Memory Lane part 2

Very funny, Sharran.

LOL, yes I remember Box Lunches and dreaming that the boy you liked would bid on yours. Also had lunch boxes those square metal ones with comic heros on them. I can still remember the smell of the lunch room at school.

I got a letter from Dick and Dee Dee when I was a young teen. Got their address from the penpal section of a Teen magazine. They wrote back and I was thrilled! Ends up, what they were looking for was the address of the favourite radio station in your town so they could peddle their songs. Once provided, I never heard from them again... Oh well. Que Sera speaking of which...I used to adore Doris Day. Pajama Game, Pillow Talk, Love Me or Leave Me, Calamity Jane, Move Over Darling. She and Rock Hudson, I could have watched forever. She was my Hero in those days. Her songs could make me bawl like a baby.

Don Ü

"Once I had a secret love
that lived within the heart of me......"

Loved her singing!

Wearing clean underwear in case you got in an accident...

Always, and it could not have raggedy edges, just in case they had to cut it off you in the hospital....had to be your best!
And..."Eat everything on your plate because there are other kids who are starving"...
I could never understand why I could not just give what I didn't want to those starving kids.

Did y'all have penmanship classes in school when you HAD to use a "penstaff"? That's what they were called. A shaped wooden staff, rather long, w/a nibbed pen point that you constantly had to keep dipping in the ink well on your desk. Messy, messy, messy. It took a lot of finesse to use one of those and make your cursive come out legible in your manuscript book. The Palmer method, I seem to recall, is what it was called. Even if your had a fountain pen, you were NEVER allowed to use it for your work even tho it worked so much better. It was bad enough being a student learning how to write and I would have hated to be the poor teacher who had to try to read that garbage.

Ann

My fav, pirl. Secret Love from "Calamity Jane" 1953.

I remember suppertime each day. We too had to eat everything on our plate, or NO DESSERT. We had to be excused from the table before we could leave our place. When company was coming...being reminded... "Children are to be seen, not heard"! Seems harsh in today's standards, but we were sure well behaved kids in those days.

Don Ü

Agreed, Don, and very seldom an embarrassment to our parents.

Who remembers the dreaded hickeys?

LOL...oh yes. I remember giving an explanation to my Dad after a date..."The Cat scratched me"...how lame. :( I am sure he knew what it was, but refused to acknowledge it! Makeup never seemed to hide them either. Seeing girls walking around with suspicious looking scarves around their necks at school on Monday morning. What were we thinking? :-%

I did the scarf thing, too! Weren't they called neckerchiefs? I just remember how how they were in the summer!

The one excuse I remember was that I was looking for something under the bed and the light bulb on the lamp burned my neck. Any mother could tell the difference between a burn and a black and blue hickey mark!

lets us not forget thos brightly colored transistor radios that we all took down to the beach in the summer. i had a red one.

Yes, we were well-behaved kids, and we grew up just fine, didn't we. No permanent damage from having to behave well in front of campany or spend the evening in your room....with no TV, no cell phone, and no whatever else kids have today that they can't live without.

Repeat: Does anyone remember Spade Cooley from the late 1940s, a singing TV cowboy dressed in white?

I remember learning to dance with a boy in grade school. The girls lining one side of the gym and the boys lining the other. The boys were expected to WALK across the floor and choose a girl and ask her for this dance. Then we all watched our feet as we mastered the box-step.

I KNOW you all remember air-raid drills. Crawling under the desk while that awful, scarey siren sounded. I don't think I realized the real meaning of the thing...that we could die from being bombed. Like hiding under a desk would save my life!

Nap, my sister and I went to school one year in Wichita in the early 1950's. Besides having the air raid drills as you described, every kid had to wear a military style dog tag with name, address, parents, religion and blood type. Boeing, Beech and Cessna were nearby so I guess they thought we'd be a target. My younger sister still has her dog tags.

Wow! Being so near Niagara Falls with it's power plants we thought made us a target too. But no dog tags.

Not so long ago, around 1966, I bought a Polaroid camera. It cost me $100. That was a lot more money then than it is now. That's a lot to pay for quick developing snapshots. I don't have the camera anymore, but I do have a few of the pictures it took. And now..... click, download, email. From me to you in a few minutes.

nap - I don't remember the cowboy singer you mentioned.

We had dog tags and mine was made out with one error. It had, for my address, the same starting numbers but ended with Edgewood Avenue! Glory - how exciting for me to have the address of Binky Humbert, the handsomest boy in class. I thought for sure, if there was any kind of attack I'd be sent to his house!

Another of those ol' Catholic school things again - remember patent leather shoes? We weren't supposed to wear them because they reflected up your dress. Geez! My relatives (not my parents) used to tell me when I was little that if I ate the crusts of the bread, my hair would get curly. Years later, when they told me that girls could not be scientists or engineers, I reminded them of the bread crust thing, and my doubts about their credibility.

I remember those cinch belts - they worked well for girls who actually had a shape. I was a perfect 36...12-12-12. Looked like a golf club if I turned sideways.

I remember those air raid drills! I wondered what kind of miracle material those desks were made of.

"The Stroll", Paul Anka and Bobby Darin (two more of my favorites). George Hamilton IV "A Rose and a Baby Ruth", Johnny Tillotson.

Catholic schools were ripe with strange stories and not the least of which was to check the feet of the boys for spurs coming out the back (at the heel) as it was a sure sign it was the devil. Well, a lot of guys who didn't have the spurs sure qualified as devils!

I remember Spade Cooley. Great fiddle player and band leader. We watched him every week. He went off the air when he was convicted of killing his wife. Guess he died in prison. Never heard of him again.

I need to go back through the posts and respond to some, but there are so many now that I will have to make notes. I just love this thread and all the memories you are contributing.

Oh thank goodness, Diane! I was only about 3 or 4 years old so I didn't know if I was making it up or what! Seeing him on that tiny little TV is one of my earliest memories. Thank you for the confirmation.

Talking about cameras.............I had a Brownie Hawkeye. That box-like camera you held at yout waist and pushed down this big switch-like thing. I took 100 and 100 of pictures with it (black and white--mostly) in the 1950's. When it got dirty, I took all the screws out, cleaned everything and put it back together. I remember that it used 680 film (I think) and the negatives were 2"x2".

Color film arrived sometime in the early 60's. Yes! I still have it--somewhere.....

Gita

We didn't have one, but a few people on our street had underground bomb shelters....they weren't very big though....maybe 25 ft. sq.???

No one has mentioned watching "The King Family"...they were singers and had a weekly show...their theme song was "When there's love at home".....one of the daughters played Robbie's wife on My Three Sons.

Waiting for "Lucy" to have the baby...(Little Ricky...) The Mertz's never knocked...they just walked right in to the Ricardo's apt !!!!

Norma Zimmer singing the hymn on the Lawrence Welk show......

Lucy, Ethel, Harriet Nelson, Mrs. Beaver, the Lassie mom on the farm even--they all wore aprons, nylons and high heels. I told one of my girlfriends in Jr. High that I wished a certain boy would kiss me the way Desi kissed Lucy (getting into my closet here) and she spread it all over the school. I was SO embarrased. Girls really got embarrased and blushed back then, believe it or not.

I had one of those Brownie box cameras. All of our film was black and white.

Air raid drills under the desks, but no dog tags. Lived near an air base, too. Must not have been a very important one. I was so gullible that I never questioned whether the desk would really protect me or not. Duh!! Never thought of it until this thread.

NanuBunny--I really laughed at your description of yourself as a golf club.

I remember writing with the wooden pen, but I don't remember what they were called. I also had a fountain pen and an ink well in the corner of my desk, with the boys being delighted to dip anybody's hair in the ink that they could reach and get away with it. They untied the bows on our dresses, too.

I remember the dyed chicks at Easter and also dyed bunnies. I hated it. I remember seeing dyed poodles in that same time frame and I just thought the people who did that had to be crazy!! Sorry, hope none of you owned one.

My first pet was a Fox Terrier we named Skippy. Cute little guy that was run over on his first birthday crossing the street to get to me. I was about 5 or so, standing there with a cupcake for him with a candle on top. I cried until my mom let me type on her typewriter to distract me. I still have pictures of those days with Skippy, playing in the hose and chasing about anything. Jeez, I still sound traumatized.

The first dog that was really mine was a stray puppy I rescued from a pack of wild dogs that were trying to kill her out in our front yard. Wrapped her in my best sweater and made her a bed on the oven door. Since I had been playing with bugs in the absence of a pet, and since it was nearly Christmas, my parents let me keep her. I was about 11 or 12. Her name was Mickey and she lived to be a ripe old age. I used to put her on an upturned cardboard box in the back yard and teach her tricks. She used to play cowboys and Indians with us and hide-and-go-seek.

Nobody plays cowboys and Indians any more. Someone would get mad. Like someone said earlier, we were taught what was proper behavior and proper table manners, and when to speak and not to speak, and how to behave when "company" came over, even if they were a neighbor or a relative. We had toy guns, we watched cartoons and listened to fairy tales and knew they were not real. We did not grow up warped. We ran and played outside after school and after dinner. Our parents worked hard. Nobody was fat. Except one of my grandmas, but she had a wonderful soft lap. I used to pretend I was asleep so that she would hold me on her lap longer. Kids nowdays are lucky if they even know their grandparents or see them more than once a year. They sure miss a lot.

I am with you Gardengram, we were even taught which fork to use....another thing we got a grade in, along with penmanship.

Right!! Penmanship was a real part of our class. We used that paper that had solid lines for the big letters and dotted lines between for the small letters. We practiced for hours!! Teachers weren't afraid of students, so they made sure you did it correctly.

I was born in 1943.
Grew up on a farm in central Minnesota.
Went to a country school, about 30 kids. Only two of us in my class for first grade. Christmas time, second grade the other kid moved away. I was promoted to third grade.
We had a big hill at school, so recess was spend sledding down the hill.
When my brother started school, my third year, our Christmas present was each a pair of skies. We had a mile to school on a road that wasn't plowed in winter, so the skies were useful & we could ski down the hill.
If a snowstorm came up during the day, my dad would come with a team of horses & bobsled to thake all the kids home that went on our road.
Nobody has mentioned the big fluffy slips girls wore under their dresses in the late 50's. Our high school had a dress code, no jeans or tee shirts for boys & girls had to wear a skirt or dress. Many poodle skirts.
I remember the first jet planes in the sky & their vapor trails that older kids would tell tall tales about them to little kids.
Also in summer, early 50's, I would watch for the mailman, hoping for a letter from an uncle serving in Korea. I opened the letter telling us he was on his way home!
Our first TV experience was at my Grandfathers. On Saturday night there was All-Star wrestling. He had a little black & white that came in all snowy. The room was completely darkened so we could see. I remember a wrestler, "Farmer Marlin". He was the first of the show type. He wore bib overalls & no shoes.
I could go on all night, but I think I will exit for now.
Bernie

Anyone who is looking for the beginning
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/675161/

Another thread on this same subject
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/670159/

This message was edited Dec 11, 2006 12:17 AM

Nice to have you CountryGardens. We did talk about crinolines earlier, and hoops, and how difficult it was to sit down in them.
But you also reminded me of something else...remember Sputnik, it was in the mid to late 50's, maybe about 56 or 7. Anybody else remember seeing it?

Oh, yes, the Russians were beating us. It was terrible.
Anybody mention freeways ? They were new in early 60's.
Best thing to come in 60's were the muscle cars. Nobody cared about MPG then. Gas cost more then than it does now, ¢ per gallon/$ per hour wages. Only a quarter, but lots of people working for a $1 or less per hour.
I lived in Minneapolis/St.Paul then. 1966, a brand new 2 bedroom apartment with pool was $160 per month, heat included. We had to pay electric, $4.00/ month which was minimum. My wages at that time were $3.50, with some overtime. Only time in my life I bought a new car. 1966 Olds Cutlass muscle car, $2550.00 cash, no trade in.
Back a number of years, we went from an outdoor biffy to a bathroom in about 1955. I remember the Sat. night baths in the wash tub in the middle of the kitchen floor. Everyone used the same water. Our house got an addition at that time too. Still us 4 boys had to sleep in one room. 2 in a double bed, us 2 older ones in a bunk bed.
Our family was ahead of most as far as "new" things.
Even in the farming operation. We sold whole milk as long as I can remember, and always Grade "A". My dad was one of the first to have a milking machine. He had a tractor as soon as they were available.
Have a Great Day!
Bernie

CG - Oh yes - those crinoline things we wore to make the skirts stick out so far!

All the neighbors were called "Mr." or "Mrs." not Lilly, Mary, etc.

The house my parents built, by themselves, was taken for expansion of Idlewild Airport - now JFK. A Sunday outing was going over to see the planes taking off and landing. Then came the dreaded jets with their noise interrupting phone calls.

I remember box cameras too, offering only black and white photos and my Dad with one of the earliest movie cameras with the light bar on top that would blind you when he was shooting. I still have a video of the earliest days and in them all of us were squinting.

I rememeber the boys at school would "snap" our Bras at the back. Apparently it was a big thrill for them. A little embarrassing if you were a victim and didn't wear one yet! LOL

Learning the proper way to "set" the table. Coffee or teacups always on the right side. Knife on the right, fork on the left, with the teaspoon on the outside of the knife.

Some of the neighbors had Bomb shelters in the fifties, but I can't say I was ever in one.

I was in a mixed class of grades one to six in a little three room school. I don't know how those poor teachers did it back then. But of course, there were no "strikes" back them either, so they had no choice. Spelling Bees, pen and ink wells, boys pulling our braids. Gee that hurt! Learning how to play the Flutophone one year in 4ht or fifth grade and being so proud I could play Good King Wenceslas that Christmas.

Tag.."you're it!". Do kids still play tag now?

Kick the Can, Hide & Seek, Crack the Whip... "Ollie, Ollie In Free"... must have been more, I'm sure.

Kids don't play anymore unless it's electronic. I was SO amazed when I moved here this summer to see 3-4 kids across the street playing outside every day unless it was raining.

LOL, Darius, you have refreshed my memory with the games above. We used to play "Crack the Whip" on ice skates on the local outdoor rink in the winter time. Ewww, we'd go flying. Gosh we had fun!

Don Ü

Other than in pictures, and on TV, I had never seen real trees that turned colors in the fall.
My parents went to visit someone (in some state where they have those, I don't remember where...) and when they returned, my mom had a book filled with these brilliantly colored leaves pressed between the pages.

The next weekend, my folks drove "clear into the San Fernando Valley" to buy a "Liquidambar Tree". It arrived a week later, on a huge truck with 4 guys who dug this enormous hole in our yard and planted it for us...(it was bare by then).

The next "fall" it was covered in these wonderful orange, red, and yellow leaves....our friends marvelled at it. Now, of course, they are very popular, but back then, they were a novelty.....a welcome respite from Palm Trees !!! We really though we were "it" because we had this magical tree !!!

The tree is still there to this day, and is about 50 ft. tall...and beautiful.

On the East coast, we called that game "Ollie Ollie Oxen Free" and I never knew what oxen meant. It was just something we yelled at the top of our lungs.

It's interesting that our games required no expensive equipment, no special uniforms, and no being driven to and fro by our parents. We really were free just to be kids, to be outdoors in all kinds of weather, to use our imaginations, to work out differences with each other (or not!). My little brother and his friends played softball on a vacant lot. No Little League, no professional coaches, no frantic competition, no uniforms. Just boys with a ball and a bat and a lot of energy. He made his first scooter from pieces of wood and the wheels from an old tv cart. And from that first scooter project, my brother discovered his talents, eventually went on to become a master carpenter and recently built an entire vacation home. Today's kids would think we were all poor and deprived! I am appreciating more and more from this thread how rich we really were.

AMEN, JUNE !!!!!!

We also knew everyone on our street. People never moved. Nowdays, most people don't even know their next door neighbors.

We had an incinerator in the back yard where we burned our garbage. Cans were picked up once a month by the city. Us kids were terrified of the incinerator!!!!

I remember street games and also the fun we had in empty lots.....fun of all kinds.

I learned too late in life that "Ollie Ollie Oxen Free" really was "All the, All the Outs in Free."

I heard a TV news thing a couple of weeks ago about how kids should be playing outside instead of sitting in front of a screen (TV or computer) for so many hours a day. Well, duh!! Of course, that would involve parents knowing where their kids were playing and with whom--can't have that.

We never had to worry about who the neighbors were or what their kids were being taught. All of us were taught the same things and played the same games. If somebody had a ball, we played with it. We all shared what we had. If some kid was a bully or a liar, we just didn't play with them. Nobody worried about guns in backpacks (what was a backpack anyway??) or their dad suing your dad. We really have created some monsters. And people keep asking "What's wrong with kids nowdays? Sure not like we used to be." Another duh!! You can't park your children in front of a TV and toss them a candy bar now and then and have them grow up knowing what life is REALLY like out there in the big world. It is not soap opera land where everyone is gorgeous and rich and anyone who's not has no value and we just get rid of them.

In Southern California in the late 40s/early 50s there were freeways--not like the fancy ones of today. You could not get off for miles if you missed your turn and my dad hated them. We used to drive into Los Angeles to see his relatives and had to drive part of the way on one.

What pirl said about addressing people as "Mr." or "Mrs." even applied to the adults. They referred to each other that way all the time, no matter how long they had known each other. And relatives always had a prefix like "Aunt" or "Uncle" or "Grandma" and the adults used those titles as well.

We were loved and cherished, but we were very aware of what wrath would occur if we blew it. We pretty much knew what was OK and what wasn't--just a look from a parent was enough to settle us down. My dad only spanked me twice and both of those times were for sassing my mother. One time he pulled over to the side of the road and took care of the problem!! We just knew he was there and could spank us if he chose to, a definite authority figure who went to work every day no matter what and who came home for dinner every night, which we all ate together at the table, and who then went outside to do his yard work or do maintenance on his car. We never knew we were pretty much on the poor end of the scale. We always had gifts under the Christmas tree and now I know how they had to scrimp and save to buy us a "big" present like new skates or a bike. My mom made all of our clothes that she could, using those tissue paper patterns that she held down with drinking glasses onto the fabric. (The glasses were always clean and in the cupboard, not stacked up in the sink.)

There really were good ole' days.

This time of year always reminds me of the street where I grew up. In the Pittsburgh area, there were little ethnic neighborhoods. Our street was a wonderful melange of just about every nationality. My mother was northern Italian (from Parma). The family across the street was Polish and the people on either side of them were Scottish and Lebanese, the lady next door to us on one side was Croatian, on the other side was Irish. Down the street a bit was a German family, Serbian in the other direction, and so on.... Christmas Eve was one huge migrating feast. Everyone would put their specialties out, and someone would take turns staying home at each house to make sure the platters were kept full. All the rest would tour the neighborhood. Wow, I miss that! Once we kids got old enough, we would go to midnight mass, then come home and open our gifts. I still love Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day.

Remember the most admired women's list that came out at the end of the year? It was almost always:

Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Mrs. John F. Kennedy

Maybe "Lady Bird" was the start of dropping the "Mrs.".

You never read the list as being Eleanor, Mamie and Jackie.

President's names were used and not Jimmy, Bill and George.

Right. As in "President Whoever", not just their last name (Bush, Clinton, Reagan, etc.). We might not always agree with them, but we did not disrespect them.