My grandfather was born in the year 1900 (he had my mom in 1960). I was born in the 80s. I knew about all the wars and the Great Depression by the time I was 8. It was frequently talked about, particularly the Depression, among the elders in my family. And my brother and I were always fascinated with the big wars from a young age. At any rate, my great grandmother would save EVERYTHING. Nothing ever went to waste. No food, no item, was thrown away willy nilly. She had the same appliances for decades (they actually lasted). She would save up bottles and cans and actually turn them in for money. She raised 3 kids as a widow in the Depression. I never, ever got the impression that my grandparents or great-grandparents had it worse than me. I knew by the way they carried themselves. They grew up in a time of scarcity and the influence of that carried with them until death.

Pretty much. I remember my wife's great-grandfather talking about leaving the farm at 16 during the Great Depression, jumping on the roof of a train and looking for random work at every stop. Today, plenty of parents won't let their kids walk home alone at night at 16.

Of course the social media experts would say he "unfairly" benefited from the post-WW2 economy, plenty of jobs, a nice house but hell, I wouldn't trade places with him.