[The Great Fumar]

Someone 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!
'Mom cooked every day and when Dad 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, never wore Levis , never set
foot on a golf course, never 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 & Roebuck.
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 5.
It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at
midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about
God; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. and there was usually a
locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people.
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.
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 --
my brother delivered a newspaper, six days a
week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which he got to keep 2 cents. He had to
get up at 6 A.M. every morning. On Saturday, he had to collect the 42
cents from his customers. His favorite customers were the ones who gave him
50 cents and told him to keep the change. His 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. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly
produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or
most anything offensive.
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.
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 filled with water, 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 boxes.
6 . Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers..
7. Party lines on the telephone.
8. Newsreels before the movie.
9. P.F. Flyers.
10. Butch wax.
11. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were
there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3
channels).
12. Peashooters.
13. Howdy Doody.
14.. 45 RPM records.
15. S & H greenstamps.
16. Hi-fi's.
17. Metal ice trays with lever.
18. Mimeograph paper.
19. Blue flashbulbs.
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 !
I might be older than dirt but those memories are some of the best parts of
my life.

[l2ridehd]

I remembered then all except roller skate keys, because we only had ice skates. I know what they were, but not because I used them. And I was in 6th grade when we got our first TV. My friends had them before that, but we were kind of poor so could not afford one. I must be older then old dirt.

[jblum8156]

Ditto 12rdhd. I remember all except roller skate keys, for the same reason. And I grew up on a farm in Virginia, so there was salt herring packed in a barrel at the general store. And fresh oysters in their shells in a barrel with ice on top. No frozen food at all. Ice cream was dispensed from a chest freezer in pints or quarts or in a little paper cup with a little wooden spoon to eat it with. We got fresh eggs from our own hens and butter from the lady down the road who had churned it that morning.

[mokey]

JB do you remember West Store on 360 east?

[2BNTV]

I remembered them all. I'm older than dirt.

I remember when there were only ice boxes and the delivery man used to cut the ice and then slig in onto his back and carry it into the building?

I remember a man delivering coal and the building had an opening in the front,(shute), and shoveled the coal onto the shute that went to the floor near the furnace?

I remember penny candy and when devil dogs were 5 cents and were bigger.

Our neighborhood had a guy, (Freddie), who sold hot dogs and had a cart with a horse. Hot dogs were 10 cents and three for a quarter.

I remember a conversation several years ago with a younger person that when I said, I remember when there was no air-conditioning and refrigerators. their reponse was an incredulous, "You mean there was no air-conditiing and refrigerators". How did you live?

[Endless Summer]

I remember the strawberry man pushing his cart down the street, calling out "Straawwberrees...Strawberries!!". How about the "Omar Man"? best cinnamon rolls ever!

[Shimpy]

I got them all without even having to strain my mind.

[njbchbum]

i used a skate key and remember all of the list - plus - watching my grandmother wash the whites in a huge tub on the basement stove [next to the wringer] and adding bluing for whiteness! i also recall having to brush my teeth with some gritty powder - we used baking soda when we ran out of the gritty stuff. and my mother dried our hair in front of the gas oven - than goodness she lit it! maybe i should go and take a nap!

[chuckinca]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

I remembered them all. I'm older than dirt.

I remember when there were only ice boxes and the delivery man used to cut the ice and then slig in onto his back and carry it into the building?

I remember a man delivering coal and the building had an opening in the front,(shute), and shoveled the coal onto the shute that went to the floor near the furnace?

I remember penny candy and when devil dogs were 5 cents and were bigger.

Our neighborhood had a guy, (Freddie), who sold hot dogs and had a cart with a horse. Hot dogs were 10 cents and three for a quarter.

I remember a conversation several years ago with a younger person that when I said, I remember when there was no air-conditioning and refrigerators. their reponse was an incredulous, "You mean there was no air-conditiing and refrigerators". How did you live?

I remember all the above except never heard of a Devil Dog - in with penny candy so it is probably some kind of candy?

I remember watching Howdy Doody down the street at the only house that had a TV and waiting in front of the Indian picture on the TV for about a half hour until Howdy came on - it was the only thing on TV.

Who was the Fat Lady, What song did she sing, When was it sung and why?


.

[Boomer]

Ohhhhh, here I go again. Whatintheheckisthematterwithme? I cannot resist this kind of thread.


Dear Mr. Great Fumar, Sir:

You just had to post this one didn't you? And then I just had to read it, didn't I? I knew the title meant there would be lots of nostalgic stuff to think about. And so I could not stop myself from looking.

And, now, I have to admit to 23 of them. But if a PF Flyer is a sled that makes it 24. And if I get credit for knowing about newsreels before movies, even though I don't remember ever seeing one, then I am El Perfecto Boomero Numero Uno. Geez.

In my laundry room, displayed atop the cabinets, there is an old glass 7 Up bottle with a sprinkling top.

I just told Mr. Boomer about this thread and that caused him to start talking about his paper route. And the numbers were exactly like the numbers here. 2 cents a paper. He had an afternoon route.

And then he started talking about curb feelers and vacuum-powered windshield wipers that worked off the intake manifold. (At least, I do not know what he is talking about with that one.)

Ohhhh, this is most distressing. Most, most distressing. Why oh why do I know this stuff???



And Chuck, are you asking about Kate Smith singing "God Bless America"? I think maybe that is what you mean. Unless.......it is Sophie Tucker singing, "Some of these days, you're gonna miss me"....Ohhhh, I love that song, too, but I think it might actually be from the 20's.

And was it Winky Dink on television who had us put some kind of plastic thing over the screen so we could draw on it? I have a friend who did not send away for the plastic stuff and just drew directly on the screen and got in a lot of trouble.

Boomersaurus

[chuckinca]

Boomer:

You got Kate Smith and the song - now answer the rest; when and why. Remember, it ain't over till the fat lady sings.

I think I got paid 1 cent a paper for the Southtown Economist that was delivered twice a week to every door in the neighborhood. With the Saturday delivery you had to knock on the doors and collect; most didn't pay because it wasn't a by subscription newspaper.

.

[Boomer]

Chuck,

Was it when the station went off the air?

Not sure. I don't know why. I guess I could look it up, but that would not be fair. I will have to think about it some more.

Maybe I missed that part because I was at school, hiding under my desk -- duck and cover, you know. -- but I think it was at night when she sang it. Darn it. Cannot remember.

Boomer

[chuckinca]

Guess you stayed up late too.

Yes, when the station went off the air for the night they showed a film of a flag waving in the breeze and Kate sang God Bless America. Of course, back then there were only about 3 stations and the one that stayed on the latest (usually 1 AM on the week-ends) did the shut down ritual.

And then it was only the Indian test signal until they started up in the morning.

.

[getdul981]

I can remember all of the things mentioned here, except the Devil Dog. Don't know what that is and maybe it was called something else where I was.

We actually have an old skate key, or at least we had one when we packed things up back in VA. Who knows if it will make it through the storage and delivery to us here in TV.

[Boomer]

Chuck,

I remember seeing Kate Smith, but I don't remember ever being allowed to stay up late. I guess it must have happened once or twice. Maybe I talked a babysitter into it or something.

I never really thought about Kate Smith maybe being the fat lady referred to in the saying, "It's not over 'til the fat lady sings." But I guess it could be.

I always thought the expression got its source from a comment by somebody who was talking about when you know an opera is almost over. Somebody who was not thrilled about going to the opera I guess.

I think it is kind of interesting to think about how those old sayings get started. Geez. I sure can be boring sometimes.

Boomer