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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nostalgia is not specific to the Soviet Union,
lots of Americans think that the past was preferable to the present,
too.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Which good old days? - various age groups'
perceptions of past times</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>American Demographics, April,
1996 by Diane Crispell</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Baby boomers take the rap for the return of
"The Brady Bunch" and other signs of the decline of American popular culture.
But they're not the only ones bitten by the nostalgia bug. Over half of adults
of all ages think that things were better in the past than they are today,
according to Roper Starch Worldwide of New York City. One-third think things
are better now than yesterday, and 12 percent aren't convinced there's any
difference. This hasn't always been the case. In 1974, despite disco, 54
percent of adults preferred the present over the past.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>The share of adults who think the "good old
days" were better rises somewhat with age, from 52 percent of those under age
30 to 58 percent of those aged 45 and older. People with more education and
money find yesterday less alluring. A lower-than-average 44 percent of college
graduates prefer the past over the present, as do 47 percent of those in
professional and executive jobs and half of those with household incomes of
$50,000 or more. It's no surprise that the societal leaders Roper calls
Influentials are the most live-for-today types; just 38 percent prefer the
past, while 49 percent vote against.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sixty-five percent of people who didn't
graduate from high school yearn for the past, perhaps because their lives
haven't turned out as they had hoped. Another group of adults who strongly
prefer the past are those with children under age 8. Sixty-two percent of
pooped parents say that some point in the past-presumably any point without
rug rats--was superior to today's nonstop circus of diaper rash and helping
with homework.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Parents with young children are desperate for
a change of pace. When asked what period they consider the epitome of the good
old days, they choose the much-maligned 1970s. This reflects a common pattern.
Most people look no further than their own youth to define the good old days.
Boomers aged 30 to 44 split their vote for best era of the past between the
critically acclaimed 1960s and the 1970s.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Younger adults have a shorter time frame for
comparison. Those under age 30 are almost as likely as young boomers to vote
for the 1970s, but a slightly larger group, 24 percent, considers the 1980s
the best of the bunch. To those who've been around longer, the 1980s are too
close for comfort. Only 4 percent of those aged 45 and older think that the
Reagan and Bush years were golden ones. Predictably, those aged 45 to 59 much
prefer the 1950s and 1960s, while those aged 60 and older go for the 1940s and
1950s.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nostalgia won't sell everything. Kids of the
1990s have accepted tie-dye, but some things are best forgotten. Hopefully, we
will never again see the short plaid bell-bottoms sported by the Bay City
Rollers. Or their hair, either.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Other Roper
surveys reveal that nostalgia doesn't drive media behavior or hobby pursuits.
People choose to read about, watch, and do things based on the "here and now."
Yet flashes of the past are undoubtedly having an effect on certain purchases.
Aesthetic value alone can't explain the resurgence of Troll
dolls.</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>