The Decade With No Name - Page 6

Morrigoon · 07-01-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Would flappers be instantaneously 20's if they endured in the 30's? Poodle skirts as 50's if they remained in the 60's? I guess my examples work easiest with fashion, but I think this factor applies more widely.

It was earlier noted that the effects of the "distinct decades" seem to run from the 2nd or 3rd year to the next 2nd or 3rd year. Certainly true with the 50's clearly brimming through the early 60's, and the 60's clearly running thru the early 70's.

I'm afraid I have to correct you on one of these. The 50's as we know it really began in the late 40's, especially with regard to fashion. Christian Dior's New Look of 1947 was a defining moment in fashion history, and marked the change from fabric-conservative 40's looks into the decadence and femininity that would define women's fashion in the 1950's. Included in that, would be the silhouette that would later become the iconic poodle skirt.

I think it might be fair to conclude that the 50's as we know it actually ran for about 15 years (sort of like Disney anniversary years?)

Alex · 07-01-2009, 12:43 PM

Yeah, as mentioned before, many of these "decades" don't quite match the calendar.

The 50s to me run from the end of World War II to 1957 or so. And are all about the United States dealing with its new position as the most powerful nation in the world, the burgeoning communist "threat" and a booming economy.

'57 to '63 is kind of a gray area as the Civil Rights movement starts to fracture the perceived conformity and "go along get along" tone of the '50s but the sixties don't really get going until the Vietnam War gets added to that mix and as a nation we start to struggle with the fact that maybe the government is an active source of wrongdoing. Then the sixties last until 1973 or so when the wind down of the Vietnam War eliminates the bete noir of the counterculture forcing it to see if it can survive all on its own.

Combined with proof that the government isn't to be trusted and economic malaise the '70s really only lasts 5 or 6 years until 1982 or so when Reagan policies really begin to creep in and AIDS lays waste to the ideas of relatively riskfree promiscuity.

But that's my view of it all. The actual "pop cultural" artifacts of each era are secondary byproducts to the larger social phenomena producing.

innerSpaceman · 07-01-2009, 02:24 PM

I think it might be fair to say that most people, unlike our beloved Alex, don't think of the nostalgic past in anthro-political terms.

Ghoulish Delight · 07-01-2009, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

I think it might be fair to say that most people, unlike our beloved Alex, don't think of the nostalgic past in anthro-political terms.

Watergate, Vietnam, Berlin Wall falling, Desert Storm, I Have a Dream, Great Depression. Those define decades just as much as bell bottoms and hoop skirts ever did.

innerSpaceman · 07-01-2009, 03:34 PM

Desert Storm, really?

Ghoulish Delight · 07-01-2009, 03:42 PM

Yes, really. Green night vision images of anti aircaft fire still = Desert Storm and the 90s to me.

Tom · 07-01-2009, 04:17 PM

Yes, really. I'm another who thinks of decades first in anthro-political terms. When I think of the fifties, the first things to mind are red scare, McCarthyism, Brown vs. Board of Ed, I like Ike. Thoughts of cars with fins, hula hoops and Elvis are secondary.

Alex · 07-01-2009, 04:19 PM

I will put you two on the mailing list for my cult newsletter.

Ghoulish Delight · 07-01-2009, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex

I will put you two on the mailing list for my cult newsletter.

I'm only partway in. I consider both sides of the coin relatively equally. I think the political and the cultural/pop cultural are rather inseparable.

innerSpaceman · 07-01-2009, 04:31 PM

I think the big political and socio-economic crossovers are considered by the larger populi as endemic to their times. Yes, the Great Depression certainly DEFINES the 30's in America.

Vietnam is essential to everyone's consideration of the 60's.

The Cold War went on so long I don't think it can be ascribed to any particular decade.

But wow, the 10-day Desert Storm action being essential to the 90's? My mileage certainly varies on that one.

I'm not making anyone wrong. If that's 90's to you, then it is. There's nothing incorrect about picking and choosing which elements of time you assign in your mind as quintessential to any artificially-defined time period.

So yeah, I suppose even I can come up with a political element or two that are quintessential to the Milleni-Os (sp? - but I love that term). But no pop-cultural ones spring to my mind ... for the last 20 years. No fashions (seems everything is a re-tread of earlier fashions). No music (nothing seems a new and unique style). I'm getting the distinct feeling It's All Been Done.

07-01-2009, 12:43 PM	#52
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Yeah, as mentioned before, many of these "decades" don't quite match the calendar. The 50s to me run from the end of World War II to 1957 or so. And are all about the United States dealing with its new position as the most powerful nation in the world, the burgeoning communist "threat" and a booming economy. '57 to '63 is kind of a gray area as the Civil Rights movement starts to fracture the perceived conformity and "go along get along" tone of the '50s but the sixties don't really get going until the Vietnam War gets added to that mix and as a nation we start to struggle with the fact that maybe the government is an active source of wrongdoing. Then the sixties last until 1973 or so when the wind down of the Vietnam War eliminates the bete noir of the counterculture forcing it to see if it can survive all on its own. Combined with proof that the government isn't to be trusted and economic malaise the '70s really only lasts 5 or 6 years until 1982 or so when Reagan policies really begin to creep in and AIDS lays waste to the ideas of relatively riskfree promiscuity. But that's my view of it all. The actual "pop cultural" artifacts of each era are secondary byproducts to the larger social phenomena producing.
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07-01-2009, 02:24 PM	#53
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	I think it might be fair to say that most people, unlike our beloved Alex, don't think of the nostalgic past in anthro-political terms.
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07-01-2009, 03:34 PM	#55
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Desert Storm, really?
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07-01-2009, 03:42 PM	#56
Ghoulish Delight I Floop the Pig Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Alternative Swankstyle Posts: 19,348	Yes, really. Green night vision images of anti aircaft fire still = Desert Storm and the 90s to me. __________________ 'He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.' -TJ
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07-01-2009, 04:17 PM	#57
Tom Valued member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 541	Yes, really. I'm another who thinks of decades first in anthro-political terms. When I think of the fifties, the first things to mind are red scare, McCarthyism, Brown vs. Board of Ed, I like Ike. Thoughts of cars with fins, hula hoops and Elvis are secondary.
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07-01-2009, 04:19 PM	#58
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	I will put you two on the mailing list for my cult newsletter.
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07-01-2009, 04:31 PM	#60
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	I think the big political and socio-economic crossovers are considered by the larger populi as endemic to their times. Yes, the Great Depression certainly DEFINES the 30's in America. Vietnam is essential to everyone's consideration of the 60's. The Cold War went on so long I don't think it can be ascribed to any particular decade. But wow, the 10-day Desert Storm action being essential to the 90's? My mileage certainly varies on that one. I'm not making anyone wrong. If that's 90's to you, then it is. There's nothing incorrect about picking and choosing which elements of time you assign in your mind as quintessential to any artificially-defined time period. So yeah, I suppose even I can come up with a political element or two that are quintessential to the Milleni-Os (sp? - but I love that term). But no pop-cultural ones spring to my mind ... for the last 20 years. No fashions (seems everything is a re-tread of earlier fashions). No music (nothing seems a new and unique style). I'm getting the distinct feeling It's All Been Done.
	Submit to Quotes