The Baby Boomers

BY TERRY SHAW

Willmar — My generation has been called the “Baby Boomers” because we were a part of the post-World War II “boom” of babies born from 1946 to 1964.

The years of my childhood were innocent, trustful and without fears.

No fears, that is, except for the “Duck and Cover” drills in our schools instructing us what to do if there was a nuclear attack from the Russians.

We were to “duck” under our desks and “cover” our heads, I presume so that our charred lifeless bodies could be found under the desk instead of sitting in it. What other reason could there be? But movie monsters, snakes, spiders and the bogeyman were much more terrifying to us than the threat of any commies’ bombs.

Baby Boomers respected their parents and their teachers.

We went to church every Sunday, tried our best in school, and dressed up for both.

We didn’t expect an allowance for doing our chores around the house, but didn’t turn one down. Two gifts at Christmas (one being clothes) were enough to satisfy us, and a perfect day was one that included a 10¢ bottle of soda pop.

Our heroes were rock and roll singers, movie stars, Davy Crockett, and our teachers.

Our toys could include something as simple as a long wooden stick, coupled with our imagination.

Blue jeans were the “uniform of the day,” mostly in the summer. It took a while before Boomers were allowed to wear them to school.

Either way, shirts had to be worn and tucked in. Dress slacks were for Sunday church and school.

The Boomers’ youth was an innocent time, but it was also an exciting time. So many new things happened.

Baby Boomers were there for the births of so many wonderful things, such as the birth of Rock and Roll.

Photo courtesy of Terry Shaw, shown in the photo with his dog.

We were there for the birth of the space program, with the launching of Sputnik, and, because of it, an increase in the Cold War.

And we were there for the birth of the peace movement and civil rights.

We were there for the beginnings of such things as drive-in movies, canned soft drinks, color television, Barbie dolls, microwave ovens, satellites, stereo records, portable transistor radios, 3-D movies, Kmart, Walmart, Disneyland and McDonald’s.

Our biggest medical fears were polio and cavities, both which were taken care of during our childhood. Everyone got inoculated for smallpox, measles, and the like, and I don’t remember any parent saying, “Not my kid!”

Most of us Boomer boys had a paper route when we were young. We earned about $3 a week and we saved a majority of our pay, under the “guidance” of our parents.

There are a lot of reasons our parents’ generation was called “The Greatest Generation” by authors and politicians.

The lessons they learned about saving money and care in spending, while in their teens in the Depression and in their early 20s during WWII, were passed on to our generation, their children, the Baby Boomers.