Vacations in the 1950s~

There's been a lot of talk recently about how family vacations are going to be affected, with gasoline prices what they are. I think the same financial effects could be felt in the 1950s, when a family wanted to take a vacation on a one-income salary.

When I was a child growing up in the 1950s, we never flew on an airplane when we went on vacation. We went by car. No seatbelts either! I remember the most important things to pack into the backseat, for the ride, were my pillow and my babydoll. I would lay down almost the whole time we were driving. Dad liked to get an early start, leaving about 6am and stopping by 2pm each afternoon.

We never went very far from home on our trips. The maximum was usually two days' travel to get to our destination. The big treat for me was if the motel where we stopped had an outdoor swimming pool and a playground. There were no such things as indoor pools at that time and neither were there charge cards, to make motel reservations ahead of time. Travelers always had to take their chances, hoping to see the infamous "Vacancies" sign lit about the time Dad was ready to stop driving for the day.

My mom always took the cooler along... a big, steel, red plaid Igloo one. It was filled with cold pop, milk, juice, hot dogs, etc. Mom also packed one of those "hot pot" thingies that boiled water fast except we always boiled our hot dogs in it, for our supper. No too many motels had restaurants attached to them and most of the big chain discount eateries in existence today did NOT exist back then. Eating "out" was a luxury that was seldom, even on vacation. If we, as a family, ate one meal per day in a restaurant, that was a big deal.

Not many souvenirs were purchased either but there were indeed some. I think that's where the bulk of my family's "extra" vacation money went... on souvenirs. Something to take home, to remember that particular vacation forever!

It always felt good to get home again though and that much still hasn't changed, from vacations long ago. I think vacations are much more elaborate today, than they were in the 1950s however, and that's a shame. A lot of money isn't needed to go away for a few days. Swinging on a swingset in a different place besides a child's own backyard is still something special. I think parents forget about that and think that a family's vacation has to contain Mickey Mouse or else.

I suppose if kids are raised to expect that, the simple swingset in another town wouldn't mean that much to them. That's a shame too.

~Retro Wife