Regular HD readers know how old I am, but just for fun how about a trip down memory lane to a very different time.
- When I was a child an ice cream cone was a dime, a slice of pizza was $0.15. There were no malls. Where there are malls today, there were dairy and cattle farms.
- When I was really young our milk was delivered by horse and wagon kept cool by blocks of ice.
- A man regularly walked down our street pulling a cart seeking to sharpen knives and fix umbrellas.
- We had one phone with the line shared by other people.
- I rode on trolley cars – not in San Francisco
- My mother’s clothes dryer was a wringer on the washer and a clothes line out the kitchen window.
- My parents feared polio and we kids feared the mumps and measles and the shots that came with them – and the doctor came to the house.
- At the theatre the show included news, cartoons and two movies and it cost $0.35.
- We got a half pint of milk each day at school. When I was in junior high the cafeteria served my favorite – mash potatoes with gravy – $0.07.
- Our black and white TV had a 12” screen and “rabbit ears” with aluminum foil assistance. We had seven channels, and they went off the air at midnight.
- Cars did not have seatbelts, but the side windows had “wings” and the tires whitewalls.
- We played with cap guns. My heavy weapon was a rifle that shot ping pong balls – nobody was shot in school.
- My first new car cost $1,895 and the monthly payment was $49.
- The year i graduated high school, the average Dow Jones closing was 691.74
- Even in kindergarten we walked to school by ourselves with student crossing guards along the way.
- Once on the way to school we were fooling around and someone swung a sweater and the zipper sliced open my head. I was bleeding. When I got to school the teacher looked at it and said, “you’ll be alright” and I was.
- If you want to the beach in Atlantic City, you were not allowed on the boardwalk wearing a bathing suit – you walked under the boardwalk to the beach.
- All the playground equipment was made of steel – and when a swing hit you, you knew it.
- Roller skates attached to our shoes- as long as you had your key.
- Our jeans were dungarees- no rips or bleached spots.
- The life expectancy the year I was born was 62.3 and my parents were using ration books.
- I recall the amazement standing on our apartment roof and looking for Sputnik.
- The first real -colossal- computers were built the year I was born.
- On the way to school one group of kids would chant “I like Ike” and the other “Stevenson, Stevenson, he’s our man.” just for fun.
Things I remember:
S&H Green Stamps. I’d rather NOT remember how much stamp adhesive I must have ingested.
Mini Tootsie Rolls that cost a penny each.
Party lines. Pick up the phone and hear your neighbors conversing! Privacy? What privacy?
Food that came with toys in it–Cracker Jacks and boxed cereal most often. Red Rose Tea came with ceramic animals in the boxes…they could be used as toys if you were careful.
Gas stations (ARCO) that gave out (and sold) toys. I wrote a post on the Erma Bombeck blog about this not so long ago; you can read it HERE.
Ah yes, Green stamps and we had Plaid Stamps too. Remember pasting a few in those darn books. Our gas stations gave out miniature jars of jelly until it was outlawed. Supermarkets gave out miniature loafs of Wonder Bread.
I suspect some child putting a “prize” in their mouth ended that. Gee, we even need HOT printed on cups to tell us coffee is hot.
I’m a few years younger than Dick, but most of this is familiar. However, I’ll add that there are still vestiges of this lifestyle in some places. A “city” example is the small Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, NY. On my regular visits there, it looks barely different from when I grew up in the adjoining neighborhood. Where I am now, we have a community park with a basketball court that almost always has kids shooting hoops. There’s a large area where water was sprayed to make a temporary rink. Skates can be borrowed for free. It’s also got one of those old-fashioned kiddie go-rounds where the kids or parents propel it with their feet until momentum builds up for a short ride. I think there are plans to upgrade the equipment but the stuff there now is popular. My nearest mall is about 30 minutes drive, but hiking, a couple blocks from me in any direction. Not mentioning the name of the town again 😉, though I would welcome any HD readers who manage to track it down. Let’s throw some personal finance in here: you can get a decent diner lunch for $15 -$20, tax and tip included. At our two or three “finer” establishments, you can get a good meal for $35-50, depending on whether you order a $12 cocktail or no alcohol. These places with their slower pace are still around if you look.