A Blast from the Past. To all those born between 1930 and 1979. (floor, shops)

[Pippi1818]

Originally Posted by LIcowgirl289

Wow, if this isn't a place for transplants in Houston who want to go back to NY. I'm putting the house up for sale and will be back by the 1st of the year, hopefully - nevermind the heat (it's the worst), but the people are truly different, especially if they grew up in an era when we did. Even though so much has changed, they truly have we NYkers pegged wrong down here in the South.

Long Island is one of a kind! But it is the center of the universe (I read that on one of the posts!). Just remember before you sell your houw in Houston; I have a 1/2 an acre in Islip and my taxes are $9,000 and I am NORTH of Montauk Hgwy! That's over $667.00 a month with the STAR rebate! My electric bill (and I am on a monthly budget) is about 350.00 a month. Oil is off the charts and I am still paying off last winter's bills. I'm looking to get off this Island and move to PA or Virginia! Can't afford to eat when you are on a lousy pension (after teaching for 25 years but retiring at 50 because I have MS) and SSDI!
Find some place else closer and visit Strong Island!

[Pippi1818]

Today most kids on the North Shore do not know how to ride a bicycle! Kids do not take the bus anywhere. If mom doesn't drive them in their SUV's they stay home!
Remember how every block had their evil witch who would steal their balls from any street games if it went on the lawn? Remember doing chores on Saturday before you could go out? Allowance? No way. Get a job!
How about Keep Away?
In Brooklyn they play stickball or stoopball. On Long Island, no one knew what a stoop was!

[Pippi1818]

Originally Posted by Chinolala

A few more....

We knew early on that some kids were just better in some thing than we were. Not everyone made the team. If you couldn't hit or catch, you were benched. If you didn't consistantly catch the football, you sat on the sidelines. Our moms didn't have to attend every game and our dads surely wouldn't take off of work to do so.

We didn't go to preschool. When you were 5, you started kindergarten and and it wasn't followed up by a kindergarten graduation.

A date was between us and a love interest. Not something we did to play with other kids when we were 3.

When girls went out on dates, the boys would pick them up. Not meet them along with a gaggle of friends at the theater or restaurant. Guys were responsible for the transportation and the cost. Ahhh

Most of us couldn't wait to "grow up". To go away to college or graduate high school get a job and rent an apartment. The idea of living at home in one's mid 20's was gross.

Regardless of how much money your parents had, most people in my time had jobs once we turned 16.

We could go an entire day from the time we left home for school until when we got home without making a telephone call. Imagine that? lol

You are so right! I wrote in another quote thing that kids on the North Shore do not even know how to ride bicycles much less how to get the chain back on a bike!
You have made some outstanding observations.
Positive Self esteem was not automatically granted. Today it is a mandatory part of the public educational system. Ergo, you cannot penalize a student for not following directions on a quiz/test. Even if it clearly states that the answers must be in full sentences for full credit, answers with only one or two vague words MUST be awarded full credit. What crap! If he is penalized the parent is in faster than my dad could whip out his belt to give a beating!!
Needless to say, while many of us did not grow up like Ozzie and Harriet's house, we knew the work ethic that made this country great. Entitlement is a four letter word in my book! (I taught English not math-so there!)

[jeanfc54]

when we were younger we were afraid to have our hair in pony tails as someone was going to cut it off especially if you wore it like that to the movies??
i lived in queens so oz pk to be exact and the local theatre was the park on rockaway blve and around 134 st . you had matrons there and they were always checking on you in the seats
we lived on a block that there were many children and most of us played together hardly anyone locked the doors till bedtime and when my father past away the neighbors couldn't do enough for you i sometimes think they were more upset than some family at the funeral
mister softte wold come around in the summertime and everyone ran for it or you would get ice cream cones from the corner ice cream parlor the ice cream was homemade for a really big treat w would be taken to jahn's old fashioned ice cream parlor in richmond hill the home of the kitchen sink and my mother would take us for chinese right next door just b4 that

[Fun City Man]

Dear Nancy The Reader,

No!

I never met Ms.Byington or any of the cast members of

"December Bride"..and I never met Mr.Johnny Carson,


I was also never a fan of his version of NBC TV's"Tonight

Show".


Although I didn't grow up watching his version of"The Tonight

Show"?


I did watch kinnie films of Mr.Jack Paar's edition of the show

after the fact on some tv specials honoring Mr.Paar.

And I found him to be more creative,original and wittier than

Mr.Carson.


Sadly,I never met Mr.Paar either.


Anyway,

Thanks For remembering The cast of"December Bride"

and Mr.Johnny Carson,


Fun City Man.

[Fun City Man]

The movies that I watched in the late 1950's and early

1960's were more entertaining than the violent,vulgar and

unimaginative crap that today's kids see now.


Special effects didn't use computer graphics,paint boxes

etc.


They use models,quick fades.wipes,etc and you had to

use your imagination to accept the illustions that you were

watching.


The acting was more real and natural..no one played their

characters in a phoney or angry manner to portray a person

on screen.


The scripts may not have been the top notch plots of

today..but they had a sincerity that is rarely seen these

days.

And the entertainment was appropriate for the entire

family to see and affordable.


Ticket prices were low then and there were no

video games in the lobby to play with..while you waited

to see the movie.


You had to wait to get in..but..you didn't wasite time

playing video games in the lobby and the films were shown

in one theater.


Some were small places that could accomadate a certain

number of people.


Others were large movie palaces..that had a beautiful

appearance that made them look like they were only for

the rich.


And..more often than not?

Some well known performers and pesonalties made guest

appearances at those theaters.


I can remember seeing Al Lewis and Fred Gwynne of

"Munsters Go Home" and Emmett Kelly(Minus his "Weary

Willie"clown suit and makeup)appearing in a "Buffalo Bill"

cowboy outfit at The Wakefield Movie theater in The Bronx,

NYC.


I also remember seeing "Bozo The Clown"(Bill Britten)and

"Princess Ticklefeather"(Doris Faye)and her girl puppet "Sunflower"

at "The Laconia"Movie Theater on E.225th St. and White Plains Rd.

In The Bronx,NYC back in the early 1960's.


After Mr.Britten and Ms.Faye left the theater..the theater

management showed the George Pal/MGM musical fantasy

film"Tom Thumb".



And the snacks and drinks were great and affordable!

Ah!

What sweet memories of a simpler form of entertainment

that we will never see again!

Fun City Man!

[nancy thereader]

What wonderful memories you have , fun city man.

[Gary the Mailman]

I grew up in Elmont in the 60s, we rode our bikes everywhere. Fishing on the jetty in Bayside, all day trips to Eisenhower park, Tanglewood preserves, what great times.
During baseball season, my Dad would drive a bunch of us kids to Shea on sunday afternoons for double headers. We would buy the cheapest seats, and watch the first game. Then we would hang around the exit, and as people were leaving, we asked for their ticket stubs, and sat on field level for second game. When it was time to go home, I called my dad, only letting phone ring one time. Got my dime back.
My favorite TV shows were Little Rascals, Three Stooges, Diver Dan, Winchel and Mahoney, remember bowling for dollars with Bob Murphy from the Mets?
Every summer, my family of six would pile into the 1964 Chevy station wagon, and drive upstate to the Police Recreation Center. It was run by the city PBA for cops to take an affordable vacation. It wasn't Disney World, but we always had fun.
The Basketball hoop was on the garage, I broke every window pane on that garage. My Dad replaced them with plexiglass and never once scolded me.
We played stickball in the street, remember calling "chips on the ball"? It meant if you lost the ball in Hempstead Tpke, or it went down the sewer, you had to pay for it, which was about thirty cents. We also played Ringalerio, Asses Up, and my favorite, Kill the man with the ball. The Nuns at St Vincents hated that one.
Of course, we were no angels. We would prank call the Westgate candy store and ask Harry if he had Prince Albert in a Can, Dr Pepper in a bottle, ETC. Remember snakes, those black pellets that burned and grew? We would buy about ten packs, crush them up, and pour the powder into a cardboard tube. The resulting smoke bomb was awesome, I remember one of our crew throwing one into a pizza parlor. I worried for days the cops would knock on our door. And who could ever forget "Ring and Run"?
I bought a piece of garbage motor bike for fifteen bucks from a kid down the street. We would ride it in Great Easterns parking lot on sundays, there were blue laws back in those days.
We would hike to Valley Stream State Park, taking a short cut through the Jewish cemetary. On the return, cemetary gates would be locked, we climbed the fence. There were rumors that killer dogs were released at closing time, so we ran as fast as hell.
There were no video games and out of a class of maybe forty kids, only one was overweight. What does that say?

[JimnSue]

I was born in 71'.....

what about going trick or treating and walking for miles......no parents necessary in the dark and pillow cases filled to the top.....shaving cream, eggs, and don't forget the flower filled sock....and eating so much candy b4 you got home you'd feel sick.......

I would never think of letting my younger ones go out on their own and especially inthe dark like we did.....and whats funny is my kids are tired after walking one block and I'm the one dragging them up the driveways saying you dont have enough candy....lol

and also....when I screwed up hardcore....I knew that belt was coming out.....and I would remember what I had done wrong for atleast a couple of days....and so would my rear end.... I wasn't beat....no child abuse....just a good ole but whooping....

Now adays god forbid.....

The elementary schools end of the year "Field day" which now has become "fun day"
field day there were 2 teams and you competed....your best friend was your enemy if they were on the other team and that was that......you got ribbons and had a blast....COMPETITION.....
Now they don't even want to call it that, no one gets a ribbon for winning because so many parents cry because their child didnt win and was sad....but what I don't understand is why cant one kid win and one lose....its reality....you're not always going to come in first and or last....its just life..... I go every year and not once has it ever been as good as it was when we were there, all the fun and competitiveness is gone....I tell my kids all the time about how it was and they say how it sounds like so much fun and they wish it would be that way.....

Great memories.......its fun reading what others remember and associating it with my experiences.....

[1952 KID]

Queens,Glen Oaks ; 1954-1964. Setauket;1964-1970. Some early memories,the Krugs truck,Dugans truck,the old green knife shapening truck;bell ringing,Goodhumor,Bungalowbar,Mr softy,kids rides on trucks,the milk truck,Hoffman soda truck,charles chips,outdoor milk machines 25 cents,keds,pf flyers,the corner candy store,hoddy shops,yoyos,tops,bazooka,baseball cards,crackerjack,chunky,bonamo turkish taffy,coco marsh,bosco,spaldeens,pensi pinki, the word"saloogee",saying,"ill call for ya" , koodies,chinese handball, stoopball, these are mostly my Queens early memories,ill do Setauket memories soon.