Memory Lane

I found an interesting web site called 'Memory Lane' and wanted to pass it on to you. It's a nostalgia site from the 1940's through the decade of the 90's, but one does not have to have lived any of the years it chronicles to appreciate the fascinating contents that is either a reminder of the past or an education of it. Here is a link to it. http://www.classmates.com/feature/lifestyle?miscj=MLHeader&tpcCategory=Lifestyle&startYear=1960&endYear=1969

You'll notice it is more of a lifestyle record of the times (which is why the link I gave to you is set on the 'lifestyle tab" of it). Click on any year of interest and check the music, news, videos, TV etc. and I bet it makes you wonder if life has been degraded over the years, even despite the technological and scientific advancements.

One think that is easily recognizable is that there were norms of behavior and ethics them, that right from wrong was more easily ascertained, and that though life was simpler it seemed to be far less chaotic and much less of a struggle. For example, click on any video clip of sporting event in the 40's, 50's or early 60's and you'll be hard pressed to see any fan not dressed well. The men are dressed in suits and tied and women in almost formal dresses, and this is even when the weather outside was blistering hot. There is no evidence of the fat guy in the T shirt, shorts and thongs. It was considered rude, unthinkable in fact, to not dress well when at any event.

On the other hand, the link of the 'Psychedelic Stones on the Lifestyle tab from the mid 60's shows how fashion was starting to become much less informal and illustrates how rock changed even fashion in the 60's. It has been said and I believe with some truth, that life changed forever when President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. http://www.classmates.com/feature/movie?actionableType=tpc&actionableId=286673&startYear=1960&endYear=1969&tpcCategory=News&startingId=10

That anyone would shoot a resident was considered highly unlikely before that event happened. But afterward, society seemed to break into sub cultures, each with it's own "thing" (as the slang of the time said to "do your own thing").

If any magazine better showed in pictures what life was like in those earlier decades it was the Saturday Evening Post. I randomly selected top look at one old issue because it has a typically beautifully painted cover showing what was still a cultural norm then- the family dressed for and eating dinner together. Click on the magazine link below and look at the ads, the letters, articles etc. I find it far more interesting than glitzy magazines today. I remember my parents subscribed to The Post and many other magazines just so my brother and I would read them. I have many memories of many issues from my early childhood days.
http://www.classmates.com/feature/detail?actionableType=tpc&tpcCategory=Magazine&actionableId=288672&context=tpc/288672&startYear=1950&endYear=1959

Ok, enough of my commentary. I hope you look at the site to see what is old to you or new. It's quite an education in the transformation of society from the slow-paced, low-tech era of civility to today's mess...whatever it is we endure in this age.