How Did We Survive?

[nang]

Boy Andy - you are older than dirt. Age is so relative though isn't it? All I know is that if I had known that I was going to live past 21 I would have taken alot better care of myself. Hooah!

[kenmar]

Originally posted by JeffL
THE AGE BAROMETER
How many do you remember?
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

I think Iscored 25. I'm not sure, I could only count 'emup toeleven...had to take off my shoes and pants to get that far.

...Got a couple more for the list. Coalburning furnacesandblock ice delivered to your home.

The coal was delivered to your basement "coal bin" by trucks. We had what looked like a kids slide nailed to the coal bin window so the coal would get further into the bin. Besides shovelingcoal into a "big ole scary furnace" I remember having to haul the ashes and "clunkers" out to the alley todump them. When it snowed we spread the ashes outto stop cars fromslipping and sliding.

The ice truck would come around every other day and deliver about a foot- squareblock ofice. There was a small tin lined compartmenton the outside wall ofthe kitchen. It had inside and outside doors.As soon as we heard the iceman we had to get the ice block and put it in our "Ice-box". That was just an insulated box where we kept the perishable foods.

Those days were sure a far cry from today's world. ...Thinking back to then, while sittingin front of thiscomputer, instantlycommunicating with people from all over the globe,sure makes me realize what an amazing trip through timeI've had.

[janecallanan]

The ice man used to give us chips of ice. What a treat. The original diet snowcone?
I remember coal chutes on houses.
When I was verylittle, I remember someone down the street having a car with a crank on the front.
I think I remember hearing about the last known civil war soldier passing.
Jeez, I never felt old untilyou guys started this up.

[daniel topliffe]

i want you to be truthful now... where
did you get all this stuff??? you never gave me any credit.
i am i believe 11 years your senior,
would you like me to show you my list???
i'm kidding, but i know that 'to be 70
years young is sometimes far more
cheerful and hopeful,than to be 40 years old'.

[janecallanan]

Oh Daniel, I could surely use some advice from you.

[Wazza]

Age is relative to where you lived if you don't mind me saying. Some of those old items Jeff mentioned I can remember in Oz. But I can go further back but I'm younger than many of you.

I can remember when milk was delivered in the churn and ladled into a billycan left at the front door with the money in it. You had to provide a lid or the pesky cats in the neighbourhood got a feed drink.

The milkman had a four wheel trailer which was pulled by his horse just plodding along. Even had rubber wheels.

Bread was delivered also by a horse drawn sulky. Two wooden spoked wheels and all the fresh bread in the sulky like a bakers oven.

For fun we used to go to the top of a hill with a truck tyre and curl up inside then have someone let the tyre roll down the hill. Swiming in the huge lake in the middle of the brick quarry.

Those sure were the days

[daniel topliffe]

i could add to your items but i leave you with this tid bit;'cherish all your happy
moments, they make a fine cushion for old age.

dan t

[JeffL]

Dan, I collected these things over the last few years. I have another one somewhere on this machine; I WILL find it and post it.


Jeff

[Tamaroa]

Good grief, I am older than dirt. I just checked Jeff's list and remembered all 25 items, yikes!!

Bill

[JeffL]

I'm a little disorganized right now, this computer area is in some disarray, but I couldn't believe I had lost the very first one of these "old timers" things that was going around a while back.

There are a few duplications, but I didn't take the time to edit them out. Here goes - It's nostalgia time........ :re:

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I want to be a kid again. It wasn't all THAT long ago, was it? I want to go back to the times when...

The net on a tennis court was the perfect height to play volleyball and rules didn't matter.

Nobody was prettier than Mom.

Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.

It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.

Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare."

Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute ads for action figures.

No shopping trip was complete unless a new toy was brought home.

"Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense.

Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for the giggles.

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.

War was a card game.

Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.

Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.

Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin.

Ice cream was considered a basic food group.

Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.


Remember those things? There?s more?

The Good Humor man. Chocolate milk. Lunch tickets. Penny candy in a brown paper bag.

Playin' Pinball in the corner store. Hopscotch, butterscotch, doubledutch, Jacks, kickball, dodgeball.

Mother May I? ?You?re It!!!? Red Rover and Roly Poly. Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds. Jolly Ranchers, Banana Splits, Wax Lips and Mustaches. Running through the sprinkler. The smell of the sun and lickin' your salty lips in the summertime....

Wait......There's more

Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons - Fat Albert, Road Runner, He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs. Or back further, listening to Superman and Gene Autry on the radio. Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar. Playin? sling shot.

Bedtime. Climbing trees. An ice cream cone on a warm summer night (Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe butter pecan). A lemon coke from the fountain at the corner drug store. A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers.

Cops and Robbers. Cowboys and Indians. Sittin' on the curb. Jumpin' down the steps. Jumpin' on the bed. Pillow fights.


If you are old enough . . . take a stroll with me. . . close your eyes. . . and go back . . . before the Internet . . . before semiautomatics and crack . . . before SEGA or Super Nintendo . . .way back.......

I'm talking' about hide and go seek at dusk. Sitting' on the porch, Simon Says, Kick the Can, Red light - Green light.

Lunch boxes with a thermos. Chocolate milk, going home for lunch, penny candy from the store, Jump Rope, skates with keys.

Karmelkorn. Hula Hoops and sunflower seeds, Whist and Old Maid and Crazy Eights, wax lips and mustaches, Mary Janes, saddle shoes and Coke bottles with the names of cities on the bottom.

Running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bobby pins, Mickey Mouse Club, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Spin & Marty . . . all in black & white.

When around the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed like going somewhere. Bedtime, climbing trees, making forts, backyard shows, lemonade stands, sitting' on the curb, staring at clouds, jumping down the steps, jumping on the bed, pillow fights, getting "company," ribbon candy, angel hair on the Christmas tree, Jackie Gleason, white gloves, walking to church, walking to the movie theater, being tickled to death, running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt, being tired from playing.

Remember that stuff?

Not stepping' on a crack or you'll break your mother's back . . . paper chains at Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington . . . the smell of paste in school and ?Evening in Paris.? What about the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting, who dotted her "i's" with hearts? The Stroll, popcorn balls, & sock hops.

Remember when . . . there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyer), and the only time you wore them at school was for "gym." And the girls had those ugly uniforms.

When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up. When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school. When nobody owned a purebred dog. When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter, a huge bonus. When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.

When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then. When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces. When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done everyday and wore high heels. When you could buy vinyl records in Stereo or Monaural, and the 78 rpm records before that that broke so easily.

When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time. And, you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading stamps to boot!

When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box. When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him, or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it. When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents. When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed, and did it!

When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms, flunk a test or chew gum. And the prom was in the auditorium and we danced to an orchestra, and all the girls wore pastel gowns and the boys wore suits for the first time and we stayed out all night. When a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car . . . to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady, and a girl wore a class ring with an inch of wrapped dental floss or yarn coated with pastel frost nail polish so it would fit her finger.

And no one ever asked where the car keys were, 'cause they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked. And you got in big trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at home, since no one ever had a key.

Remember lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying things like "That cloud looks like a . . . " And playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game. Back then, baseball was not a psychological group learning experience -- it was a game.

Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger? And . . . with all our progress . . .don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace . . . and share it with the children of today . . .

So give this to someone who can still remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Laurel & Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery. The Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger, Bullet and Buttermilk . . . as well as the sound of a reel mower on Saturday morning, and summers filled with bike rides, playing in cowboy land, baseball games, bowling and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar. Sky King. When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we all survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!!!!!!"