what if you could travel back in time but could never return?

[Viola]

If you are a woman, or African American, or gay, or Native American or anyone but a straight white fairly wealthy male, why would you want to go back to earlier times!?

I dunno, my grandmothers and great-grandmothers all worked.

Houses were more affordable (even taking into account how much less you made) food was healthier, entry-level jobs didn't require college, I could buy a Tommy gun at Sears Roebuck, shoes lasted forever, and there were no velour hip-hugging sweatpants. lol

And that's putting aside serving in WWII.

-Viola

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Hm, some of us don't take off our rose-colored glasses at night, I see.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Hm, some of us don't take off our rose-colored glasses at night, I see.

The same could be said of people preferring the present day.

It would be nice to be able to voice a personal preference without it being judged as naive or lacking in perceptiveness because it differs from your own.

I'm not interested in proving anyone else wrong, or defending what I think is right.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Most any era before the 1980's. Women still marry creeps, but at least, if they are violent creeps, they have a fair to middling chance of getting help and getting away from them. Women still get exploited today, it is a fast-paced world and frightening sometimes. Sometimes I think people haven't learned much of anything.

I lived during the 40's, 50's and 60's, my mother from the 1920's on, my grandparents lived from the Victorian era to the 50's.

I remember African American people having to ride on the back of buses, being hanged and beaten, being denied good jobs because of their color, Native Americans denied their culture and religions and language, gay people made to feel inferior, told they were perverted and sick because of their sexual orientation, and arrested and thrown out of their jobs when they were "caught" in gay bars, women not able to get many good paying jobs because they were reserved for men (I was turned down for some of those jobs), women and minorities making less money than white men, friends or family members who were trapped in marriages sometimes with no place to go if things got really bad.

I knew people who died of complications of MS, diabetes, influenza, polio, pneumonia, cancer, heart attacks, and, even earlier, diptheria, smallpox, scarlet fever, people who suffered from mental problems now controlled by medications that were not around in earlier times. My paternal grandparents died of bulbar polio (1916) and the Spanish flu (1918).

I could imagine going back to an earlier era to take it all in, that might be a nice trip, I'd want to go to Paris during the Belle Epoque, take a good look around, take in the sights and sounds, the feel of the place, the people, and then head back to today -- back to my computer, DVDs, books, toys, mother and friends.

karol

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I would go back to the 40's and 50's and never return to the present. I think in many ways women are more oppressed today than before. There is legislature (although thr ERA never passed), and then there is culture. We look at the housewives of the era and most think that pearls and aprons were chaining the souls of women to drudgery and subservience. I look at the cultural acceptance today of boob jobs, botox, 20,000 variations of "mother's little helpers," the fact that most families now require dual incomes to pay the bills so that if a woman chose to stay home it might be cost prohibitive...

I think that for the past oppressions of the 50's we can find them today in other ways, and for some, they may even be more oppressive.

I'd have to agree. The materialism in this world has increased exponentially. So the related social problems have worsened at the same pace.
I would be more than happy to let the wife stay home and take care of the home and kids while I went off every day and did my husbandly duty.
I was pretty much raised in this same sort of traditional family environment, and I turned out okay.
I think that both parents being driven to work has had dire consequences for families.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I lived during the 40's, 50's and 60's, my mother from the 1920's on, my grandparents lived from the Victorian era to the 50's.

I remember African American people having to ride on the back of buses, being hanged and beaten, being denied good jobs because of their color, Native Americans denied their culture and religions and language, gay people made to feel inferior, told they were perverted and sick because of their sexual orientation, and arrested and thrown out of their jobs when they were "caught" in gay bars, women not able to get many good paying jobs because they were reserved for men (I was turned down for some of those jobs), women and minorities making less money than white men, friends or family members who were trapped in marriages sometimes with no place to go if things got really bad.

I knew people who died of complications of MS, diabetes, influenza, polio, pneumonia, cancer, heart attacks, and, even earlier, diptheria, smallpox, scarlet fever, people who suffered from mental problems now controlled by medications that were not around in earlier times. My paternal grandparents died of bulbar polio (1916) and the Spanish flu (1918).

Thanks for clarifying and sharing your experiences. They are all true and excellent points. It's just that many of those things still occur today, and where some things have been eradicated, there are new problems yet to be solved. So again, I'm not saying you are wrong, it's just a matter of personal preference. However, since said time machine doesn't exist, my points are moot.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I'd have to agree. The materialism in this world has increased exponentially. So the related social problems have worsened at the same pace.
I would be more than happy to let the wife stay home and take care of the home and kids while I went off every day and did my husbandly duty.
I was pretty much raised in this same sort of traditional family environment, and I turned out okay.
I think that both parents being driven to work has had dire consequences for families.

Yes, I think you turned out quite ok.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

The same could be said of people preferring the present day.

It would be nice to be able to voice a personal preference without it being judged as naive or lacking in perceptiveness because it differs from your own.

I'm not interested in proving anyone else wrong, or defending what I think is right.

No? I meant to be light-hearted, but of course, I tend to be misunderstood on the board when doing so.

As a person who is very interested in WWII, but not as well read as many here I'm sure, I never lose sight of the fact that generally, Americans in that period hated both Jews and Japs, and were in the war to kill Japs.

Of course, I could be wrong.

 

[Viola]

Hm, some of us don't take off our rose-colored glasses at night, I see.

...nice.

There's a lot of things negative about the past, to be sure. And my folks were neither white by the standard of the day nor wealthy. There's a balance of advantages and disadvantages to any time period.

-Viola

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Yes, I think you turned out quite ok.

Takes one to know one. From one square to another.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My mother married a lazy shiftless bum in 1959, and after six years of it she told him where to get off, in no uncertain terms. She married a *violent creep* in 1971, and seven months later he found himself on the pavement. Ma didn't need anyone to give her a way out -- she made herself one.

During the 1940s, my great aunt worked as a longshoreman. She was stronger, rougher, and tougher than many of the men she worked with -- and nobody dared to give her any lip.

My grandmother co-ran a business for nearly forty years, while raising two kids and then helping to raise three grandchildren.

Not all pre-1980s women were passive pushovers. It's never a good idea to generalize.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

No? I meant to be light-hearted, but of course, I tend to be misunderstood on the board when doing so.

As a person who is very interested in WWII, but not as well read as many here I'm sure, I never lose sight of the fact that generally, Americans in that period hated both Jews and Japs, and were in the war to kill Japs.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Gotcha.

Well, my family is Jewish, and they are and were American, as were millions of other Jewish American families. So I don't think that statement applies to all people during that time.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Most any era before the 1980's. Women still marry creeps, but at least, if they are violent creeps, they have a fair to middling chance of getting help and getting away from them. Women still get exploited today, it is a fast-paced world and frightening sometimes. Sometimes I think people haven't learned much of anything.

I lived during the 40's, 50's and 60's, my mother from the 1920's on, my grandparents lived from the Victorian era to the 50's.

I remember African American people having to ride on the back of buses, being hanged and beaten, being denied good jobs because of their color, Native Americans denied their culture and religions and language, gay people made to feel inferior, told they were perverted and sick because of their sexual orientation, and arrested and thrown out of their jobs when they were "caught" in gay bars, women not able to get many good paying jobs because they were reserved for men (I was turned down for some of those jobs), women and minorities making less money than white men, friends or family members who were trapped in marriages sometimes with no place to go if things got really bad.

I knew people who died of complications of MS, diabetes, influenza, polio, pneumonia, cancer, heart attacks, and, even earlier, diptheria, smallpox, scarlet fever, people who suffered from mental problems now controlled by medications that were not around in earlier times. My paternal grandparents died of bulbar polio (1916) and the Spanish flu (1918).

I could imagine going back to an earlier era to take it all in, that might be a nice trip, I'd want to go to Paris during the Belle Epoque, take a good look around, take in the sights and sounds, the feel of the place, the people, and then head back to today -- back to my computer, DVDs, books, toys, mother and friends.

karol

Wow, this really does put it in perspective. Although it's shocking to think that some of this stuff isn't too far from what happens today, particularly re: gays and women.

 

[Viola]

As a person who is very interested in WWII, but not as well read as many here I'm sure, I never lose sight of the fact that generally, Americans in that period hated both Jews and Japs, and were in the war to kill Japs.

Fair enough, but plenty of people in this country still are racist or anti-Semitic SOBs.

Of course, my folks were the Jews.

-Viola

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

My mother married a lazy shiftless bum in 1959, and after six years of it she told him where to get off, in no uncertain terms. She married a *violent creep* in 1971, and seven months later he found himself on the pavement. Ma didn't need anyone to give her a way out -- she made herself one.

During the 1940s, my great aunt worked as a longshoreman. She was stronger, rougher, and tougher than many of the men she worked with -- and nobody dared to give her any lip.

My grandmother co-ran a business for nearly forty years, while raising two kids and then helping to raise three grandchildren.

Not all pre-1980s women were passive pushovers. It's never a good idea to generalize.

Exactly. Then as now, life is what we make it. People really did have opportunities back then, if they were not afraid to just go for it and make their way in the world, make their dreams a reality in spite of any obstacles.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Gotcha.

Well, my family is Jewish, and they are and were American, as were millions of other Jewish American families. So I don't think that statement applies to all people during that time.

I would hope not! But rarely does anything apply to all people at any given time.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Fair enough, but plenty of people in this country still are racist or anti-Semitic SOBs.

Of course, my folks were the Jews.

-Viola

True. And women still make less than men, and gays are still discriminated against.

That plus suicide bombers and WMD...maybe I'll change my position and choose the past after all

 

[GoldLeaf]

If I could go back in time to observe, not because I desire the way of life, I would go back to October 31, 1517 in Wittenberg, Germany. The day the of beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther tacked his 95 theses to the door of the Cathedral, and the world has never been the same.

Now, I know that Luther didn't single handedly cause the Reformation or produce all the resulting change. However, as a Lutheran, and as a person who finds the Reformation an interesting subject, I would enjoy the opportunity to observe that portion of history.

Just my thoughts

**Edit** Please note that I am not stating that Luther was entirely right, or that the resulting change was all good. I just find it interesting, and I would like to be an observer. I am not judging his actions nor the results.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I don't think I'd have the guts to go back in time and stay. I REALLY like modern conveniences, especially in the feminine area I also like that I work and socialize with all kinds of people and no one bats an eyelash.

Like Lady Day, I prefer admiring from afar. And I 100% admit I romanticise about the 20s and 30s, even though I know they were no cakewalk. No harm in that.

 

[Foofoogal]

Well, I must be really square but I agree completely with PrettySquareGal.
I am 50 and conservative. I think women as a whole had it 199% better as a whole before about 1960s.
I bought into the hippie last stages but had family members who were and are still stuck there. I greatly regret my stupidity and chalk it up to youth.
I remember a time when there were bad girls and good girls and everyone knew the difference and what that meant. I would personally punch Gloria Steinem and that Bella Abzug if I could as it has made it much harder for all women IMHO.
I would love to go back to years right after WW11 and see all the boom building and just feel the great pride of winning a War, new homes, baby boomers. etc.
I don't want to go back to the diseases though.