For those born between 1930 and 1979

[Pink Elephant]

pi, I have no doubt that you are accurately describing where you lived. As am I. I visited homes too. Often there were maids, even butlers. Nobody smoked around the house. Many didn't smoke at all.

I believe you. You are going to have to believe me too. Your area of the world and mine were very different. It is what it is, as my dear Dad always said. Wealthy people are different. You think Donald Trump's let's people ruin his fine homes?

Well off people want their homes and cars to stay pristine. Where I live now, it is more relaxed.

Let me tell you another funny different thing about where I grew up. My own family did not do this because we did not have elite furniture.

Most of the homes I visited had plastic covering over the furniture and you really weren't supposed to sit on it. I am trying hard to remember but if I recall it was as if the plastic covered furniture was for show and there was other furniture not in the living room to sit in. And you had better take off your shoes so you don't get the rugs dirty! Go eboy and Princess are both neat freaks and you must take your shoes off before entering their homes. And Princess isn't rich. I digress.

I believe you when you tell us something. I am also telling the truth about my childhood in one of the richer areas in such urban Chicago and it was not at all like the working class area that I love and live in now.

OMG, SOT, I remember the era when clear plastic covered couches and chairs in peoples homes! LOL! Totally forgot about that one!

I absolutely, 100% believe you, just that it's so hard for me to accept. Yes, I can be such a hard-headed woman at times. LOL! Who was it that used to sing a song with the lyrics, "hard-headed woman" in them? Was it Cat Stevens? Anyhow, he must have been singing about women like me.

Yes, where we live it's fairly relaxed, too, but there are definitely new neighbourhoods where all is manicured and picture perfect.

 

[BusynMember]

Lol! Why buy furniture if you don't want anyone to sit on it? Lol!

 

[Pink Elephant]

If there are any other mothers or women that fall within the age group of SOT and myself (mid 50's to age 70), that remember the days of traditional old-fashioned cloth diapers, do post your experience related to.

i.e.

Were cloth diapers still popular in your area in the 70's?

How about line-drying? Were mothers in your area still hanging their children's diapers on clotheslines to dry in the 70's?

How about family? Did you have immediate or extended family that were still using cloth diapers in the 70's?

 

[Pink Elephant]

Lol! Why buy furniture if you don't want anyone to sit on it? Lol!

ROFLMAO! I know!

That's one thing about me, I like to be comfortable, and I like to enjoy what I've got. Walking on eggshells around the house doesn't strike me as being a happy, friendly environment.

 

[BusynMember]

Lol...no, no, and no. About the diapers. In my son's year of birth 1977 cloth diapers were done. Nobody in my area used them. You saw none.

Seriously, why use them when paper diapers stopped diaper rash, were comfortable and cleaner? I don't get why anyone would use cloth diapers. What are the advantages to your child??? I wanted my babies to be as comfortable as possible.

 

[AppleCori]

Plastic furniture covers used to be a thing!

I very much enjoyed growing up when and where and how I did, but I wouldn’t let my kids have that kind of freedom.We roamed around the farms and pastures with animals, swung out across murky ponds on grapevines, climbed in haylofts, rode motorcycles, explored abandoned barns and buildings, waded in creeks that we’re known to have snakes in them without supervision, and lots more stuff. And that was when I was a preschooler. I had a small motorcycle that we called a minibike when I was three. And I got it from my cousin when she outgrew it and got a bigger one.

It was great, but no one does that anymore. I think we know better now.

I had lots of freedom, and it was a double-edged sword. Some good, some bad.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Plastic furniture covers used to be a thing!

I very much enjoyed growing up when and where and how I did, but I wouldn’t let my kids have that kind of freedom.We roamed around the farms and pastures with animals, swung out across murky ponds on grapevines, climbed in haylofts, rode motorcycles, explored abandoned barns and buildings, waded in creeks that we’re known to have snakes in them without supervision, and lots more stuff. And that was when I was a preschooler. I had a small motorcycle that we called a minibike when I was three. And I got it from my cousin when she outgrew it and got a bigger one.

It was great, but no one does that anymore. I think we know better now.

I had lots of freedom, and it was a double-edged sword. Some good, some bad.

Oh, I know, Apple, it's so true. We were into (quite literally) everything, and through the grace of god, none of us ever got hurt badly, but what freedom we had. The world was ours.

As for plastic covers on couches and chairs in peoples living rooms, I can't get the image out of my head now that SOT brought it up! LOL!

 

[AppleCori]

Most women worked where I grew up. Most people were farmers, but they also had full-time jobs, commuting an hour away in many cases.Then everyone farmed in the evenings and weekends. Kids did a lot of farm work, so we were used to having a lot of responsibility and looking out for ourselves.

 

[AppleCori]

Watching TV in the evenings wasn’t a thing where I came from, except on occasion. Everyone was too busy. How about your area?

 

[AppleCori]

Posted twice

 

[BusynMember]

In suburban Chicago TV??? You bet! No farms or hard chores. Kids came home from school, did homework (except for me...lol...hated school) and talked on our old fashion phone's and watched TV and if there had been videogames, I am sure that would have been another pleasure. I liked to read and write and sing so I did a ton of that too. There were no farms at all. It was very much a white collar community where Dad brought home a lot of money and Mom did not work outside of the home. Men were doctor's, lawyers, CEOs and in finance. Blue collar work was looked down on.

I was so anti the snobbery. My husband of almost 24 years is a car mechanic! I am a combination of loving blue collar relaxing values and a tad of lingering white collar stuff that won't let me go, such as being very anti spanking and anti smoking to the extreme and ultra sensitive to any racism. But I never judged people by their wealth...ever. Hated my childhood town. Ugh. Never wished to be back. i don' go back to visit and remember.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Lol...no, no, and no. About the diapers. In my son's year of birth 1977 cloth diapers were done. Nobody in my area used them. You saw none.

Seriously, why use them when paper diapers stopped diaper rash, we're were comfortable and cleaner? I don't get why anyone would use cloth diapers. What are the advantages to your child???

I do believe you, SOT. Maybe it had something to do with metro areas.

For me personally, my mom used cloth diapers, and I helped out a lot with their care, including changing their diapers. I remember the folding and the pinning. Loved the old-fashionedness of it. I wanted to diaper my own children the same. Sure, they kept the kids more wet and uncomfortable, but they were the saving grace of our household budget. We wouldn't have been able to afford Pampers, so plain old cloth diapers were a must in our home.

Also... I did a lot of babysitting, and 99% of all the children I sat wore cloth.

As for advantages to the child wearing cloth, I do believe cloth diapers are healthier for their skin, because there are no chemicals, and cloth (I can only imagine) would be more comfy to wear than scratchy paper diapers, but aside from that, I can't think of any thing else where using cloth would be advantageous for the kid involved. We as moms use what we use, sometimes for no reason whatsoever.

I was just so old-fashioned when my kids were little.... (still am), that I liked the process of traditional diapers. Seemed to go well with being a stay-at-home mom, too.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Most women worked where I grew up. Most people were farmers, but they also had full-time jobs, commuting an hour away in many cases.Then everyone farmed in the evenings and weekends. Kids did a lot of farm work, so we were used to having a lot of responsibility and looking out for ourselves.

Oh, for sure. I believe kids were better kids and even better adults as a result of the responsibilities that many were subject to at a young age.

 

[BusynMember]

I do get the financial part. Fortunately we were able to buy paper diapers because I would have loathed doing cloth and the work involved lol .I like convenience. I am always looking for a fast way to do yukky work, as I call it. The faster, the better.

I don't think I have ever been old fashion. I am happy to go with the flow and the changes. I loooooooove my smart phone and laptop!!! I text my kids. I am 100 percent for progress and rarely wish for the past except in amusement.

 

[AppleCori]

Since most women worked jobs outside the home where I grew up, I think most women used disposable diapers when they became available. I sure don’t remember anything to do with cloth diapers when I had younger siblings in the 70s. I will have to ask my mom about that sometime.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Watching TV in the evenings wasn’t a thing where I came from, except on occasion. Everyone was too busy. How about your area?

Oh yes, television was an integral part of family life when I was growing up. It started with us kids, shows like Gilligan's Island, The Flintstones, and so many others, which we watched after school, and then came mom and dads television time, which started after supper with the news.

Walter Cronkite was the news anchor in those days. "And that's the way it is", was his famous saying (I think).

Anyhow, Sunday afternoon was The Grand Ole Opry (if I remember correctly), and mom and dad never missed it, and then on Sunday evenings was the Tommy Hunter Show. My mom and her mom used to go googly over that show! LOL! They'd talk about the guests for days after.

An d of course who can forget Saturday mornings. Saturday mornings was cartoon mornings, and us kids never missed a Saturday morning in front of the TV.

Also throughout the week mom had her favourite shows that she watched. Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Taxi, Murder She Wrote, and so many others.

 

[AppleCori]

Where I am from, everyone was frugal, but very few were poor.

Our lives were centered around hard work and building wealth through many different income streams—farm, job, house flipping/rentals, elected posts in the county, etc.

Most of the poeople who grew up there had a strong work ethic. Even the young people now continue the tradition. They have their stuff together very early in life.

 

[Pink Elephant]

I do get the financial part. Fortunately we were able to buy paper diapers because I would have loathed doing cloth and the work involved lol .I like convenience. I am always looking for a fast way to do yukky work, as I call it. The faster, the better.

I don't think I have ever been old fashion. I am happy to go with the flow and the changes. I loooooooove my smart phone and laptop!!! I text my kids. I am 100 percent for progress and rarely wish for the past except in amusement.

Oh, SOT, don't get me wrong, I hated dealing with poop, too! ROFLMAO! Actually, NOT funny at the time... LOL, but it's surprising at home matter-a-fact cloth diapers became in our home. I never thought anything of it, probably having changed baby siblings as many times as I did, along with the countless diapers I changed as a sitter, but cloth was just another standard routine of mine from day-to-day.

Yes, in our home, finances called for cloth diapers, that's a fact. Even with that said, I still would have used cloth regardless, even had we been able to afford disposables. I really do think it hinges a lot on how each of us were raised. What we wore as babies... but maybe/possibly more importantly, what we experienced growing up, prior to becoming mothers.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Since most women worked jobs outside the home where I grew up, I think most women used disposable diapers when they became available. I sure don’t remember anything to do with cloth diapers when I had younger siblings in the 70s. I will have to ask my mom about that sometime.

See, in our house it was always old-fashioned cloth diapers for my siblings.

Disposables were such a rare sight. It wasn't until the mid to later part of the 80's, that mothers started using disposable diapers in our area, and even then, it was slow to catch. Everyone still used rubber pants and cloth.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Where I am from, everyone was frugal, but very few were poor.

Our lives were centered around hard work and building wealth through many different income streams—farm, job, house flipping/rentals, elected posts in the county, etc.

Most of the poeople who grew up there had a strong work ethic. Even the young people now continue the tradition. They have their stuff together very early in life.

In our area there are many who struggle, and the same held true when I was a young child. There's a great divide between the well-to-do and those who struggle, even though the percentage of those who don't care to work is low.