A striking contrast between 1957 and the present is that Americans today appear to have a much lower tolerance for risk than their grandparents and great grandparents. As one contemporary recalled, “For those who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s, there was nothing unusual about finding yourself threatened by contagious disease. Mumps, measles, chickenpox, and German measles swept through our entire schools and towns. . . . We took the Asian flu in stride. We said our prayers and took our chances.“ Perhaps a society with a stronger fabric of family life, community life, and church life was better equipped to withstand the anguish of untimely deaths in a society that has, in so many ways, come apart.

There were no lockdowns since the US working population did not have the option to work from home in 1957. In the absence of a telecommunications infrastructure more sophisticated than the telephone (and a quarter of U.S. households still did not have a landline in 1957), the choice was between working at one’s workplace or not working at all.

In 1957–even with a serious risk of infectious disease (and not just flu; there was also polio and much else), life was jovial. By contrast, to be young in 2020 was—for most American teenagers—rather hellish. Stuck indoors, struggling to concentrate on “distance-learning” with irritable parents working from home in the next room, young people experienced at best frustration and at worst mental illness.

Huey “Piano” Smith captured the celebration of the rock ‘n’ roll generation despite the pandemic.

The episode blogpost may be viewed at:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/16280040/8446940506587874311

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Consider purchasing the song, “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu,” Huey “Piano” Smith.