had at the time of my Granddad's death (1932).

 

[Sefton]

I like the distinctive shadow of the photographer looking down into the viewfinder of the box camera... thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[LadyDeWinter]

Time machine

Hello,

If there was the possibility to travel back to the 30s or 40s I would do it right away. And I would go shopping. Have you every looked into an old Wards or Seers catalogue, man the prices!!! But I wouldn't get any clothes that fit anyway because I am 6 ft tall. But it would be very interesting.

But I think I do not want to live in these times because I don't want to have a war, I don't want to have Nazis. As a women I want to have the possibility to go out into a restaurant or a pub alone if I want it. And I am glad that there is electricity and TVs and computers these things make our lifes much easier.

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Then.

Today's oversaturation of media, art and adventure is reason enough.

 

[missjo]

lets put it this way, if the 1930s were a far away country, I would LOVE to go on holiday there and I might consider moving there permanently.
But I would have to visit it first and I may change my mind.

 

[Wild Root]

Chew on this...

If one was to look at all the bad we have today VS the bad they had yesterday, I think I'd choose yesterday. True, they didn't have many modern conveniences but, I think most of our modern conveniences are vices on most people's lives. Could I live with out TV? Yes, I'd much rather go to a movie. Could I do with out a PC? Yes, Telegrams are ok and the phone works ok. Could I do with out CD's? Sure, most of my favorite music is on 78 anyway. Would I be afraid of catching a disease that is incurable by 1930's or 40's medicine? I'd just try and eat as healthy as I could and have my trust in the Lord!

Now, how would I make a living in the Depression? Well, I do draw and I would try and make a living working for Disney or Warner Bro's drawing cartoons or, maybe design fruit crate labels or work in advertising.

I could see my self enjoying quality broadcasting on the radio, using my imagination instead of watching such vicious and inappropriate programs. I could see my self making it work by working hard and doing the best with what I have. Also, dating would be much easier! Gals were safer then and they all dressed so nice. VD wasn’t as big of a problem then, as it is now. I feel the world is too focused on pleasure and forgetting about it's consequences!

Schools were tough but, that was because the teachers were… not the students as much. There was no fear of guns at schools! Students were disciplined and the parents for it! If the school didn’t discipline them, the kid’s father would!

Bottom line is there is good and bad in each period of time, you just have to choose which you feel is more you!

=WR=

 

[Rosie]

Considering the way I as a Black woman would have been treated in those times, I much prefer living in the year in which I currently live. I barely want to clean my house let alone having to do it for a living cleaning someone else's.

 

[missjo]

Many people either have a too rose-coloured view of the 1930s or a too dark view.
It wasnt all fun and laughter but it wasnt all depression either.
The majority still had a jobm live went on and often better then it ever had been.
Every era has its good and bad points, even the so called dark-ages werent too bad all the time and the renaissance wasnt all fun and joy.
Many people who ask me why I live in the past (i wear vintage clothing all the time and my house is 1930s decorated) tell me that so much was bad back then.
For almost every bad thing about the 1930s they give me I can give them a good thing and in return point out a bad thing today.

 

[missjo]

Considering the way I as a Black woman would have been treated in those times, I much prefer living in the year in which I currently live. I barely want to clean my house let alone having to do it for a living cleaning someone else's.

Outside the US life for a black woman in quite a few countries would have been much better.
Here in the Netherlands they werent too common but they were almost worshipped as being exotic.
We had a bar in Amsterdam where 4 black boys played american jazz, they were real stars in that city.
The whole city (especially the girls) loved them, ooooh these american black jazz mucisians are soooo exciting!
Well.... they didnt tell anyone they were from suriname, a Dutch colony and spoke fluent Dutch
They played music well into the occupation.
We also had black people from our colonies who came to study here.
In France black people also had it much easier then in America.
We had no segregation here, of course some racism as there is and has been everywhere since the dawn of men.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

lets put it this way, if the 1930s were a far away country, I would LOVE to go on holiday there and I might consider moving there permanently.
But I would have to visit it first and I may change my mind.

I agree.
I would miss certain modern conveniences at first, such as my PC,...but if I didn't know any better, maybe over time listening to the radio would be all the entertainment and news I would need.
I would really prefer being surrounded by the style and the art of that era as opposed to that of the present, so I would make the trade off in technology.
I could actually become a famous inventor,...maybe even "invent" the internet (and a lot of other things) in 1935, if I could go back in time.

By the way, your website is awesome, Miss Joeri, very nice! :eusa_clap