**TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this .

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were OK!
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from t hese accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing u s out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them , CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'**

Boy ain't that the truth!
I'm not going to run thru the house with scissors but..I count myself as one of the survivors of those times...and with the fondest of memories.  :D

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

yup...i'm one.. ...

 

Once in a while I look around,
I see a sound
and try to write it down
Sometimes they come out very soft
Tinkling light sound
The Sun comes up again

 

 

 

 

 

Boy does that bring back memories. Thanks for reminding us older one's that our life was full of joy not like today is with all that is going on.

Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things

SndCastie's Little Haven

That sounds like a double-dog-dare to me! Scissors in hand, on your mark, get set.... GO!

heh heh heh...sounds like a manifesto for the Old Fogies Club...LOL.. ...

 

Once in a while I look around,
I see a sound
and try to write it down
Sometimes they come out very soft
Tinkling light sound
The Sun comes up again

 

 

 

 

 

Who you calling a Old Fogie:lol:

Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things

SndCastie's Little Haven

sign me up...lol

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Boy did I have fun....~sigh~ I miss those days :sad:

And I like that quote of the month

~Jani

Renderosity Community Admin
---------------------------------------

Add me to the Fogie's club!  lol

Me too, I'm an "old fogie"

Being a "Baby Boomer" I guess I'm an old fogey too. :) And you know something fantastic? I made it all the way through the years (62 years in March) without breaking any bones (except a finger about 20 years ago when trying to squash a spider). No major surgeries and only one problem (heart spasms) serious enough for hospitalization. Is that a record?

Let me introduce you to my multiple personalities. :)
     BluEcho...Faery_Light...Faery_Souls.

Me too!! and I'm smoking for 43 years and am still here!

Stupidity also evolves!

Whoooohoooo ! I made the cut ! barely but I'm one of them too :)

• agiel - www.linfa.net

I'd take my homemade butterfly net, a large empty pickle jar and head to the creek for a Saturday afternoon of exploring and capturing. Not once was I beat up, robbed of my possessions or lured away by a pervert. I came home hours later with an assortment of cool bugs to scare my sister with.  What a life it was then!

I used to walk to school on the other side of town... 25 minutes walk, no bus, uphill both ways (true !) even in the snow :)

I had my first car in my second year of college, my first cellphone for my first job and we only had 5 TV stations and one TV at home for the longest time.

When my kids whine about how hard things are for them, I try to be understanding and even harder to not laugh :)

• agiel - www.linfa.net

I remember those days. Building my own sailing cart, together with my brother and a friend. We didn't forget the brakes, but we also didn't know how to make them work. Smashed the cart into a tree at the first try.
I remember windsurfing, long bike rides, almost falling down a chasm in France, climbing trees and falling out of them, digging a hole to serve as a "pirate cave" and having it collapse on us. Playing soccer. Never worrying about "unhealthy" foods or drinks.
Wonderful times. Far fewer things were forbidden then.

And the only times I've ever been to the hospital was to visit friends or family. Never broke a bone, never even needed a stitch. Bruises and shallow cuts by the dozen, of course but those heal by themselves.
No Nintendo. Not much TV. 
All in all, it was a better time to be young then. Maybe things were a littie bit harder back then, but they were also a lot more fun.

I'm 41 - and in many ways I'm still a kid.

The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you literally want to have some impact, use a typewriter

My gallery   My freestuff

I wish I was 41 again..lol
I remember dad taking us to see Hopalong Cassidy movies and Lash LaRue..The lone ranger on the radio before we got a tv.  Amos and Andy....walking the railroad tracks out to the swimmin hole by the town lake..catching fish with our hands in the creek.. and my first bicycle wreck was a doozy..but I survived and learned a few things along the way..
We walked to school too, from one side of our small town to the other..but we walked almost everywhere anyway. 
We never worried about anything but kid stuff..and I want to say thanks for bringing back all those memories..

                              :thumbupboth:

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Yep add me in too, born in 1959 and 49 in March!
One of the things I remember is going about 1.5 miles from my house with my mates to a stream where we caught tadpoles and sticklebacks, there was a woods just off it and we used to play war games in there often hiding on our own from our mates in case they shot us [LOL].
We'd prolly ahve been under 10 at the time!!

Sad to see I'm guilty of over protection of my own kids [17 and 20 now] but I wouldn't have let them do what I did back then, sign of the times I guess!
Shame innit!!

Injustice will be avenged.
Cofiwch Dryweryn.

Yes, I'm in - born in the mid-50s. The 1950s and 1960s were the best decades ever for kids. No question.

Steve

One thing they left out of the list: Family Intervention, meant Mom asked if she needed to get out the belt. Settled skirmishes between siblings very quickly, and cut waaay down on "back talk". ;) I sorta feel sorry for kids today, because there doesn't seem to be time to just goof off and be a kid. Still haven't decided what I want to be when I grown up, and probably never will. g

Quote - I sorta feel sorry for kids today, because there doesn't seem to be time to just goof off and be a kid.

Tell me about it. My 8 year old grandson in the 3rd grade had to make a power point presentation last week. Say what? :m_shocked:

OMG. :blink:

My grandkids don't even know how to play outside...if it doesn't hook to the tv, or have batteries, they are lost.

My kids did the same thing I did when I was a kid..I made sure they knew how to have fun without all that electronic stuff..

Of course I didn't let them climb quite as high up in the trees as I did, {I used to tree ride} made them wear old worn out sneakers in the creek {could be glass in there now}

And yea, when I was a kid, just the sound of the belt being got was enough to make me straighten up and fly right with a quickness :lol:

~Jani

Renderosity Community Admin
---------------------------------------

**Same here. My grandkids are absolutely lost when it comes to playing outside. It astounded me.  No imagination at all.

Ahhhh tree climbing. Used to have this big old mulberry tree that had branches at the top that were perfect for sitting and reading in. If I got hungry, I just filled up on mulberries. Best part, no one (meaning brother and sisters) knew where I was and I was left alone to read as much as I wanted. lol**

Ya know, whats funny, is when Grandma goes outside, they def are racing each other to go with her....and Grandma always finds something interesting to do....I had them catching grasshoppers the other day LOL {their mother does not like the outdoors since I made her play there often when she was little, so she stays in now LOL}

~Jani

Renderosity Community Admin
---------------------------------------

And Yummo @ mulberries!

~Jani

Renderosity Community Admin
---------------------------------------

How very true!

We were always outside playing "Kick the Can" pretty much every evening, regardless of the weather.

I remember one particular day it was pouring so bad that the streets were flooding. We didn't cower in the house. Me and my friends put on our raincoats and boots and went outside and played in the rain and the pools of water that were accumulating in the street. Other times we would rake up all of the leaves from our yard and those of our neighbours until we got a huge pile and then jump around in them and rake them up again and again.  It was tons of fun!

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

I remember being in the first grade and skipping school for three days because I loved playing in a ravine,  until I was caught by my older brother who was sent out to look for me!  I guess no parent could imagine  their child (at that age)  playing alone for three school days in a secluded ravine in todays  unsafe world?

Ahhhh Kick the Can. So many games of that. I had to explain it 3 times to my grandkids. LOL
Now mind, they're not dumb kids. Just the opposite. But they have a deplorable lack of imagination, I'm telling ya. Also taught them Stick in the Mud/Freeze Tag. It was the "unsticking" someone they had a hard time with. LOL

You are all making me think too much! Like the time I convinced my sister there were aliens living in the attic, (boy, did I get it for making her cry), or playing "chicken" on those great heavy-duty Schwinns and deliberately ramming into good old Ricky Romero, and that huge mud puddle on the corner whenever it rained!

Between this thread and the recent call for an update of the Jello Pool, I'm having visions of a jello pool surrounded by a youthful crowd of fossils kicking the can :)

I'll be the one in the corner organizing giant battles of action figures on the doorstep.

• agiel - www.linfa.net

heh, born in 1967 so this brings back some fond memories for me :)
(I used to prefer the lead based paint - had a better flavour as I recall :) )

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I spent my summers on my aunt  and uncles farm. Me and my cousin would go out to the woods and build a fort and play cowboys and indians LOL I was a real tom boy back then with shooting the bb guns and climbing the trees to the top. Now I am afraid of hights can you believe that LOL. I too miss the good old days. Going on 59 this month.

Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things

SndCastie's Little Haven

Happy birthday...a little early!!     :thumbupboth:

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Thank you

Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things

SndCastie's Little Haven

I was born in '55 so also had one of those great childhoods of bike riding, tree climbing, swimming a lot and just roaming my neighborhood for hours on end.

I have to agree with the lack of imagination kids have these days. They get bored so easily. Most of them don't even know the joy of reading a good book under a tree on a nice summer day. Sheesh.

I did break my wrist in a bike accident but when you're a kid it's almost a badge of honor. And I've broken my little toe after a kicking a sofa bed that wouldn't close properly. LOL.

Thanks for the memories!!!

FlyByNight

I was born in 1962 and some of my fondest memories are the result of:

1. raiding gardens!
2. playing "kick the can" for hours and hours in the evening.
3. dressing up in rainboots and raincoat and splashing around in  huge puddles during heavy rainstorms... including those with thunder and lightning!
4. playing with "Boomerangs" and "Bow and Arrows". My dad used to make them for us, including the arrows with real metal tips!
5. shooting my Dad's 30-30 Winchester and 22 calibre rifles (with his supervision) the first time when I was 4 years old.
6. playing outside for hours with homemade stilts that my dad made me.
7. water balloon fights
8. going into the woods near our house and building a fort and hiding "treasure".
9. Playing by the railway tracks for hours so that we could wave to the Engineer as the trains went by,  LOL
10. spending hours and hours outside in the winter skating, building snow sculptures and forts.
11. I shingled our garage roof by myself when I was 12 years old! It didn't even leak! hehe

We were rarely in the house, and when we had to stay in we were upset because we wanted to be outside!

Today kids are so spoiled with so much that they really do have no imagination, and even find themselves "bored" with nothing to do because they have played the same game more than once!  Oh the tragedy!

I feel blessed and extremely lucky to have been born when I was and to have grown up in an era where we actually appreciated what we had, and made due without and still had tons of fun!

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

I remember the train thing..walking the tracks and playing on them.  It's a wonder that we all didn't wind up a small greasy spot from getting sucked under the train.  But boy the adventures we had along those tracks and walking across those trestles that went over the river.

Anyone brave enought to admit that they stuck their tongue to cold metal in the winter and got it stuck??

raising hand
God that hurt.  :(

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Quote -
Anyone brave enought to admit that they stuck their tongue to cold metal in the winter and got it stuck??

raising hand
God that hurt.  :(

Not me. Lived in the south all my younger life. No snow. Hardly any cold weather. That's why I live up North now. grin

I forgot!

When I was 12 years old my mom and dad used to let me drive the car! I was allowed to drive 2 miles through the city to the store. At first it was only when one of them or my brother was in the car with me. Then when they saw that I knew what I was doing they let me take the car by myself! 

I also remember babysitting for $1.00 per hour when I was 11 and 12 years old. These days parents are still getting babysitters for their  12 year old kids and babysitters are now paid minimum wage!

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

I'll never forget raiding a farmers vegetable patch with a few buddies even though we all knew the farmer living there was one mean dude. (probably why we did it) It was the last time we would because he was ready this time with buckshot. As we ran for our lives looking back I could see him aiming for me and boom...When I got home my dear mother cleaned me up and with a smack from a wooden spoon  warned me the next time my dad would find out what I was up to and I surely didn't want that!

Quote - .When I got home my dear mother cleaned me up and with a smack from a wooden spoon  warned me the next time my dad would find out what I was up to and I surely didn't want that!

We were very poor when I was growing up and  sometimes didn't have money for things like fresh vegetables. So it wasn't uncommon for my Mom to send me and my brother out to raid neighbourhood gardens for things like carrots, rhubarb, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and peas,  lol

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

We grew our own dad had a big garden but as they got older it went down in size.

Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things

SndCastie's Little Haven

Ah, yes... the quest for the perfect tomato! My Dad actually tried growing grape vines for a few years. Acadia reminded me of my Mom's cure for boredom: "You're bored?! I'll find something for you to do...", which usually involved cleaning. :scared:

Here too!! My grandpa used to have an old Airstream trailer that us kids would ride in alone while he was in the truck...it kept him from killing all of us while he was trying to drive. We traveled around the country in that thing. We also used to ride in the back window of my Mom's old Chevy...got really sunburned back there. No seat belts, massive amounts of Kool-Aid. Climb trees as high as the branches would hold us---splash around in and drink creek water. In Mass. they used to spray chemicals in the park for mosquitoes---we'd run through the "fog" and never thought about cancer or other side effects of the toxins. My husband said this new generation is one of the most sissified he's ever seen...Both my husband and I were born in 1958...

Each generation is a product of the one before. The younger generation feels "entitled". Parents (feeling guilt over working too much), pamper the children with electronic "babysitters" and elicit the government to help parent and keep them safe The cry, " For The Children" echos through the land. Marketing and politicians play into that theme. The young can"t help, but to feel entitled.
As for me, I have my memories. My first pocket knife (and my first girlfriend), when I was 5, found it in an abondoned building (the knife not the girl). Eating raw sugarcane on a Kentucky farm, at 6. And climbing  upto the roof on the outside of a 4 story apt. in Chicago, at 9.
 How did we survive?

Quote - climbing  upto the roof on the outside of a 4 story apt. in Chicago, at 9.
 How did we survive?

OMG! That reminded me of something! I think I was 7 years old or so. We lived in an older 3 story house. The second floor had a window that overlooked the roof at the back of the house. If you climbed out that window and shimmied up the iron  drain pipe you could get to the top roof which was very high and very steep!  Once up there you could make your way to the front of the house by standing up and hanging on really tight to the roof peak and slowly working your way around to the front. After that you had to sit with your feet in the eavestrough so you didn't slide off! One day my mom came home to find me and my brother (5 years older than me) up on the top roof dropping water balloons on people walking on the sidewalk in front of our house!

Oh man! Did we ever get into trouble!  LOL

We did all kinds of crazy things when we were kids. Looking back my mom's heart probably ended up in her throat more than once because of us! 

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

Ok, I've gotta know.  How the heck does one play kick the can??  I was born in '69, but we used to mostly play about 75 variations of tag as far as games with actual rules.  There was no can kicking.

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

**Sort of like hide and seek, only you have to kick a can and then everyone scatters. The person who is "It" retrieves the can and goes looking for others. While "It" is looking, someone can come out of hiding and kick the can again which makes "It" have to get it and place it back again before looking for others. Makes it helpful to get everone back to "Home" safely.

Least that's how I remember it. It's only been about 40 years since I played it. LOL**

Yep that be how we played it too :O)

Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things

SndCastie's Little Haven

Oh, ok.  I didn't have the slightest idea.  For all I knew it was street hockey with a can. ROFL!

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

Quote - Yep that be how we played it too :O)

Good to know my memory hasn't failed me in all things. lol

It's often occured to me that if eating sugar, butter, eggs, beef etc. was really bad for you then there wouldn't be many elderly people around - they'd be dead by now because there weren't any substitutes for these items way back when :)

I was born in 1955 so I can definitely relate to the text. Along with everything that's been said you also didn't mouth off to your teachers because they'd smack you and if you ran home and bawled to your parents you'd get smacked again. That may sound a bit heavy handed but you didn't need metal detectors and security guards at school like you have today. It seems the chickens have come home to roost on a lot of 'enlightened' social policies concerning kids but that doesn't seem to stop the 'authorities' from coming up with new ones. I think you need a booklet from the motor vehicles department to know how to put a kid in your car these days. We used to ride in the back of a pickup truck along with the dog and nobody complained :)

I especially like the part about learning to deal with dissapointment. Now every kid needs to get a gold star whether they're in first place or last. That should ensure that we end up with a generation of adults where mediocrity will be the standard of achievemet. Hell, maybe they're just being proactive because if you tell little Johnny that he's a loser he may get an automatic weapon and waste the whole class :)

The important thing to remember is that if we can save the life of even one child then it's perfectly acceptable to stomp out the rights and fun of millions of other children in our persuit of the completely safe and idiot proof world where people would live forever if they would only eat right and give up all of their bad habits :)

- Rick

I recall an incident when I was in grade school Rick, it was just before a classroom party of some sort. A school buddy handed me a pen with wooden matches placed inside and told me it was a smoke bomb. Well I was foolish enough to pull the stem of the match, the smoke just filled the room and the smell of burning plastic and sulfur basically cancelled our party. Sent to the principals office I quickly put the blame on the kid that handed me this home made stink bomb. Before I could say anything more the principal gave me such a backhand across the face that it left me light headed. I was promptly sent back to my class (red faced) to apologize to my teacher and to my classmates. I dared not mention this to my parents, and the school didn't either as the principal dealt with me as he saw fit...Punishment was swift and very clear to me and no I didn't ever pull another match stick or visit that particular principal again. I'm not saying I found GOD that day but it made me think twice before acting out again.

Ah, the grand memories of youth. Born in 1965, I have toys made out of sharp metal and heavy rubber. Lincoln Logs were actually made out of wood, and I got splinters. Lead in the paint, asbestos in the ceiling tiles. Motgher watched Dark SHadows on tv and it warped my brain at an early age. Became a fan of Edgar Allan Poe in first grade when a teacher read to us: Leapfrog, and I learned my first big word: "conflagration."

Milk and cookie breaks in kindergarten, followed by recess on rusting, paint-flaking iron jungle jims and burning hot summer slides.

Rode our bikes everywhere, day or night, with hardly a reflector on it, but had playing card in the spokes to make noise.

Parents used the belt on us, washed out mouths out with soap, and teachers had a paddle on their desk and weren't afraid to use it (and our parents didn't mind). Teachers actually taught, forced us to learn about real things and not just placing on State test scores.

And don't forget we ate at concession stands run by kids and that weren't certified to serve food.

Boys played with boy dolls and not "Action Figures." Polyester was truly horrible and was quite flammable.

Comics were a quarter, and I could buy lots for my $3.00 allowence (and it took about 20 minutes to read and get a lot of story).

And we actually walked to school, through any weather, be it rain, sun, sleet, or 2 feet of snow.

And even though I love DVD's and the Internet, I know they helped top destroy my once perculating imagination. 

Ah, those were the days.

-- Jeff

I absolutely love this thread!!

Amazing how despite coming from different families and places that we have many similar memories. 

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

is adopting Jeff as her big brother

I wish my parents had watched stuff with vampires in it. 

We used to have nap time in Kindergarten.  What a great thing.  I think everybody should have nap time.

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

Man Dark Shadows I use to watch that daily it was great.

Sandy
An imagination can create wonderful things

SndCastie's Little Haven

Me too Sandy...had a little crush on Barnabus...what can I say..I just liked vampire shows   

Have you seen the new show called Moonlight?  It's about another vampire detective who wants to be human again...like the old Forever Knight show...that I never missed.   :biggrin:

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Moonlight is amazingly good. I had my doubts about it, but it was a kick-a** first season. Being a genre show on CBS has always been iffy (recall how creepy "American Gothic" was and how quickly it was mangled and cancelled; same with Wolf Lake). Moonlight has teeth, though :)

Back in Chicagoland, they used to have afternoon movies, and several times a year they had monster week. All of the great Hammer films in the afternoon right after school. I hated Elvis week, but monster week(s) were always my favorite. 

Good to see other Dark Shadows fans. My mom never realized how much we understood of that show, or can recall, since we were just toddlers. But i have distinct memories of the frankenstein-type creature storyline and Quentin the werewolf ;)  

Drive-in movies! I can recall seeing most of the Planet of the Apes flicks at Drive-in theaters. The whole family in the car, with pillows and sleeping bags hearing the crackle of static over the speakers and staying from dusk until the last show ended and we kids were falling asleep and had to be carried back into the house :)

And don't forget the great books at the time: that were actually from the wirters' imagaination and not just media tie-in titles or longer septologies of meandering prose. Especially in the fantasy market, which hit it's zenith in the late 60's/early 70's with all of the great still active and turning out fantastic works: Heinlein, Ballard, Sturgeon, Clarke, Asimov, Moorcock -- and the bountiful reprints of Edagr Rice Burroughs and Robert Howard. And a young man named Stapehn King (being he was a household brand name). Forgot Phil K. Dick. Oops. 

Great time to grow up.

-- Jeff

Oh my...I had forgotten drive in movies.  When we were teenagers we would do everything we could to get in free...try lying about our age and even put people in the floorboard of the back seat with a quilt over them so they could hide and get in..until finally our small town started charging by the car instead of by the person...lol   It was great fun sitting outside and watching the movie...or staying inside and 'necking'  Anyone remember what that was?...lol

When I had my own family started and my son was very young...we would make up a bunch of hamburgers and take a cooler with soda and go to the drive in on weekends.
I think there may still be a drive in movie in Mo. somewhere.

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Am I the only person who still goes to the drive-in?  We went 3 times last summer.  The sound comes over the car radio now, instead of those stupid little speakers.  There was one right in town here until a few years ago.  Now it's a 20 minute drive to the nearest one.

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

They have closed down all the ones I used to go to...I would have to do a google search to see if there are any around here for sure..and if there was it wouldn't be close or I would already know of it..  Heck, the nearest movie theatre is 20 miles from me and I live in a small town.

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Wow, I guess you do live in a small town!

I love your sig line, btw.  It made me laugh out loud for real. LOL

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

Yes...population 3,000 or so....100 churches...4 schools...one bar...lol    The hospital is only a band-aid station but they at least have a landing pad for a life line helicopter in case of a real emergency. 
We used to have a movie theatre..where I saw all the Randolph Scott movies when I was little.  Mom would send us to the movies while she worked instead of hiring a baby sitter...back then no one worried about someone snatching their kids.   Now I use Netflix and cable tv..  :)

I am a big fan of the X Files..and the other day when I was watching a rerun I heard Fox Mulder saying that to the lone gunmen while they were trying to hack some computers and thought it would make a good sig...glad it made you laugh.

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Quote - Have you seen the new show called Moonlight? 

I love that show too. It's a big hit for NBC and has been picked up as a regular series.  Now we just have to wait for the writers' strike to end so they can start filming new episodes.

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

**Apparently my younger sister is on a big nostalgia kick. She sent me more things to remember. If I can do this right, you should be able to see them too.**

**More**

**One more and I'll stop now. *grin***

How about home made slingshots,  frying a few ants with our magnifying glass or jumping the creek after a rain. Seeing who could leave the longest skid mark on the sidewalk with their mustang bicycle. Swinging as high as you could and then jumping off or spending the day on a merry-go-round. Boys and girls exposing themselves to each other with innocent snickering  and without any consequence to their actions. Jumping through the girls skipping rope, playing cowboy and indians without offending anyone but the crabby old lady next door. Peeking into windows and running off, sliding across  frozen ponds or jumpimg on thin ice. There was a day recently during a beautiful summer afternoon when I noticed there were no kids playing outside and I asked my wife where are all the neighborhood children... she said...probably playing nintendo or something! ........sad but true.

I remember 10 cent a gallon gas wars...loaves of bread for 15 cents a loaf,  a carton of cigarettes for $!.00 (name brands, no such thing as generic back then).  Let's see.  Hmmm.  My family had a game when traveling of being the first one to call out the name of oncoming cars....Year., make and model (I could recognize them all, be they Dodge, Oldsmobile, Chevy, Ford, Studebaker, DeSoto or whatever...nothing foreign was ever seen). 

My Dad would never think twice about picking up a military hitchhiker and if you ever broke down on the highway, you could be assured that a friendly trucker would stop and help you within 10 minutes. 

We enjoyed trick or treating and never once had to worry about our candy, popcorn balls or apples being dangerous.  I remember Katy Keene and Archie comics and playing with paper dolls.  Dressing up with my mom's old clothes and falling down while trying to walk in her high heels at the age of four.  (We wore silky gloves and hats to church and Easter was my fav holiday because my older sister and I got new outfits then, no hand-me-downs),

I remember the Spic and Span commercials during the breaks on Search For Tomorrow, my mom's favorite soap opera.  Charlie Chan and Flash Gordon after school on TV.  I remember my dad playing for hours with the first color TV, changing Bonanza's fire from blue to green, just for kicks.

I remember my mom drinking nickle cups of coffee, with as many refills as she could handle, my dad's haircuts were 50 cents a week (buzz cut).  I remember D.A.'s (duck's a$$) and penny loafers,  and saddle oxfords.  I remember finally being old enough for seamed stockings and garter belts--what a wonderful feel on the legs back then..super sheer and silky.  Not a rough, mesh pantyhose back then.  I remember horse hair petticoats (at least two worn to make our skirts stand out properly.  I remember wearing a moistened blue colored pencil as eye shadow and back-combing my hair to the ceiling, but we called it ratting and teaseing.

I remember sock-hops and the makeout pits and cherry stealing in the summer.  I remember water balloon fights and snowball forts and being in love with Hoppalong Cassidy because he had a white horse named Topper and was featured on our milk bottles that were delivered to our door every morning.  I remember Doctor's making house calls and my dad helping me build a birdhouse, while I was home from school with the chickenpocks.  I remember my dad teaching me to shoot his guns at the age of five, loved them ever since.  Grandpa letting me drive the old pickup through the orchard at 10, while he loaded the back end with boxes of apples.  I remember bell bottom pants and my first pair of stirruped stretch pants and my first two piece bathing suit.  I remember rolling up the waistband of my skirts, to make them shorter and then much later, just after high school graduation, pantyhose and miniskirts hit our little hick town.

Gads...I think I'm gonna cry.  I miss the good old days!!  Thanks for letting me stroll down memory lane.  Wow...the stroll, the twist, the jerk, the bump and good old American Bandstand!!  How about Texas John Slaughter, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot and Huckleberry Hound...Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, Woody Woodpecker... and my fav...Foghorn Leghorn.

I could go on for hours...but I have a new image to make for tomorrow,.  so I'll say adios to all and good night Gracie.or Mrs. Calabash, whereever you are.

Another difference between then and now was that there wasn't such a media saturation as we have now. So when something was big enough to make an impact it really made a big splash. I remember when the Beatles' music hit the streets here in Buffalo and up and down the street you'd hear their music playing on small transistor radios and the kids were going wild over it.

Remember the first James Bond movie?

That was another thing I remember - people actually were outside of their houses! My Mom would send me to the corner store for something and it would take a half hour to get back home because you had to stop and talk to all the neighbors who were sitting on the front porch :)

• Rick

Shucks...I remember the first Elvis song.   :biggrin:

And yes, I did see the Ed Sullivan show that wouldn't show Elvis from the waist down....
That makes me older than dirt doesn't it??   lol

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Quote - Shucks...I remember the first Elvis song.   :biggrin:

And yes, I did see the Ed Sullivan show that wouldn't show Elvis from the waist down....
That makes me older than dirt doesn't it??   lol

**Older than dirt??  lol  Not a bit, Annie.  I'd say it puts you in great company!!  ;o)

I've got original records (not vinyls, but heavy, breakable glass type, 78rpm, Victor and Decca) of Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor from the 1920's.  Of course they were given to me by my deceased grandmother, but I still know who they were and the kids today, just have no clue! 

Sadly, when we're all gone, I'm afraid much of our heritage will be lost with us.  I don't know what my son might do with 80+ year old treasures that may be over 100 years by the time he gets them.  I'd love for them to be preserved within the family, but I'll have no say, when I'm six feet under.  :o(**

My 18-year-old daughter Lizzie was thrilled when she found out the Beatles had a song called Dizzy Miss Lizzy.  She had it on her MySpace page for months.  Although after she'd listened to John talking about a song "off our new LP" she had to ask me what an LP was. LOL.

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

I know what you mean about preserving things...I have 3 sons..all grown...and I don't think any of them would truly be interested in preserving very much...lol
My youngest son did take a golden gloves medal my dad won in the army during ww2...I think that's the oldest thing he owns.   :rolleyes:

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Quote - Gads...I think I'm gonna cry.  I miss the good old days!!

Me too!

:crying:

~Jani

Renderosity Community Admin
---------------------------------------

can add me to the oldies list too, LOL...boy those WERE great days! 

After reading that it's a wonder any of us survived to adulthood.

Born in 1960 - Does anyone remember an item called "Creepy Crawlers" ?  It was a heated unit that made rubber like bugs.  You'd pour this liquid stuff into a  mold & put it in a heated tray type thing & when it boiled it was ready to take out & cool and out popped a rubber spider etc etc.

They had this same thing for jewelry/flowers etc etc.

Gads we were also allowed to make jewelery with teeny beads!!!!

I loved Dark Shadows watched it all the time.  Outside of that I was always outside playing various forms of tag/hide n seek/hopscotch/roller skating(no helmuts/knee pads etc etc)

In our neighborhood the people with kids had these HUGE bells on flagpole type things.  Each bell was distinctive in sound.  When it was time for kids to go home the parents would go ring the bells LOL

In the summertime we walked down the railroad tracks to the trestle that went over the creek...then we walked the creek to the first swimmin' hole.  It always took a long time because we had to try to catch fish and crawdads with our hands along the way.  We were at least 2 miles from home by then and couldn't hear a bell if we wanted to.  :D    We just knew what time we had to be home.
In Missouri there's a creek or river within seeing distance from wherever you are..lol

Our guardian angels must have worked overtime in those days....sheesh.

 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

[Stuart Chase]

Quote - Born in 1960 - Does anyone remember an item called "Creepy Crawlers" ?  It was a heated unit that made rubber like bugs.  You'd pour this liquid stuff into a  mold & put it in a heated tray type thing & when it boiled it was ready to take out & cool and out popped a rubber spider etc etc.

I didn't remember it until I just read this, and in the back of my head some mysterious voice sang "creeeepy craw-lers!" ROFL!!

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

Oh, in regards to the playground equipment.  When I had my own swing set or went to the park, my Dad always brought a roll of wax paper & waxed down the slide so we could all go down faster & smoother!  I hated getting butt burn on the sticky slides LOL!

Quote - Born in 1960 - Does anyone remember an item called "Creepy Crawlers" ?  It was a heated unit that made rubber like bugs.  You'd pour this liquid stuff into a  mold & put it in a heated tray type thing & when it boiled it was ready to take out & cool and out popped a rubber spider etc etc.

They had this same thing for jewelry/flowers etc etc.

OMG! I had totally forgotten about those! I didn't have any but my brother did.  I remember there was a television show here called "Kid's Bids."  You collected empty bags from Old Dutch Potato Chips and then you could go on the show and bid on toys and games.

My brother and I had been collecting for ages, and then we heard that the show was going to go off the air. Somehow we were able to go and cash in our chip bags for some toys on the last day of the show.  My brother got that creepy crawlie thing and I got a bunch of Barbie stuff and I can't remember what else.

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi

Yeah we had light brights too, with little tiny plastic pegs to swallow and choke on!

I still have mine! My dollhouse(before Barbies) was metal with sharp edges and the furniture was small & put together type - I never swallowed or choked.  Tinker Toys were still wood as well.

I saw the same house in the Movie "Walk the line" LOL

At school I had a water pistol (squirt gun in USA?), and one day furtively filled it with dilute sulphuric acid from the chemistry lab.  The fun we had!

NB This wasn't intended for squirting fellow schoolmates (though there were one or two that I wouldn't have minded hosing with it).  It just made an impressive sizzle when you squirted rocks.  Before the day was out the plastic melted and rotted my pants pocket -- it all got a bit Alienish.

Stolen railroad detonators made a pretty good bang if you hurled half a brick at one.

Anyone else remember getting told that if you turn the knob to fast on the TV it would fall off?  Of course you wouldn't believe your parents,  until you were standing there changing channels with a pair of pliers.  Then my grandparents got a new TV with a brand new thingy called a remote control. And it had only three buttons!  Can you imagine?

And how about Frisbees?   My dad got so tired of having to get on the roof to get the Frisbee down. 

After reading about Unicorst's mulbeery tree made me  really miss the old apple tree.   It was perfect to sit in during the summer and read.  I could fill up on the apples and hide from the parents when they wanted me to do chores.   I actually cried when that stupid tornado took it out.

I remember jamming a TV knob back on more than once, in hopes that it would still work. LOL.

One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. -River Tam

Count me in, too!

Plastic garbage bags and cardboard toboggans down the hill and having to grab a small stump or go off the edge.  No one ever missed that stump!

Go carts with brakes?  We had no use for brakes.  We'd stop when we either wiped out or hit something!

And cable?  I was 15 before we got cable and a color TV.  Before that it was black and white and the CBC.  Funny, I never watched much TV when I was a kid and in high school classmates would be talking about shows called "Gilligan's Island" and the "Monkees" and other such things that I'd never heard of.

We'd also go swimming without lifeguards or play down in the gully all day.  No one drowned or got molested.

1971 here. One manager today called me old when I said I was 37. I looked at him and said, but I can push the body just as hard as my teens. I couldn't believe it, he said I was old!