Life was different 40 years ago. We had a different outlook-the space race was going on, and we also were in the midst of a Cold War. But I have found if you want to get a more personal perspective on the people in any time frame, read the ads. Looking back at an issue of Popular Science, a news stand date from November 1963, one that would have been on the news stands before the Kennedy assassination, we see a much different America than we remember, or are reminded by rewritten history.
Wen sold a soldering pistol for $4.75. Pontiac was building Wide Tracks! Universal Schools would train you to be an accident investigator, and make $6.44/hour. For $1.98 you could learn to hypnotize people, money back if not satisfied. New accordions for 1/2 price! Subscriptions-$2 per year. Pall Mall cigarettes-outstanding, and they are mild. Enjoy life with Miller High Life! Enjoy your Kodak 35F camera, for only $129. Take 10 shots with just one fast, manual winding! Crescent Wrenches-made in upstate New York. People who sharpen saws with Foley can make $3-6-per hour! And with an hour's pay you can buy a Dr. Grabow pipe, needs no breaking in.
Here's one-government surplus sale. Right above an ad for US Savings Bonds. Jeeps from $197, carbines from $20, boots, 65 cents, and refrigerators from $5. And all products made in the US of A! Direct from the government-ours! And you can record all this for posterity on your Polaroid Color Pack camera. Life just couldn't get any better.
These are things my grandparents and parents would have been interested in, and it makes me think of things my grandfather never saw. He never had voice mail, yet never missed a call when home. They would call back-what a novel thought. No e-mail either, I still have handwritten letters from him, nothing like the old pencil on a note pad, personal notes. They had an early color TV, remember the NBC peacock, so you would know it was in color, and dream about having one someday? Gas was about 30 cents/gallon, and the attendant would ask if you wanted ethyl? Then check your oil and wash your windshield. We weren't self serviceable yet. He would buy food from the Acme, and I can remember shopping with him once at Two Guys, and commenting on how much junk can from Japan. He never heard of Wal-Mart, or Chinese products. He worked for an American company, Ingersoll-Rand, who made products they shipped all over the world. Exporting, not importing.
Shirts, pants, and socks. Made in mills, some close to their home in Pennsylvania, where the churches raised money by preparing lunches for the mill workers. Good home cooking, and affordable. For these workers helped build America.
And we had no further to look for work ethics than our parents. Or grandparents, who had come through the depression. And knew the value of a dollar, even if it was only worth 90 cents-then. Kids were taught ethics, morals, and didn't need rules-you would not do anything to embarrass your parents, that was a fate worse than death. Not to mention the ever present threat of "getting the belt."
But two events happened in 1963, which changed America, and us. Kennedy was assassinated, and with him many dreams for our age died with him. And age of innocence, even though we were immersed in a cold war. Somehow we were different after that, and events helped usher in the escalation of Viet Nam, and the rebelliousness of the late sixties. But the other important event, was when we took prayer out of schools. Telling God, upon whom our nation was built, you cannot come in the classroom anymore. The Bible-can't read it there. Praying-keep it to yourself, and don't get caught, they don't care even if it is finals week. And with this one heinous action, we lost more than the reading and praying. We lost our freedom, although we didn't realize it at first. Where once we used to want to do the opening of our school day, you had to be elected by your classmates to read the Bible, say the Lord's prayer, say the pledge of allegiance, and sing a patriotic song-now we sang a patriotic song, that was to disappear, and say the Pledge, if you wanted. No requirement to stand and say it. We had lost more than a right to stand, we had lost the freedom it represented. And have never gotten back.
"Be a hero, save a whale, save a baby, go to jail." Whales are more important than life, and we wonder why society is rushing into the toilet. But God-two powerful words, that define a Christian's life, are still present. You see, if not for God, we would be like India, China, and other third world countries. Who by the way, ban the Bible, and public praying. You can be jailed or killed for it-by the government. And who now send us a majority of the products we used to produce here. Where freedom is defined as what the state allows you to do, and we find people still dying for the cross 2000 years after the crucifixion of Jesus.
You see, some things never change. God is one of them. Aren't you glad, so you know what to expect of Him, and from Him? No new revelations, like some cults, and not a socially based agenda. God has always been pro-people, and has always been the best form of leadership. His system works, but He doesn't force it on you.
Try Him today. Ask Him to meet your needs, and heal your land. He promises to listen, if you humble yourself and pray. Silently, publicly, in a group or alone-He hears. But God listens, and responds. may He find favor with our requests, and may we find favor with His answers.
You see, my grandfather wouldn't enjoy living today. Too many rules, junk products, lack of integrity, and the list goes on. It would be a world foreign to him, because it is foreign based. But God is still alive, and here for us. Can we thank Him for never leaving us? And ask Him to forgive us for leaving Him?
What do the ads in your magazines tell others about us? Let your life tell others about Jesus.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com