Life in the 1950's

[kimball455]

Found this interesting website about the '50's and people still living the 'retro' life style. Quite amazing.
Harry

The people STILL living in 1951: Inside America's Rockabilly community

Jennifer Greenburg spent ten years photographing people that dress like it’s the Fifties, drive Cadillacs and decorate their homes with furniture to rival Mad Men.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[retromania]

Loved it!

 

[danemodsandy]

Interesting!

Some of the folks in the photos are living the '50s more authentically than others (trust me, '59 El Caminos didn't have interiors like that from the factory), but they all appear to be enjoying themselves.

My own home is more '60s/'70s than anything here, but I share these "Rockabilly" adherents' enjoyment in coming home to a simpler lifestyle, off the treadmill of present-day society.

 

[toploader55]

I think that's pretty cool.

It kind of says the same thing about my staff at the restaurant. When it comes to music, most of them all listen to a wide variety of music but mostly from the 50's thru the mid 70's, They have a constant thirst for knowledge of what it was like growing up in the late 50's through the 70s.

As you can imagine, I'm chatting away all day with them. They find it so hard to belive that Fuel was $.37 a gallon when I started to drive in 1972

But as most of us here... we do love our Vintage appliances and furniture.

Does my dinette set and vintage stuff put me in the Rockabillie Realm ???

 

[hydralique]

Nice dinette set and Instrument (as Ernestine the Operator would say)!

 

[washman]

Gee Beev.........

that's swell!

 

[petek]

Love that dinette sets. Remember when it was more uncommon that people would have a different type of table. Ours was red, nothing fancy, my aunt next doors was a yellow one with a cutlery drawer built in the side.

 

[whirlcool]

You gotta have the LARGE rubber bumper things on the chair legs. These sets were all the rage when I was growing up. Most all of them had those huge rubber feet on them.

 

[rp2813]

Eddie, that table and set of chairs is to dine for!

 

[tolivac]

Very Good!-EXCEPT---in the 2nd picture the console TV that had its original picture tube and chassis removed and replaced with a modern set-----YEECCHHHH!!!NOT-NOT COOL!RIDICULOUS looking-If you are going to have the 50's motiff in these things and on that site-RESTORE the old set and use the ORIG chassis and screen-PLEASE!!otherwise its a bastard type set--DUMB LOOKING!!!!NOT ORIGINAL!!!!

 

[rp2813]

I noticed that TV set as well.  Considering these folks' commitment to authenticity, the right thing to own is a restored vintage color console.  They can provide decent color and resolution with a properly working chassis. 

 

[alr2903]

The furniture and settings are stunning. "Mr. Thomas Roberts", on MSNBC recently commented about The Trifecta: Caucasian, Male, Straight. In the 1950's were there any professional women, African Americans, Latino's, families without men as the head of household? Can you spot the Asian folk in #8? The pictures are beautiful and far enough in the past to make them sentimental. Kimball455 thank you for sharing the photos. I had a wagon wheel bunkbed.

[this post was last edited: 1/23/2014-02:50]

 

[alr2903]

This excerpt from The Amazon book description.

In Rockabillies, photographer Jennifer Greenburg offers a visual tour of a unique global subculture and her own place within it. The individuals her photographs capture are examples of the rockabilly scene, having fully embraced the aesthetic values of teens in the 1950s. What intrigues Greenburg is that these contemporary Rockabillies choose to overlook the social and political realities of the time period they adore and emulate. The subculture today has become a hybrid of texts and images—frequently taken out of context—from an era that saw race riots, cultural upheaval, and little hope for middle-class advancement. Few, if any, members of the Rockabilly culture would actually want to live in the post-war era; rather, the imagery and ideals have been adapted to serve a wistful interpretation of that time. As well, contemporary Rockabillies are not interested in historic preservation, but its members rarely stray from established fashion archetypes.



Through her photographs, Greenburg brings light to this unusual subculture and investigates its contradictory relationship to the American past.

The Amazon description does not mention the university.

 

[alr2903]

Kimball455, the photos are nice and sleek.  According to the article the photographer is an assistant professor at a university in Indiana.  This layout is an introduction to a coffee table book she has created. the article would leave one to believe there were no minorities, LGBT, or Professional Women.  I doubt the author saw this layout prior to publication. But<span style="font-size: large;">'At first I thought the culture was about fashion,' the 36-year-old photographer told MailOnline. 'Then I realized it was much, much, more than that. I realized that this was a culture of people who functioned as a community.'  

</span>Words like social diversity, State and Federal funding come to mind.

 

[frigilux]

It's hard not to admire people who commit so fully to a lifestyle; certainly the furnishings/appliances are cool---but I wouldn't want to try to live in the past. I'll take the present, warts and all.

 

[countryford]

<a name="startPOSTER_50722.9"></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">tolivac</span>: I noticed the same thing. Just gets me seeing that.

 

[westie2]

Picture 6

My room had the same wall paper and the bed spread is just like what I had. Also had the floor rugs with the same cowboy and horse. My light fixture was all cowboys and horses. The house was built in 1950 and my room was remodeled in 1968 after I had left home.

 

[lancethecook]

1950s women

There was a programme on UK television a while ago which I believe is on you tube.
It was called " time warped wives" some of you may find it interesting .
I certainly did .

 

[rp2813]

I agree with Eugene.  More power to those who immerse themselves into a time warp, but I'm just not that dedicated and there are modern conveniences I enjoy having.  Maybe a room devoted to a specific style or period, but not my entire life.

 

When I think about people who wish they could have lived in the 1920s or earlier, there's one thing that comes to mind that kills the deal for me every time:  Dental work.