Lil, a lot of this is rich or poor, not age related although I am at least ten years your senior. But in Richer America, where we lived although not rich, we always had a washer and dryer, for example. I dont remember my mother ever hanging clothes on a laundry line nor anyone else in our neighborhood. My parents were middle class, my father a pharmacist and we didnt have to struggle, although my parents were very tight with a buck.
Spanking with a belt was probably going on in some homes, but I never saw belts or switches anywhere. I lived in a 95% Jewish neighborhood and dont think Jewish parents did that. Many spoiled kids around, although I wasnt. Some kids had all Marshall Field clothes and looked down at me and teased me because Mother sewed my clothes. After developing a big mouth and becoming very pretty, the kids stopped teasing me, but we never wanted to interact with one another. I dressed down protesting the rich kid's materialistic values. I still do.
The rich kids in my suburb had access to or nice cars. I got to drive a car, but couldnt call it a nice car. I remember kids laughing at me, calling me poor because my parents car was older.
Our richer kids, who really were rich, were the preps but also the worst drug using hippies. They had money for drugs. The poorer kids, who were more middle class thsn poor, were greasers. I disliked labels and cliques and did my own thing, staying very quiet. I never went to school functions, not even prom, although I was not short of boys who would have taken me.
Our school smoking lounge was inside where the kids could smoke!! I hated cigarette smell back then too and didnt like the smoke in the school. I cant believe they built a smoking lounge for brat kids...lol. on the pot front, many kids walked across the parking lot to the grassy hill to smoke weed. Yep, the boomers started all this.
There were fights sometimes between hippies and greasers and the greasers usually won. I would quietly be cheering for the greasers, slthough I didnt like them either.
The radical hippies ran the school, belittled teachers and our principal...i liked the greasers more than the radical hippies. They had causes and pulled the fire alarms in protest and interferred with all of our school life.
My graduating class had almost 900 kids. They dont call us babyboomers for nothing.
Anyhow, life in the 60s and 70s was way different in my wealthy suburb than in rural U.S.
I disliked my home town so badly that I totally distanced myself from it forever and am now part of semi rural America. I like if MUCH better.
Lil, i voted against Nixon as my very first vote. Long time ago. I was happy when he resigned.
I graduated in 1971.
Pretty soon you ladies will be yelling at me to get off your lawn! 
