I'm so old I remember... (to buy, county, elementary, American)

[brokencrayola]

I remember:

Ed Sullivan on Sunday's nights
Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights
Cars with no seatbelts
I remember when it seemed like more people smoked cigarettes than didn't
School principals had paddles in their office
No leash laws or dog licenses required
Ford Fairlane we owned
Party lines on the phone. They'd tie up you line and you'd pick up the phone and hear them talking. You might have 3-5 party lines on your phone.
Avacado or orange colored everything
Door to door salemen such as men selling encyclopedias or photo sittings or vacumns.

[AksarbeN]

I remember when gas stations were full service and you only drove in and drove out! Also I remember a period of time when they have give-away gifts for buying 10 gal of gas, I still have a set of drinking glasses from back then.

And let’s not forget the S&H green stamps when you made a purchase at most stores.

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

I remember:

Ed Sullivan on Sunday's nights
Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights
Cars with no seatbelts
I remember when it seemed like more people smoked cigarettes than didn't
School principals had paddles in their office
No leash laws or dog licenses required
Ford Fairlane we owned
Party lines on the phone. They'd tie up you line and you'd pick up the phone and hear them talking. You might have 3-5 party lines on your phone.
Avacado or orange colored everything
Door to door salemen such as men selling encyclopedias or photo sittings or vacumns.

Sold Burpee flower seeds as a pre-teen and Crowell-Collier encyclopedias and Kirby vacuums as a young adult. Drove a Divco milk truck (no seat - you stood up) for Foremost dairies. My uncle sold Kaisers and Henry Js but I liked Hudsons more. Not an autograph hound, but do have Lawrence Welk's and Red Skelton's. My other two old ones are Senator George Murphy (CA) and Nellie Fox (White Sox 2nd baseman.)

I would rather have my fingernails slowly removed than be forced to watch one more hour-long Lawrence Welk Variety Show.

[AksarbeN]

I’m so old that I remember taking the bus into town to see the movies. They had balconies then and you could take a date. This was before “drive-in theatres” and back seats of cars.

Don’t let Mrs. AksarbeN see this post! We stated dating after the drive-ins were closed, and I don’t know what goes on at them or in the balconies.

[agreatlife]

Oh, and then there was BetaMax.

[Ibginnie]

I'm so old I remember:

Our phone # starting with TUxedo 4 instead of 884
Rotary phones with the cotton cords
Sour cream that came only in glass that when emptied became drinking glasses
People smoking WHILE they shopped
Rabbit ears on the TV which was only in B&W and 3 channels that went off air at midnight
High beam switch button on the floor board
Push button gear shifts
Gas was .25/gal & all stations were full service (not just NJ & OR)
Matchbox cars were .25
Cars without seat belts
Air raid drills & bomb shelters
NOTHING was child-proof
People routinely hitchhiked (I know I did)
Kids had fights and learned to get over it
Kids were actually held back if they failed a class
45s and the "briefcase" phonographs
Turkish Taffy
Waiting for the school bus @ 6:30am and having almost a 2 hour ride
Amber colored glasses in Oxydol
Sonic Booms
AM transistor radios
Cassius Clay
Choo Choo Charlie
.10 comic books
The koala bear on Quantas Airlines commercials ("I hate Quantas")
There were NO fast food restaurants
The cops would break up the party and follow you home
The Lennon sister on The Lawrence Welk Show
I went out to play in the morning after breakfast and came home at dark...and no one worried
Kids didn't go out with their parents to dinner and a movie
Getting homemade treats for halloween
Queen for a Day
Nehru jackets were the rage
Bosco
Cigarette commercials
Stocking were held up by elastic bands
Perry Mason
And for those around Philly.....Sally Starr, Jerry Blavat, Al Alberts
Jimmy Durante
"Goodnight Mrs. Calabash where ever you are"

to be continued, I'm sure

[quiet walker]

Outdoor observation deck at Washington DC's National Airport where you could watch Pan Am and Eastern Airlines three tail "super connies"

The insulated box on the front porch for the Thompson's Dairy milk delivery. And the milk that came with the cream on top.

The first color TV in the neighborhood with its round screen, at my friend's house. I remember seeing the opening of Bonanza in color on that set - Wow!! My friend's dad also bought a new Packard every year.

I worked in an Esso gas station where we checked the oil and cleaned your window when we put gas in your car (no self serve). I also patched tire tubes there. Esso Extra was 39.9. I wore blue uniform pants and shirt with an Esso logo and my name on it.

There were six well attended services on Sunday at the church where we went.

The swingset in our backyard that my grandfather had made out of steel pipe.

Riding on magnificent Baltimore & Ohio Railroad passenger trains.

Dad putting me and Mom in the Oldsmobile and driving around the neighborhood at Christmas to look at everybody's colorful lights.

I better stop now...

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I remember flying Braniff regularly.

[Denise in Fla]

I just remember chewing Big Red and Black Jack gum and eating those little things calle sen-sens. Oh and a garter belt for your nylons, push button trasnsmission. I'm sure I will think of more.

[Northwoods Voyager]

Ok, my turn:

Phones on the wall, with the ear piece you held and you talked into the mouthpiece on the wooden box. Used such a contraption when I worked at the local grocery store.

Floor model radios that we listened to. 'The Shadow', 'Gangbusters', 'The Green Hornet', 'The Jack Benny Show'. and oh, so, so many more.....Would even spin the dial in the hopes of catching a foreign radio station.

Streetcars with the rod reaching up to the electric line. Would ride a 'car' on a line that went into the country and try to pull the rod down. Sometimes someone would.

Running boards on all cars. And all cars came in your choice of Black, darker black, shiny black and just plain, Black!

Ice boxes with the blocks of 25/50 lbs of ice.

Refrigerators that you manually defrosted. Anyone could do this, just have pans available.

Gas ranges with the oven on the side, not below. Linoleum on floors. Bells on front doors that you cranked to make the 'bell' sound.

Roll your own cigarettes with pouches of tobacco and white papers and a little machine to roll them. Had an uncle that did this.

Took a little handled bucket down to the local tavern/pub for Gramps to get him his beer. Did this at 9-10-11, etc. years of age.

Oleo margarine. Added little packets of yellow stuff to a pound of stuff to make butter looking spread. Oh the fat grams in that!

Little booklets of 'Rationing Stamps'. Had to use these to purchase just about everything from sugar to gasoline for your car. Buying War Bonds and Stamps at school and the movie theatres.

Seeing 2 features, 3 or 4 cartoons, previews and news reels at the theatre. As a kid, all for 10 cents.

Shades to block out the light during Air Raid 'drills'.

Being a 'Crossing guard' at the street corners after school. Got to wear an official looking white belt with a badge!!!

Walking everywhere at the age of 9-10-11, etc. and never, ever being fearful of anything worse than running into a school bully.

Using a comptometer for math problems.

Oh, my list could go on and on, but I won't bore y'all right now. Wow, what a nostalgic trip down memory lane.