As I expected, I got a bit of flak for my last article from people who do not want to believe that American life in the 1950s was far more vibrantly social than it is now, and that the basis of that sociality was the strength of the family. I was not saying that the 1950s were ideal—no time is. I was not saying that there were no fissures showing up in the walls. There were, and I said as much. And people always want to believe well about themselves, so you cannot trust them entirely when they look in the mirror and like what they see. That goes for us, too.
Nevertheless, you can tell a lot about a people by looking at what they take for granted—things that are “by the way”—their pastimes, their folkways, their songs, their humor, where they go when they have nothing to do, how they greet their neighbors, and so forth. If you really want to get to know a person, these are the kinds of things you will attend to. As with persons, so with a people.
-WiscoDave
