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| | | Message 9 of 12 in Discussion |
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I was born in 1940 so the 50s for me really covered my growing up. I came from a close knit extended family who were well to the left politically and where such issues were discussed and debated whenever my dad and my uncles got together so I grew up politically aware. There was a sense of purpose about the things happening at that time as we had just got our National Health service, a new education policy and the coal mines had been nationalised. As I came from a family of miners this was a real cause for celebration as it had been their union policy since WW1.
Life in the village went on much as it had during the earlier war years except that there was now a few less shortages and with the modest prosperity brought about by the rebuilding of the country, a few 'luxury goods' were making their way into peoples homes.
Wages were not very high. In fact the earning potential was probably a bit less than in the late war years but under the pre war Socialist government the price controls on food staples was maintained and this combined with the 'social furniture' of the welfare state made life for the average blue collar worker a littles less fraught than anything that had gone before.
A tremendous setback to our progress to prosperity was the demand by the USA that we repay the war loans as all our government's plans for rebuilding and renewal as well as our Health scheme was pivotal upon us having time to bring them to fruition and suddenly the calling in the loans left us with nothing but a lot of belt tightening or the abandonment of the ambitious plans. It is to immense credit of that Socialist government elected as it was by a landslide on the policy of change that they kept faith. It did mean though that the 50s were a lot more austere than they might have been and even resulted in food rationing being kept in place longer than would otherwise have been justified.
For me personally though going to Secondary school in 1951 was exciting and stimulating as there were new subjects like science, woodwork and metalwork. It was an all boys school as was normal at that time and all the teachers were male. Most of these had returned to teaching having had a career break to sort Hitler out. They were good tough no nonsense types who believed in what they were doing. They demanded respect as the right of their position and we accorded it in the same manner.
I enjoyed School but circumstances were such that I left on my 15th birthday and went to work at the local coal mine where I subsequently became an apprentice Mechanical engineer.
Looking back on the 50s they were happy times with little money but with all of us being in the same boat. The twice weekly youth club, the cinema, local swimming baths and Saturday night Hops were the usual entertainment. The mode of transport was the bicycle or the bus. The cycling club was a very popular feature and the Sunday afternoon club runs to local beauty spots was for many of us the high spot of the weekend. This was very much a social thing as we would meet other clubs at these destinations and the stage was set for some friendly competitive ball games and in a fair number of cases romance courtship and marriage.
One thing lay over our teenage lives like a black shadow. this was two years compulsory service in the armed forces. At age 18 you were drafted. If you were an apprentice or in full time education this was deferred until the end of your training. The end result was that when you at long last had a chance to start earning you were owned by the state for two years.
I have tried here to give a personal view where on balance It was a good time. Were I to give a hindsight view from here and now it would look very different because I would mention the class distinctions and snobbery. The censorship of the arts and the dead hand of an unholy alliance of the 'great and the good' and the church to preserve the status quo. This status quo in fact was already dying when Hitler invaded Poland and by 1950 was a desperate attempt by the usual suspects to preserve what they felt should be theirs as of right. But We Teens were too busy gently shoving at the cultural walls for us to notice. |
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