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PoindexterOglethorpe

(28,493 posts)

18. There would be a lot that would need explaining.

Sun Mar 14, 2021, 06:45 PM

Mar 2021

The kinds of things that show up on TV and in movies would be shocking and/or incomprehensible. Things like the relatively casual acceptance of the entire LGBTQ spectrum. Heck, the very large TV screens most people have anymore, plus that they are almost all flat, would be mind-boggling.

The ubiquitousness of fast food and chain restaurants. People wearing pajamas in public.

Other than Queen Elizabeth still being on the throne, not a single political figure from the 1950s is still around. Oh, and if this visitor from the 1950s is a Republican, they would be horrified at the current state of the Republican Party. If a Democrat, somewhat less so about the Democratic Party.

This is actually the kind of thing I think about a lot. I wish I were a better writer, because I'd love to write a time-travel story about someone from now going back to, say 1975 or maybe even 1985 and then spending the rest of the story going nuts because of no cell phones, no internet.

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Q: If someone from the 1950's suddenly appeared today, [View all] Yorkie Mom Mar 2021 OP

Hey pal, are you putting me down cause I like looking at pictures of cats? WHY I OUGHTA!!! nt Hugh_Lebowski Mar 2021 #1

One of the saddest commentaries on modern society (also very funny) . . . Journeyman Mar 2021 #2

Considering how stressful life is for so many - looking at electric_blue68 Mar 2021 #50

Here's a good thing DownriverDem Mar 2021 #85

Oh I don't know. One of the most popular shows on television in the 50s rsdsharp Mar 2021 #3

And impossibly perfect families wnylib Mar 2021 #21

Like this? csziggy Mar 2021 #28

Yes, but that was satire. Others, wnylib Mar 2021 #33

Oh, I know - Mom hated those shows and seldom allowed them to be shown on our TV csziggy Mar 2021 #35

my mom was the same: she hated Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best yellowdogintexas Mar 2021 #65

I hated the Honeymooners and Jackie Gleason. wnylib Mar 2021 #73

He regularly threatened his wife with violence. CTyankee Mar 2021 #75

That's why I hated him. Obnoxious bully. wnylib Mar 2021 #78

csziggy.... Upthevibe Mar 2021 #48

I also loved Soap - and Benson when it was a spin off csziggy Mar 2021 #59

And were white and often employed black women as their servants who were devoted to their white CTyankee Mar 2021 #72

Yes, they were always white families wnylib Mar 2021 #74

I thought there were several. I'm old and memory of those days is bad but I remember seeing CTyankee Mar 2021 #77

I never saw Beaulah. This is the first wnylib Mar 2021 #79

Eddie Anderson made a career of being Jack Benny's servant. Marcuse Mar 2021 #91

I remember Rochester and Jack Benny. wnylib Mar 2021 #92

Intentionally so. Marcuse Mar 2021 #94

I remember in the early 1950s that VHS was wnylib Mar 2021 #99

Even the Cleavers had occasional problems. 11 Bravo Mar 2021 #89

Of course there were problems. wnylib Mar 2021 #93

I think that post was meant to be a joke. Try reading it again. Crunchy Frog Mar 2021 #95

There are plenty of people around from the 1950s today. Is it supposed to be the 1850s? ARPad95 Mar 2021 #4

That's what I thought. Hmmm I remember some of the 50's LakeArenal Mar 2021 #6

UHHMM I think only advertising showed women wearing pearls when doing housework karynnj Mar 2021 #17

Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, wnylib Mar 2021 #25

On TV, but did anyone see that in their own homes? karynnj Mar 2021 #63

Of course it was just on TV wnylib Mar 2021 #64

I grew up in the fifties, and remember all of it! Those shows with women in dresses doing housework northoftheborder Mar 2021 #86

Um....Where the Boys Are! hedda_foil Mar 2021 #68

That is what started the craze and that is a fantasy LakeArenal Mar 2021 #81

Think poster meant they died in the 50s and came back. mobeau69 Mar 2021 #8

Hey I'm from the 1950s and I looked at pictures of cats back then housecat Mar 2021 #14

I was in college and locks Mar 2021 #44

Here's to you locks! I drink to your health. (born in '50) panader0 Mar 2021 #57

If you are looking at Dojacat at the Grammys, Ilsa Mar 2021 #5

"I use it to surf porn." nt Ilsa Mar 2021 #7

The Ghost of Christmas Future comes to Alan Turing localroger Mar 2021 #9

If Hedy Lamarr knew in the 1940's whistler162 Mar 2021 #24

I was reading an article on a gaming site a while back EarlG Mar 2021 #10

It's indecipherable to me right now! Towlie Mar 2021 #12

Half the time, I cannot understand what the heck my daughter is talking about. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #34

+1 Ferrets are Cool Mar 2021 #36

The technology is amazing! The rest? Not so much. Towlie Mar 2021 #11

The rest is pretty much the same misanthrope Mar 2021 #97

A prince in Nigeria wants to make me rich. lpbk2713 Mar 2021 #13

'The World Lost Two-Thirds Of Its Wildlife In 50 Years. We Are to Blame' Donkees Mar 2021 #15

I'd trade mine for some cool clothes. n/t Harker Mar 2021 #16

There would be a lot that would need explaining. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2021 #18

My grandparents were born during the horse and buggy era. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #38

Not really locks Mar 2021 #52

I think you were moving in different circles than my family. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #54

One of my great-grandfathers whistler162 Mar 2021 #61

My grandfather did the same. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #62

as did my grandmother. She was born in 1902 and died in 2004 yellowdogintexas Mar 2021 #67

The internet is a bastion of both corruption and innocence nuxvomica Mar 2021 #19

rapid spread of information in general. yellowdogintexas Mar 2021 #70

Same Sex Marriage , Black President , Woman Speaker JI7 Mar 2021 #20

Right we thought there would be flying cars by now. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #41

Dick Tracy's homegirl Mar 2021 #22

Oh, yeah! I remember that now. Who'd have thunk?! electric_blue68 Mar 2021 #29

ROFL Joinfortmill Mar 2021 #23

Why did all the cars get so small Mr.Bill Mar 2021 #26

So that they would go in the garage locks Mar 2021 #43

Actually they got small Mr.Bill Mar 2021 #46

You might want to get your hand off her ass lame54 Mar 2021 #27

back in the day , they broke your arm,s for less ! monkeyman1 Mar 2021 #30

Other things they might notice wnylib Mar 2021 #31

I like your list better FakeNoose Mar 2021 #37

Right, the GOP selling us out to the Russians would be a big shock to those living in 1950. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #42

The Russia stuff WOULD be a total shock! electric_blue68 Mar 2021 #47

An openly corrupt and criminal president, who encourage insurrection. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #49

Of course! That, too. 😥😠 electric_blue68 Mar 2021 #51

Good list! electric_blue68 Mar 2021 #45

Vinyl LPs? Deacon Blue Mar 2021 #84

Why is everybody 30 pounds heavier than in our day...? First Speaker Mar 2021 #32

Right, people were smaller back then. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #55

I would tell him to look up Farouk Bulsara tavernier Mar 2021 #39

The hardest thing to explain would be how they are suddenly in the year 2021. Kablooie Mar 2021 #40

Not at all jmowreader Mar 2021 #53

Born in 1937, I was a teenager in the 1950's. BarbD Mar 2021 #56

Was your phone on a party line? dragonlady Mar 2021 #58

Our phone was a party line. That was in the 'sixties. hunter Mar 2021 #69

we still had an operator in our little town who would connect you yellowdogintexas Mar 2021 #71

In those days a phone number in a small town was 4 digits, or less dragonlady Mar 2021 #76

No, but my grandmother had a party line and we loved listening in. BarbD Mar 2021 #87

The Changes Have Been Amazing colsohlibgal Mar 2021 #60

I wasn't around in the 1950s Dagstead Bumwood Mar 2021 #66

And there it is! BobTheSubgenius Mar 2021 #80

I'm thinking my grandparents made a lot of the modern world happen. They'd love it. hunter Mar 2021 #82

I think they would be aghast at the number of mixed marriages yellowdogintexas Mar 2021 #83

A "mixed marriage" according to my mother was someone of German heritage marrying an Irishman. BarbD Mar 2021 #88

I'm from the 1950's TrogL Mar 2021 #90

I was born in the '50's pfitz59 Mar 2021 #96

As these lads put it misanthrope Mar 2021 #98