What do you remember or were you told by elders about the past? Name 2 things you remember. I remember attic fans. Drug store soda fountains serving Root Beer Floats,Cherry Cokes, etc.
19 cent a gallon gas and when a gas war was going on, down to 11 or 12 cents. 4 cent first class postage stamps and penny post cards. 78 RPM records and TV that went off the air at midnight only to come back on at 5 AM with the farm report. Okay, more than two. One other thing, spanking in school if one misbehaved and then another one at home for getting spanked in school.
Great movie! I remember the air raid drills and waiting for the Soviet missiles to take us out. We always had a test on the last Friday of every month, at 10 AM. One day I was home and heard the sirens start. I must have been about 8 or 9 yo. My mother had gone to the store or run some errand. I looked at the clock and it was only 9AM. And I was thinking, since it was a Saturday, OMG this is the real thing. Being a geek even at that age I knew we didn't have long. I remember thinking it was about 20 minutes or so. So I sat in the garage trembling and waiting to be vaporized. But then, the sirens started to wind down. We didn't get hit. They gave the all clear. Only then did I realize it was Friday, not Saturday - I was off of school for some minor holiday - and the garage clock was never reset when the time changed, so it was off by an hour. Whewwww! For about two minutes I really believed we were all dead.
Hey ,I forgot this thread was here. Guess it wasn't interesting to most. I am just trying to calm down on the politics.
I remember the Cobra Arm on my parent's Zenith record player. The player was a large piece of furniture - about the size of a single-wide dresser. I remember thinking it looked alive and would stare at it while the record played. Ours was black but the same look.
In the early 60's I lived in Scotia, New York. It was hilly in my neighborhood. So when I was in kindergarten, I walked 2 miles to school ... by myself ... in the snow ... uphill ... both ways.
In Elementary School we walked eight blocks to school, eight blocks home for lunch, eight blocks back to School after lunch, and eight blocks home after School. Only to school was uphill thankfully. Other than that, A couple of family members still had phones on party lines and everyone had three TV channels to choose from.
When downtown was so popular they even wrote a song about it. Shopping in the stores before strip malls came out. Buying animals from Sears And Roebuck Catalogs where mama bought 3 donkeys from Mexico aka Mexican Burro's.
Drawing water from the well when the pump went out. Using the out house when power went out. It was a 3 seater and me and my little brothers would have conversations while tending to business. Our out house was top of the line, it even had a half moon window in it.
I definitely remember the 3 channels and the antennas on every house (or rabbit ears on TVs). I remember having about a dozen phone numbers memorized. I remember playing football after school with friends or riding bikes. Ya know, active stuff. I remember our family doctor making a house call. I remember flying on a commercial airplane meant dressing up for the occasion. I remember in 8th grade, in public school, the "bad boy" in my class. Our teacher was of east Asian descent. The bad boy got mad and called him "You Japs ..." My teacher locked on to him like a laser as he walked to the desk where the boy was sitting. In a lightning move, he grabbed him by his shirt collar, jerking him up out of his seat. "Listen, punk!", he said. Then he put his mouth right up against the boy's ear and whispered something to him. Then he let him down into his seat. The bad boy never gave him lip again, and the whole class was glad he did it. True story. Can you imagine that today?
Johnny Electric Trucks - I loved mine Monopoly, Life, checkers, Battleship, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, Erector Sets, rubber-band-powered, balsa wood airplanes, Cox Airplanes, Lionel model train sets, slot cars and the smell of the motors, my Lost in Space robot, five-speed stingray bikes with a stick shift, go carts and mini bikes, My 15 Hp, 2 speed Tote Goat... Starting my day with the Captain; Kangaroo, that is. What is Mr Green Jeans up to today? If occupied, it had a minimum of three half moons in it. Where did you grow up?
My mother was YUUUUUGELY into Tupperware. And she made some good money at it. I remember her making over $500 in one night, which was a serious kill back then. Our garage was packed with Tupperware for several years when her business was at its peak. I think she stopped when us kids got a little older and she got a regular job. But for 5 or 6 years, our fates were sealed in Tupperware. We had egg keepers and lettuce keepers and pickle keepers, milk shake makers, bowls, cups, food storage containers, sandwich keepers, condiment dispensers... if I thought about it I could probably name another dozen or two more items around the house. But back then, Tupper owned the patent on the Tupper seal and Tupperware had no competition. With my mother in the business, we were the Tupper House. Out of curiosity I checked an inflation calculator. In today's dollars, she made as much as $3500 in one night. I show roughly a 7:1 ratio. Not bad for a mom with four kids.
My mother loathed my sister in law and was going to leave her all our Tupperware in her will- she forgot, and didn't. I remember in our non electric house in the country, a kerosene fridge.
old commercials. " you'll wonder where the yellow went ,when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent." " You've got your own cigarrett now baby, you've come a long long way." Virginia Slims.
I grew up in Atlanta and Stone Mountain Ga. Grand daddy had apt. houses all over Atlanta and mama used one. But most of first 13 yr.s was in the country in Stone Mountain. I had a wonderful life both city and country.
No AC in cars either. First AC I had in a car was a under the dash job. It actually had ice cycles hanging off where the cool air came out. No seat belts for the tanks aka cars we rode in.
I also remember 'switches' and only being told a couple of times not to do something, strike 3 meant what mama called " beat the hell out of you ". I got the most stripes for being the most hard headed out of the 5 of us. Going into the woods to pout and telling my donk,duck,goat and dogs how mean she was. Swimming in our lake sticking my fingers into the red mud on the bottom to hold me under water and watching the fish bounce off my face. I could hold my breathe for a long time.
LOL, yes that too. It was really hot in traffic. Washing clothes in the creeks and bathing in the spillway from the lake when the wringer washer went out. 5 yr.old cousin got his arm broke in the wringer ,pulled him up to his shoulder. Standing on a chair to wash dishes before I could reach the kitchen sink.
Toys in the Cracker Jack box. 45 records at the record store. First 45 record I bought was $.99 Beatles ' I Want To Hold Your Hand'.
