Everything's Copacetic, Ducky: Life in Other Times

Life in the 21st century is pretty sweet. We have access to cool stuff like the internet, smart phones, hybrid cars, and the ShamWow. But despite these modern conveniences, we can't help but spend an idle moment here and there daydreaming about what it would be like to live in a different time period. Until time travel becomes a reality, we'll have to settle for the visions we conjure up in our imaginations (which is probably for the best).

Here are some of our favorite daydream destinations:
Victorian Era (1837-1901, Queen Victoria's reign)
Pros: If you were part of the middle or upper class, you lived a pretty cushy life: You had a wardrobe of elegant, beautiful clothes, ate extravagant meals of up to 9 courses (!) and spent evenings playing charades, musical chairs, and other lighthearted, family-friendly games. And if you were privileged enough to be educated, you might have had the chance to read the first edition prints of novels like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Little Women.

Cons: Kiss equal rights goodbye. If you were a woman, you were pretty much stuck at home. And if you weren't lucky enough to get an education, you couldn't even fall back on reading as a pleasant escape. This era was also knee-deep in racism and class divisions, and life for the less fortunate was...pretty darned unfortunate. Those individuals who were the worst off were sent to government-run poorhouses, where gruel and bread and potatoes were mainstays. Gross. And everyone had to contend with diseases like cholera, consumption, and typhus. Yikes!

Jazz Age (End of World War I-Beginning of Great Depression)
Pros: There's a reason this era is known as the "Roaring Twenties." Almost overnight, women went from wearing modest, full-length skirts to running around in knee-skimming flapper dresses. Hot jazz was all the rage, and fans crammed into speakeasies to dance the night away to the lively beats of artists like Louis Armstrong and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Most importantly, this era's slang tops all others: "The big cheese is gone. Everything's copacetic, ducky."

Cons: Fearful that jazz might erode social morals, legislators fought back and Congress enacted the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, more commonly known as Prohibition. But prohibiting alcohol didn't keep people from drinking. It just created a huge black market often run by organized crime groups. Oh, and color TV was still about a decade away. As if that's not disappointing enough, there was no such thing as silly putty. NOOO!

The 1960s Cultural Revolution
Pros: If you like music, this was the era for you. Motown got underway in 1960, and the decade culminated with the Woodstock festival, which featured performances by Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who and many others. And of course, this was also the Beatles era. Added bonus: You didn't have to bother getting your hair cut.

Cons: Along with all the great music, this was a time when a lot of artists experimented with drugs and many died from overdoses, including the aforementioned Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Also, Tang, an add-water-orange-powder-drink used by the astronauts, became popular, which is unfortunate because it's wayyyy less tasty than real orange juice.

If constraints like the space-time continuum weren't a problem, which period would you chose to live in?

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