Do you remember when......

[Blade]

Do you remember when you'd walk to the store, picking up bottles knowing that when you got to the store you'd have picked up enough bottles for a drink or candy bar and some penny candy

[Gayandgray]

I remember the days of just one rotary phone and it was in the kitchen. It had a really long cord and my sisters and I would stretch it to the max going going down the hallway to talk in private. I remember pay telephones, no such thing as a cell phone, Being sent outside to play and playing hide and seek, red rover, dodge ball, tag. Riding bikes and building forts in the woods. Only going out to eat on special occasions. The teacher could pull your hair and hit you with a paddle or ruler for misbehaving, and being afraid to go home because as soon as Daddy got home, you were gonna get hit with the "switch"! I remember records, no cd's or cassette tapes till I was older. I remember 8 track tapes. I remember my mom washing our mouth out with a bar of ivory soap she kept in the kitchen for saying "bad words" (cussing). I remember being told to get up and change the tv channel. I remember wearing saddle shoes and Buster Browns. I remember having pen pals and writing lots of letters. Man I miss the old days

[meridiantoo]

Playing with my hula hoop, lemon twist and skateboard for hours

Outside play wasn't only encouraged, it was mandatory

Shag carpet

After school special movies

Pre-MTV, Pre-Walkman, reel-to-reel home movies, when cars just had radios, vinyl records, bootleg copies you cherished, Peel sessions on BBC radio

Saturday nights at the skating rink

When kids behaved and respected elders because 1) everyone told mom what you did wrong before you even got home 2) mom always told dad and you knew what that meant 3) spanking and anything rougher than a time-out were not considered archaic and a form of child abuse 4) kids were not given so many choices when they had no idea how to make them yet

Block parties

Having to write 500 times "I will not talk in class" over the weekend because I wanted to socialize instead of listening to the teacher

Emergency Broadcast System tests on TV on a regular basis

Every dad got soap-on-a-rope and/or Old Spice every Christmas

Hearing Eddie Murphy's comedy album "Raw" for the first time

When Studio 54 was still going strong

Girls/Women laid out in the sun until they got burnt to a crisp, using nothing but baby oil on the skin

Sock Hops after school in Jr. High

Listening to your grandparents talk about the good 'ole days when couples courted on front porches, kids were respectful and everything was made better (and everything was made better)

Awesome thread!

[Chad]

I would have loved to have gone to Studio 54, that would have been awesome!

[Kätzchen]

I remember the summer before my last year in high school, and how my mom and I shopped every weekend to find the perfect prom dress for the fall dance (my first) and being worried that my senior pictures would turn out terrible (I was SO self conscious).

I remember all the stories told at Sunday afternoon supper when our family invited other family's out to spend the day with our family.

I remember watching Shirley Temple movies at my grandparents house when I spent Saturday afternoon's with my grandmother, while she worked on quilts or sewing projects.

I remember my mother hardly ever buying us store bought clothes and how my mom took all if us to our family friend and seamstress, Mrs. Reisch, four times each year, to have clothes made for each of us.

I remember our family hardly ever buying anything at a grocery store --- we had most everything one needed at home, and of course, all the chores one could think of too.

I remember my grand father's hobbies of rock hunting and all his gadgets for rock polishing or making rock tables or other big rock projects, oil painting, or sitting quietly at the dining room table with his binder tracking stock market trends, etc.

I remember how the Sunday paper was only $1.00, which was expensive back then, but oh (!) How fun it was to read Ann Landers, Sunday Parade, the comics (Blondie! ), and all the other things you'd find for sale in the Want Ads.

I remember sitting through long Sunday sermons or attending hot summer evenings at revivals and shooting down every plausible loop hole in their sermons. It's how I entertained myself during Sunday sermons because we had to make sure we could pass a surprise Quiz during Sunday supper hour. Which in our house, failure to pass the quiz meant big trouble.

[introverted1]

Does anybody remember making "Creepy Crawlers and Fun Flowers" in the late 60's and 70's? The activity called for metal molds of critters and flowers, several bottles of latex "goop" to pour into the molds, and a heating device with which to "cook" the goop creatures/flowers. Of course, liability issues would prevent such activities nowadays, but what fun we had...especially when glow-in-the dark goop came out!

[cathexis]

Originally Posted by introverted1

Does anybody remember making "Creepy Crawlers and Fun Flowers" in the late 60's and 70's? The activity called for metal molds of critters and flowers, several bottles of latex "goop" to pour into the molds, and a heating device with which to "cook" the goop creatures/flowers. Of course, liability issues would prevent such activities nowadays, but what fun we had...especially when glow-in-the dark goop came out!

Do you remember the edible "Creepy Crawlers?"

[cathexis]

Anyone remember pay toilets at department stores in the downtown shopping areas? One stall was usually free, but UGH.

Anyone remember restroom attendants that you tipped for your paper towel?

Remember ladies rooms with nice lounges, located before the actual restrooms, with comfy chairs to watch the daytime soaps?

[Femmewench]

Originally Posted by cathexis

Anyone remember pay toilets at department stores in the downtown shopping areas? One stall was usually free, but UGH.

Anyone remember restroom attendants that you tipped for your paper towel?

Remember ladies rooms with nice lounges, located before the actual restrooms, with comfy chairs to watch the daytime soaps?

I remember them at O'Hare Airport in the 60s. $.10 - my mom wasn't going to pay $.30 for all of us, so she just held the door ajar.

[Kätzchen]

I remember spending Saturday afternoon's with my cousin at our great aunt's house. She'd let us pick out any dress of hers to wear, shoes and costume jewelry too. Our aunt would wash our hair and put it up in big rollers, then tie a scarf around our roller sets, while we paraded around her house looking just like her, *lol*. Our aunt would be out in the kitchen slaving over cookies for us and listening to her favorite big band music on an am-radio music show.

Glen Miller was her favorite big band.
Good times, for sure.

[homoe]

Do you remember when gas stations were called Service Stations?

Usually it was a man who ran out and asked you how much gas you wanted, checked the oil, washed the windshield, and then asked if you wanted your tires checked?

Gas was so cheap then I think my father always replied 'fill her up"

[Gayandgray]

Originally Posted by homoe

Do you remember when gas stations were called Service Stations?

Usually it was a man who ran out and asked you how much gas you wanted, checked the oil, washed the windshield, and then asked if you wanted your tires checked?

Gas was so cheap then I think my father always replied 'fill her up"

I wonder if there are any left in small towns somewhere??

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by homoe

Do you remember when gas stations were called Service Stations?

Usually it was a man who ran out and asked you how much gas you wanted, checked the oil, washed the windshield, and then asked if you wanted your tires checked?

Gas was so cheap then I think my father always replied 'fill her up"

The Bomber Gas Station is no longer in business, but when I first moved to the Portland area in the Mid-1980s, I often rode by on the bus, when my boys were just babies. When my son's were toddlers, I would stop there to let them marvel at the ww2 bomber, and buy them an ice cream cone.

Here's a link to the story about The Bomber:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2968

PS: the picture above is an actual vintage post card that is out of circulation. If you come across this post card, it's pretty much a miracle.

[Femmewench]

Originally Posted by homoe

Do you remember when gas stations were called Service Stations?

Usually it was a man who ran out and asked you how much gas you wanted, checked the oil, washed the windshield, and then asked if you wanted your tires checked?

Gas was so cheap then I think my father always replied 'fill her up"

There are two states where you cannot pump your own gas. Oregon and...damn my memory, NJ I think. Anyway, I stopped at a gas station in Oregon, pulled up to the pump, got my credit card in hand, turned to open the door and nearly had a heart attack. Standing at my door is a big, big man who says "Cash or credit?" I have no idea why he's asking this and say so. I get the explanation. I get the joy of getting my windshield cleaned since I'm too flipping short to reach the top of the Ford E450 or the middle.

Please don't tell me to get a squeegee with an extended handle. If you can't apply the pressure at the correct angle, it doesn't help.

[BullDog]

Originally Posted by homoe

Do you remember when gas stations were called Service Stations?

Usually it was a man who ran out and asked you how much gas you wanted, checked the oil, washed the windshield, and then asked if you wanted your tires checked?

Gas was so cheap then I think my father always replied 'fill her up"

Yes I remember this. It is true that you can't pump your own gas in Oregon and it definitely did take getting used to. It isn't the same as the full service from the past, but it is nice - except when you are in a hurry since you often have to wait.

The grocery store that I go to in the next town over does have kids take your shopping cart out and load your groceries in the car - which is also something that used to always be done when I was a kid.

[Kätzchen]

Your employer issued you a paper check for your wages earned but when you took it to the bank to deposit it into your checking account, you had to wait 48 hours to access your earnings?

Remember when people actually ate their meals at home, on the table, with other members of your family, at designated times during the day? Breakfast and dinner were sit-down meals at home. Lunch was a paperbag meal you took to school or work.


Remember when people wanted to travel, you had to book your air fare and lodging via a travel representative? I remember when you couldn’t just walk into the airport to buy a ticket; that didn’t happen until I was in junior high school. It wasn’t until I was out of high school that the advent of the computer was available to anyone except government offices. Heck. Computers and personal cell phones were exaggerated machinations yet to be reduced to a handy hand held machine.

[Soft*Silver]

I remember when my parents had to get up early to pull the chains of the coal furnace to stoke the embers to warm the house in the morning.
I remember visiting my grandfather, who would take me to the outside handpump to give me something cold to drink, in an old beat up white tin ladle. Sometimes he would wash my sweaty face with that spring fresh water.
I remember the outhouse that was only replaced when I was in second grade with an indoor bathroom. And of course, that means I also remember the chamberpot that was used for nighttime.
I remember every Farm having a scrap pile. You never threw anything away. You kept it all because you never knew when you were going to need it either in its original form or some concoction that you created out of need.
I remembered the big big BIG draft horses of my other grandfather. It’s no wonder I grew up with a passion for horses!
I remember the beautiful peonies and lilacs and Holly hocks and roses, in my grandmothers’ and my mother’s yard. It’s no wonder I grew up addicted to gardening!
And of course I remember the necessary vegetable garden that was small in comparison of other gardens back then but huge in comparison to gardens nowadays. I remember my mother making me pick off those gross big thick green worms. I was so mad at her for making me do that!
And of course, I remember a time when we only ate Canned Goods from canning instead of a metal can. I can still hear the tops of the Canned Goods Popping as they rested on her clean Dish cloths.

[Stone-Butch]

Ahh that perfume scented outhouse of my youth. Cold water from the latest rain barrel with the metal dipper. Cold chamber pot on my little butt in the middle of the dark night. Hearing father get up and get the wood stove burning to cook and warm the house. Mother scurrying to feed father and make a lunch for him to go to workin the early morning light. Going to the cellar door and watching mother go down the ladder to the well in the floor right next to the coal bin. Playing on my friends swing and flattening an old milk can with my shoe so run and make noise. Till once we came HERE, I hate here. Running water, ice box, bathtub, flush toilet (don't let it take you down). Cars, noise, people , all new to me. School I did not understand the teachers stoic position. Children who teased me and took my mitts my grandmother had knit for me and put them in the icy snow . I guess just because I was new and they could. Never happened to me before but seemed like a daily happening. Late for school and strapped OMG, first time in my life I had been hit in anger. It turned me and stayed with me. Yes I remember when.

[Kätzchen]

Remember when …..

Claiming your sexual orientation was seen as a badge of courage flying in the face of hostility???

I’m not sure when PRIDE events became officially accepted in America but the Castro district in San Fransisco was something everyone could read about and experience via photographers documenting brothers and sisters displaying publicly our relationships with people we share our lives with.

Here is an amazing press release provided by CNN today: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024...phy-cnnphotos/

[Stone-Butch]

I remember in Toronto back when there was only Butch or Femme or just gay. Stone Butch always existed but not spoken about as everyone could recognize what they called a hard butch and a soft femme. I kissed a girl when I was 12 yrs old and never looked back. Boys were good for hockey and touch ball. Other than that no need for them. I remember when having a car meant you got a lot more dates. (saved and first thing I bought, a used car). Rock and Roll was all they played and Chuck Berry and Little Richard hit the lights till Elvis came along. Ahhh yes, I remember when.