Between the Greatest Gen and the Boomers

[Doctor Strange]

A very interesting, perceptive article about the little-discussed generation of Americans born during World War II, written by a member of that cohort:

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Peculiar-Generation/64695/

 

[Warbaby]

That's my generation - the warbabies (though I rather like the term "The Peculiar Generation"). It's a generation that's been relatively ignored as a social influence, but we were the generation that were responsible for the beginnings of rock & roll, the revival of folk music in the late 50s and early 60s, and were some of the earliest hippies (or last of the beatniks).

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is my mother's generation -- but I dunno how much she'd have in common with the generational Zeitgiest this fellow describes. She thought Elvis was filthy, considered Liberace the pinnacle of musical attainment, always listened to Arthur Godfrey on the radio, never missed Mitch Miller on TV, and only ever smoked good wholesome all-American patriotic tobacco. After all, those beatnik kids needed *someone* to make fun of for not being cool.

 

[Alexi]

That's my dad's generation. He hated hippies, thought they were all fake. Yet he spent most of his life misdiagnosed as one. From 1968 (when he got back from Vietnam) to his death in 2005 he almost always had long hair and a beard. He was a pipe smoking, tweed wearing, jazz listening ne'er-do-well.

perhaps being part of this generation was part of it but I always thought it was because one parent was "mixed raced" and the other was a "commie (anarchist actually) union organizer.

 

[Flivver]

In the generational research I've been involved with, we call people born between 1935-45 the "Quiet Generation".

They were the last generation to be brought up with traditional values (spare the rod spoil the child) and they were the teens of the 1950s. They tended to marry early but also became the first generation to divorce in large numbers in the 1970s. They tend to be altruistic and value integrity. They expect goods to be of high quality and last a long time.

Although I am not a member of this generation (a Boomer, I'm afraid), most of my friends are. They tend to be very nice people and make good loyal friends.

 

[Bourbon Guy]

That's my generation - the warbabies (though I rather like the term "The Peculiar Generation"). It's a generation that's been relatively ignored as a social influence, but we were the generation that were responsible for the beginnings of rock & roll, the revival of folk music in the late 50s and early 60s, and were some of the earliest hippies (or last of the beatniks).

Right. A questionable recommendation.

 

[Geesie]

My parents' generation, also.

From the wiki:

The phrase gained further currency after William Manchester's comment that the members of this generation were "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent."

We would hope that he had enough sense later on to eat his words, after all:

In fact, many revolutionary leaders in the civil rights movement came from the Silent Generation, along with a wide assortment of artists and writers who fundamentally changed the arts in the United States. The Beat Poets, for example, were members of the Silent Generation, as were Martin Luther King and Gloria Steinem. Most rock stars of the 60s were of the Silent Generation, not the Boomers as some believe (some sources cite the Boomers as beginning in 1942; most claim the oldest of the Boomers were born in 1946). Even if the cut-off for the Silent Generation was 1943, it would still contain bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as well as rock stars such as Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin in the Silent Generation. Elvis Presley was also of this generation, as were some of the most famous movie stars of all time such as Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.

:eusa_doh: