PDA

View Full Version : If You Are Old Enough To Remember


David
04-24-2001, 02:52 AM
If you are old enough ...take the stroll...
Close your eyes ... And go back ...
Before the Internet or the MAC...
Before semi-automatics and crack...
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo.....
Way back............


I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk,
-- Sittin' on the porch,
-- Simon Says,
-- Kick the Can,
-- Red light, Green light,
-- Chocolate milk,
-- Going home for lunch,
-- Penny candy from the store,
-- Hopscotch,
-- Butterscotch,
-- Skates with keys,
-- Jacks,


-- Mother May I?
-- Hula Hoops and Sunflower seeds,
-- Whist and Old Maid and Crazy Eights,
-- Wax lips and mustaches,
-- Mary Janes,
-- Saddle shoes,
-- Coke bottles with the names of cities on the bottom,
-- Running through the sprinkler,
-- Running behind the DDT truck,
-- Sittin' on the curb,
-- Staring at clouds,
-- Circle pins,
-- Bobby pins,
-- Mickey Mouse Club, Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Spin & Marty
...all in black & white.


-- When around the corner seemed far away,
-- and going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
-- Bedtime,
-- Climbing trees,
-- Making forts,
-- A Coaster made from orange crates and an old skate,
-- Backyard Shows,
-- Lemonade stands,
-- Cops and Robbers,
-- Cowboys and Indians,
-- Jumpin' down the steps,
-- Jumping on the bed,
-- Pillow fights,
-- "Company",
-- Ribbon candy,
-- Angel hair on the Christmas tree,
-- Running from the guards at Halloween,
-- Jackie Gleason as "the poor soul",
-- White gloves,
-- Walking to church,


-- Walking to the Community Center,
-- Being tickled to death,
-- Running till you were out of breath,
-- Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt,
-- Being tired from playin' . . . Remember that?
-- Not steppin' on a crack . . . or you'll break your mother's back,
-- Paper chains at Christmas,
-- Silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington,
-- The smell of paste,
-- Buck bags and Evening in Paris,
-- Crowding around in a circle for the 'after-school fight', then running when the teacher came.
-- What about the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting. . . who dotted her "i's" with hearts??
-- The Stroll,
-- Popcorn balls, & sock hops,
-- Lunch Boxes with a Thermos (that broke).


Remember when....

-- When there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyer) and the only time you wore them at school was for
"gym". . .
--And the girls had those ugly uniforms.
-- When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up,
-- When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school,
-- When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a huge bonus,
-- When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny,
-- When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then,
-- When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces (or when you did!),
-- When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done everyday and wore high heels,
-- When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time, and,you didn't pay for air. . .and, you got trading stamps to boot!
-- When nobody owned a pure bred dog (except Bohart)
-- When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box,
-- When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it,
-- When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents,
-- When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed . . . and did!
-- When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms, flunk a test or chew gum,
-- And the prom was in the auditorium and we danced to an orchestra, and all the girls wore pastel gowns and the boys wore suits for the first time and we stayed out all night,
-- When a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car
to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races,


-- When people went steady and girls wore a class ring with an inch of wrapped dental floss coated with pastel frost nail polish so it would fit her finger,
-- And no one ever asked where the car keys were 'cause they were always in the car, in the ignition and the doors were never locked,
-- And you got in big trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at home. No one ever had a key.
-- And lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying things like "That cloud looks like a.....
-- When stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger,
-- And playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game. Then....baseball was not a psychological group learning experience, it was a game.


And...with all our progress...
don't you just wish...just once...
you could slip back in time and savor the
slower pace... and share it with the children
of the 80's and 90's ...


Can you still remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, Laurel & Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow knows..., Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk...
-- as well as the sound of a reel mower on Saturday morning,
-- Playing in Cowboy land,
-- Baseball games,
-- Bowling and visits to the pool,
-- And eating Kool-aid powder with sugar,
-- And summers filled with bike rides,


-- When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.

Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
But we all survived because their love was greater than the threat.


Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!"


------------------
Take your hands off the trunk of the car and I'll make your Birth Certificate just another worthless document!!

Rule.303
04-24-2001, 03:32 AM
I oft wish I could turn back the clock and relive those years, but with the experience and wisdom I have accrued to this day.

------------------
Damn!!!., Computer says "hit any key", but I can't find the "Any Key". Where is the "Any Key"????

Mitzi
04-24-2001, 04:34 AM
Oh, me too, Rule! I sure would never have dated "Bill"! lol But then, if it weren't for Bill, I wouldn't have met my husband. lol We met double dating http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif lol

Don
04-24-2001, 11:23 AM
Thanks for sharing that David. It certainly was a "softer, more gentle" time. Back then there seemed to be a little common sense in this world. . .

------------------
All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.
6P1 (retired)

ftrphxcop
04-24-2001, 02:54 PM
I remember some of those things http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif I wish i could raise my kids in that era. (sighing)

Jensenfarm
04-30-2001, 02:26 AM
AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Man that sure hit the spot.
I've been in a melancholy mood the past couple weeks anyways, as the 40 acre farm I was born and raised on (I remember catching pollywogs in a ol' Mason jar and shooting slingshots and BB guns at the WaterSkeeters in the ditches) was just paved over with 1,000,000 sq. foot warehouses. My childhood stompin' ground is no more...sniff....

[This message has been edited by Jensenfarm (edited 04-30-2001).]

123
04-30-2001, 02:31 AM
Hey! I read the Hardy Boys!!! I'd fly through those suckers in less than a day.

Don
04-30-2001, 01:00 PM
Originally posted by Jensenfarm:
My childhood stompin' ground is no more...sniff....



Oh man I can identify with that! I'm sure that many of us here can.

Glad to see you back posting again! http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.
6P1 (retired)

Malaru
03-07-2009, 07:46 PM
Just enjoying some of the old posts- I can remember a few of these? :)

FJDave
03-07-2009, 08:09 PM
Whoa...great post, and one of the oldest I've seen on this site yet!

AKSledhead
03-07-2009, 08:45 PM
Indeed a great post... I was an 80's baby, but I was raised in the country so a lot of those still applied to my childhood. Gawsh I'd love that '57 Chevy.

TimK
03-07-2009, 11:47 PM
Ah, the good old days. World war one. Prohibition and the American gangsters. World war two. The red scare. Korea. Cuba. Vietnam.

Life is what you make of it. Sit back, have yourself a nice cold drink, and enjoy what you've got. Because brother, we've seen worse. As a poor man in America I'm still getting the college education few received in the 50s. I have my own apartment, plenty of 'stuff' to keep me entertained. I'm living the dream in the here and now. Join me :)

unsworninpa104
03-08-2009, 12:37 AM
I was born and raised in the 80's and I remember most of these. Like somebody mentioned before, I wish I could go back and apply the knowledge that I have now when I was younger.

aaaaah, what I would do to relive the old days of war and capture the flag and apply my tactical knowledge:D.

willowdared
03-08-2009, 12:47 AM
Kick the Can....best game that ever was!

AKSledhead
03-08-2009, 04:52 AM
Kick the Can....best game that ever was!


I always enjoyed fort building, I built over 15 treehouses in my childhood, using rope too... none of that nail BS. :D

Steelers5
03-08-2009, 05:27 AM
"don't you just wish...just once...
you could slip back in time and savor the
slower pace... and share it with the children
of the 80's and 90's ..."



I remember most of those things ( born in 1981 )
why ??? because the older kids passed on the traits. Now it's all forgotten and worthless to teach to the technology savy lazy kids who don't want to be outside or the parents are afraid of bloody knees / broken arms !!!!!

1981 sure does not sound old enough, but the older generation passed on some great damn games !!!!

YEP, I remember that...

SgtCHP
03-08-2009, 08:12 AM
Or, you can add a little music..................

http://www.mamarocks.com/lost_in_the_fifties.htm

DACP
03-08-2009, 09:35 AM
If You Are Old Enough To Remember
When this thread was first posted :D

exdrip
03-08-2009, 10:48 AM
Yea, I remember that.

Retired96
03-08-2009, 10:56 AM
Having grown up in the 50's and 60's I remember all of those good times. They are memories I will always cherish. If only I could turn back the clock of time and relive them again.

safetyallday
03-09-2009, 12:32 PM
Great post! It puts things into perspective, times are so crazy now. Ahhhh to be able to go back to the innocence of youth!

ateamer
03-09-2009, 03:06 PM
-Hardly any TV channels, and sanitized programming.
-Taking a week or two to have written communication with someone across the country.
-Long distance phone calls were expensive, and only for special occasions.
-News that was 24 hours or more out of date by the time it hit your front step.
-You could only get fresh vegetable and fruit during the local season, not year-round.
-Cars that needed things like ignition points to be changed, and all kinds of other things. Hardly any cars lasted to 100,000 miles and still ran like new with nothing other than oil changes ever having been done.
-Things like cruise ship vacations were for only the very rich.
-You had to go to half a dozen different stores to get a week's worth of groceries and household items, and it took all day Saturday to do it.
-You couldn't order virtually any item made in the world without leaving your living room and have it at your door a week later.
-Comparison shopping meant driving from store to store, wasting gas and time, and still not getting the best possible deal.
-Information on politicians came from Newsweek, the daily paper and the 6:00 news. No Internet that had an unlimited free flow of information, and no two-way discussion beyond face-to-face conversations.
-People didn't live as long and weren't as healthy. A heart attack meant you were down for a month or more, not walking out of the hospital two days later. A blown-out knee meant you were a cripple and doomed to living in pain for the rest of your life, not a two-hour procedure that you walked away from and were back at 100% two months later.
-Air travel was a special thing for businessmen and the rich. It was so rare for the common man that people dressed like they were going to see the Pope, and there was no such thing as the boys hopping on Southwest for a weekend trip to Vegas.
-There werent't the fantastic array of foods that there are today. Thanks to things like the Food Channel, the Internet and celebrity chefs, there are unlimited choices of tasty, varied foods out there for us.
-No brew pubs. Beer came mostly in cans, and was crap like Bud and Miller.
-Almost all wine came from Europe, and not that many people knew much about drink.

The good old days are right now.

CityCopDC
03-09-2009, 09:52 PM
-- Simon Says,
-- Red light, Green light,
-- Mother May I?


-- Cops and Robbers,
-- Cowboys and Indians,

-- Being tickled to death,
-- Running till you were out of breath,
-- Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt,
-- When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up,
-- When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school,
-- When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a huge bonus,
-- When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it,
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
But we all survived because their love was greater than the threat.



Oh snap!! Now thats back in the day!! :)

Southflaguy
03-09-2009, 10:08 PM
YES!!!I'm still young...:cool: