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We did too and there were times we hit pay dirt finding several bottles. Of course afterwards we went
to this little store near our house and bought penny candy. This was in Chicago and there were
several little stores (like the link below) and there was always one by a school. I'm sure these places
sold a variety of things but all we saw was that penny candy and ice cream bars.
Our mom didn't know we were frequently searching and buying but she always wondered why we had all those cavities. Also, our dentist would give us candy after his work was done.
Our favorites were the wax lips, wax mustache, chocolate cigarettes, pixie sticks, flying saucers, hot dog
gum, that lipstick candy, wax pop bottles and those spiral licorice with the red candy center.
I think that every neighborhood I lived in, as a kid, had a "little store" close by. I don't recall searching for bottles and such but we, somehow, would have money sometimes and off we'd go. Probably just Mom wanting to 'get rid of us' for a while and get some peace and quiet. lol I remember my mom giving me money to buy pencils, etc. for school and added a few pennies for some candy.
When I was about five we had a bakery truck that came around several times a week and it carried a big selection of penny candies as well.
I remember every one of those candies you mentioned. I liked Bit 'O Honey too and I see they are still making it. Those wax lips and mustaches were just plain hilarious. lol Oh, and Double Bubble bubble gum with the comics.
I've never done any train travel and the only ones I ever rode on were entertainment venues. Mostly kiddy rides when I was young. I've thought about it often though and a couple of years ago did some research into it. Decided it was probably too costly for me, for the amenities I would want. If I were willing to sit in the 'cheap seats' it wouldn't be so bad but I value my privacy and comfort too much.
I always wanted to ride the Durango to Silverton train. That is such beautiful country. My ex used to go up there, get on the train and then get dropped off about halfway. He'd spend a few days, or a week, camping and exploring and they'd pick him up when he was ready. Thought that was nice of them.
I wouldn't take a long trip unless I were traveling in a sleeping car which is expensive. However, since you've never been on a train you might consider a very short trip of a hundred miles or so. Coach would be fine for that; you could linger in the diner if it were meal time. You'd probably have a layover until the next day to return, but you would have ridden a train. Even today it can be a wondrous experience. If you go off season many of the people on the train are likely to be rail buffs, one of the friendliest groups in the world. There's an Amtrak station in Flag. The Grand Canyon Railroad terminates in Williams. Perhaps you could get a group together at Walmart. There are bound to be some train lovers. The Grand Canyon Railroad looks like a real winner and it's not that expensive.
The Verde Canyon Railroad is as real as rairoads get; it's not expensive. A group of up to six can rent a caboose all for themselves.
I wouldn't take a long trip unless I were traveling in a sleeping car which is expensive. However, since you've never been on a train you might consider a very short trip of a hundred miles or so. Coach would be fine for that; you could linger in the diner if it were meal time. You'd probably have a layover until the next day to return, but you would have ridden a train. Even today it can be a wondrous experience. If you go off season many of the people on the train are likely to be rail buffs, one of the friendliest groups in the world. There's an Amtrak station in Flag. The Grand Canyon Railroad terminates in Williams. Perhaps you could get a group together at Walmart. There are bound to be some train lovers. The Grand Canyon Railroad looks like a real winner and it's not that expensive.
The Verde Canyon Railroad is as real as rairoads get; it's not expensive. A group of up to six can rent a caboose all for themselves.
I was looking into a sleeping room too and, yes, they are expensive. I could probably hop on in Flagstaff and go to L.A. or something.
I've never done the Grand Canyon train but I used to work at the Verde Canyon Railroad. I've done that trip a bunch of times and it's fun. I was working there when it looked nothing like it does now but the 'new' depot opened while I was there. I have friends who still work there. I include that ride with the 'entertainment venue' though rather than a 'real' trip. It's been a long time since I worked there but I've thought about doing that trip again, just for fun.
The Norfolk and Western was the last American railroad to eschew the diesel. It did so until May, 1960. The Rio Grande operated steam narrow gauge lines in Colorado until 1961. Some short lines and industrial facilities had them a while longer. Steam never disappeared. Tourist railroads have carried on the tradiion to the present day.
The Union Pacific is currently restoring one of the Big Boys in the Chevenne shops. I have read that they plan to convert it from coal to oil. That didn't work well at all when they converted one seventy-five years earlier because the configuration of the firebox is different for the two fuels. One of the joys for me when I'm around a steam locomotive is smelling the coal. They'll likely use it for excursions. I'd love to see a run to Salt Lake and back or even Chicago with restored Pullmans or private cars.
There's a company in Chicago that has private cars, restored Pullmans. They've arranged with Amtrak to couple the cars to the City of New Orleans. The trip features the sort of a traveling experience people would have had in 1950. It's very popular, but would be even more so if a classic steam locomotive were pulling it. I'm appending a link to a website which has further links to several railroads including steam.
I think this Big Boy was among the last in service. Although their at-the-time competitor SP might have run steam (not Big Boys, other locos) on the SJ-SF commute route into early '62:
"Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service."
As an aside, a while back, when they moved it from the LA County Fairgrounds where it had been on static display for years, and got it going on the line up to Cheyenne, there were some really awesome live streams and subsequent videos on the web. Great stuff!
Last edited by BayAreaHillbilly; 06-16-2015 at 05:24 PM..
Did anyone else have feather pillows that were flat as a pancake, when they were kids? When my mother made the beds, she would punch them in the middle (thwak) the long way and sort of fold them in two, so the effect was more of a roll than a pillow shape.
Anyone?
I loved fountain pins, and remember everyone being excited when the cartridges came out for less mess. My favorite was the peacock blue ink you could get. Imagine... this was before the invention of Sharpies.
By the time I started school, the inkwells were gone along with the dip pens. I used only pencils in the elementary grades, but switched to ball points in the 6th or 7th grade. I had an old English teacher in high school who insisted we all use only fountain pens, and the cheap Shaeffer pens that used ink cartridges only didn't cost much more than a couple of ball points.
I, too, loved the Peacock blue. A lot of kids used it too. What's remarkable these days is the amazing variety of colors only available in bottled inks. The range of colors is amazing, and there are inks now that 'halo'- a dark blue ink may have a faint outline of bright orange, for example, or green ink may have a faint brown outline on the stroke.
And even when permanent, the bottled inks don't bleed through the paper like a permanent Sharpie does. 'Permanent' in a Sharpie only applies to it's washability. The colors always fade away in time, and the dye used for the color is very cheap stuff.
The Sanford company, however, does make some really good bottled ink and now owns several of the best fountain pen companies, including Shaeffer, the company who made Peacock blue. Unfortunately, the ink company that made the ink for Shaffer, and was an owned subsidiary, was closed about 15 years ago, and the ink works was moved to Bosnia. Peacock blue is no longer available in cartridges. The closest ink to it is Turquoise.
At the moment, Peacock blue isn't even available in bottles, either.
While I switched to black ink long ago, and I like to use Shaeffer fountain pens a lot, even the black was very poor quality when it first came from Bosnia. It's much better now, but the cartridges are no longer clear, and can no longer be inserted in a pen without regard as to which end goes in first like the old ones.
Some things are perfect the first time out. I'm really sorry I can't get the good old cartridges filled with the good old ink any more.
Did anyone else have feather pillows that were flat as a pancake, when they were kids? When my mother made the beds, she would punch them in the middle (thwak) the long way and sort of fold them in two, so the effect was more of a roll than a pillow shape.
Anyone?
We've still got some hand-me-down pillows as extras tucked away in a closet, that are the "good" old flat feather variety. LOL!
By the time I started school, the inkwells were gone along with the dip pens. I used only pencils in the elementary grades, but switched to ball points in the 6th or 7th grade. I had an old English teacher in high school who insisted we all use only fountain pens, and the cheap Shaeffer pens that used ink cartridges only didn't cost much more than a couple of ball points.
I, too, loved the Peacock blue. A lot of kids used it too. What's remarkable these days is the amazing variety of colors only available in bottled inks. The range of colors is amazing, and there are inks now that 'halo'- a dark blue ink may have a faint outline of bright orange, for example, or green ink may have a faint brown outline on the stroke.
And even when permanent, the bottled inks don't bleed through the paper like a permanent Sharpie does. 'Permanent' in a Sharpie only applies to it's washability. The colors always fade away in time, and the dye used for the color is very cheap stuff.
The Sanford company, however, does make some really good bottled ink and now owns several of the best fountain pen companies, including Shaeffer, the company who made Peacock blue. Unfortunately, the ink company that made the ink for Shaffer, and was an owned subsidiary, was closed about 15 years ago, and the ink works was moved to Bosnia. Peacock blue is no longer available in cartridges. The closest ink to it is Turquoise.
At the moment, Peacock blue isn't even available in bottles, either.
While I switched to black ink long ago, and I like to use Shaeffer fountain pens a lot, even the black was very poor quality when it first came from Bosnia. It's much better now, but the cartridges are no longer clear, and can no longer be inserted in a pen without regard as to which end goes in first like the old ones.
Some things are perfect the first time out. I'm really sorry I can't get the good old cartridges filled with the good old ink any more.
I can't rep you again but your post makes me want to get my fountain pen out of the desk, fill it with ink,, take some nice parchment paper, and write a letter to somebody. Or take my calligraphy (who even cares anymore?) pens and ink out and write something that looks beautiful.
I just read on FB that Massachusetts is one of ten states that continues to teach kids how to write! Hooray. They will be able to read gramma's old letters that their mom kept, read historical documents, have a hobby I enjoy, genealogy, without being too illiterate to read the old papers, and they can even go to a place like Hyde Park where FDR's famous speech about the Day that Will Live in Infamy is kept and be able to READ it for themselves. I bet they could even read things that George Washington wrote! What a loss when people can't read and write anymore.
Today as I was hunting for a good old fashioned rice pudding recipe, I remembered my mother had a small Riceland rice cookbook. I'm not sure if my mom's recipe was in that cookbook or not, but it was really good pudding
Thinking about the giveaway cookbooks from the 50's and early 60's, I remembered mom had a few other ones. She had one from Allsweet (an oleo margarine) that had a great recipe for baked surprise pudding cake (much better than the one in Betty Crocker's cookbook). She also had a Christmas cookie book that she got inside of a 5lb bag of Goldmedal flour.
Those little recipe books (pamphlets) had some really good recipes. I wonder why companies stopped giving those away.
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Also, our dentist would give us candy after his work was done.
What a loss when people can't read and write anymore.
