Being a kid – worse, being an adolescent. Didn’t’ matter if it was the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s or last year. The perennial jumble of feelings, impulses and social pressure is just part of growing up – the uncomfortable part.
Although a far cry from being young in the 21st century is concerned, being young in 1950s had its own set of pressures and complications that were just part of the territory of being on the planet.
But society in 1950 had a stricter set of rules – rebellion wasn’t the sweeping generational wave as it later became. Being a kid in 1950 had its own set of problems.
For one – there was a war going on; The Korean War. And it’s a pretty safe bet most of the boys taking part in this Mind Your Manners program from August 1950 would find themselves in front of a draft board by the time 1950 was over.
Aside from one listener writing in asking if it was okay that she and her boyfriend get married before he got drafted, pretty much all the big issues of that August day in 1950 had much to do with dating rituals – should boys do this and should girls do that – what kind of clothes were appropriate for school and how big should a teenagers wardrobe be. Parents were the other big area of discussion – should parents meet a girl’s date before they go out? What defines an acceptable kiss? Should there even be one on a first date? And what kind of kiss was considered appropriate?
There were a lot of social rules and regulations to contend with as a kid in the 1950s. It gives you some idea of just how shocking the sexual revolution would eventually be in the 1960s. But it also gives some clue as to why there was one in the first place.
The program doesn’t address issues of violence at home – bullying at school – violence in general – pre-martial sex, or sex in general, for that matter.
No; the general impression you’re left with, listening to this episode of Mind Your Manner in 1950 was that America was busy making adjustments and wasn’t quite sure what the answers were. Remember – this was 1950 – the Korean War was only six months old. World War 2 had ended only five years earlier. No such thing as birth control. Pornography was mostly unheard of (unless you answered ads in magazines advertising “art photos”), and dating was uncharted territory, especially if you’re the age of the kids on this panel (16-19).
Mind Your Manners was a benchmark youth-oriented program at the time. Produced and hosted by Allen Ludden, it was nominated for a Peabody award in 1950. Despite how we think of the show as quaint or cringe, it had honest intentions, even though the Youth Of America were on the cusp of something new and society undergoing change was inevitable, but not in 1950.
Have a listen – maybe take notes. Or not.
And we are still in search of a few good bucks:
