Remember When

you were young and a soft drink on the weekend was real treat, popcorn was the best snack, you played dolls, marbles, mother may I and board games (no electricity), your Mom made breakfast and it wasn't a pop tart, you could sleep in a tent with a couple of friends and not have to have a armed guard, Sunday's dinner after Church was a great roast cooked with potatoes, carrots and served with real gravy, warm rolls and a great chocolate cake with fudge icing and milk or tea, sitting in the garden and digging the potatoes was fun, you had a pet chicken, you helped your Mom dip tomatoes or peaches to can (well you thought you were helping), shelled peas under a tree and snapped green beans. Things were so much simpler it seems back than. I could go on and on but better stop.

' yes,those where the days '.
Everyone seems to be in too much of a hurry now days to enjoy the simple things in life. Sometimes the simplest,is the best part of life.

HoniBee, your post took me back to when I was a kid! I grew up on the farm where I still live and back then, we raised all our own food except for things like flour and sugar (when the bees died). We had a one-acre garden with fruit trees around the edges. We'd hatch an extra 150 or so chickens to raise for butchering along with a steer, a hog and a few sheep. To add to that, Daddy would hunt deer in the winter. We had four BIG freezers full of food and shelves and shelves of canned veggies. I didn't know what a poptart was back then! LOL!

One day, I hope to get back to that. Don't know if I'll get all the way back to it, but pretty close will be fine with me.

"Thanks for the memories", HoniBee!

Honibee, Those really were the days..cut outs, kool aid, tents made out of two blankets with a cloths pin holding it up on the cloths line. Neighbors sitting on their front porches. Had to be home when the street lights came on. Just had to add a few. Wish the kids today could experience some of those wonderful days. we were a lucky bunch!
Meems

and the only things open after 5 o'clock was the walk-in theater and a gas station'

Friday nights in highschool going to the drive-in movies,lol' Then Sat. mornings(in summer)mowing,washing(the family car/truck or painting anything you were "told to and did it,lol",after of course, being hauled around to several stores with your mom,with a fist full of coupons,to save money' We never heard the word "bored" either' Sis'

And NOTHING was open on Sundays at any time except that same gas station and the diner for those who didn't want to cook Sunday dinner.

Playing outside in bare feet, swimming in the local pond, Sunday drive's with no destination, visiting Grandma and knowing that the cookie jar was going to be full. Playing Hide and Seek with the whole block, walking to the store with a dime and being pleased with what that bought you. and the killer,.... standing on my bed singing Dianna Ross and the Supremes into my curling iron at the top of my lungs.. till my brother opened the door and threw something at me :)

Oh boy,the flood of memories,like:
Monday-wash laundry(dried on the lines/sprinkled/stored in fridge)
Tue.- baking day(all day long)
Wed.- ironing(get out of fridge and iron)*Make homemade starch'
Thurs.- sewing by hand or on treadle(lucky ma put a motor on it,lol)
Fri.-Bill paying day
Sat.-Town Day-If really good,got a candy bar''
Sun.-Church/family fun get-to-gathers'

Ah, the leave it to Beaver years. I remember going to a pro baseball game and wearing a sportscoat tie and my mother getting all dressed up to go to the grocery store.

Dennis

Oh HoniBee, that was exactly my childhood years growing up in Indiana..The only thing I could add to that was sitting on the front porch in the swing at night after supper. Wow - those were the days...Thanks for the memories!

LOL My Mom got groceries at a store owned by a member of our church. One day we went shopping and I left my favorite teddy bear on a shelf. That night I would NOT go to bed without Kekky...so Mom called the owner at home and he opened the store so Kekky could be found and brought home to the screaming banshee that was me.

Does anyone remember a rolling store? It was a bus and it came by once a wk, had groceries and if we would trade eggs for things we wanted. We lived out in the country and didn't go to town much.

Do you remember the pony that would come around and you would have your picture taken sitting on it. TV , I Remember Mama....I loved that program. American Bandstand was a must after school. Soupy Sales...Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The first time Elvis was on The Ed Sullivan Show. They wouldn't show him from the waist down. Gosh its fun to share memories. Thanks Honibee!!!

I remember that grocery truck! And we also had a Standard Coffee truck, and my grandmother would save her receipts and get a premium, maybe a new bedspread that she didn't have to quilt or crochet or make from sacks, or some new dishes. And I remember the radio with the tubes and huge battery and the show, "My Friend Irma", along with the ones you always hear mentioned, and the comic strips Katzenjammer Kids and Jiggs and Maggie, and Sad Sack. We were lucky to have electricity, usually didn't, so on warm nights, we would all sit around in the back yard or on the porch in the near darkness, just a lantern going off to one side so as not to draw mosquitoes, and sometimes my uncles would get together and pick and sing. The adults, especially the men, would tilt their chairs, with the cow hide seats, back against the house or a tree, and maybe they would be drinking tea. Children couldn't have any after sundown, for fear they would have an accident. Most of the adults were holding plugs of backy in their jaws, including the women, but some of the men, never the women, would roll cigarettes. Occasionally, one could hear a shuffling and shifting in the chicken coop, apparently when a chicken felt like it was being crowded and pushed for more space. There were usually one or two hounds lying around near their favorite person, and my grandmother might have her Persian cat in her lap. If things fell silent, no one minded.

I love to remember the tire swing that went over the crick at Mammaw and Papa's house, the first batch of homemade ice cream on Memorial Day, we each got a turn to crank it, then
we ate with Hershey's syrup out of the can, Papa taking all of us kids for tractor rides, one of my favorites was walking behind the tractor barefoot as the field was being tilled in the spring oh the smell of that fresh black dirt, I loved how it felt on my feet!!! Oh, and picking wild blackberries in the woods all afternoon and begging my Mom to bake a pie with them for dinner. Catching wolley bear catapillars one time I had about 30 of them!!!
I feel so happy now, what great memories!!!

Becky

This kind of makes you feel good doesn't it? I don't remember so of the things you all do maybe because a little age difference or locality diff. I remember hollyhock mixed with water to make pies, lightening bugs and a lot more if I wanted to go on. Oh, memories

I love yesteryear and my memories are different to yours but only because I lived in England of course!! Your memories are beautiful and I really enjoyed reading them all!! My early recollections of America came only from books and movies that I used to know as a child. I have memories now, not just of the 'good ol days' but of my country and the things I left behind. My young life was spent looking after my siblings, 6 of them and working hard in the home but there were many wonderful times when I would take off with my friends and cycle in the long, hot days of summer and when it was safe to do such things. Of being crazy about dancing and especially rock and roll and all that entailed.....the big skirts with stiff petticoats and dancing in the cafe. The walks along a country lane, in the forests carpetted with bluebells and swans on the river. Waiting for the icecream man to come along in his van with music heralding his arrival. Then fish and chips from the roving van on Fridays!! My father's cooking, especially on a Sunday after church and at Christmas when the house would be bursting at the seams with laughing, slightly inebriated people singing carols while dad played either the piano or the organ. I could go on but will stop before I start blubbering. This was a lovely topic HoniBee and an escape from all that's going on right now!!

Thank you all for posting. The thoughts expressed have brought warm fuzzy feelings. I think each and every one of us should right down are thoughts for the younger generation to see. Got to go make another memory. This also makes us feel closer to each other also I think.

Thank you all for posting. The thoughts expressed have brought warm fuzzy feelings. I think each and every one of us should right down are thoughts for the younger generation to see. This also makes us feel closer to each other I think. Got to go make another memory.

Y'all don't know it...but you just described my town as it is right now!!!

"eyes"

Eyes you are funny. Do you have electricity or TV?

We are fortunate to have a number of those little time warps in Texas. The one of song, Luckenbach, is still there, and you can take a couple of weeks and drive all over the state seeing others. Castroville, Floresville, Corsicana, Three Rivers, Volente, even some that have grown enough to have a Wal-Mart, goodness I could fill a page with the names, all have that sweet nostalgic feel. And I have seen some photos posted here that make me think there is still a lot of America, the beautiful throughout the country. Anyone been to South Louisiana lately? You better not go on a short trip, you will arrive home late. Thibodaux is a sweetheart, makes you want to buy it and preserve. Or go up to Arkansas, and drive through those hills. Tell me then if you can keep from feeling a swelling in your bosom as you meet and talk with people who know all about shotgun houses and barbecued coon. If we really try, we can save some of it for the next generation, instead of just writing about it. And Margaret, I love your country and the quaint country cottages. I only wish I had known someone there so I could have told the driver to go back to the hotel until I called, and then see it through the eyes of a local. There is such a feel of history in every square foot, so much to see and learn that is actually tied in with every American, whether they came from there or not.

Had I known you back then Aimee, I surely would have asked you to come over and spend a vacation with us thereby fulfilling your wishes :-)

Sweetie, you were probably galivanting around the planet, it was 1978 and 1981 when I was there. But it's a nice thought, and I shall hug it to myself. And if health permits, I hope to go there someday with Lillian, and you might provide us with a connection. After I visit with you in the US, of course. I shall!

Yep, Honibee.......got both TV and electricity! I use them both as little as possible! LOL....this gal loves the outdoors too much!

"eyes"

Riding a bicycle down a country lane where the cars slowed down and no one even thought about encumbering us with knee pads and helmets...Sticking fallen branches into the dirt along the creek and covering it with fern fronds to make a play house. Cutting last seasons sears Roebuck catalogue to make paper dolls and "knitting" with a thread spool with nails around the top and then stitching the knitted pieces together to make hats we wouldn't have been seen dead in! Hiding up in the old Maple tree branches with a library book that came from the bookmobile that arrived every Tuesday all summer long. Collecting pop bottles to return for the deposit so you could buy candy. TV was around somewhere but we didn't have one for many years but Mom played the piano and with 5 kids and Dad singin base we always had something to do after dinner and the chores were done. We knew better than to complain of boredom because Mom had a whole list of things for bored kids to do...like washing windows, weeding flower beds and veggie gardens. Making and flying kites that were flown on saved bits if string all tied together and wrapped up on a stick. Wild blackberry cobblers and home made ice cream. Big brothers that protected you from bullies and then bullied you themselves because you were a bratty little pest...bullying the kid sister because she was the only one littler than me...Little sis dunking my prized doll in a bucket of roofing tar to get even and going to bed with a very red behind and a hug (This happened a lot since I was pretty bratty} And later...having my dates grilled by Dad and threatened by thos 3 older brothers until I though I would die of embarassment...Sitting on a hard church pew with Mom right behind us to thump the back of our heads if we started whispering or figgeting...Wishing Dad would hurry up with the sermon and not be so long winded. Summer camps and bon fires on the beach...NOPE...I can't remember a thing...

wow and to think i thought 37 was old

"duck"
nya nya nya nya nya missed me :-)

Splattt!! TROY! 37 is old! Just ask anyone under 20 and they will tell you ;~)

rotflmao

Zany, I remember the old spools with nails and knitting - that was great fun once you remembered how to get going!! How about marbles?? Did anyone roll marbles? I had hundreds because I was the champ. Even used to play on the way to school in the gutters at the side of the road!! Boy, now you've stirred up more stuff. Taking the long way to school over the sandpits and quarries so no-one would see the brown 'brogues' mum insisted I wear because they were sensible and once over the hill I would change into my velvet rock and roll slippers!! Passing the baker shop on my way home from school and buying a paperbag full of yesterday's buns for 1 penny!! Then running passed the alleyway where mad Tom used to wait for us girls to frighten us!! Oh lor!! Buying sherbet dips with ration coupons and homemade honeycomb from the market stall!!

I remember marbles too...I was the sucker that kept losing them to the real players so they had bags full while I scraped up mor pop bottles to replace the ones I lost so the others could win them all away frome me and I could start all over....As for shoes!Ugh, mom bought me saddle oxfords, black and white, because they wore forever. But I snuck out in my black patent leather sunday shoes, got caught and again went to bed early with a red bottom and a broken heart.

And we had koolaide but the real treat was fizzies! Drop em into water and they fizzed like an alkaseltzer. Better than soda pop because it was cool!

And we would go to grandma's and crochet these long chains that went from one end of the house to the other. Before we went home we too would have fizzies or ovaltine (sp) or maybe even some coffee hoping that it wouldn't stunt our growth (I'm living proof that it didn't! I'm a BBBBBer). Then we would go to the creek with her kitchen strainers and catch pollywogs and minnows, or my brother would catch snakes around the well and chase us girls with them. One time he brought a boxfull into the house and the bottom fell out !!!!!! The bathroom was out back past the garden a three holer one of them being for little ones, and to wash our hands we got to pump the water in the back room. The snow drops just out side the kitchen a big patch that would bloom in early Feb. with its souther exposure.

If we were there on a Friday night it was Mitch Miller or Saturday night it was Lawrence Welk. Spending the night in the winter time meant that the little wood stove in the Front room would make everything glow RED she would stoke it so full, never did catch fire.

The best homemade molasses cookies ever!! And even her liver and onions we fought over!

Life is still slow around here and with Mennonites having bought most of the farms in our county horse and buggys are a common sight. On the back roads you can still drive down the middle gawking at gardens, deer or turkeys feeding along the road, stopping to get that wonderful rock that you know just where it can go in your garden or meeting a friend going the other way with time to chat! I couldn't ask for a better place to have lived or to raise my children.

Now you have gone and done it, the screen is getting blurry and I can almost smell the molasses. Thanks for the memories. --Joy

Remember all those traveling salesmen? selling everything ,encycopedias,vacuume cleaners, stanley products.fuller brushes,that fresh bottle of milk and orange juice left at the door.There are still a few around today, but now they make an appointment. my last sales pitch was for the _____matic bed. They state that it is about the price of a regular bed. HA! who would pay $6,ooo.oo for a regular bed? You can find electronic beds for about $8oo.oo per twin.

I remember the traveling salesmen especially when buying from catalogues when they first appeared on the scene back home in England!! You had to be an agent to have the catalogue and travel from door to door plying for orders. I can remember being about 14 at the time and our 'agent' calling and leaving his 'dream' catalogue. How I loved to look through it!! My mum bought a few things for us 7 kids on the 'never-never' as it was called. Paying a little each month!! Naturally the agent received commission on everything he sold. Later it became the norm for everyone to have the same book and make the commission themselves!! About 10% in the pound I believe!!

When I was a wee boy in Glasgow, by Gran and Papa had a wee grocery shop. Since rationing was still on in Scotland into the mid-fifties, they would swap things like butter, cheese and tea, for butchermeat and fish.

Then when I was 7, my Papa took me a walk up Ben Lomond, the biggest, and highest mountain in the Southern Highlands, right above Loch Lomond, and we could see it from our window. From the top, we could see the entire Western Highlands. I remember him saying to me that this was the most beautiful country in the world, and I believed him.

5 years ago, my mother died, and as I was staying in Scotland before and afterwards, my family came over for the funeral. One day I took my wee boy the very same route up Ben Lomond, and told him that this is the most beautiful country in the world, and he believes me.

Those my most cherished memories.

Hi Wintermoor, nice to meet you!! Your memories are beautiful!! I have many but would take a month of Sundays to get through them all!! I have a daughter living in Germany and I visited her last year and my new grandson!! That was another wonderful time and never to be forgotten!!

What a fun thread! Honibee, what a great notion!

Like Louisa, I wasn't raised here, so my fond memories are a bit different, but here goes some.

Street vendors on donkeys and horses....
One of the vendors sold Watermelon in the summer and other things for the other seasons, dont remember now, but I feel compelled to share this story.
This watermelon seller, had a donkey, the way they have their wares rigged is, they have these huge baskets on either side of the donkey/horse and inside is what they are selling, anyway....You of course get to know the sellers, and their animals. one year the watermelon seller came, and he had a baby donkey in tow, and I was so excited, (I Must have been 5 or so) I wanted to see if it was a girl or a boy (go figure!!) so I checked underneath the donkey, and he kicked me, and knocked out my two front teeth, ever since then my father and one of his friends teasingly called me donkey face....I didnt like that!
And then another vendor story. We had milk men etc delivering milk and yogurt in big vats, and you would want one kilo and they would weight out a kilo into your container. I was a premie weighing in at 2 kilos only, and my father you used to say that they asked the yogurt seller for 2 kilos of yogurt and he gave my parents me instead...and I hated that story, one day when the seller was making a delivery, he would leave the big vat outside, i gathered up a handfull of dirt and threw it in there (wasnt that just awful??) of course he came to my father, and was compensated..but still it was a terrible thing i did.
How about open air movies? a theatre without a roof? you could hear a movie ten blocks away. eating sunflower seeds and drnking a coke from a bottle on hard wooden chairs, of course youcould "rent" a cushion for a pittance, but I dont think we ever did.
summers at the beach, snorkleing in the aegean, playing with jelly fish (were we stupid or what?) dead ones would washup on the sand, and we would squeese them thru our fingers....grosss....(it's like squeesing jello thru your hands.............

lol Pebble did you have to bring up the jellyfish...sheesh!! When dad was stationed in Malta we went to the beach every day. Of course it was a constant battle with these little devils!! I remember feeling this sting and on the way home my bum started getting bigger and bigger!! Boy, did it hurt!! But my brother was really bad!! He was stung on the face and when I saw him the next morning I nearly died - he looked like a monster. His face was all swollen and there were slits where his eyes and mouth should have been. He didn't have a nose!! Poor mite!! Oh these are memories I would rather forget.......lol!! But as for the vendors in Malta.....we used to lower our baskets on a rope from our apartment to the vendor below. It was usually fruit, bread or fish!! Great stuff!! In Singapore we would visit the vendors!! In the evening the open air markets would fill the streets with their pungent Oriental aromas and they were masters at displaying their wares, especially the shrimp which would form huge pink towers amid great big chunks of ice!! Oh lor!! We really are going down memory lane here :-)

I remember stomping in mud puddles on our dirt road and not worrying about getting dirty or looking foolish. I was only seven at the time and I loved doing it until my twelve year old brother informed me that the MUDPUPPIES would bite my feet. I remember 1&2 cent candy, 10 cent Pepsi in real glass bottles and my father going ballistik because a loaf of bread was going to cost him more than 10 cents.

But my very most favorite memory from childhood was the very small schools I attended. I think at any given time between 1959 and 1963 any school I was in probably contained at the most less than 100 students.

It has also dawned on me that those days may only be great in our collective memories because it is something we can never get back.

Remember, 50 years from now somebody, somewhere, is going to look back on 2002 and say," WOW, those were the good old days"!
Who am I kidding!? If I could go back 40 years and be a child again I'd do it in a heartbeat.