Memory Lane

[Guest]

life from the 1970's to now has changed so much, more than in previous decades, so i thought it would be interesting for us all to post our childhood memories of things that the present & future generations of children will have no experience of...

my own memories include having no central heating in our home - just coal fires - and watching the coal arrive in sacks, on a cart pulled by a horse!! in the winter we had frost on the inside of the windows, and my mum would warm our school clothes by the fire downstairs.

i also remember how different my play activities were from my own kids today - there was no internet, no games stations... we had to make our own entertainment.. and i was never bored!

it was safe for kids to be out in the local streets right up to sunset... my parents didn't know where i was half the time - no mobile phones to check on me back then - but they knew i was ok.... all the neighbours knew each other, and would bring someone's kid back if they found them injured or crying..

 

[Dexky]

and watching the coal arrive in sacks, on a cart pulled by a horse!!

A horse!!! Damn Sue, how old are you?

I grew up in a very small town (about 1000 residents). We had the run of the entire town. Like Sue, we only came in to eat and sleep. There was never a thought of a kid disappearing. We didn't bother our parents with where we were or where we were going. There were only 4 tv channels and the only time we could watch any kind of cartoon was Saturday morning.

The stores in town were all mom and pop places. My favorite was McCormick's Five and Dime. We simply called it the "Dime Store". One could still get a sack full of candy for a quarter!! Candy bars were a nickel!! There was an entire table of penny candy!!

We heated the house with wood. On many Sundays, my choices were go to church or go with dad to cut firewood. I'd always choose the latter. Dad loved to drive around out in the country. He'd say "let's ramble" and the whole family would pile in whatever vehicle we had and go. I remember on one of our "ramblings", we drove all the way to the Mississippi River, nearly 200 miles.

This reminds me of Ralphie in A Christmas Story!! Haha, I could go on and on.....

 

[Nytefyre]

The Smurfs! My blue peeps were the bomb! hahaha! Anyway, it seems that cartoons have definitely changed. I guess every generation sees changes in cartoons, but Saturday mornings were the best. They seem kind of boring now.

 

[Guest]

A horse!!! Damn Sue, how old are you?

i think i'm 105 this year... not quite sure, the memory tends to go when you get past 100......

 

[Josephine]

The Smurfs! My blue peeps were the bomb! hahaha! Anyway, it seems that cartoons have definitely changed. I guess every generation sees changes in cartoons, but Saturday mornings were the best. They seem kind of boring now.

I remember the Smurfs, Catweasl, Terrorhawks.

 

[Cookie]

i also remember how different my play activities were from my own kids today - there was no internet, no games stations... we had to make our own entertainment.. and i was never bored!

it was safe for kids to be out in the local streets right up to sunset... my parents didn't know where i was half the time - no mobile phones to check on me back then - but they knew i was ok.... all the neighbours knew each other, and would bring someone's kid back if they found them injured or crying..

Yep! Our town would set off the fire whistle at 10PM signaling curfew for the kids...10PM!!! You would not see that today, at least not where I live. We also has the neighborhood candy store (where the owners lived in the back). Our parents would send us to the store to pick up a can of soup of a bag of sugar or whatever and give us an extra quarter and we would get enough candy to put us in a sugar coma! The store was about a mile from my house and I remember walking there when I was really young. I'm pretty sure none of the kids in my current neighborhood would walk a block to catch the bus. Of course, my grandparents used to tell us how they walked 6 miles each way to school...

This thread also reminds me of a funny story. When I lived in Atlanta several years ago I had a part time job at a home furnishing type store at Christmas time. We had a desk display set up with an old-fashioned type writer on it. A little girl about 5 years old was with her dad and turned to him and said: "Look daddy! Is that an old-fashioned computer?" I couldn't help laughing. I think that speaks volumes!

 

[Creepy Lurker]

Before Smurfette, there were only male smurfs. Smurfette was genetically engineered by Gargamel to stir up crap.

It's a life lesson I took to heart

If you watch (or read) it these days, it's unbelievably misogynistic.

 

[Rebecca85]

Most of my childhood was spent running round the garden barefoot. And going up to the park to build dens. Me and my cousin once made a really cool treehouse using a load of wood and wire we found. Well, when I say found, it was a fence when we found it! And when I say treehouse, it was more a tree with a ladder! But we enjoyed it!

(and don't worry, we didn't pull the fence down, it was at a 45 degree angle, we just helped it along a bit!)

And sometimes I would walk 3 miles home from school, so I could save the bus fare (45p in those days). Which would buy you 2 chocolate bars. Or a can of Coke.

I also remember a time when there were only 4 TV channels. We were so excited when Channel 5 came along. My dad had to go on the roof and adjust the aerial though to get it.

If you wanted to listen to music, you used a cassette tape. And the stereo was the size of your (non-hd, crt) television. Even a Walkman ('portable' cassette player) had to be carried in a bag because it wouldn't fit in your pocket!

I feel so old now!

 

[Astra]

I remember before they meddled with the clock! I went to school in the dark and came home in the dark!
I remember the 3 day week, when the lecky went off and we had candles!
I remember when me little sister ripped the sleeve off the eiderdown!
I remember when we sat round Dad whilst he sucked Extra Strong Mints to keep warm!
I remember watching Scooby Doo in colour at some rich kid's house, I nearly wet me knickers with excitement!
I remember we hardly watched the telly cos we had to put 50p in the back and Dad was always skint!
In the Summer hols, all our Mums kicked us out at 8am and we couldn't come home til Teatime!

Oh Happy Days!

 

[Nancy Lee]

I remember endless summer days..filled with hop scotch, hide and seek, and skipping.
Playing with an Indian rubber ball.
Not coming in until the streetlights went on.
Nights with no air conditioning...I would listen to the crickets through the open windows.
The ice man coming round with however much ice you needed...for your icebox.
And my grandmother breaking a piece off, wrapping it in waxed paper for
me to hold and suck on much like a Popsicle today.
Hitching a ride down the street on the running board of my Dad's car.
Or riding with the bread man in his horse drawn cart down to the big
old chestnut tree, where he stopped and put the feed bag on the horse for lunch.
He only stopped in if you had the "Bread Today" sign in your front window.
No TV...but the family gathered round a big old radio listening to 'Amos & Andy' and 'Boston Blackie'.
I recall too the coal man coming...I can almost hear the sound of the coal going down the shute...
standing far back behind my grandfather, watching, as he shoveled the coal
into the roaring furnace on very cold winter nights.
Getting my hair washed in rainwater caught in the rain barrel.
Never fearing someone was going to grab me on the way home from the park.

It was much safer then...life was so much easier, slower and just a great time to
grow up.

 

[Jennifer]

So much to remember but this one is for the gamers out there (I was born in 1982).

I remember back when the Nintendo came out, you could rent the entire console along with controllers and the games. Also, when you bought a new console, it always came with a FREE game and two controllers (sept for SEGA but at least it came with Sonic).

Gummi Bears ruled too.

 

[roundtuit]

I remember Sunday afternoon drives with the family. Detroit Tigers Ball Game on the radio and Dairy Queen ice cream cones (Whatever happened to Crunch Coat?). Whenever I smell a car that burns oil it brings back that memory.

Then there were the vanilla malts fro A&W to go with a hot day at the beach....
Then it was the 70's and I don't remember the rest...LOLOLOL!

 

[CDDad]

My kids would never believe it today, but I actually had to GET up to change the TV channel as a young lad.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

So much to remember but this one is for the gamers out there (I was born in 1982).

I remember back when the Nintendo came out, you could rent the entire console along with controllers and the games. Also, when you bought a new console, it always came with a FREE game and two controllers (sept for SEGA but at least it came with Sonic).

Gummi Bears ruled too.

I was born in '79 and I remember those days! There was a video rental place a few blocks from my house and a drugstore next door to it. I have fond memories of riding my bike on Friday afternoons to the rental place to rent a Nintendo game, then stopping at the drug store to load up on candy. And that bike ride would be all the exercise I got for the whole weekend until I needed to return the game back to the rental place. So unhealthy, ha ha.

I miss Saturday morning cartoons, too. I used to watch stuff like He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats, and The Real Ghostbusters. My husband likes to reminisce about his fond memories of camping out in a sleeping bag on his living room floor on Friday nights so he'd be that much closer to the TV when he woke up on Saturday mornings and could get an extra minute or so of cartoons in. I wasn't that much of a cartoon fanatic, but I definitely think kids cartoons nowadays aren't anywhere near as good as they were when we were kids.

 

[Lisa]

I remember having a paper route that I used some of the money from to buy my very own 3 speed bicycle with baskets to use.....Having my Mom put the lawn mower in the back fo the station wagon and dropping me off up the road, then I would work my way back down home mowing yards as I went.....

Black and white TV with only a few stations - remember watching Dan Rather, had an hour on the weekends to watch cartoons.....played outside ALL the time, rode bikes everywhere.....

Oh - for those of you who love the old cartoons - Boomerang and now Hub show oldies but goodies like Pink Panther, Penelope Pitstop, Smurfs, Pound Puppies.....I've even seen Thunder Cats too I think!

 

[ChefShazzy]

So much to remember but this one is for the gamers out there (I was born in 1982).

I remember back when the Nintendo came out, you could rent the entire console along with controllers and the games. Also, when you bought a new console, it always came with a FREE game and two controllers (sept for SEGA but at least it came with Sonic).

Ahhh, yes, I remember those days! Super Mario 2 was my favorite game to rent, loved it! Ha, as I'm sure you would guess, I would get so excited about getting to play the Princess! When Super Mario 3 came out, my parents actually bought it - I was VERY popular with the boys that year...

 

[Nytefyre]

I loved Super Mario 2! When it came out, I didn't turn off my tv or console for days!

 

[Rebecca85]

@CDDad- I remember those TVs! A relative of mine (great aunt maybe?) when I was very little had a TV with buttons down the side next to the screen, when you pushed one in to get that channel, the other buttons popped back out.

Another memory that came to me, I was watching a stupid kid's film and the kids were in the house with no mobile signal, so they went to use the landline and it was one of the old dial phones. I remember those, how you had to wait ages for it to click round before you did the next number!

 

[Nytefyre]

I remember when gas used to be 75 cents/gallon in the USA. Those days are long gone.

 

[Nyx]

I got this in my email a few weeks ago...seems pertinent to the conversation!

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were
Pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.

We drank water
>From the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?

Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.

No one was able
To reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes..

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?

 

[Astra]

Aw, Cindy, that is fantastic!
It made me smile!
My 16yr old son has just read it, and was horrified!
God, the kids of today, so bloody spoilt!

 

[Dexky]

Thanks Cindy, that says it all!!!

 

[Nyx]

I've done everything on that list btw...lol I remember when I was young (between 8 and 12), we used to leave the house on our bikes right after breakfast and wouldn't come home till dinnertime. The only condition was that we had to be within screaming distance of the house...lol

 

[Nancy Lee]

Thanks so much for this Cindy...
I too have done all the things on this list...
LOL...It's a wonder we made it to adulthood! :ylol2:

 

[Dexky]

I've done everything on that list btw...

...and then some!! The only difference I can see is the part about walking in our friends homes. That was taboo for us. I think all the mothers got together and made an unspoken rule. They didn't want their own kids in the house so they sure as hell didn't want any other kids in there!!

My kids wanted a treehouse when they were young. Of course, they wanted me to go to Lowe's and buy treated lumber and build it for them. I told them to build one the way I did. We had one constructed out of every piece of scrap lumber we could find. It was huge!! It stretched across two trees which turned out to be it's downfall (literally). Two trees get to swaying in the wind, they don't always sway together!! Ripped it to shreds!!

 

[MADiMarc]

I lived way out in the country as a kid. I remember riding my horse through the woods to a local bakery. We would pound on the door until the lady opened this HUGE garage door and passed out fresh rolls. We would do this before school and no, no one ever got hurt or went missing.

I also remember having 3 channels on TV (only if the weather was good), kerosene lamps, watching lightening bugs in the fields in summer and eating watermelon so sweet it beat any candy. I remember my daddy and uncles in fierce competition with a game of horse shoes, my cousins and I sleeping on the screened in porch and the smell of talcum powder on the babies.

Winter brought a wood burning stove, pickled tomatoes, oven roasted chicken with a gravy so rich and biscuits so light, fresh churned butter, digging potatoes before the sun came up (more like fall).

Sounds like The Walton's!

Okay, now I have to call my sister. She took over the family farm.



Michele