Nifty Fifties Essay - Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

DOCUMENT ELEVEN: The Suburban CommunityBroad Classes of Reasons Given for Moving to the Suburbs, and Percentage of Respondents Mentioning Each Type(*Since many respondents gave more than one reason, the sum of the percentages does not equal 100.)Type of ReasonPer Cent*Better for children 81Enjoy life more 77Husband's job 21Near relatives 14Other 3Percentage Distribution of Specific Reasons in the "Better for Children" Category:Specific Reasons for Moving to the SuburbsPer CentPhysical reasons (N=172): 72.3More space outside house 19.7More space inside house 14.3"The outdoors" (fresh air, sunshine, etc.) 12.6Less traffic 11.8Cleaner 6.3No neighbors in same building 3.8Quiet 2.1No stairs 1.7Social reasons (N=66): 27.7Better schools 10.2"Nice" children to play with 9.2Other children to play with 2.5More organized activities 2.5Home of own (security) 1.7Adults "nice" to children 0.8Better churches 0.8Total reasons in this category (N=238) 100.0Citation: Wendell Bell, "Social Choice, Life Styles, and Suburban Residence," in The Suburban Community, ed. William Dobriner (NewYork: Putnam, 1958), 234–35.8
DOCUMENT TWELVE: Memoir about cruisin’ and draggingBackground information: This memoir describes a teenager's love affair with cars during the 1950s. The car became avehicle of freedom and expression during this decade. Problematically, many of these freedoms were in direct contrastto the "perfect" family image, such as the dangers of drag racing and the flirtatious rituals of cruising.Between 1957 and 1959, my friends and I learned all the rituals that young boys needed to know concerning driving.We learned how important it was to be noticed behind the wheel of a fast car or with someone who had one. It was atime in our lives that we had looked forward to having seen those slightly older than us doing the same things.I was lucky in having a friend like Bobby Patton who seemed to have unlimited use of a Plymouth Fury owned by hisfamily. He had been a friend throughout high school and now it became important to maintain that status at any cost.He knew the cruising rules better than I having had an older sister to observe as she went through this time a couple ofyears ahead of us.The cruising part required that one first drive up and down Main Street as soon as the school day was completedmaking sure that you were seen by all. It might even involve stopping at Mabry’s or Birmingham’s drug stores for aquick vanilla coke and a look at the girls who happened to be there. Then up and down any of the streets leading fromHamlet <strong>High</strong> toward any of the girls’ homes we thought worthy of our attention. This was a chance to "give them a ridehome" (our excuse) and yet be seen by someone else with them in the car (our intent).After dropping the unsuspecting (we thought) girls off at home, the cruising began in earnest. Up and down Main Streetagain, then through the neighborhoods where our favorite girls lived. Passing one of their houses always required a tooton the horn to let them know we were around. Nothing was ever said of this ritual, during, before or after the fact.They understood we were required to do it and so did we. Nothing need be said.After going home to supper and supposedly doing our homework, the real cruising would begin. A typical school nightwould find us out in that grand old Plymouth Fury V-8 with slightly loud, glass packed mufflers driving around the cityof Hamlet. It was extremely important to "drag" the Hub before, during and after cruising around town. The Hub ritualis described on another of our stories on this site.If we were lucky, we would find ourselves at a stoplight or corner with someone else in just as powerful a car. It couldbe a customized hot rod, a ’57 Chevy, even a Willis or Oldsmobile 88 or 98. Then it was off to the races, squealing tires,burning rubber for a block or two. We just had to see who had the fastest car. It was totally for bragging purposes evenif only for a day. I’m glad our parents didn’t know how rough we were on the family cars, or if they did, I’m glad theydidn’t say too much about it.Weekends were a totally different style. Those were the nights you weren’t expected home by 10:00 p.m. Those werethe nights when you made sure you had your best girl with you… the nights you lived for.Double dating was always best. That way you had plenty of help if you found yourself lacking conversational skills. Youhad eye witnesses that you had been close to your date, that you had sneaked your fair amount of kisses. You had proofthat your girl really loved you and that her parents trusted you enough to let her go with you in a car. Oh, what afeeling. Those nights were nights to remember… to talk about the next day with your best friend.. to hold onto forever.We were transformed from boys to men!Citation: Russ Lancaster, http://www.irememberhamlet.com/cruisingdragging.html, 1957.9
Page 1 and 2: 20 th Century Name: _______________
Page 3 and 4: Pre-WritingDirections: To get you s
Page 5 and 6: But let no one think that the expen
Page 7: DOCUMENT NINE: Excerpt from The Oth

Nifty Fifties Essay - Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?