TO THOSE BORN 1930 - 1979

[Monty]

Talk about electronics and communications...We had a party line telephone and our ring was a short and two longs! Many times we couldn't use the phone because there were two old ladies on our party line that spent all day talking about mustard plasters, operations and female problems! If we broke in and declared an emergency they'd listen in and discuss it later. (Like the time I nearly cut my thumb off on one of those cans you needed a key to open). That day I learned you don't pull the two halves apart by sticking you thumbs in and pulling them open! There was computers or a computer then. Univac was about the size of a small trailer house! I saw it on our first TV in 1953. We lived in a house that had no sheetrock between the rooms because all the gypsum was being used for something in the Korean War. We had blankets up around the bathroom and I use to think it was real neat to just walk right through the walls! No walls, but we had a TV/stereo console with turn table and AM radio that dad bought at Sears and Roebuck on credit. We'd stick a little clear plastic thing over the screen that was blue on top, yellow in the middle and green on the bottom and thought we had color TV! Outback we had a hog pen, chicken coup and rabbit hutches. We always had porkchops, fried chicken and fried rabbit. Mom made lye soap but we only used it for handwashing. Otherwise it would take our skin off! We had an outhouse until we got the money to put in a septic tank and we had a Sears and Roebuck catalog instead of toilet paper. I remember really getting upset when someone used the section that had women's undergarments. Man that was my sex education! The outhouse was also a good place to smoke a filched Lucky Strike or Camel that dad smoked. Tobacco never made me sick and I smoked for almost 50 years! I quit 3 1/2 months ago and still crave that foul taste. It was killing me but I didn't know it when I started, nor did anyone else. Oh well, enough for now. Monty

 

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[crazyjarhead]

My grandmother has a similar version. Well said. Wish those days were back

 

[RON (PA)]

When I was growing up, we were always out. Like other who have posted. We found things to do. I remember the time that we built a "clubhouse" out a tree that was hit by lightning. We were always sleeping outside in a tent made of sheets of plastic. We were in fenced in yards and our dogs slept outside with us. Those were the good old days. You cannot do that today, it is too dangerous. Today the neighbors would call the police on your parents for child abuse. We also used the street light as a timer as when we needed to be on the porch.
When we were in school, don't let us have to get paddled. If we got paddled in school, we go another one when we came home. There was respect and manners that are gone in today's youth.

 

[Lowbatts]

When I was growing up, we were always out. Like other who have posted. We found things to do. I remember the time that we built a "clubhouse" out a tree that was hit by lightning. We were always sleeping outside in a tent made of sheets of plastic. We were in fenced in yards and our dogs slept outside with us. Those were the good old days. You cannot do that today, it is too dangerous. Today the neighbors would call the police on your parents for child abuse. We also used the street light as a timer as when we needed to be on the porch.
When we were in school, don't let us have to get paddled. If we got paddled in school, we go another one when we came home. There was respect and manners that are gone in today's youth.

A couple years ago the power went off just after dark in the summer. We didn't know we had that many kids in the neighborhood! Scary stuff! Keep those game boxes powered man!

Yeah we had Mrs. Miller, a neighbor who was about 164 years old. She needed no "no trespassing" sign. You step one foot into her property and she laid out a field of seemingly unending fire inches over your head with her trusty .22. I mean she was cutting the grass over our heads as we crawled back into our property. And on Halloween we loved going to her place because she made us come in and have homemade treats that beat all, and she always had a good story to tell.

 

[Jimmy(PA)]

You can add the 80's to this, not many people had cable yet and if you did it was only a few channels not the hundreds of movie channels you have today, videos games didnt become big till nintendo in the late 80's but I don't remember anyone really sitting in all day playing games like they do now with the online games and such. At least for my area every kid was out everyday playing stickball or riding bikes, no one wanted to stay indoors, that was a horrible punishment. I think one of the big downfalls is the loss of communities. Most people dont even know the nextdoor neighbor anymore let alone trust there kids with them, when I grew up we had 500+ rowhouses on my street alone and I could name just about every family. Everyone would sit on the porches and talk while the kids played, help eachother out, cut lawns and sweep together but those days are long gone, at least for me they ended when the gov thought it was a good idea to move low income welfare families in. They dindt seem to have the same values as we did such as not stealing, upkeeping there homes, being curtious to neighbors. So in the end just like most of America another communtiy was lost as everyone fled. Im still mad if you cant tell haha.

 

[detector de metales]

Remote? I was the remote! my dad told me to change it to one of the three channels we got on our "tube" black and white Magnavox TV.. Yes we have come a long way from those days.. I can see it now our children saying "yeah when I was young You actually had to pick up this thing called a remote to change the channel"..
Times are different now. I just hope that people don't forget the history.. That's why I love this site..
Talk to older people, people who can tell you stories.. its what it's all about.. The History..

J2

 

[capt1989]

I just hope that people don't forget the history.. That's why I love this site..
Talk to older people, people who can tell you stories.. its what it's all about.. The History..

AMEN BROTHER!

 

[Monty]

You think we "older folks " can tell stories , you should hear the stories our parents told us. They grew up during the Great Depression and just having something to eat was problematic. Monty

 

[rwsnc]

You think we "older folks " can tell stories , you should hear the stories our parents told us. They grew up during the Great Depression and just having something to eat was problematic. Monty

Well Monty.... If the economy keeps heading the way it's going... our kids might just have some of those same stories to tell our great grand kids.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Monty you posted-->

I never did drugs, never went to jail and never got into trouble at school

~~~~~~~~
what a dull dullard, sheesh, and as a matter of fact, you are still a piss ant wet diapered kiddie heheheh You never learned to shoot properly, nor to catch fish with your bare hands. And further more, you hoarded the choice pages from the Sears/Monkey Wards catalogues.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Mich. Wolverine]

Ray, I live a ways south of Wolverine. I pretty much detect around a 3 county area and still haven't scratched the surface. Maybe once I retire from playing ball I'll explore farther away. I played 700 plus innings of ball last summer and that burned up alot of my detecting time. I'll be 44 this year and figure that I might as well play while I can. P.S. I have used Wolverine for the last 8 years on the web and have just liked the name. I have never seen a live one, but once came face to face with a badger that wasn't overly friendly. Talk to ya later.

Wolverine.

 

[Ray S S]

Wow, there are so many great replies here and so well written. I thank you all.

Edde, i'm glad you said what you did. When I started typing this out I thought about adding a little to their broad
statement #1, then decided to leave it alone because I didn't have much time fefore I had to leave for an appointment.
The guy that wrote it seems to think that all women smoked and drank. Of course we know that not All women did. My own
mother, who was a good Christian lady did not smoke or drink.

I am sorry if I offended you and the same to all the other ladies. both past and present who do,'t smoke or drink.

Monty, you mentioned electronics. I lived in several houses before the age of 15 when we moved down here from the upper penninsula. Only during the 2nd grade did we ever have a phone. It was one of those wooden boxes on the wall with a crank on the side and a little funnel shaped mouth piece to spesk into. You had to wind the crank to call the operator
and she would connect you up to the propper place. It was one of those party lines too. sometimes the only way tomake a call would be to ask whoever was on line to please get off so you could use it. If they would not get off, you had to wait until they were done talking. Also that was the only place that had electricity. In the other places we used kerosene lamps for light. We also had an inside bathroom there. The other places had an outhouse out back. One place
we got our water froma flowing spring that had a small shed built around it. That was our only water supply. Stuff that
we wanted to keep cold was tied on strings and dropped in the spring. And boy, was that water cold. The other places had a hand pump for water with a bucket under the sink that had to be dumped beforeit overflowed.

Ahhhh, that was the life. LOL

Thanks again for all your replies. There has been so many interesting things here to read.

Everyone have a good day,

Ray

 

[thrillathahunt]

Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Unfortunately, in the immortal words of Bob Dylan, "the times, they are a changin".

God help us.

Rick

 

[Monty]

Yes Real de, but you have to remember, you are a lot older than me! Monty

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HIO MI buddy Monty: Yep, and a far better pistol shot, a thingie that our grand kiddies and great grand kiddies will never get to learn just how much fun it can be, as well as useful in today's society, and especially in the near future.

Err what about those missing pages from the Monky's catalogue, are they still viewable?

One thing, I was taught to read and write before I entered kindergarden. I always faltered upon reaching "R" for some reason. After a few days of this, my pore father finally decided that I needed a bit of motivation, so he said " S" stands for spanking. That did the trick.

I wonder what our child Psychologists would say to that form of learning?

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Jimmy(PA)]

Hey Real you dont belong here, last I heard you were born in 1890?

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Geeze Jimmy please don't tell the gals, I promise to not reveal your love affair with the blow up doll, a deal??.snifff.

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. You are correct. I thought that he meant "grew up" in those inclusive periods. As a matter of fact, I am still growing up.

 

[Jimmy(PA)]

Geeze Jimmy please don't tell the gals, I promise to not reveal your love affair with the blow up doll, a deal??.snifff.

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. You are correct. I thought that he meant "grew up" in those inclusive periods. As a matter of fact, I am still growing up.

Ya but shes cute and doesnt complain!

 

[oldgoat]

Ray, great thread...I loved reading it and all the replies. Someone said that we should listen to the stories our parents could tell...I have and then I went back and listened to the stories that my grandparents told...all of them are gone now, but I still remember the stories, its all about the history...I think that we all wish for the "GOOD OLD DAYS" but they are gone and us old lunkers just have to try and pass down our memories to our children..or if they won't listen, find a thread like this and relive them for ourselves...Thanx again for a great read.
Larry

 

[Ray S S]

Thank you, thrillathahunt and oldgoat for your replies. I appreciate them. There have been so many interesting responses
to this post and it is facinating to read about the childhood memories that so many have recorded here.

Keep them coming, fellow Tneters, I love it.

I wish all of you the best that life has to offer.

Ray