This Meant You Were Rich in the 1960s

[@RecollectionRoad]

This video was created in part by the recommendations of viewers. Thank you so much for commenting! Share your own thoughts below.

[@renee8813]

I love your videos. Could you please make one of these for the 80s? Thank you!👍🙏

[@KnightOnBaldMountain]

Much of this content applies to anyone growing up in the 70s as well. I appreciate the nostalgia, but as I age I recognize that none of the outward displays of wealth matter.

[@buckshot6481]

My family got Color TV and a dishwasher in 67. Every mom where we lived had a 2nd car, older car, it was necessary to have for kids and school when you lived in the country.

[@CliftonBowers]

Back when a $ 28,000 home is now 3,000,000 no health care , student debt, and no bonuses or pay raises ..the American dream does not exist ...this is why I'm a fucking communist..😊

[@diannefaith7866]

@@CliftonBowers I completely agree… that’s why I believe in Socialism… I visited Canada & parts of Scandinavia ( Denmark 🇩🇰 & Sweden 🇸🇪) I love the way the government treats their citizens!! Social democratic society, they have Socialism by tradition and it works Marvelously !!!

[@daveo2821]

We weren’t rich, but as kids, we didn’t know it.

[@betsyj59]

And, in fact, in general we had much higher quality of lives.

[@wwbuirkle]

People were a lot less materialistic back in those days

[@tomfields3682]

​@@wwbuirkleMost of them, anyway.

[@annaqsmith]

⁠​⁠@@wwbuirkletrue but there wasn’t the amt of choices that we have today. Take sneakers for ex. Back in the 60s there were PF flyers, converse, keds or rejects. Today, there are dozens of sneaker brands. Ppl even collect sneakers which was something totally unheard of in the 60s.

[@andersdottir1111]

We didn’t even have ceiling fans in my home in the 60s but we had quality cuts of meat every night - a luxury I cannot afford now

[@robertd9850]

Ceiling fans weren't really a thing in the 60's.

[@SSN515]

We had oscillating fans in most rooms. I still use fans instead of air conditioning the bulk of the time. I hate the closed up feel with the AC on, although if it's really, really, hot and humid at night, I'll run it for sleeping.

[@eupher2]

@@robertd9850 Yes they were. They were invented in 1887. The demand died down in late 1950's but in the 1970's the demand went back up. I still have one around form 1977 and it still works great.

[@samanthab1923]

We were just watching an old instructional video from the 60’s on being a cashier at a grocery store. I was laughing at the prices of can goods when my son pointed out the big pieces of meat they were buying!

[@robertd9850]

@@eupher2 I know ceiling fans have been around since at least the early 1900's since I used to see those old ugly ones in the drugstore when I was a kid but they were not commonplace in the '60's or even the 70's until the energy crisis.

[@sharroncalundan7794]

Difference today is everything is on credit. “I want it & I want it now”. Going to a restaurant was rare, had 2 cars, not fancy, 1 tv, home cooked meals, no fancy trips. Today it has to be 2 new SUV’s, multiple TV’s & electronics, latest phone, fancy schools etc etc etc. Everything on credit. We were taught to earn money, save & buy when we had funds. I still live that way at 75. Live well, invested, nice modest car, nice home. Do not live within your means, live below your means! I still pick up pennies.

[@1pinestreet]

Credit and great advertising made us all so materialistic.

[@tomfields3682]

Remember the Kingston Brothers song, Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week?

[@sharroncalundan7794]

@@tomfields3682 I remember the song!

[@enigma9625]

And appliances and most everything, were made so much better back then, too.

[@displacedyankee7819]

I have a toaster that was made in The Bronx. Its fantastic. Modern plastic ones are junk

[@1mespud]

So true! Today's appliances and goods have short life spans and are "intentionally" made to be "disposable" so you can repeat and keep buying another which is a corporate $hareholder tactic.

[@Jim-ie6uf]

That’s a fact!

[@dan797]

My sister still has my mother‘s Maytag washer from the 70’s. I had a Kenmore dishwasher that lasted 25 years.

[@lex6819]

Amen. Appliances are trash these days. Nothing is good quality anymore. I hate having to replace things all the time, it sucks.

[@TomHastings-k1m]

I was 6 years old in 1966. My family had none of the things in your video, except for an old car. But we were happy. We moved to a different apartment in 1972 and the only thing new we had was a color TV.

[@lawrencequave7361]

I grew up "rich" like you, but it wasn't money and 'things' that did it. If only the world had that attitude now.

[@gillisjack]

I never considered us "rich," but we were very comfortable. My parents built a three-bedroom house around 1966, which had a dishwasher, central air, two bathrooms, and a full basement; and we had two cars and domestic help. My mother worked and made almost as much as my father did, and I now know that is why we were fortunate enough to enjoy such a comfortable life. To me at the time, the rich people had a pool and expensive cars. Thanks for brining back some memories and reminders of the blessings of the times.

[@Dadsezso]

I also never considered our family rich in the 60s but, we had every thing he mentioned in the video except a pool and maid. Both my parents worked and both were in upper management in the companies they worked for. I guess I never looked at possessions and lifestyle as differentiating us from anyone else. I'd go to friends houses who had far fewer things but at the time, I didn't notice anything like that. All I cared about was the comradery of friendship.

[@kathygreer2097]

I would have considered you rich. 😊 We were kind of poor.

[@williamflack5767]

I agree! We were not rich. In fact I never knew we really didn't. When I got older. Seeing kids driving very nice cars. My parents bought our first home in 1960. 17,000. It was 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms. We always Had very nice Christmases. I am so thankful dad had the Brownie movie camera. We would say that light was bright. It had a spotlight dad could add. We have them on DVD. We got our second car in 1969. Mom and dad had the first color TV on our street. The neighbors came over for the first Supper Bowl. It had a light, that would come on if the program was in color. We had central air. I never considered us wealthy. Mom and dad instilled work values. My grandparents did the same. My mom grew up on a farm, still in our family. I would stay a month in the summer. We never started a Tractor on Sunday. I know this is long, but we need to try and be more kind to people. Give someone a hello. God bless you all.

[@rongendron8705]

@@williamflack5767 I'm 78, 14 in 1960, so a bit older than you! My parents bought me a 8mm camera in 1959, so I was the one who shot the home movies then! Great memories until Mom passed at 44 in 1963, so the later 60's were harder for Dad, raising three kids on his own! We made it through, though! Have good Holidays!

[@rk43409]

I was born in 1952, the pictures shown show life pretty much in the suburbs for the middle middle-class who may or may not have graduated from college but had good jobs. Where I grew up in an urban area, these were definitely not the picture of everyday life, except in a very few neighborhoods. We weren't rich and we knew it, but we were comfortable. In the 2020's, young people don't understand 'comfortable'. They want it all, now! not tomorrow. Good video, sparked a lot of memories.

[@1pinestreet]

People don't understand the concept of "enough".

[@davidhalley9795]

My mother was a housekeeper during the 60s and 70s. We lived in a co-op with in wall air conditioning and an RCA console tv. We were rich to the rest of my family. Five years before I was born my father’s family lived in railroad flat with just a coal stove. Thankfully my grandmother wasn’t caught up in housing discrimination when she applied. Unfortunately she didn’t live to see a better life.

[@carolynridlon3988]

I never lived in a place that had HVAC or dishwasher till I moved into my 1st apartment (in the mid 1980's) -- one bathroom was the norm (except one place we lived in for 1 year - two story & bath on each floor) I grew up with regular cooking (no microwave till 1980's) and food preservation every year. But we always had a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs & each other. I learned many lessons from my parents scraping by in thin seasons & many of them get my hubby & I by even today!

[@sonyafox3271]

Microwaves were out before the 80s but, the basic standard microwave didn’t come out till the 80s! 9:30

[@dad4ever-c90]

I knew my family wasn't rich and our lack of ANY of these home features confirmed it. In the 1970's, with three kids in the house, my dad did add a powder room for us. But he also sacrificed about half of my bedroom area to accommodate it! We managed.

[@oreally8605]

That's good living. A family rich in love and making due. ❤

[@debrakildau9288]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !

[@coldsamon]

Happy New Year!

[@ananimity7332]

Happy New Year!!

[@nancyholcombe8030]

Happy New Year, Debra Kildau!

[@tonycollazorappo]

Thank and like wise ✌😃

[@stevepride100]

My only comment is thank you. 82 yo here that lived this

[@questfortruth665]

I never knew my family was poor until somebody told me!

[@luannfeld3983]

Having an electric garage door opener in the ‘60s was fancy!

[@josephgaviota]

2:50 We didn't have a dishwasher, but dad said he _ENJOYED_ washing the dishes; found it relaxing, and productive. Plus, as an auto mechanic, kept his hands clean.

[@mshay6190]

As long as he didn't wash the dishes right after doing an oil change .

[@betsyj59]

We didn't have a dishwasher either. My dad said he and my mom had "three little dishwashers."

[@bigjermboktown6976]

I know exactly how he feels. I'm not an auto mechanic but I still don't use the dishwasher to this day. I make sure if you use it just wash it.

[@flowerarden]

My dad did, and said the same thing.

[@Catmom2004]

When I grew up in Seattle in the 1960's, abnormally warm weather wasn't a thing (like now) so no one needed home A/C. I miss those days so much!

[@flowerdoyle3749]

Seattle area got hotter because of the heat sink created by miles of concrete and metal in the name of growth. Trees and grass don't hold heat.

[@KarlLaFong-v2q]

Back in the 60s a friend of mine came from a two income family, which was very rare back then. They had an in ground pool and I remember they spent a whopping $10.00 for a Christmas tree one year ( I think the average price was $3.50 )

[@JeanSheridan-c5c]

My dad worked for Admiral in the 60s so we had all the appliances.

[@dave3657]

We got central air in 1965, it was a huge natural gas unit. We weren’t rich, but it was one luxury mom wanted. We did have a dishwasher, it was mom. 😁 We just had one color TV, bought by grandma for Christmas. Had two cars, only because both mom and dad worked.

[@oreally8605]

Good times still. Family unit. ❤

[@matrox]

In the 60s the only AC we had was a window ac in my parents bedroom. On a really hot day we all ended up there looking at tv.

[@nonenonnenopenonenomorefor5556]

Same here in late 60s early 70 s air on in parents room only A/C in the house because dad worked 3rd shift.

[@millennialodyssey5956]

Yes idk who this person is but it wasn't central air then We still have window air conditioning in our house. And having two floors doesn't mean you are rich. It depends on where you live and the house itself. There are plenty of one story homes that were really nice. Having a credit card didn't mean you were successful either that meant you were either struggling or not smart. Most of our grandparents were smart back then many were not in debt.

[@matrox]

@@millennialodyssey5956 Yep 2 story homes don't have anything to do with wealth.

[@groundcontrol436385]

Older houses weren't built for central air. It was expensive to duct an old house - that's why window or wall units were used. Most houses built in areas where it got hot had central air starting in the 60s.

[@rburrows7786]

If you had a color TV that was the pinnacle. There was a guy on my street Mr Heinz. Whenever there was something special on TV, he’d roll out his big color TV on his porch and invited us kids and anyone else to watch. Most in my neighborhood had 16-18” black and white that were on roller carts. And the rabbit ears that never came in right lol. Still great times and memories

[@DadHominem]

Sadly, one of the biggest reasons many people in the USA don't accumulate wealth today is that they spend every dime on things they don't need - from daily "conveniences" to stuffing their homes with junk to remodeling to keep up with the "latest designs". People didn't do that in the 1960's or 1970's, and as a result they have significant savings accounts, stocks & bonds (or CD's when the interest rates were high), and often paid off their homes early. Spend less than what you earn, and save/invest as much as possible. You can become wealthy or you can keep up with your peers in terms of buying stuff but it's unlikely you will be able to do both.

[@abacab87]

Yea, most of our parents living in basic boxes and only bought nice houses as they got older. A big difference today however is that most families are dual income and so they spend extra. No one thought about buying $7 dollar coffee.

[@1TechCritic420]

What a load of crap. People in the US can't afford a house because the average home price is $457,000. College is 30x the cost in the 60s. Corporate greed is rampant after the pandemic. Taxes on property are out of control. But ya.....let's blame the people.

[@flowerarden]

​@1TechCritic420 both things are true.

[@thegreatguru1985]

I love these videos. It takes me back so fast and I love it. What happened to us. At one point in time it seemed so simple and then the world fell apart. Perhaps we grew to fast and we forgot where we came from. The old days in my opinion were the best. People had it tuff at times but they were always happy and friendly. We had respect for our neighbors and they had respect for us. Now day's, your lucky if your not robbed when you leave the house. Anyway, thank you so much for making these videos. It's good for us older folks who know how life was so good in many ways back then. Have a great day 😀. Peace 🙏

[@glennso47]

I think it was when JFK was killed. It seems like that was when the world changed forever. Then came 9/11.

[@glennso47]

Specially if you had 2 cars. My dad had two cars but both of them were beaters. A 1942 Chevy and a 1953 Chevy.

[@glennso47]

I had to fly to far off places but that was because I was in the navy and the government paid my flight but most places they flew me I didn’t really want to go. 😮

[@josephgaviota]

1:40 A lot of homes from the '40s (war homes) had ONE bathroom. Such an improvement over having an outhouse. But yes, in the late '50s two bathrooms _was_ a good thing to have !

[@boldfaith777]

I went to a friends birthday pool party in 1977. Half of the living room had a glass floor, you could see kids swimming under the glass. Had no clue how wealthy this family was at the time.

[@samanthab1923]

That’s some way to live. When my brothers family moved to NJ they were invited to a classmates birthday party in Pre school. It was the keyboardist from BonJovi.

[@Jack-xo2zp]

I remember reading many decades ago about someone who decided to calculate how much of an income the father, on the TV show Father Knows Best, had to earn in order to afford the house he and his wife and three children occupied. The father, Jim Anderson (Robert Young) was the sole source of income. The calculation was that he earned $40k/year, around 1958-1960. That would be equivalent to about $400k/year today. The family-oriented TV shows back then usually showed the lifestyle of a family living at a higher level than that of most people of the day. In a way, the TV lifestyles were styles to aspire to.

[@KarlLaFong-v2q]

There is a laughable episode of Leave it to Beaver where they decided to move because they wanted more room. Yeah most people back then could not relate to the houses the Andersons, and the Cleavers lived in. I always thought it was odd. What DID Ward Cleaver do for a living, anyway???

[@siddrajput1029]

@@KarlLaFong-v2q Not sure what Ward did, but he was always dressed nice.

[@tomfields3682]

​@@KarlLaFong-v2qHe worked with Lumpys dad at the office.

[@kidavis3386]

And all the moms on those family tv shows wore dresses and 2” high heels and pearls while they did the cooking and cleaning! And Lucy & Ricky had twin beds!

[@PegEOisme]

I had to laugh when you talked about how people had to be rich if they had more than one car! 😂 My dad always was buying, selling and trading vehicles. One day when Mom went to the Piggly Wiggly for groceries, she and the young man helping her carry them out to the car stopped when they got outside and the young man asked her which car was hers. She said she started to feel frantic when she couldn't remember which one it was! Dad could never keep a car for long and we were all coached on what to say if strangers came to the door asking about why we had all those cars.

[@tippydog4436]

two story house in no way showed you where rich, most old homes where two story

[@kellielaine5848]

When you have enough, you're rich. The middle class was fulfilled, happy and had a little left over to give.

[@Melancholy1966]

Our air conditioning was a block of ice in front of a box fan.

[@henerygreen578]

still don't like air con. my children don't understand that............

[@VariedVids]

If you were among the millions of Americans who belonged to the middle/working class during the 60s and lived in a rented apartment, it's likely you didn't enjoy any of the things mentioned and didn't even have a driveway for your family's one car. So you may not have been rich/wealthy, but the most important things you still did have was self-dignity and a strong work ethic.

[@fob1xxl]

My parents bought their 1st new home in 1961. It was a two story home in Santa Clara, CA. It cost them $23,450.00. Last year, it sold for $1,950,000.00 ! It was an "all electric" home. Great memories, but I wouldn't want to live there now. All you see are boats, vans, and SUVs . BACK THEN, what we saw were T-Birds, Bonneville, Corvette, Mercury wagons,Olds, and Cadillac.

[@Phil-m5d]

I miss those days. 😢

[@whatsamattayu3257]

In 1962, my father got a promotion and we moved to a house in an upper middle class neighborhood. It was a 2 story limestone home on a corner lot with a basement that had knotty pine paneling and a fireplace. There was also a fireplace in the living room, a formal dining room, a sun room and 3 bedrooms. It had a full bath on the 2nd floor and a 1/4 bath off the kitchen. There was no central air but it did have a sprinkling system for the lawn. The 2 car garage was not attached. One special feature I remember was it had a grandfather clock built into a nook in the hallway and the doorbell played the Westminster chimes. As I recall, they paid $36000 for the house. By the way, we were a family with ten kids, so the house seemed small to us at the time.

[@lauramitchell6725]

What is a quarter bath? Just a toilet? (A half bath is a toilet and sink……so?)

[@woofer13]

I'm 76. Our family was 'rich' but I have never seen a flocked tree, or anyone who has owned plastic covered furniture. Furthermore, we had a housekeeper and she acted as our mother (6 of us kids). My parents were never home and family life was not rich. Money, yes. Love, no.

[@brettany_renee_blatchley]

Our house was a 100+ year old two story farmhouse. It was entirely gutted and my parents renovated it over close to a decade: Dad had to put in plumbing, (baseboard) heat, and electricity. Mom's friends lamented at what Dad put her through, but when we needed to move to follow work, the house sold for a nice profit enabling them to build a new home where we relocated. That old farmhouse is still occupied and it's 150+ years old now (surviving many of the majestic trees that grew around it).

[@trish5556]

In the 1960's we had a 3 story home in New Hampshire built in the 1850's. It had to be renovated as well. We had no running water, used an outhouse and had a crank phone until around 1964. When I was 10 years old I remember being puzzled when my parents said the bank owned the house. I had no concept of mortgages then. I loved that house and was sad to move in 1968. The home was renovated further in the early 2000's and now is used as housing for local college students.

[@lex6819]

My great grandfather's house is gone now. My grandparents rented it out after they moved into town as they were getting too old to live so far out in the country. The renters were hoarders and they destroyed the house. Alas.

[@petestaint8312]

Love the bathroom @1:30. Cool!

[@shawnmalone9711]

You were rich if your parents was able to pay your college tuition. Another sign of being rich, was to avoid being drafted and being sent to Vietnam.

[@OldShamus]

Most people will be considered rich in the 2060s if they have a 2-person tent with the way things are going in this world.

[@gustavsorensen9301]

Agree 100% The 2020s is the best time to be alive. The Internet has made life so much easier. By 2060, it may be banned

[@monkeygraborange]

What did Americans use to illuminate their houses before candles? Electricity.

[@coldsamon]

​@@gustavsorensen9301Best time for you, not for everyone.

[@coldsamon]

​@@gustavsorensen9301I do believe it's past your bedtime child. If you aren't a child, I pity you.

[@heroesinhoodies1210]

⁠@@gustavsorensen9301 Not even close. People are poorer and less happy than any time in recent history, the internet and cellphones has destroyed any semblance of real community, almost nobody is healthy. Every decade since the 1950s has gotten progressively worse.

[@kidavis3386]

I’m 81. My parents bought their first house when I was 11 in 1955. (Yes, I’m older than Disneyland!) The house was 35 miles from downtown LA. It had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and it was almost 1200 ft.². It cost $11,000 and the payments were $99 per month. My Dad was an LAPD detective sergeant, and his salary was $400 per month.

[@kidavis3386]

Gasoline was 25-cents per gallon when I began driving @ 15-1/2 in 1959. Stayed at that price all the way through very early 1960s.

[@mimzyc9949]

As the decade progressed,we remodeled our house and got an extra bathroom, bedroom and living room. Woohoo. And eventually a color tv.

[@DavidSquires-iy4uv]

I,was born in 1957,and I grew up in the 1960's and I remember the 1960's very well. 1:04

[@JL-kv2le]

What the heck, you mean, I was actually poor all along? 😂 May have been "poor," but I am rich in memories ❤

[@SSN515]

We had 465 air conditioning in our family cars. 4 windows rolled down at 65 MPH! Some even had a AM radio with 5 push button stations "programmed in".

[@oreally8605]

My parents home was built in 67. I was born in 66 - We definitely had central air conditioning, we had to use sheets to stay warm at night because it was so cool in the house and 90° degrees at night during the summer. Dad wasn't rich, but he worked for the department of labor. Contract compliance paid a great salary in the 60's until he retired in 1989. 😊

[@kimbrey65]

My maternal grandparents would go down to Florida every winter and come back with slides for us to see. We lived in Minnesota.

[@joeanderson8839]

Some people were still using the outhouse in the 1960s.

[@nancyholcombe8030]

And the 70s and 80s! Most states had outlawed the use of them by the late 1960s though. That meant you had to live in a very rural area to keep one still!

[@cee8mee]

It was 1972 when they first put indoor plumbing into my family's farmhouse. My grandparent's generation was the last to actively farm the land. We never lived there, but spent lots of summers in the old place. The outhouse in the summer was quite the experience, especially when the bees were looking for new expansion areas. Even the kitchen sink was a handle pump over a washtub that my great uncle permanently installed in a large cabinet he built. Wood stove that heated the house using open grates to the upstairs bedrooms. Rememberings....

[@scottmcwave9479]

Going to my friends house after school and they had store bought cookies and all the milk we could drink! 🙂

[@tomfields3682]

My friend's family always bought name brands groceries. I thought they were rich.

[@VIAL911]

Nobody had debt in the 1960’s. Only today is the homeless man under the bridge more wealthy than the man with two mortgages.

[@vicepresidentmikepence889]

Thanks to social programs, we actually cared about homeless people, in the sixties, before the Reagan revolution

[@patty109109]

People in the 60s most definitely had debt.

[@hewitc]

@@vicepresidentmikepence889 in the 60's they were just called "bums" or "winos".

[@vicepresidentmikepence889]

@@hewitc Jesus would never call someone a bum, or wino

[@matrox]

We had one full bath on the top floor and just a toilet in the basement laundry room next to the wash tub sink.

[@batcatowler1972]

I had most of this in the 70s. 2 floors, own bedroom, my sister had her own as well. We had one and a half bathrooms, dishwasher, and cable tv. My mom was one of the first people on her block to have a colored tv. We were ritch I guess. Damn, I even had my own play room! And we had a washer and dryer! Wow

[@incog99skd11]

Gosh we had most of these things and I don't think we were rich.

[@thomasbruner854]

Sadly, it was those extras that made life exciting to experience, or something to work for in anticipation of acquiring. Now, just being able to afford your rent or buying a first home are all but unaffordable, at best for many. The 1960s exemplified the American dream.

[@incog99skd11]

I remember intercom systems. Did anyone actually use them??

[@cynthiajohnston424]

Yes , in a split level home that also had a family / tv room in the basement .

[@robertd9850]

No, that's why they stopped installing them.

[@tomfields3682]

Easier to just yell.😂

[@joecummings1260]

We had one going from the kitchen out to the barn. It must have been from the 40's. Big wooden cabinet that mounted to the wall. It had vacuum tubes in it. I know when my grandmother went to use it, I could be down at the barn before it warmed up

[@JohnSmith-cf4gn]

The 50s and 60s were the best decades of all time. The 50s more. I know, I was there.

[@kerrynight3271]

In my small Louisiana town, every household that wasn't actually poor had a maid in the 50s and 60s. My mother started paying into social security for ours the minute it became law and when our former maid became disabled years later, she thought that disability check was manna from heaven. I don't think any of my friends' parents did that for their maids.

[@KarlLaFong-v2q]

I grew up in central California in the 60s ( back when Calle was actually affordable) We didn't need no A/C, thank goodness.

[@timroot4207]

Thank You !!!

[@charliealpha8888]

Well, it's been confirmed. We were poor. We didn't have any of these until we siblings were grown, but we had plenty of fun outside using our imagination!😂😊

[@robmatlock7675]

My parents got a color TV after I joined the Air Force, they also got cable. They told me that they could now afford these things, cuase they weren't feeding me! 🤣

[@incog99skd11]

I remember there was a ballot initiative in California to insure that TV remained free. Imagine that. They wanted not to have to pay for television. Silly people. Now we pay like 160/mo to watch TV. Maybe they were right to fight cable TV.

[@hewitc]

@@incog99skd11 You can still get over-th-air televsion for free in most places. Even HD quality

[@Mama4d8]

Parents had a house built in '65. After years growing up with a huge attic fan and chasing mosquitos on my pink walls at night and suffering from hay fever mom declares one time that we should have had central air put in when building. Gee, thanks mom.

[@jons.6216]

We got a white flocked Christmas tree only one year in the mid 70s and never again afterwards! It was very dry and dusty to take down and the flock that came off of it could really make you cough! It was during the time when wild colors were being used like pink and blue! I saw a spot of yellow flock that got on a branch near the bottom! Haha! We were by no means wealthy, but because of there being six kids the house my parents bought needed to be larger and it had a living and family room - each of those with working fireplaces! We never used the one in the living room and my mom was forever proclaiming she was "going to get a gas log for it" but that never happened! Sadly, when the house was sold in 2022 the nitwits that remodeled the place sealed off the living room one and put a fake one over the family room one! The old brick chimneys are still on the outside!

[@bobsebring2819]

I came from a middle class family in the sixties, although my folks had two cars, that was it. My dad was still working at his career till the seventies when he retired. Than we could afford a Big house, ect, ect. Still, growing up in the sixites I never went without. It was a great life back then too. Pleasant Valley Sunday.

[@texasred2702]

It gives some perspective to the viewpoint that a middle-class lifestyle has become out of reach when even people who are considered working class to poor have most of these things as a matter of course.

[@rbaker3557]

The more stuff we added to our standard living, the more we had to work to pay all the bills to maintain it.

[@bruce8808]

Back in the 60s as kids we were rich. Grew up in the country rode our bikes. My pockets were loaded with Dimes, Nickels, and Pennies we went to the general store and loaded up on candy and toys. Those coins went a long ways back then.We had 2 wall air conditioners in our house in the 60s we had central heating in most of the house. Air conditioning was added on in the 70s.

[@incog99skd11]

Remember a dime was 1/10th of an ounce of real silver. Now the money is worth nothing.

[@oreally8605]

We certainly were rich as kids. Now & later candy in the pocket, and if you cut grandma's grass, you got a whopping $5. Enough to go to McDonald's and get a Big Mac for $1.75. The 70's were the best. ❤

[@JR-sq2of]

​@@oreally8605 Big Macs were $0.65 in 1970. We got regular hamburgers at the Red Barn and Dairy Belle ten for a dollar certain sale days. Fremont CA.

[@robertd9850]

One of my classmate's family build a custom home not far away. It was really unique, even ended up in Life magazine. I always thought they were seriously rich and they might have been. Got to tour the house with my class one day.

[@DouglasVoigt-tu3xb]

Looking back we were a family of 6. Lived in a house 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. Dad worked very hard. Never missed a day of work. We were lower middle class. Mom was a homemaker. Never appreciated. Sorry mom. Mom and dad did everything for us. Thanks mom and dad.

[@karltork6040]

I want that 1959 Impala now!

[@Anthonyjt12]

Black family with 2 floors, 4 bathrooms and as we got older each person(16) had their own bedroom. And my parents built the house

[@footballlvnlady]

My great uncle and his brother built our house in 1966. My dad was in management for the DOT for 40 years. We had a 3 bedroom 2 bath house. The second bath was just a toilet/sink. We were in our house three years before we got a color TV. The old one died. We had one car until the mid 70’s when my mom started working. My sisters were 8 & 11 years younger than me. I shared a bedroom with a sister until the youngest was old enough for a bed. I then had my own room and my sisters shared. We had central air which was rare in our neighborhood. My grandfather bought it for our house. We had a TV room where we always gathered. We had a large living room that only got used at Christmas. Even then maybe two days. We had no inground pools in our neighborhood. No one had maids. Most of the moms were stay at home until the mid 70’s. I did all the cleaning, laundry, ironing and babysitting until I moved out and got married. My mom had it easy until I left. Even in high school I had a short schedule the last two years. I went to school, came home and cleaned, then went to my job at McDonald’s.

[@lauramitchell6725]

Your mom “had it easy” and she worked so they got another car. Which was it?😖

[@footballlvnlady]

@ She worked off and on in the 70’s. When I was in high school 72-76 she was PT at night. Then, late 70’s and 80’s she was FT. I moved out and married in 78. This whole time I was doing all the cleaning, laundry, ironing and babysitting. My mom would make plans to go out every weekend with family friends. I had to babysit every weekend and I hated it! If my parents had to pay a sitter my mom wouldn’t be making plans. When I started at McDonald’s and dating my future husband she let up on the babysitting. My parents divorced in 1980. Then, she had to go FT from then on. She got a second car in the mid 70’s which I used when I had to close at McDonald’s and not get home until 11:30 pm on a school night.

[@lauramitchell6725]

@@footballlvnlady 👍 (I also graduated in 1976 and married in 1977,going on 47 years)🤭

[@matrox]

Dish washers didn't clean as well back then as todays modern ones.

[@nonenonnenopenonenomorefor5556]

My sister and I were the dishwasher 👍

[@lex6819]

I wouldn't mind living like 60s rich. All but the swimming pool. Pool maintenance is a pain in the a$$. I'd love to have a full finished basement lined with floor to ceiling bookshelves.

[@tnpatriot7468]

i recall people having plastic on furniture back in the day ---but never did Ithink it made the room "feel more special".

[@hewitc]

Extremely tacky and tasteless. Unusable

[@ABeautfulMess]

I was born in 1967 and I don't have memories really until 1972. We lived in DC. My mom worked on Capitol Hill and my stepfather was a Lobbyist. We had everything listed but the pool. We belonged to the Mount Vernon Yacht Club..it was a blast

[@BETTERWORLDSGT]

One other thing is movie cameras (home movies) it always seemed just rich people had them.

[@lawrencequave7361]

What impressed me the most in this video is how fit, trim, and well-dressed EVERYONE was when they walked out the door to go anywhere and do anything. 'Sunday best' meant you had at least one set of clothes that was better than all your others by which you, at the ultimate, could show your greatest respect toward God. Now it's PERFECTLY acceptable to look like crap ANYWHERE you go at ANY TIME. It's called 'style' by which you show off your individuality. I simply call it being trashy and disrespectful. Disrespectful? Nobody under the age of 50 even knows what that means. Over my lifetime I've worn several styles of clothes, mostly as a consequence of the 'fad of the times' which is ever-changing. Eventually the body tattoo fad is going to go away, which is going to make it VERY CLEAR to YOUR grandkids (if not your kids) that YOU are undeniably and irreversably a product of OLD times. I wish I were going to be around to see it. Boy, are YOU guys ever gonna be made fun of as your kids think, "YOU sure were dumb." (And you think the bell bottoms and pant suits of the 1970s are goofy looking. Ha! Your turn's coming.)

[@kidavis3386]

And ppl got dressed up to go to the doctor or to the bank or to travel by airplane ir train!

[@josephgaviota]

7:50 Gardeners? Yeah, me and my brother. As the older, I raked/mowed/cleaned the front yard, my younger brother, the back.

[@josephgaviota]

Oh, and this was by push-mower, rake, trash can.

[@kidavis3386]

I was the eldest, a girl; had to do all gardening (plus vacummimg, mopping, laundry and dishes). Hated weeding the geraniums! Sixty-seven years later, the smell of geraniums can make me wretch!

[@lex6819]

I like window air conditioning units. My grandparents had one in the farm house my great grandfather built. I liked the hum of the window unit. It's soothing, and drowns out the noise of crickets in the country (or noisy neighbors, traffic and police sirens in the city). It's nice as white noise for sleeping.

[@MrJasonshores364]

Reading the comments has shown me that my family had more than most. My grandparents had all of this, and more, yet they were the kindest, most loving people in the world.

[@josephgaviota]

2:02 I and my two brothers (total three of us) shared a bedroom. Sister got her own room.

[@cleokey]

Our 600 sq foot house was built in 1905 with a barn in the backyard. We got our first TV (b&w) in 1966, I graduated high school the same year. Yep, everyone in this film was rich to us.

[@laurachristianson1688]

My parents scrimped and we lived in a mobile home park, although it was a double wide the size of most then ranch houses the neighborhood I was looked down on. It was funny because I was always at the top of the class in school, but that humble home was filled with books and music. Finally at the age of fifteen we were able to afford a beautiful trilevel, I was in heaven, but even still I could not mix with those who thought so little of me. Probably good in the long run

[@thecommunityofpeace6905]

We had central air in the 60’s. But we called it opening the windows!

[@roberthorton8135]

I grew up in a 3 BR 950 Sq Ft house, 1 bath, 1 car garage, all wood, no brick in South Houston. We got our first window AC when I was about 8. We only got the window unit because my dad worked at Sears in AC all day and was miserable at night. My mom didn't want it because of the electricity cost. Of course, after you have it, you can't be without it. When I was in High School, I went to a friends house in a far better neighborhood than mine. His house had central air and wall to wall carpet. I remember thinking that If I ever got to that level, I would be rich. My poor people house had solid oak floors throughout. When my wife & I were looking at new houses in an upscale neighborhood in 1991, they all had hardwood floors instead of carpet. I still like carpet better.

[@justsomerandomgirl]

Born 1965- mom raised 5 of us on welfare( dad left). We were so poor. I’m a teacher, I have a special place in my heart for poor kids( hence in teach inner city).

[@jamesp8255]

I hope it's making difference 🙏

[@samanthab1923]

My parents started early. Mom had me at 20 & by 26 there were 4 more. They bought two brand new homes during their marriage. First was a Levitt Cape Cod. 4 beds & 2 baths. We outgrew that & the school district. Built a 5 bedroom w/3 baths & a den. Full basement & 3 car garage. We moved into the last house in 1970. There were 25 homes on our horseshoe & 2 in a cul de sac. My Pop pop thought it was funny my bros. used that word instead of dead end. Ours was on the biggest piece of property. A wooded lot. Dad was done with mowing lawns. He put a basketball court up in the cul de sac for us. Our house sat on the corner. Tons of kids to play with. On Sundays people would drive by slow down & ask us “How much did your parents pay for those houses?” Are they millionaires? Crazy stuff.

[@jasonleman1396]

I was born in 1972, and we lived near them. thank goodness my grandparents had an in ground swimming pool, especially on a 100 plus degree summer days

[@josephgaviota]

3:40 Only my "rich" aunt had a color TV. While once-a-year watching _The Wizard of OZ,_ Dad would tell us ... right ... HERE ... it turns color. We could only imagine. PS Dad and his sister saw Wizard of OZ at the Vista Theater in Hollywood when it came out. That theater stands to this day.

[@mrsmithorisitjones8487]

When I was a kid my neighbor bought a new 1963 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. My mom said they were well off.

[@matrox]

Most peeps today don't even put up Xmas trees anymore much less House decorations. In my area looks like maybe 5% or less homes are decorated, in the 60s 80% of the homes were decorated.

[@robertd9850]

Not really. Most people just put up a tree and a wreath on the door. Nothing like the displays people do now.

[@josephgaviota]

FWIW, in the 1960s, I _NEVER_ knew a house with "central air." A few had swamp coolers, but NEVER refrigeration.

[@1pinestreet]

I never knew a house with either.

[@betsyj59]

Later 80s and 1990s sitcoms changed what people regarded as the signs of being middle-class. People started building up huge credit card debt to meet the new "requirements." In the 1950s and 1950s it was considered a negative thing to use expensive consumer objects to show how well you were doing - being regular old middle-class was considered all-American. Even many celebrities did photo spreads in Life Magazine (for instance) that were aimed at making them look middle-class. Things have completely changed. US society heavily indebted itself in the name of conspicuous consumption. I remember noticing this as it happened.

[@cinrambrad]

Most of that is still out of reach for a vast number of us.......................

[@bigdchi]

Being memeber of a country club was a sign of having money. This website has caught the greed bug with the commecials.

[@SSN515]

Just the licensing fees for the stock photo usage can run 50,000 dollars a year, not counting the cost of time and research staff, so I wouldn't necessarily call it "greed".

[@terrigaines1812]

What are commecials?

[@tomfields3682]

We didn't know anyone who belonged to a country club.

[@SSN515]

@@tomfields3682 We would ride our bikes to our local country club and forage for lost golf balls in the surrounding woods. The clubhouse would pay us chump charge for returning them, we usually had a bucket of them and we would divide up the loot and buy candy at the local little general store. In the winter we would sled and toboggan and ride those metal snow saucer things. I doubt any club would be so "understanding" nowadays.

[@HandyDandy4u]

We had many of these things and were far from rich. Like nowadays, a lot of people just overspent.

[@Brwneydgrl69]

I was born in 1969. I was the only child. We lived in a modest 3bdrm. 1 bath home. 1 car garage. But it was used as storage and laundry room. In 1981 we moved from a small town to a suburb. My dad was in the oil field business. And wanted to "step up" in the world. So weoved from a 1200 sq ft home to a 2800 sq ft home. 3 bed. 2 bath. 2 car garage. Had a Country Club. And golf course woven throughout the community. Didn't live there 1 year before we were moving into a smaller house like 2000 sq ft and in town and out of that "ritzy, snobbish" neighborhood as my mom referred to it. I never really thought about how much $$ my family had... It wasn't that big of a deal to me. I had all the materialistic items a girl could want but i wasn't a material girl.

[@canamrider07]

I shared a room with my two brothers back then. We had bunk beds and one single. We rotated beds every night and had a small TV later on. Yes, we were “rich”.

[@timothyslaughter476]

Lmaooouuut i came from a middle class family of five kids and my best friend had just one sister. His family made a bit more money but not alot. But you would think it was two separate worlds even though we lived one street over. They had a sailboat they docked it at a nice marina. Credit at the marina and we could order food and deserts. Spend the night on the boat. They always got anything they asked for and it just seemed like a dream. Needless to say i spent alot of time there. But they were literally the nicest people you could ever meet. My freind and his sister were just absolutely lovely children. Even the grandparents and extended family were awesome. And i think my friend used to come to my home because it was so wild and confusing with so many people coming and going it was like a different world. But, i can remember going shopping with them and going into expensive department stores amd those kids whould just get anything they wanted and his mom would wip out the credit card lime it was nothing. I was in shock and awe!! LMAOOOOUUUTTTT. Great people. Great memories i had a very blessed life growing up. Remarkable.

[@lauramitchell6725]

I had the same experience but my parents paid cash for everything while her parents used a credit card that they didn’t pay off each month,so……..

[@timothyslaughter476]

Laura, the best we did was lay away, lol. I remember asking my mother why she didn't use a credit card and she gave me that look like don't ever ask me that again. So I didn't!!

[@lauramitchell6725]

@@timothyslaughter476 They should bring back “Lay Away”, make people save for and anticipate things! My friend who lived “richer”,evidently because of credit cards, also never had cash to go to the movies and pizza afterwards with the rest of us,that’s when I first learned what a facade credit was and had no use for it!

[@Offensively-normal]

We had almost none of this. My father waisted our money on a motorboat. Dr agged us to lakes then made us camp out for days. Sometimes weeks at a time. Forced us to fish & water ski. I unfortunately did the same thing to my children. It is a wonder they even speak to me.

[@groundcontrol436385]

Why, that monster!!!!! 🤣

[@naughtydorf18]

Sounds like a dream come true to me.

[@joycewright5386]

I was a latchkey kid in the sixties because Mom had to work after my POS father left. To me anyone who had a Mom at home when they came home from school was rich.