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^^^^^

Amazing. How did they EVER manage a civilization like that, without Somalis or Haitians or Sudanese to show them the way?
 

Pennsylvania 1950s in color, Doylestown, Levittown [60fps, Remastered] Sound Design​

Jan 2, 2026
I colorized, fully restored, and crafted the sound design for this rare archival footage of Pennsylvania in the 1950s, filmed in Doylestown and Levittown, showcasing local landmarks, businesses, and everyday life.During this period, Levittown became a symbol of post-World War II suburban expansion, representing the rise of affordable housing and the American middle class. Doylestown, with its historic downtown and cultural institutions, reflects the continuity between early American heritage and mid-century modernization. Together, these scenes capture a pivotal moment in U.S. social and urban history.

14:48
 

Baby Boomer Experiences From “Back In The Day” That Have Gen Z'ers Scratching Their Heads​

For baby boomers, everyday life was drastically different from today.Life moved much slower, and the younger generations might not believe some of the stories. But if you’re over 60 — chances are, you lived through more than a few of these.

7:40
 

The America We Knew: October 1962 (Cuban Missile Crisis)​

Jan 13, 2026
This episode ran previously as a special but because of the historical significance of the events I didn't want to leave it out of the current chronology of the series.

14:01
 

Everyday 1950s Objects vs. Today​

Jan 22, 2026
You know, when people talk about how much life has changed, they usually point to big moments. But the real story is in the everyday things we used without even thinking about them. Today, we’re taking a look at how products have changed over the last 75 years.

9:08
 

The America We Knew: July 1983​

Jan 26, 2026

20:06
 

The America We Knew: January 1963​

Jan 27, 2026
Note: December 1962 was posted previously an out of sequence.
10:54
 

Unbelievable 1950s Inventions We Still Use Today​

Jan 29, 2026
Many things we take for granted today can be traced back to their origins in the 1950s. The decade that brought us poodle skirts and jukeboxes, also led to some innovative ideas that are still going strong today.

10:46
 

The America We Knew: March 1963​

Feb 10, 2026
Remembering US.

11:55
 

The Dangers and Freedom of Growing Up in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s​

Feb 5, 2026
Growing up prior in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s was all about being exposed to many things. For kids, it required some good common sense to navigate the dangers that surrounded us.

24:35
 

Signs You Grew Up Poor in the 1970s and 1980s​

Feb 12, 2026
Growing up, it probably took you a while to figure out your family was broke. Everything just seemed normal, right up until you discovered other people had way nicer things than you. Today, we’re looking back at some of the classic signs that you grew up poor in the 1970s and 1980s.

16:19
 

The FLORIDA Nobody Talks About Anymore​


Feb 21, 2026 #Florida #FloridaHistory #OrangeGroves
Discover the forgotten Florida when agriculture employed more people than tourism, orange groves covered Central Florida, and Cracker cowboys ranged cattle across the Kissimmee Prairie before anyone dreamed of theme parks.
Before Disney World and retirement communities, Florida belonged to the people who worked it. Orange groves stretching from Orlando to Lake Wales employing thousands in seasonal harvest work, Greek sponge divers in Tarpon Springs world-famous for their dangerous profession, stone crab fishermen in the Keys working treacherous waters, Cracker cowboys using whips instead of lassos driving cattle through palmetto scrub, fishing villages like Cedar Key and Cortez where families lived for generations, the vast intact Everglades ecosystem with sawgrass marshes and tree islands, Seminole and Miccosukee tribes in chickees maintaining traditional ways after retreating from Indian Wars, no air conditioning making summers genuinely unbearable with people sleeping on screened porches, legendary mosquito plagues requiring bug spray and acceptance, and Deep South Jim Crow segregation with separate facilities and migrant worker camps. This was Florida when it was genuinely Southern and rural.

12:17
 

The America We Knew: May 1957​

Feb 12, 2026
10:01
 

The America We Knew: October 1957​

Mar 13, 2026

12:07
 

The America We Knew: 1975 Revisited (a fast-paced compilation of all 12 videos for the year)​

Mar 27, 2026

21:40
 

Truly Absurd Products from the 1970s You Couldn’t Live Without​

Mar 26, 2026
The 1970s was full of bizarre products that pushed the limits of what consumers would accept. Some started strong and then fizzled, but others never really got off the ground. Here are some of the most absurd products of the 1970s.

11:04
 

Old-School American Towns Right Out of the 1950s​

Mar 19, 2026
Some towns never fully gave up their 1950s identity. Whether it was for preservation, tourism, or just simple geography, these communities still reflect the nostalgia of small-town 1950s America. Here are the places you can still visit.

10:43
 

Prime Times: Tuesday & Wednesday 1958 network TV fall lineups​

Mar 26, 2026
With intros and sponsor tags

16:25
 
searcher said:

The America We Knew: 1975 Revisited (a fast-paced compilation of all 12 videos for the year)​

Mar 27, 2026

21:40
Click to expand...
What's old is new again.

There's whispered chatter about reviving this - as (guess what?!) an "energy-saving" measure.

In our moment of crisis.

As James Carville said...never let a crisis go to waste.
 

Prime Times: Friday 1958 network TV fall lineup (with intros and sponsor tags)​

Mar 31, 2026

9:46
 
^^^

That thumb.

Quality had left the building, around the time Hank the Deuce took over in 1945. They were about profit, first; then avoiding Estate Taxes, years after Old Henry had left this mortal coil. The IPO and stock structure that the phalanx of lawyers came up with, would never pass the IRS's examinations today. PLUS the Edsel schitt-show. And of course, Hank II was preoccupied with more glandular issues - he had three wives, in the end, and numerous liaisons. A pudgy fatboy, suddenly richer than God...alluvasudden, the kinds of girls that ignored him in college, couldn't wait to do him.

Calling Fords of that era crap, would be an insult to crap cars. We had a 1957, very similar, with problems all up and down - from assembly flaws, to the design of the Y-Block engine (prone to overheating). My old man was an admirer of Henry Ford and his company. His first car was a Model A. But those late-'50s Fords cured him of it.

It wasn't just the one he had. David Hallberstam noted the horrid quality problems of that period in his business biography about Ford, "The Reckoning." In 1957, Ford production and sales exceeded Chevrolet - but never again, to this day. Hallberstam wrote of Ford managers' stories of how hardtop models shown in television advertising had to have the doors tied together from the inside, across the car...the poorly-designed body flexed so much that doors would pop open on the highway at speeds.
 

Timeline 1945 - FDR Dies, Germany & Japan Surrenders​

Apr 13, 2026
1945 was a year of sacrifice that would pay off by the end. The United States had grown to 140 million people, and for Americans there was still much uncertainty. Wars in Europe and in the Pacific raged on, but the Allied forces were advancing on Germany and Japan. The year would see many changes, including the loss of a President. These are the events of 1945.

10:08
 

The America We Knew: February 1958​

FredFlix presents a nostalgic look at February 1958, highlighting the launch of the Explorer satellite, popular rock and roll music, and contemporary advertising. This compilation explores the cultural landscape of the era through magazine covers, television highlights, and automotive innovations of the time.

11:23
 

You Can Never Shop Here Again… Beloved Stores We Lost​

Apr 23, 2026

8:26
 
searcher said:
Click to expand...
Not just the payphone.

The infrastructure.

The FCC has given permission for selective abandonment of the telephone-line infrastructure, in selected areas, case-by-case. In many areas now it's not possible to get a landline. Other areas, the "phone company" (whatever bass-ackwards company wound up owning the Bell franchise in a given area, in my area it's Century Link) can charge whatever rates it sees fit. No tariff schedule published or subject to approval (in this industry, "tariff" means the set and approved utility rates for service). So, were I to get a landline, I'd first have to pay business phone rates to Century Link; THEN set up an appointment...for the electrician I hired to work with the Century technician to TIE IN, at the utility pole.

This after the electrician verifies and tests the phone wiring from my phone to the line going to the pole. And if it doesn't work, that's my problem and the electrician's. AND if it shorts out what's left of the phone network, I would be liable for damages.

That's a long way of showing: The Bell infrastructure, robust, resiliant, low-tech, that endured natural and other disasters...dead. Instead we have those gee-whiz cell towers. WHICH THE FBI CAN FREELY DOWNLOAD COMMUNICATIONS ON. Power goes out, they go dead - immediately or after their diesel tanks are empty, if the generators even start.

Progress isn't always moving ahead. There should be a term for backwards progress - a new use of the word "Regress."
 

The America We Knew: April 1958​

May 1, 2026
10:24
 

The America We Knew: May & June 1958​

May 8, 2026

16:10
 

Surprising Things That Were Legal in the 1970s… But Are Now Banned​

May 7, 2026

17:10
 
searcher said:
Click to expand...
Sigh.

We really lost something, in the last 70 years. Something of civility; something our parents knew about order and prosperity and good living.

And the Old West. I've made the full trip - born in Ground Zero for Leftism, metro NYC...grew up in the Great Lakes...but I came West for good and I've fit right in.

But so much has been lost...and especially of the one-time Destination Cities, like Las Vegas or Denver. Denver hurts especially - it wasn't like it is now, 35 years ago. And Colorado Springs...what happened to that town is just criminal.

Of course we're so much richer, now...in terms of the easy (up until the last six years) obtaining of food, shelter, comfort, pleasure. Filming a few scenes like the above, COST so much more. Airline tickets were 10x the cost, using constant dollars. Driving cross-country was a JOB. Country roads, crooked sheriffs, cars that weren't up to it (the old man had a 1957 Ford wagon, just a couple of years old...with the old Y-Block eight...it spent a lot of time with its hood up, overheated. And it didn't even have A/C or power steering to tax that engine.

Would it have even BEEN possible for us to advance while maintaining social order? Like the Japanese people did. Imagine 1950s mores with 1990s material wealth.
 
It's gone to hell in America. The young ones are about to get a wake up call.
 
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