What was it Like in....

Having been born in 1949 I remember the later half of the 50's and the 60's and on up pretty well. We had to pay to ride the school bus and we had to buy our own school books and pay for our school lunches. When I didn't have the bus fare (10 cents each way) I walked the half mile to elementary school or rode my bike regardless of the weather. In the winter, ice spewed up from out of the ground in a kind of reverse icicle. The building had steam heat with the old style radiators which had a terrible hammer problem. We sat with our coats on because the school room was never warm. We had no TV until 1959 but I could watch my neighbor's set in the afternoon. TV was black and white. We listened to the radio a lot. Our blue jeans had holes in the knees and we couldn't wait until they were worn out enough to make cutoffs out of them for the summer time. Our standard dress was blue jeans and tee shirts in warm weather. Every kid on the block had a bicycle and a dog. Our dads had blue collar jobs. We only went to the doctor when we were bleeding too much for a bandaid or really, really sick. No wellness visits. We took polio vaccine drops on a sugar cube. I had polio when I was six (ironically, in 1955) and still have a bit of a problem in my right leg from it. We played outside from the moment we got home from school until our moms called us in for supper. My dad took me hunting and fishing regularly. I took up girls in the mid 60's and got married in 1971. I'll let someone else take it from there.

you Americans say you had it bad.

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One major difference was that our intrastructure was not only still intact following the war but it was actually enhanced due to the industrialization that took place due to the war. Most European countries had to tear down and rebuild on a massive scale. No doubt it was worse for you and others like in France, Italy, Poland, etc. Here, it depended upon what part of the country you were in. Some areas rebounded while other areas lagged behind for a couple of decades. For instance, some parts of the country were heavily industrialized in the war effort and prospered following the war while other areas were still dependent upon agricultural economies. Larger towns had the conveniences whereas rural areas were stuck back in the 40's for a couple of more decades. The area in the south where I grew up began to emerge from an agriculture based economy to industrialization in the mid 60's. Today there isn't as much difference from region to region but differences still exist. I've worked as an engineer since 1973 in the south and I can tell you that engineer's salaries are just now catching up with the rest of the country. There are still huge differences in economies and opportunities depending upon where in the USA you live. You say you left England in '82. Where are you now?

What I remembered was something like this: