Nostalgia and the Future

David Doherty · Nostalgia and the Future

We love Dads Army for many reasons but I think one of the main ones is nostalgia for wartime Britain.

With this in mind, what are the favourite things that we miss today that we had then?

OR

What do we have now that if you where to go back then you would feel strange without?

The thing that set me off was "A Man Of Action" when Jones says "I didn't know you could take pictures with a telephone!" and it got a huge laugh!

I myself would dearly like to see small shops run by nice old gents and a slower pace of life! Very Happy

davecov

I think I would like to live now to be honest. "Goodnight Sweetheart" was a perfect example of how the 40's might be "fun" for a short visit but when Gary decided to live in the 40s permanently, it wasn't so much fun then. Rations, bombing raids, water and gas shortages, friends and family dying, homelessness....

I do agree about the small shops though. Many communities have died due to the effect of out-of-town superstores with many shops and local trades dying out. The one real difference between the 1940s and now is that then the majority of towns had their own personality. Nowadays they all seem to look the same (there are exceptions of course). The pace of life seemed a lot slower then with most people riding bikes or walking whereas now cars are dominating everywhere. As for mobile phones - it would be nice not to have them. If people were inaccessible for periods of time, then they are less likely to be stressed out!

If I was to travel back to the 1940s, the two things I would really miss is are my PC and the NHS!

Dave

yeapb

I'd rather live then for the old fashioned morals, the slower pace of life and the happiness with what you had.

David Doherty

Wouldn't it be wonderful to live down the lane from the Godfrey's?

davecov

What, in the middle of that new airfield! Laughing

Dave

David Doherty

...just on the outside, dave!

we may have to take tea inside though.... Laughing

yeapb

Or combine old and new and install triple glazing and soundproofing!

David Doherty

Your saying 'combine' has started me on another one..... fields with combine harvesters worked by steam! Yes please!

lemonski

Living in the 1940's would be great....for about a week.

No work, dodgy food, bad fashion, no internet, no beer, no coffee and the chance to be shot on the Western Front Smile

Although, I wouldn't mind being a POW in Stalag Luft III and spend my days digging tunnels and jumping barbed wire fences on motorcycles, that sounds like whizzo fun! Smile

jo

Although I polled for living in the 1940s, I'm not actually so sure now.
Bad: No windsurfing, have to wear skirts, no internet or TV, old music, lame entertainment, war.
Good: Bikes, safe underground, food rationing, war (again), Giles cartoons, community spirit, Churchill.

My grandad always says that Dads Army was the most accurate portrayal of wartime England he ever saw and that it was generally equally fun (he was in the home guard as he was making precision timepieces for London). However, he lost his brother in Dunkirk, and his Dutch wife lost all contact with her family back home in Holland - some of whom were killed. So who knows?
I think WWII in sleepy Dorset would have been great - seeing all the remaining concrete shark teeth still lining the shore sends a tingle down my spine... At least it was all so simple then - the opposition wore uniforms and painted their aeroplanes so everyone knew who was who... Except those pesky nuns! Very Happy

jo

Mrs Grey

When push comes to shove I would have to say I'd rather live now. My parents were young adults in this era though and both served in the airforce in WWII. They had long and happy lives, not showing any ill effects form living through this time and in fact had many happy recollections of those days (mind you, wartime in Australia was not as harsh as wartime in England).