Were we tougher in the 1930s through 1950s?

I think that's the wrong question.
The right question would be: "Were we prepared to die more than people today?" Yes.

When I was growing up in the 1950s death was all around me. I had almost died of whooping cough at age 2 which was pretty normal then. My best friend in Junior High School had had to wear leg braces until he was 6 or 7 because he had polio and survived it to walk without braces after that. He and I were similar in that we were more serious both having almost died as children so we didn't do a lot of the really silly things we saw others do and because of this we made more thoughtful decisions than others because "Death was very real to us and not a joke".

So, I think that's the biggest difference in people in the 1930s to 1950s. If someone shot at us and we had a gun we would definitely shoot back. This is just how people were raised to be back then.

We wouldn't even have given it a 2nd thought. People shooting at us would be shot down and we would survive.

This is all you had to know about us back then.

Were we better people than today?

That's the wrong question: The right question likely would be: "Were we more survivors than the people today because everyone who wasn't a survivor had already died back then?" Yes.

This is no longer true today because most people in their teens and twenties and 30s would be considered to be "children" in their actions and behaviors by people back then. Life was just different in every way back then. No home computers. No Cell phones. No Internet. No Seat belts. No Helmets. etc. etc. etc. You had a lot of time to think then and be bored whether that was good or bad for you back then. If you wanted to die often you did. If you wanted to live sometimes you did back then but not always.

In the 1930s through 1950s if you weren't an adult by 16 or 18 likely your life could soon be over or not because life was harsher and more difficult in many ways than now, especially regarding health care. But, if you were a healthy white male at 17 you could get a job as a garbage man or carpenter and support 5 people and two cars quite easily back then too. Whereas now you would need at least 3 jobs and no one might hire you for any of them without a high school diploma or college degree no matter what race you are. in the mid 1960s a new VW Bug cost about 800 dollars. A brand new Chevrolet Camaro I bought in 1968 when I was 20 cost only 3500 dollars. Now a 2019 Camaro at the low end is 29,000 dollars and with all the extras is 68,000 dollars which is quite a difference. An approximately 20 times the price if you look at the high end price for a new Camaro now. Why so much? The rise in oil prices and labor costs since 1968. Gasoline in 1968 and 1969 was as low as 17 cents a gallon for regular. I have driven from Long beach to Mt. Shasta for less than 10 dollars back in 1969 for example in a 30 mpg VW bug. (when I calculated it it was both directions to and from because it only cost $3.40 to go from Long Beach to Mt. Shasta at 30 mpg. So, what I realized is I drove to Mt. Shasta and I drove around in mt. Shasta for a week and then I drove back to Long beach for only $10 in 1969 in a 1966 VW bug. I also owned the 1968 Camaro but it didn't get 30 miles per gallon 

Getting people even to go to doctors for anything other than a broken arm or leg was difficult to impossible in many cases then so people died a lot from this. Doctors went on TV and told you that it was safe to smoke cigarettes. And you were going to trust them? About anything?