Things about your childhood that would baffle younger people of today

[jo-jo]

Ok , so ill continue, we were poor when i was young. So powdered milk, orange juice in the frozen can. No frills brand food. It had a white lable and a generic black stamp description on it. We got to get the canned pudding once in a while, it had a razor sharp lid, as kids you licked it!

Dry milk was awful. My mother would mix part dry milk and part real milk , so it was only half awful. We never knew OJ came any other way but frozen.

We had dessert on Saturday nights. One week we share a big can of fruit cocktail. The cherries were set aside so all five kids got equal amounts. The other week we had ice cream. After the carton (which was folded like a box) was empty, we flatten the box and tore it into pieces and licked it clean.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Although when I was young, my friends started getting touchtone phones. But even then...

 

[Happyinwonerland]

It’s not CPS I’d be concerned about.

We were always safe and had a great time. Most of the time my friends and I would bike up to the school playground to spend the day, or ride bikes around. We'd pop in whoever's house was closest for a wonderbread and bologna sandwich with chips, a fruit roll up, and a coke, then be on our way. We made our own fun.
The world isn't that dangerous, the constant stream of information only makes it seem that way. We use to get our news once a day, maybe twice if you watched the evening news and read the morning paper. Now we are bombarded with the same stories all day long, making it seem as though more bad stuff is happening when it really isn't.

 

[verleniahall]

Only calling long distance after 8pm because it was free - if a long distance came in during regular times it was and emergency

 

[LSUmiss]

We were always safe and had a great time. Most of the time my friends and I would bike up to the school playground to spend the day, or ride bikes around. We'd pop in whoever's house was closest for a wonderbread and bologna sandwich with chips, a fruit roll up, and a coke, then be on our way. We made our own fun.
The world isn't that dangerous, the constant stream of information only makes it seem that way. We use to get our news once a day, maybe twice if you watched the evening news and read the morning paper. Now we are bombarded with the same stories all day long, making it seem as though more bad stuff is happening when it really isn't.

Sorry. I disagree. I have worked in the prison system. The world can be that dangerous (at least here). You were safe b/c you were lucky. Others weren’t always so lucky.

 

[dish rag]

Sorry. I disagree. I have worked in the prison system. The world can be that dangerous (at least here). You were safe b/c you were lucky. Others weren’t always so lucky.

I disagree. We were always safe. We were out gone all day and miles away with no phone or means to be reached gasp! Even today the odds of a child being obducted must be minuscule.

 

[mjkacmom]

I can't believe no one has mentioned this, isn't anyone else old enough to remember when if you really liked a movie, you would try to watch it as many times as you could in the theater because once it was gone, it would take years before it would show up on TV an you could see it again? No renting or buying movies. I Remember when came out I saw it eight times before my mom said "enough"

The movie theater in town ran the same movies for months at a time, so we’d all go watch it every Friday night.

 

[LSUmiss]

I disagree. We were always safe. We were out gone all day and miles away with no phone or means to be reached gasp! Even today the odds of a child being obducted must be minuscule.

Well that’s a minuscule chance I’m not willing to take with my kid & my parents didn’t take with me or my friends. Perhaps it’s also b/c I have always lived in an urban area too. Off topic, but rates of SIDS are relatively low too, all things considered, but ppl still out their babies to sleep on their backs to be safe b/c it’s not a chance anyone wants to take. Home invasions are rare, but most ppl look their doors. The list goes on. Some ppl were lucky back then & didn’t recognize the danger not b/c there wasn’t any.

 

[mjkacmom]

Sorry. I disagree. I have worked in the prison system. The world can be that dangerous (at least here). You were safe b/c you were lucky. Others weren’t always so lucky.

Crime is lower now than when I was a kid. I live in the same town I grew up in, kids roam the town on foot and on bikes, walk to and from school, go to parks and playgrounds, and in the past 50 years, I don’t remember anything bad happening to children (and in my small town of 28,000, everyone seems to know everyone). I’m so glad I could raise my kids to be independent, confident, and street smart (3 down and 2 to go). Maybe you might want to move?

 

[mjkacmom]

Well that’s a minuscule chance I’m not willing to take with my kid & my parents didn’t take with me or my friends. Perhaps it’s also b/c I have always lived in an urban area too. Off topic, but rates of SIDS are relatively low too, all things considered, but ppl still out their babies to sleep on their backs to be safe b/c it’s not a chance anyone wants to take. Home invasions are rare, but most ppl look their doors. The list goes on. Some ppl were lucky back then & didn’t recognize the danger not b/c there wasn’t any.

There is no downside of putting babies on their backs or locking doors, there is a big negative in bubble wrapping kids.

 

[mjkacmom]

Sundays as “days of rest”
Blue laws

We have blue laws here, probably because it’s such a shopping mecca, residents need a break. https://www.nj.com/bergen/2019/03/m...-town-than-on-rodeo-drive-take-that-cali.html

 

[GreatLakes]

We were always safe and had a great time. Most of the time my friends and I would bike up to the school playground to spend the day, or ride bikes around. We'd pop in whoever's house was closest for a wonderbread and bologna sandwich with chips, a fruit roll up, and a coke, then be on our way. We made our own fun.
The world isn't that dangerous, the constant stream of information only makes it seem that way. We use to get our news once a day, maybe twice if you watched the evening news and read the morning paper. Now we are bombarded with the same stories all day long, making it seem as though more bad stuff is happening when it really isn't.

We were like that too. At 10 and 12 we would bike 5+ miles to parks and friends from school. We biked to and from baseball practice. My parents weren't about to cart us around for all of our sports, we were given bikes and freedom.

Stranger Danger is overstated.

 

[amberpi]

Trying to remember how many minutes I had on my cell phone and having to wait until after 8 or 9 to make very many calls with it. It was an insane cost per minute after the first like 100 minutes, and that was when phones were only good for calls!

 

[LSUmiss]

Crime is lower now than when I was a kid. I live in the same town I grew up in, kids roam the town on foot and on bikes, walk to and from school, go to parks and playgrounds, and in the past 50 years, I don’t remember anything bad happening to children (and in my small town of 28,000, everyone seems to know everyone). I’m so glad I could raise my kids to be independent, confident, and street smart (3 down and 2 to go). Maybe you might want to move?

I don’t think they’d be considered “street smart” in that case, IMO. I think growing up in an urban area has given me a greater appreciation for what the real world is really like instead of living in a bubble where I might believe things are rosier than they are. The fact is there are predators everywhere not just in high crime areas. Safety & awareness has nothing to do with independence. We were very independent even if we weren’t allowed to be “miles away” without anyone knowing where we were. I’d argue living in an urban area taught us street smarts for sure. As far as moving, I live in a safe area. I just know where to stay away from & when. I’m sure many ppl like their hometown, but I’m from NOLA. For many of us (and for many generations), being a New Orleanian is who we are. It will have to get really bad before we move. And, I don’t think it’s unlike any other urban area. Imo, growing up in a small town is a very different experience.

 

[tvguy]

Ok , so ill continue, we were poor when i was young. So powdered milk, orange juice in the frozen can. No frills brand food. It had a white lable and a generic black stamp description on it. We got to get the canned pudding once in a while, it had a razor sharp lid, as kids you licked it!

I grew up with powdered milk. Until about 5 years ago, we always had a box on hand Not sure my kids liked it, but when they ran out of milk and needed some for their cereal, they didn't complain. And until my mom passed away, that is ALL she ever bought. Now I buy the boxed liquid milk that doesn't need refrigeration to keep on hand in case of running out of milk
I have actually had conversations with people on this board who had never heard of powdered milk, but it is still there in the grocery store.

 

[LSUmiss]

There is no downside of putting babies on their backs or locking doors, there is a big negative in bubble wrapping kids.

That’s not bubble wrapping IMO. That’s teaching life isn’t rosy & bad things can & do happpen. In fact, I think it taught me the opposite of being in a bubble. No one hovered over us, they taught us how to be safe, take precautions & not take unnecessary risks b/c the world is dangerous & growing up where we did it was evident.

 

[tvguy]

The majority of my phone calls are to other cell phones so I don’t get a busy signal, I get their voicemail if they’re on the other line. I can’t remember the last time I got a busy signal. Maybe you have more people in your life with landlines with no call waiting than I do? Businesses usually have multiple lines so no busy signals there either.

I rarely get voicemail when calling a cell phone, I usually get a message that they haven't set up there voicemail yet, or that it is full.
I run into that with a lot of folks I work with, they don't setup or check their voicemail, they don't respond to texts, they actually say "keep calling until I answer"

 

[dish rag]

Well that’s a minuscule chance I’m not willing to take with my kid & my parents didn’t take with me or my friends. Perhaps it’s also b/c I have always lived in an urban area too. Off topic, but rates of SIDS are relatively low too, all things considered, but ppl still out their babies to sleep on their backs to be safe b/c it’s not a chance anyone wants to take. Home invasions are rare, but most ppl look their doors. The list goes on. Some ppl were lucky back then & didn’t recognize the danger not b/c there wasn’t any.

I guess there are parents that won’t let the child swim in the ocean, might get eaten by a shark. Cross the street. Swim in a lake or pool. Ride a bike. Especially with out a helmet. Can they walk outside in a thunder storm. Drive at 16. You keep saying some of us were in danger. How do you know? We were on our bikes up to 20 miles away often. Bus to amusement parks alone at 8 years old. Were out of the house most of the day. There were hundreds of us and no one was kidnapped or harmed. Oh we got yelled at too, by other parents and even adults we didn’t know. Now parents won’t let a child alone out to play. The rate of obduction must be lower than lightning stikes and shark bites combined. I feel bad for children raised in the last 25 years. Mine included. Oh, we even swam in pools lakes and rivers with no supervision.

 

[DisLiss]

We had 3 kids in one bedroom and we survived to tell the tale!! (For awhile we also had only one bathroom for a family of 5. Shocking!!)
Today I always hear people say how they "need" a bedroom for each kid and they "need" 3 or 4 bathrooms and I think "We were terribly un-needy in comparison, I guess."

 

[DisLiss]

Oh, and I used to buy cigarettes for my Dad as well....at a corner store where we had a tab that my father settled once a week. We used to buy penny candy on the honor system, too. We'd get a tiny brown bag, fill it ourselves, and tell the clerk or owner how many cents we owed them. The candy was behind the counter and they were all incredibly patient about having 4 or 5 of us behind this tiny counter with them carrying on and making our major life-changing decisions about what candy we would buy.