It's amazing how old TV shows and movies like this make people from that era seem so much more dignified and civilized than today. Probably not accurate as it's a very small sliver of the population on display but still so fascinating.
Television back then had much stricter rules and standards regarding dress, language and content, so thereās a definite āLeave it to Beaverā upper-middle-class formality and properness to much of what was broadcast.
The plus side was that great shows like āThe Twilight Zoneā had to be *very* creative and not rely on gore or offensiveness to shock.
The downside was that those regulations turned a blind eye to stereotypes and of-its-time sexism.
One of my favorite shows, āMr. Ed,ā had this doozy of cringinessāa rare stumble for this otherwise charming series:
Wilbur: Youād make a good secretary, Ed!
Mr. Ed: Iād look silly sitting on your lap.
It occurred to me that this joke is so wrong, outdated and ousted from popular culture that most younger folks watching today would have NO IDEA what āsecretaryā and ālapā have to do with each other. Thank goodness. Itās weird today to realize how entrenched in pop culture the pretty secretary on the bossās lap image had become in the 50ās snd 60ās. It was in comics, tv, movies, ads... freakinā everywhere.
Long story short: Vintage TV is a fascinating filtered window into both the ups and the downs of society back then.