1960s: Richard Scarry’s New Zealand

Anthropomorphic animals heavily populated busy towns full of activities, buildings, workplaces, and vehicles. The books depict Western Civilisation during a booming culture phase of full employment and a bustling economy. Christmas. Nuclear families. Cooperation. Wealth. Cowboys and Indians. Churches. Clear masculine and feminine gender roles.

It’s the vision of the world Gen X were prepared for but not the one they got. Baby Boomers wanted it another way, culminating in Aotearoa New Zealand culture.The Boston that Scarry grew up in looks less like his vision now and more like the gritty TV show The Wire (2002.)

Even Scarry’s books were co-opted by the Boomer culture. Feminism stripped out the nuclear families, the feminine women and masculine men. Christmas was redacted. Pages showing religion removed. Cycle helmets inserted onto the heads of cyclists. Political Correctness put Cowboys and Indians into abeyance. This didn’t make for a new illustrated Millennial world it made for a broken Traditional one.

Boomers came of age and dominated during the decades that Richard Scarry’s culture was dismembered. Boomer Feminism, for example, is what took away his masculine and feminine characters and replaced them with gender neutrality. Boomers rejected the consumer model of many independent stores, preferring bulk supermarkets and American warehousing pick-your-own models. Boomers took down the Town Hall that Scarry drew, replacing it with an amalgamated Supercity.

Comment to AHNZ: No self entitlement here and don’t know anyone that thinks this way….

AHNZ: You could say that you saw these things happening in your lifetime and did what you could to stop them.

You could say you tried to stop Local Government from being amalgamated and replaced, especially in 1989. You could say you didn’t beg Muldoon to shift wealth from young families to the elderly. You could say you opposed Feminism 3.0 and American Supermarket culture and the destruction of the nuclear family. I’d love to hear about your battles against the Boomers.

Upworthy.com lists 8 changes that were made to Scarry’s model and, as such, the vision we transmit to our children of our society.

“8 changes that were made to a classic Richard Scarry book to keep up with the times. Progress!”

1. First up: The cover got a makeover. It might seem subtle at first glance, but look closely

2. Men can be flight attendants and women can be pilots. And, you know, they don’t have to be hot.

3. Christmas isn’t the only holiday people celebrate.

4. Mommy Bears are no longer expected to have breakfast prepared for Daddy Bears…

5. Because guess what?! Dads can cook, too! (Even Dad Bunnies.)

6. Helping professions aren’t just for men.

7. Regular people need rescuing, too.

8. “I” is for “ice cream” — and not stereotypical depictions of Native Americans.

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Image. Created by AI using the prompt: Auckland New Zealand city in the style of Richard Scarry illustrations.

Ref. Upworthy (2023)

Ref. also Mercer Mayer’s books. See NZB3