Maybe things don't change over time - classic movies

[tooqk4u22]

DW and I popped in a couple of holiday classics Miracle on 34th Street (circa 1947) and Its a Wonderful Life (circa 1946) over the weekend and it surprised me to see some similarities to today, and while we tend to hold up yesteryears (whether we were there or not) as better times it reminds me that maybe they weren't.

Some here may or may not like movies but in some regard they historical perspectives to what life was like was like at that time because the nuances, biases, styles, current events typically are incorporated into the movie in subtle or not so subtle ways.

[mindaugas]

Examples?

[tooqk4u22]

The similarities are more about the nuances of life in general

Some spefics might be
- In 34th st - the focus is Santa and beleivign but the movie is centered around Macy's and consumerism.

- in Wonderful - there is bank run and local mortgage crisis, and robber-barrons that want to take advantage.

[mindaugas]

- In 34th st - the focus is Santa and beleivign but the movie is centered around Macy's and consumerism.

Didn't Santa show Macy's that over the top customer service will win more customers? He was telling shoppers to go somewhere else which in a reverse psychology sort of way convinced them to remain loyal. Santa nor Macy's were advocating signing up for credit cards or buying extravagant gifts.

- in Wonderful - there is bank run and local mortgage crisis, and robber-barrons that want to take advantage.

Yeah, but it also explains the value of local run banks and banking based on personal character along with the pitfalls of not having securities. (IE FDIC). Bailey explained this when he had to convince everyone not to drain their accounts. Banks don't work that way anymore, they aren't backed on local property. To be honest I don't know if this is necessarily a good or bad thing in today's world, but certainly the appealing ideal is for it to be local and more personal. banks today advertise personal service and their tellers are trained to be friendly, but they are no Bailey's Building and Loan.

I think it's more a matter of people holding up those past periods as ideals rather than historically accurate and both those movies depict the good over the bad. I don't agree that 34th romanticizes consumerism nor does wonderful life advocate draining your bank account. That's not really a bad thing though.

[sheepstache]

A friend in finance sends me In Defense of Scrooge every holiday season for a capitalist take on A Christmas Carol.

http://mises.org/daily/110

[mindaugas]

A friend in finance sends me In Defense of Scrooge every holiday season for a capitalist take on A Christmas Carol.

http://mises.org/daily/110

This is awesome.

[tooqk4u22]

- In 34th st - the focus is Santa and beleivign but the movie is centered around Macy's and consumerism.

Didn't Santa show Macy's that over the top customer service will win more customers? He was telling shoppers to go somewhere else which in a reverse psychology sort of way convinced them to remain loyal. Santa nor Macy's were advocating signing up for credit cards or buying extravagant gifts.

- in Wonderful - there is bank run and local mortgage crisis, and robber-barrons that want to take advantage.

Yeah, but it also explains the value of local run banks and banking based on personal character along with the pitfalls of not having securities. (IE FDIC). Bailey explained this when he had to convince everyone not to drain their accounts. Banks don't work that way anymore, they aren't backed on local property. To be honest I don't know if this is necessarily a good or bad thing in today's world, but certainly the appealing ideal is for it to be local and more personal. banks today advertise personal service and their tellers are trained to be friendly, but they are no Bailey's Building and Loan.

I think it's more a matter of people holding up those past periods as ideals rather than historically accurate and both those movies depict the good over the bad. I don't agree that 34th romanticizes consumerism nor does wonderful life advocate draining your bank account. That's not really a bad thing though.

Yes, yes - I agree with this, I saw the movies and am well aware of the positive takeaways, which are not the nuances that I referred to.  The nuances are the tidbits of historical depiction.  Such as a comments about christmas is becoming commercialized and things being done just to make money.

My point of the post was merely to point out that people struggled, had material desires, strived to be better (financially/personally), and when looking a little in the rear or a little ahead things could be much better or worse so don't get to worked up about things because people have had these emotions before - even during the so called simpler times - so keep working to be better and do better.

[mindaugas]

Do you think there was as much consumerism then as there is now?

[tooqk4u22]

Do you think there was as much consumerism then as there is now?

That I don't know, but hard to believe that it was.  But maybe it was on a relative basis. There is enough evidence that consumerism existed in some form throughout history but lets look at the last century - I think the tipping point might be at the time of the roaring 20's where people lived lavishly by historical standards, consumer credit started/expanded to the masses, and were mass producing ever more crap that would now be more affordable to people. Obviouslly we know how it ended.

Here is a excerpt that I found from government report from 1933 "Recent Social Trends in the United States" - BTW it was four years into the Great Depression.

"… certain dominant trends emerge: the increase in national income and in the purchasing power of a large section of the population; an increase in the availability of consumer credit; a sharp increment both in volume and variety of consumer’s goods available … and also acute choices between expenditures for familiar activities and for the new kinds of activities made possible by invention and technology; rising standards and adequacy and comfort in living … changes in availability of goods related to developments in transportation, communication and merchandising, and also substantial differences in the pressure to consume many types of commodities owing to regional differences; a multiplication in the influences playing upon the consumer and shaping his habits, with an apparently growing sense of conflict in our urbanized, secularized culture; and a resulting seemingly greater susceptibility to change as indicated by swifter fashion changes and the reported rise in consumer fickleness."

Also here are some quotes from Miracle on 34th Street - I know not the point of the movie but you have probably heard someone saying something similar recently.

"You see, Mrs. Walker, this is quite an opportunity for me. For the past 50 years or so I've been getting more and more worried about Christmas. Seems we're all so busy trying to beat the other fellow in making things go faster and look shinier and cost less that Christmas and I are sort of getting lost in the shuffle."

"Yeah, there's a lot of bad 'isms' floatin' around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it's the same - don't care what Christmas stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.

[grantmeaname]

- in Wonderful - there is bank run and local mortgage crisis, and robber-barrons that want to take advantage.

Yeah, but it also explains the value of local run banks and banking based on personal character along with the pitfalls of not having securities. (IE FDIC). Bailey explained this when he had to convince everyone not to drain their accounts. Banks don't work that way anymore, they aren't backed on local property. To be honest I don't know if this is necessarily a good or bad thing in today's world, but certainly the appealing ideal is for it to be local and more personal. banks today advertise personal service and their tellers are trained to be friendly, but they are no Bailey's Building and Loan.

I think it's more a matter of people holding up those past periods as ideals rather than historically accurate and both those movies depict the good over the bad. I don't agree that 34th romanticizes consumerism nor does wonderful life advocate draining your bank account. That's not really a bad thing though.

I bank at the fourth largest credit union in Ohio and it only has six locations and 60,000 members in one city. There are many one-branch credit unions serving only one tiny town in this part of the world. Even among for-profits, there are still some small banks like the one in my hometown that are incredible corporate citizens that better their communities. I agree that there is a larger trend towards consolidation, but there are many opportunities to bank in your hometown if you want.