There are many of us who grew up in the Fabulous Fifties who are hopefully now sort of retired, enjoying our grandchildren and trying to survive and adjust to the sometimes overwhelming but usually exciting changes that have occurred since we were kids!
Here is a delightful comparison of the “then and nows” of the past 60-plus years that I hope you all enjoy, fondly remember and then ponder about what we can look forward to next??
An email to many old friends
Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot,
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me.
For Ike was in the White House in the land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges and Peyton Place was porn.
We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the front lawn.
We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
Then Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one has seen him since!
We danced to Little Darling and sang to Stagger Lee,
Then cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made You and Me.
Only girls wore earrings then, and three was one to many,
While most of us boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.
No one would dare to mention miniskirts, and we didn’t always wear socks,
But we were strictly taught to be polite, and respect everyone, especially cops!
Only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see,
A boy named George with Lipstick, in that Land that Made You and Me.
We fell for Frankie Avalon, and Annette was oh so nice,
But when they made a movie, they never made it twice.
We spent Sunday night on the Ponderosa with Little Joe, Hoss, Adam, and Pa oh so bold,
Those rough and tough ranchers who were blessed with hearts of gold!
We didn’t have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho two and three,
Or Rocky/Rambo 20 in the Land That Made You and Me.
Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
Then Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.
We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn’t even talk yet, in the Land That Made You and Me.
We had our share of heroes, and we never thought they’d go,
At least not crooner Bobby Darin, or sassy Marilyn Monroe.
For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made You and Me.
We’d never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren’t named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led!
Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived on trees,
And Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made You and Me.
We’d never heard of microwaves or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottled-fed, but they were not grown in jars!
It was then that pumping iron got the wrinkles out, and ‘gay’ meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-ed in the Land That Made You and Me.
We hadn’t seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.
And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made You and Me.
Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks!
And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts were below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made You and Me.
We had no Crest with fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton Herbal tea,
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made You and Me.
There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not named Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.
It was back then when middle age was 35 and old was 53,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made You and Me.
But all things have a season, or so we’ve heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We’ve come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made You and Me!
So now we must face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they’re using such small print in newspapers and magazines.
Meanwhile we will always proudly tell our children’s children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made You and Me now feel very proud of what we have accomplished throughout that entire wonderful adventure, and we aren’t done yet!!
In the meantime, Don’t Worry Be Happy!, and have a great week, all of you!