Highlights in the Life of a Baby Boomer
74If you were born between 1945 and 1964, you are a Baby Boomer. If you were born before 1945, what does that make you?
Old.
As a Baby Boomer born in 1958, of course I don’t think of myself as old. But when I look back on my life, I can admit most of it was easy. By easy, I mean there was always work out there and I didn’t have to worry about finding a job if I was laid off or fired. If you wanted a house, buying it was affordable enough. When it came to the job and finding housing, I didn’t have to struggle.
So with knowing all of this and being used to an almost carefree lifestyle, why should I worry about the future? My parents went through hard times and knew the value of a buck. In my eyes, I always felt the buck would always be plentiful.
Wrong!
Now, there are plenty of Baby Boomers these days to go around. At my age, I can be considered someone’s grandma because the first wave of Baby Boomers has started receiving Social Security. Most of us weren’t prepared for the future. Instead, we were slammed with the stock market dumping in 2008--leaving us wondering when the other shoe will drop. Not only are we facing issues dealing with aging and death, we are taking care of aging parents and grandparents. If that isn’t enough, we could be juggling children and grandchildren, too.
And on and on. Since you can’t control a lot of things which happen to you in life, the only thing you can do is make the best of life itself. On a much lighter note, here are some facts which date me as old, but only in the eyes of the generations coming after the age of the Baby Boomer:
Television
I remember having to view television in black and white instead of color, HD and 3-D. There were rabbit ears to adjust the picture. And when I wanted to change the little selection of channels that I had, I had to get my butt off the chair or couch, and then walk across the room to change channels by myself.
Kitchen Appliances
Kitchen appliances came in white, and that was it. Microwaves and toaster ovens were still inventions in someone’s head.
More Kitchen Chores
There was no such thing as a garbage disposal. Instead, you picked kitchen garbage out of the sink and put it in the garbage. There was no dishwasher. I spent hours washing dishes. If I needed to learn and recite a poem for school, I would post the poem in front of me as I washed dishes. By the next morning, I had the poem memorized.
No Post-It Notes or Wite-Out (Liquid Paper)
Since there were no Post-It Notes, I had to remember what I was supposed to do with my paperwork or write notes to myself on scraps of paper. As one who could type 74 words per minute, until I had a bottle of Wite-Out, my typing had visible dirty blobs from a hard, gray eraser specially made to “erase” typos.
Carbon Paper
If you wanted copies of your typewritten work, you had to use layers of carbon paper sandwiched between your typing paper. Carbon paper was shiny black or blue, and it smeared whenever you touched it. It helped if you were a typist who never made mistakes. If you made a typo, it was repeated by the carbon paper. By the time you finished erasing the original error and copies of the error, your hands and your paperwork end up a mess.
Typewriters
All the girls had to take home ec and typing classes. If a boy took home ec back then, he was usually in a class with other boys. Otherwise, people thought something was wrong with him. Very few boys took typing, but if they did, they had an edge when computers came out.
When I first worked for the State of California, I learned how to work the Addressograph machine. It had metal tags you could type addresses on, and you would line up these tags for printing mass mailings. Once computers came along, and you could make and print labels, the Addressograph became obsolete. The death of the Addressograph guaranteed me a move to the deadly office pool. The pool had a bunch of unhappy women who brought their personal problems to work.
Shorthand
In high school, do you remember being a member of the Future Secretaries of America? How about the Future Homemakers of America? Future Farmers of America? Weren't career plans so simple back then? Now, you're probably going in deep debt to send your children to "name" colleges and universities. Even the local colleges may be costing you a pretty penny.
If you remember the Future Secretaries of America, you probably knew about dictation and shorthand. If you still know your shorthand, maybe you can teach it to your grandchildren on a rainy day and pass it off as a foreign language. Don't expect them to be impressed or thank you for teaching them a forgotten skill.
Automobiles
You didn’t have all the bells and whistles like the toys of today, and when it came to washing your car, you didn’t rely on driving it through the car wash or have someone detail it. Instead, you went to town with soap and paste wax meant for automobiles. You had to lock your own car doors. Need some air conditioning on a hot summer day? Roll the window down, stupid.
Telephones
Telephones stayed at home—not in your purse, on your belt or in your ear. You had a table model or a phone hooked to the wall. You didn’t push buttons. You stuck your finger in one of the identical holes and dialed.
Gas
Do you remember when gas was 77 cents a gallon? How about the friendly gas station attendant who checked your tires, oil and washed your windows? Do you remember the contests and free giveaways which came with buying gas? Consumers got everything from cheap dolls to sets of glasses.
S&H Green Stamps and Other Stamps
If you bought anything, you were rewarded stamps. Collect enough of those stamps; you could trade them in for products from a catalog. That’s why you had kids. They licked the stamps and filled pages so you didn’t have to.
Computers
Did you learn on a Mac or a PC? When you branched out into games, you probably got acquainted with games like “Frogger” and “Shoot the Duck” before graduating to “Pacman” and “Mrs. Pacman”.
Shredding Personal Information
You could throw away paperwork with your personal information on it and were confident that no one would steal your identity. Now, we have paper shredders at home and at work because on paper, no one is no longer safe.
Your Kid is Safe Among Strangers
You could put your kid on a bus, train or plane without parental or family supervision and know he would get to the planned destination by traveling alone. You can drop kids off at a playground, library, mall or other location and know they will be safe.
The Workforce
Maybe you got married, worked or went to college straight after high school. If you worked, you planned on staying at the job until you retired at 65. Most likely, you would be rewarded with a dinner and a gold watch. Maybe.
So if you are a Baby Boomer, and are aware of all these changes which have occurred in your life, you probably understand that change is constant.
Changes in your life will come and go, and you can adjust to the changes. But what you want to do is to hang onto the people who enhance your life. If you do it right, you will enhance theirs. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the only thing which really matters are our relationships.
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marellen, thank you so much! All I have to do is look at a flat screen TV (those change all the time along with the computers, phones and camera updates which keep us all broke, trying to catch up with the latest and best products)and realize that I used to have a tiny black and white TV, bunny ears and no remote. Now, we have remotes, sleek and sexy flat screens and other hook-ups for our music and movies. My husband has 3 remotes to our flat screen, and I had to write down the steps on how to use them. If he wasn't around to program them and teach me to use them, I would be screwed. The TV alone is enough to make me feel old. And with all these new fangled gadgets over the years, we don't move around too much, do we? Help me! Help me! I am wearing the years of TV dinners consumption. Don't worry about growing old, marellen. We're all getting there. The ones with the plastic surgery and Botox like paying the extra money in hopes of thinking they are getting younger. Not!
Arlene, you brought back way too many memories (lol), but I have to admit it was a better time.
Great Hub!
I'm to young to remember these things! Haha! '63, I almost missed out on being a baby boomer! It was nice back then BUT I like the bells and whistles of today. I still prefer VHS over DVD, real books over ebooks, etc...I appreciate change MOST of the time :)
Nice walk down memory lane...Thanks Arlene!
Ah, thank you so much for your comments, digjmg. If you want something done, you can count on a Baby Boomer. We don't wimp out and we are movers and shakers. Right now, the only moving and shaking I do is the path I've made from my sofa to the refrigerator and the stove. What a life! We're bullet-proof! No sissy stuff. We'd played in the dirt, drank from garden hoses, ate Halloweed cupcakes and cookies from complete strangers, and never worried about jumping off of cliffs. Jump off the cliff, but deal with it later. I can't say I regret being a Baby Boomer. Why should I? I had no choice! It was certainly a better time to grow up and find your way in the world. I don't envy the generations coming after us. At least we know the importance of face-to-face communication, meaningful conversations and letter writing. Thank you cards. Respect. You can't have that when you spend your childhood playing computer games, have phones in your ears or are stalked by cyber bullies. Although we have had progress with technology and the Internet, people don't get out all that often or have motivation to communicate. It's much easier to sit in front of a computer and pretend who or what you want to be. Lots of cowards out there who hide behind their computers and don't take part in life. Which is why I'm happy to be a Baby Boomer. I am a participant in life.
Sunshine, if you weren't a Baby Boomer, you would be writing "woe is me" Hubs instead of the cheerful, insightful, witty and positive Hubs that you are known for. Face it. You don't get that kind of writing with someone from the generations which have come after us. My husband is 11 years younger than me. Generation-wise, I can tell he's no a Baby Boomer because it shows. You can only tell by the mindless television shows he watches. Ugh! And there are plenty of them. To the point where the recording box hooked to the TV is saying, "Stop! Quit loading all those daily programs! You're killing me!" You'd think he was raised in front of a TV set. But when you're out there because of the generation you were born into--you're out there!
I am not a baby boomer... I missed the cut off by three years. But All of what you say is true... We grew up with Party-Lines... Lets see who knows what that is... hahahaaa... great hub... loved it!
Thank you, daven! Well, you came real close to becoming a Baby Boomer. I had relatives living near the Haight, but I missed becoming a hippie by a few years. Yeah, missed dropping acid, love-ins and wearing love beads. Oh, well. The closest I've been to being a hippie was dating one. What a mess! What a mistake! What a substance abuser! But I do remember my family driving by the neighborhood and seeing hippies hanging out of the Victorians. "Who were those people?" we'd ask the relatives. "Oh, those were the hippies." Today, if I wanted to play hippie that bad, I could make my own love beads and buy some bell bottoms from a thrift store. And that's about it. I think I had a dark green Nehru jacket back then. Eck!
lol.. .I was no hippy either... I say im an honorary baby boomer since my siblings are all older than I am... plus where we grew up was at least 20 years behind he times... That would have made me born in 1947... haha
I believe participating in love-ins would have saved me on looking for love in all the wrong places. It would have been more economical than a string of one-night stands. To avoid remembering these people, I could have dropped some acid. What? Me worry? I came from a small town, too. I remember how horrified my mother was when she found out one of the neighbor's kids (he was going to medical school at Stanford) ran away and became a hippie. Hahahahahahahahaha. Well, why couldn't he? Stanford is not too far from the Haight.
I think it is better to look for what you find then just wake up with it.... and acid... you would not have such great grammar now... you could still shop at the co-op if you wanted to see why you made the right decision... besides your children might be named rainbow, seagull, or sand... I went to school with all three of those... not to mention shel and ski... brothers...
Hahahahahaha. Absolutely hilarious. Good point! I remember when the late David Carradine and Barbara Segal had a kid name Free. Which would make him Free Segal if he took his mother's name. Yecccch. Those Hollywood people had the worst names for their kids. Even more so today. Apple? Yuck! Why not Pear? Banana? Kiwi? What are these people thinking? Anything to start a kid off with a complex. I bet those kids you went to school with got teased a lot and kept a low profile. Poor little things.
That would be like Steve Jobs naming his child... MySon spelled Miceon... hahahah
Hahaha. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Snort! These famous people aren't doing their kids any favors. What was the name of Frank Zappa's kids? Moon Unit and Dweezil? Ewwwww! Ick! Yuck!
I was born in 64 which barely qualifies me as a baby boomer. I did take typing in junior high and wrote my high school papers on a type writer. My introduction to computer games was Pong. Ms PacMan was an arcade game that I gave a lot of quarters to, and set the pattern for dating habits as far as I can tell. I find that most companies still expect the baby boomer work ethic, without providing the pensions and job security that used to exist. The new generations are not lazy, just perceptive. You are right, there have been a lot of changes. My family is still here.
I am a little older than you so yes I remember all of these things plus more.
Thank you for the trip down memory Lane.
Hi, Leroy: Thanks for the comments. You brought up a lot of good points. Since I retired on Comp, and there's no closure when you retire like that, I had a very hard time accepting retirement because I felt like I wasn't contributing to the workforce. Yes, and it is very sad that people don't get rewarded those pensions for the amount of time they have worked. I wouldn't want to be in this generation with the shortage of jobs. My husband was born in 1969, and I notice with him and other generations is that he does not have the go-getter in him. But he did take home ec and typing. Which is why his fingers sail over that keyboard whenever he's working on that Facebook game. Baby Boomers, as a group, did accomplish a lot of things. Anyway, the major activity which reminds me of my age is using that remote on the TV. We have 3 remotes at our home, and in the past, I remember getting up to change a selection of 5 channels. Anyway, if given a choice, it would be to live in the time of Baby Boomer. Maybe as a hippie.
Rosemary, thank you! I wrote this piece, and last night, while sitting in the backyard Jacuzzi, I thought, "I left out the carbon paper! The carbon paper!" How could I forget? As a member of that awful downer of an office pool, I would remember making a mistake and having to go through layers of erasing. Leaving darker blobs made by the carbon paper. The black or blue looked so ugly. Imagine keeping carbon copies and seeing all those blobs. Which told you that your typing wasn't that great. But I do remember using the Liquid Paper and painting too much on. It looked just as bad. I do like doing word processing on the computer. And so do other people. We're always producing copy when it comes to HubPages. I went shopping for a few hours, now I'm way behind on my reading.
I'm a Gen-Xer who missed the Baby Boom by one year, but it always amazes me to think how the work place has changed over my career. When I first started out as an attorney at a large Chicago law firm I had no email, no voice mail, no computer, no cell phone (much less a smart phone). I was supposed to use a dictaphone and have someone in the word processing department type up my work for me. I was so bad at dictating that I ended up writing everything out long-handed and then reading it into the dictaphone. What a pain!
Good points! Thanks for the comments, Deborah! I forgot all about shorthand. I need to add shorthand to the Baby Boomer list. The only thing I could write in shorthand is "at". Which is nothing but a slant. When it came to shorthand, I didn't get it. I didn't get to do shorthand or the dictaphone because that was reserved for the legal secretary. I answered the phone and had to be nice to everyone, no matter how abusive they were. And I could type 74 wpm, so I had no trouble finding typing jobs with the State of California. To this day, I hate phones and let my answering machine at home do the job. I was a clerical grunt for years, but it paid for my house in suburbia and my cars. But, I do admit I loved it when the Mac I was introduced to my office around the late 1980s. I made sure I learned how to use it because I had a gut feeling that I would need the skills someday. Of course, I was right on.
Yes, I am also officially "old"-- though I don't remember getting the certificate.
I was half grown before we had a TV, black and white, born eight months after Pearl Harbor, so not an official boomer.
I must say I do appreciate the ease of writing, editing, erasing, replacing, and redoing words and sentences on the computer. My early writing is an inde-scribb-able mess. The Selectric typewriter was liberating-- but nothing like word-processing and spell-checking computers.
I understand completely.
Now that you mention it, Rochelle, I always wanted an IBM Selectric, but only while they were still in fashion. Why not? I only spent around 20 years using one at work. And that was after we got Macs. Could not get rid of those IBM typewriters. At the time, they were always considered THE machine for the pool. Tat, tat, tat. How about those highlighters? Wasn't it a long time before they came in colors other than yellow? The Baby Boomer period was a great time. So many accomplishments by movers and shakers. I don't consider myself old until I see those three remotes to our flat screen. But at the same time, I will never go back to those tiny B&W TV sets. Not when I can have everyone on TV in my living room.
I was thinking, yesterday, that about 6 of our first TV screens would fit the space of our current flatscreen. Progress?
I got my IBM Selectric from a business that was selling all of their office appliances in favor of going to computers-- they were way ahead of their time, but I got a beautiful brand new typewriter at a big bargain price. Never could have afforded it, otherwise.
Are they still selling ribbon to those? I missed the boat and didn't get one. Even now, I could use one for individual labels or addressing one or two envelopes. I did like the feel of the keys because they were more solid than the cheap models. My brother and I did a lot of writing and got plenty of rejection slips. We had cheap typewriters. I think they were Royals and Coronas. You could pick them up and throw them across the room. A relative gave my mom one of those heavy, ancient typewriters. I loved the keys. Unfortunately, they were good for sticking. They were worthless when you tried to get them repaired. Heavy dinosaurs.
Don't know about the ribbons-- mine's been gone for a long time. It was great at the time, but there's nothing like a Mac.
I sometimes give tours at a history museum and was explaining an old fashioned typewriter to nine-year olds, comparing it to a computer keyboard.
"But where's the screen?" one asked.
Hahahaha. I think I would have completely lost it! I am 53 and old enough to be someone's grandma. I don't have children of my own, but any day now, I am expecting a child to ask me if I remember getting up and changing my TV channels by hand or remembering when gas was 77 cents per gallon. There are so many things on that list that I remember having or doing. Since my husband was born in 1969 and 11 years younger than me, I can expect the blank stares from him whenever I ask him if he remembers Boomer items, songs, rock stars or anything associated with our era. It's not that I feel old. It's just that I like to avoid falling down because I take a long time getting back up.
Hi Arlene,I enjoyed this, as a card carrying member of Generation Baby Boom. 10 years ahead of you, but hey who's counting..? This piece sure brings back the memories, well done.
You mentioned Boomer songs just above. If you feel like a little trip down Boomer Music lane, plus a little test of your musical memories, you might wanna check it out. Easy to find via my profile.
Re carriage typewriters and computers, this clip will make you smile; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCCFS_lhA8
Thank you, writeronline! I checked out your profile and immediately flunked the test on Boomer music. But at the same time, I watched all the youtube videos. The one with Linda Ronstadt really brought back a lot of memories because I played her record until the grooves turned white. I also loved the youtube with the blonde treating her computer like a typewriter. I instantly thought about the movie, "Julia" with Jane Fonda as Lillian Hellman. I will always remember the scene where she's typing away, then flings her typewriter out an open window. Yes, there have been times when I've wanted to do that, but it's much too tempting when you have a laptop. Therefore, I stay away from open windows while working. I go back to Memory Lane each time I watch my husband pick up the remote so he can tune in to his football games. I do wonder if there was ever a time in his life when he ever got up from his chair to change channels. Silly me! He's 11 years younger than me, so he was probably born with the remote in his hand.
marellen Level 6 Commenter 8 months ago
Amen girl.....I remember everything and probably more. I'm a little older than you but you hit things on the head. Fun hub.
Thanks for reminding me how 'old' I am......lol