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Old 01-14-2011, 08:03 AM
 
Location: Where the sun likes to shine!!
20,549 posts, read 30,288,356 times
Reputation: 88950

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The good ole days



HEY,WASN'T THIS US ?

A little house with three bedrooms,
one bathroom and one car on the street.
A mower that you had to push
to make the grass look neat.


In the kitchen on the wall
we only had one phone,
And no need for recording things,
someone was always home.


We only had a living room
where we would congregate,
unless it was at mealtime
in the kitchen where we ate.


We had no need for family rooms
or extra rooms to dine.
When meeting as a family
those two rooms would work out fine.


We only had one TV set
and channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them
with something worth the view.

For snacks we had potato chips
that tasted like a chip.
And if you wanted flavor
there was Lipton's onion dip.


Store-bought snacks were rare because
my mother liked to cook
and nothing can compare to snacks
in Betty Crocker's book.


Weekends were for family trips
or staying home to play.
We all did things together --
even go to church to pray.


When we did our weekend trips
depending on the weather,
no one stayed at home because
we liked to be together.


Sometimes we would separate
to do things on our own,
but we knew where the others were
without our own cell phone.

Then there were the movies
with your favorite movie star,
and nothing can compare
to watching movies in your car.


Then there were the picnics
at the peak of summer season,
pack a lunch and find some trees
and never need a reason.


Get a baseball game together
with all the friends you know,
have real action playing ball --
and no game video.


Remember when the doctor
used to be the family friend,
and didn't need insurance
or a lawyer to defend?


The way that he took care of you
or what he had to do,
because he took an oath and strived
to do the best for you.

Remember going to the store
and shopping casually,
and when you went to pay for it
you used your own money?


Nothing that you had to swipe
or punch in some amount,
and remember when the cashier person
had to really count?


The milkman used to go
from door to door,
And it was just a few cents more
than going to the store.


There was a time when mailed letters
came right to your door,
without a lot of junk mail ads
sent out by every store.

The mailman knew each house by name
and knew where it was sent;
there were not loads of mail addressed
to "present occupant."


There was a time when just one glance
was all that it would take,
and you would know the kind of car,
the model and the make.


They didn't look like turtles
trying to squeeze out every mile;
they were streamlined, white walls, fins
and really had some style.



One time the music that you played
whenever you would jive,
was from a vinyl, big-holed record
called a forty-five.


The record player had a post
to keep them all in line
and then the records would drop down
and play one at a time.


Oh sure, we had our problems then,
just like we do today
and always we were striving,
trying for a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived
still seems like so much fun,
how can you explain a game,
just kick the can and run?


And why would boys put baseball cards
between bicycle spokes
and for a nickel, red machines
had little bottled Cokes?



This life seemed so much easier
and slower in some ways.
I love the new technology
but I sure do miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we
and nothing stays the same,
but I sure love to reminisce
and walk down memory lane.
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Old 01-14-2011, 08:14 AM
 
Location: SC Foothills
8,831 posts, read 11,572,581 times
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That's awesome Lisa, sure brings back a lot of memories. I was thinking about the 3 bedroom house and one bathroom with one car on the street.....and the meals eaten in the kitchen and everyone hanging out in the living room with the one tv with 3 channels. We had no idea what a VCR was or cable, cell phones (omg) and there was actually one phone on the wall!!! This poem is so true!!
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Old 01-14-2011, 08:24 AM
 
Location: Mayberry
36,341 posts, read 15,944,618 times
Reputation: 72718
I miss those days!!
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Old 01-14-2011, 09:07 AM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
44,549 posts, read 61,257,045 times
Reputation: 125556
As Archie Bunker would say "those were the days"...
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Old 01-14-2011, 09:16 AM
 
Location: Neither here nor there
14,810 posts, read 16,154,550 times
Reputation: 33001
Sure sounds like the 50's to me.
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Old 01-14-2011, 10:16 AM
 
Location: grooving in the city
7,371 posts, read 6,813,536 times
Reputation: 23537
It sounds like the 60's to me...and yes, they were wonderful times.
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Old 01-14-2011, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Texas
15,893 posts, read 18,225,002 times
Reputation: 62765
That was great fun to read. It does seem like those were easier times. That is one reason I'm so fond of my parent's generation.

We were kids then. We were somewhat protected from any financial situations that were happening in our lives. The only thing we really worried about was having enough canned food and water in case the Soviets attacked us. Remember the "duck and cover" drills we went through in school? Like that would really protect us. But we sure thought they would. And because we thought that way we felt safer. I always felt safe.

My fun times revolved around finding a golfball to play jacks and making sure my skate key was handy. I remember going on vacation to the other side of Oahu. Several families had reserved beach cabins on an old military installation and I recall Dad playing jacks with us on the old wooden lanai. I wonder how much fun that was for him. The important thing was that we were all together.

Someday today's kids will look back on today as being an easier time. What it boils down to is the fact that we are fortunate.
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Old 01-14-2011, 12:31 PM
 
Location: Airports all over the world
7,487 posts, read 7,970,417 times
Reputation: 106086
Quote:
Originally Posted by younglisa7 View Post
The good ole days



HEY,WASN'T THIS US ?

A little house with three bedrooms,
one bathroom and one car on the street.
A mower that you had to push
to make the grass look neat.


The milkman used to go
from door to door,
And it was just a few cents more
than going to the store.
If you include the full attic and full basement, our family house was over 5,000 sq feet. Had 2 real bedrooms, 2 sorta bedrooms, a front room, a living room, a formal dining room, and kitchen large enough for the family to eat in.There was also a two room bunkhouse and one room bunkhouse. With all of that, you guessed it...only one bathroom.

My grandfather that built the house was also the milkman.
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Old 01-14-2011, 02:35 PM
 
536 posts, read 1,424,726 times
Reputation: 417
Excellent thread! And such a nostalgic poem! This sounds like our family life in the '70s. My folks came from Europe, so our life was as conservative and family-oriented as '50s and '60s natives.

We went to the beach on the Maine coast for the whole summer. We'd leave before school was out, our parents convinced the teachers. We collected cans and bottles on the beach for refund. Then squandered our day's earnings at the Midway and the games.

We respected our elders, always sir and ma'am, and Mr. and Ms. and Mrs. We respected authority. We washed dishes in the teachers' lounge for some spare change.

We had a large red Chevy station wagon, with fake wood trim on the sides, roof rack with our luggage strapped on top on long road trips.

Coke had real sugar in it. Mom made 'shake and bake' sometimes. We played outside all the time, we skinned our knees like crazy. We froze our jewels playing hockey on the street all day in January.

We watched Bugs Bunny Saturday morning. The Hulk Friday nights.

We went on field trips downtown to the museum and the planetarium. The teacher wanted us all to have lunch at McDonalds. My father wrote a letter to the teacher and we went to another family diner instead. Much better burgers, and fries. Fountain cokes.

Our mall was outdoors. We had a five and dime. Going to the bank was a big event.

Our city's hockey team had the same players and coach every year. No foreign players in the league, just North Americans.

We didn't have cable. We had World Book Encyclopedia. Our TV looked like furniture. Everything took a beating from us kids, but never broke. We had banana seats on our bikes, and popped wheelies.
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Old 01-14-2011, 07:59 PM
 
Location: On the East Coast
51,696 posts, read 15,637,208 times
Reputation: 80920
Those definitely were the good old days.
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