Social media In the '50's

Anyone here knows what smoke pellets taste like?

And we still post here what trains we ask Santa for.

That was about the time Lionel introduced their new track system. So I bet this would have been a point of discussion verses the tried and true tubular track.

And the age-old question: Does you're chewing gum lose it's flavor on the bedpost overnight?

Nothing to do with trains of course, but in my neck of the woods, the trains only came out around Christmastime.

Summer was the time for baseball in the alley, touch football in the street, jumping off of porches, demolition derby's with AMT model cars and adventures in the back yard.

Rusty

The inevitable Lionel vs Marx threads, maybe even some straight out Marx bashing threads!

Maybe some posts on how to convert pre-war cars to the new trucks and couplers?

Just imagine all the heated threads concerning Lionel vs. American Flyer if online social media existed then!

I thank God every day that I grew up in a time when "social media"--as defined today--did NOT exist.

To be perfectly honest, I don't really define it as "social" at all since it is entirely devoid of direct interpersonal interaction.

Back in the 50s, my buddies and I played trains together at our respective homes and I spent time, when possible, hanging out at one or more of the local hobby shops to talk trains with others and listen in as the "grown-ups" discussed the hobby.

True Allan.

Perhaps, "Anti-Social Media" would have been a more accurate term...

It's social within the context that it allows you to interact with others that you otherwise would have had no practical means to connect with, either due to geographical distances or otherwise, and without having to wait days or weeks to get responses in the case of snail mail, racking up enormous long-distance travel expenses or expensive long-distance calls (never minding inconveniencing others with the latter with those annoying "party lines," remember that?). 

I could just see us banging out posts on our i-teletypes...

Rusty

My social in media in the 1950s: Knock - knock - "Hello Mrs. Nichols, can Bobby come out and play?"

Boy was I bummed out when my mother gave me a chocolate egg for Easter instead of the boxcar I asked for!!  Her answer, "That would spoil it for your younger brother and sister."

In Chicaga it would be standing on the sidewalk and calling out: "Yo Bob, Yo Bob-eeee, Yo Bob!"

Repeated as needed.

Rusty

..................."Can you catch it on your tonsils, can you heave it left and right?"

Summers, playing mushball on the street, hardball at the park, swimming at the city pool, playing hearts or authors on the front porch, and firecrackers on the Fourth of July.  Fall was back to school, playing football.  Winter was ice skating at the park, schoolwork, girls, and CHRISTMAS WITH TRAINS!

Spring was just spring, waiting for school to end and summer to begin.  And, our social media was just talking together, and on the telephone, and passing notes in school.  Simpler, happier times for me.

AMEN!

I grew up in the country, so I didn't socialize much outside of school and church.  Call someone on the phone...Don't know if I ever thought of it.  The Happy Wanderer song was my moto:

I love to go a-wandering
Along a mountain track
And as I go, I love to sing
With my knapsack on my back

I always took my collie dog along, so I guess the only one I socialized with was him.  Me and Bullet!

I guess that is why I was a lone wolf model railroader so long.  No one ever saw the railroad in our basement except my family.

All that "unsupervised time..."  There was no such thing as a playdate.  Almost 100% spontaneous play. (Our moms were glad to have us out of the house.)

Seemes like a day was about a week long back then...

Rusty

Val-deri, Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha 
Val-deri, Val-dera. 
My knapsack on my back.

I had some of the same experiences, wandering the country-side, woods and forests of northern Ohio from age 6 to 10, before we were forced to move back to the city.  Loved those days, exploring every creek or stream to it's beginning.  It was easy to do without getting lost.  I walked for miles and miles back in those days, and loved every minute.

We didn't know social media but we knew "Social".I grew up in the 70s.We learned "people skills" at a very young age to get odd jobs to scrape up enough money to RIDE our bikes 3 miles to a hobby shop and buy things for our trains.Then couldn't wait to show our Dad when he got home from work.Nick

Had lots of those long days too.  I would leave early in the morning, stay out all day, come home for supper, and go out till dark.  And, Mom and Dad never worried, and we were never bothered by anyone, as long as we were good.  

That's the song, Bob!

It was Butler County Pennsylvania for me.

And yet here we all are, steadfastly affixed to our PCs and tablets, in the comfort & convenience of our immediate surroundings, "socializing" via electronic medium that makes socializing with others just a keystroke (and in some cases, a microphone & web cam) away.  Kinda ironic, eh?

"Social Media" in the 1950's was called CONVERSATION.

It is rapidly becoming a lost art. 

John: You are right.  Times, for all of us have changed dramatically.  Trains are certainly more sophisticated, as is our method of communication.  I believe it's a marvel that there are folks, seniors, as some of are, who maintain the ability to keep up with all this stuff.  Think of the folks whose VHS players are constantly flashing 12:00 AM.  We've been lucky to be where we are today, but I still maintain, simpler times were happier.  Our minds were not clogged with the stuff of adult-hood, and the worries of the world.

Social Media for me and my buddies back in the 50's was

"Hey when are we going to see Godzilla." 

Many thanks,

Billy C 

Easy!  For a significant majority here, and on most all forums of this type, it's simply anonymous socialization via an intermediary/medium.  Many/most don't even use their real names or want much about themselves to be revealed or shared.  A kind of strange form of "socializing" to say the least!

At work I am in a cube farm with all my co-workers.You can sort of tell the older folks from the younger ones by how they communicate.

Us older folks tend to get up out of our seats and walk over to the cube of the person we wish to talk to.

The younger ones tend to use email or PM.  

to add on to what Rich said i had 2 customers in my waiting room who were texting each other even though they were the only 2 in the room. they were both college students at the univ of tn @ martin and their major was communications. i guess i must be confused but i'd rather talk to someone than text them. i guess makes me a unsocial media type. i'll take the old days where we went to our friends house and played, were outside all day and explored instead of sitting in the house texting cause its to hot outside. 

Maybe they were texting to each other because they didn't want you or anyone else in the office to overhear what they wanted to talk about?  Maybe also had a 3rd party involved in their discussion that was somewhere else?

Our society today is so connected that it has actually become disconnected.  Awesome!  

I do love Google though!  

I admire your coping skills, Allan! 

The only thing constant is change.  Not to worry, the whole adult bemoaning generational differences and cultural changes is nothing new.  That's been going on since humans have been on the planet. 

I'm even more weary of the rose-colored-glasses approach when it comes to looking forward to the future.  "Don't worry, be happy, everything will be all right" is a placebo to be taken at the user's own risk.

I'm actually equally wary of that.  But on the flip side, a wholesale doomsday outlook isn't an accurate disposition to take on the future either, unless one knows something that everyone else doesn't.

People may think that the times today are not golden, but all things being equal I think I'd rather live the times we live in today rather than, say, the 14th century (bubonic plague anyone?).  If I were pressed to think more recently I think I would even say I'd rather live in a post-polio and post-Jim Crow law world too. 

You know a conversation is accomplished more than just verbally right Rich? 

You know a conversation is accomplished more than just verbally right Rich? 

Uh...gee...uh...no...I never knew that. 

You old curmudgeon Rich!  You need to get with it Jack! 

Oh the good old days.  I remember when long distance communication with others was so simple, just needed a good smoky fire and a cloth.  When they started to set up those blasted telegraph offices that's when things really started to go downhill and communication stated to get so darn complicated.  Don't get me started on mail and the telephone...