OH+Questions+and+Responses

=Oral History Questions and Responses=

Interviewee: My grandma, Beverly Lapins
in general i would say, happy It was a good time for me. i was young and single and having a good time. cold war going on with russia. that was not so good. in general it was a good time
 * 1. Overall, how would you describe the 50s?**

What did girls, women, boys, and men where, and where did they where it?poodle skirts, petticotes, young girls wore bobby socks with poodle skirts. guys wore short sleaved sport shirts, plaids and things, and not jeans so much. They wore black pants a lot, just plain trousers. The girls style was awful. when you traveled you needed to pack these things. when you sat down your skirt would go up
 * 2. What would you say the style was in the 1950s?**

elvis presly. that was sort of a first. i remember hte first time one of my girlfriends, she said "i just heard of this one guy on the radio, Elvsis Presley. he's so good.
 * 3. What do you think of when you hear the words Rock and Roll in the 50s?**

you know, it didn't affect my life int he 50s. i graduated from high school in 1948, and our high school had quite a few black kids, but they werent segregated. if they played football or musicians, they were highly regarded. in the fifties i had no contact. i worked in advertising and the theatre and there were no blacks. i lived in minneapolis and there wasnt a big black population.
 * 4. Was there a lot of segregation and/or racism where you grew up? If so, how did it affect your life?**

all the men came home from the army in after 1945 and 46, and when they came back from the war most of them went to college and the govt payed for education. a lot of them wen tot school. young people became more upscale, getting professions and college educations. until after the was the majority of the people didnt go to college, but afterwards most of the people i knew went to college. most people got married young. when we graduated from highschool the majority of girls and men were married within a few years. the dream was to get married and move to a house in the suburbs and have about 3 kids. it was unusual not to get married by the time you were 25. not everybody had two cars. it wasnt the norm for a couple or family to have 2 cars at that time. it just wasnt done and people that built houses generally didnt have two car garages. it was a very simple time actually.
 * 5. How would you characterize the "American dream" in he 1950s?**

i went to the movies a lot. i was dating papa from 1953 on and we used to go t o the movies a lot and we went to plays a lot. i worked. before i went into advertising i worked for a theatre with plays and things, so we saw all the plays and went to all the basketball games. i really didnt watch much television. i was busy going out, i worked some evenings at the theatre but papa and i would watch the tonight show. and we would watch a ball game sometimes. and it was black and white, there was really no color television and the sets were small.
 * 6. How did television and movies affect your life? How often did you watch tv or go to the movie theater?**

well, in the summer the girls that i worked with who were also my friends played golf. on fridays we would get out of work early and play golf. and we went to the movies. some of my college girlfriends and i had a club called the "faualker readers" and it was a joke because we never read faulkner. and we would cook. we liked to have dinner parties and cook different things. we always had to go to showers cuz everyone was getting married. a lot of my time was spent more with couples because for the majority of the 50s i was dating papa. he had a lot of cousins we would go out with. we would just get together on weekends for house parties and go out to dinner. in winter i would go skating on sunday afternoons.
 * 7. What were your friends and your favorite activities in the 50s?**

the clothes and the general attitudes of people were pretty spot on. people seemed to be kind of innocent at the time and fairly happy. of course, nobody's life is like a sitcom but in general it was a happy and easy time. there wasnt a lot of unemployment. nobody was getting very rich but people were happy and there was a lot of hanging out.
 * 8. How do you think shows like "Happy Days" and the movie "Greece" show the 50s? Is it very accurate, aside from the singing in Greece of course?**

i had interesting jobs, there was no problem ever getting a job. i was working part time for the theatre while i was in school. after that i stayed in the theatre for a while and that was wonderful. i met so many show people and i went to chicago and LA once and saw Guys and Dolls. not many girls unless they were from the country and came to the city, most girls lived with their family. you had money to spend and we all spent a lot of money on clothes and makeup and going on little weekends here and there. going to chicago or a resort up north. we were able to do things. everything was rather inexpensive. i went to europe twice. and it was just a good time. most of the women were not employed outside the home. it jsut wasnt necessary. they stayed home and raised the children and the husband worked. nobody was trying to get rich. we were all just enjoying life.
 * 9. How did the business boom after WWII in the 50s have an effect you?**

well of course my trips to europe were great memories. also the people i met in the theatre, being able to meet actors and managers. and when shows came to town, every night i would go in and sit on the stairs and watch it. i practically knew them all by heart. and then of course the fact that i was dating your grandfather, that was good times.
 * 10. What was your absolute favorite part of the 50s or your best memory?**