I absolutely loathe the mob mentality (one sees it a lot online these days too). I believe that the human race contains perhaps ten percent of people who are a strong force for good, ten percent who are a strong force for evil, and a remaining eighty percent that can be persuaded either way. It's a terrifying thought, but I believe history proves it is the truth (things like the rise of Nazi Germany, or more recently the 6th January Trump supporter riots).

I don't think you would have been in excrement as deep as you suppose in the 1950s (although contraception would have been trickier). Things were just a lot more hush-hush. I actually think human nature has changed very little. It's not called the "oldest profession" without reason.

Leaving that aside, on the question of pre-marital sex, I always laugh when evangelical Christians talk about "biblical marriage", because in the Bible, people often had multiple wives, concubines, and whatnot, especially in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul urges believers to only have one spouse, but is fully aware Gentile believers/converts are unlikely to be virgins, because of the cultures in which they are immersed (a bit like today, in fact). That's why in Corinthians he goes on at such length about sexual immorality.

My personal view: Waiting till marriage isn't impossible, and can be a good ideal to strive for, but not in the cult-ish way often prescribed by evangelical purity culture in the US. Such guilt based culture has led to all sorts of problems - ill-advised marriages, medical problems triggered by guilt reflexes (such as vaginismus), and other creepy nonsense (so-called Daddy/daughter balls, etc).

In the Old Testament, if a man slept with a virgin, he had to marry her by law (but again, he could have multiple wives). In the New Testament, it is clear Christians don't have the same obligation as they are under grace, but if they don't get married, such behaviour should be treated as sin and repented of. Ultimately, I think God simply doesn't want his people to be littered with broken hearts.

Anyway, sorry to expound at such length. I just thought you might find it interesting. If you do read my novel, I'd be intrigued to know your thoughts on it afterwards. Have a great holiday, by the way. :)