Q: If someone from the 1950's suddenly appeared today,

[wnylib]

64. Of course it was just on TV

and not at home. That's why I was making fun of it.

But, it's also true as you say, that people dressed up more (just not when doing housework). I remember that, on a hot summer day, I was waiting in shorts for a date to pick me up for a movie in a downtown theater. My mother ordered me to put on a dress, or at least a skirt and blouse.

Family church attendance was more common then, too, and Chistmas and Easter meant a new outfit, followed by family picture taking in our "finery." In my teens, that meant a matched or color coordinated suit, heels, and purse, with a color coordinated coat, hat, and gloves. Gloves for the Easter spring suit, too, and the length of the gloves depended on the length of the suit sleeves.

We were not a well off family, but imitated the form because that's just how it was. We usually ate in the kitchen, but dinner for holidays was in the dining room, with a linen tablecloth and napkins, the "good set" of dishes and glasses, candles, etc. And nobody dared come to the table without being properly dressed for the occasion. My mother did the prep work in an old housedress and flat shoes, but changed before we sat down to eat.

I enjoy today's informality, but sometimes miss the way that special days were marked as special.