What was it like, when you were a kid?

[quintinp]

I have read a lot of the posts here, and my upbringing now is not too different. Most of our yards are all open and their are no fences between us. I know most of our neighbors, but some new neighbors moved in that I don't know yet. 5 people within about 4 blocks around me own chickens. Although we don't show up at each others houses unannounced, we are welcoming to most all people. About 2 blocks away from me is a creek, that stays full half of the time, and me and my buddies go their to sane for crawdads, and whatever else we can get. The biggest change from a lot of you Old timers for me, is where we get our food. We always buy food, we don't can, and have a garden. After all, canning food is EXPENSIVE now. We don't process our animals either, we buy meat from our local grocer, Farmers Market And of course the technology has changed A LOT. I guess that what I mean is my upbringing is not so bad, the sickos, and weirdos aren't really a problem where I live. I am comfortable where I live. By the way, we live in the middle of a small town.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Every time someone complains about how bad it is these days I remember the drills we used to have in case the "big" one came. The teachers taught us to curl up under our desks and cover our necks to protect that vital area from flying glass. Some of you know I am talking about the Cuban Missile Crisis days. We also had to deal with bullies in school and if we couldn't deal with it ourselves then we weren't worth much. Spankings from teachers and other adults were normal and no I never died from it even the couple of times I was wrongly accused. Course there were plenty of times I didn't get caught and so they sort of evened out over time.

Racism was horrible in those days and a little girl had very few rights. She was never allowed to talk back to an adult and to try to explain that the adult was acting badly just didn't fly well with anyone. The Berlin wall was still up and we were required to eat everything on our plate (yes even liver!). I worked from the age of 12 on up but have a hard time seeing this as a bad thing. I sanded metal discs in a machine shop for a half penny a disc. That might not sound like a lot but I got pretty fast and starting making pretty good money (for a 12 year old). I liked having my own money and was very happy to be working.

But I don't know. I see that a lot of things have changed for the better. I think anyway. Some things for the worse though. But I think it all averages out in the end. Kids still love outdoor sports but fears of lawsuits do stop a lot of fun activities. I have to admit that I worked at Atari when they first started up and I really loved those old corny games! I love cooking and baking but I also love being able to go out now and then and get a meal that I don't have to fuss over. I also LOVE digital photography! I used to take a picture and have to wait 2 weeks to see how they came out. I don't know... I think some things are better now and some things were better then. Maybe threads like this will help us remember them both so we can appreciate the good we have now and get back to the good we left behind.

No I don't want to go back to metal skates that had to be fitted over your shoes and tightened down nor do I want to give up my computer or SLR camera. But I really, really would love to be able to taste that awesome ice cream we used to make from fresh cream, straight from the dairy and fruit that was ripened on the tree or vine instead of in lockers filled with ethylene gas. I would love to see kids allowed to climb trees again and to go through kindergarten without any stress. We understood that life was precious because there weren't any guarantees. We drove without seatbelts and played football and yes we climbed trees! Sometimes we got hurt but that seemed normal too.

I guess I'm saying life these days is pretty good, and there aren't a lot of things I'd want to give up, except I'm still mourning the loss of that oh so delicious summertime ice cream and the corner lemonade stands with lemonade, made with real lemons and sugar, on sale for 10 cents. Oh and all our bread was homemade and this I miss the most. When walking home from school you would smell the smell of fresh baking bread cause almost all the Moms were baking their loaves so the kids could have a snack after school and the lunches for the next day could then be made before she had to get started on dinner. OH MY GOSH there was nothing as delicious as home baked bread!!!

Wait there is one other thing I miss from those days. The 33 cents we paid for a gallon of gas. Fraid I'll always miss that!

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

I grew up with brothers, one 6 years older, one 2 years older, in the 80's.

We spent our time in the creek or the pond, catching snakes, frogs, turtles, fish, crawdads, whatever moved.
We camped under the willow tree with no tent, just blankets and a campfire.
We went bullfrog hunting at night with a BB gun and a flashlight, and fried 'em up the next day.
We laid out corrugated tin in the fields to hunt snakes under.
We threw rocks at hornets nests and ran like the wind.
We tried our luck with with the mean 'ol bull one too many times and DB ended up in the ER with a broken arm.
We fought like cats and dogs, drew blood, had shiners, but now we're inseparable.
We got our butts beat, occasionally with a belt, and we deserved it, but it wasn't "abuse" back then, it was discipline, and it was always deserved.
We rode to church on Sundays with the neighbors in their old van with no AC.
We drove trucks and tractors as soon as we could see over the steering wheel and it was normal.
We spent more time outside than inside.
We camped in a tent at the lake on weekends if we were lucky, and we each alternated trips bringing a friend.
We swam in muddy creeks and ponds and never died from it.
We hunted and trapped.
We always walked on the frozen pond when pops told us it was safe enough. Never had ice skates, but we didn't need them.
We used an old car hood as a sled and went faster than anyone with a store bought plastic disc.
We all three had to have a limb re-casted a time or two because we got it wet.
We all had stitches more than mom would like to admit.

I would give anything to go back and do it all over again, and I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[OldGuy43]

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69 next month.

I remember my great-grandmother who passed away at age 96 without ever having heard of cholesterol, saturated fats, calories, pollution or second hand smoke, let alone worrying about them. There were no government sponsored studies about why people died. They got old and they died, some earlier than others. That was just the way of things.

I remember margarine coming in sealed plastic bags with a separate little red dot of dye that you broke and than squeezed the bag to mix it in and make it yellow so that it looked like butter, thanks to the dairy farmers lobby. Before that all we had was real butter. Foods, meat included were either fresh or canned because refrigerators were small and only had enough room to keep two ice cube trays frozen. Milk came in glass bottles that you returned the next time the man delivered your milk. If you had a gas range you kept a box of kitchen matches next to it because you had to light it yourself. You made coffee on the stove. Bananas came on stalks and were a special treat as were oranges. It was safe to eat any fish you caught. Coffee came in metal cans with a little key attached to open it. We loved to play with the little strip of metal, and sometimes we got cut, but that didn't discourage us.

Divorce, homosexuality, having a child without benefit of clergy (i.e. being married) and living on welfare were bad things. Smoking, on the other hand was considered all right. Sears and Roebuck was closed on Sunday so that their employees could attend church. Sunday morning everyone went to the church of their choice. While on that subject, everything closed on holidays. Oh, some gas stations on major highways might be open, but basically, if you didn't get it before the holiday you went without.

Well, time for my second cup of coffee.

Somebody else take over for awhile.

 

[cravenchx]

We built playhouses in the woods, raking out the
rooms, finding moss for the "carpet". A rock and stick
for the telephone. Jumping on the bike to go to
the creek to catch crawdaddys, catching lightening
bugs and pinching the light off to make beautiful rings.
Hearing the ice cream truck, begging mom for a dime.
Laying on your back, looking at the clouds and seeing
dinosaurs, whales, rabbits, etc...
I wonder how my children would answer this???

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

We also had bikes and rode everywhere on them, to my friends house 3 miles away. She lived on a chicken farm and I would help her with all her chores so we could then go play. We rode to the local lake and layed in the tall grass and watched the clouds and felt a little sleepy in the sun. There was also a very deep but small pond (around 4ft in diameter) that we would catch tadpoles and frogs in which I would then bring home and made fake ponds in my backyard for them to live in .
At the small pond place we made little campfires and pretend we were camping. Home by Dark was the only rule. School nights we did our homework, ate dinner, had a bath or shower and went to bed.
I also had to ride my bike to local store to get any items Mom was missing for dinner that night..Milk and bread were delivered to our door (I wish we still had that)
At School only the boys got paddled by the headmaster and his trusted belt named Mr Horace LOL The girls got threatened by it but it never happened, mostly because we were well behaved and we always called other parents and the teachers Mr or Mrs.
We never talked back to any adult! never.
We always played outside and I remember running through sprinklers when it was hot, climbing trees and those roller skates! LOL hula hoops and some game I can't remember what it was called with a large loop of elastic around 2 kids legs and a third hopping in and over it..it got quite intricate from what I remember. I never played tag with my 3 brothers as they were too rough and we were never allowed to run screaming (in play) around the house..that was a no no because as explained by mom "how would she know we were really hurt or in trouble?"
We did not have A/C and when it was "really"(over 100o) hot mom would close all the blinds and run a fan with ice water tray in front of it and we had to take naps in the afternoon! I was 10 for crying out loud! LOL we hated that.
In winter we had a gas or electric heater in the living room and mom would start it early so we could get in front of it and hold our clothes up to it to warm them up then get dressed real fast before they cooled down..then breakfast and off to school (on foot of course) crunching all the ice in puddles with our feet on the way.
When Barbies first came out I got one for Christmas and then saved all my pocket money for additional clothes for her and if I had any left over we would all go to the local store and get a huge bag of candy for 10cents and watch The wonderful world of Disney. That and the Sat morning cartoons were the only things we watched on TV Except for maybe talent shows that Dad liked to make rude comments about the singers eg.."She has a mouth like a torn pocket"

and "her rear looks like 2 boys fighting under pillows"
I really miss those days and my dad.

 

[Baymule]

Toothpaste came in lead tubes and had a"wind up" key to roll up the tube as you used it. Maybe that's where my brain damage comes from.

Squeezing in the middle of the tube was frowned upon, cause repeated squeezings on the tube would wear holes in the creases and toothpaste would gush out when you squeezed it.

Haha, I forgot about the atom bomb drills. We filed out to the hallways, sat down with our little backs against the wall, drew up our knees and wrapped our arms around our knees. The next command should've been "now kiss your behinds goodbye"

Well-to-do people had bomb shelters dug in their back yards. When we played Army, we yelled BOMBS OVER TOYOKO!!! We had no idea what that really meant.

We roamed the neighborhood, the woods behind and the creek at the dead end. Our parents rang a cowbell for us to come home. "Don't slam the door!" was words wasted as we bolted out of the house and let the screen door slam behind us.

There was a milkman that delivered milk in glass bottles, and egg man that delivered every 2 weeks and the Fuller Brush man. My Mom stayed home and always had a housedress on. For going to town, there were better dresses, church-even better dresses. My Mom is almost 89 and to this day has never owned a pair of blue jeans. When polyester pantsuits became acceptable office attire, she enthusiastically embraced them and never looked back.

RC Cola. In a 16 ounce glass bottle. Cold. With a moon pie or candy bar. Mmmmmm.........

We combed the roadsides and ditches for pop bottles that we could return for 3 cents and then buy a candy bar for 10 cents and a coke for 15 cents. We drank the coke at the store so we didn't have to pony up the 3 cents for the bottle. We rode our bikes the 3 miles to the store or we walked. Pink bubblegum was a penny. Once I bought a whole dollars worth and chewed it all up until the sugar was gone, spit it out and got another piece.

I swallowed a lot of watermelon seeds hoping the vines really would grow out my ears.

Yahoo meant chocolate soda.

 

[cravenchx]

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I still drink them and Yahoos!

 

[Nitrous]

I think you're thinking of Yoohoos.

 

[cravenchx]

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