According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 50's, 60's, and 70's probably shouldn't have survived!
Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.
When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops with balloons or trading cards' on our wheels for noise.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the same.
We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.
We caught grasshoppers which you don't see anymore.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one minded.
We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue- we learned to get over it.
We walked to friend's homes.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them. Congratulations!


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Post 50s know their own strength - but it still seems like brands are having a hard time recognizing it when it comes to marketing to boomers.
Leaving this 80-million-strong group out in the cold in favor of the coveted 18-to-49 demo is a huge mistake according to new research by Nielsen,the media ratings firm, and Boom Agers, a creative agency that helps companies target baby boomers.The study considers boomers to be the “most valuable generation.” With boomers poised to make up half the U.S. population in 2017, marketing to boomers just makes good sense, said Beth Brady, global head of Nielsen Marketing.
“This group is redefining aging,” Brady said. “They grew up in the age of consumerism. Their sheer size helped define brands; they're rebellious... The point of this paper was to tell companies, 'this is not your grandma.'”
Not your grandma indeed. Boomers are far more affluent these days. Whereas the Silent and Great Generations were all about saving and penny-pinching, baby boomers currently account for nearly $230 billion in sales for consumer packaged goods, out buying age groups in products like coffee, magazines and diet soda, the study noted. What’s more, they will control 70 percent of the nation’s disposal income and stand to inherit $15 trillion in the next 20 years.
And there’s the fact that as they get older, they have more time to use that disposable income, according to the study: 67 percent said they would spend more time on their hobbies and interests when they retire.
So with these numbers staring companies in the face, why do so many brands ignore boomers in their marketing? They’re still stuck with outmoded ideas about how boomers think and what advertising to them should involve, the researchers explain. The study found that boomers are no more or less brand loyal or price conscious than younger consumers.
During a presentation, Brady recalled, “a person in the audience said to me, ‘Isn't it true that their households are getting smaller?' We don't market to households anymore, we market to individuals. And small households or not -- there's [almost] 80 million of them! Regardless if its a household of seven people or one, digital marketing is making it so you can target a specific person. Boomers are going to force the industry to think more about marketing customization and marketing to specific needs.”
And there’s the undeniable fact that many industries are still focused on young people. “Subjectively there's always been a love of youth,” Brady said. “A lot of advertisers [think] ‘We'll advertise younger and these people will come along for the ride.’ I think that's a really dangerous assumption to make.”
Post 50s are far from just going along for the ride -- they're leading technology adoption and media consumption. “If you look at the audience composition of the top 25 shows, [the] 50-to-64 cohort is the number one viewing demographic of 18 shows,” Brady said. “The 35- to 49-year-olds, which is a really targeted group, is only number one for three of the top shows.”
So listen up, marketers: boomers are older, but they’re not old. And they’re ready for their close-up.
“Let's be careful about supposing that life is so dreary,” Brady said. “Don't tell them [boomers] they're old because they do not think they're old. They think, ‘Not only am I not old, but 50 is the new 30.’ They're happier now than they've ever been. Recognize that they love life.”
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In 1964 I bought my first car. It was a 1952 Ford that I bought from the back row of a used car lot for $40.00.
That was all it cost in the early 60's for a clunker. Now the same back row cars are all classics.
In 1965 my father bought me a 1965 Oldsmobile Cutlass. It had a 330 c.i. motor with 4 on the floor.
I used to race it at the Union Grove,Wisconsin racetrack.
These are not pictures of my exact cars but they looked the same.
My next car was a 1966 Ford Fairlane with a 289 c.i. engine, automatic transmission.
It was not very fast but it looked good.


My next car was a 1963 Chevy convertible, black, 6 cylinder automatic.
Again not a race car but it still looked good.
I bought it from a friend for $200.00. It was like brand new!


I traded to a friend for a 1957 Chevy 327 c.i. 300 h.p. 4speed transmission. I raced this car. it was fast.
It ran a 12.50 time for the quarter mile at the drag strip!

After that I bought and traded many other cars. Write an article and post some of your cars that you owned, Dusty
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Take a trip down memory lane with me. When I was a young boy, growing up in Chicago, my mother would listen to Polka Music on the Lawrence Welk Show while my father would watch The Saturday Night Fights from Madison Square Garden. I listened to the 50's music on the radio.I liked songs like Mr Custer, The Yellow Rose Of Texas, and Tom Dooley while I was playing with my toy soldiers.
Christmas was a special time for us, trimming the Christmas tree and listening to our favorite Christmas music. We could hardly wait for Santa Claus to make his entrance on Christmas night. Of course we could never stay awake late enough to see Santa.
In the 50's and 60's we also enjoyed Country music, Rhythm and Blues music, Rock and Roll and Jazz music. I will never forget Johnny Horton singing The Battle Of New Orleans on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1959.
To this day millions of people watch my video and still love it. In the 60's as teenagers we would listen to all kinds of music such as Rock and Metal music, Motown music, British music, upbeat fast music (when we were racing our hot rods) and of course the slow love songs (when we were with our dates).
In the 50s and 60s the most popular Disc Jockeys were Alan Freed (credited with naming Rock and Roll) and Wolf Man Jack noted for his raspy voice and howling like a wolf.
As teenagers we would hang out at the local snack shop and listen to our favorite music on the music jukebox, 5 songs for a quarter! Then came the popular Disco music in the 70s. Music from the 50s, 60s and 70s, now called oldies music or oldies but goodies, is still enjoyed to this day.
Who would have thought that the old Classic TV commercials and Classic Radio Broadcasts would still be as interesting to listen to in the 21st century.
Today we are so advanced we can listen to music on a mobile phone like Android, I-Phone, Blackberry, etc.. So have fun and always enjoy the music!
Dusty

article submitted by Dusty
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