@@corndawg15 ... No, Juan. It's real. My family had dinner together every day. There was my mom, her mom who lived with us, my step-dad, and me and my three brothers. And no matter how busy my mom and step-dad were at work all day, when dinnertime arrived, we all knew it was time to gather, to meet, at the dining room table. Even on weekends when we all had off, no matter where we were or how far we had wandered away from home, we all still knew we had to be home in time for dinner. There were no cell phones with which we called or texted each other, and I didn't wear a watch. I knew what time of day it was by the position of the sun - even on a cloudy day. We didn't say Grace before meals, but we were thankful nonetheless. Our parents didn't tolerate arguing at the table. We were a family unit. It was in the 1950s and 1960s. Addendum: And if I didn't like what my mom prepared, then I went hungry and didn't eat anything else. That's the way it was. Then after dinner, my mom would clean up, my step-dad would go sit in his recliner, they would both light up their smokes, Hahaha, and we would watch the evening news - together. Then each of us would go about our business for the evening, and at the end of the day we knew we had a home to come home to, and sleep a restful sleep, then get up the next day, refreshed for another new day. It might sound incredible, but, Juan, it was the way it was... and I miss it so.
“Rested, relaxed, and attractive”. Too funny. Although I do remember in the early 70s when I was in grade school that before my dad came home my mom would get all fixed up, maybe put on a long dress, and then they would both have drinks and talk about their days. Of course there were times my mother told my dad how bad we kids had been.
@Donald Horn, II Oh no, just a stern talking too. I do remember listening from my room (where I had been sent for being bad) to try and hear what they were talking about.
My parents had that cocktail routine, too, which I remember fondly, because it was always nice to see our parents taking time for themselves, when otherwise they spent so much time taking care of us. My mother did NOT share bad things we might have done, she just took care of the discipline immediately and then all was forgiven after that.
There are times when I would like to turn back time to be back at home together with my family. My dad has been gone now 26 years...my mom is 88 and my three siblings are all spread out with their own families. I’m single and so no spouse or kids to always fill thoughts and times. I miss them so much more as time marches on. I do yearn sometimes for us all to be back together...just us 6...under one roof...my wonderful dear family.
O that's so cute 😍 I never understand why it's bad to want to look good when you meet your husband anyway. I never heard someone saying: "What?! You put makeup on and nice clothes when you meet with friends? Oh my goodness how dare they expect that!" So why shouldnt a woman want to look good when seeing her man..
Which was followed by “Go to your room”. Which wasn’t necessarily punishment, because you had your stereo there and could listen to records, read books (comic or otherwise) and so it wasn’t that bad to go to my room.
My dad worked swing shift and got home about one am if my brother or I got caught at something my mom would write it on the front page of the news paper above the fold. When Dad got home he would pull us out of the bed and administer his attitude adjustment .
I grew up having a sit down dinner with the family every night and my son and I do the same today when he’s home from college. I set the table nicely and we take the time to converse about the day.
In our family there was no meal culture like this, save on Sundays saying grace. After that the conversation (parents plus seven kids) almost always turned into fierce quarrels and verbal fights. In this film I see what we missed and how nice being together could have been.
When I was a kid, my family ate together, though we didn't get changed to do it. It was really nice. I'm glad I have those memories to look back on. Not every meal was idealized harmony, but Mom and Dad kept us kids in line. I remember my grandmother letting me use the gold rimmed dishes to set the table. She taught me how to make a decent arrangement of flowers in a vase...good memories. I'm sorry that more people didn't have that. I have learned that I'm extremely fortunate to have the family I do ( we have our nuts and some unpleasantness, but definitely not as much as some others).
When I was growing up, the whole family ate on TV trays while watching Mary Tyler Moore and The Bob Newhart Show. Those are some of my fondest memories ever.
Everyone looks their best for dinner, as if they were in an elegant restaurant. The gentlemen seat the ladies and the younger members of the family. Father serves Mother, then daughter, then the sons. Everyone waits for Father to finish serving himself, then start eating when Father and Mother start eating. How did I miss out on this etiquette class growing up? Better late than never. Thank you Old TV Time for making me wiser!
I'm a little confused by the cognitive dissonance of having the females fuss over their appearance as a stated duty to the males, have them do all the work of shopping , preparing then serving the meal, but then the men pull out the chairs for them as if they're delicate flowers who must be assisted with the chair? Sigh. I'm a weirdo I guess. Lol
@@bucklesmagee3806 For me it's hard to explain but myself as a woman, wife, mother and home maker it's a sense of appreciation. Like my husband and sons may not really know what my day is like to make sure that they are taken care of but they just know that they are. It's little things like pulling out a chair or just being "gentlemanly" that make me feel like they know what I do for them. We are a pretty traditional family by todays terms though.
We had family dinners but only because my parents grew up that way as well. Love how simple this comes off and honestly, nothing wrong with trying for those who have not before.
Me too, I'm myself a Brazilian, but find such videos useful, plus, it shows that many things in the past are not as terrible as some try to make it look.
"Affluent?" We didn't have a pot to tinkle in, but we set the table, had pleasant conversation, and used our table manners. Except for the flowers, we didn't look much different. Back then, you strove upwards all the time, to have things nicer for your kids.
Mine lived in a close community: similar blue-collar jobs and cultural customs. Most of our dads helped organize 'block' parties and they addressed issues with common-area maintenance, gardens, and notifying the city about repairs. The moms knew each others' children, and at the very least they would keep an eye out the window while we were playing and quickly be on the scene if a fight broke out or someone fell off a skateboard or fence. And we did sit down to dinner as a family. By my teens that had all changed. Separated parents, latchkey-kid after school. So I've seen both sides. I'm happy I at least got to experience the first one.
Until I was 16, my family always ate dinner together each night. I am now 27. I don’t miss it. If my family had been like this, however, I probably would.
That's the thing. This video shows the "ideal" family dinner. But in reality, almost every family was far from this; because of many underlying issues that still persist to this day.
Trust me mate, my dad was around back then and he's call this an idealized fantasy. Not that either of us would not respect some of the basic values stated here, though I'd never take them as far and neither would he.
@@LeeTheSecond I forget if it was Rick Prelinger or some other archivist of '50s and '60s newsreel/PSA/instructional footage, but he pointed out that if things were as rosy in the 1950s as people think, there wouldn't have been a need for these films to begin with. As he put it, "a lot of the works of the 1950s comes from a place of darkness."
“Be yourself, but be your best self” was always one of my dad’s fave sayings. It took me many years to truly appreciate the wisdom in this simple expression.
In the early 1980s I was in high school. One day while sitting in class, out of the blue, for reasons i cant recall, the school 16mm movie projector was rolled into the classroom. And they played for us several of these old, antiquated 1950s instructional films on how to date, how to be polite, how to behave, etc. My classmates laughed through them. The wooden acting, the cheap production values, the over politeness, the squeaky clean activities (a picnic, a carnival, a weenie roast, bike riding, a day at the park, dinner at home with the family, etc), the innocent slang of the time (gee, golly, swell, etc). I on the other hand, wasn't laughing. To the contrary. As someone who was being raised in a severely abusive, dysfunctional home (we NEVER sat together at the same table at meal times. Not even once. Even though we always had a full sized dining room with a full sized dining room table), i found these films to be quite charming. A sort of a time capsule of a more innocent era. DON'T get me wrong. I had no illusions. I was well aware that the 1950s wasnt so perfect and innocent. That there were negative things going on in the 1950s, such as segregation, criminal activity, corruption in the public and private sectors, poverty, the occasional economic recession, war, etc. No decade is perfect. But still, it seems to me that there were SOME things in the 1950s they were doing so right back then that we were doing so horribly wrong in the early 1980s as well as today.
@@MahouKat I mean, if '50s families were really like this, there wouldn't have been any need to make the film. I can't remember who put it this way--maybe Rick Prelinger, or some other similar collector of old educational shorts--but a lot of this '50s material came from a place of darkess. This era is romanticized now but it had problems of its own just like any other.
Men were the real heads of the households.. Not like today where every human in house wants all to be good only for himself. Thats whats good in this video.
Нови Сад Србија honestly both of those sound horrible, a family should listen to everyone and then come to a consensus, families aren’t a dictatorship nor a an anarchy, everyone needs to work together to have a positive family life. The man being the head of the house is outdated and doesn’t work in modern families as the concept of what family is has evolved and trying to shoehorn an old concept in modern times can only cause strife.
When I was a kid in the 70s my grandparents treated dinnertime very formally, especially sunday dinners. My grandpa would serve everyone at the table and there were a whole bunch of rules of ettiquite we all observed. They really did have dinners just like in this video.
My family ate dinner together every day when I was growing up until us kids slowly moved away one by one. We also took turns reading the Bible and praying every single night, looking back now decades later I think it was a real good way to keep us all grounded and instil life long values which we didn’t even realize at the time. I unreservedly miss those times in todays world.
Never turn your back on family, even when they hurt you. Never let life get the better of you. And if you remember nothing else, remember to find time to eat together as a family, even when times are rough; especially when times are rough. There's no lack of painful things in this world, but hunger and loneliness must surely be two of the worst. Thanks to you, my precious family, I didn't know a moment of either of those the last ninety years. Love you all. Good bye.
I see what y'all did here 😍😄 putting out this adorable reminder for a family Thanksgiving dinner. Makes me warm and fuzzy! This should be required viewing for my family...
Wow I don't see anyone getting yelled at to finish there food or being yelled at about one thing or another now those are real family dinners.Even back then.
Daughter helps her mother to organize the table setting, sons just relaxed. It is really funny and the narrator said the girl looks charming. It is so interesting point of Old times TV. Thx for uploading it. 😄
Parents were divorced. Mom was a mean drunk. I wanted to get through dinner as fast as possible, so I got beaten up because of that. See dear ol’ mom expected us to act like little angels at a sit down dinner with adults but we were just little boys. She was drama queen who couldn’t just have a calm peaceful dinner. Dinner at my dad’s house was way different no drama just calm conversation.
Growing up my parents made sure we sat down in the kitchen and have supper together. No watching television or anything like that. I missed those days. Nothing like pleasant conversations during supper
What many people don't realize about this educational films is that they portray ideal families/lives/individuals... The ideal is something you want to reach (or someone else want you to reach) but cannot be actually reached. That's also the magic of all these films and clips from the 50s here, the era of conformity, conservatism and many vids of how to behave. Don't take these little movies as a proof how great the times were... it was Instagram of ol' times. You shouldn't feel bad that you don't have such perfect life/family etc. It's not about the era itself.
@Nathan Nitai Das Just wasn't typical then. Those were not truly the good Ole days unless approving of the 'underbelly'. Especially b4 dad started berating and beating the heck out of mom.
Without a doubt one of the best of it's genre. I suggest watching this and then watching the version done by MST3K to discover which is your family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone😉
Yes, like you I watched this just two days before Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I never witnessed in person those family-fight types of Thanksgiving that you see in the movies (that Thanksgiving in "Scent of Woman" comes to mind!), maybe because the food was always so good that everybody at the table was happy!
“It is important not to let telephone conversations interfere with your studies” 70 years later: access to any media on Earth in your pocket during school
The problem now is that mother has to work outside the home. It has really disrupted the family. Everyone eating on the fly with no family time. I love seeing the vintage kitchen. I’m glad I grew up in that time. I didn’t have a perfect family in any stretch of the word, but I wouldn’t trade growing up in that time for what I see families going through now in the name of progression.
I too grew up during that time (the 50s), and there are a lot of good memories...it was a good time, unless you were black, then you suffered the hell of segregation.....
@@daniellack3559 Blacks did better than you think, don't discount their strength and bid to survive and ultimately thrive. Yes, they were treated shamelessly so much of the time and deserved so much better, but that doesn't mean that they didn't share love and raise good children and find happiness in their lives.
It a good way to get to know more about your children thoughts and dreams. You make an strong bond among family members. I mean, your family becomes a unit.
Born in 2002, I grew up in a family that ate together more so when i was younger, but in front of the tv in the living room. As I got kind of older, we sat in separate rooms more of the time to eat. I was usually eating in my own bedroom. I think i remember liking this at the time, but when I have my own family, i wanna sit at the table together most evenings to engage more and conversate. Although i wouldn't be opposed to my children asking to eat maybe outside or in the other room occasionally.
I mean, the frozen meal products literally marketed as "TV dinners" debuted in the '50s and became an instant success, but sure, everything was better then. Good ol' "pleasant, unemotional conversation!"
This was shortly after World War Two and families were happy to be together again. With COVID-19 taking so many loved ones I believe families are beginning to coming back to the closeness again. Probably not as uptight as these people, but appreciating their loved ones more.
Mr. Samson Zvjsnaki, Mrs. Dorito Zvjsnaki, the daughter is Rotunda and the big brother is 'Zippy' Zvjsnaki and the little brother is Bob Smith (his real father was the milkman).
It would blow that starchy phone guy's mind to know that in the future, people would be watching him on their phones. In the future future people just time travel back to the thing they want to see... oh wait I've said too much. Happy 2023 everyone!
I almost want to say it's for non-English speakers learning English simply because the subject matter is so mundane. It reminds me of the videos I watched while learning Spanish and German, just that those were more modern in their presentation.
"Junior seats Dad, and Sister seats the dog, and the dog..." "Probably should have washed my hands after handling that dead possum..." "1 + 1... ugh..."
Yes, in the 50's my family always had dinner together, though the only rules I remember were no elbows on the table, and (as mentioned in another comment) clean your plate--or my father would say something like "Is that for the starving Armenians?... I had no idea where Armenia was, or why they were starving...
Yes! No elbows at the table. Chew with your mouth closed. Don’t talk with your mouth full. Ask to leave the table when done. It was how we learned manners 😊
I grew up like this. Only that culturally, our dinner was lunch. A four-course lunch daily. My parents always were perfectly dressed even for breakfast.
Back then a meal was family time, the one moment everyone was together during the day. When familes started going out to eat in the growing number of restraunts in late 50s early 1960s, they also dressed up as it was a treat and not done often. Even going to sears was a big family adventure. At times i miss those days of long ago though i bearly saw any of that myself.
This reminds me of the routine I experienced every evening growing up in the 1960s. Sadly with my own kids the formal dinner routine was scrapped once the kids hit their teen years, and I fear my grandkids would find this whole video to be totally alien except for formal holiday meals a few times a year.
My mom always made sure we had dinner as a family I think it is important but even my sister prefers chaos in her household the tv on full blast the kids screaming. I think people love noise and distraction now.
3:41 - "These boys greet their Dad as though they're generally glad to see him, as though they had really missed being away from him during the day and are anxious to talk to him" :) WTF?
Those are ways to show their gratitude and respect for their breadwinner dad? If I know my dad has a stressful day at work, and is really looking forward to seeing his children, those are the least things I would do, even if I don't really want to, because hey, who wouldn't do that to their sole provider of the household, who has to carry the whole family on his back?
I look at this and laugh because there was NO way people acted like this. Funny how everything changed after the time. When my mom cooks we all thank her and then leave to do whatever we have to do because we are all busy. Sometimes my mom isn’t cooking and my siblings and I just eat whatever we want (or I cook) and just do our own crap. This is to unrealistic in my opinion but then again, this was a long time ago, unless people still do it then I’m impress. You keep your life together XD
“Tell mother how good the food is, maybe sis rates a compliment too. It makes them want to continue pleasing you.” OMG! I like these old vids but seriously?!
I don't see nothing wrong with it. If I cook food for someone and that someone tells me that they really liked it I'm going to keep giving them that food, because they told me that that made them happy, and making them happy would make me happy
i can't watch this one w/o mentally adding their hilarious snide comments in! "this boy and girl look quite content with life,and why not?" **answer**"they're high!" *so* many Saturday mornings watching those goofballs with my dad,both of us cackling like hyenas, laughing so hard we cried...good times,good times.
"You can be yourself with your family! ... just be sure that you don't display emotion, discuss topics that interest you, or wear comfortable clothes. And if you're female, be sure you're attractive to your relatives."
Brian Mcdonald because it supposed to denote every man woman and child. As you watch you’re supposed to be able to silently insert your own name into your own role in the family. If it said Bryan helped cut his brothers food than people would think Brian‘s a pretty nice guy and not give it a second thought instead of hey I should be helping to cut my little brothers food. I should step up to the plate and start doing more to help make the meal a nicer experience and do my part. Same with all the other points of etiquette in the little show. It’s an instructional guide so you know how to behave and what’s expected of you when you eat with others.
Brian Mcdonald I’m going to name my kids Brother, Sister, and Junior. Gonna be a little awkward if I have three boys or three girls, but whatever. This film has shown me the way.
CHRONIC illness of even just ONE family member can THROW THE MOST PERFECT FAMILY OUT-OF-WHACK (to put if mildly)... In short, HEALTH always comes FIRST...w/CHRONIC GOOD HEALTH, EVERYTHING ELSE (relationships, finances, etc.) falls right into place! (Too bad the video above never mentions this...)
@@TallyWackaTha2nd That is SO SWEET of you to ask! [Actually, my husband (AND in turn, I) have been VICTIMS of a surgeon's ROYAL SCREW-UP*, my husband has become VIRTUALLY BED-RIDDEN as a result (& as of late, his MENTAL facilities have been insidiously declining)... *DESPITE being told that we HAVE SUBSTANTIAL evidence to sue the surgeon/hospital, NO attorney firm HAS YET to take on our case (the last attorney FINALLY told me that, due to this hospital's MANY CORPORATE ATTORNEYS, it would drag on for Y E A R S , & they (as well as most firms) just don't believe they'd be able to financially pursue it...] 😡 What's been keeping my sanity, is that I'm S U R E there WILL be JUSTICE in the end (in the next life)... DIDN'T mean to ruin your Thanksgiving (just felt the need to vent)...THANK YOU VERY MUCH for giving me the opportunity! 🤗
@@ep900 I am so sorry you all are going through this. Is there any other way besides a lawsuit? I think the expense, the stress, and the years of legal turmoil and misery would be the final stake in the heart. Please fall back on your love for each other and do the best you can; maybe new avenues will open up that you hadn't known about before.
"Pleasant unemotional conversation helps digestion."
D S haaaa
I thought this was a joke. 😂
It gives me gas.😟
This is why I check sources. I was once told the wrinkles on your brain is a memory. No.
@@corndawg15 ... No, Juan. It's real. My family had dinner together every day. There was my mom, her mom who lived with us, my step-dad, and me and my three brothers.
And no matter how busy my mom and step-dad were at work all day, when dinnertime arrived, we all knew it was time to gather, to meet, at the dining room table.
Even on weekends when we all had off, no matter where we were or how far we had wandered away from home, we all still knew we had to be home in time for dinner. There were no cell phones with which we called or texted each other, and I didn't wear a watch. I knew what time of day it was by the position of the sun - even on a cloudy day.
We didn't say Grace before meals, but we were thankful nonetheless.
Our parents didn't tolerate arguing at the table.
We were a family unit. It was in the 1950s and 1960s.
Addendum: And if I didn't like what my mom prepared, then I went hungry and didn't eat anything else. That's the way it was.
Then after dinner, my mom would clean up, my step-dad would go sit in his recliner, they would both light up their smokes, Hahaha, and we would watch the evening news - together.
Then each of us would go about our business for the evening, and at the end of the day we knew we had a home to come home to, and sleep a restful sleep, then get up the next day, refreshed for another new day.
It might sound incredible, but, Juan, it was the way it was... and I miss it so.
“Rested, relaxed, and attractive”. Too funny. Although I do remember in the early 70s when I was in grade school that before my dad came home my mom would get all fixed up, maybe put on a long dress, and then they would both have drinks and talk about their days. Of course there were times my mother told my dad how bad we kids had been.
Did you get beat after the drinks?
@Donald Horn, II Oh no, just a stern talking too. I do remember listening from my room (where I had been sent for being bad) to try and hear what they were talking about.
My parents had that cocktail routine, too, which I remember fondly, because it was always nice to see our parents taking time for themselves, when otherwise they spent so much time taking care of us. My mother did NOT share bad things we might have done, she just took care of the discipline immediately and then all was forgiven after that.
There are times when I would like to turn back time to be back at home together with my family. My dad has been gone now 26 years...my mom is 88 and my three siblings are all spread out with their own families. I’m single and so no spouse or kids to always fill thoughts and times. I miss them so much more as time marches on. I do yearn sometimes for us all to be back together...just us 6...under one roof...my wonderful dear family.
O that's so cute 😍 I never understand why it's bad to want to look good when you meet your husband anyway. I never heard someone saying: "What?! You put makeup on and nice clothes when you meet with friends? Oh my goodness how dare they expect that!" So why shouldnt a woman want to look good when seeing her man..
These films encourage me to slow down, say please and thank you and to help out without being asked.
“And it is never a good idea to let telephone conversations interfere with studies”
Me: does that mean RUclips as well?
"The boys greet their father as though they are glad to see him"
Jr: "But I don't want to..."
Brother *holding back tears* "I know, but we must"
😂
all the kids who’ve gon thru abuse resonate wit this one😭
Looks like junior was Mother and Father's little surprise gift from Heaven!
Or Hell.😉
lol
Or the daughters kid
@@ryanjones9498 good point
@@hillaryrichards4718 not back then!
I remember the adage "just wait till your father gets home..."
Which was followed by “Go to your room”. Which wasn’t necessarily punishment, because you had your stereo there and could listen to records, read books (comic or otherwise) and so it wasn’t that bad to go to my room.
@@friendofdorothy9376 Ha...🍄🏵️🌺🦁
@@friendofdorothy9376 and eat there as well. In our apartment everyone eats while sitting at a table.
My dad worked swing shift and got home about one am if my brother or I got caught at something my mom would write it on the front page of the news paper above the fold. When Dad got home he would pull us out of the bed and administer his attitude adjustment .
An atmosphere of warmth and gentleness ..how lovely
I grew up having a sit down dinner with the family every night and my son and I do the same today when he’s home from college. I set the table nicely and we take the time to converse about the day.
I grew up like that, too. So nice that you do that with your son now 😃
Bah... the only reason the older brother served dessert was to cover up the fact that he stole a strawberry earlier.
*pecan
😂👏👏👏
Well spotted. I bet the older brother never does the dishes. I also bet the younger brother never does the dishes. Or the father.
I thought those were walnuts!
@@tessgregory987 Yep... Because doing the dishes is "womanly"
In our family there was no meal culture like this, save on Sundays saying grace. After that the conversation (parents plus seven kids) almost always turned into fierce quarrels and verbal fights. In this film I see what we missed and how nice being together could have been.
Watching this while eating dinner in bed
When I was a kid, my family ate together, though we didn't get changed to do it. It was really nice. I'm glad I have those memories to look back on. Not every meal was idealized harmony, but Mom and Dad kept us kids in line. I remember my grandmother letting me use the gold rimmed dishes to set the table. She taught me how to make a decent arrangement of flowers in a vase...good memories. I'm sorry that more people didn't have that. I have learned that I'm extremely fortunate to have the family I do ( we have our nuts and some unpleasantness, but definitely not as much as some others).
When I was growing up, the whole family ate on TV trays while watching Mary Tyler Moore and The Bob Newhart Show. Those are some of my fondest memories ever.
Television killed family culture and you sat right there letting it happen. Commercials and propaganda...
We watched those 2 shows too!!
Right there with you both! Especially on Saturday nights! CBS had a great line-up!! Gee......what happened to America!!??
Everyone looks their best for dinner, as if they were in an elegant restaurant.
The gentlemen seat the ladies and the younger members of the family.
Father serves Mother, then daughter, then the sons.
Everyone waits for Father to finish serving himself, then start eating when Father and Mother start eating.
How did I miss out on this etiquette class growing up? Better late than never. Thank you Old TV Time for making me wiser!
I'm a little confused by the cognitive dissonance of having the females fuss over their appearance as a stated duty to the males, have them do all the work of shopping , preparing then serving the meal, but then the men pull out the chairs for them as if they're delicate flowers who must be assisted with the chair? Sigh. I'm a weirdo I guess. Lol
@@bucklesmagee3806 For me it's hard to explain but myself as a woman, wife, mother and home maker it's a sense of appreciation. Like my husband and sons may not really know what my day is like to make sure that they are taken care of but they just know that they are. It's little things like pulling out a chair or just being "gentlemanly" that make me feel like they know what I do for them. We are a pretty traditional family by todays terms though.
@@ashleyswinford582 💯
That's not a family that's a play... where is the warmth? Hell no.
We had family dinners but only because my parents grew up that way as well. Love how simple this comes off and honestly, nothing wrong with trying for those who have not before.
I love watching these old educational videos there's so much good information to learn about.
Me too, I'm myself a Brazilian, but find such videos useful, plus, it shows that many things in the past are not as terrible as some try to make it look.
"Affluent?" We didn't have a pot to tinkle in, but we set the table, had pleasant conversation, and used our table manners. Except for the flowers, we didn't look much different. Back then, you strove upwards all the time, to have things nicer for your kids.
Mine lived in a close community: similar blue-collar jobs and cultural customs. Most of our dads helped organize 'block' parties and they addressed issues with common-area maintenance, gardens, and notifying the city about repairs. The moms knew each others' children, and at the very least they would keep an eye out the window while we were playing and quickly be on the scene if a fight broke out or someone fell off a skateboard or fence. And we did sit down to dinner as a family. By my teens that had all changed. Separated parents, latchkey-kid after school. So I've seen both sides. I'm happy I at least got to experience the first one.
Until I was 16, my family always ate dinner together each night.
I am now 27. I don’t miss it.
If my family had been like this, however, I probably would.
That's the thing. This video shows the "ideal" family dinner. But in reality, almost every family was far from this; because of many underlying issues that still persist to this day.
Trust me mate, my dad was around back then and he's call this an idealized fantasy. Not that either of us would not respect some of the basic values stated here, though I'd never take them as far and neither would he.
looks like the most boring dinner i could ever imagine. family is not family without some drama and action ;)
@@ethiennedegagne8779
So..... a dinner like Shrek 2's or Encanto's??
😂😉
@@LeeTheSecond I forget if it was Rick Prelinger or some other archivist of '50s and '60s newsreel/PSA/instructional footage, but he pointed out that if things were as rosy in the 1950s as people think, there wouldn't have been a need for these films to begin with. As he put it, "a lot of the works of the 1950s comes from a place of darkness."
“Be yourself, but be your best self” was always one of my dad’s fave sayings. It took me many years to truly appreciate the wisdom in this simple expression.
In the early 1980s I was in high school. One day while sitting in class, out of the blue, for reasons i cant recall, the school 16mm movie projector was rolled into the classroom. And they played for us several of these old, antiquated 1950s instructional films on how to date, how to be polite, how to behave, etc.
My classmates laughed through them. The wooden acting, the cheap production values, the over politeness, the squeaky clean activities (a picnic, a carnival, a weenie roast, bike riding, a day at the park, dinner at home with the family, etc), the innocent slang of the time (gee, golly, swell, etc).
I on the other hand, wasn't laughing. To the contrary. As someone who was being raised in a severely abusive, dysfunctional home (we NEVER sat together at the same table at meal times. Not even once. Even though we always had a full sized dining room with a full sized dining room table), i found these films to be quite charming. A sort of a time capsule of a more innocent era.
DON'T get me wrong. I had no illusions. I was well aware that the 1950s wasnt so perfect and innocent. That there were negative things going on in the 1950s, such as segregation, criminal activity, corruption in the public and private sectors, poverty, the occasional economic recession, war, etc. No decade is perfect.
But still, it seems to me that there were SOME things in the 1950s they were doing so right back then that we were doing so horribly wrong in the early 1980s as well as today.
How can you complain about segregation _and_ criminal activity in the same post
As I understand it, segregation was legal in the states that practiced it, at least for a time.
If only families were like this today
Watching this was therapeutic
i like how clear this video states "this family does things like this" and doesn't impose it's ideas on everyone else.
I like how Brother does his school work while Daughter is settling the table and helping Mother in the kitchen.
Makes today's families look feral
patricia donald-mcveigh 😆
😂
I'm pretty sure this would make most 50s families look feral - it's an idealised film after all
FERAL IM DEAD
@@MahouKat I mean, if '50s families were really like this, there wouldn't have been any need to make the film.
I can't remember who put it this way--maybe Rick Prelinger, or some other similar collector of old educational shorts--but a lot of this '50s material came from a place of darkess. This era is romanticized now but it had problems of its own just like any other.
Pretty sure dad wrote the script
Why?
Men were the real heads of the households.. Not like today where every human in house wants all to be good only for himself. Thats whats good in this video.
Нови Сад Србија honestly both of those sound horrible, a family should listen to everyone and then come to a consensus, families aren’t a dictatorship nor a an anarchy, everyone needs to work together to have a positive family life. The man being the head of the house is outdated and doesn’t work in modern families as the concept of what family is has evolved and trying to shoehorn an old concept in modern times can only cause strife.
@@igormarinkovic1531 men weren't even heads of their lives.
@Roswold Ferrugia Because having a dictatorial leadership is a very toxic environment for a household, independent of sex or gender.
THOS IS SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!! 😭😭😭🤩🤩🤩😁😁😁❤️❤️❤️❤️
When I was a kid in the 70s my grandparents treated dinnertime very formally, especially sunday dinners. My grandpa would serve everyone at the table and there were a whole bunch of rules of ettiquite we all observed. They really did have dinners just like in this video.
It is impossible to describe the emotional listening to these vintage tunes They are truly music of the heart. ❤
My family ate dinner together every day when I was growing up until us kids slowly moved away one by one. We also took turns reading the Bible and praying every single night, looking back now decades later I think it was a real good way to keep us all grounded and instil life long values which we didn’t even realize at the time. I unreservedly miss those times in todays world.
Never turn your back on family, even when they hurt you. Never let life get the better of you. And if you remember nothing else, remember to find time to eat together as a family, even when times are rough; especially when times are rough. There's no lack of painful things in this world, but hunger and loneliness must surely be two of the worst. Thanks to you, my precious family, I didn't know a moment of either of those the last ninety years.
Love you all.
Good bye.
I see what y'all did here 😍😄 putting out this adorable reminder for a family Thanksgiving dinner. Makes me warm and fuzzy! This should be required viewing for my family...
Ah yes, I too wish to encourage my children to be emotionally dishonest with me so that I can feel better about myself.
Wow I don't see anyone getting yelled at to finish there food or being yelled at about one thing or another now those are real family dinners.Even back then.
These videos are pretty much the way I live my life.
Really??
Lenis Bennett lol yes
Good job! Any tips?
@@rachelpops9239 rethink everything you think you know
Daughter helps her mother to organize the table setting, sons just relaxed. It is really funny and the narrator said the girl looks charming. It is so interesting point of Old times TV. Thx for uploading it. 😄
The son was cleaning up his brother and his room, what video did you watch?
@@christineguerrero5678 he literally did one thing that involved helping out while she was setting at a table and helpung with the cooking
@@renialatrice He was doing homework too...
Parents were divorced. Mom was a mean drunk. I wanted to get through dinner as fast as possible, so I got beaten up because of that. See dear ol’ mom expected us to act like little angels at a sit down dinner with adults but we were just little boys. She was drama queen who couldn’t just have a calm peaceful dinner. Dinner at my dad’s house was way different no drama just calm conversation.
Growing up my parents made sure we sat down in the kitchen and have supper together. No watching television or anything like that.
I missed those days. Nothing like pleasant conversations during supper
I also thought I taught my boys NOT to answer the phone during supper, alas, the cellphone!
What many people don't realize about this educational films is that they portray ideal families/lives/individuals... The ideal is something you want to reach (or someone else want you to reach) but cannot be actually reached. That's also the magic of all these films and clips from the 50s here, the era of conformity, conservatism and many vids of how to behave. Don't take these little movies as a proof how great the times were... it was Instagram of ol' times. You shouldn't feel bad that you don't have such perfect life/family etc. It's not about the era itself.
THANK YOU!!! Nobody seems to understand this
@Nathan Nitai Das Just wasn't typical then. Those were not truly the good Ole days unless approving of the 'underbelly'. Especially b4 dad started berating and beating the heck out of mom.
You boomers sure spend a lot of time trying to convince us the world you destroyed never even existed in the first place.
Without a doubt one of the best of it's genre. I suggest watching this and then watching the version done by MST3K to discover which is your family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone😉
Yes, like you I watched this just two days before Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I never witnessed in person those family-fight types of Thanksgiving that you see in the movies (that Thanksgiving in "Scent of Woman" comes to mind!), maybe because the food was always so good that everybody at the table was happy!
I live for pleasant unemotional conversation. And nightly formal dinners at home.
Excellent way !
how can anything so rigid and structured be relaxed and pleasant?
What a great schedule and family values
If only life with the family could be like this every day and always.
I don’t recall a single time when the family sat together for dinner, pretty sad.
This is so amazing and warm 🥰 this is all I want when I have my person ❤❤❤
“It is important not to let telephone conversations interfere with your studies”
70 years later: access to any media on Earth in your pocket during school
Absolutely beautiful 🤩🤩😍.I am in love with this family, good maners, harmony, marvelous.thank you for sharing
The problem now is that mother has to work outside the home. It has really disrupted the family. Everyone eating on the fly with no family time. I love seeing the vintage kitchen. I’m glad I grew up in that time. I didn’t have a perfect family in any stretch of the word, but I wouldn’t trade growing up in that time for what I see families going through now in the name of progression.
I too grew up during that time (the 50s), and there are a lot of good memories...it was a good time, unless you were black, then you suffered the hell of segregation.....
Ok boomer
@@daniellack3559 Blacks did better than you think, don't discount their strength and bid to survive and ultimately thrive. Yes, they were treated shamelessly so much of the time and deserved so much better, but that doesn't mean that they didn't share love and raise good children and find happiness in their lives.
Still a good idea to have dinner with family at least once a week.
I agree
It a good way to get to know more about your children thoughts and dreams. You make an strong bond among family members. I mean, your family becomes a unit.
03:40 as long as you do it "as tho they are genuinely glad to see him! as tho they had really missed him!"
Good acting BOYS!
I love your channel so much. It's great looking through these films. Daughter is stunning in this...
Born in 2002, I grew up in a family that ate together more so when i was younger, but in front of the tv in the living room. As I got kind of older, we sat in separate rooms more of the time to eat. I was usually eating in my own bedroom. I think i remember liking this at the time, but when I have my own family, i wanna sit at the table together most evenings to engage more and conversate. Although i wouldn't be opposed to my children asking to eat maybe outside or in the other room occasionally.
1950= Eats and talks
2020= watching tv
People still watch tv these days? Man I quit that junk over 20 years ago.
Watching screens same thing😥
@@joey_outdoors dam that's actually impressive.. Nice job.
@@R_JT69 Thanks man. Got any Phids?
I mean, the frozen meal products literally marketed as "TV dinners" debuted in the '50s and became an instant success, but sure, everything was better then. Good ol' "pleasant, unemotional conversation!"
What planet is this?
John T. Cook well trump is a republican, yet the world looks worse than before
Mars.
@@wbnxd5856 this has nothing to do with politics, kindly shut up
@@picopico7114 bUt EvErYtHinG iS pOLiTicS
@@picopico7114 they were talking to someone else before they deleted their comment, i think that's pretty obvious lol.
This was shortly after World War Two and families were happy to be together again. With COVID-19 taking so many loved ones I believe families are beginning to coming back to the closeness again. Probably not as uptight as these people, but appreciating their loved ones more.
Then mother, then daughter, then brother, then junior, then father. I'm sorry, but do these people have names???
Yes: "Pussy Galore, Shlomo and the kids Flotsam and Jetsam.
This is really great. It's not personal it's just goals
Like grace, each is treated with reverence and respect. No names? It’s part of pleasant and unemotional, thus happy, family life.
Mr. Samson Zvjsnaki, Mrs. Dorito Zvjsnaki, the daughter is Rotunda and the big brother is 'Zippy' Zvjsnaki and the little brother is Bob Smith (his real father was the milkman).
@@poetcomic1 source please
It would blow that starchy phone guy's mind to know that in the future, people would be watching him on their phones. In the future future people just time travel back to the thing they want to see... oh wait I've said too much. Happy 2023 everyone!
I love the use of the word 'relaxed' lol.
This is wonderful!!!
8:47 “Most families don’t have maids.” What kind of audience was this film made for, exactly?
Middle - upper middle class WASP families.
I almost want to say it's for non-English speakers learning English simply because the subject matter is so mundane. It reminds me of the videos I watched while learning Spanish and German, just that those were more modern in their presentation.
@@cottoncandiez8872 WASP stands for White Anglo-Saxton Protestant
@@cottoncandiez8872 watch wolf of wall street
@@zeenasty *Saxon
What nice manners. Boy have times changed.
"Junior seats Dad, and Sister seats the dog, and the dog..."
"Probably should have washed my hands after handling that dead possum..."
"1 + 1... ugh..."
"Father feigns eating, draws Junior out, then disowns him!"
"Be yourself. Just make sure its your BEST self"
@@Paul-vc8on I was just quoting. Not commenting
I was born in 1945 their was 7 of us we only had one rule if you put it on your plate you eat it ALL before you get up.
That's a fair rule!
The energy in this comment feels very homely, I hope we get to meet one day :)
I always wondered what happened if you were served too much and couldn't finish it all. Did you have to eat it anyway?
Yes, in the 50's my family always had dinner together, though the only rules I remember were no elbows on the table, and (as mentioned in another comment) clean your plate--or my father would say something like "Is that for the starving Armenians?... I had no idea where Armenia was, or why they were starving...
Yes! No elbows at the table. Chew with your mouth closed. Don’t talk with your mouth full. Ask to leave the table when done. It was how we learned manners 😊
my father was obsessed with no elbows on the table. very annoying when you're just a tired kid and forced to sit at the table. boomers
Today this is Riht Wing Extreme
My dad was a kid then and trust me, this is just idealized fantasy!
No, not so. This was everyday in the house I grew up in, with exception of the sport coat on the older boy.
@@robertlee6781 Same with him. He just said it wasn't so idealized.
I grew up like this. Only that culturally, our dinner was lunch. A four-course lunch daily. My parents always were perfectly dressed even for breakfast.
@@AB-fr5lg A better time of the day, one was less tired.
Seems like every family today breaks every one of these rules.
well at least we solved the phone problem - everyone has their own nowadays....LOL
Back then a meal was family time, the one moment everyone was together during the day. When familes started going out to eat in the growing number of restraunts in late 50s early 1960s, they also dressed up as it was a treat and not done often. Even going to sears was a big family adventure. At times i miss those days of long ago though i bearly saw any of that myself.
they live so much nicer then my family 😥
I wish we could bring back class.
We can, one person at a time.
This reminds me of the routine I experienced every evening growing up in the 1960s. Sadly with my own kids the formal dinner routine was scrapped once the kids hit their teen years, and I fear my grandkids would find this whole video to be totally alien except for formal holiday meals a few times a year.
My mom always made sure we had dinner as a family I think it is important but even my sister prefers chaos in her household the tv on full blast the kids screaming. I think people love noise and distraction now.
@5:00 "good bread.good meat,good God,i'm baptist,let's eat!"
Perhaps that explai- TELEPHONE CALL!
Why is this so addicting
Its like a creepy leave it to beaver 😂
3:41 - "These boys greet their Dad as though they're generally glad to see him, as though they had really missed being away from him during the day and are anxious to talk to him" :) WTF?
Those are ways to show their gratitude and respect for their breadwinner dad? If I know my dad has a stressful day at work, and is really looking forward to seeing his children, those are the least things I would do, even if I don't really want to, because hey, who wouldn't do that to their sole provider of the household, who has to carry the whole family on his back?
I look at this and laugh because there was NO way people acted like this. Funny how everything changed after the time. When my mom cooks we all thank her and then leave to do whatever we have to do because we are all busy. Sometimes my mom isn’t cooking and my siblings and I just eat whatever we want (or I cook) and just do our own crap. This is to unrealistic in my opinion but then again, this was a long time ago, unless people still do it then I’m impress. You keep your life together XD
My grandparents were like this. My parents were more relaxed, but still eating together was the focal point of each day.
In Germany most families eat at least one, if not more meals together (usually dinner)
it’s because most of the 50s families didn’t do this lmao
Oh they did. We just live in a post modern society where everyone is a broken depressed nihilist slob.
Hmmmm...... I don't recall Dad washing his hands before dinner.
good memories
“Tell mother how good the food is, maybe sis rates a compliment too. It makes them want to continue pleasing you.” OMG! I like these old vids but seriously?!
Reminds me of one of the Simpsons episodes, were Homer tells Bart something very similar. Jaajaj
Was the one we're Liza compite in a Beauty pageant. 😂
do you think it's not the real reason why anyone ever said thanks to anyone?
I think it teaches appreciation 😊
I don't see nothing wrong with it. If I cook food for someone and that someone tells me that they really liked it I'm going to keep giving them that food, because they told me that that made them happy, and making them happy would make me happy
Does anyone know why this short film at the time was made to begin with? Who was this made for?
The MST3K riff on this is the best. THE BEST guys
"Father feigns eating, draws Junior out, then disowns him!"
i can't watch this one w/o mentally adding their hilarious snide comments in! "this boy and girl look quite content with life,and why not?" **answer**"they're high!"
*so* many Saturday mornings watching those goofballs with my dad,both of us cackling like hyenas, laughing so hard we cried...good times,good times.
Dang that dinner looks yummo
"You can be yourself with your family! ... just be sure that you don't display emotion, discuss topics that interest you, or wear comfortable clothes. And if you're female, be sure you're attractive to your relatives."
Cool 😀
Why isn't Jr dressed up?
Because he's a little pig.
they took this from you
I guess they didn't have names back then.🤔
😂😂😂
Brian Mcdonald
because it supposed to denote every man woman and child. As you watch you’re supposed to be able to silently insert your own name into your own role in the family. If it said Bryan helped cut his brothers food than people would think Brian‘s a pretty nice guy and not give it a second thought instead of hey I should be helping to cut my little brothers food. I should step up to the plate and start doing more to help make the meal a nicer experience and do my part. Same with all the other points of etiquette in the little show.
It’s an instructional guide so you know how to behave and what’s expected of you when you eat with others.
Brian Mcdonald I’m going to name my kids Brother, Sister, and Junior. Gonna be a little awkward if I have three boys or three girls, but whatever. This film has shown me the way.
lol! 😉!
When did Father freshen up or wash his hands before dinner?
Now I know I owe it to men to be attractive!
And at ALL times too missy (whip crack)
Yes, but it goes both ways.
If a man is paying your bills, that's the least you owe him.
@@palaceofwisdom9448 Ain't no man paying MY way, nope!
@@friendofdorothy9376 That must be why all those wives on tv wear full make up to bed...
Alanis morrisette sampled this for “king of intimidation “ and it was genius.
CHRONIC illness of even just ONE family member can THROW THE MOST PERFECT FAMILY OUT-OF-WHACK (to put if mildly)...
In short, HEALTH always comes FIRST...w/CHRONIC GOOD HEALTH, EVERYTHING ELSE (relationships, finances, etc.) falls right into place! (Too bad the video above never mentions this...)
Are you okay?
@@TallyWackaTha2nd
That is SO SWEET of you to ask! [Actually, my husband (AND in turn, I) have been VICTIMS of a surgeon's ROYAL SCREW-UP*, my husband has become VIRTUALLY BED-RIDDEN as a result (& as of late, his MENTAL facilities have been insidiously declining)...
*DESPITE being told that we HAVE SUBSTANTIAL evidence to sue the surgeon/hospital, NO attorney firm HAS YET to take on our case (the last attorney FINALLY told me that, due to this hospital's MANY CORPORATE ATTORNEYS, it would drag on for Y E A R S , & they (as well as most firms) just don't believe they'd be able to financially pursue it...] 😡
What's been keeping my sanity, is that I'm S U R E there WILL be JUSTICE in the end (in the next life)...
DIDN'T mean to ruin your Thanksgiving (just felt the need to vent)...THANK YOU VERY MUCH for giving me the opportunity! 🤗
@@ep900 I am so sorry you all are going through this. Is there any other way besides a lawsuit? I think the expense, the stress, and the years of legal turmoil and misery would be the final stake in the heart. Please fall back on your love for each other and do the best you can; maybe new avenues will open up that you hadn't known about before.
@@thomasdosborneii
Thank you VERY much for that (been doing that)! Hope you're having a BEAUTIFUL weekend...
They have plastic flowers growing in the backyard?
This is just nostalgia of the 50s.
Good old days
"The boys pretend to generally see their father" bloody hell calm down narrator
Good times back then!
Nobody was looking at their cellphones during dinner or a Bluetooth device stuck in their ear.!
Ok boomer
Ok
I agree and I'm only 25.