This Father's Day, I remember my Dad, the parent I greeted first when I came home from school. And a big salute all the Dads, who sacrifice and make a real difference in the lives of your children.
As Father's Day is upon us, I wax nostalgic. Though Dad had passed away over 20 years ago, I have many fond memories of him.
Hello, Daddy!
In the 1950s and 1960s, my father ran a small gas station, and we lived behind it. Those days, my mother had worked part-time and often was not home when I got back from school. It usually worked out that Dad was the first person I met when I got home. He was always there ...at least when I was a child.
1960s latchkey kid?
When I grew up, I was told later that I was a "latchkey kid" - though I did not know it at the time. But as a baby boomer, I grew up in a situation in the early 1960s of two working parents that had been more the exception than the rule.
The Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers
The parents of the baby boomers - coined the Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw - had already been through the wringer - coming of age during the Great Depression and living through World War Two. And after that, most just wanted to put that behind them and give their children a better life. And mostly they did.
Age of Innocence
In the 1950s, two parent families seemed to be the norm - working dad, stay-at-home mom. The children seemed to have no real serious problems that plague kids today (teen pregnancy, drugs, stalking, cyber-bullying, broken homes). Post World War Two seemed to be more innocent days. I can attest to that in that we had no locks on the doors of our house and never felt a need to have them.
Father Knows Best - the Pop Culture of the times
The spirit of those times was reflected in the popular culture on TV of the day, such as this gem - Father Knows Best (1954 - 1960), as shown in the clip below:
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For more on this article with links and embedded video - go to http://smithsk.blogspot.com/2013/06/culture-part-9-father-knows-best.html
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