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One of the things that always pops into my mind when listing to an old radio show, and in particular listing to the ads, is how we have changed. This of course has occurred due to "progress" and political correctness a concept in itself unknown to those in the 1930's,40's or 50's.

We were advised to smoke cigarettes as they were healthy for you. Fur coats were the prize possession on any woman, and men could manhandle women with little, or any, impunity.

For those reading this who were born after 1951/1953, you would not remember the days before television. What I would like to do is put those years in some perspective, so when you do hear something politically incorrect you understand the times and it's social mores etc.

These are my observations of the period. Admittedly I was not even a teenager before the advent of TV. I make no apology to making this Melbourne centric, but this is where I was brought up. So if I have got anything wrong, left anything out or you just want to add your own please do.
We encourage your input!

so how have we changed? …

the mother country

Simply put, Australia in the 30's through 50's was very British. This was understandable as, though we had been on our own, so to speak, we had no reason to break any ties with Great Britain when we gained independence in 1901. Unlike many other countries in the British Empire, Commonwealth, we had minimal angst against the British during the whole period we were under her direct rule.

The majority of migrants to Australia were from the British Isles and the percentage has even been maintained today. We were not a multicultural country, as we are today. No one would have understood the term nor would have embraced what it entails. Overtly, if you were a migrant from a country other than those in Great Britain, you were expected to conform to the "Australian way of life". Of course as more and immigrants arrived the "Australian way of life" slowly changed to what it is today

We were part of the greatest Empire of the day. As a child I took great pleasure in opening an atlas admiring the extent of the Empire. We learnt, much in school, about British History and though we had Australian history, it seemed to stop in 1901. Many of us could recite the Kings and Queens of England but how many could recite the list of Australian Prime Ministers

We would celebrate the Empire on 24th May each, Empire Day. Though not a public holiday, we school children would be taken to the local movie theatre to see such movies as Horatio Hornblower with that intrepid Englishman, Gregory Peck or Where No Vultures Fly and more.

We also, and still do, celebrate the Queens Birthday and though no holiday we celebrated Guy Fawkes Day by setting fires or letting off fire crackers. But the celebration of the latter ceased when fireworks were banned

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the church

The church, and its teachings, had far greater influence than it does today. Most people went to church or at least said they said they were Christian. The priest was much more regarded then than today, and so were the teachings of the church and these pervaded society in may ways.

How we worked and played

The work week was was by the mid 50's a 5 or five and ½ days a week. Sunday was the day of rest which meant that offices would work Monday to Friday where retail would work half a day Saturday. Nothing was open on Sunday. This extended to places of entertainment and hotels. All sports were played Saturday afternoon, none of this starting a football round on a Thursday night and ending the round on a Sunday or even Monday. You knew the ladder by Saturday evening.

Pubs were not only limited to trade 6 days a week but they also had to close at 6pm each day. This came to be known as the 6 o'clock swill where you finished work at around 5pm rushed to the pub and drank as much as you could until 6pm. Being drunk was not a social stigma, especially among men.

what we read,heard and saw

We were censored in all aspects. Display or writing about sex was a total no-no as was the display of human flesh, the naughty bits that is. Plays and books were banned and any display of the naughty bits were excised from movies. Even using words that scientifically or not, described these parts of the anatomy were forbidden on radio, even such words as pregnancy, virgin and so on were not allowed

There were anomalies. The Tivoli and such theatres were allowed to display bare breasted women as long as they were motionless and usually covered in white powder. Magazines such as Playboy were banned of course but we had mags such as Man and Man Jr which showed the naked woman with nipples and genital area airbrushed out.

If not obvious sex was topic not written or talked about.

The magazine of choice of all pubescent boys was of course National Geographics. Whereas, the white naked anglo-saxon female form could not be readily viewed, the negro/aboriginal woman could be displayed without it seems any impunity. Even such magazines as ABC Weekly, in its articles, had pictures of naked aboriginal men and women on its pages

The teachings of the church also meant that divorce was socially unacceptable and from a legal point of view was very difficult to obtain. The laws itself made it difficult. Similarly there were no legal abortions as we have today, and it was again a disgrace to get pregnant outside of marrage. People did not "live" together before marraige as we do today.

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we moved much slower then

For those who never were without many of today's mod cons, which are taken for granted, there was no internet because there were no personal computers. The computers of the day were as large as a house, so to speak, ran off punched cards and memory were minute. Not everyone had a telephone nor an electric fridge. Many still used ice boxes with ice blocks being delivered every few days.

The most common mode of communication was by letter, so much so that until the mid 50's or so mail was delivered twice a day. The telephone as mentioned was not as commonly used as today. The closest we had of a portable phone was the video phone used by Dick Tracey in his comic strip. To call the country, interstate or overseas was an effort as you would have to book a call through the exchange and wait until the designated time. Country was about 20 miles from the GPO.

The motor vehicle was not as ubiquitous as it is today. Most people went by public transport so we moved much slower getting from point A to B.

Because we did not use the car as we do today, we shopped locally. The concept of malls and supermarkets were foreign to us. We went to the grocer to get our groceries, the fruiterer or greengrocer to get our fruit and vegetables and for our meat we went to the butcher. Each was an individual shop. Locally usually meant just that, a local strip of shops.

If we wanted to get the big ticket item we would go to the city - in my case Melbourne, where there were a number of department stores such as Myers, Ball and Welch,Buckley and Nunn, Foys etc. Going to the city was an occasion for us, meaning getting dressed up in our Sunday best. The highlight of any visit to the city would be lunch at Myers cafeteria

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entertain us

Radio, of course, was the main form of entertainment for most of us. Saturday night was the night of going out, as Sunday was the day of rest. None of this going out Thursday or any other night. The main form of entertainment was the pictures (movies). Going to the pictures was a totally different experience than today.

the interval

Firstly, the movie houses were totally different. There were no multi movie houses. Each picture theatre contained one theatre. They were quite large holding upto thousands of people. Many of the existing theatres have been converted to