Back in the sixties.

[ARTEMIS1759]

Bump...

Remember though...If you remember the 60s you weren't really there.

[Jeff Sauber]

There's some post whoring going on here..

[Steve Keck]

Maybe so, but at least I still have hair!

LOL!

I just filled out a US passport application. NOTE TO EVERYONE! SIGNIFICANT PRICE INCREASE EFFECTIVE TUESDAY!

They ask for hair color. Bald isn't listed as a color. What's a guy to do?

[highway]

Remember though...If you remember the 60s you weren't really there.

Yeah, but what about this? I don't remember the 60s, but yet I wasn't really there. What is the reason for this? I wasn't BORN YET!!!!

[Rob Hall]

LOL!

I just filled out a US passport application. NOTE TO EVERYONE! SIGNIFICANT PRICE INCREASE EFFECTIVE TUESDAY!

They ask for hair color. Bald isn't listed as a color. What's a guy to do?

Use your eyebrow or facial hair color? I've been shaving my head off and on for over 10 years now...my current passport pic is of me w/ my head shaved.

[Rob Hall]

Yeah, but what about this? I don't remember the 60s, but yet I wasn't really there. What is the reason for this? I wasn't BORN YET!!!!

My excuse also..I was born in '70. I barely remember the late '70s.

[Danno]

They ask for hair color. Bald isn't listed as a color. What's a guy to do?

Oh Great Hairless One, AKA Chihuahua Keck,

Hair color? Just list "None" or "Worn Off."

Where are you going? California?

[Harry P.]

Maybe the 60s weren't the "ideal" era.... but man, you can't possibly beat the music from that era.

[Modelmartin]

Personally, I think nostalgia can be very evil in the wrong hands. It makes people pine for a "lost way of life". I maintain that things in general get better and that includes model cars, music, life, the universe and everything! I try to look forward as much as possible. The past is valuable but it shouldn't be a model for how to live because we have all moved on.

[Harry P.]

The past is valuable but it shouldn't be a model for how to live because we have all moved on.

Duuuuuuuude! You are seriously bummin' me out, man...

[MikeMc]

LOL!

I just filled out a US passport application. NOTE TO EVERYONE! SIGNIFICANT PRICE INCREASE EFFECTIVE TUESDAY!

They ask for hair color. Bald isn't listed as a color. What's a guy to do?

That would be "clear"

[59 Impala]

I remember the 60's and I was there. I also remember the 50's cause I was there too. Now, I don't remember the late 60's (67-69) cause I wasn't there. I was on Okinawa. I also have trouble with the early 70's cause I was there but I was still lost from being in the Army. I finally woke up in the late 70's. And now, all is well, or as well as can be I guess. Dan

Edited July 9, 2010 by 59 Chevy Impala

[Terry Sumner]

There were a LOT of things that genuinely made the 50's and 60's much simpler...as compared to now that is.

Just a few...

No electronic leashes (read that cell phones)

No computers

Carbureted cars, no electronics...any guy could easily work on his own car

Drag strips everywhere...no driving hours to get to one.

Could watch TV with Rabbit ears or just an antenna with a rotator.

No computerized national credit reports or ratings

All toys were much simpler

Heavy drugs no where near as prevalent as they are now.

Kids had much more respect for elders and Police.

Not as much crime as today..(as a retired cop I can vouch for this one)

There are many more I'm sure. But I don't agree with Mark...the 50's and 60's..in spite of the major problems he mentions...were genuinely more simple.

Let's see how many more examples other guys can come up with that made the years gone by more simple than today...

[Rob Hall]

'simpler' definitely doesn't imply 'better', IMO. In olden days, that TV w/ rabbit ears was often B&W and tiny, lucky to get a few channels (remember when TVs had UHF and VHF)? No remote. Now I've got my 60 inch flat screen HDTV, over 100 channels, DVR, DVD player, etc...a lot more cool gadgets today..

I remember having a Commodore 64 computer in the '80s and later dial up internet w/ BBSes 20 years ago...now I have laptops w/ wireless broadband at home, a 'smartphone' cell phone that I can surf the web on, etc.

(though I'll admit I'm a computer engineer, and love technology, gadgets, and computers... )

I haven't regularly driven a car w/ a carb in 20 years.

Edited July 9, 2010 by Rob Hall

[highway]

Depends what you mean by the word "simple" Terry. If you mean purely "technologically inferior" you have a point, but these technologies save a lot of time, and make tasks easier. Consider the following:

No electronic leashes (read that cell phones) Which means you had to drive to find a pay phone, carry the proper change, and have every number you may want to call either written down or memorized...is that "simpler?"

No computers: Which means that you had to look up wherever you were going on a paper map instead of using MapQuest, etc...is that "simpler?" Ditto things like word processing/data entry, document creation, etc.

Carbureted cars, no electronics...any guy could easily work on his own car: Which is good, because they needed tune-ups and adjustments frequently...is that "simpler" than cars today that often need nothing more than oil/filter changes as maintenence for 100k miles?

Could watch TV with Rabbit ears or just an antenna with a rotator: Which needed to moved around to get good reception, and you had to get up to change the channel...is that "simpler?" than just using the remote?

Mark, these examples do make our modern day to day life easier, and I think there is probably no one who would give up their cable tv for rabbit ears again, I know I sure wouldn't, but the items I've put in bold in your quote I must agree and disagree with.

First, the cell phone is both the best and the worst invention on the planet right now, in my opinion! Yes, as a former truck driver who spent many hours alone in the cab of my truck thanklessly delivering the countries needs, it was useful so I could get directions for pick ups and deliveries, as well as make the hours beating the country's highways pass more quickly by calling family or friends, many of who are also brother truckers. My issue is the idiots who do not use them responsibly! I always used a wired mic or Bluetooth when I was talking and driving, and kept my attention on the road so I didn't roll over a family in a mini van, and my firends that are drivers do the same. I could not tell you how many near misses I've had with in either commercial or my personal vehicles with the previously mentioned idiots holding a stupid phone to their ear or now even texting while driving completely oblivious to that fact they just almost killed themselves because they pulled right out in front of my 80,000 pound tractor trailer or even my personal 6,000 pound dually pickup! Pay phones were much safer!

Next issue I have is computer technology, especially the MapQuest. This is another area where my trucking career comes into play, I used to and still do prefer good old fashioned paper maps over anything else. MapQuest and even GPS are both, again, useful tools, but I feel the younger generation feel they need these machines to tell them what to do. I'm 34 years old, so I'm in what I feel is the "Old school/Tech" age, meaning I grew up with the old ways but have picked up on the tech age. I have ran into many situations in the truck where younger "Techy" drivers follow their GPS like it knows everything, IT DOESN'T! A couple of examples are one driver that had his GPS telling him to go over a bridge with a weight limit of 5 tons and a height restriction of 11 feet in an 80,000 pound 13 feet 6 inch tall semi. Do the math, it wasn't happening! He had many drivers, including me, trying to tell him on the CB radio directions to get him where he needed to go safely, and all we got was the reply of "My GPS says to go this way." A nice Motor Carriers Atlas would have shown where he was is not even a truck route. When I drove heavy duty wrecker, there were also many of these GPS dependent drivers I had to rescue because of the same reason, the atlas would have shown them the road was not a truck route.

Lastly, I would love to see less computerized equipment in cars today. The myth that fuel injection is more fuel efficient is BULL, in my opinion. Yes, it may be more fuel efficient because you don't have to warm it up in the winter, and it does give a better fuel ratio to burn, but there are cars on the market bragging about getting 25-30 miles to the gallon! Yippe! I had a 1978 Chevy El Camino that had a 350 CID 2BBL carburetor that got about 25 mpg all day long! That is as good as the 1990 Ford Thunderbird with a 3.8 Liter V6 with fuel injection I have now! I also prefer older cars with less electronics because, while I'm sure many here have 100K a year incomes and can afford to take their Lexus to the dealer and get ripped off on a regular basis, I don't have that luxury, as I'm sure others here don't, either. My daily driver now is a 1990 Ford F350 dually with a mechanical diesel, no electronics even control the fuel injection. It costs a little more in maintenance because it is a diesel, but at least I don't need special computer equipment just to work on it, just basic Craftsman hand tools. Oh, and that reminds me of another case that all the electronics are not really needed on todays cars. My 20 year old 7.3 Liter diesel has no electronics, as I said it is mechanically injected, and also has no turbocharger, and has (at least) 180,000 miles on the odometer. My neighbor has a computerized 2008 Ford F250 with either the 6.0 Liter or 6.8 Liter, I can't remmeber which, but irregardless, it is a smaller engine than mine, with twin turbochargers, with about 35,000 miles on it. Both engines are just like they left the factory, no modifications on either, and take a wild guess which truck gets better fuel mileage. Give up? MINE!!! My truck, at last fill up, has an average of a little over 14.5 mpg, while the neighbors little in dash computer shows he only gets about 11 mpg! Where is the benefit of the added computer controls and electronics?

In conclusion, I do feel the technology we enjoy today does make life easier, but there has been major downfalls in that technology that has actually made life harder on some and dangerous in other cases. I think many techies nowadays need to remember K.I.S.S.!

Keep

It

Simple

Stupid

[Junkman]

How many people in this forum were already building models in the Sixties?

The only thing I really remember from the Sixties is the moon landing. I was a toddler and I only remember it, because my parents bought the first telly for the occasion. It was a b+w of course.

I got my first kit in the early 70s iirc. The first one I sort of successfully built, was the Monogram 540K, when it was molded in silver.

[DRG]

Come on guys there is a real simple reason things were simpler in the early sixties, for me.

I was ten years old in 1960.

No cares, my wants and needs provided by my parents and model cars to build.

It don't get no better than that.

[Harry P.]

Life was definitely simpler in the 60s...

only a handful of TV channels to choose from, no computers, no internet, no cell phones, no "social networking" websites, no video games, fewer choices at the grocery store, getting on a plane to fly somewhere was fast, efficient and painless (no pat-downs, no screening of bags, no taking off your belt and shoes, etc.), less traffic congestion, less federal regulation of everything, cars were easier (and cheaper) to fix, no VCRs or Tivo, fewer pro sports teams to follow, etc.

Yes, definitely a simpler time. But "simpler" and "better" are not necessarily synonymous. Yeah, there were many aspects of life that were "better" back then in most people's minds... but even though our lives are more complicated today, we have better cars, better medicine and medical care, more choices in almost every area. Advances in technology have made many areas of our lives better, but have also caused us frustration and stress in other areas. That's "progress," I guess.

[7000in5th]

Mom's sewing basket provided the plug wires, battery cable wires and so forth.

I'm with you on that note, here is a '61 Chevy I did in the early '60's and most of the interior came right out of Mom's sewing basket. The picture and quote are from my web site:

......... ever popular custom interior from Mom's sewing basket:

- Corduroy tuck and roll

- Very comfortable looking (?) balsa bucket seats with "leatherette" trim and gold thread piping

- Gold Christmas wrapping door and console trim

- Bent straight pin door handles and window cranks

- Felt carpet

- Assorted custom items from hot rod and custom kits

- Driver's door cut open and permanently glued

[Jon Cole]

Life in the 60's was indeed simpler. Not necessarily better. We have cell phones. I hate cell phones. Yet, I wouldn't go anywhere without one.

This laptop I am using? A total pita! Yet I would never dream of going without.

We have a DVD player and a VCR, but as far as I am concerned, they too are a pita. And each has a remote where 3/4 of the buttons seem to do nothing, afaik.

Every gadget we buy comes with an instruction manual that is in several languages, most in the same book so we cannot trash the foreign books.

My car has so many darn computers and features, I had to carry the manual with me for a month. I still ignore the "trip computer" with it's fourteen freakin' functions.

Yet, as noted previously by someone else, we were a lot younger back in the 60's... of course things were easier then! Everything is easier for most pre-teens!

[Harold]

Back in 1960 everything was simpler and cheaper.

Maybe simpler from the standpoint of being kids, but the real world was just as complicated back then. And everything was cheaper, from a relative standpoint. Adjust for inflation, and that $1.39 AMT kit would equal out to almost $15 bucks today.

[Foxer]

I remember the 60's and I was there. I also remember the 50's cause I was there too. Now, I don't remember the late 60's (67-69) cause I wasn't there. I was on Okinawa. I also have trouble with the early 70's cause I was there but I was still lost from being in the Army. I finally woke up in the late 70's. And now, all is well, or as well as can be I guess. Dan

This is EXACTLY my story, except substitute "67-69) cause I wasn't there. I was at beerfests in Germany."

[Danno]

Well, I was certainly simpler then.

[ARTEMIS1759]

Yeah, but what about this? I don't remember the 60s, but yet I wasn't really there. What is the reason for this? I wasn't BORN YET!!!!

Yeah but the guys from the 60's know what I am talking about, lol. I wish I was born around the 30's or 40's and grew up at the beginning of the rod and custom craze though. Car hops, fast cool cars, fast women and miles and miles of new roads, hi-ways and drag strips to cruise.

[philo426]

Junkman,Check this out!