1776, the 1950s and the Republican Dream.........

[BlueStreak]

In recent years we have heard the ever increasing call from the right to return to our beginning, to the days of "The Founding Fathers".

Why do you suppose this is? What do you imagine they see in this period that is so appealing to them? (It couldn't be that only wealthy, white businessmen and property owners were allowed to vote, could it?:p)

Lately, there has also been a flurry of nostalgia about the 1950s, and what a wonderful period it was. Now, I wasn't around in the 1950s, I was born in 1964. But according to my parents it wasn't all it's cracked up to have been. As Pops would have said; "More good ol' days nonsense.".
So; Why the 1950s? (There's something about Poodle Skirts, Beehive hairdoos and Jim Crow Laws that appeal to some of us?:p)

Anyhow, I'm just curious about your thoughts on this subject.

Dave

[d-ray657]

Maybe they miss the tax rates from the 1950's.:D

Regards,

D-Ray

[noonereal]

The 1950's was romanticized in the far right by the advent of television and the "white homey" programs produced during that period. The hard realities of life were swept under the rug and every boy had a well mannered involved dad.
My God, folks did not even have sex in the 50's!
The wacko's went nuts as early as the 60's when these same white kids had free sex! They still haven't gotten over that one.

Yes, the romance was from TV. People really believed what they saw on TV was reality. (hence sarah and dinosaurs walk with men)

thankfully we now have reality TV where we can plainly see that fat girls can make mega bucks just with their name (Kardashians, Bristol) and that there is no substitute for being at the right place at the right time (Snookie. Sarah)

The right does not seem to like these facts about life
and wants to believe life is black and white, like they saw it in the 50's.

[BlueStreak]

Let's not forget the 1920s! That too appears to have been a mythical time when all was right in the world. No crime, no poverty, no perverts, everyone was a millionaire, everyone knew their place, no one payed taxes....."Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again. Didn't need no welfare state, everybody pulled his weight. Gee, our old La Salle ran great. Those-were-the-DAAAAAAAYS!"

Well, according to Glenn Beck and Archie Bunker, anyhow........................

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Maybe they miss the tax rates from the 1950's.:D

Regards,

D-Ray

90% is entirely reasonable when a Republican does it, and plays it off as "necessary for the national defense", Don. Get with the program, son!

Dave

[BlueStreak]

The 1950's was romanticized in the far right by the advent of television and the "white homey" programs produced during that period. The hard realities of life were swept under the rug and every boy had a well mannered involved dad.
My God, folks did not even have sex in the 50's!
The wacko's went nuts as early as the 60's when these same white kids had free sex! They still haven't gotten over that one.

Yes, the romance was from TV. People really believed what they saw on TV was reality. (hence sarah and dinosaurs walk with men)

thankfully we now have reality TV where we can plainly see that fat girls can make mega bucks just with their name (Kardashians, Bristol) and that there is no substitute for being at the right place at the right time (Snookie. Sarah)

The right does not seem to like these facts about life
and wants to believe life is black and white, like they saw it in the 50's.


:eek:WHAT?! Are you suggesting that sex, especially deviant sex, WASN'T invented by those damn hippies? That people actually, (GULP!), FORNICATED prior to Kennedy administration?:eek:

You're crazy! I seriously suggest you go get yourself checked out, Mister!

Dave

[Charles]

Don't remember much about them, but I liked the 50's and early 60's better.

Chas

[BlueStreak]

On a more serious note.

Honestly, I had an older gentleman tell me once that he thought the period between WW2 and the mid-sixties was "wierd", and that the late sixties and early seventies were "even wierder, but in a different way", that it was as if the postwar era held a sort of "paranoid, obssessive conformity" (In his words.) that the baby boomers rebelled against.

Does this make any sense to you who lived during that period?
Where's Rob? I'd like to see his input.

Dave

(And, to our resident righties; I have just been razzing you with this thread. Having a little fun. So, lighten up.)

[merrylander]

WW II had ended and people were trying to get their lives back together. Since NorAm did not have its cities and factories bombed flat the Big 3 started producing civilian cars again. Being the one productive area of the world there was plenty of employment, unions were strong and wages were rising.

Returning soldiers were marrying and building houses - you can see areas here where all this building was going on, typical house was either a "CapeCod" or rancher about 1000 sq feet, Google Levittown. In MD take a drive along Norwood Ave, that was probably the fringes than.

Hey compared to the crap of the Depression things were quite rosy, whether families were like "Leave it to Beaver" or "Archie Bunker" depended a great deal on where you lived. I started at Bell in October 1950.

Of course our big mills were so busy turning ot steel, cars, etc. no one thought of taking a line out of production and modernizing it. Europe and Japan built new and so used the latest technology and eventually ate our lunch. Best of it was that they did it with our help - Marshall Plan.

The one thing you could do in the 50s, at least where I lived - leave your doors unlocked, keys in the car and never worry. Here the doors are locked even when we are in the house, when I am on the tractor cutting grass and the garage door is open, the inner door is locked and I carry a house key.

[BlueStreak]

Thanks, Rob.

[Charles]

On a more serious note.

Honestly, I had an older gentleman tell me once that he thought the period between WW2 and the mid-sixties was "wierd", and that the late sixties and early seventies were "even wierder, but in a different way", that it was as if the postwar era held a sort of "paranoid, obssessive conformity" (In his words.) that the baby boomers rebelled against.

Does this make any sense to you who lived during that period?
Where's Rob? I'd like to see his input.

Dave

(And, to our resident righties; I have just been razzing you with this thread. Having a little fun. So, lighten up.)

That would be me.

People did conform more back then, not so much due to being paranoid or obsessive IMHO, but because they had fewer choices.

Today it seems as though everyone is a human pincushion, or has a tat, or has a t shirt with a logo on it, or has an alternative lifestyle, or something.

I suppose it's just their way of demonstrating that they are unique, just like everyone else.

Chas

[Charles]

WW II had ended and people were trying to get their lives back together. Since NorAm did not have its cities and factories bombed flat the Big 3 started producing civilian cars again. Being the one productive area of the world there was plenty of employment, unions were strong and wages were rising.

Returning soldiers were marrying and building houses - you can see areas here where all this building was going on, typical house was either a "CapeCod" or rancher about 1000 sq feet, Google Levittown. In MD take a drive along Norwood Ave, that was probably the fringes than.

Hey compared to the crap of the Depression things were quite rosy, whether families were like "Leave it to Beaver" or "Archie Bunker" depended a great deal on where you lived. I started at Bell in October 1950.

Of course our big mills were so busy turning ot steel, cars, etc. no one thought of taking a line out of production and modernizing it. Europe and Japan built new and so used the latest technology and eventually ate our lunch. Best of it was that they did it with our help - Marshall Plan.

The one thing you could do in the 50s, at least where I lived - leave your doors unlocked, keys in the car and never worry. Here the doors are locked even when we are in the house, when I am on the tractor cutting grass and the garage door is open, the inner door is locked and I carry a house key.

That's really a shame.

I hardly ever lock the house, but I do lock by vehicles and shop, and have installed motion sensor lights all around them. Some of the locals will steal your tools.

But I'm pretty safe in the house. The hooligans may be able to give the slip to the local donut eaters, but they can't fool my little dog.

Chas

BTW, it wasn't that long ago that no one locked their house around here, but it's becoming the rule.

[d-ray657]

That would be me.

People did conform more back then, not so much due to being paranoid or obsessive IMHO, but because they had fewer choices.

Today it seems as though everyone is a human pincushion, or has a tat, or has a t shirt with a logo on it, or has an alternative lifestyle, or something.

I suppose it's just their way of demonstrating that they are unique, just like everyone else.

Chas

The Dr. Pepper ads in the '70s reflected that schizophrenic attitude. Be original - be a Pepper - wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too? I boycotted Dr. Pepper for a long time because I found that ad campaign to be such an insult to our intelligence. You can see how much their sales suffered.:rolleyes:

Regards,

D-Ray

[Charles]

The Dr. Pepper ads in the '70s reflected that schizophrenic attitude. Be original - be a Pepper - wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too? I boycotted Dr. Pepper for a long time because I found that ad campaign to be such an insult to our intelligence. You can see how much their sales suffered.:rolleyes:

Regards,

D-Ray

Snob appeal. Generally it works, provided it's done right.

Chas

[BlueStreak]

That would be me.

People did conform more back then, not so much due to being paranoid or obsessive IMHO, but because they had fewer choices.

Today it seems as though everyone is a human pincushion, or has a tat, or has a t shirt with a logo on it, or has an alternative lifestyle, or something.

I suppose it's just their way of demonstrating that they are unique, just like everyone else.

Chas

Yeah, I never did quite understand what he meant about "paranoid, obsessive conformity". Unless he was somehow tying it into the Cold War/McCarthy era stuff?----"Better act normal and patriotic lest the neighbors think you're a commie.", perhaps? I dunno.

@Rob;

I live in such a house. Every home, with few exceptions, in my neighborhood is tiny, >1,000 sq.ft. and has exactly the same original floor plan. Three bedroom "California Rancher" on a slab. The entire neighborhood was built in 1956-57. My neighbor Leo, is an original owner. He has a real estate ad from 1956 that reads, "Own your own little bungalow in the woods." Prior to that, it was a pig farm. The urban sprawl (Norfolk, VA.) has since completely engulfed it.

Dave

[mossbacked]

Personally, I'd just like to live my life the way I did prior to late 2008.

[BlueStreak]

Personally, I'd just like to live my life the way I did prior to late 2008.

I would agree, except for me, that wasn't much to brag about either.

Now, the late '90s up until 2003-----I would do that all over again in a flash!:)

Dave

[Charles]

Yeah, I never did quite understand what he meant about "paranoid, obsessive conformity". Unless he was somehow tying it into the Cold War/McCarthy era stuff?----"Better act normal and patriotic lest the neighbors think you're a commie.", perhaps? I dunno.

@Rob;

I live in such a house. Every home, with few exceptions, in my neighborhood is tiny, >1,000 sq.ft. and has exactly the same original floor plan. Three bedroom "California Rancher" on a slab. The entire neighborhood was built in 1956-57. My neighbor Leo, is an original owner. He has a real estate ad from 1956 that reads, "Own your own little bungalow in the woods." Prior to that, it was a pig farm. The urban sprawl (Norfolk, VA.) has since completely engulfed it.

Dave

I roughed in a bushel of 'em in Texas. Carried the masters in my suitcase for the subdivision.

Four floorplans with three to four elevations, depending. Track homes.

If the land and elevation affords it, you can tweek the floorplan to include a basement. Can't go wrong with a basement, it offers more options.

Built right, affordable and energeny efficient homes. I live in a slab, tricked out ceilings, double car garage, cheap to heat, cheap to cool.

Full basement or a slab is the way to go, nothing quite sucks like a crawlspace.

Moisture problems.

Chas

[merrylander]

I roughed in a bushel of 'em in Texas. Carried the masters in my suitcase for the subdivision.

Four floorplans with three to four elevations, depending. Track homes.

If the land and elevation affords it, you can tweek the floorplan to include a basement. Can't go wrong with a basement, it offers more options.

Built right, affordable and energeny efficient homes. I live in a slab, tricked out ceilings, double car garage, cheap to heat, cheap to cool.

Full basement or a slab is the way to go, nothing quite sucks like a crawlspace.

Moisture problems.

Chas


BTDT it was a rental back in Quebec, mostly dry but not great.

This one was built with 2 x 6 exterior walls with insulation to match. Double glazed windows, 10" of insulation in the attic. Trane high SEER heat pump, latest patio doors and skylight Low E glass. Before I retired we replaced most appliances with Energy Star or as close as we could get. Recently the 36 year old freezer died so that was the last electricity hog. You have to understand that where I lived in Ontario they only read the meter every second month as rates were so low it did not pay to bill monthly. Uh yeah, full basement for sure and two car garage is insulated and lined but only 2 x 4 walls.

[noonereal]

Personally, I'd just like to live my life the way I did prior to late 2008.

you and I as well

life has been a herculean challenge the last two plus years but thanks to several factors including progressive programs things never got as bad as it appeared they would

still, with a reasonable corporate climate things could have been much better

[finnbow]

Personally, I'd just like to live my life the way I did prior to late 2008.

Personally, I'd go a little further back 9/10/2001.

[Charles]

BTDT it was a rental back in Quebec, mostly dry but not great.

This one was built with 2 x 6 exterior walls with insulation to match. Double glazed windows, 10" of insulation in the attic. Trane high SEER heat pump, latest patio doors and skylight Low E glass. Before I retired we replaced most appliances with Energy Star or as close as we could get. Recently the 36 year old freezer died so that was the last electricity hog. You have to understand that where I lived in Ontario they only read the meter every second month as rates were so low it did not pay to bill monthly. Uh yeah, full basement for sure and two car garage is insulated and lined but only 2 x 4 walls.

2x6 exterior partitions on the living space and 2x4 on the exterior of the garage are pretty much SOP anymore, also the route I took. I did add additional insulation to the attic, probably to R40 or better. The water lines are copper pulled in conduit as concrete will react with copper over a period of time.

Low E glass is worth the added expense, especially if the windows are exposed to the afternoon sun. Argon supposedly leaks out within 6 months I've been told, but is required for the energy tax credit. Once that expires I don't think I would spring for argon.

We also have a 92+ Bryant NG furnace, however our compressor is only rated a 10 SEER. I thought about replacing it a couple of years ago when it died, but it turned out to be a wire with a burned connector that went to a capacitor. Replacing a 20 cent butt connector made more sense.

We have some of the highest electrical rates around, but it only costs us app $500 per year to cool. So even if we went with an improved condenser/A coil with an app 14 SEER we would only save app $170 per year. The payoff simply isn't there, I'll continue to run what we have until it gives up the ghost.

Besides, the new units pretty much all have two speed pumps and use a newer freon with an oil which really attracts moisture, or so my AC man tells me. He's less than impressed with them. Given my rathers, I would rather pick up a NIB R22 system with a 12 SEER and use it for the replacement. I probably won't have much choice in the matter though.

Water heaters are another of my sore points. The new federally mandated explosion proof units with an enclosed burn chamber leave me less than impressed. The Whirlpool units in particular are nothing but junk, or at least they were a couple of years ago. And you couldn't give me a tankless.

Chas

[Charles]

The "good ol' days" were never so good for all the bad times.

Well, the brave new world ain't so hot neither.

Chas

[BlueStreak]

I roughed in a bushel of 'em in Texas. Carried the masters in my suitcase for the subdivision.

Four floorplans with three to four elevations, depending. Track homes.

If the land and elevation affords it, you can tweek the floorplan to include a basement. Can't go wrong with a basement, it offers more options.

Built right, affordable and energeny efficient homes. I live in a slab, tricked out ceilings, double car garage, cheap to heat, cheap to cool.

Full basement or a slab is the way to go, nothing quite sucks like a crawlspace.

Moisture problems.

Chas

Let's not forget to mention the stable platform a slab provides for your system. Footfalls feeding back through your turntable? Fergeddaboutit.
Floorborne resonances? Pffft!

Slabs can have issues to, I've battled termites here twice, they're under control now. And basements can leak. My brothers and I had to dig a trench around the old mans house in Ohio back in the seventies to reseal it. It had multiple leaks. I NEVER want to do that again!

Dave

[Charles]

Let's not forget to mention the stable platform a slab provides for your system. Footfalls feeding back through your turntable? Fergeddaboutit.
Floorborne resonances? Pffft!

Slabs can have issues to, I've battled termites here twice, they're under control now. And basements can leak. My brothers and I had to dig a trench around the old mans house in Ohio back in the seventies to reseal it. It had multiple leaks. I NEVER want to do that again!

Dave

Once those timbermites get under a slab they're hard to kill. So far none in the house, I pretreated before we did the concrete.

They did get into my shop, which was an old carriage house. Came up through a crack in the floor and ate my boat tarp. My bug man wiped 'em out, bless his heart.

Then the carpenter ants showed up, I dumped 50 lbs of poison on their nests and they're gone too. Then the ground hornets showed up, I hate to think how much gasoline, lacquer thinner, and poison I had to dump down their holes to get rid of them, but I finally did.

I hate all bugs in general, and stinging bugs in particular. Bad thing about Missouri, if you're a bug or a weed it's the land of milk and honey.

Still can't kill all of the moles. I can slow 'em down, but I can't wipe 'em out.

Chas

[d-ray657]

Having spent our first thirty years in Oklahoma, we weren't used to basements, which are prevalent in the Kansas City Area. We felt like were living in a palace in the two bedroom townhouse where we first lived up here. It was a full basement, which was at least as large as the basement in our home now, the split level design limiting it to a half basement. We had room for a laundry room, an office area, a sewing area, and a playroom, without having to give up any of the main living space. (The current basement now contains my mancave, workshop and laundry room.) You could probably say so with more authority, Chas, but I can't imagine a more cost effective way to expand living space. If we would ever move, I can't imagine buying a home without a basement now.

Regards,

D-Ray

[Charles]

Having spent our first thirty years in Oklahoma, we weren't used to basements, which are prevalent in the Kansas City Area. We felt like were living in a palace in the two bedroom townhouse where we first lived up here. It was a full basement, which was at least as large as the basement in our home now, the split level design limiting it to a half basement. We had room for a laundry room, an office area, a sewing area, and a playroom, without having to give up any of the main living space. (The current basement now contains my mancave, workshop and laundry room.) You could probably say so with more authority, Chas, but I can't imagine a more cost effective way to expand living space. If we would ever move, I can't imagine buying a home without a basement now.

Regards,

D-Ray

When I built our house, I only intended to live in it for a couple of years, sell it and build another. I wish I had added a basement now. It would have been a very cost effective way of doubling the living area, along with other advantages.

I did cover the 14x28 patio, made 2/3 of it a screened in porch and left the other 1/3 open for a barbeque area. Grilling in the rain is now a pleasure.

Oh well, it's solid, efficient, and paid for. And it's plenty big enough for the two of us, especially if we were to unload a bunch of junk.

Anyone need a pile of reel to reels?

Chas

[BlueStreak]

Once those timbermites get under a slab they're hard to kill. So far none in the house, I pretreated before we did the concrete.

They did get into my shop, which was an old carriage house. Came up through a crack in the floor and ate my boat tarp. My bug man wiped 'em out, bless his heart.

Then the carpenter ants showed up, I dumped 50 lbs of poison on their nests and they're gone too. Then the ground hornets showed up, I hate to think how much gasoline, lacquer thinner, and poison I had to dump down their holes to get rid of them, but I finally did.

I hate all bugs in general, and stinging bugs in particular. Bad thing about Missouri, if you're a bug or a weed it's the land of milk and honey.

Still can't kill all of the moles. I can slow 'em down, but I can't wipe 'em out.

Chas


I was renting this place out, (To my own brother, no less.), back when I was "flipping houses" back before the market went sour. It was him who let the termites in. They got in behind the shower stall, due to a slow drip in the pipes. Ate the entire outside wall between the shower stall and the bricks, and all of the studs between the bathroom and kitchen up to the ceiling. Had to rip out, and replace both walls, then rebuild both kitchen and bathroom. He claimed he didn't "know they were there". I knew as soon as I walked through the door. I could smell rotten wood, and there were dead swarmers all over the counter tops. I could have choked him. And, with my history, it's a miracle I didn't.

We did all of the work ourselves, and he bought the materials, so it didn't cost me much, it was just a buttload of work. Never rent to relatives, they are the worst.

Anyhow, after that I hired an exterminator to treat the entire property. They drilled and injected poison deep under the slab all the way around the house and garage. So far, so good.

Dave

[Charles]

I was renting this place out, (To my own brother, no less.), back when I was "flipping houses" back before the market went sour. It was him who let the termites in. They got in behind the shower stall, due to a slow drip in the pipes. Ate the entire outside wall between the shower stall and the bricks, and all of the studs between the bathroom and kitchen up to the ceiling. Had to rip out, and replace both walls, then rebuild both kitchen and bathroom. He claimed he didn't "know they were there". I knew as soon as I walked through the door. I could smell rotten wood, and there were dead swarmers all over the counter tops. I could have choked him. And, with my history, it's a miracle I didn't.

We did all of the work ourselves, and he bought the materials, so it didn't cost me much, it was just a buttload of work. Never rent to relatives, they are the worst.

Anyhow, after that I hired an exterminator to treat the entire property. They drilled and injected poison deep under the slab all the way around the house and garage. So far, so good.

Dave

Don't feel bad.

I purchased a rental, with the goal of getting several. My wife talked me into selling it to my stepson.

Who promptly got divorced, stuck me with the bill, and then quit making his payments. He used to hand me the payment and say, "Here's your money." He never could understand that it was his house and the banks money, I was just the middle man and got nothing out of the deal but grief.

Not to mention the fact the he totally destroyed the place. As far as I know, I'm the only person in the country who lost money on real estate prior to the bubble bursting.

You win some, and you lose some, but most of the time you just lose some.

At least that's my story.

Chas

[noonereal]

You win some, and you lose some, but most of the time you just lose some.

At least that's my story.

Chas

you are not alone :o

[BlueStreak]

Anyone need a pile of reel to reels?

Chas

Machines, No. Tapes? ------------Uh, maybe.....

Dave

[mossbacked]

Anyone need a pile of reel to reels?

Chas

Like 7" or 10-1/2" for Teac and Tascam and such?

[BlueStreak]

Like 7" or 10-1/2" for Teac and Tascam and such?

Fer real! I've been searching high and low for any halfway decent pre-recordeds to spin up on the Revox.

Dave