When I was Young......

[John Rogers]

I was born in 1945 and things were really different then as opposed to today. Some of the tings I remember very well was always listening to the radio and then we got our first TV set, shows had NO commercials and it was on the air for about 4 hours a day! Then commercials started and were funny now it seems. Walt Disney's show in the beginning never had any commercials but did have an intermission so the kids could go to the bathroom!

The black people lived in their "own" part of town, no integration at all and I used to walk to the river that ran through town to catch fish and stop and give them to a real old and over weight black lady who had no shoes. She was always so happy and one day I met her husband who was a "chicken catcher" at the huge local chicken processing plant. He said the fish many times kept them from going hungry!

I remember in 1957 or '58 when the schools in Delaware were integrated and my mother made me stay home for a couple days as she was afraid I would "catch something" from the new folks! The track and football teams found out quickly how good of an athlete those guys were!

I remember never missing an American Bandstand show and how all of us in school would try to have the same hair do as those guys from Philly! Came on just as school was letting out.

In 1963 we skipped school for several days and drove to Daytona Beach for the Daytona 500. Saw Richard Petty and his pit crew, in their stock car come into the drive-in to eat at the same time we were there, man was that car loud. We had never heard of a guy named Tiny Lund but he was huge! We actually met Dan Gurney and later at his American Eagle shop near LA I met him again at a Porsche event and fun run. I mentioned the Daytona race but he didn't remember me!!!! Also got a free ride in a Cobra which scared the hell out me on the banking!

Yeah, things are a lot different today.......

[scottmandue]

I was born in 1957...
Oddly one of my most vivid memories is moving into my brother's garage when I was about 20 ($200 a month rent) where we setup a shower stall, toilet, and a gas stove. My brother climbed up the telephone pole and strung some coax to get free cable, we put in a "T" and ran a line to my garage.
Watching MTV, it was nothing but music and no commercials.

[Baz]

Great post John!

I'm a baby boomer and remember all the stuff going on with my oldest brother (7 years older than I) like records he bought (Bob Dylan, Beach Boys, The Animals) - his hot rods ('56 and '57 Chevys) and the stuff his friends were doing (Honda motorcycle - what 125cc?) and "Slim"'s '65 Impala. Our 3 TV channels were 2-6-10 I think. Rabbit ears.

Saw the moon landing live on TV at the local Highs Ice Cream parlor.

Dad took his sons to see "The Green Berets" at the local Drive In when it first came out and also "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World."

They built a new Jr. and High School within' walking/biking distance to our home. I attended Jr. High and half of the 10th grade at that high school and the following year we were going to be bussed downtown to Booker T Washington High School. That was in Jan. 1970 - my dad had died in '68 and my Mom re-married 2 years later to a man from Florida so off we went - warmer water for surfing and no bus rides downtown.

The rest is history....

EDIT: First Feb. we were down in Florida my new cousins took us to the Daytona 500 (Feb. '70) and we saw those Dodge chargers with the big wings.....



And Petty in his "Superbird"....



That was pretty cool....

[strupgolf]

Yep, went to my first drags in Miami, 1967. Then went to Sebring in 67, 68, and loved every minute of it. I had a 68 Camaro at the time and I only thought about the T/Aseries. I went to Bobby Jones firestone outlet to get some wide tires for my car. He was so nice and helpful. Those days are long gone, but I still have pics and memories.

[LakeCleElum]

Cool stories for sure........

[Por_sha911]

Shouldn't stories like these include the phrase "uphill, in the snow, both ways"?

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Shouldn't stories like these include the phrase "uphill, in the snow, both ways"?

I think you are rowing against the gentle tide of nostalgia.

I had a dream last night about places I used to live, as if I still lived there, and they were all in the same neighborhood.

I was living at the grand canyon on the edge of the ocean. It was grand alright. I really enjoyed it.

[NY65912]

Born in '55. I guess what I long for from the old days growing up were respecting one another as well as one's self. We went to church dressed, suit, and hat. The ladies wore gloves and were always ladies. We watched out for one another on the block. Brooklyn was a wonderful place to grow up in those days. What a great education I received.

[ckelly78z]

One of my most vivid early memories in about 1969, was of my dad taking me to a buddys hot rod shop, and there in one of the bays was a beautiful bright red 66 Chevelle SS with huge rear tires, and skinnys up front. They talked for a bit and asked me if I wanted to hear it run. I had never heard a big block with a 6-71 blower run before, especially inside a cramped shop. That thing scared the ****e out of me, but I couldn't stop grinning for the rest of the day. I think that single moment in time shaped my love of cars. Maybe the reason I remember it so clearly is that my dad was driving a very similar red 66 Chevelle with the stock 327 4 speed at the time.

[widgeon13]

Born in '46. Walked to grade school. After that pretty much a delinquent so most of the stuff I did can't be in print here although the statute of limitations has expired on most of my deeds.

[fastfredracing]

This is a good thread. I spent a lot of time with my grandpa growing up,and always enjoyed hearing stories about how it was in his time. Lived, and supported his family through the great depression at the age of 14, you know, that sort of stuff...
I was born in 70, so I cannot really play in this thread, but times were a whole lot different even back then. The world seemed a smaller , simpler place, where people looked out for each other. The American dream was still alive and well, not sure exactly when it died off, but seems to be gone.
Keep the stories coming old timers . Nice thread .

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Shouldn't stories like these include the phrase "uphill, in the snow, both ways"?

I grew up in rural Appalachia. We were very poor but did not know it. (since we only got one TV channel which was mostly church/ministry). Raised our own food. On snowy days the bus did indeed stop at the end of the paved road and we walked the last two miles uphill in the snow. Of course, we walked downhill in the snow the next morning.

My first car was a used '65 Mustang. It cost me $100. Our closest neighbor had a very nice, cherry '55 Chevy and a '48 Dodge Pickup. Both cost him $50 each.

[billybek]

It is interesting to see photos of the house I grew up in. When I was a wee lad, there really wasn't much furniture or clutter in the home. Fewer possessions and much less stuff under the Christmas tree than we are accustom to seeing now.
I do remember being pushed out the door in the morning on the weekends and not returning home until dinner time. No one had a clue as to where I was or what I was up to.
Even as young as 5 or 6 years old I would walk to the outdoor rink and play hockey with kids of all ages and young adults. It was a blast. The older kids on our street would watch out for us, too.
We had three broadcast channels in our area. Getting cable around 1970 was a big deal.

[petrolhead611]

Born in '49 near London. Can vaguely still remember the end of rationing, eg virtually no new furniture for sale, so my parents bought genuine antique stuff, or the utility wardrobes from solid oak that were available from new and are still in use today.
Cars were very expensive and hard to get( most were exported to help repay the US for the lease-lend ), my dad drove pre-war cars until about '58. Petrol rationing came in again in '56 during the Suez crisis. Flew to Munich in '56, saw the ruined buildings and felt good about that, my grandfather was busy getting war restitution out of the German Government for as many of their victims as he could, and unknown to little me at the time, my dad was sniffing out Nazis(as he had done in Berlin just after the war in Europe finished).
Saw my first TV in '53 at my aunt's house, all the neighbours were gathered in her front room watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. We didn't get a TV until '56, and the screen was smaller than that of a netbook I think, but the polished wood cabinet was pretty impressive.
By about 1960, my dad's garage was tuning Ford Zephyrs and Austin Healeys for rallying use, and he used to test drive them on the A1 road with me as a passenger whenever I could be there,for accelaration and flat out top speed( the big Healeys were indicating 130 mph, but by todays standards they took an age to get there.) There were of course no speed limits on highways in Britain until 1967, and speed cameras hadn't even entered the realms of science fiction yet.

[GH85Carrera]

I was Born in 1954.

I grew up in the Leave It To Beaver style for much of my younger days. I walked to school in first grade along side my older brother who was in third grade. In my mind it was a mile long walk. I looked it up not long ago and it is just a few blocks. I vividly remember one house on the way had a huge honeysuckle bush. We stopped every time and sucked out some honeysuckle flowers. We lived at 1146 Hookahi St, Pearl City, HI. I went to school wearing shorts. Not shirt, no shoes.



That is our Plymouth Fury at that house.

We moved to San Marcos, TX after that for my second grade. No more barefoot schooldays. I rode my bike and we rode all over town. The rules were simple be home for dinner at 6:30 SHARP or go hungry. As soon as that was done we had to be home by the time the street lights came on.

We would ride our bikes to the middle of downtown park our unlocked bikes next to the theater and watch the Saturday matinee. 25 cents was the ticket and another 25 cents for the popcorn, sugar daddies, and a Coke in a bottle. We would walk along the side of the road and pickup Coke bottles to take to the grocery store to get the bounty and that made us enough to go to the movies.

Third grade was in Montgomery, Al. I missed the first day of school because we were still moving in. My first day in school the teacher gave us a pop spelling test. She would say the word and we had to spell it. I made a ZERO because I could not understand her very thick southern accent. Every word had extra syllables. She said a word like quarter but pronunced it "kawat-a." My parents were called to the school and they had a heck of a time understanding that teacher so they knew what the problem was. The teacher promised to try to enunciate the words better when she was giving a spelling test.

I remember the first time I ever saw a color TV it was in the waiting area at a Mexican food restaurant. The show Flipper was on and my brother and I were stunned. We did not get a color TV until many years later. Just 3 stations and very little to watch except on Saturday Morning. We were way to busy playing outside anyway.

I spent a ton of time at a buddies house and my buddies slept at our house all the time. A different set of friends every year since we moved all the time. I went to 11 different schools from 1st to 12th grade. Dad was an Air Force Pilot and we were were the Air Force sent us. I learned at a young age to make friends fast. The bad part is I don't have any childhood friends.

[oldE]

Born in '54, the youngest of ten children. Our community was about 12 miles from the nearest town. The two room school was only 1/4 mile away, so the only time I remember not going was during sickness or the time the river flooded in the spring of '62 and we couldn't get to the schoolyard.
In the summer my friends and I lived either on the river or on our bikes. We would range far and wide. A couple of times around ages 12 & 13, I remember riding 15 miles to Parrsboro.

Did anyone else play "Scrub"? It was a baseball game in which there were no teams because there weren't enough kids, but you played through a rotation. When you started, you called numbers. Numbers 1 & 2 were at bat and on deck. #3 was the catcher, #4 the pitcher, #s 5 - 8 the infield and if you had them, the rest were outfield.
The trick was to get a home run or bat in your other batter, otherwise someone was out and you went back into the rotation as the highest number. We would play that before school , at recess and at noon. I can still remember the first fly ball I caught.

In the winter time we switched to sleds and skates. There was a good pond in the centre of the village and a community recreation committee built an outdoor rink. When I was in Scouts we took on the responsibility of flooding the ice one winter, pumping water out of the fast-flowing river across the road through a culvert and trying to keep the ice in good shape.

TV was one channel, unless conditions were just right. Ed Sullivan and Bonanza were Sunday night staples. About the only time I remember my Dad watching TV was for Hockey Night In Canada.

On the farm, before I was big enough to lift a bale of hay onto the wagon, I would be detailed to the tractor to pull the wagon across the field so my brothers could load. When most of my brothers grew up and left home Dad added a bale chute extension to the baler so the hay would go on to the wagon so I could build the load on the wagon as he baled. I think I must have been about 11 or 12 the first time Dad got me to mow a field of hay.

The house I grew up in had the telephone exchange for the community. It had gone in in '46 a few months after my parents purchased the farm. I suspect I was 10 years old the first time I put through a local call. Listening in on calls was the quickest way to get into trouble I ever encountered!

Thanks for the memories.
Les

[recycled sixtie]

[QUOTE=petrolhead611;8381417]Born in '49 near London. Can vaguely still remember the end of rationing, eg virtually no new furniture for sale, so my parents bought genuine antique stuff, or the utility wardrobes from solid oak that were available from new and are still in use today.

Good thread John. I can relate to a lot of this car stuff because I was borne in 1946 and we lived near Leeds. My father had a car dealership. It was BMC/Austin/ Morris etc but he sold other cars too. We were located at Cayton Bay near Scarborough, Yorkshire. He would take me to a car dealer in Leeds by the name of George Binns. I remember some of the bombed out buildings in Leeds in the 1950's. My father would pick and choose which cars he thought would sell. I remember him rejecting a Renault. I thought it was kind of quirky and cool.

The first time I went over 100 mph was either in a Ford Zephr or Zodiac. That was neat stuff.I remember lots of Morris Minors and Austin A30's . We lived above the garage for a while. As recently as 15 years ago the garage was turned in to a restaurant which we sat in for old time's sake. Now it has been levelled to make way for an expanding holiday trailer park.
Cheers, Guy

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The bad part is I don't have any childhood friends.

You've got us! We're mostly children on this board!

[John Rogers]

My doctor told me one of the side effects of Lipitor which I have been taking for a year or so is an abundance of dreams. She said most people that report them say they are a mis-mash of things from their past. If they turn into nightmares which can happen, she says there is a "sleep aid" which she can provide that will eliminate all of them! I enjoy mine as noted earlier by another poster they are interesting.

[widgeon13]

I have no childhood friends either, grew up in a military family and moved every couple of years. I have found a few old school friends on FB and it's been very enjoyable to reminisce. I have managed to survive the isolation. Think I went to 8 schools between first grade and HS graduation.

Quote de GH85Carrera

The bad part is I don't have any childhood friends.

You've got us! We're mostly children on this board!