RETW Loc: Washington

I have no idea who put this together, but it is wonderful ! !


Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan , or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.


And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice..

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.
For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

RETW


PS If you didn't grow up in the fiftys,
You missed the greatest time in history,
Hope you enjoyed this read as much as I did.
If So, PLEASE FORWARD this note to
someone who will appreciate these memories...

Hemiman Loc: Communist California

You are right RETW,I wouldn't trade a minute of that wonderful time in America.

Dr. Evil Loc: In Your Face

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows

glibona Loc: Nevada

Poodle skirts and hoola hoops!

Dr. Evil Loc: In Your Face

Don't forget the saddle shoes and Beatles boots.

pafret Loc: Northeast

Fantastically good poem. Those skirts below the knee were full pleated floor sweepers when I was a Sophmore. Thank God that fashion didn't last. We had one guy who wore blue jeans to school; every other male wore regular trousers. Sneaks were worn only in Gym class. All male teachers wore jacket and tie and when I was a college student five years later, so did I. Casual dress was 'Sport Coat' or Blazer, tie, slacks and dress shoes.

glibona Loc: Nevada

Yeah, it was a neat era, the fifties...think Johnny Mathis
and Elvis Presley became popular around 1957?

boatbob2

Heck,I wore blue jeans ( levis) to catholic school everyday,drove the nuns crazy,theyd raise heaven (hell) but,Id wear them anyhow,after awhile,another guy wore levis,then another,pretty soon,most guys wore them,so,we went back to wearing dress pants,and button down shirt collars,drove those nuns crazy. They sure were glad when I joined the US Army...

GmanTerry

That was amazing. I feel so privileged to have been a teen in the 50s. The beautiful poem didn't mention cars, but cars were such a big thing in the 50s. To this very day, I still think there is nothing as beautiful as a 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible.

Semper Fi

boatbob2

To me,ALL 57 chevys are beautiful,as well as the 59 cadillac..

badbobby Loc: texas

excellent RETW excellent

RETW Loc: Washington

Hi gman

Yea it did, remember this. " T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks."


Course, my favorite was the T-Bird.

glibona Loc: Nevada

Super fine...

GmanTerry

The 'Bird' and the 'Vette' were the only true American sports cars. Both were amazing but well out of my price range.

Semper Fi

RETW Loc: Washington

Mine to, But I did own a 62 Crown Victoria. Robins egg blue. And strange as it may seem. The best all around car I ever owned in those days, was a 1951 DODGE CORONET. Man that thing would start in the coldest weather you can think of. It had the new at that time, what they called " air glide " shocks.