TIME OF OUR LIVES 1945-1960 By John Burden

Talk  |  Seated

JOHN BURDEN: I'm a retired head teacher, and have spent a good deal of my new-found freedom writing books. In addition to my trilogy about the life and times of the Baby Boomers, I've written a couple about the Bodmin Railway.
TALK: Based on the book ‘The Time of Our Lives’, the talk is delivered via a PowerPoint presentation, with some archive music played to accompany a number of the slides.
The book is not an autobiography, but a humorous, appreciative and affectionate commentary on the real life experiences of those of us born in the decade after WW2 – the Baby Boomers.
Comparison with growing up in the post-war years set against the experience of modern childhood is an important feature, and the talk also seeks to dispel two modern myths about the lives of all Baby Boomers that:
1. the 1950’s was a dull, miserable, grey and austere decade when nobody had fun;
2. the Baby Boomers have had it easy throughout their entire lives and are often
ungrateful for those opportunities.
School time is examined in some depth, when the adventures of Janet and John were often welcome relief from learning by rote, the barmy, Imperial system of weights and measures – not to mention chanting the times-tables and coping with the vast array of unwieldy coinage.
The domestic scene is accompanied by some well-known radio theme tunes, and at a time when car ownership was still quite rare, the use of buses and bikes puts in a welcome appearance.
The audience is invited to make use of personal mobile phones to find and play (hopefully together!)a most evocative piece of music to which all children
of the period will be able to relate, and is designed to bring back many happy memories.
Finally, 1950’s home entertainment comes under the spotlight, and includes almost forgotten skiffle groups … and the never to be forgotten birth of Rock’n’Roll.