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Gregg
2-8-12, 6:05pm
...all the things people didn't know then that many know now.

Sometimes I think we've forgotten almost as much as we've learned.

Mrs-M
2-8-12, 6:06pm
Great memory, Larknm. :)

I'm so old I remember when garbage-men rode on the backs of garbage trucks. (A driver, and two men on the back, one on each side).

Mrs-M
2-8-12, 6:07pm
I know I definitely have, Gregg! And just in case anyone is wondering, it doesn't improve with age. :laff:

Mighty Frugal
2-8-12, 9:30pm
Great memory, Larknm. :)

I'm so old I remember when garbage-men rode on the backs of garbage trucks. (A driver, and two men on the back, one on each side).

they still do that in my city!

Mrs-M
2-9-12, 12:05am
Well, I'll be darned, Mighty Frugal. I haven't seen that style of garbage pick-up in years. (Years and years)...

Kathy WI
2-9-12, 9:27am
Garbage men ride on the back of the trucks here, too. What's the alternative, Mrs-M?

Mrs-M
2-9-12, 12:03pm
In our area, Kathy WI, garbage trucks are down to one man (the driver). The truck has two steering wheels, with large door openings so the driver can climb out and in (either side) easily. If I were to take a wild guess at how long it's been since I've seen garbage-men riding on the back of garbage trucks, my guess would be not since the late 70's.

lizii
2-18-12, 3:57am
I'm so old that I can remember the ways kids amused themselves during WW2:

hopscotch
jacks
library books
walking at least a mile to the local Saturday afternoon matinee with my allowance (10 cents) in my pocket to pay for a ticket to see the movie, and also buy a large bag of candy to enjoy. My favourites were licorice shaped pipes, cigarettes, jijubes, licorice allsorts and chewing gum.

I really did walk almost two miles to go to school for the first three years before we moved to a larger home as our family grew. My sister and I shared the same double bed until the day I married.

Mrs-M
3-5-12, 12:44pm
I'm so old I remember when all things were gingham! Absolutely HATED gingham!!!

Anyone else remember gingham?

Sad Eyed Lady
3-5-12, 2:37pm
I'm so old I remember when all things were gingham! Absolutely HATED gingham!!!

Anyone else remember gingham?

Gingham, seersucker, pique, taffeta (?), and patent leather shoes!

Oh, I have another one: I am so old I remember, and have worn, can-can slips!

Mrs-M
3-6-12, 10:54pm
You have a great memory, SEL! I remember Seersucker and Taffeta, too! Now, as far as can- can slips go, you're going to need to elaborate further. :)

Sad Eyed Lady
3-6-12, 11:02pm
You have a great memory, SEL! I remember Seersucker and Taffeta, too! Now, as far as can- can slips go, you're going to need to elaborate further. :)
VERY Poofy - like under square dance outfits. Makes the skirt stand W-A-Y out. They were made of some sort of stiff netting and were the thing for little girls, (and not so little come to think of it), when I was maybe 6,7,8 years old.

Mrs-M
3-8-12, 9:04am
OK, I know them, but never had the pleasure (or displeasure) of wearing one. A stiff Crinoline. :)

morris_rl
3-9-12, 6:29pm
I'm so old, I was born in the Territory of Hawaii.


Best,


Rodger

Alan
3-9-12, 6:53pm
I'm so old, I was born in the Territory of Hawaii.


Best,


Rodger
I hadn't thought about that. There were only 48 stars on the flag when I was born too.

I'll have to point that out to my grandson tonight just to re-inforce my ancient-ness. >8)

Rogar
3-10-12, 11:38am
Speaking of fabrics, anyone remember the checked madras material that would bleed when washed? Madras shirts were the bomb there for a short while. There was real madras, and then there was fake madras that was colorfast.

I got in on just the tail end of marbles, which always seemed like a decent game. Aggies, cateyes, and steelies! Tether ball, and foursquare were the main grade school recess games. Then there was the top and yo-yo revival period when classic wood was replaced by cool plastics in clears and swirlies. Walk the dog, round the world, and cat in the cradle.

Sad Eyed Lady
3-10-12, 2:32pm
I think when Mrs-M started this thread it said something about dialing a rotary phone. Last night while lying awake in bed I thought of how when we used to make a long distance call we had to go through an operator, and also there was the option of a person-to-person call. Wasn't there some other things we could designate? Please help me out with this if you remember operator assisted calls. Oh yes, you could call collect and hope the person on the other end would accept the charges!

Mrs-M
3-14-12, 4:36pm
Lovely additional entries!

Rogar. My baby brother wore Madras, but I don't remember mom having a problem with laundering. Will have to ask. One thing I remember about marbles was all of the homemade marble boards and things kids would make. It was like being at a carnival. On yo-yo's, what fun they were!

SEL. I'm too young to remember any specialty telephone additions. I'll ask my mom about this too, maybe she'll have a thing or two to add.

doe53
3-14-12, 4:50pm
Haha, I still have a rotary phone for when the power goes out!

Sad Eyed Lady
3-14-12, 7:13pm
Haha, I still have a rotary phone for when the power goes out! I have one too - just because I missed the sound the dial made going around!

Lainey
3-14-12, 11:28pm
I think when Mrs-M started this thread it said something about dialing a rotary phone. Last night while lying awake in bed I thought of how when we used to make a long distance call we had to go through an operator, and also there was the option of a person-to-person call. Wasn't there some other things we could designate? Please help me out with this if you remember operator assisted calls. Oh yes, you could call collect and hope the person on the other end would accept the charges!

I remember that the operator would "break into" your call if you told them it was an emergency and the other person's phone was busy.

JaneV2.0
3-14-12, 11:33pm
Third-number or credit card billing, conference calls, marine or land mobile, foreign-language operator assistance...I worked my way through college on a switchboard.

Gregg
3-15-12, 11:30am
I remember the operator always asking if the call was "person to person" or "station to station". I'm pretty sure p2p was more expensive.

Sad Eyed Lady
3-15-12, 5:23pm
I remember the operator always asking if the call was "person to person" or "station to station". I'm pretty sure p2p was more expensive.
Yes, person to person was more expensive. I had completely forgotten what the other alternative was called, but you're right: station to station!

IshbelRobertson
3-15-12, 6:41pm
I remember when many of the telephone calls in British cities were on 'party lines'. You just KNEW that the other 'party' was listening in on most of your calls! We all gave a sigh of thankfulness when there was enough capacity to allow you to have a dedicated line for your telephone.

pony mom
3-15-12, 11:33pm
The phone in our kitchen has a cord, and a pretty short one. Makes talking on the phone while doing anything in the kitchen pretty impossible.

Remember when the front seats of cars had really low backs, too low for even a headrest? My dad's 1969 VW Beetle was like that; it also had the seats that were proven to slide towards the windshield when in a crash. But it did have those nifty little side windows that cranked open.

Mrs-M
3-16-12, 3:24pm
Originally posted by Lainey.
I remember that the operator would "break into" your call if you told them it was an emergency and the other person's phone was busy.Yes, I remember that, too.

Mrs-M
3-16-12, 3:37pm
Originally posted by Pony Mom.
The phone in our kitchen has a cord, and a pretty short one. Makes talking on the phone while doing anything in the kitchen pretty impossible.LOL! In our old home we had a wall-mount telephone, and I MADE that poor old cord do it's thing! ROTFLMAO!!! I'd stretch it for all it's worth, all the way around the fridge to get at the coffeemaker, because setting the phone down for a moment wasn't an option (LOL!), and if I needed a cigarette, I'd stretch the cord to the fullest, then holding the receiver part of the telephone with my outstretched arm/hand, I'd stretch my other arm out as full as it would go, and pluck my cigarettes from the table!

I remember the stages that took place over the course of a long telephone conversation. With no chair to sit down on, I'd start off standing until I got restless, then I'd progress to sitting down on the floor till my bum would go numb! Then when the call was over, I'd labor to stand again, because every joint and muscle in my lower body had stiffened. Those were the days...

Gregg
3-16-12, 4:52pm
But it did have those nifty little side windows that cranked open.

Ah yea, those were the ones the smokers in my family barely cracked open in cold weather. Sucked the smoke right out! I remember cranking them all the way open (basically backwards) to funnel the wind right at me in hot weather when the old 4-60 air conditioning wasn't enough.

Our kitchen phone had a cord that must have been 30' long. Dad got it for Mom so she could talk while she was at the stove. It was huge and piled up on the floor, but it was so twisted and tangled that the effective length was probably closer to 3'.

Mrs-M
3-19-12, 12:41pm
Yeah, those old fly-windows worked fantastic in sucking out smoke!

Mrs-M
4-20-12, 7:16pm
I was just thinking about the old Tube Tops of the 80's! Shapeless, boob-squishing, stretchy things they were.

nocar
7-7-12, 8:23am
I've used a rotary phone, typewriter and had black & white TV (with the tube!) lol

rodeosweetheart
7-7-12, 8:29am
. . .I remember going to my grandmother's house in Savannah and the milkman still had a horsedrawn delivery truck

Mrs-M
7-7-12, 8:50am
Oh, wow! What a surprise seeing this thread resurrected again!

P.S. Welcome to our home, Nocar! Ahhh... another rotary telephone user. (I love rotary telephones).

Rodeosweetheart. The horse-drawn milk-delivery wagon/buggy is neat-o!

Anyone around my age (mid/late 40's), will remember stacking the turntable pin with a half dozen (or more) LP's, so you could enjoy HOURS of music, but as each LP dropped, the angle at which the needle would sit/play on the LP, would alter the sound/speed of the songs, and getting a new needle was like winning the lottery!

miradoblackwarrior
7-7-12, 8:50am
I remember typewriters (still use one!), and when gas was 80 cents a gallon--and we were all horrified! Bread was 35 cents, and that was the good stuff. I remember selling cheap bread 3 loaves for a dollar at the local convenient store where I worked.

Susan

Mrs-M
7-7-12, 8:54am
Yes, Miradoblackwarrior, I remember those 3-pack loaves that came in a long clear plastic bag! So heavenly was the smell, and we always did our own slicing.

Mrs-M
7-7-12, 9:35am
AND... and, and, and... if you didn't have one of those nifty little plastic centre disks to snap in place when playing a 78, you eye-balled the turntable pin as best you could in hopes that you had the 78, centered as best you could.

Mrs-M
7-7-12, 11:09am
If you're old like me (LOL) and babysat back in the late 70's, you remember the likes of cloth diapers and rubber pants... the pins, double-diapering, toilet-dunking, and the smelly diaper pails that accompanied (no one used Pampers back then), large metal baby prams (like pushing a storage-shed w/handles down the sidewalk), exersaucers, swing-o-matics, jolly-Jumpers (that hung from doorways), and pastel (plastic) baby bottles.

ToomuchStuff
7-7-12, 1:23pm
Rotary phone on a party line. Two room school house. B&W Tv's, and color tv's you had to adjust the colors, antenna's, etc (what is a remote?). Clothelines, gravity furnaces (thankfully never had to shovel coal into a furnace, still have the room and the shovel), etc.

Sometimes I joke I am old enough to have an autographed, Jesus Rookie card.

CathyA
7-7-12, 5:58pm
.....I remember when bananas had seeds!

bunnys
7-7-12, 7:01pm
Going to the pool in the summer and buying an ice cream sandwich for 25 cents.

Manual typewriter at home. Brand: Royal. That thing was hard to use--especially as I didn't know the keyboard.

Late 60's/early 70's (not sure which year.) We got a color TV and I asked my mother if the world was in color.

Candy bars at Revco cost 8 cents. Everywhere else they were a dime.

Stamps also were 8 cents. Gas was 35 cents a gallon.

sweetana3
7-7-12, 7:02pm
I remember starting at the IRS and using only microfilm, paper, pencil and an adding machine. I remember the punch card trays hubby carried around at work.

I remember carbon paper.

CathyA
7-7-12, 7:56pm
I remember when pills came in boxes. To allow it to open, was a piece of material on the back side that functioned as a hinge.

rosarugosa
7-7-12, 9:09pm
Sweetana: I think I had the last remaining box of carbon paper at my company - I finally let it go a few years ago :)
When I started working at my place of employment, there were elevator operators who would punch the button of the floor you wanted when you got on. I have trouble believing that one even though I lived it - maybe I imagined it?

CathyA
7-7-12, 9:15pm
I remember those elevator operators. It was usually an elderly lady and there was a stool in the front corner of the elevator that she sat on. She would pull the outside door closed first, and then the gate-type doors.
I hope she didn't develop dizziness. I sure would have!

sweetana3
7-7-12, 10:34pm
One of the people my husband worked with early in his career started as an elevator operator at Eli Lilly Pharmacueticals. He worked his way up to IT. Back then, the company believed in a well rounded employee and developed them all with assignments all around the company. Now they hire you for a job and if the job is not needed, you are out the door. No loyalty in either direction and employees are working for themselves for protection. Losses all around.

Mrs-M
7-8-12, 5:00pm
Clap, clap, clap! Great additions everybody!

Rogar
7-8-12, 8:45pm
I was reading a book the other day that used the old advertising jingle, "You can trust your car to the man who wears the star...the big red Texaco star." It brought back some other old advertising slogans and jingles of vague memory. "From the land of sky blue water...Hamms the beer refreshing." "Come up to the cool taste...Cools." Hope I don't think of many more as I can't get them out of my head now (and may start smoking again).

catherine
7-8-12, 10:05pm
How about the commercial with the couple floating through the air and landing in a Hertz convertible with the jingle: "Let Hertz put you in the driver's seat."

Or Alka Seltzer: "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is."

Or Winston cigarettes: I'd rather fight than switch

Or, from the 70s, "I'm a Woooman W-O-M-A-N--I'll say it again..."

Alan
7-8-12, 10:35pm
Or Winston cigarettes: I'd rather fight than switch


I believe that was Tareyton cigarettes. The most familiar Winston ad was "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" to which we kids would add our own words, "Winston tastes bad like the one I just had, all filter, no flavor, just cotton pickin paper."

Rogar
7-8-12, 10:35pm
Oh nooooo. Help Mr. Bill!

Hot dogs. Armour hot dogs. Fat kids, skinny kids, even kids with chicken pox love hot dogs. The dog kids love to bite. (or something like that).

See the usa in a Chevrolet!

Alan
7-8-12, 10:38pm
Oh nooooo. Help Mr. Bill!

Hot dogs. Armour hot dogs. Fat kids, skinny kids, even kids with chicken pox love hot dogs. The dog kids love to bite. (or something like that).

See the usa in a Chevrolet!

As I recall, Armour hot dog commercials fell victim to political correctness. "What kind of kids love Armour hot dogs? Fat kids, skinny kids, kids who climb on rocks, tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox love hot dogs, Armour hot dogs, the dogs kids live to bite."

catherine
7-8-12, 11:13pm
I believe that was Tareyton cigarettes. The most familiar Winston ad was "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" to which we kids would add our own words, "Winston tastes bad like the one I just had, all filter, no flavor, just cotton pickin paper."

You're absolutely right, Alan! I stand corrected.

lizii
7-9-12, 2:42am
Gary Moore, sponsored by Winston cigarettes, lining up a group of men to say their surnames: Winston tase gootch lika c.garrett shultz.

happystuff
7-9-12, 7:28am
Ahhh... the old commercial jingles are reminding me of old Saturday morning cartoons. Can anyone name this show:

When you find yourself in danger
When you're threatened by a stranger
When you think that you will take a lickin'
There is someone who will come
And hurry up to rescue you (I think this is the line!!! LOL)
Just call for ________________!

Alan
7-9-12, 7:34am
Super Chicken!

CathyA
7-9-12, 8:34am
Maybe I've said this earlier in the thread.............its been so long ago and so many pages ago..

"Brusha Brusha Brusha, New Ipana toothpaste". I think a beaver was singing it.

Wasn't it Beaman's pepsodent gum that put you in the Gardol Shield??

Mrs-M
7-9-12, 8:18pm
This is so great! LOVE this thread to the nth! Thank you, thank you, thank you (EVERYONE), for making this thread the best thread ever!

One of my favourite retro things is jingles and slogans. On page 14 (this thread) I posted a Youtube video for L'EGGS, Pantyhose, and still, after all these years, I fancy the jingle.

"S-h-e-'s... g-o-t... l-e-g-s... our L'eggs, fit your legs, they hug you- they hold you, they never let you go."

Mrs-M
7-9-12, 8:44pm
Digging up more "old"...

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=826&d=1341880533

Circa, late 80's, baby/toddler training pants. Plain plastic/vinyl outside, terry-cloth inside. My sister passed a bunch of these down to me when our first was born (1992). Best rubber pants ever! The all-in-one style eliminated the need for separate waffle-knit training pants/soakers w/plain rubber pants over.

Mrs-M
7-9-12, 8:46pm
Picture of same pants, inside-out (terry-cloth).

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=827&d=1341880578

Mrs-M
9-18-12, 3:41pm
.....I remember when bananas had seeds!Yes, I do, too. I wonder if it had something to do with growing food (without) artificial growth agents and hormones? Unlike today...

decemberlov
9-18-12, 4:34pm
.....I remember when bananas had seeds!

What??!! :0! That's absolutely BANANAS!!

CathyA
9-18-12, 4:45pm
LOL. yeah......I didn't especially care for the seeds. They were very small, but alot of them. I think we have gotten used to seedless stuff, but I'm not sure its a good thing. How do they keep growing with no seeds?????
I have been eating and enjoying watermelon all summer. But one I bought recently that was supposed to be seedless, was not...........and it was no fun at all! haha

I'm so old, the little seedling trees I've planted are getting old and dying. :(

Mighty Frugal
9-19-12, 10:13pm
LOL. yeah......I didn't especially care for the seeds. They were very small, but alot of them. I think we have gotten used to seedless stuff, but I'm not sure its a good thing. How do they keep growing with no seeds?????
I have been eating and enjoying watermelon all summer. But one I bought recently that was supposed to be seedless, was not...........and it was no fun at all! haha

I'm so old, the little seedling trees I've planted are getting old and dying. :(

I think the way seedless fruit keep growing is they do have seeds-but they 'mature' later. I don't know how the scientists made the watermelon (and now learning bananas too!?!) mature later to grow their seeds later but I think that's what they do (complete semi-educated guess on my part).

They make a strain of the fruit to ripen BEFORE the seeds grow-people eat it. If you left a seedless watermelon to keep growing/living then seeds would eventually come and they use these seeds to grow for the next year

I figured this out because many seedless watermelon had those soft white 'young' seeds in them

Mrs-M
9-20-12, 11:21pm
Watermelon (in our house), is an all-time favourite, especially the seedless ones. So sweet and succulent they are! I could easily enjoy a steady diet of melons and citrus. Love both!

I'm so old I remember having watermelon-seed spitting competitions when we were kids. There was a definite technique to doing it, and we tried it all. Rolling our tongues, pursing our lips together to help build pressure, and I'm sure there were a few more, but I'm so old I've forgotten the other ones! LOL!

larknm
9-26-12, 12:24pm
I remember rotary phones, the ice-man coming with a big block of ice in his tongs for the ice box (I still think of our refrigerator as the box, not the fridge), egg and milk man coming, man in one-horse-pulled cart staying in the road outside for a while for any on the contiguous blocks to come get knives sharpened, washing clothes and everything else on washboard in sink, washing the bottom sheet and putting the top sheet on as the bottom one, great-aunt making comforters at our kitchen table (no sewing machine), radio The Shadow, Stella Dallas, the Great Gildersleeve. Entertainment kick the can, hide and seek, swinging statues, catching fireflies, guessing what color the next car driving by would be.

sweetana3
9-26-12, 1:01pm
I still have one rotary phone. Heavy, loud, and always works.

Gregg
9-26-12, 1:57pm
Seedless watermelons aren't allowed at our house. They're just not as much fun. (And you never get that occasional surprise growing in Mom's tulips the next spring either.)

We have a rotary phone again. The kids found it in my Mom's garage and thought it was so cool! It works perfectly. Surprise, surprise.

San Onofre Guy
9-26-12, 2:02pm
I recall enjoying the Oranges sent from Florida. The owner of the company my Dad worked for in Maine would go to Florida after Thanksgiving for the winter and he would ship boxes of Oanges for his employees to enjoy.

Yes they were a novelty

CathyA
9-26-12, 2:23pm
larknm, what neat memories you have!
I totally forgot about playing statue! That was always fun!

pony mom
9-28-12, 9:24pm
Some stores are selling black rotary phones for Halloween. There's a sensor in them that will set off a ring and some scary sounds. While I was in line in Walgreens an older woman behind me had one and said she was buying it for her grandchildren. I said they probably won't know it's a phone.....she put it back.

BayouGirl
9-29-12, 12:06am
Im coming in wayyyy late on this thread but it is a great one. I love remembering all of the great things that were a part of my childhood. I especially love the good old toys of yesteryear. When I bought toys for my son and for my kindergarten class (when I was a teacher) I always looked for things that were tried and true favorites of my childhood that required imagination and not batteries. My son is 21 years old now but I still have his HotWheels collection, his wooden train set and an enormous plastic tote full of Lego pieces. My class was stocked with etch-a-sketches, Spirograph, lincoln logs, jacks, puzzles and other great low tech toys. I love going to garage sales and finding old fisher price toys.

As a teacher in the 90's I relied on an old crank type ditto machine because our district was poor and would only allow each teacher to make 200 copies per month on the copy machine. So we all chipped in and bought an old ditto machine and the fluid for it and made our copies old school style! And yes, the kids always sniffed the fresh damp ditto sheets, lol!

Mrs-M
9-29-12, 11:28am
Wow you guys! This has been the best thread ever, thanks to all of you. Such great memories.

BayouGirl. A big warm welcome to you! P.S. I checked out your album, and wow! What I'd give to be able to visit your neck of the woods.

Rogar
9-29-12, 2:17pm
I keep thinking of things as time goes by and the thread comes up again as a reminder.

I think I caught the tail end of the top and marble era, but remember cateyes, aggies, clearies, and the deadly steelies. Pretty basic toys and good fun.

I was thinking today about using hand turn signals by hanging the arm out the window. One of my early vehicles didn't have working turn signal lights for quite a while and it was fully acceptable and legal to use hand signals. It wasn't too unusual in the day to see some older vehicles signaling this way. Not a fun thing in the middle of winter. I suppose hand signals are not a legal means for cars these days.

CathyA
9-29-12, 2:43pm
I remember those marbles Rogar. I remember one time at a kids camp at church, we made jewelry by putting marbles in the oven. They would come out all cracked and cool looking. They didn't crack apart, just inside.
I saw someone using hand signals the other day!
Anyone remember pop-beads?
And it wasn't uncommon to decorate the christmas tree with links of red and green construction paper.
Playing jacks was fun. And tiddlywinks and pick-up sticks.

Tradd
9-29-12, 2:47pm
As a teacher in the 90's I relied on an old crank type ditto machine because our district was poor and would only allow each teacher to make 200 copies per month on the copy machine. So we all chipped in and bought an old ditto machine and the fluid for it and made our copies old school style! And yes, the kids always sniffed the fresh damp ditto sheets, lol!

BG, I worked in two departments of the university I attended. I graduated in '91, so this was my freshman and sophomore years - late 80s. I remember duplicating exams for large lecture classes (100-200 students) in the political science department on the ditto machine. All that purple ink! I remember the smell, as well! :) And I remember TYPING the masters on carbon paper on an IBM Selectric II typewriter. I miss those typewriters! Like them much better than the late 90s electronic typewriter we still have in the office (Customs requires some forms that need to be typed).

HappyHiker
9-29-12, 4:51pm
I'm so old I remember being entranced with Slinkies...and double-dutch jump rope and hop-scotch and scooters that you propelled with your foot and balloon tired bikes with one speed and coaster brakes. So old that I remember being sent to the drugstore to buy cigs for my mother and they cost $.25. And stopping at the gas station with my father and gas was $.18/gal., and the attendant put it in for you and washed the windows and offered to check the oil.

So old, I remember the first TV dinners--and they were a treat. Drank Ovaltine and ate Cracker Jacks and Turkish Taffy and all sorts of sugar-laden treats like soda pop in a rainbow of colors--and my Dad yelling at me for all my cavities.

And clothes? Remember those starched crinolines we wore--sometimes three at once to make our skirts stick out--and how scratchy they were on our bare legs? Polishing our saddle shoes and white sneakers with liquid whitener? Circle pins? Teasing our hair and using gallons of hairspray to keep it bouffant. Sleeping with toilet papers rolls with our hair wrapped around them to straighten it a la Joni Mitchell and Cher. Even ironing our hair to get it straight...and sometimes burning it accidentally.

I could write pages about torturing our feet in pointy toe stilettos (and have the bunions to remember) but will stop now.

What fun!

Rogar
9-29-12, 5:20pm
I remember those marbles Rogar. I remember one time at a kids camp at church, we made jewelry by putting marbles in the oven. They would come out all cracked and cool looking. They didn't crack apart, just inside.


Hey, I remember that, now! Thanks CA. Brings to mind some early scouting projects where we would take 78 records, which had become obsolete, heat them in the oven and shape them into sort of fluted bowls. I think any that got used ended up as ash trays for the parents.

Mrs-M
9-30-12, 9:03am
Originally posted by Rogar.
I think I caught the tail end of the top and marble era, but remember cateyes, aggies, clearies, and the deadly steelies. Pretty basic toys and good fun.And Pee-wees, too! Re: hanging ones arm out the window to do hand-signals while driving, oh yes! Totally cool! I remember a few old-timers doing it.

Mrs-M
9-30-12, 9:05am
BayouGirl. Your post reminded me of a Pinterest page I happened across a few days ago that had an array of retro childhood toys on it, and talk about wow! Like a trip back in time seeing all of those great old 60's/70's toys and things.

Mrs-M
9-30-12, 9:07am
CathyA. Yes, I totally remember construction paper Christmas Tree decorations!

Mrs-M
9-30-12, 9:13am
HappyHiker. Love it! So many I remember, and let us not forget, Captain & Tennille!

CathyA
9-30-12, 8:37pm
Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam, do the jitter bug now in Muskrat land.......

BayouGirl
10-2-12, 3:13am
We cleaned out Grams pantry and found these tasty items for decades ago. Classic flavors like seasoned tomato jello, celery jello and mixed veggie jello. A blast from the past that needs to stay there.



http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=960&d=1349161734

Float On
10-2-12, 7:22am
Oh my BayouGirl, did those even have expire by dates on them???

Gregg
10-2-12, 10:11am
That is extremely cool BayouGirl! I don't remember any of those at all and my Mom made LOTS of stuff with Jell-O when we were kids. Any idea at all when those were made? Was she in LA, too? Maybe they were just sold regionally?

ETA: I had to look it up. According to Wikipedia those flavors were from the 1950's. It doesn't say when they were discontinued, but I sure don't remember them in the later 60's.

catherine
10-2-12, 10:16am
I'm so old I remember being entranced with Slinkies...and double-dutch jump rope and hop-scotch and scooters that you propelled with your foot and balloon tired bikes with one speed and coaster brakes. So old that I remember being sent to the drugstore to buy cigs for my mother and they cost $.25. And stopping at the gas station with my father and gas was $.18/gal., and the attendant put it in for you and washed the windows and offered to check the oil.

So old, I remember the first TV dinners--and they were a treat. Drank Ovaltine and ate Cracker Jacks and Turkish Taffy and all sorts of sugar-laden treats like soda pop in a rainbow of colors--and my Dad yelling at me for all my cavities.

And clothes? Remember those starched crinolines we wore--sometimes three at once to make our skirts stick out--and how scratchy they were on our bare legs? Polishing our saddle shoes and white sneakers with liquid whitener? Circle pins? Teasing our hair and using gallons of hairspray to keep it bouffant. Sleeping with toilet papers rolls with our hair wrapped around them to straighten it a la Joni Mitchell and Cher. Even ironing our hair to get it straight...and sometimes burning it accidentally.

I could write pages about torturing our feet in pointy toe stilettos (and have the bunions to remember) but will stop now.

What fun!

I definitely lived in your world, HappyHiker! Except I used a Cambell Soup can to anchor my hair wrap. I had REALLY thick, somewhat wavy hair, and I HATED it! I really wanted that Jane Asher/Patti Boyd/Cynthia Lennon look--anything to look like a Beatle girlfriend/wife. Now, I'm really glad I have hair to spare!!

Mrs-M
10-2-12, 1:31pm
Neat-O, BayouGirl!!! A "blast from the past" it sure is. The way you have them set up looks just like the way they used to set up the boxes in the old commercials.

Mrs-M
10-12-12, 10:27pm
Tether ball.

Fixing cassette tapes using a pencil inserted through one of the wheels to tighten the tape.

Yellow/white gingham snap-on rubber pants (babysitting).

SteveinMN
10-13-12, 1:17pm
We cleaned out Grams pantry and found these tasty items for decades ago.
I'm late to this thread, I know...

Back when my ex-wife and I used to visit her mother half a country away, one of our tasks would be to clean out the pantry and kitchen area. Ma never cared about cooking or much about eating (never a problem I've ever had). We used to joke that we pulled stuff out of her pantry that needed carbon dating.

What really scared me was the stuff we pulled out of her sink that needed carbon dating. rrrrr

Obligatory "I'm so old": manual chokes in cars

Mrs-M
10-13-12, 1:20pm
Originally posted by SteveinMN.
I'm late to this thread, I know... None of us are ever late on this forum. So happy to have you join in! :)

ROTFLMAO, Re: the carbon-dating!!!

Mrs-M
2-8-13, 1:14am
Street-washer trucks! Remember those! They drove through neighbourhoods every so often and flushed the streets down with water? Us kids would run outside and wade-out into the frothy, bubbly wave of water that washed down the way.

Wildflower
2-10-13, 4:49am
I'm so old I remember taking shorthand class in high school, and using shorthand at my first office job. Shorthand has been obsolete for years and years now, but I still think shorthand symbols in my head when someone is talking to me. LOL

I'm so old I remember Breck shampoo. It was the preferred shampoo of choice at my house - my Mother always washed mine and my baby sister's hair when we were little girls with Breck, then pin curled it.

I'm so old I remember making marshmallows with my Grandma. No buying marshmallows in a bag at the store back then, for us anyway. Anyone else make marshmallows? It was fun and easy, as I remember. :)

Mrs-M
2-10-13, 1:23pm
Wildflower. Love your warm and homey reflections!

No... I've never made marshmallows before. Didn't even know one could. Probably more delicious and better for you, too. Do you remember (sort of) how to make them? What went in them?

Wildflower
2-11-13, 8:55pm
Well, I was only about 4 or 5 when we made marshmallows, so don't remember exactly what went into them - she put everything in and let me stir :) but I do remember lots of sugar, both regular and powdered. I also remember dumping them out of the large square pan after they cooled and cutting them into little squares. They did not look like the round ones that you buy in the stores, but they tasted oh so much better!!!

She enjoyed making these marshmallows and also popcorn balls often, and she would hand them out to the trick or treaters on Halloween. My Mother remembered how all the neighborhood kids loved to come to her house on Halloween because they thought my Grandma's treats were the best!

Mrs-M
2-13-13, 11:23am
They do sound good, Wildflower! Popcorn balls, candy apples, cotton candy... I'm a sucker for all of it! :)

Mrs-M
2-28-13, 8:51am
Those old 1960's/70's rubber flower non-slip safety shower/bathtub stickies! EVERYONE had them in their bathtubs!

MamaM
2-28-13, 9:16am
I am so old, when I started working in healthcare, the "medical records" were kept on micro fiche and index cards. :)

Mrs-M
2-28-13, 9:19am
LOL, MamaM! I remember both! Used to micro-fiche when ordering, back when I worked at a pharmacy after graduating (early 80's). Micro-fiche was high-tech back then! ROTFLMAO!

MamaM
2-28-13, 9:41am
I HATED using that silly machine to find something...I never could get the hang of it. :)

Mrs-M
2-28-13, 9:53am
ROTFLMAO, MamaM! I used it when ordering/checking if we had something in stock, and even after 2-3 years working with it... it still used to take me forever to find what I was looking for!

MamaM
2-28-13, 10:02am
http://www.worldmicrographics.com/gallery/EyeCom/EC1000.jpg

Mrs-M
2-28-13, 10:04am
Yes, yes, yes!!! Gosh, does that ever bring back memories!

MamaM
2-28-13, 10:13am
Oh my gosh..it would go flying one way and then back the other and you could never get it to slow down to hit the right spot. ROFL..OMG!!! And I complain about electronic records now. LOL

Mrs-M
2-28-13, 10:16am
LOL! Yes... trying to hone-in on an item or items, was an art in itself. Slow and steady won the race!

BarbieGirl
3-7-13, 8:26pm
I still have two rotary phones! One in my garage, one in the basement! They come in handy when electricity goes out!

Tiam
3-7-13, 11:20pm
I remember using one of those hairdryers that had a plastic cap you put on your head. It had a hose that was connected to a case. I must be very old. Does anyone else remember those?


LOL, not only do I have one of those, I also have rotary phones hanging around. They are great in the classroom, kids love 'em.

Mrs-M
3-8-13, 1:01am
I envy you, BarbieGirl! Absolutely LOVE old rotary phones!

Tiam. Here's to you and Libby!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/3168159057_aef59686f3_o.jpg