BB Collective Nostalgia

I've still got my slide-rule around somewhere in the house. I don't quite remember how to use it anymore but in it's day it was a real time saver. Calculators sure make things easier!

Rob

 

On Saturday nights, mother would roll my hair in strips of rags so I'd have curls for church. We used vasoline to polish our patent leather shoes.

The ice cream man came during the summer and so did the mosquito spraying truck. We'd ride our bikes behind the truck and play outside til the street lights were all on.

We got our first t.v. when I was 7 and it had a small round screen. We got 3 channels but they all went off quite early.

Next.........

 

What electricity you were talking about Dr. Bob, for we had none. All we had was kerosene lamps, and we sat out the front of the house to get entertainment... (which was a few strayed cows and eight year old kids trying to get them back to the coral).

Now on Sundays, we went to church to listen to a fire and brimstone preachin' and sat back to a good ol' lunch by Grandma. Boy, she could cook! On weekdays, after working out in the field (if there was no school), we took aim at the wild pigeons with a slingshot, or played marble for keeps. Then there was this piece of wood, about 6" long, pointed at each end, and we hit it at the end to make it come up into the air spinning and then hit it when started to descend as far as we could (that was the preamble to baseball). Those were the good old days!

 

Howdy Doody Time and the Mickey Mouse Club

The ice cream man knew us by name.

Comic books were on racks and not wrapped. We would sit and read the new ones on the floor of the drug store.

The Milkman's name was Bob.

Mail came twice a day.

Sitting on Louis Armstrong's lap.

Terramycin was new on the market and saved my sister's life.

Polio vaccine on sugar cubes

Sugar cubes in restaurants. We'd steal them and stuff them in our socks when mom and dad weren't looking, to be eaten at our leisure later!

My parent's strong disapproval of Elvis Presley, that upstart!

Push lawnmowers

Everyone knew everyone...

 

Coke 5 cents...2 cent deposit on the bottle. 2 pieces of candy for a penny. Licorice you could jump rope with. Wax soda bottles filled with juice. suck the juice out...chew the wax.

My muffin. It matched my fur coat. Momma always made sure I had one. On a rope that dangled like a necklace it hung on my neck. It was made of fur, and had an opening on both sides. I would slide my little hands in and they would stay warm. It was the only time I could cross the street without holding Momma's hand. Because my hands were in my muffin. Momma would put her hand on my back and kind of move me along, to keep up with the pace. But I held no ones hand. I was very big in my muffin! Did I say I had a hat to match?

Go-Go Boots! Are you ready boots...start walking! Mine were white! I was very groovy in them. Very neato!

My 45 collection! Where did it go???

My transister Radio! AM and FM! 9 volt battery! Where did it go????

"Evening In Paris" Cologne. Dimestore Perfume! Some of the best!

My secret decoder ring! where is it???

And remember girls...before Capri's...there was "Peddle Pushers", or some called them "Knee Knockers"!

Well I am sure I will be thinking now all afternoon of stuff!

Velvet Freeze Ice cream! You were big time if you got to go there!

My brother got a used metal fire truck that you sat in and peddled all over the place. We all fought over that for a long time.

Sugar bread! Does anyone eat Sugar Bread anymore????

"Hey Momma, I am hungry!" "Here, shut up! Eat you some Sugar Bread!" all the time yelling out of a window down to the street.

Gas lights on the sidewalk. The smell of my lunch box. It was metal and I wish I could smell that smell! It was like a Bologna Sandwhich was there, but it wasn't. It only made you hungry.

I will be back.

Sherrie

 

Diane your first paragraph sounds like my mother. She's mentioned those two things too. (Not saying you're as old as she is, She's 60)

I remember 45 record singles, 8 track tapes, black and white T.V. and 5 & dime stores, that actually had stuff you could buy for a nickle or dime.

Barbie didn't come in every ethnic background or she woudln't be Barbie.

Walking home from school was what every child did. Nobody ever picked their child up in a car after school.

There were no seatbelt laws...so as a child you could sit or lay anywhere in the car.

Drive in Movies were great and had good picture and sound...and often a playground at the front for intermission.

Milk was sold in glass containers, so were drinks like Coca Cola and Bubble Up which you had to use a bottle opener to open.

Leonards sold little girls dresses for $2.00 each. Mom could buy me 5 or 6 of them when back to school shopping was done without breaking the bank.

It wasn't unheard of for your Mom to be home or your friends mom's to be home during the daytime...and it also wasn't shocking if they didn't have a car until Dad got home.

 

Hey Diane...Do you remember this...TV's were black and white. So you could go buy this plactic this that was blue on top, red in middle and green at bottom. You placed it on the screen tight, and Whoa-la...colored TV!

Oh Helen...the comic books! Millie The Model was one of my Favorites! Along with Archie! And when you say push mowers do you mean the ones with no motors...all blades? hehehehehe! I am trying to remember, I think comic books then were 25 or 35 cents.

Sherrie

 

Sherrie, I don't remember the plastic for the t.v.! Do you remember some of the funny commercials? Duz was before Tide and I missed that word on a spelling test by spelling it like the detergent.

My parents got a color t.v. AFTER I left for college in 1969! We watched t.v. at night after supper.

I loved the Mickey Mouse Club and this series off that.

http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbtv.htm

 

And don't forget the wax lips. I had Go Go boots too...white ones with tassles at the back. We called them peddle pushers and "clam diggers"

 

I missed the posts inbetween Helen and Sherrie's about the t.v. screen! I remember all those things! Neat!

Larenda, I'm 52, 53 on Dec. 29th. My mother is 71. Some of the things you mentioned were when I was a teen. The white boots I had were like Dale Evans and were cowgirl boots! I had a full outfit. We played cowboys and Indians every day.

If we were lucky, someone would give us the box their new icebox came in and we'd make a playhouse and play in it until it rained. Then it had to go to the garbage.

Nice thread Dr. Bob!
Diane

 

Okay, well I remember the go go  boots from when I was in Pre school and Kindergarten. Still...same Go Go  boots, same era.

I used to have a cow girl outfit, complete with toy pistols. Used to go to Knotts Berry Farm every weekend with my family, take their stage coach ride where the robbers would board and I pretended to shoot one...he shot me back. I remember it made me cry at the unfairness of it all. I mean...I shot him first...he should have been dead!

Does anyone remember the turning color wheel that you plugged in to make your Christmas Tree change colors? That was back when White flocked trees were in style. I remember thinking that was the neatest thing.

 

How about stovepipe legged pants and elephant legged pants and bell bottoms. Let's don't forget the Toreador pants and the 'leisure suits'.

We didn't have a car or a TV the whole time I was growing up. We didn't have lawn furniture either, but we had an overstuffed couch in the yard and my mother and I would sit out there to cool off at night and count the stars.

I didn't have a cow girl outfit, but I had small metal cap pistols and a Daniel Boone cap! I even had a saddle seat that fit over my regular bicycle seat so I could pretend it was a horse!

Back-to-school...We would go look at the mannequins, in the window, of the most expensive store in town. I would pick out two that I liked, then my mother would go buy material and copy the dresses she had seen.

An ice box that held a block of ice so large there wasn't hardly room left for any food.

A telephone on the wall that you turned the handle on (after listening to make sure none of the neighbors were already talking) then you told the operator the three-digit number you were calling and she knew all their names.

Scraped knees from playing in the cinders in the alley...

Taking a bath in a round tin tub in the yard after the sun had warmed the rain water...

And how could I forget the outhouse!

 

I remember having to run outside and turn the antenna, "to the left, no back, now to the right", just to get a snowy picture.

 

Ahhh, when senior citizens reminisce.
I don't think I'm that old yet.
A few things my kids have never experienced, except for maybe pulling out a few old things from the basement. Seems like yesterday for you guys.
45 records
8 track tapes
shampoo in glass bottles
no 2 liter plastic cokes bottles, only those big glass bottles
drive in's and those great 4th of July fireworks they had
when it was safe to swim in the pond(I'm thinking granny's pond that can't be used now)
when it was safe for little kids to play outside
party lines on the telephone(this really amazed them)

 

yes, and you only had one tv station!

 

Ok girls! GO-GO Boots and Cow Girl Boots were not the same thing! Forgive them Nancy!

These boots were made for walking and that just what they'do...one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you...ready boots...start walk'n.......

Oh...and you had to wear the Guru dress with your Go Go Boots. Designed of course after that Jay North show where he was in Africa and Sajid Kahn was in it!

And yes the spinning color wheel for the Christmas Tree. Ahhhhhh....and lets not forget...not all trees were white Wisdom Seeker...some were Silver....aluminum.


OK...how about this one....Jerry Lewis MD Telethon Carnivals in your backyard!? Kids would make carnivals in their backyard and give all the money to the MD fondation!

What about Bananna Bikes with the seats that were way up in the air!

Tammy and the Dr. Movies!

Roller Skates that fit over your shoe and you had to have a key to lock them in place.

Head Scarfs....all different kinds.

Leather Moccasins with fringe! Leather vest...hip huggers...Clogs...When guys had real big heals on their Beatle Boots!....

HI-FI.....Dial Phones....Wearing your boyfriends ID bracelet....

Going to the pharmacy and sitting down for a soda...Eating at a Walgreens....

No such thing as weedeaters...a knife or pair of scissors, or grass cutters.....

Real sevice at a gas station!

Sherrie

 

What about this one for those a tad younger...when guys...white guys....got the "Fro"! hahahahahahahhaha!

When boys had to tuck there shirts in at school, and girls had to wear dresses!

When everyone washed their car by hand... I really love my car...

When stores let you have a tab! When 1.50 was minimum wage! When guys got a different minimum wage than girls!


I have to stop...this just has me going.....No such thing as Wal-Mart....Maxines Merchandise...it had everything imagineable...in a very small building!


Sherrie

 

Dodge ball.

Walking into a movie half way through and then sitting through the next showing to see what you missed.

Sitting in the balcony at the movies.

Ushers at the movies.

Cartoons before the movie.

Saving Green Stamps.

That brief five minutes in the 70's when our teachers told us we were all going to convert to the metric system. Good thinking, Carter.

Baseball shirts and those goofy looking sports socks with the three stripes.

Baseball stirrups and paseball players who wore them.

My stepfather taking me out of school to see the Phillies' World Series parade.

LP's. Have you noticed that now that we've gone to CD's, there is no more album cover art?