# I Grew Up Back When  -  Post Your Memories...



## SmoothSeas

​”And I see this WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK. A generation that went to school and walked back. A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street. A generation that spent all their free time on the street. A generation that played hide and seek when dark. A generation that made mud cakes. A generation that collected sports cards. A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each. A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands. A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players. A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings. A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days. A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem. A generation that had parents who were there. A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake. A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...”


----------



## Ruth n Jersey

@SmoothSeas you covered a lot of my memories as well. I might add riding my bike, roller skating and Ice skating were favorites of mine.  Running through the sprinkler in the summer and drinking from the hose on a hot day.
Going by bus to the food store with my mom and grandma once a week and paying bills in person once a month.  My mom and grandma going to the bank and depositing the weekly paychecks which the teller did without a computer.
Going on day trips and finding a nice spot for our picnic lunch.
Being allowed to watch Howdy Doody on a Friday evening while eating my supper on a snack tray. That was a real treat and didn't happen often.


----------



## oldpeculier

The girls would let it be known that they were interested in you, but the guys asked for the date.


----------



## PamfromTx

It was safe to play outdoors til we heard our parents calling our name.  Sleeping in a twin bed with my baby brother.  Playing in a wooded area located next to my grandma's house; we had quite an imagination.  I'll never forget the 'hill'.


----------



## Gaer

SmoothSeas said:


> View attachment 198170
> ​”And I see this WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK. A generation that went to school and walked back. A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street. A generation that spent all their free time on the street. A generation that played hide and seek when dark. A generation that made mud cakes. A generation that collected sports cards. A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each. A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands. A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players. A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings. A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days. A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem. A generation that had parents who were there. A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake. A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...”


This is beautifully written!  Thank you for your words.


----------



## Pepper

The two boys in the picture look like twins!


----------



## horseless carriage

In the UK steam engines weren't phased out until the end of the 1960's. It seemed that every schoolboy would stand at stations. bridges, engine sheds, collecting the numbers of the engines. There were no handhold electric gizmos back then so trainspotting was a schoolboys pastime. 

Who remembers the soap box carts? We all made them using the wheels of prams before the pushchair became the choice of baby's mode of travel. Downhill Soap Box Derby, many crashed, skin ripped, knees bled, spit on your hanky and tie it round the wound and play on.
Many a happy hour was spent in the recreational area of public parks where children played on the swings, slides, roundabouts and a host of other rides.

Do you remember when there was a cinema in the centre of most towns in Britain? For many children in those days the highlight of the week was the visit to the local cinema for the children’s matinee – the cinema club. Oh, the thrill of the silver screen for children in the 1950's and on into the early 60's, and the fun to be had at the cinema in the past at the Saturday morning children’s cinema club!
https://www.francisfrith.com/uk/blog/the-saturday-cinema-club

Like others have said, roller skates were very popular, we road push bikes that we put together from old scrap bikes. We climbed trees and rocks too, took tumbles in our stride and even when the weather was bitter cold we would still be out playing.


----------



## officerripley

I grew up back when the other girls in school made fun of me because my Mom had to work outside the home (even though Dad made a good salary like their dads did but then again he had mistresses to support, dontcha know); "Ladies don't work after they get married; only daddies work! What's wrong with your family?!"  Then in about 5 more years the kids who parents had never been divorced were considered the weirdos. (Once modernization got going in my area, it moved really fast.)


----------



## Pappy

This was a typical scene when I was a teen.


----------



## Aunt Bea




----------



## Jace

Ah! The good 'ole days!
(All great posts!)


----------



## officerripley

Pappy said:


> This was a typical scene when I was a teen.
> 
> View attachment 198244


When I was a teen (in the 60s), any couple that shared a soda like this would've been picked on unmercifully by the popular kids; you were supposed to be sneaking beer in the back seat of a car; there weren't even any soda shoppes around anyway, just hamburger drive-ins.


----------



## Pookie

What I loved about growing up in the 60s and 70s was the fact that you didn't have to suit up like an astronaut on a spacewalk just to ride your bicycle.


----------



## Pappy

Crank up the V-8 Ford, with dual exhaust, crank up the radio and cruise up and down Main St. Pack of cigarettes rolled up in my t-shirt. Maybe if we got daring, we would pick up a quart of beer and pass it around.


----------



## Lewkat

Pappy said:


> This was a typical scene when I was a teen.
> 
> View attachment 198244


My favorite era.


----------



## Sassycakes

Growing up was wonderful then. The only thing I had to fear in school was the Nuns.
playing outside until bedtime. Having true friends. I could go on and on.


----------



## Mr. Ed

The big story in my town was the Southern Baptist preachers kid asked the Methodist preacher’s daughter to the Junior/Senior prom.


----------



## Fyrefox

I can remember feeling safe in school, where we never had to worry about “active shooters” and the major threats were from bullies.  You knew who the bullies were, could see them coming, and could effectively hide in a peer group.  The “duck and cover” drills were practiced, but less often as you aged, and you doubted that the Russians would really come to bomb us.  If you had a less than ideal home life, school could be your sanctuary from toxic family members…


----------



## Liberty

I grew up back when you ate white bread.  

Ask grand daughter what she thought it was like 
when I was a kid and she said "everything was black and white"...lol.


----------



## carouselsilver

Ruth n Jersey said:


> @SmoothSeas you covered a lot of my memories as well. I might add riding my bike, roller skating and Ice skating were favorites of mine.  Running through the sprinkler in the summer and drinking from the hose on a hot day.
> Going by bus to the food store with my mom and grandma once a week and paying bills in person once a month.  My mom and grandma going to the bank and depositing the weekly paychecks which the teller did without a computer.
> Going on day trips and finding a nice spot for our picnic lunch.
> Being allowed to watch Howdy Doody on a Friday evening while eating my supper on a snack tray. That was a real treat and didn't happen often.


I remember when my father decided, out of the blue, to make a special movie night for us kids. He bought a lot of finger foods, like cocktail hotdogs, crackers, pickles, ect. He set up folding tables in the living room and we each had an assortment of snack foods on little trays as we watched the Saturday night movie special.


----------



## hollydolly

Liberty said:


> I grew up back when you ate white bread.
> 
> Ask grand daughter what she thought it was like
> when I was a kid and she said "everything was black and white"...lol.


lol, you think that was bad ?.. my daughter came home from school about 10 years old having just had a science class, and asked me in all innocence and seriousness ''mummy did you have electricity in the caves when you were little ''?


----------



## Alligatorob

Liberty said:


> I grew up back when you ate white bread.


I like it, my grandfather ate Roman Meal bread and most people thought he was a health food nut.  

Guess it helped make up for his chain cigar smoking...


----------



## jujube

We were "free range" kids long before it became fashionable.  Parents had no idea where we were, but they didn't worry as long as we were home by dinnertime and nobody called them to "come pick up the body".....LOL.


----------



## Rah-Rah

I was a younger kid in the 70's and I remember playing hopscotch, kickball, and dodgeball with my friends and in the 80's when I was a teen and in high school it was a great time. I remember spending a lot of time at the Mall with my girlfriends, movies, school dances, and sporting events. It was a lot of fun. I guess in my teens the only thing we sort of worried about and it really wasn't that much was the Russians.


----------



## carouselsilver

I do wonder about the current generation of kids growing up in these troubled times. and I mean the troubles are beyond anything that we could have imagined; Covid, constantly being exposed to negative social media, not knowing the simple pleasure of just being in the moment without whipping out a phone to "capture the moment." Our brains are perfectly able to capture moments!

I can remember, as a child, lying on my stomach in the grass and watching tiny insects marching back and forth. I can remember standing by the garage and nibbling on honeysuckle flowers, sucking the sweetness out of them. Getting excited when exploring was rewarded by finding a cherry tree. Getting lost in a field of grass that was taller than me, and feeling as frightened as if I were lost in a jungle. Thinking that maple seedlings were angel wings. Ah, memories.


----------



## Rah-Rah

carouselsilver said:


> I do wonder about the current generation of kids growing up in these troubled times. and I mean the troubles are beyond anything that we could have imagined; Covid, constantly being exposed to negative social media, not knowing the simple pleasure of just being in the moment without whipping out a phone to "capture the moment." Our brains are perfectly able to capture moments!
> 
> I can remember, as a child, lying on my stomach in the grass and watching tiny insects marching back and forth. I can remember standing by the garage and nibbling on honeysuckle flowers, sucking the sweetness out of them. Getting excited when exploring was rewarded by finding a cherry tree. Getting lost in a field of grass that was taller than me, and feeling as frightened as if I were lost in a jungle. Thinking that maple seedlings were angel wings. Ah, memories.


I think sometimes technology does not bring the best in things. For example Social Media being one of those negative things for the young people of today. Having a phone at a moments expense in some cases is a really good thing as if you need to use it for what it is intended for and that is making phone calls. Such as if your car breaks down it is a great thing to have. Also have WAZE or Google Maps is a wonderful thing. Like you stated having a phone to whip out at a moments notice to capture any moment the second it occurs I don't know how great that really is.


----------



## Fyrefox

I grew up when there were no “athletic shoes,” but only canvas “sneakers.”  They were available only in white or black, and in high or low top models.  Sneakers were worn primarily in gym class or after school.  During the regular school day, boys wore leather shoes, primarily loafers.  We actually polished our shoes, and might have new heels or soles put on them if they wore out.  Parents would often buy their kids a new pair of shoes for school wear at the beginning of the school year, and they were expected to last a year, and could with proper maintenance…


----------



## hollydolly

Fyrefox said:


> I grew up when there were no “athletic shoes,” but only canvas “sneakers.”  They were available only in white or black, and in high or low top models.  Sneakers were worn primarily in gym class or after school.  During the regular school day, boys wore leather shoes, primarily loafers.  We actually polished our shoes, and might have new heels or soles put on them if they wore out.  Parents would often buy their kids a new pair of shoes for school wear at the beginning of the school year, and they were expected to last a year, and could with proper maintenance…


Same here.. !!... remember having to whiten the gym shoes every week... ?.. the black gym shoes were slip ons the white had laces..they cost more.. and despite there being no designer envy back in the day, in the way the kids have today... there was still a way to tell which kids were poor. Those who had white lace up gym shoes, compared to those who had slip on black.. was just one of the many ways.


----------



## Furryanimal

....there was a public telephone on every street corner( with queues for them in the evening)tv was black and white and there were only three channels,being naughty got you a sore bottom,you could disappear for hours on end,You had to be with your friends to talk to them,having a pen pal meant posting a letter and getting a reply a couple of weeks later( today I’ve had an in depth chat with my military trained friend in Ukraine and my Latvian one in Canada).....Times change.


----------



## hollydolly

Furryanimal said:


> ....there was a public telephone on every street corner( with queues for them in the evening)tv was black and white and there were only three channels,being naughty got you a sore bottom,you could disappear for hours on end,You had to be with your friends to talk to them,having a pen pal meant posting a letter and getting a reply a couple of weeks later( today I’ve had an in depth chat with my military trained friend in Ukraine and my Latvian one in Canada).....Times change.


...yes remember the only way we could communicate with our family in Toronto was by blue airmail letter.. and that would take weeks for a reply... ...and when I was married to my ex husband who was in the Royal Navy , there was no way of communicating with him while he was at sea, except BFPO letters, and those could take over a week to get to him depending where he was... and then another week for a reply back to me ..


----------



## CinnamonSugar

Our high school had school colors and a school song, which we sang proudly in assemblies.   Wonder if either of those are still around?


----------



## Becky1951

I remember chatting with my cousin in her tree house, me on the ground on our cell phones.

2 tin cans with a string connecting them.


----------



## hollydolly

Becky1951 said:


> I remember chatting with my cousin in her tree house, me on the ground on our cell phones.
> 
> 2 tin cans with a string connecting them.


oh yes I remember those days too..


----------



## JaniceM

When I first saw the thread title, I was going to start with "back in those days...," but it occurred to me that this isn't simply old memories but reflected everywhere I've lived before my current environment.

Regardless of socioeconomic/racial/ethnic factors, regardless of whether households were headed by couples or single parents, and even regardless of whether parents worked, nearly everyone I knew was _family-oriented- and family members were a part of each other's lives.  _

'Parents these days don't have time...' is not a valid excuse.  It's a matter of priorities.


----------



## Alligatorob

JaniceM said:


> When I first saw the thread title, I was going to start with "back in those days...," but it occurred to me that this isn't simply old memories but reflected everywhere I've lived before my current environment.
> 
> Regardless of socioeconomic/racial/ethnic factors, regardless of whether households were headed by couples or single parents, and even regardless of whether parents worked, nearly everyone I knew was _family-oriented- and family members were a part of each other's lives.  _
> 
> 'Parents these days don't have time...' is not a valid excuse.  It's a matter of priorities.


Seems to me that electronics are the biggest difference today.  Kids spend a lot of time on their phones, computers, games, etc.  None of which did we have.  It gives them less time for personal interactions with family and others.

I know it seems like a bad thing, but I really don't know if it is or not.  It is however reality and no matter what we think of it changing it just ain't going to happen!


Becky1951 said:


> I remember chatting with my cousin in her tree house, me on the ground on our cell phones.
> 
> 2 tin cans with a string connecting them.


Yep, I remember that too, never worked real well but we sure tried.  If real cell phones had been available to us our world would have been very different.


----------



## Paco Dennis

JaniceM said:


> When I first saw the thread title, I was going to start with "back in those days...," but it occurred to me that this isn't simply old memories but reflected everywhere I've lived before my current environment.
> 
> Regardless of socioeconomic/racial/ethnic factors, regardless of whether households were headed by couples or single parents, and even regardless of whether parents worked, nearly everyone I knew was _family-oriented- and family members were a part of each other's lives.  _
> 
> 'Parents these days don't have time...' is not a valid excuse.  It's a matter of priorities.


What if the parent/s have to find work to feed their families...and have day care..and bills to pay? I think those are primary reasons to be away from the nuclear family. They don't WANT it that way, it is for survival.


----------



## carouselsilver

JaniceM said:


> 'Parents these days don't have time...' is not a valid excuse.  It's a matter of priorities.


----------



## carouselsilver

Paco Dennis said:


> What if the parent/s have to find work to feed their families...and have day care..and bills to pay? I think those are primary reasons to be away from the nuclear family. They don't WANT it that way, it is for survival.


I think what JaniceM meant is that there are a lot of parents who do not spend quality time with their children. I was a single mother and it was a source of anguish how little time I could spend with my daughter. So I learned to make quality time with her. I tried to give her some of the magical moments I experienced as a child; walking in the park together, baking things together, teaching her how to sew.  But it is rough on single parents.


----------



## Paco Dennis

carouselsilver said:


> I think what JaniceM meant is that there are a lot of parents who do not spend quality time with their children. I was a single mother and it was a source of anguish how little time I could spend with my daughter. So I learned to make quality time with her. I tried to give her some of the magical moments I experienced as a child; walking in the park together, baking things together, teaching her how to sew.  But it is rough on single parents.


A very wise man once told me "Some people make good parents, others do not."


----------



## Snow74

I worked as a phone operator for Bell Canada. Back in the day when all calls went through the Operator…Friday nights were busy..the small town where I lived was close to the Quebec border where the hotels stayed open till the wee hours of the morning..soo..on that night the women would call for their husbands…I would dial the number and the bartender would immediately answer” What’s the name”. Surprise..Surprise the husband was not to be found!


----------



## Lanny

I began working as a farm laborer at 14 in 1970.  We were paid 'a dollar an hour' to throw and stack hay bales, bring in corn, shovel out horse stalls, hoe garden rows, dig post holes, etc.  Hard work.  Seven in the morning 'til five or six in the evening.  40 dollars cash on Friday afternoon for 50-55 hours of work.  40 bucks cash to a 14 year old in 1970 and you were rich!  Did this every summer 'til I was 19. In those days a guy could make enough money at minimum wage during one summer to pay for an entire year's college tuition.  Today a kid would have to make 2000 dollars a week.


----------



## Mr. Ed

I grew up confused nowadays nothing changes


----------



## Lewkat

I was born at the height of the Great Depression in 1933, so it was common to seen men digging ditches alongside the roads to lay drain pipes.  They were employed by the WPA and barely made enough to feed their families.  Many had good jobs before the stock market collapsed, but at least they had their self esteem in place by doing a day's work.

We would play hop scotch using the heel of an old shoe to toss into the spaces.  We roller skated with the keys for same around our necks on a string.  We made up games to play in the street or even play timeless old ones brought over from Europe and England.  We were outside most of the day when not in school.

We ate healthy meals as there was no junk food to be had.  Ice cream, jello, pudding, junket, cakes and pies were special treats.  Fresh fruit was usually in abundance.

Almost all were poor but happy.  We went to school, wore clean clothes, and managed to get a first rate education.  Even those who had to dropout early to help with household costs.  For we were taught classics in those days, not nonsense.


----------



## Alligatorob

Lanny said:


> Seven in the morning 'til five or six in the evening. 40 dollars cash on Friday afternoon for 50-55 hours of work. 40 bucks cash to a 14 year old in 1970 and you were rich!


Yep, my first paying job was hauling hay, but I made $1.25 an hour.  And you are right it felt like a small fortune!


----------



## Capt Lightning

Growing up n the 50's, things like German measles, mumps, chicken pox etc.. weren't diseases - they were rites of passage.  Girls used to have 'Rubella parties'  so that they could gain immunity and not have to worry about it in later years if they became pregnant.


----------



## Marie5656

*This....

*


----------



## Autumn72

Pappy said:


> This was a typical scene when I was a teen.
> 
> View attachment 198244


I wasn't born to be a teen in the 50s
So England is so far away yet different in each decade.
Coming along slowly to what it is today.
 Of course each will remember their decade of what it was about for them in their own old age of looking back.
Which will be changed forever the future 
Will be a whole other unimagined way so far removed from now.
The ones in Pampers will be saying your words someday.


----------



## carouselsilver

Marie5656 said:


> *This....
> 
> View attachment 215187*


Halloween, right?


----------



## Autumn72

Sassycakes said:


> Growing up was wonderful then. The only thing I had to fear in school was the Nuns.
> playing outside until bedtime. Having true friends. I could go on and on.


Please do.
I was in catholic school  one year.
I ran home and begged my mother to take me out of that school and the reason why.


----------



## carouselsilver

Autumn72 said:


> Please do.
> I was in catholic school  one year.
> I ran home and begged my mother to take me out of that school and the reason why.


My experience was the opposite. My mother took me out of public school due to excessive and extreme bullying. At Catholic school I was safe because the nuns did not allow bullying; they were very strict.


----------



## Marie5656

carouselsilver said:


> Halloween, right?


YEP


----------



## OneEyedDiva

carouselsilver said:


> I do wonder about the current generation of kids growing up in these troubled times. and I mean the troubles are beyond anything that we could have imagined; Covid, constantly being exposed to negative social media, not knowing the simple pleasure of just being in the moment without whipping out a phone to "capture the moment." Our brains are perfectly able to capture moments!
> 
> I can remember, as a child, lying on my stomach in the grass and watching tiny insects marching back and forth. I can remember standing by the garage and nibbling on honeysuckle flowers, sucking the sweetness out of them. Getting excited when exploring was rewarded by finding a cherry tree. Getting lost in a field of grass that was taller than me, and feeling as frightened as if I were lost in a jungle. Thinking that maple seedlings were angel wings. Ah, memories.


Yes and we never had to worry about being shot or killed when while we were in school !


----------



## OneEyedDiva

~You better not have talked back let alone cursed in front of your parents (or their peers).
~Everyone's family looked out for one another so if you misbehaved, someone else's parent set you straight and told your parents.
~We went to church every Sunday and were there for a good part of the day.  We children went to Sunday school, then there was church service at 11:00. Usually by the time church let out and the brief socializing was done, it would be 1:45 or 2:00 when we got home.
~Ladies and girls wore our fine dresses, gloves and hats. Men wore suits. ties and hats.
~We'd eat dinner after church. Everything was made from scratch and absolutely delicious. 
~We played outside: hopscotch, jumped double dutch and raced our turtles up the street.
~I lived in an integrated neighborhood and we all played together without issues. Never heard any name calling.
~When it started getting dark, it was time to go home. And Mama and Daddy better not have to call you in.
~The churches ran bus rides to Coney Island and Rye Beach.
~I used to enjoy going to the church teas. I loved the colorful finger sandwiches and petits fours.
~When I got a little older, I went with my friends to Palisades Amusement Park in N.J.
@Pecos


----------



## Lewkat

OneEyedDiva said:


> ~You better not have talked back let alone cursed in front of your parents (or their peers).
> ~Everyone's family looked out for one another so if you misbehaved, someone else's parent set you straight and told your parents.
> ~We went to church every Sunday and were there for a good part of the day.  We children Went to Sunday school, then there was church service at 11:00. Usually by the time church let out and the brief socializing was done, it would be 1:45 or 2:00 when we got home.
> ~Ladies and girls wore our fine dresses, gloves and hats. Men wore suits. ties and hats.
> ~We'd eat dinner after church. Everything was made from scratch and absolutely delicious.
> ~We played outside: hopscotch, jumped double dutch and raced our turtles up the street.
> ~I lived in an integrated neighborhood and we all played together without issues. Never heard any name calling.
> ~When it started getting dark, it was time to go home. And Mama and Daddy better not have to call you in.
> ~The churches ran bus rides to Coney Island and Rye Beach.
> ~I used to enjoy going to the church teas. I loved the colorful finger sandwiches and petits fours.
> ~When I got a little older, I went with my friends to Palisades Amusement Park in N.J.


I guess we all pretty much did the same things, Diva.  I have fond memories of those days, but then we were carefree kids.


----------



## Autumn72

carouselsilver said:


> My experience was the opposite. My mother took me out of public school due to excessive and extreme bullying. At Catholic school I was safe because the nuns did not allow bullying; they were very strict.


Yet who stops the man who took it upon himself to slap me across the face for no reason. This on a day he had visited going up and down the rows of desks to what, inspect....
Who was he....I don't think he was the pope ....the next higher from the priests there 
Yes, they were strict.
No bullies when they were the bullies. As far as him.
She took me out immediately.
Too it costs money for uniforms and dues. Why pay if they get to have housekeepers and go around slapping kids for no reason. 
Maybe it was their way to make room for the richer kids to give them more money.


----------



## C50

I grew up back when.....a sixty year old man could take his 10 year old neighbor boy fishing.  Loaded up the truck and drove to the lake the night before, slept in the truck till dawn then got out on the lake at daybreak.

Think that would happen these days?


----------



## Gaer

"I grew up back when" - sanity reigned.


----------



## carouselsilver

OneEyedDiva said:


> ~You better not have talked back let alone cursed in front of your parents (or their peers).
> ~Everyone's family looked out for one another so if you misbehaved, someone else's parent set you straight and told your parents.
> ~We went to church every Sunday and were there for a good part of the day.  We children went to Sunday school, then there was church service at 11:00. Usually by the time church let out and the brief socializing was done, it would be 1:45 or 2:00 when we got home.
> ~Ladies and girls wore our fine dresses, gloves and hats. Men wore suits. ties and hats.
> ~We'd eat dinner after church. Everything was made from scratch and absolutely delicious.
> ~We played outside: hopscotch, jumped double dutch and raced our turtles up the street.
> ~I lived in an integrated neighborhood and we all played together without issues. Never heard any name calling.
> ~When it started getting dark, it was time to go home. And Mama and Daddy better not have to call you in.
> ~The churches ran bus rides to Coney Island and Rye Beach.
> ~I used to enjoy going to the church teas. I loved the colorful finger sandwiches and petits fours.
> ~When I got a little older, I went with my friends to Palisades Amusement Park in N.J.
> @Pecos


Palisades amusement park! We went there a lot; such good memories!


----------



## Fyrefox

I grew up back when transistor radios were the hot high tech item.  My parents gave me my first one for Xmas with much ceremony in the mid-1960’s that was this Westinghouse, but in a different color.  It cost the then-princely sum of around $20, and only played the AM band.  It came with a carrying case!

Prices came down when the Japanese produced models that you could buy for as little as $5.  I scraped up money so I could eventually buy an AM/FM model, and listen to jazz out of NYC.  I envied a friend who had a Sony model big enough to have a carrying handle.  He got a lot of stations clearly on that Sony, a premium model of the day.

Mostly, though, kids would carry their cheaper transistor radios around, and pass time in the summer listening to _Cousin Brucie _playing top 40 hits on _WABC_ out of New York City...


----------



## oldman

oldpeculier said:


> The girls would let it be known that they were interested in you, but the guys asked for the date.


And paid for the movie and popcorn.


----------



## oldman

I think it’s a shame that with all of this woke crap going on, along with gender and sex ID and CRT, most of the little ones today may not know what a great childhood they missed out on.

I know from reading former posts on this forum that some of you did not have a good childhood and that’s a shame also. We always had kids around in my small town growing up. Hardly anyone sat indoors everyday. It was a great time back then.


----------



## Pappy

One of my items I wrote for our hometown newspaper several years ago.


The sun is starting to set on Gold St. back in the fifties. One more week until school starts and we have a lot of playing to do before it starts. It was a much easy going time as there was very few TV sets, video games, etc. We had to invent our own games and things to do.

Anyway, I'm rushing through my supper as a fierce game of kick the can will soon be starting. Mom says, why are you eating so fast? I explain to her that Terry, Warren Teddy, Jimmy and a few more guys are meeting outside by the street light in a few minutes to start the games.

Later, as everyone has had their fill off kick the can, we would sneak around in peoples back yards, between Gold and Rexford St, and "borrow" a few apples and then we might see how many fireflies each one of us could catch. Our faces dripping with sweat, we would sneak into into our clubhouse, which was a building attached to the back of my parents garage. The clubhouse was well stocked with "penny" candy and comic books. My mom wouldn't allow candles in the old clubhouse, so we had several Roy Rogers or Hopalong Cassidy flashlights hidden in secrect places to read by. Batteries didn't last very long back then, but we managed to finish up our reading.

Then came the dreaded call. "Time to come in, it's time for bed." Time for a bath and off to dreamland. My dreams....what are we going to do tomorrow night?


----------



## Sliverfox

I grew up during the 50's - 60's.
Playing  cowboys & Indians in the   woods behind  our  house.
Going to to the old swimming hole down in the creek .
Winters  sledding , snowball fights & snowmen.

Later when I  bought a horse ,,it was  off  to where ever on it.
Really  upset my mother who was afraid of horses.

Heard a lot of,"I wish you would  tell me where you are going."

How could I when I didn't know,until I got there.
There were a few  guys & girls that had horses & we did meet up at times.


----------



## mrstime

Pepper said:


> The two boys in the picture look like twins!


Note the long hair on those boys, obviously not my generation. Boys wore their hair short. In fact I remember a girlfriend and I were walking downtown when we saw this rather large person with long beautiful hair, we ran in front of the person to try to figure out the gender, he also had a long beard. We had never seen a man with long hair before that one. In fact when the Beatles came along everyone was shocked by their "long" hair. Then boys and men started wearing their hair longer than before.


----------



## carouselsilver

Fyrefox said:


> I grew up back when transistor radios were the hot high tech item.  My parents gave me my first one for Xmas with much ceremony in the mid-1960’s that was this Westinghouse, but in a different color.  It cost the then-princely sum of around $20, and only played the AM band.  It came with a carrying case!
> 
> Prices came down when the Japanese produced models that you could buy for as little as $5.  I scraped up money so I could eventually buy an AM/FM model, and listen to jazz out of NYC.  I envied a friend who had a Sony model big enough to have a carrying handle.  He got a lot of stations clearly on that Sony, a premium model of the day.
> 
> Mostly, though, kids would carry their cheaper transistor radios around, and pass time in the summer listening to _Cousin Brucie _playing top 40 hits on _WABC_ out of New York City...
> 
> View attachment 215918


Cousin Brucie! Wow, that takes me back! WABC was my fave station. I got a Panasonic radio for Christmas when I was fourteen. I lived with that thing, took it to bed and listened all night. 
https://external-content.duckduckgo...47523614414b0f21c4754ec0489126.jpg&f=1&nofb=1


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## carouselsilver

squatting dog said:


> View attachment 215997


This brings back a memory of romance between two teachers. I was in the second or third grade, and I remember my teacher, a woman, sending a note to a male teacher down the hall, and him sending one back via another student. It wasn't until some of the students started giggling when this male teacher came into the classroom to speak to our teacher, that I realized that a romance was going on between them. I thought it was romantic.


----------



## Sassycakes

I grew up and I lived on a small street in the City. There were at least 
10 kids my age living on the same street. Most Mom's didn't work so you always had someone watching over you. At night all the parents sat outside so we were never afraid.They truly were the good old days.


----------



## horseless carriage

We used to have these, you were well off with a couple of them in your pocket.

Now we have the pound coin, it's not worth a light.

With ten bob, you could treat your girlfriend to the cinema, have a drink afterwards and probably have enough for your bus fare home.

Nowadays the ten shilling equivalent is the 50 pence coin, just like the pound coin, it's not worth a light.
For those not familiar with British currency, both the ten shillings and the fifty pence are exactly half of the pound. (stirling)


----------



## Sassycakes

carouselsilver said:


> My experience was the opposite. My mother took me out of public school due to excessive and extreme bullying. At Catholic school I was safe because the nuns did not allow bullying; they were very strict.


Most of the Nun's I had were crazy. They would always have a yardstick in their hand and hit you with it if they thought you were misbehaving. Another thing I remember from the past was getting under your desk to protect you from an atomic bomb. Like a wooden desk would protect you.


----------



## CinnamonSugar

The Fuller Brush Man came to the house to offer his wares (which were quality)
An afternoon at the movies meant a cartoon and 2 movies (not old enough for news reels)
Long afternoons reading a book while lying in the grass in the shade of a tree
We sang school songs at assembly (even into high school)

It wasn't a perfect time, but it definitely had it's good points!


----------



## CinnamonSugar

Sassycakes said:


> Most of the Nun's I had were crazy. They would always have a yardstick in their hand and hit you with it if they thought you were misbehaving. Another thing I remember from the past was getting under your desk to protect you from an atomic bomb. Like a wooden desk would protect you.


@Sassycakes, I'm sorry you have such bad memories of nuns.  The nuns I knew were nice--even funny at times--though strict.  Wish we could re-write our history sometimes (with different people). =(


----------



## Sassycakes

CinnamonSugar said:


> @Sassycakes, I'm sorry you have such bad memories of nuns.  The nuns I knew were nice--even funny at times--though strict.  Wish we could re-write our history sometimes (with different people). =(


I wish we could change some things from the past. I had one Nun in High School that pulled me out of my chair and threw me on the floor. Then she said, "Oh I made a mistake ,I meant to throw Miss Ryan on the floor."Then she threw the girl behind me on the floor.She never apologised to me or helped me up.


----------



## carouselsilver

Sassycakes said:


> Most of the Nun's I had were crazy. They would always have a yardstick in their hand and hit you with it if they thought you were misbehaving. Another thing I remember from the past was getting under your desk to protect you from an atomic bomb. Like a wooden desk would protect you.


I did see a nun smack another girl, but I escaped that sort of abuse, fortunately!


----------



## Sassycakes

I did have some pleasant times with some of the Nun's. When I was in grade school if you got good marks you were allowed to miss school for a week and help clean the convent. I remember when I was in fourth grade and cleaning a nun's bedroom she came in with her bathrobe on and I finally got to see her hair. She had it in a long braid that went all the way down to her feet. She looked at me with a smile and asked me not to tell anyone that I had seen her hair.I never told my classmates. She was a very gentle person and the best teacher.


----------



## carouselsilver

Sassycakes said:


> I did have some pleasant times with some of the Nun's. When I was in grade school if you got good marks you were allowed to miss school for a week and help clean the convent. I remember when I was in fourth grade and cleaning a nun's bedroom she came in with her bathrobe on and I finally got to see her hair. She had it in a long braid that went all the way down to her feet. She looked at me with a smile and asked me not to tell anyone that I had seen her hair.I never told my classmates. She was a very gentle person and the best teacher.


I'm glad that you had a pleasant memory of the nuns! The one who taught 7th grade took the time to visit our home when I was having some problems. They weren't all bad!


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## rainyghost

I'm so old I remember when you had to turn on your own headlights in the car.


----------



## oldman

squatting dog said:


> View attachment 215997


Great post. I get the message you were also stating between the lines. Just like you, when I was in elementary school, sex was tabu to me. Just having to watch men and women kiss on TV was kind of nauseating. We never even saw a bra commercial. I have also seen a commercial on TV of a woman shaving around her private parts. I was shocked, to say the least.


----------



## Lavinia

When driving a car and about to turn a corner, you stuck your arm out the window to warn other drivers.


----------



## Bretrick

The punishment for being an underage drinker in the pub was a size 10 Policeman's boot in my backside.


----------



## Bretrick

The punishment for not doing homework was 6 cuts on each hand.
Going back to class sniffling because it did hurt


----------



## Bretrick

Grandma would have a Baking Day on Sundays. We would go to the local football match. Most of the time it would be raining heavily, or snowing.
When we arrived home, the log fire was throwing out tremendous warmth. the house smelled of freshly baked treats.
Cakes, biscuits, scones, wine trifle, pavlovas. cheesecakes were some of the goodies we looked forward to on Sundays.


----------



## Alligatorob

SmoothSeas said:


> I Grew Up Back When


The earth was flat and there wasn't any silverware.

Something my MIL used to say.


----------



## Alligatorob

Lavinia said:


> When driving a car and about to turn a corner, you stuck your arm out the window to warn other drivers.


Still do that on my ATV.  In a car now only when I am not sure the blinker is working or visible.


----------



## CinnamonSugar

This was *totally* me growing up… always reading a book….  At one point in the 60’s Our public library was putting in new carpet and they encouraged everyone to take hone as many books as they wanted…. No red wagon but I carted home stacks of books and was in heaven!


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## Pepper

After Christmas there were no toys left in the store.
Girls weren't allowed to wear pants in school, even on freezing days.  The little girls would wear pants under their dresses and take off the pants at the beginning of the day and only put them on again as the last bell rang.


----------



## Pepper

Now that I'm on a roll..............girls weren't allowed in two of the three top NYC high schools.  The third was equal genderized in 1949.  This was under discussion at Mother's Day Brunch yesterday.  Also, in the CUNY (City University of New York) system, to get in a boy needed an average of 88 and the girls, 93 because it was assumed the girl was only there for her MRS degree.


----------



## Capt Lightning

Bretrick said:


> Grandma would have a Baking Day on Sundays. We would go to the local football match. Most of the time it would be raining heavily, or snowing.
> When we arrived home, the log fire was throwing out tremendous warmth. the house smelled of freshly baked treats.
> Cakes, biscuits, scones, wine trifle, pavlovas. cheesecakes were some of the goodies we looked forward to on Sundays.


Sunday was a miserable day.  As totally non-thinking Presbyterians, it was a case of "Remember the sabbath day ... etc.. "  No work, no noise, no drying clothes,  dragged off to the kirk for a bit of fire and brimstone.  I hated Sundays.  The only relief was that the golf club bar was open - but that's when I was older and rejected religion.

On that note, do you know about "Sunday sticks"?  These were walking sticks shaped like golf clubs, so that golfers could have a few practice shots on Sunday without anyone noticing.


----------



## Sassycakes

SmoothSeas said:


> View attachment 198170
> ​”And I see this WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK. A generation that went to school and walked back. A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street. A generation that spent all their free time on the street. A generation that played hide and seek when dark. A generation that made mud cakes. A generation that collected sports cards. A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each. A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands. A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players. A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings. A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days. A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem. A generation that had parents who were there. A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake. A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...”


 You described my life 100% ! Oh, the memories this brought back. I feel really sorry for the kids growing up now.


----------



## Bretrick

Capt Lightning said:


> Sunday was a miserable day.  As totally non-thinking Presbyterians, it was a case of "Remember the sabbath day ... etc.. "  No work, no noise, no drying clothes,  dragged off to the kirk for a bit of fire and brimstone.  I hated Sundays.  The only relief was that the golf club bar was open - but that's when I was older and rejected religion.
> 
> On that note, do you know about "Sunday sticks"?  These were walking sticks shaped like golf clubs, so that golfers could have a few practice shots on Sunday without anyone noticing.


Those "Days of the Sabbath" sound truly horrendous.
I am so glad my parents never had anything to do with religion.
Though my Grandmother -who raised us - was slightly religious, she never let it flow over into the family as a whole.
Early on, when she first came to us, she did make us children go to church but gave up very quickly on that idea when we showed zero interest and probably had tantrums.


----------



## win231




----------



## squatting dog




----------



## oldpop

I Grew Up Back When  -​The men were men and the women were too.


----------



## Murrmurr

Back when my mom's kitchen was olive green with kind of orange-ish accents and a large macrame owl hung in the breakfast nook.


----------



## JaniceM

Pepper said:


> After Christmas there were no toys left in the store.
> Girls weren't allowed to wear pants in school, even on freezing days.  The little girls would wear pants under their dresses and take off the pants at the beginning of the day and only put them on again as the last bell rang.



Oh I remember that-  girls required to wear dresses.  

Your post also brought to mind shortly before the government eliminated dress codes, the principal threatened to expel a boy in the senior class because the boy's hair was just long enough to touch the top of his collar..
but shortly after the dress code was eliminated, the principal grew HIS hair longer than the student's had been!!


----------



## MrWhit

Gaer said:


> This is beautifully written!  Thank you for your words.


A time when a parent said, "Because I said so!" and never had to say it twice.
A time when mine didn't have to be better than everybody elses. 
A time when middle class was a good thing.


----------



## MrWhit

Bacyk when the attendant pumped your gas, washed your windshield and checked your oil.


----------



## MrWhit

A time when the paperboy delivered your daily newpaper for fifty cents a week and was delighted to a dime tip.


----------



## MarkinPhx

I look back at most of these memories with warm fuzzy feelings but I often wonder what the younger ones will be writing about what they miss while growing up 50 years from now. Will they look back and reflect on missing actually driving a car ? Will they remember the times when they actually had to commute to work and enjoyed the social interaction with fellow workers ? And then I think about my parents and how they often reflected on their childhood and I think to myself how glad I did not grow up in their era.

I have come to the conclusion that the previous generation will always think the next generation grew up in "spoiled" times and the generation after that will think the previous generation grew up in "primitive" times.


----------



## Murrmurr

Pepper said:


> Now that I'm on a roll..............girls weren't allowed in two of the three top NYC high schools.  The third was equal genderized in 1949.  This was under discussion at Mother's Day Brunch yesterday.  Also, *in the CUNY (City University of New York) system, to get in a boy needed an average of 88 and the girls, 93 because it was assumed the girl was only there for her MRS degree*.


I've never heard about the 88/93 gap. If it existed while I attended city college in Calif, the boys didn't know. But we did fall victim to the propaganda that girls mainly went to college to find a husband or at least to lose their virginity to "good boys" aka "right side of the tracks" boys. 

This was when the saying "it's hip to be square" was floating around, and college guys wore argyle sweater vests and repp ties or wide suspenders, flat-front khaki-colored chinos, short haircuts, and black-rimmed glasses to look educated, or like a bit of a dork but not a total dweeb.

In the late 60s I remember my cousin, Sarah, being totally pissed-off because she couldn't take Auto Shop in high school because she was a girl, so the school counselor signed her up for typing class instead. Just signed her up without even asking her. When she complained to the counselor, she was told there was zero possibility she'd ever be a mechanic, but every possibility she could get a clerical position just about anyplace. The sky was the limit in that field.

Sarah dropped typing class. She's enjoying a very successful career as a technical engineer in the field of robotics.


----------



## Lawrence

I grew up back when a young WW2 pilot teaching Drivers Education taught me how to drive. He taught me some great tips like what the pilots do when they are flying.


----------



## JaniceM

Murrmurr said:


> In the late 60s I remember my cousin, Sarah, being totally pissed-off because she couldn't take Auto Shop in high school because she was a girl, so the school counselor signed her up for typing class instead. Just signed her up without even asking her. When she complained to the counselor, she was told there was zero possibility she'd ever be a mechanic, but every possibility she could get a clerical position just about anyplace. The sky was the limit in that field.
> 
> Sarah dropped typing class. She's enjoying a very successful career as a technical engineer in the field of robotics.


I can relate to your cousin's experience although it was around a decade later-  during my last years of high school girls were allowed to take wood shop and metal shop-  power tools, and even some doodad called an oxyacetylene welder- but could not take auto shop.  

It was flat-out stupid- because nearly everybody needs to know the basics of car repair, and not having even basic knowledge is the main reason I've never wanted to own a car.  Figured a car could konk out, out in the middle of nowhere someplace, and I'd have no idea what was wrong with it.


----------



## horseless carriage

Who remembers Green Stamps? In the US they were S&H. Here in the UK they were Green Shield.
Who remembers dialling a rotary phone? And talking to an operator? That's having looked up the number in the telephone directory.
Who remembers trying to listen to a transistor radio, usually to a weak signal and more often than not, under the bed covers?


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## Sassycakes

SmoothSeas said:


> View attachment 198170
> ​”And I see this WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK. A generation that went to school and walked back. A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street. A generation that spent all their free time on the street. A generation that played hide and seek when dark. A generation that made mud cakes. A generation that collected sports cards. A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each. A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands. A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players. A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings. A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days. A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem. A generation that had parents who were there. A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake. A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...”


How I miss those days.The only thing I don't miss was going to Catholic school and being taught by Nun's. You never knew when they were going to smack you with a ruler.


----------



## Sassycakes

I just remembered hiding under our wooden desks to be safe from an atomic bomb.


----------



## CinnamonSugar

Murrmurr said:


> I've never heard about the 88/93 gap. If it existed while I attended city college in Calif, the boys didn't know. But we did fall victim to the propaganda that girls mainly went to college to find a husband or at least to lose their virginity to "good boys" aka "right side of the tracks" boys.
> 
> This was when the saying "it's hip to be square" was floating around, and college guys wore argyle sweater vests and repp ties or wide suspenders, flat-front khaki-colored chinos, short haircuts, and black-rimmed glasses to look educated, or like a bit of a dork but not a total dweeb.
> 
> In the late 60s I remember my cousin, Sarah, being totally pissed-off because she couldn't take Auto Shop in high school because she was a girl, so the school counselor signed her up for typing class instead. Just signed her up without even asking her. When she complained to the counselor, she was told there was zero possibility she'd ever be a mechanic, but every possibility she could get a clerical position just about anyplace. The sky was the limit in that field.
> 
> Sarah dropped typing class. She's enjoying a very successful career as a technical engineer in the field of robotics.


Ah I had a slightly different problem in jr high.  Home Ec was required but I didn’t do so well in the sewing part.  Which was kind of ironic, given that my mom sewed all my clothes and had already taught me how to sew.  I guess the teacher expected me to ‘do it by the book’ and I was using all the short cuts my mom had taught me


----------



## DebraMae

We had to answer the phone without knowing who was calling.  We had an old black rotary dial phone that would make this "click" noise before it would ring.  I had more fun answering the phone before it rang.


----------



## Lewkat

We were in the midst of the Great Depression and Hitler was beginning to militarize Germany again.  I recall my father raving about this on end to one of his attorney colleagues warning of another war in a few years.  How right he was.


----------



## Murrmurr

You didn't go to bed until the TV was "all the way off" - when that little white dot in the center of the screen finally disappeared. It was a long time coming, too; first the picture shrunk to a horizontal line, then the line sucked itself up into a small, bright dot, then the dot got smaller and then it finally disappeared. 

Kinda like watching The Big Bang in reverse.


----------



## oldman

Too many posts to read, but I grew up when only b/w TV was available and we had an outside antenna, plus a remote control. I was the remote control, or at least, I was the channel and volume changer. I could buy a Coke and make a phone call for 5 cents. I went to see a movie for 50 cents and could buy a box of popcorn and a root beer for another 50 cents.


----------



## Murrmurr

oldman said:


> Too many posts to read, but I grew up when only b/w TV was available and we had an outside antenna, plus a remote control. I was the remote control, or at least, I was the channel and volume changer. I could buy a Coke and make a phone call for 5 cents. I went to see a movie for 50 cents and could buy a box of popcorn and a root beer for another 50 cents.


My parents would drop me and my 2 brothers at the cinema every Saturday. A child's ticket was 35-cents, and you bought them from a lady in a little booth _outside_ the theater. My brother would always point to each of us and practically shout "He's 8, he's 9, and I'm 11," and then hand her the money. He was really 12, but kids 12 and over were 50-cents (lodges were .75 no matter what). The usher at the door always pretended he didn't know there were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in our coat pockets. We'd buy one large drink to share.

Then, one sad Saturday, all kid's tickets went up to 50-cents, and it was our last trip to the cinema.


----------



## DebraMae

I remember if I was very good my grandmother and I would walk to the ice cream store.  You could get one scoop for a nickel and two for a dime.


----------



## Sassycakes

I really wish my grandkids had the days I did growing up. We walked to school, and in the summer got wet under the fire hydrant. Most Mom's didn't work outside of the house so there was always someone to watch you. We played outside until it was late because most moms were sitting outside too. When we were teenagers we hung out at the ice cream store and danced and listened to the music on the jukebox.


----------



## Marie5656

*Has no one else walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways?*


----------



## john19485

Wrote about my growing up in Mobile, Alabama. in 1950-1971
https://www.amazon.com/John-R-Mizell/e/B00H9ZSWNQ/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk


----------



## Pappy

A little something I wrote about going to the movies in the 50s.

Well, we have taken back enough bottles to pay our way into Smalleys theater. It will cost us 14 cents for a great double feature. The main show is "Frontier Pony Express" starring Roy Rogers and the second show is an Abbott and Costello movie Called Africa Screams. If we wanted we could sit through a second showing, but the popcorn and candy was pretty well gone by then. I can remember coming out of the theater and being blinded by the sunlight. On the way home we would discuss what we had just seen and tried to imitate the actors. Ah yes, good times...simple times.....


----------



## caroln

CinnamonSugar said:


> Ah I had a slightly different problem in jr high.  Home Ec was required but I didn’t do so well in the sewing part.  Which was kind of ironic, given that my mom sewed all my clothes and had already taught me how to sew.  I guess the teacher expected me to ‘do it by the book’ and I was using all the short cuts my mom had taught me


My sister flunked home ec sewing class.  Not because she was bad at it, but because she was too good.  My mom taught her how to sew.  My sister's project for the class was sewing a coat and it turned out so beautiful the teacher accused her of having someone else do the work and gave her an "F".  I don't know if she used any short cuts, but I do remember her saying she got into an argument with the teacher one time about using a specific technique.  Maybe the teacher was holding that against her?


----------



## caroln

I remember walking to grammar school (grades 1-6) with a friend, playing what I remember being called "sidewalk tag".  You walked in the grass jumping over sidewalks, and when you came to a driveway you were allowed one foot on the ground before making it to the other side.  If it was a double driveway, you were allowed to touch the ground 2 times before hitting the grass again.  Talk about a workout on the way to school!  One neighbor always yelled at us because he didn't like people walking on his grass!

I remember another game called 7-up.  You threw a rubber ball about the size of a baseball against a wall and caught it.  The second time you let it hit the ground then caught it.  Third time you had to bounce it off the ground, hit the wall, then catch it.  It got increasingly hard as you went on (7 moves in all) and if you missed you had to start all over again.  It ended with having to do all these moves standing on your left foot only, then your right foot.  My friend and I spent hours playing this game.


----------



## JaniceM

How about Dodge Ball in gym class?  I remember getting whacked in the face by one of those balls and getting a bloody nose- no big deal.    Just went to my classroom and asked the teacher for some Kleenex.


----------



## Chet

We got together and played football, both big kids and little kids together, sometimes there were too many or not enough to make a team, but everyone played. We walked a few miles to get to the river and swim. No life guards and it was before water quality and the environment were issues. I remember playing outside after dark and laying in the grass and looking up at the stars, and I swear there were more to see compared to now.


----------



## GAlady




----------



## GAlady




----------



## GAlady




----------



## GAlady




----------



## GAlady




----------



## OneEyedDiva

Lewkat said:


> I guess we all pretty much did the same things, Diva.  I have fond memories of those days, but then we were carefree kids.


Unfortunately, my memories are not all fond ones Lewkat. I was an only child and a sickly child. I was chubby and started wearing glasses when I was about 9 or 10. I got picked on, usually by the siblings whose parent's house we lived in. Still I wouldn't exactly call it bullying and we all played together.  My first best friend lived on the block and another girl moved in across the street who was always nice to me, so I hung with them. When I moved 1/2 block away, I made friends with the girl across the street. We always had a nice time together. That half block put me in a different school zone so I wound up having to go to a different school. I met new classmates and don't remember anyone being unkind to me there. 

Other memories: We'd run in the house and grab mayonnaise (or whatever) sandwiches if we were hungry and run right back outside with them and continue playing. I was glad when I finally learned to jump double dutch. I never could ride a bike like the other children. Which reminds me..I almost had my thumb cut off. One day the girls were racing up the street and the boys were riding down. Somehow a bike collided with my hand. I was always afraid of needles so wouldn't let them stitch it up at the doctor's office. A few weeks later, at Bible school, I got the worst pain in my hand, which was still wrapped up. When unwrapped it looked like someone had repeatedly stabbed me in my hand. My mother had to come get me. I think the doctor/nurse put butterflies on it. I will never forget that pain. Periodically I still get a twinge of pain in that area of my thumb.


----------



## OneEyedDiva

GAlady said:


> View attachment 233564


I remember Jiffy Pop and I used to use Noxzema.


----------



## hollydolly

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned it.. I grew up back when parents sent the children to buy groceries with a shopping list wrapped around the money...


----------



## GAlady




----------



## Knight

Watching TV late at night when Buck Rodgers was exciting science fiction space action series.  His rocket taking off was magic, You could see the string pulling it up & the powerful sparkler trail as it rose. The cardboard ultra scientific control panels were just amazing. 

 Kids now get programming like The Orville on HULU.


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## Been There

Kids had to work to get an allowance. Many of today's youths get whatever they want handed to them.


----------



## Pepper

Been There said:


> Kids had to work to get an allowance. Many of today's youths get whatever they want handed to them.


You took a survey? or is this just your assumption?


----------



## Pepper

hollydolly said:


> Don't know if anyone else has mentioned it.. I grew up back when parents sent the children to buy groceries with a shopping list wrapped around the money...


When I was three! we lived in The Bronx, which is very hilly.  I remember my parents and sister at the bottom of the hill and I walked to the top myself, with them watching me from below and bought my father...................A Pack of Cigarettes!      That's insanity now!


----------



## Been There

Pepper said:


> You took a survey? or is this just your assumption?


I am just going by what I see from my friends that have kids and they always seem to want something and dad reaches into his wallet and hands them a $10 or $20 bill. I didn't say all kids were like that, but the kids that I have been around are. In fact, I asked one of my friends if he gave his kids an allowance. He told me most kids don't get an allowance today. My friend, Tom, bought his kid a 4 year old Hyundai for his senior year just so he didn't have to pick him up after football and basketball practices. I have yet to see these kids do anything around the house. And yes, I also have a friend that does give his kid an allowance, but like he told me, it never seems to stop there.


----------



## Pepper

I didn't have to do chores for my measly allowance of pennies per week.  When I was real little I was paid a few cents to take Castor Oil, or some other disgusting thing!


----------



## Pappy

I remember in the 50s when stores did window painting for the holidays. It could get quite competitive among the stores.


----------



## C50

Pepper said:


> When I was three! we lived in The Bronx, which is very hilly.  I remember my parents and sister at the bottom of the hill and I walked to the top myself, with them watching me from below and bought my father...................A Pack of Cigarettes!      That's insanity now!


I was able to buy my folks cigarettes as well.  There was what we called "the little store", the people that owned it lived in the back.  It was probably four miles from our house and I would walk there or ride a bike if I had one that worked.  I would get cigs and could also buy 22 ammo.


----------



## Paco Dennis

This the way our school report cards looked


----------



## JaniceM

GAlady said:


> View attachment 233563


When I got my first apartment and didn't have much $, I bought a few of those Jiffy Pops so I could later use the pans to cook in, they were aluminum at that time!


----------



## GAlady




----------



## GAlady




----------



## GAlady




----------



## Michael Z

I grew up back when moms taught their young sons how to dance. At least mine did. Mom taught me how to waltz and polka in front of the Sunday afternoon polka shows on TV. My brother was getting married so she wanted me to know how to dance. And all weddings had polka bands, which is something I believed until I was into my 20's!


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## GAlady




----------



## hawkdon

I grew up when I could take my Pelts from wild caught
animals (mink, muskrat, coon) to the Sears Roebuck Store,
and in couple weeks would get a check back for the furs.....don


----------



## JaniceM

GAlady said:


> View attachment 236937


Believe it or not, those shoes were somewhat popular in my first high school in the 1970s.. I had a pair, some other girls did, too.


----------



## GAlady




----------



## Hollow

It's likely been said already, but I grew up back when you could go out with friends all day and not have to check in with texts and phonecalls. Oh, and being able to record the Top40 on the radio on a sunday night...it set me up for the whole school week!


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## horseless carriage

One of the most popular UK Hamburger diners of years 
gone by was Wimpy. I often wondered if the name was 
inspired by the character in the Popeye cartoons.


----------



## GAlady




----------



## Pappy

The great cars, The Howdy Doody show and listening to the old 45rpm records.


----------



## C50

I'm not sure why this occurred to me, maybe the pictures of classic cars jogged a memory.  Remember when cars had a choke lever you pulled to help get then started?  And then eliminated the lever and you had to push the accelerater pedal to the floor once to set the choke?  Then after it warmed up you gave the accelerator a quick tap to knock it out of high speed idle?

It seemed each car had its own preferred sequence and if you didn't do it just right you weren't going anywhere!


----------



## ronaldj

in the words of Sonny Eliet: "back when men were men and women were darn glad of it."


----------



## deaver

I remember some cars had the starter button on the floor under the accelerater pedal. I miss the floor mounted headlight dimmer switch. Today some manual transmission vehicles have to have the clutch depressed in order to start.


----------



## caroln

Pappy said:


> The great cars, The Howdy Doody show and listening to the old 45rpm records.
> 
> View attachment 239741


I couldn't stand the Howdy Doody show.  Clowns creeped me out even as a kid.


----------



## Pinky

horseless carriage said:


> View attachment 239477
> One of the most popular UK Hamburger diners of years
> gone by was Wimpy. I often wondered if the name was
> inspired by the character in the Popeye cartoons.


@horseless carriage 

There are Wimpy's Diners here .. never been in one, though.


----------



## squatting dog

And no tats.


----------



## Della

squatting dog said:


> And no tats


And we had waists.  Ever notice how even the young movie stars seem to be a straight line from armpit to knees?


----------



## caroln

squatting dog said:


> And no tats.
> 
> 
> View attachment 240029


I remember it more like this:
 

Grace and elegance?  Not so much!


----------



## bowmore

We were watching American Pickers, and they came across a sign for Dr. Ross dog food. My wife remembered it as a child, and even remembered the jingle. We went on youtube and found the commercial with the jingle from the 50's


----------



## GAlady




----------



## GAlady




----------



## Pepper

The Facts of Life!


----------



## Della

That was one of my_ son's_ favorite shows!  Y'all are just babies.


----------



## Paco Dennis




----------



## Flarbalard

squatting dog said:


> And no tats.
> 
> 
> View attachment 240029


What's the third girl's name?


----------



## GAlady




----------



## Sassycakes

When I was growing up my Dad had a friend that emptied juke boxes every month and gave me and my sister all the records. He was a great guy.


----------



## RadishRose




----------



## JaniceM

GAlady said:


> View attachment 239727


That looks so much like the living room in my parents' last house that it's downright creepy!


----------



## C50

Not sure why I thought of this but does anyone remember road side safety inspections?  They police would randomly set up by the side of the road and stop cars for an inspection, lights, signals, tires, that kind of thing.  My first few cars were beaters so I would have to do a quick u-turn when I saw an inspection ahead,  my cars would never had passed.  

Once they had one set up at our local fire station, which happened to be the same place you went to get the free blocks of cheese the government was giving out.  My dad sent me to get the cheese but because of the inspection that was set up I had to park up the road at a school, walk down and get the cheese then walk back to my car.  I'm sure the safety inspectors got a kick out of watching me knowing full well what I was up to since the school was in visual distance of the fire station.


----------



## hollydolly

Listening to the latest record in the Record booth before buying it...







 HMV Oxford street


----------



## Ruthanne

We had a milk box where he put our milk.  Also we had Charlie Chip were we got chips from.  We wore dresses instead of pants.


----------



## GAlady




----------



## Murrmurr

Until I was an adult, bath soap was a cake and laundry soap was a powder.

I'm not sure, but I think you could get liquid laundry soap several years before there was liquid bath/hand soap.


----------



## GAlady




----------



## Lewkat

Flarbalard said:


> What's the third girl's name?


Nancy McKeon.  She was Jo.  The 4th girl isn't shown.  She was a blonde and my son was in love with her.


----------



## Lewkat

Pepper said:


> The Facts of Life!


Mindy Cohn was a very funny young lady.


----------



## Sassycakes

SmoothSeas said:


> View attachment 198170
> ​”And I see this WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK. A generation that went to school and walked back. A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street. A generation that spent all their free time on the street. A generation that played hide and seek when dark. A generation that made mud cakes. A generation that collected sports cards. A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each. A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands. A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players. A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings. A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days. A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem. A generation that had parents who were there. A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake. A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...”


*You really brought good memories back to me!*


----------



## down2earth

I'd be watching a scary (black & white) movie on my TV in the 1950's. Sometimes (during the best part) a plane would fly over my house ruining the TV reception. I'd dart up to the TV and adjust the RCA rabbit ear antennae just in time to see the good part.


----------



## down2earth

On weekends, in 1960, my friends and I would pack peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with coke bottles (the thick glass coke bottles that cost 10 cents). We'd hop on our bikes with our fishing rods and ride to a lake in New York. We'd spend about 5 or 6 hours fishing. We were miles away from our homes. No concern about kidnapping or molestation.....life was safe. Then I'd come home and start my homework....doing reports on my Underwood typewriter. The ribbon had to be changed often leaving my fingers purple. Naturally, I made some typing mistakes and had to use that horrible eraser that always made holes in the paper. Toss the paper, start again! Ugh. Then my father would ask me to rake the leaves on the lawn (with a rake, no leaf blower invented yet). Lots of blisters. But the fun part was raking the leaves into a huge pile and setting them ablaze.....no permits necessary....everyone did the same on the block. The whole neighborhood smelled of burning leaves.... loved it.


----------



## GAlady




----------



## Packerjohn

There was music on the hit parade that I will always love:
1. Just Walking in the Rain - Johnnie Ray
2. The Wayward Wind - Gogi Grant
3. Que Sera, Sera - Doris Day
4. Standing On The Corner - The Four Lads
5. Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin
6. Hot Diggity - Perry Como

There was country music that I will always love:
1. Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley (I don't think this is very country????)
2. Young Love - Sonny James
3. Hound Dog - Elvis Presley (again, this is country????)
4. Singing the Blues - Marty Robbins
5. Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
6. I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash
7. You Are the One - Carl Smith
8. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

The music of the 50s could be understood.  The singers had clear voices.   Today we have rap or someone singing with a high pitch voice that, to me, sounds very much like my daughter's cat with it's tail stuck in the door.  About rap?  Don't get me started!


----------



## Conce

Pappy said:


> This was a typical scene when I was a teen.
> 
> View attachment 198244


This photo shows clearly that some people were fine. Others were not. Selective memory does not serve anyone well.


----------



## Conce

Packerjohn said:


> There was music on the hit parade that I will always love:
> 1. Just Walking in the Rain - Johnnie Ray
> 2. The Wayward Wind - Gogi Grant
> 3. Que Sera, Sera - Doris Day
> 4. Standing On The Corner - The Four Lads
> 5. Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin
> 6. Hot Diggity - Perry Como
> 
> There was country music that I will always love:
> 1. Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley (I don't think this is very country????)
> 2. Young Love - Sonny James
> 3. Hound Dog - Elvis Presley (again, this is country????)
> 4. Singing the Blues - Marty Robbins
> 5. Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
> 6. I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash
> 7. You Are the One - Carl Smith
> 8. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
> 
> The music of the 50s could be understood.  The singers had clear voices.   Today we have rap or someone singing with a high pitch voice that, to me, sounds very much like my daughter's cat with it's tail stuck in the door.  About rap?  Don't get me started


----------



## Conce

Great post. Although, the country music list is inaccurately labeled. Elvis's music and others of that genre were not labeled country until Black music became a thing. Before then, it was "music".


----------



## jujube

GAlady said:


> View attachment 255798


Oh, yes, ours looked just like that except that the legs were cuffed and wide.  It was the most horrible neon pea-green and it was thick broadcloth, so it had to be ironed after washing.  It was guaranteed to fit no one.  

I have my grandma's gym suit from her eighth grade.  It was a navy blue dotted swiss bloomer suit with a skirt that buttoned onto it.  She said they wore white knee-length stockings with canvas mary-jane shoes.


----------



## Been There

I was struggling in Algebra and a really smart girl lived close to me, so I asked her if she would help me. She asked her mom and she agreed. The girl was pretty, but didn’t have a boyfriend. After a few weeks of being tutored, I had figured it out. She said we could continue doing our homework together if I wanted to. I thought why not? This was in October. I went from a ‘C’ in Algebra to an ‘A.’ 

In March, I turned 16 and bought a clunker to get around in. It wasn’t all that bad, but it wasn’t as nice as my buddy’s Mustang. I never paid my tutor for her help, so I asked her out. She accepted and told me this would be her first date. At the end of the night, I walked her to the door and asked her if I could give her a kiss good night. She said ok, but it would be her first kiss from a boy, so she hoped it was alright. I kissed her and she wouldn’t let go. She asked how was that. I told her it was perfect and that she could kiss me anytime.

After that, we would take kissing breaks during our studies. It was a good time. Afterwards, we would laugh. We weren’t in love with one another. She ended up marrying a fellow classmate that he eventually became a professor at Akron U. She didn’t become a teacher, but instead, she became an RN. To this day, they still live in Akron.


----------



## Tempsontime65

I remember when girls had names like- Betty- Barbara- Deborah- Susan- Natalie- Alice- Joyce, and you didn't need a dictionary to pronouce em!!


----------



## Tempsontime65

I remember when you went to see a girl on a Sunday, you dressed to impress[ her parents]hehehe!


----------



## CallMeKate

Oh garsh, the picture of that gym suit brought back traumatic memories for me!    Ours were dark blue and I hated that thing with a fiery passion. I also hated the public showers we were forced to do after wearing those horrid monstrosities. Walk past the teacher or someone she chose to replace her sitting there with a stinkin' clipboard as we walked past to make sure we were actually showering. Never knew how that was okay even back then, and NOW there's no way they'd get away with it. Oy. The memories!


----------



## TeeJay

*I remember those gym suits! Except I was a guy (still am), so I didn't have to wear one. Just as well, I guess, eh? *


----------



## Raddragn

I grew up in the 50's in what, for females, was a much different world. Very few worked outside the home and when they did, the pay they received was considerably less for the same job. They did not have access to many of the better paying jobs . They were expected to be stay at home homemakers who were submissive to their husbands - which meant for most never being permitted to say no to anything he wanted.
Later it meant never being allowed to have your own financial credit - having credit cards or being able to get a bank loan in your own name, etc. Much has been improved, but much remains to yet be corrected:, however, there are those who would turn the clock  back on many issues. The "Good Old Days" weren't all that good for everyone!


----------



## Disgustedman

Pookie said:


> What I loved about growing up in the 60s and 70s was the fact that you didn't have to suit up like an astronaut on a spacewalk just to ride your bicycle.


Yes, I ripped a lot of flesh in  bicycle wrecks. Hit by a car (my fault) and got bandages by the score when I did the usual fall.


----------



## Sassycakes

*I was just thinking back about the past. Going on vacation for 2 weeks every summer with all my cousins and their parents. Always having cousins to play with. Those were the days.*


----------



## Medusa

SmoothSeas said:


> View attachment 198170
> ​”And I see this WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK. A generation that went to school and walked back. A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street. A generation that spent all their free time on the street. A generation that played hide and seek when dark. A generation that made mud cakes. A generation that collected sports cards. A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each. A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands. A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players. A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings. A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days. A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem. A generation that had parents who were there. A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake. A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...”


Awe, I remember almost all of these.  ♥


----------



## JaniceM

GAlady said:


> View attachment 255798


Oh I hated those suits!  The ones we had were dark red, the elastic on the legs was too heavy-weight, too thick, and too tight, so after gym class we'd spend the rest of the day with very itchy, uncomfortable, big ridges in our legs.  
I was glad when some of the girls complained and they started letting us wear shorts and t-shirts for gym instead of those awful suits!


----------



## Medusa

PamfromTx said:


> It was safe to play outdoors til we heard our parents calling our name.  Sleeping in a twin bed with my baby brother.  Playing in a wooded area located next to my grandma's house; we had quite an imagination.  I'll never forget the 'hill'.


"...til we heard our parents calling our name..."  

Or the streetlights went on.


----------



## Medusa

Sassycakes said:


> Growing up was wonderful then. The only thing I had to fear in school was the Nuns.
> playing outside until bedtime. Having true friends. I could go on and on.


My husband says the same thing about the Nuns at his grammar school.


----------



## Medusa

Rah-Rah said:


> I was a younger kid in the 70's and I remember playing hopscotch, kickball, and dodgeball with my friends and in the 80's when I was a teen and in high school it was a great time. I remember spending a lot of time at the Mall with my girlfriends, movies, school dances, and sporting events. It was a lot of fun. I guess in my teens the only thing we sort of worried about and it really wasn't that much was the Russians.


We are in the same age bracket and I remember the hours wondering around the mall!


----------



## Lavinia

There was no television but the wireless (radio) was on all the time....Housewife's Choice and Music While you Work, kept my mother singing along while she did the housework.


----------



## Nemo2

Memories weren't even _invented_ when I was a kid.


----------



## NorthernLight

When my brother was little, he asked our father, "Did they have trains when you were alive?"


----------



## squatting dog




----------



## squatting dog




----------



## Lawrence00

Jack Lalanne if I woke up early.


----------



## Tish

The Milkman used to bring milk in bottles and my sister and I used to fight over the cream.


----------



## oldman

Tish said:


> The Milkman used to bring milk in bottles and my sister and I used to fight over the cream.


My grandmother liked buttermilk. She claimed it aided her digestion.


----------



## Geezer Garage

You had Street lights! We had torches dipped in tar oil, to keep the saber toothed tigers at bay.

Quote: Or until the street lights came on.


----------



## Right Now

Medusa said:


> "...til we heard our parents calling our name..."
> 
> Or the streetlights went on.


Exactly!  And, my Dad whistled loudly enough for us to hear him!


----------



## Medusa

Right Now said:


> Exactly!  And, my Dad whistled loudly enough for us to hear him!


I know that whistle!


----------



## Wigglestein

Quoting the end of the pilot for the show "The Wonder Years" .  "I grew up when a kid could stay outside playing after dark without getting their face on a milk carton".


----------



## Wigglestein

When you played on the playground equipment and got a scrape from a bolt....and your parents didn't even think about suing.


----------



## Supernatural

SmoothSeas said:


> View attachment 198170
> ​”And I see this WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK. A generation that went to school and walked back. A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street. A generation that spent all their free time on the street. A generation that played hide and seek when dark. A generation that made mud cakes. A generation that collected sports cards. A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each. A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands. A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players. A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings. A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days. A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem. A generation that had parents who were there. A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake. A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...”


Pretty much the same, the 60-70s were difficult with loads of unexpected deaths and "Bereavement Counselling" although available, never came nor offered. It made me harsh! The first one in 66 the last, my own beloved Papa, in 74.

I grew up in a tough area, which gave me loads of street-smarts so that was a plus, but school, although extremely great studies, brought home extra abuse which I was already suffering at home. I've seen great technology developing over these decades.

The first typewriter I played with, gave me a lifetime of great typing expertise, was an IBM Selectric with the cute balls for interchangeable fonts. It lead me to being a Word Processing Operator in the 80s.

Cycling everywhere, build up the body, my thighs are still reflecting the grueling climb of every hills in town on my Mustang bike with banana seat. Playing in boxes from the store behind our house was an experience where I could hide from the world and read away the coveted library books.

Shopping at Woolworths, mother worked there to help out the payments of my one (horrible) sibling who got married in 68 and waited until mother had died to file for divorce in 2011. Ah but the Woolworths banana cream cakes and the sundaes, yum!

Finally, the worst of it all... The expropriation of so many houses which ended up displacing too many families and turned downtown into a ghost town and a concrete jungle. The memories of dynamite blasting at all hours (picture Mary Poppins scene where they're holding everything in place...) but the wonderful artistic paintings on the perimeter of the construction sites. Remembering seeing the last hanging platform behind the justice courts in 65.

Those were the days that either made you or broke you... I remain to this day, sitting on the fence between the two, not totally happy of remembering but not too upset either, still a bit broken today!


----------



## hearlady

...going to the library and going through the little drawers of index cards to find a book.
Trolls, easy bake oven, creepycrawlers, pogo sticks.
Playing endlessly without a screen.
Teachers in dresses and school nurses in full uniform including the cap.
Gym suits.
Then...Driving all around on .50 cents worth of gas, shag haircuts, sun in, smoking on airplanes.


----------



## Been There

Sassycakes said:


> *I was just thinking back about the past. Going on vacation for 2 weeks every summer with all my cousins and their parents. Always having cousins to play with. Those were the days.*


I grew up on a farm, so we had to be there to take care of the animals. My grandparents offered to send me to church camp, but that didn’t interest me. My friend would invite me to go to this big theme park up on Lake Erie called Cedar Point. It was close to Toledo. We would stay there a few days and have a lot of fun. They had a really great roller coaster. His parents were very nice. My grandparents would give me plenty of money to pay my way, but they wanted to pay for everything, so I gave Gramps the money back and he would tell me to hang onto it for a rainy day.


----------

