What Were Sundays Like in the 1950s

Photo Credit: Brethren in Christ Historical Library

Sundays used to be more than just another day of the week. Sunday was the Day of Rest, the day you put on your finest and praised God as a family, and then visited for the rest of the afternoon. Stores and businesses were closed, and almost every pews was filled to the max. Now adays Sundays mark the end of the weekend and the start of a new work week. For most, Sundays are just another day. My favorite retelling of 1950s style Sundays can be found on this Women Living Well Ministries page written by Courtney Joseph. I'll briefly sum it up for you.

Courtney's grandmother would cook double meals on Saturdays - their Saturday dinner and their Sunday dinner that way all she had to do was reheat it after church. Some families would go for a drive, others would spend the rest of the day with relatives. Dressing up was a common practice for almost every occasion in the 1950s, and church was no exception. Everyone, even the children, wore their best.

Courtney also answered a really good question: What can we learn from Sunday's in the 1950s? 

"Worship must be a number one priority. Prepare ourselves for the day of worship. Make Sundays a family day. Dress your best."

Worship
Worship - both praising God and attending church - is a very important part in our walk with God. I don't believe that how we worship will make or break our relationship with Jesus, but I do think it should be done in both respects. For me, I like worshiping in my car or at home listening to Air1 or Spirit 95. Singing God's praises and thanking Him for the life I have, and when I'm at church I'll clap and sway to the music, sometimes singing along.

What I've learned over the years as being a Christian is that no one has to worship the same way. If you want to jump, dance, yell, run around, sit in your seat, pray quietly, pray loudly, speak in tongues, kneel, whatever feels right to you, do it. If you're a new Christian or a seasoned Christian, don't feel pressured to start hooping and hollering because someone else is. Your relationship with God is yours and yours alone, and the way you praise Him should be your way. Think of it as your love language toward God.

Going to church can seem like an inconvenience, but go. On the days you don't want to go the most is usually when you get the biggest blessing.

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:25

Prepare Ourselves
Doing a little extra work on Saturdays is worth it if you get Sunday to rest - just as God intended it to be. Everyone needs a day to rest, even God.

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." Genesis 2:2

I've heard many of my readers say that they're so stretched thin throughout the week and that can be exhausting. Make double meals on Saturdays (or better yet, make it earlier in the week when the kids are all gone and hubby's at work and stick it in the freezer), lay clothes out for Sunday service, make a check list of things that need to be done so that your Sunday is carefree and relaxing.

Family Day 
My great-grandma used to cook big dinners every week at her house and the entire family (thirteen children plus their spouses, and their children) would come over to eat, play cards, and tell stories. I can't recall if she did all this on Sundays or not, but that is exactly what many families did. This tradition of gathering together as a family is one that has begun to fade out in recent years.

My husband and I have talked about having family dinners at our house on Sundays as a way to recapture those forgotten times. We only have so long on this earth, and one day those chairs around the table will be empty for good. However you spend your Sunday afternoon, spend it with family and limit technology.

Dress Your Best
I wear jeans to church (I've only recently gotten into the habit of wearing skirts and dresses), a dressy top, sometimes heels or a nice pair of boots. My hair and make up are always done. What I wear is modest (not Amish modest but everything is covered and nothing is falling out), which is a big issue for me. I've always been a very modest person - ask my Mom, she's in the group.

In the 1950s, families dressed a certain way for church. That's how things were done. People during that decade really knew what class was. Stepping out in your slippers and pajamas was never acceptable, and it shouldn't be acceptable at church (or Walmart) either. Plus, getting up and dressing yourself in something modest and classy is a real confidence booster!

For a 1950s Sunday, follow these simple rules:

1. Make Sunday God's day. Go to church - yes, even if you don't want to.
2. Make Sundays relaxing for the entire family. Make a check list for yourself to follow. If you want to make two meals on Saturday, go ahead, if not, you don't have to. Just remember Sunday is the Day of Rest so don't stress yourself out too much.
3. Sundays are family days, too. Some families have Family Game Night on Friday or Spaghetti Night on Saturday. Well, make Sunday about spending it with family. A whole day with the family, and be creative.
4. This one applies everyday. Dress like a lady (and if you're a man reading this, dress like a man. Girl's like that sort of thing.). Being lady-like doesn't mean you have to wear dresses all the time, but choose your clothing wisely. Especially as a Christian woman.

I'd love to hear about how your family spend their Sundays in the 50s! Leave a comment below or on the group page!

God bless, lovelies!

- - WAIT! Just kidding, you can't leave yet! I'm about to answer some great questions to help you get to know me. - - 

What is your favorite color? It changes and that drives my hubby crazy. Today it's currently red.

How old were you when you got married?
I was 19.

How long have you been married?
We'll celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary this October.

What lead you to choose the 1950's lifestyle?
I've always been very interested in history. Anything pre-1960s and post-1750 (with the exception of Vikings, Ancient Greece, and the Middle Ages but I digress) is my cup of tea. My fasination with the 50s is pretty new, as in it only started a few years ago. The 30s and 40s have always been my favorite but then I "discovered" the 50s on a whim. I can't remember exactly how that all started though... Anyway!

I like the foundation the 50s is based on. Husband working, wife at home, women being ladylike and men being gentlemen. Throughout all of history, the 1950s is one of the most influential and balanced decades in any century. I say balanced because men were really men, and women were really women. Of course this is true for the 30s and 40s as well, but I think it took until the 50s to really stick. Men were back home from the war, women were able to resume their roll as helpmates and mothers, and everything seemed like it had slipped into the biblical idea of how marriage and men and women were supposed to behave. (Now of course I understand that the 50s wasn't a perfect time and there was still a lot of bad going around, but people's standards were higher and everyone expected everyone else to stick to those standards.)

How do you feel you portray it [1950's lifestyle] in your daily life?
I feel I portray the 1950s lifestyle in how I manage my time, what my day consists of, what my priorities are, and how I act as a woman.

What type of church do you attend?
City Church for all Nations. It's a non-denominational church with Pentecostal background. It's a truly amazing church! If you get time, you should check out some of the past sermons or watch it live on Saturday or Sunday!

What is your testimony?
I grew up in and out of church. Learned about God and Jesus at a young age and asked Jesus for salvation when I was probably nine. By the time I got to high school, I had "fallen off the wagon" if you will. I was hanging out with the wrong type of people who weren't encouraging me spiritually, but also wasn't pressuring me to do anything I didn't want to do. I started dated this guy and thought he would be the one I married. After a year of his abuse, manipulation, and cheating habits, I got out of that situation (unwillingly I might add, he was the one that ended it). In the months afterward I slipped into really bad depression. Suicidal depression. At the time I was taking sleeping pills because I have a cyst in my brain that effects my sleeping patterns, and the thought occurred to me on more than one occasion to "take a few extra." I battled with that for a long time, and then on the night I was going to take the extra pills, God spoke to me and I've been different ever since then.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Shakespeare, Jack London, Louis Carroll, Carla Capshaw, Julia Klassen, Alley Carter. I went through a phase where Nicholas Sparks was my #1, but then I realized someone dies in everyone of his books and that's just too much for me. 

What type of music do you listen to?
My playlist consists of everything from Bing Crosby to Chuck Berry and Classical to Red and Skillet. But not rap. I can't stand rap.

What type of movies do you like?
Comedies and romance.

If you could travel back to any time period, where would you go?
As uncharacteristic as this may seem, I would travel back to Regency England and have tea with Jane Austen and spend a few weeks in Bath. Maybe stay in a cottage on the coast and paint, or visit some of the libraries in London.