Have a date with your family tonite! Mental Hygiene 50's film, my have times changed

[carlyhippy]

was it really like this? I was not born until the 60's, and sorry, I don't remember wearing a dress or picking flowers for a centerpiece at my house for the evening meal. haha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtVKo1mdrjE

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I grew up in the '50s and it was sort of like that in my family, though not as extreme.

We couldn't come to dinner in our play clothes, though we didn't have to dress up. But Mom almost always wore a dress and an apron. The TV (when we finally got one in about 1956) had to be turned off and the whole family had to eat together. We did all the etiquette stuff -- napkins on the lap, no elbows on the table, nobody could start eating until everyone had been served, "Please pass the carrots," don't salt your food until you've tasted it because you're insulting the cook (Mom); don't talk with your mouth full; no dessert until you've finished your main course; nobody leaves the table until everyone has finished eating; no whining, arguing or fighting at the table. I guess it was a little more formal in those days, but good table manners were really a big deal then.

[Hepburn]

3. Ditto...

...sounds about like my home in the 1950s.

:hi:

[bbinacan]

7. Same experience as you

but without Mom in the dress and apron. This was in the 60s and 70s. And there was NO TV at dinner. I think families should dine together more.

[customerserviceguy]

8. "The TV had to be turned off and the whole family had to eat together. "

Y'know, that's not the worst thing in the world. I found that the dinner table was a great place to connect with my kids, and later, when my former wife and I had exchange students, it was a truly wonderful place to learn from them, and teach them about the grand experience they were on.

Families who "grab a bite" and shuffle down in front of the boob tube are missing a valuable opportunity.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Yabbut... My favorite shows were on at supper time!

"Mooo-oom! My show is on! Do we HAFTA eat dinner now?"

[customerserviceguy]

12. And that's why we have the VCR

Although, I gotta admit, we did flip the TV around at dinnertime when the Mariners were in the playoffs.

Obviously, I can't say that happened much... :(

[MisterP]

2. the MST3K version is terrifying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THYVh9AhtLk
in fact, Ken Smith's Mental Hygiene is a compendium of postwar-era crap

[carlyhippy]

4. Bwhaahahahahah! That is funny

I love MST's take

[juno jones]

6. MST is always good!

:fistbump:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

13. My wife and I still quote from MST's version.

"Emotions are for ethnic people."

[HillbillyBob]

5. Gee I was born in 62, and if the evidence of what

my family was like...was not this. Moms may have stayed home, but by the 60s they were taking valium and seconol with that 4pm martooni(difference is martini and martoonie is the second is made in a pint size glass!)
Can't ya just smell the repression?
TV off and manners aside things were different later.
I do leave the tube on now and since Im the cook it's ready when its ready. I try to keep it on a schedule, but partner works a second job. We have dogs not kids..they wait until we have eaten to get their treat. They get their bowls filled about 5 pm.
I have gotten to where I eat when I get it ready. Trying to get husbear to the table while it is still hot..after 8 years I gave up because I won't eat a cold dinner after I have spent hours cooking it. After 13 years its 'honey its on the stove'.
Long term hiv, really screws up your appetite, if I have to wait too long I don't want it anymore. My appetite fades or i get too hungry and sick.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

10. Bookmarking for later

have to go rattle some of those pots and pans
Edit to add: :hi: Thanks for posting

[alphafemale]

11. Ugh I'd rather share meager scraps with this family

Than dine with that repressed, rigid group.

ugh