Favorite Old-Time Decade

[Robert Maxwell]

I suppose that isn't as obvious from a "safe" American point of view.

Excuse me?

If it weren't for America, the 1940's would have been a hell of a lot more unpleasant for the rest of the world. So, as an American... you're welcome.

You can't possibly be for real. Can you??

 

[{ Emilia }]

I suppose that isn't as obvious from a "safe" American point of view.

Excuse me?

If it weren't for America, the 1940's would have been a hell of a lot more unpleasant for the rest of the world. So, as an American... you're welcome.

1) Do you thank the Soviets, too? Since without them WW2 would've been a hell of a lot more unpleasant for the US.

2) I wasn't even talking about this in my original post. I merely said the the 1940s were a terrible time for Europe with bombing raids on cities, lots of dead civilians, malnutrition and so on... while Americans were relatively safe. The war was never brought to your soil (unless you count an isolated incident like Pearl Harbor) and you should be thankful for that.

Having a war fought on your soil, with all the destruction and death it brings (no matter who wins) usually means that you consider the decade fucking terrible.

Also this:

(Source)

 

[Methos]

Gotta be the 50's...

They had some dark times admitedly, but it was also a great time to be alive...

You had the space race with Sputnick, the invention of television, the Chevrolet Corvette... the first polio vaccinations, saving several million lives... the discovery of the double-helix DNA system we're all familiar with now... the establishment of CERN...

The 50's was a golden age after the dark 40's era, where media started really breaking into the spotlight and giving people hope for a better tomorrow...

Not to mention the women lol

The 50's were an age of glamour and style. When you think of that era you think of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman... It was an age when women actually looked like women... There was none of the fake tan and false eyelash crap you see today... In the 1950s make-up was there to complement a woman’s features, not to be caked on with a trowel...

M

 

[Count Zero]

Damn, I missed the poll with the 60s in them. The 50s are a close contender because of rock 'n roll! but I'll go with the 20s instead. They're followed by the shitty 30s but as a silent movie fan I feel obligated to chose them.

 

[Lord Garth]

I've always liked the Edwardian Era, so it's the 1900s for me.

I went with the 1920s but this would've been my second choice...

Great inventions, great clothes, great developments in industry, technology, science, art, architecture, etc. Plus, it has a certain gothic romanticism in hindsight, being the last real imperial decade before the massive cultural changes of WWI begin.

... for those reasons. It's still really the 19th Century but with advances that would come to shape the 20th. The combination is what gives the decade its character.

 

[thestrangequark]

The 50's were an age of glamour and style. When you think of that era you think of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman... It was an age when women actually looked like women... There was none of the fake tan and false eyelash crap you see today... In the 1950s make-up was there to complement a woman’s features, not to be caked on with a trowel...

M

Yeeeeaaaaah...those all-natural half inch long eyelashes...and those lips? Yeah, they're totally that red. No foundation in those pictures! Or rouge for that matter! And that perfectly permed and set hair that had to be done weekly at a salon?...nothing fake about that! And that body-shaping underwear that might well have been armor it was so stiff...

Seriously, I love the fashion and glamour of the 50s, but if you think those women weren't every bit as bottle-blonde and made-up as they are today, then you're a bit deluded.

 

[auntiehill]

Gotta be the 50's...

They had some dark times admitedly, but it was also a great time to be alive...

Yeah, if you were a rich, white male, it was FABULOUS.

For anyone else, not so much.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Of the ones listed, the 20s is probably the only one I could stand living in. It had more social growth than any other decade of the first half of the century, and was really the only one to add any significant culture to the mass. The 20s were the cultural oasis in a 50 year desert that started with the end of the Victorian era and ended with the 60s.

Besides, the bad shit didn't really start until the decade was almost over.

 

[sojourner]

Gotta be the 50's...

They had some dark times admitedly, but it was also a great time to be alive...

Yeah, if you were a rich, white male, it was FABULOUS.

For anyone else, not so much.

Put in that context, name a decade that isn't.

 

[CorporalClegg]

249,9980 B.C.?

 

[SmoothieX]

Stop making fun of my country. USA! USA! USA!

 

[Paulcpick]

I suppose that isn't as obvious from a "safe" American point of view.

Excuse me?

If it weren't for America, the 1940's would have been a hell of a lot more unpleasant for the rest of the world. So, as an American... you're welcome.

1) Do you thank the Soviets, too? Since without them WW2 would've been a hell of a lot more unpleasant for the US.

2) I wasn't even talking about this in my original post. I merely said the the 1940s were a terrible time for Europe with bombing raids on cities, lots of dead civilians, malnutrition and so on... while Americans were relatively safe. The war was never brought to your soil (unless you count an isolated incident like Pearl Harbor) and you should be thankful for that.

Having a war fought on your soil, with all the destruction and death it brings (no matter who wins) usually means that you consider the decade fucking terrible.

Also this:

I'm going to keep this short and simple, just because I don't have the time to write a dissertation on it, but He is right, had Japan attacked Russia in 41 instead of the US, Russia would have folded, and Hitler would have been free to attack England at his convienence, and fortress Europe would have been a much tougher nut to crack. Its also possible that some form of Hitlers Riech may would still exhist today.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I'm going to keep this short and simple, just because I don't have the time to write a dissertation on it, but He is right, had Japan attacked Russia in 41 instead of the US, Russia would have folded, and Hitler would have been free to attack England at his convienence, and fortress Europe would have been a much tougher nut to crack. Its also possible that some form of Hitlers Riech may would still exhist today.

This is total bunk.

Hitler's overconfidence in his military machine and crackpot staff would have inevitably seen The Reich's demise with or with out the United States.

It would have taken longer, but France and Britain would have eventually won.

Plus, Il Duce was a total tool.

 

[Paulcpick]

Don't confuse 1944 Hitler with1941 Hitler. In 1941, Hitler had had little opposition, and had not had any setbacks, you take away the eastern front setbacks, and pull the US caused setbacks out of the way, who knows what could have happened....

Anyway, I don't want to hijack this thread, so this will be my last word on the WW2 part of this...

Mainland Europe, England and Russia should be thankful for the shortsightedness of the military leaders of Imperial Japan.

 

[Finn]

^No. there was no way for Hitler to win. There was no way Germany could have possibly fought Stalin's Soviet Union for so long. It might prolong the fighting a bit longer without the US. But in the end, the USSR would have destroyed German troops. The USSR had too much resources far from the reaches of Nazis and the Japanese for them to lose.

Also, Hitler always had a lot of enemies within Nazi Germany. How they acted on it changed between 1941 and 1944.

As for me, I'd love to visit the 1930s and see the places I know. Perhaps check out my grandparents.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

I'll go with the 1930's. Not that I would have wanted to live through it - having been severely impacted by the Great Recession, I certainly would not have wanted to live during the Great Depression. But as a classic film fan, I have to say that that was my favorite decade for film and fashion. Nothing beats some of the wardrobe and sets of pre-code Kay Francis films. Wow!

I guess I'm taking the question differently than some people though. I'm looking at it as "What is the most interesting decade - the one you like reading about the most? Not so much the decade that was most prosperous and peaceful for my country or the world in general.

Personally, I think those are two separate questions...and the latter is much less subjective. If we are going by what decade was the best for the world at large (prosperity, peacetime, etc, I think post-war 1940's was it. But I didn't think that was the question.....

 

[Lord Garth]

Well, yeah. I based my thread off the other one which looked to be about which decade did people most want to (re)live through.

But the language of "favorite old-time decade" is broad enough to be taken in any way.

I wouldn't want to live in any time prior to 1975. At all. Visiting would be nice, but not to live there. Today's technology is also such that I wouldn't really want to live in any time before the 21st Century either.

The Great Recession is the only thing holding back the time we live in. When the economy improves, we'll be living in one of the best times ever. We're not there yet but I know that one day we will be.

So favorite styles, culture, etc. for a previous time works too.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I agree there Lord Garth, I have no desire to live in a past decade. Now 1975, that would give me enough time to earn some money so I could start investing in Apple in a few years.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Personally, I would chose the 1900s, for the singular reason it was such an amazing time for science, and physics in particular. Mind-blowing breakthroughs in both general relativity and quantum mechanics. A truly exciting time. Plus, I would totally be an Einstein groupie.

The only other I would consider are the 20s, for the reasons people mentioned.

I agree the 40s must have been the worst decade in the 20th century. I mean, what the fuck.

So, as an American... you're welcome.

You are entitled to no thanks. The American soldiers who fought and died in the war deserve my thanks. Americans who exploit and abuse their struggle and sacrifice to brag on a Internet board, no so much.

 

[thestrangequark]

Personally, I would chose the 1900s, for the singular reason it was such an amazing time for science, and physics in particular. Mind-blowing breakthroughs in both general relativity and quantum mechanics. A truly exciting time. Plus, I would totally be an Einstein groupie.

[tangent]Did I ever tell you about the time when I was in high school and my friend and I wanted to see Stephen Hawking give a lecture, but couldn't get tickets, so we stood outside the venue with signs scribbled on notebook paper that read: "HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS NEED TICKETS!" and we got called "Physics groupies," by one of the guys going in? Because I've considered myself a physics groupie ever since![/tangent]

I agree the 40s must have been the worst decade in the 20th century. I mean, what the fuck.

I think a lot of people here have a romanticized vision of what that decade was like. I mean, look at all our movies from and about that time period -- the vast majority are almost cartoonish in their depiction of the war. Hitler is the perfect villain, and I think it's easy for people to fit him and his regime into classic hero sagas. There is also sort of national fixation Americans seem to have with WWII -- contributed to not only by the media, but possibly by the fact that WWII (at least in my experience) is one of the few well-covered historical topics in American public schools.

So, as an American... you're welcome.

You are entitled to no thanks. The American soldiers who fought and died in the war deserve my thanks. Americans who exploit and abuse their struggle and sacrifice to brag on a Internet board, no so much.

Personally, I want to take credit for rock & roll and chocolate chip cookies. As an American, you're welcome.