JW's in the '40s and '50s

by larc 19 Replies latest jw friends

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  larc

  Folks,

  I was thinking about what is was like growing up as a JW in the 40's and 50's. Some things were easier, some were harder.

  Easier

  Dating practices: we dated pretty much like everyone else. We shopped around, met lots of people and got married.

  The elders: we didn't have them, and things seem to run smoother.

  Kingdom songs: we had much better music.

  Public talks: we could actually do research and add our own ideas. The topic outline given to us was very brief.

  Status differences: they were not as great then. Most people were blue collar workers and earned about the same money. Not many business types at the hall.

  Disfellowshipping: It rarely happened. Of course we didn't have sex, drugs, and rock and roll all mixed together. If a couple had sex before marriage, they were put on probation. Once they got married, they were taken off probation. I don't think you have probation today.

  Special needs talk: we never had them.

  Harder

  The military: In the '40's you faced a 3 to 5 year jail sentence for not serving in the military. In the '50's it dropped to 1 to 2 years. Now, you can do alternate service.

  Door to door: people would spit in your face or threaten to get a gun - didn't happen often, but it did happen. Now, the householder just rolls their eyes and shuts the door.

  Quotas: For pioneers it used to be 100 hours, now it is 70.

  Conventions: They used to be marathon events lasting many days. Now they are a few days and with shorter hours.

  Blood, etc.: Then, no blood whatsoever, now blood fractions. Vacinations were forbidden. Now you can have them. The same thing with organ transplants.

  Perhaps some of the old timers here can think of some other differences.
• 

  Joyzabel

  lol thanks for this post larc, BUT I am not that old! so I have nothing to contribute.
  Now the 60's
  easier
  Wt & G for a dime (that was all I said at the door :) )
  harder
  seeing young men go to prison during the vietnam war
• 

  refiners fire

  So things were very laid back under the pastor, then the boom and steel boot came down under Rutherford, then in the 40s 50s it got slack again,even thru the 60s, in the 70s things got tense again.
  Ive never heard the opinion that the 50s were lax before, but then, iVe never heard a dub talk about the 50s before.Theyre like...a forgotten period.

  Larc. What is your understanding re these periods of shifting tension/ relaxation?
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  Sam Beli

  Greetings Oh Supreme One,

  Easier:

  I agree with many of your observations. I’d modify dating to say that even dating "worldly" folks was not frowned upon, though actually marrying one might not be approved then. My loyal Society parents actually fixed me up in high school with my mother’s worldly hair dresser’s niece. She was a fine girl and I took her to her HS prom.

  Didn’t have elders, but did have a ‘Company Servant” plus underlings and there could still be problems. But, you are right; it seemed that there were fewer rules then.

  I thought the songs were always dreadful.

  I must be older than you are because I remember when there were no public talks. Boy, the good old days!

  I also remember the days before there was a TM School and the Service Meeting was by itself. Unfortunately, it was usually on Friday nights in those days. Friday nights at the KH, ugh!

  The middle class was much smaller then and many JWs were from the lower middle class or nearly poor.

  Yes, disfellowshipping was rather rare

  More difficult:

  I knew a lot of guys that came out of prison in the 40s. They went there rather than go to W.W.II. Some did pick up trades in prison, or rather in civilian assignments after prison like hospitals.
  
  Weren’t pioneer hours 120 month at one time? With special pioneer hours being 150 or more? In the late 30s and early 40s many regular publishers got 60 hours per month! You know, FS Sunday morning and afternoon and then WT Study Sunday evening. Really, these are the stories I’ve heard my parents tell.

  The eight-day conventions most days started at 9 am and ended at 9 PM unless Freddie or another ran overtime. Overtime was common, early happened never.

  Organ transplants were unheard of for anyone. Vaccinations were taboo as you say; I remember being afraid of the polio epidemic of those days and when the Salk vaccine was first announced many were understandably overjoyed. I sank in my chair because I knew I would not be allowed to receive it. To this day my very elderly dad will not accept vaccinations for pneumonia or flu even though they are highly recommended to him by his physician.

  Blood therapy consisted of many fewer choices then and whole blood was administered much more commonly than today. The WTS blood policy was born then and was based on the common practice of using whole blood. Today many JWs have little idea about just how blood is administered. So, when they say they do not want a blood transfusion they are thinking of whole blood even though whole blood is rarely administered today, at least in the US.

  K Halls were much more modest in the 30s – 50s. Often rented old dusty, dingy and smelly places that poor folks could afford to rent. Odd Fellow Halls were a common place to rent; old abandoned mom and pop grocery stores, etc.

  Sam Beli

  I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. Solomon
• 

  larc

  refiners fire,

  I can't say that the '50s were more or less slack. Some things were easier, some were harder. For pioneers, a hundred hours is a tough nut to crack. Today's 70 hours is a lot easier.

  Dating practices were much better. Not only could we date several people without the thought of marriage, we could get together for parties and dance slow numbers and rock and roll, and no one thought it was wrong, at least not where I lived in Ohio.

  We could also go out on dates without a chaparone. Double dates were encouraged, to prevent too much fooling around.
• 

  Sam Beli

  Fire, you said: “in the 40s 50s it got slack again…”

  I don’t think that is an accurate portrayal of the period. The TM School was added and the Public talk was also added, so the hours spent at meetings went from 3 to 5 per week. Getting guys to give hour-long talks was not easy, many dreaded it – and they were an hour in those days. The outline was so brief that one had to do a ton of research to put one together. Lots of guys spent all of their spare time for many weekends to get one ready. Remember, libraries were less common and the Internet was non existent. Computers were non existent, so everything was written by hand or typed on a manual typewriter (no correcting ribbon in those days either).

  Getting all males to join the school was another chore; both the school and the SM were a full hour long, the song and prayer were in addition. My dad was the company servant and we seldom got home much before 11 PM on Friday nights. The Sunday meetings were in the evening! Later, getting them changed to afternoon was very progressive and oh what a relief.

  Disfellowshipping was introduced and the first real push on the blood prohibition was begun, if I recall correctly.

  One thing that did start to be mentioned less was the prohibition on aluminum.

  Sam Beli

  I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. Solomon
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  refiners fire

  Yeah, Im trying to fish what the Golden Age of the WT was like from you guys. Get a picture.
  Its something of an unknown period. I mean, noone on an apostate site ever quotes a 40s or 50s Watchtower, So I assume it must have been a period of relative stagnation when little change in doctrine was made. Little revelation came forth. Except of course, as you say, the blood doctrine was dreamt up then...something I didnt know.

  Maybe Nathan Knorr had a gutfull of change and infighting under "Uncle Joe" and thought a period of calm and contentment was in order.
  What say you??
• 

  larc

  refiner's fire,

  We are trying to describe what life was like back then, not what doctrines changed. Why don't you just kick off your shoes, settle back and enjoy our memories.

  Sam,

  I agree, the rules about dating wordly women were less strict. You shouldn't do it, but you were not beat up over it either. One of my best friends dated and married a wordly girl. She became a Witness. However, most Witnesses I knew, only dated other Witnesses.

  No pulic talks: yes, I remember those days. I was born in 1940, so that shows my memory and my time line.

  Meetings on Fridays: Remember them well, all through my teen years.

  Aluminum: In high school, I worked at lunch time in the cafeteria (sp). After an Awake article came out, I still worked there, but brought my lunch from home. After about a month of that, I went back to eating the hot meals at school. I guess I was spiritualy weak.

  Kingdom Halls: Yes, they were modest places. Usualy rented out places with folding chairs.

  Pioneers: I don't know about the 120 hour quota, but I do know that special pioneers put in 150 hours, as you mentioned.
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  Guest 77

  AH, the good old days. Young folks cannot even begin to imagine what they were like. EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT. How can people of today who have everything at their fingertips relate to the 40's & 50's? I would be willing to listen to anyway who never lived in that era relate to that time period. All I can say is, keep dreaming.

  I use to go to movies for 8 cents! Yes, I saw TWO feature films, TWO cartoons, a news reel and coming attractions.

  Finding and picking pennies was a thrill in those days because I could buy 2 small bags of chips for a penny. Gasoline was 12 cents a gallon.

  In the middle fifities I remember taking my present wife on a date with $5.00. Listen to this, I paid for the bus fare, we went to a movie and then had a dinner and still had change left over! Holding hands was thrill in those days. This is just a SMALL sample of what I did in the forties and fifties. Only the older ones will relate to my story. The rest can only dream about it, while we lived it! I have no regrets about that era. Though I may have been called a communist while doing street work, it was EXCITING. It was an exciting period.

  Guest 77
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  Englishman

  Larc is right about giving public talks. All we had was 1 side of a sheet of A4 paper that contained the briefest of suggested outlines. You did all the research, so the talks ould be very interesting depending on the speaker.

  No elders back then either. DF'ing virtually unheard of.

  Enbglishman

  Hey! Now you are an outie, you can dance too!