The three worst vices of 1950...

[Alan Eardley]

In war-time and post-war UK, rationing of food, clothes and fuel created a situation of 'virtuous equality', in which people went to extremes to show that they were in the same situation and had the same things as their neighbours. To do otherwise was to appear unpatriotic, lacking moral fibre or at least to invite criticism - unless it was nylon stockings from GIs, apparently.

In these circumstances, there were three widely recognised Mortal Vices, which in those times of crisis helped to hold together the fabric of society and which had to be avoided at all costs:

Vice 1 Being 'big-headed' - having a high opinion of yourself;
Vice 2 'Showing off' - bragging about having something that others didn't;
Vice 3 Being a 'know-all' - claiming to know something that others didn't.

One day in the early 1950s my friends and I turned up at the village school to find that we had a delightful new teacher. Young, blonde and pretty, she had spent the war in America, where she had done her teacher training. We adored her! Based on films seen at our Saturday morning cinema club, we imagined America to be populated by cowboys, 'red Indians' and gangsters. Heaven! Incredible as it seemed, we were assured that in America lots of ordinary people actually owned motor cars!

Then one day, she dropped a bombshell. In her teaching practice she had learned a classroom activity which she called 'show and tell'. This was clearly very different from our normal 'rote learning' of numbers, weights and measurements and memorising the world's capital cities. With a sort of rising panic we gathered that she wanted us to bring something from home and to stand in front of the class and tell the others something about it!

We were stunned. The shock to the class was palpable. Clearly this placed our mortal souls in (at least) double jeopardy - we would be guilty of the first and second vice and even in serious danger of falling prey to the third. We 'huddled' after school and decided that a Ghandi-like policy of passive resistance was our only course of action.

On the appointed day, we sat, arms folded, with quiet but fierce resolve. Our young teacher asked us one by one what we had brought and shaking heads and a stony silence was the only result. She encouraged, then pleaded and finally raged at us, with no success. 'Captain Mainwaring' would have been proud! In the end she stormed out and returned with the feared Headmaster, who asked the nearest pupil what was wrong. 'Please, sir' said the girl with a combination of scandalous outrage and accusation that I can't quite manage in an e-mail, ''Er wants uz ter show off!".

The Headmaster, understanding the situation instantly, took the young teacher by the elbow and steered her out of the room. Clearly, he took her to his office and explained to her how things worked. She returned in a few moments, rather red-faced, and we were back to reciting our multiplication tables...

Alan

 

[Fletch]

Lucky you. In America in 1950, it was becoming a vice to know anything others didn't know, whether you showed off or not.
The era of the egghead was a-borning. The public-spirited intellectual would soon become the enemy in our midst.

An egghead. Note protective covering.

 

[patrick1987]

Now I understand better why the passengers didn't like Mr. Know-All in Maugham's story.

 

[kenji]

Alan,
Thank you for that wonderful story! Too bad our little war hasn't sparked a similar sense of personal modesty here in the U.S.

 

[Alan Eardley]

Indeed. This is my vice - always has been - and I can't break free of it. I never learn. On one occasion in primary School the class was asked to do some minor reading on Astronomy, and I went 'over the top' memorising the order of the planets and their distance from the Sun. I blurted it out in class to the obvious approval of the teacher. At home time 'the boys' (think Nelson in the Simpsons times five or six) were waiting for me. I still have the broken nose. I learned to fight and went on to be a university professor, which is an absolutely unforgivable profession for know-it-alls.

Alan

Now I understand better why the passengers didn't like Mr. Know-All in Maugham's story.

 

[reetpleat]

An australian once told me about a cultural custom there. I can't remember the term. But it meant that you didn't stand up or distinguish yourself as above others. This could be polite, or it could also manifest in not striving to better yourself I suppose. The reason he explained was that in the outback everyone had to stick together, but maybe it had older roots as well.

I do wonder though, is this also a class thing. Do the english upper class feel the same, or is it a working class thing, perhaps fostered by the poweres that be that would like to kep them in their station.

At that point it becomes not a virtue but a vice to be humble.

Here is the states, amongst various lower class social groups, studying, trying to better yourself, vocabulary, station in life can be seen as uppity or high falutin and discouraged. Shame, as it keeps them right where they are.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Sounds like 'tall poppy syndrome' Reetpleat. The taller the poppy, the more likely it is to get cut off. The more an Australian distinguishes himself, the more his peers resent it and try to drag him back down into mediocrity with the rest of the sheep.

A prime example is Olypmic Gold medallist Kieran Perkins. In the early 1990's, he was lauded as our greatest swimmer, but by the '96 Olympics the media were joyfully declaring him as a 'has-been'. Every second person seemed to want to rubbish him in similar fashion. It was a great moment for him when he won gold in the 1500-metre freestyle.

Another example is Kylie Minogue, derided here long and loud by the press as the 'Singing Budgie', until she made it in the UK. All of a sudden they proudly declared her to be 'Our Kylie', the hypocrites.

Interesting to read about the far-reaching social effects of 'virtuous equality' in the UK, Alan.

 

[Diamondback]

A couple quotes that seems relevant:

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."--Albert Einstein

"Yes, that would be a good idea."--Mahatma Gandhi, when asked for his opinion of "modern civilization"

 

[Josephine]

I recall it's the same in Japan. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

 

[Bill Taylor]

In war-time and post-war UK, rationing of food, clothes and fuel created a situation of 'virtuous equality', in which people went to extremes to show that they were in the same situation and had the same things as their neighbours. To do otherwise was to appear unpatriotic, lacking moral fibre or at least to invite criticism - unless it was nylon stockings from GIs, apparently.

Alan

Alan, somehow I didn't realize that rationing in the UK continued into the 1950s. In the US, rationing started ending in late 1945 and by 1946 was a thing of the past for the most part, although there were shortages. I guess I assumed by the late 40s it was gone in the UK too, even though it had been severely ravaged by the war. How far into the 50s did rationing continue?

Bill

 

[reetpleat]

Alan, somehow I didn't realize that rationing in the UK continued into the 1950s. In the US, rationing started ending in late 1945 and by 1946 was a thing of the past for the most part, although there were shortages. I guess I assumed by the late 40s it was gone in the UK too, even though it had been severely ravaged by the war. How far into the 50s did rationing continue?

Bill

Had to give something for all the teds to do. What was the term for the black marketeers that the teds were associated with?

Here is nthe states, while we pay a lot of lip service to the individual and how our country was built by rebels and pioneers, we can also be quite quick to tear someon down.

A quick perusal of the supermarket magazine aisle will show how much we love to hold up, then tear down celebrities.

Leave Brittany Alooooone!!1

 

[Curt Dawson]

UK/USA

It is interesting to note the one difference between the military's of the UK and USA.I have noted that British military personel see nothing wrong with wearing their medals whenever.Where as in the USA the military avoids wearing their medals.

 

[Haversack]

Regarding the difference in the wearing of medals between the UK and US: The UK forces are relatively chairy in awarding decorations and those awarded tend to be for valourous action. The US military has a much larger slate of awards, recognitions, and campaign ribbons. Mind, it too has specific medals for valour, but they can get lost in all the fruit salad unless you know what you are seeing. Compare sometime the number of ribbons a British infantry LTC wears on his uniform with those worn by a US ordnance PFC. Also the British tend to have more occassions in which it is considered proper to wear medals in civilian attire.

Haversack.

 

[Luddite]

Had to give something for all the teds to do. What was the term for the black marketeers that the teds were associated with?

I think they were known as Spivs!

 

[Smithy]

'tall poppy syndrome'

Not surprisingly called the same thing back home in NZ and truth be told probably even more entrenched and epidemic there than in Oz.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

The quote from Ghandi on modern civilization "Yes, that would be a good idea"), reminded me of a quote from May West when being questioned by reporters on current events.

Someone asked her what she thought of foreign affairs, she responded, "I've always had a weakness for foreign affairs."

Now there was a know-it-all and was she funny!!

karol

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Indeed. This is my vice - always has been - and I can't break free of it. I never learn. On one occasion in primary School the class was asked to do some minor reading on Astronomy, and I went 'over the top' memorising the order of the planets and their distance from the Sun.

I always think it's a great shame to criticise someone else for their passion on a subject or for thinking about something "too" much. If no-one did that then I don't much would get invented. I often have people talk to me about a subject and then apologise for their range of knowledge or "geekiness"??
If you enjoy it, don't apologise and don't take your approval from every other person you meet.

I learned to fight and went on to be a university professor, which is an absolutely unforgivable profession for know-it-alls.

Nice to see things turned out in the end.