A Look At Generation Gaps

26/4/2007 - The Silent Generation (1927-1945)

I asked Ivy (85) and Thelma (91) a series of questions about growing up in the Silent Generation...

Are young people today very different to when you were a young person? How do other generations compare to yours?
Ivy: Kids today want more than we ever had. And women in my day were still 2nd class citizens and didnt really have any rights. I used to spend every night in an air raid shelter and went to work by truck, which wasnt uncommon.
Thelma: Yes, people have gotten funny over the years. They want more. You really notice the difference more I think when you're working somewhere, whereas I stayed at home.
What things were you most concerned about in your youth?
Ivy: Well I spent my late teens in the war
Thelma: Keeping a good home, taking care of my siblins as I was the oldest, and improving the house when we could afford it (which wasn't often).
What were your views on marriage and having children?
Ivy: I was starry eyed about marriage, but I think everyone is. I didn't think I would get married so soon. They said in those days if you just met a man and got married soon, it was rumoured that you ought to be married!
Thelma: I didn't count on having kids. I just wanted to make a good home and I hoped to get married, but I wasnt allowed to until I was 21
Was it easy to find employment? What types of jobs did you have?
Ivy: It was very easy to find employment. I worked as a shop assistant, in a clothing factory, a food distributing factory and the military. I roughly made 7 schillings a week.
Thelma: I worked at home, but I longed to go out and work with the other girls.
How far did you go in school? Did you go to University or TAFE?
Ivy: I left school at 14, that was the leaving age back in those days.
Thelma: I went up to the 6th grade and left school at 14.
Was your family affected by war at all? How?
Ivy: Yes, it was a very scary time. We never knew when a bomb was going to drop. I even got married in half a church- the week before it had been landmined. Generally though, we all just helped one another and moved on with it.
Thelma: My husband was in the Air Force for 4 years, and that left me home by myself to do things that generally a man would, like chopping wood and mowing the lawn. We didn't really know what was going on in war time either- we didnt have television or as much radio like people do today. I didn't even know Darwin had been bombed or that the Japanese had arrived during the war.
What age did you move out of home and why?
Ivy: I left at 19 to join the military, although when the war was over my husband and I moved back in with my family because it was difficult to find accommodation.
Thelma: I left home at 21 because I got married.
Did you have money in your youth? If so, where did you get it from and what did you spend it on?
Ivy: Not really. When I did though, I used it to buy stocking and the usual stuff to make myself beautiful.
Thelma: My mum gave me one pound a week which was pretty well paid back then. I spent it on fanciwork, sometimes I would buy cakes for us to eat and I went to the picture theatres every Tuesday night.
What did you do for fun and what rules did your parents have in place in regards to your leisure time?
Ivy: I loved to go to dances, but I was very shy! Girls back then never went out without gloves or a hat on. I also was told I wasn't able to be friends with certain people, but I didn't listen. I had a 9pm curfew.
Thelma: We did the usual games around the house. There were dances once a week that I loved going to, and my nanna always came with us. I also really liked to go rollerskating. I wasnt allowed to stay out all night, but my parents knew I was responsible enough to come home at a reasonable hour, and I came home around 9.30 or 10pm.

****Ivy is a white caucasion female who was an adolescent in England, and Thelma is also a white caucasion female who was an adolescent in Australia.****

Members of the Silent Generation grew up in a time of war and depression. They tended to get married early in their lives. They didn't generally have much money in their youth because of the war and depression. They also didn't have as many recreational things around to do, like going out to clubs and bars. Parents of these youths were very strict, and many families moved to suburbs once the housing developments increased. These people didn't generally save money, and were pressured to conform to suburban life.

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**Trivia**

No President was ever selected from the Silent Generation

Famous Members of The Silent Generation

Marilyn Monroe***BB King***Martin Luther King, Jr.***James Dean***Little Richard***Elvis Presley***Woody Allen***Jim Henson***Jack Nicholson***Martha Stewart***Jimi Hendrix