Friday, June 10, 2011

Remember When...

Pooldad's blog buddies have a thread going on over at their site called "Remember when...." and it was a lot of fun to participate.

I thought I would post here what I wrote this morning because it was neat to walk down memory lane.

Join me, please.

I remember when the drinking age was 18. 

Gas was under a buck a gallon and waiting in gas lines as a kid with my folks because it was "our" day to purchase gas. 

Bread was .45 cents and you could get a soda out a machine for a quarter.
I remember when all kids had manners and if you got out of line your neighbor was allowed to reprimand you. (No kidding - did your neighbors do this way back when?  Mine sure did. And we listened!)

I remember when the punishment you got when you arrived home from school (if you acted up) was a whole lot worse then anything the school could do. Wait. That one still holds true here. Scratch.

I remember when we paid .03 cents for a carton of milk to go with our lunch and if we bought a school lunch is was .25 cents, served on real plates with real silverware and was homecooked by the wonderful lunch ladies.

I remember learning to type on a manual typewriter in high school and being excited to take an electric typewriter to college with me. The thrill!

I remember being able to buy a cheeseburger, small fry and a small coke at McDonald's for under a $1.00. Or a burrito and a pepsi for .99 cents at our local Taco Laredo. Heck, I remember when fast food was a treat for a special occasion.  Oooh....and I remember soft serve ice cream came out at McDonald's and it was .25. That was a treat.

I remember returning our glass soda bottles for the deposit. .10 cents a bottle and we would scour the neighborhood and local business park for hours and end up with a couple of dollars for "mad money."

I remember tree forts, fishing and swimming in the creek were free things to do and kept us entertained for hours, days, weeks.
I remember when everything - EVERYTHING - was closed on Sundays. Including 7-11s. Blue laws.

I remember leaving my house on a summer's morning, at 6 years old and not returning until dinner time and my parents not worrying. 

I remember being able to close down a local street [that was actually a hill] when it snowed so the kids could sled safely. It was called "The Big Hill" - so original - and none of the neighbors complained, they just went a different way.
I remember 6 television channels, 3 National, 1 local and 2 PBS, and the signal going off at midnight while the national anthem played and a picture of the flag was shown. I also remember Saturday morning cartoons - when Saturday was the ONLY day you could see cartoons.

I remember walking 5 miles, uphill, in the snow......Nah! Just kidding. giggle

Not to shabby for being 44 years old, I think.
What do y'all remember?

17 comments:

Jeannie said...

I remember:
- drinking age 21 then lowered to 18 and up again to 19
- Gas @ .27/gal or when I actually purchased it myself .50/gal
- don't remember the price of bread but I think maybe .29
- kids were polite and neighbors did not chastise unless you were walking on the lawn
- didn't act up at school...they had the strap then
- in high school milk was .25 for a carton...never bought it before then (as a kid, coffee .10, coke .12 - primary - no lunch at school ever..Mom was expected to be at home)
- learned to type on electric then moved and had to use manual
- didn't go to McDonald's until I was 16 - fishburger was .60 Where I worked for years a hamburger and fries was $1.10 and a pop .25
- pop bottles had a 2 cent deposit
- when convenience stores were actually allowed to open on a Sunday - it was very boring before that.
- I went canoeing alone @ 4
- we had more channels in the city but the dial only went up to 13 anyway - no channel 1, 2 eventually became TVO, 3 became Global, 4 was American, 5 was French, 6 was Hamilton, 7 was Buffalo, 8 was Wingham, 9 was Toronto, 10 was London, 11 was Toronto, 12 didn't work, 13 was our local channel. Up at the cottage we got 13 and 8
- yes - we walked - no school buses in town at all.

Unknown said...

I grew up in my dad's country store and can remember when gas was $.19 a gal., I handed a full size Pepsi over the counter for a nickle, 2 quite large Jack's cookies for 1 Cent, candy bars for a dime that cost $1.00 today. All I had for entertainment was my Daisy air rifle and my dog Poochie and the woods behind my house. Words cannot express how much I miss those days.

Tracy said...

How about when the tv stations would start their 10pm news broadcast with "It's 10pm, do you know where your children are?"

LBB said...

What a fun post! I too remember leaving mornings to play with friends & not getting home until dinner :) Now being a mom, I don't know how mine didn't worry about us (or how I could let them do that!)

Jennifer said...

I remember coming home when the street lights came on and I remember gas for 99 cents/gal because that's how much it cost when I first started driving. I remember when a spanking was something you expected to get if you talked back or misbehaved and our parents didn't have to worry about someone calling child services on them for it, and yes, I certainly remember being taught to respect your neighbors and ALL elders. I remember my dad selling cans of soda for 25 cents at his party store, and 10 cent candy sticks that came in all different flavors. I remember the glass soda bottles too. I hate the plastic ones because they don't stay cold, or get cold enough in the first place for that matter :( I remember when a pack of doublemint gum was 15 cents and candy bars were 30 cents a piece.
I remember when it was easy to find someone standing outside 7-11 who was willing to buy alcohol for you if you were under age...oh wait a minute, I took a wrong turn again. This time I passed Memory Lane and ended up on Teenage Delinquent Avenue...So sorry! You know how easily I get sidetracked...heehee ;)
They still have the 10 cent deposits on cans and bottles back home, so I guess the kids can still have fun and make some pocket change with that one, at least. They need a lot more of them to buy anything, though. Man, I'd be rich right now if not for inflation!

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Penny candy. Coke in a 6 ounce glass bottle, that was a big treat at the grocery on Saturdays. It would be icy cold and if you were really lucky, it would be partially frozen! Plastic bottles mess with the taste!

Anonymous said...

I remember when gas was just over a dollar a gallon.

I remember good cartoons that yes may have been violent but it was so unrealistic that it was just for funnies.

I remember when saying crap was a bad word.

I remember when you couldn't talk on the phone and be on the internet at the same time.

I remember when there was no such thing as texting, cell phones, and internet on the go.

I remember when $20 was a lot of money. Period.

I remember when infections just meant a little bit a red skin for a while. Not MRSA. :/

http://theadorkableditzmissteps.blogspot.com/

Juli said...

Stamps were .23 cents.

Penny candy that was actually a penny.

When you could actually get an ice cream off the ice cream truck for less than a buck.

3 donuts at Dunkin Donuts for under $1.

Drinking from the garden hose and having no one think I was going to die of cancer. Guess what? Still here...totally healthy. :)

colenic said...

Remember when....
five bucks would put enough gas in the car that my dad would continue to let me borrow it
going out on friday nights meant we went down to the local diner and honestly thought we were hot shots cause we would sit and drink coffee for hours, but always made sure we had enough for tip for the waitress who put up with us
When we would pay less than a buck for a pack of cigarettes
When we would be in the house for curfew....even when we came home from college cause it was mom and dad's rules
Those six plus hours of car rides and fighting with the sibs over who got the middle seat in the van and didn't have to sit with someone else...there were no dvd players or video games...there was a book or nothing..
The license plate game we played on those road trips
When going to the beach was the best vacation ever....even though we drove and stayed at the grandparent's house
When mom made dinner every single night except for the night we went grocery shopping, all together, as a family and went to Pizza hut for dinner before the grocery store
Family dinner around the table every night, no exceptions. We did this all through high school, despite our crazy schedules, honestly I can probably count on my fingers how many times we didn't have dinner together.
Making sure you had a quarter to use the pay phone because there were no cell phones
Knowing that if mom heard from the teachers that you were in trouble that day, you would get in trouble.
Knowing all your neighbors and going outside to see them when they were out

RVVagabond said...

The "Beep" line. 5 cent ice cream cones at Dairy Queen. 2 cent deposit on pop bottles, the cream rising to the top of the frozen milk bottles when you didn't bring in the milk after the milk man delivered it. Fuller Brush men, bread trucks, Charles Chips deliveries, 10 cent pay phones. Nineteen cent Burger Chef hamburgers. Cruising through Frisch's (think Shoney's or similar) on Friday nights after pooling your quarters for gas money.

Ah, yes, I remember it well.

Teresa said...

What fun!
I remeber...
- gas at .19 per gallon (I wasn't driving but they had "gas wars" in my town and people kept lowering the gas prices to get business)
- 10 cent hamburgers
- 3 television channels
- our first color TV with a "screen" that you put in front of it with colored sections that made the black and white show colorized
- lunch counters in the five and dime... full meal, dessert, and tip for just a few bucks
- 45 rpm records
- what was a seatbelt? carseat?
- catching lightning bugs at night in the summer time
- going fishing for our evening meal
- 8 track tapes
- it was OK for the principal to administer swats at school, but if he did you could expect worse at home
- any of the neighbors could (and did) reprimand rowdy kids
- coming home when my dad blew the conch shell
- milk and cookies at school was .20 and the best dessert to have
- school lunches were .45 for a whole meal
- learning to type on a manual typewriter
- soda in a bottle, with a deposit for the return
- S & H green stamps
- huge candy bars for .05

Probably lots more if I really take the time to think about it. Great trip down memory lane!

Mustang Sally said...

Oh GREAT thread, was a hoot to read this. I remember most of these things, and I'll come back when I think of some that are just repeats.

Anonymous said...

As soon as I started reading your post, I was like "we must be the same age!" Well, I will be 44 next March, but close enough.

I remember waiting on the corner for my Mom to come home and getting Chuckles candy out of the gas station vending machine for .10 and I would eat the last piece until I saw my Mom get off the bus.

And, sadly, I smoked when I was younger and could buy three packs of Marlboro's for $1.99 - and swore I would quit if they got up to $.99 a pack. Well, when I quit smoking ten years after I started, they were over $3 dollars a pack, and that was 10 years ago!

Tessa said...

I remember when:
- 25 cents would get you in the Saturday matinee and a popcorn and pop to boot

- licorce babies and jaw breakers were 10 for a penny

- eating out was a treat not a way of life

- my first job way $0.50 an hour and I was happy to have it

- kids were taught to address adults as Mr and Mrs, or if they were family friends Aunt and Uncle

- but most of all I remember what it was like to weigh 110 lbs, big sigh

not displayed said...

Im late but I remember
when 50c was a fortune and yuou could get lollies 2 for a cent.
when my mum could get nearly a full tank of petrol for $5
When TV was in black and white and you had to get up to change the channel
Every school kid got a bottle of milk each day to drink.
Sandwiches were wrappd in wax paper and put in brown paper bags.
Groceries came home in paper bags
When the first cedit card was introduced
Shops shut at 12pm on a saturday, banks closed at 3pm everyday and didnt open until 10am.
when money was made of paper and one and two dollars came as notes and not coins.
And I remember spending hours typing code into a computer to have a dot bounce across the screen

Rebecca said...

i remeber when milk was delivered to my house

i remember when to turn the tv channel you had to get up and do it

I remember when you only had three stations to choose from

I remember when computers only had grey wording and no color screens

I remember when life was a lot slower and simpler

Everyday Life

Yart said...

Skippy, its been two days and no post.... where are you? Is everything ok? Worried here! Let us know.