I remember when.....

[remyandhollandsmommy]

Milkman? Breadman? Bah, ya'll are spoiled lol...I lived with my grandparents as a kid and at MY house growing up WE made our OWN milk straight from the cow and then churned butter (and buttermilk eww) from it..THEN we grew our own veggie/fruits AND we raised our own meat.

Have you ever churned butter or plucked chicken feathers? Or picked/bowled snap peas?? I was ECSTATIC when my grandparents discovered the grocery store lol...I think I was about 12! Funny how they had the freakin disney channel before they broke and started using the grocery store!

 

[Luvmy4boys]

This country song always makes me reminice (sp?). Aw, the good old days.

A Different World by Bucky Covington.

We were born to mothers who smoked and drank
Our cribs were covered in lead based paint
No child proof lids no seat belts in cars
Rode bikes with no helmets and still here we are, still here we are
We got daddy's belt when we misbehaved
Had three TV channels you got up to change
No video games and no satellite
All we had were friends and they were outside, playin’ outside

Chorus
It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

School always started the same every day
The pledge of allegiance then someone would pray
Not every kid made the team when they tried
We got disappointed and that was all right, we turned out all right

Chorus

Bridge
No bottled water, we drank from a garden hose
And every Sunday, all the stores were closed

Chorus

Chorus

It was a different world

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

This country song always makes me reminice (sp?). Aw, the good old days.

A Different World by Bucky Covington.

We were born to mothers who smoked and drank
Our cribs were covered in lead based paint
No child proof lids no seat belts in cars
Rode bikes with no helmets and still here we are, still here we are
We got daddy's belt when we misbehaved
Had three TV channels you got up to change
No video games and no satellite
All we had were friends and they were outside, playin’ outside

Chorus
It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

School always started the same every day
The pledge of allegiance then someone would pray
Not every kid made the team when they tried
We got disappointed and that was all right, we turned out all right

Chorus

Bridge
No bottled water, we drank from a garden hose
And every Sunday, all the stores were closed

Chorus

Chorus

It was a different world

I love this song...After the email that originated this thread, the first song that popped into my head was this one, directly followed by Tim McGraw's "Back When".

 

[kaytieeldr]

Anyway, before I go into having to walk 25 miles to school, up hill, both ways, in the snow, all year long,

Barefoot! You forgot barefoot!!!!

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

I rented a car the other day. My 10 yr old was looking at the door and pointed to something and asked me what it was......I told her it was the window crank . I then had to explain how it works and that she couldnt just press a button to open the window... <sigh>

Sorry I haven't read all the responses to this thread, but I just had to jump in here because something related just happened to me... we had a fender bender and our minivan was in the shop for a week. They gave us a loaner minivan and it was so basic that it didn't even have electric locks or electric windows.

My 9YO was complaining about it being hot in there, so I said, "Well, you can roll down the window if you want..." when it occurred to me to ask "do you know how?"

Seriously how many kids that age have ever been in a vehicle without electric everything?

It's funny you both mention the crank windows...When I bought the car that I have now, which is a PT Cruiser, I didn't really think twice about getting it. It was affordable and I qualified , anyhoo...It wasn't until after about a week of manually having to open the doors that I realized how spoiled I was with the remote I used to have for my old car. And honestly, the car I had before that was totally manual from the windows to the locks, everything. I didn't even have a button to open the other doors with in my first car!

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

Barefoot! You forgot barefoot!!!!

You're right! How did I miss that! Must not have had enough coffee when I posted!

Let me rephrase!

Having to walk 25 miles, barefoot, uphill, both ways, in the snow, all year long.

 

[Coach K]

Riding bikes with the baseball card in the spokes!!!

Flipping baseball cards in the schoolyard.

Remember when seatbelts were first installed?

My first camera was a Brownie.

Do you see any kids these days building tree forts??

 

[denisem]

Love this thread, even though I don't think today's kids OR their parents really have it easier these days (in some respects).

The manual typewriter thing hits home - co-workers are amazed when they see me typing numbers from the top line of the keyboard rather than the keypad. (Learned before keypads and can kick butt doing anything alphanumeric)

Not saying the "good old days" were better, but something struck home with me a few years back. My 1st job was working at MetLife Insurance back in the early 70's. We used to turn around death claim checks in two weeks with NO computers, faxes, email, overnight mail, etc. When my mom passed away 2 yrs. ago, it took FIVE weeks for them to process the claim.

 

[Inigo]

Milkman? Breadman? Bah, ya'll are spoiled lol...I lived with my grandparents as a kid and at MY house growing up WE made our OWN milk straight from the cow and then churned butter (and buttermilk eww) from it..THEN we grew our own veggie/fruits AND we raised our own meat.

I agree completely! Of course, not everyone else could eat steak whenever they wanted. I had town friends who thought we were rich because we had a freezer full of beef and other meat.

Have you ever churned butter or plucked chicken feathers?

I hated non-store milk when I was at my aunt Catherine's. Fortunately, my parents bought milk by the gallon at the store. I loved to help her churn though.

As for plucking chickens, I NEVER want to do that again. EVER! The smell was so bad. I was in charge of the chickens all the way through, from feeding and watering the chicks, collecting eggs, catching & killing them, up until I was done plucking. My mother did the cutting up.

There were so many things growing up on a farm that my town friends never knew how to do, or that those jobs even existed.

I remember when my best friend and her brother got the very first video game. We played Pong for hours.

 

[kaytieeldr]

There were only the 3 major networks and PBS on the TV. The biggest screen was 25 inches and only rich people had those. We had a 13 inch, and my little brother WAS the remote control.

I remember when only 'rich' people had color television; the rest of us could get 'color' tv by placing a rainbow-hued sheet of plastic over the screen (or using crayons - ONCE ). We went to my uncle's once a year to watch "The Wizard of Oz"... which is another thing we've lost over the years. Not the movie, but the 'specialness' of it. It used to air once a year and it was an Event.

You had to take your time with the rotary phones and their was no speed dial

Chris Rock does a funny riff on this in Lethal Weapon 4.

Oh, and pay phones (booths)....

Drugstores with soda fountains...

It only cost 5cents to mail a letter.

... or to buy a candy bar...

You played outside until your mom actually hollered for you to come home or rang the bell....and you hollered back that you were coming

Your mom had a bell, too? Or did you grow up in my neighborhood and you're referring to our bell? There were six of us, all over the neighborhood - and one bell was cheaper than six watches

I remember pre-remote controlled TV's. As a kid, I was the remote. I was also the antenna amplifier. I would to stand there and hold it.

And then one day, somebody 'invented' the aluminum foil antenna flag - which only required the subject to stand in a certain place in the room, in one position, without moving, but not to hold onto the antenna

TV stations did not run 24 hours a day. They would sign off at night and come back on in the morning. Oh, yeah, I remember that. We finally got an all night broadcast when I was in my teens.
I learned to type on a manual typewriter.

The milkman delivered milk and the breadman delivered bread. I remember that, too. Well, the milkman anyway.

I remember the original Mickey Mouse Club and watching film of the opening of Disneyland. I thought the people who went to Disneyland were the luckiest people on earth. Nope, I missed the opening of Disneyland by about six months. I finally made it there when we were both fifty, though

Sears, Penneys, and Monkey Wards all had candy counters or candy with nuts. We only had Sears back then, and not even especially close; we still don't have a Montgomery Ward.

School lunchs costing under 50 cents $.25 - and milk was only $.03!

A McDonald's hamburger, fries, and a coke for under a dollar (older folks will remember when each one was about 18 cents) Right - change back from your dollar! Then change back from your five for a family of four. Now you're lucky if you get change back from your ten for just you!

Penny candy Oh, yeah, absolutely

Saturday mornings where kids' time with the tv because it was the only time cartoons were on And the cartoons were FUN - Bugs Bunny, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Beany & Cecil...

Carrying a dime for emergencies at those old-fangled phone booths

Phones were rented from the phone company, no one was allowed to own their own phone.

I've spoken to people recently - in the last few years - who STILL rent their phones from the phone company!!! Can you imagine how much they've paid??? Just one or two people, and right now I don't recall in what context, but I'm sure they're elderly people.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I love this song...After the email that originated this thread, the first song that popped into my head was this one, directly followed by Tim McGraw's "Back When".

TIM MCGRAW LYRICS

"Back When"

Don't you remember
The fizz in a pepper
Peanuts in a bottle
At ten, two and four
A fried bologna sandwich
With mayo and tomato
Sittin' round the table
Don't happen much anymore

We got too complicated
It's all way over-rated
I like the old and out-dated
Way of life

Back when a hoe was a hoe
Coke was a coke
And crack's what you were doing
When you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw
The wind was all that blew
And when you said I'm down with that
Well it meant you had the flu
I miss back when
I miss back when
I miss back when

I love my records
Black, shiny vinyl
Clicks and pops
And white noise
Man they sounded fine
I had my favorite stations
The ones that played them all
Country, soul and rock-and-roll
What happened to those times?

I'm readin' Street Slang For Dummies
Cause they put pop in my country
I want more for my money
The way it was back then

Back when a hoe was a hoe
Coke was a coke
And crack's what you were doing
When you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw
The wind was all that blew
And when you said I'm down with that
Well it meant you had the flu
I miss back when
I miss back when
I miss back when

Give me a flat top for strumming
I want the whole world to be humming
Just keep it coming
The way it was back then

Back when a hoe was a hoe
Coke was a coke
And crack's what you were doing
When you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw
The wind was all that blew
And when you said I'm down with that
Well it meant you had the flu
I miss back when
I miss back when
I miss back when

 

[Tinkerbell58]

I remember when they came out with the 8 track tape players for cars.

..and how impressed everyone was when you installed one in your car.

Sometimes a song would stop in the middle and we'd have to wait for the 8 track to click to the next track to finish the song.

I remember Polaroid cameras - instant photo!

Atari, our first gaming system.

Video camera to record on VHS tapes. The camera was the size of a cinderblock.

 

[WDWBarb]

I was telling my daughter about party lines the other day and only having to dial 4 digits in town. I also told her about the good old days when we had cords on the phone and could only pace as far as the length of the cord. She rolled her eyes at me!

I think it's funny the lengths we went to when we were kids to see if school was closed for a snow day. Growing up in a small town pretty far from "the city," we weren't a huge priority for the TV stations and radio stations. We'd see snow on the ground, wake up and turn on the TV and wait for them to read off the list of closings. Likewise with the radio. If you stepped away for a second, you'd swear that you must have missed your school and you'd wait again. Nowadays my DD get a text message from the school and back to sleep she goes!!

I was also talking about how, when I was a kid, they would have a Donkey Basketball exhibition game at school every few years or so. If you've never seen Doney Basketball... well.... I have nothing more to say about that! Guess I really grew up in the sticks.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Sting ray with suicide handlebars, banana seat and a sissy bar.

Does anyone know what I am talking about?

 

[Snoozan]

This thread has brought back lots of memories! Ahhh, I remember the day of party lines for phones, 4 digit phone #'s, black & white TV,etc. One of my most favorite things was buying a full-size candy bar for $.05! We ate penny candy almost daily - when it actually cost a penny. No wonder I had do many cavities as a kid......

We had a rotary phone here up until 2 1/2 years ago when I did my kitchen redone. My kids would have friends over and they had no clue how to work it! But, it never ran out of batteries and worked even during a power outage. Boy, I still miss it.

 

[Tinkerbell58]

Sting ray with suicide handlebars, banana seat and a sissy bar.

Does anyone know what I am talking about?

A bike! Mine had a basket on the handlebars.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Did anyone get ONTV?

It was the first cable service in our neighborhood and we got it. There was a box on the TV that had one knob. It pointed to either off or ONTV. So let's count, we then had NINE WHOLE CHANNELS to choose from! I was in heaven.

I was so excited! NO commercials, whoooooo! But then, they didn't have much to watch but it was still really cool.

I remember my first cell phone and the weight it added to my bag. I could have broken a window easily with that thing!

Anyone remember when home video cameras came out? You had to have a very strong father...the camera went over your shoulder and you had to hold it up with two hands PLUS balance it on your shoulder...then the cords would go to the tape deck slung around your body in a carrying case. My current video camera is now small enough to fit in my wristlet!

Audio cassettes came out and we were amazed how much smaller they were from the 8-track tapes we had to lug around. And the sound, wow, it was so clear! (As I listen to my very small iPod with over 4000 songs on it.

 

[wenrob]

There used to be only ONE phone in the house. It was a big deal to get a "second extension" and you had to sit at the phone and talk. The cords weren't that long. A long distance call was a BIG deal, and everyone had to be very quiet if Daddy was talking long distance.

Do you remember having to lease the phone from the phone company? You couldn't just go buy a phone it came from the phone company and if you broke it, it was a ton of money to replace.

How about when traveling home from where you just visited and calling collect when you made it and the other person refusing the call then turning to the others saying, "They made it."

 

[kaytieeldr]

Sting ray with suicide handlebars, banana seat and a sissy bar.

Does anyone know what I am talking about?

Every word!

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Sting ray with suicide handlebars, banana seat and a sissy bar.

Does anyone know what I am talking about?

OF COURSE...

I won one of those from the rexall drug store contest, but I already had a ten speed, so I traded it for a lawmower and mowed laws in the summer for extra cash.