This was inspired by a question about what age/era you would like to have lived.
I was born in 1954 and grew up not far from the ocean in a southern Los Angeles County suburb. I think it was the best possible time and place to grow up. I'm grateful.
Things were simpler and there was unbelievable liberty. Kids played outside, unsupervised. We ran around the neighborhood with realistic toy guns playing cowboy or army. Nobody thought twice about it.
Police were public servants. They didn't shout, threaten, use brutality, or treat citizens like the enemy.
There was no tracking and tracing, and records weren't stored and shared electronically. We didn't live in a "security state".
Well paying jobs with benefits were plentiful. Even men with only a high school education could support their family on one income.
Media hadn't been consolidated under 5 mega-corporations. There was independent journalism. There was still a free press, you know, like what's guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
Parents and grandparents handed down stories, knowledge and values from times in which they had lived. Moms cooked and baked.
Things weren't made of plastic with built-in obsolescence. Most things that broke could be repaired. People could work on their own cars when cars were still mechanical.
Beverages were bottled in recyclable glass, not plastic. As kids, we often went around and collected empty bottles and cashed them in at stores.
There was no such thing as bottled water. People drank out of the tap, from public drinking fountains, or even out of the garden hose. Although, some people bought bottled water dispensers that used 5 gallon bottles made of Pyrex. The vendor would deliver new bottles and pick up the old ones.
There were local farms and dairies. There were no GMOs or artificial hormones and probably few antibiotics in food.
Mom and pop stores (bakeries, diners, restaurants, hardware, clothing, fabric, shoe repair, etc.) thrived without Walmart and Amazon.
You could have milk delivered to your door. The bread/bakery truck and ice cream truck came around daily.
Kids had paper routes.
Colleges and hospitals were affordable. This was before deregulation and privatization under Reagan.
The country was prosperous, suburbs were shiny and new with great schools, parks and recreation, and public facilities. Even regular people had homes, swimming pools and new cars. Public buildings were beautiful. Shopping centers (malls) were a new thing. Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Santa's Village, and so many other attractions were brand new. They were inexpensive and for the entire family (young children, parents and grandparents), not just full of thrill rides. In fact, everything was family oriented.
Museums, botanical gardens, state and federal parks, and many other things were free.
You could park along the highway for free and go down to the beach. No parking meters, mandatory parking lots or curfews. You could build bonfires and have all night beach parties.
There were TV shows with wholesome role models.
There were drive-in theaters and old, ornate "movie palaces", as well as regular theaters. You could pay to get in anytime, even in the middle of a movie, and stay as long as you wanted. They played two movies with cartoons in between.
I was exposed to my parent's and grandparent's music on TV, radio and records. A municipal orchestra used to play in parks. I also got to witness the musical revolution of the 60s and 70s. I saw the best bands in concert. Imagine seeing The Who, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, the Stones and so many others for less than $10.
It was a time of positive social change with the civil rights movement, the end of segregation, women's rights and anti-war activism. It felt like America was the greatest country in the world and getting better.
Things sure went down hill, beginning in the 90s and especially after 911.
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