Old sas dirt

[jeffbert]

I received this in an email message the other day:

Hey Dad," one of my kids asked the other day, "What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?"

"We didn't have fast food when I was growing up," I informed him. "All the food was slow."

"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?"

"It was a place called 'at home,'" I explained. "Grandma cooked every day and when Grandpa got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it."

By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table. But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it:

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levis , set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country or had a credit card. In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears AND Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house until I was 11, but my grandparents had one before that. It was, of course, black and white, but they bought a piece of colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue, like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone's lawn on a sunny day. Some people had a lens taped to the front of the TV to make the picture look larger.

I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.

We didn't have a car until I was 15. Before that, the only car in our family was my grandfather's Ford. He called it a "machine."

I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 2 cents. I had to get up at 4 AM every morning. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my customers. My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to keep the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and they didn't do that in movies. I don't know what they did in French movies. French movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to see them.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?


MEMORIES from a friend:

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to "sprinkle" clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

How many do you remember?

Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
Real ice boxes.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.

Older Than Dirt Quiz: Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about Ratings at the bottom.

1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxe s
6 . Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (OLive-6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16 Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19 Blue flashbulb
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

[Strange Wings]

Originally posted by jeffbert+Aug 28 2004, 11:38 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (jeffbert @ Aug 28 2004, 11:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
[/b]

Hey! I still happen to use them, and my bike isn't that old yet (wait a minute, *calculates*, I bought it 12 years ago - alright, it [i]is old <_< ).

Originally posted by -jeffbert@Aug 28 2004, 11:38 PM

3. Candy cigarettes

I loved them. It not only looked kinda cool to have sticking them in a 9 year old mouth, they also were really tasty. Today they could be used as nicotine/tar-substitute .

Originally posted by -jeffbert@Aug 28 2004, 11:38 PM

13. Howdy Doody

:wahah: "Howdy Doody Time"! Of course I never watched the show but I remember that line appears somwhere in the third Back To The Future movie, the scene in which the 1955 Doc Brown switched the tele on .

Originally posted by -jeffbert@Aug 28 2004, 11:38 PM

14. 45 RPM records

My grandmother had an old turntable (with a 78 RPM switch, so you may imagine how old it was) on which I used to play her 45 RPM hit-singles from the 50's/60's. I remember grandma wasn't happy at all about me to play Edith Piaf, Frank Sinatra and such at 78 RPM. I had a lot of fun to hear them like that, though grandma was worried about the pickup-needle and the worn singles (she's worried rightly, of course ).
She even got an old 78 RPM shellack LP from the 40's, (which I used to run on 45 RPM ). I think those LP's are priceless today.

<!--QuoteBegin--jeffbert[/i]@Aug 28 2004, 11:38 PM

25. Wash tub wringers[/quote]
We had that in our parent's home. I remember it was one he** of a machine, always made an infernal noise when running, and looked really scary with its black paint and awful shape. It was one of the few things in my childhood I noticed as a constant threat.
I never was able to watch my mum doing the washing without getting frightened about that thing.
That wringer could've been builded somewhere in the 40's I guess *shudder* :wacko: .
I hope it got scrapped by now.

I guess I'm covering almost ev'ry time period in the 'Old Dirt Quiz', from still young to old as dirt.

[adrian _68]

Your life as a child is very simple, jeffbert. I sometimes wish that I lived during those times where life is simple for everybody. But I'm thankful that Astro was recreated for aour generation so all of us can share the joys of watching Astro.

[jeffbert]

Originally posted by adrian _68@Aug 29 2004, 05:57 AM
Your life as a child is very simple, jeffbert. I sometimes wish that I lived during those times where life is simple for everybody. But I'm thankful that Astro was recreated for aour generation so all of us can share the joys of watching Astro.

I am not that old. Perhaps I should have indicated that the thing was emailed to me.

I remember an old 'portable' record player from childhood, portable though it was, it was nearly as big as I was. We played kid-friendly stories such as Peter Pan, Puff the Magic Dragon (ok, it might have been a song), & stuff in which there was very little action.

I remember sitting on the couch with my siblings, all crowded around mom, who was reading a bed time story. She was either too tired or cheap to read to each of us when we were already in bed. Besides, we wanted to see the pictures.

I remember the living hell of going to bed before sundown during the summer. I tried to reason with my mom, but she failed to see the logic of letting a 9-year old stay up until 9 PM, because 9 years old = 9 pm bedtime, 1 hour for every year old . It didn't work when I was 10 or 11 either.

I remember fiddling with the rabbit ears & fine-tuning knob on the TV.

My dad, however grew up barefoot on the side of a mountain, had neither electricity nor running water.

I remember my Pinto was broken down because the points were frozen.

I remember when the only moving parts to LEGO were wheels, there were no Minifigures, no themed sets, & only about 4 different sizes of bricks.

GI Joes were about $3 each, & each came with uniform, weapon, & little else. Barbies had conical upper-body characteristics, rather than natural shaped; and only a tiny fraction of toys had sound effects. Bananna seats on bicycles were add ons, fenders were standard.

The only fast food place that had a playground that I can recall was way out on the PA turnpike at a Burger King.

Nobody but Batman & Robin wore seatbelts.

As kids, we were put into the rear of the family wagon, and were able to move about freely.

Sodas, candy, & stamps were ten cents each. I could buy a whole pound of Hershey Bars for $1, & still get change (8 ounce bars were about 47 cents each, & sales tax was 4%).

As kids, we would complain if we received more than 2 baths per week.

Kids' undies were solid white.

Kids' sheets were also solid white.

Only lunch boxes & halloween costumes had cartoon characters on them.

Pajamas had fire trucks, but not cartoon characters on them.

Boys had short hair, their ears were almost always completely visible.

Girls did not have pierced ears, neither did boys. I remember the heat my sister got when she at age 11 or 12 had her friend pierce her ears!

Boys wore pants and dress shirts to school. Girls wore skirts & blouses, or dresses.

Full price admission to the movies was $3. Matinee shows were the same, but kids 12 & under were $1.50.

Mom used the flyswatter on our bare backsides, but dad used his belt. Nobody even thought spanking a kid was abusive, unless he needed medical treatment afterward.



The worst profanity on TV was damn.

Hearing the S-word was funny.

[Loüßëãr]

I am getting older. Some of the things I remember are
*buying Smurf figures from BP (which i STILL have)
*Watching the Muppet movie at the drive in
*Driving in my dads ute tray on my grandparents farm.
*The original series of Skippy (cringe :wahah: )
*when they called the lolly cigs FAGS not FADS :angry:
*My grandfather using his bellows and anvil from his blacksmith days
*Switching the 45's from "turtle" to "chimpunk" speed on my parents turntable
* I had a set of skates which needed keys, I also has a pair of skates which slid in & out to fit your foot.
And watching Wonderful world of Disney EVERY Sunday night with the last of a box of chips that were only bought ONCE a week as a treat for the six of us kids.
We had a TV with the channel knob and the fine tuner together and everything else was push button.
Banana Splits and Danger Island Saturday morning were the best things on TV, and the Magic Roundabout was on ABC every day...... Ahhhh to have those days again.

[cybotron]

SAS? The S.A.S.?

Datafeed on SAS

[jeffbert]

Originally posted by Loüßëãr@Aug 30 2004, 12:26 AM
I am getting older. Some of the things I remember are
*buying Smurf figures from BP (which i STILL have)
*Watching the Muppet movie at the drive in
*Driving in my dads ute tray on my grandparents farm.
*The original series of Skippy (cringe :wahah: )
*when they called the lolly cigs FAGS not FADS :angry:
*My grandfather using his bellows and anvil from his blacksmith days
*Switching the 45's from "turtle" to "chimpunk" speed on my parents turntable
* I had a set of skates which needed keys, I also has a pair of skates which slid in & out to fit your foot.
And watching Wonderful world of Disney EVERY Sunday night with the last of a box of chips that were only bought ONCE a week as a treat for the six of us kids.
We had a TV with the channel knob and the fine tuner together and everything else was push button.
Banana Splits and Danger Island Saturday morning were the best things on TV, and the Magic Roundabout was on ABC every day...... Ahhhh to have those days again.

"*The original series of Skippy (cringe :wahah: )"

Was this about a boy & his pet kangaroo? I live in the USA, but have a vague memory of this.

[jeffbert]

Originally posted by cybotron@Aug 30 2004, 01:13 PM
SAS? The S.A.S.?

Datafeed on SAS

My finger slipped. As you well know, it should be old as dirt.

[Danny]

This sort of "things were different when I was a kid" conversations always fascinate me. THe way life changes for different generations of people is a wonder to me.

After reading this thread I asked my mum and dad to list some of the things they had told me over the years as I was growing up so I could include them here for those interested.

My Dad:
- Lived in a house with a dirt floor, tin walls and a canvas Roof.
- Beds were made of wooden poles and wheat bags.
- All cooking was done outside in iron pots and skittles (not the lolly, you idiots).
- Washing was also done outside in a copper and calvanized Tube.
- There was only one tap with running water. It was shared between three families who would have to cart the water in buckets back to their houses.
- There was no hot water. All water was heated in the cooking pots.
- The family Ute was made of WOOD.
- Entertainment was the "wireless" (radio)
- Altho it was called Wireless, it needed an aerial that was 100ft long strung between trees.
- The only station was ABC (australian Broadcasting Commission)
- the only 'fiction' was a drama series called "Blue Hills"
- School was OPTIONAL! (Sweet! I wish I had this..)
- When he DID go to school, it was on the back of a truck with a wire cage to stop the kids falling off
- Every morning he would ride a round trip of just over 10mile to collect a 2foot block of ice in a sugar bag for the icebox.

And yes. every one of these is TRUE. I have left out several that I did not think people would believe.

My Mum:
- Walking was not an option to those under 12. Running was an instinct, not a choice.
- Vinyl records arrived, as did the "single". which were played at 45rmp.. a new concept for record players.
- Christmas decorations were all made of crepe paper, accept the "real" ones, of course. They were made with REAL coloured paper at school and stuck together with Clag Glue
- "the Hit Parade" turned into "the Top 40"
- everyone had their "bronze Medal" (swimming qualification) or were working at it.
- Everyone kept Chooks, and Dogs were all chained up because fences didnt exist.
- "trannies" (pocket radios) hit the market
- Pubs were only open on sundays. Women were not allowed. They waited in the "beer Garden" and drank "shandys" or squah and lemon.
- Smoking was not known to be lethal. All men smoked. THey rolled their own and filters were unheard of.
- was there for the FIRST rounds of the hula hoop and the YoYo.
- Everyone love Col Joye, cos Johnny o'Keefe was naughty.
- Peter Allen was just half of the alan Brothers.

MY SELF:
- Pocket calculators arived. They fascinated me because they knew 2+2=4 EVERY SINGLE TIME I TRIED!
- Radio fiction was STILL around. THe best was "The Casltereigh Line"
- Pushbike STYLES arrived. Racers, BMX, Lowriders etc. Later on Mountain Bikes. Until then, a bike was just a bike. There was no gears, and most had seats that could take two or three kids.
- Seatbelts were invented, but you did not have to wear them.
- Riding around in the back of the Ute became illegal.
- Two Words.. "HEY! CHARGER!"
- Color TV arrived. We (being techno driven) had one of the first ones in the country. Thus my life changed forever, and outside became something that happened to other people.
- TV shows that I saw the FIRST time they went to air included:
- MASH
- The six Million Dollar Man (and later, the Bionic Woman)
- Spiderman! and no one could believe how quick "that kid from the sound of music" grew up.
(He lives in Australia now, btw.. has done so for about 15 years)
- Tom Baker as Dr Who!!
- Battle of the planets
- BattleStar Gallactica
- Blake's 7
Movies I saw the FIRST run.
- Star Wars!! w00t!
- Rocky
- Jaws
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- The Muppet Movie (man oh man how I loved the muppets.. and still do)
- The origins of the slasher movie (Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Crueger etc..)

Since starting this list.. I am getting more and more appear from mum and dad, They are really into it now. haha.. I may add a few more later.

[GIR]

Few things I remember:
-Michael Jackson was black
-Fireworks were legal (in .au fireworks were outlawed cause kids kept blowing themselves up, stupid kids, tough luck I say!
-Madonnas "Like a Virgin" was banned at our school.
-Rap/Break dancing was all the rage. (uggh)
-Diet coke was invented. (uggh)
-Max Headroom
-Back to the Future
-Fraggle Rock
-Best toys ever: Transformers!!!
-We got a VCR, it had a remote control with a wire attached to the set so "you don’t loose it"
-Telecom (now Telstra) was owned by the government, as was Australia Post, the Gas, the Electricity and public transport. (Now its all gone to hell)
-In 1982 the Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, the mascot was a transvestite kangaroo named Matilda, our 50c piece was emblazoned with the games logo.
-In 1983 we decided to take the Americas Cup away from the yanks for the first time
-In 1984 our dollar note was replaced with a coin.
-In 1988 our two dollar note was replaced with a coin.
-In 1988 we had Australia's Bicentenary, there was much celebrations drinking, singing dancing, fireworks etc, more drinking. (our new Parliament House was also opened)