bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

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.



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...

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Great read for anyone who grew up in the "50's"...thanks.

Earworms Loc: Sacramento, California

I liked it very much.

It's a great read even if you didn't grow up in the '50s (not 50's). Adding an apostrophe s makes it possessive which it isn't, while simply adding an s makes it plural as it should be. '50s is a contraction of 1950s.
You're welcome.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I saw a lot of the '50's but although I was young then, I'm not sure I've grown up yet.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Bell Telephone rolled out mobile (car) phone service to about 100 areas in 1948. They were expensive, but did make their way into popular culture in the 1950s: Peter Gunn had one...In a Plymouth! (If he could in reality afford a car phone he should have had an Imperial!). Also commercial microwave ovens existed in the 1950s. As for home use? IDK, But the "Price is Right" had one up for bid on a 1960 broadcast. It was around $2,500.00 though!

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

I grew up in the fifties and they were the best time to be a kid.

Rich

pdsdville Loc: Midlothian, Tx

Great time to grow up, and a really super poem portraying the time.

f8bengal Loc: West Nawth Carolinah

True, and like me you're about to turn 80.

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

Maybe 70 but not close to 80 yet (67 now)

Rich

thehokiewahoo

Right on the mark. Not RIGHT ON. Whatever that means.

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

The one I regret most is the misuse of the word,gay.It used to be a lovely word.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

I'm glad so many liked it, Bob.

1Feathercrest Loc: NEPA

That is confounding esoteric to present day illiterates who confuse "there", "their" and "they're", plus other similar sounding words.

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

I'm from that period and this is great!