Another Year Begins

[w1vtp]

How much of these things do you guys remember?  I remember most of them.  Didn't have a TV then and was dirt poor - didn't recognize a few

Al

[The Slab Bacon]

How much of these things do you guys remember?  I remember most of them.  Didn't have a TV then and was dirt poor - didn't recognize a few

Al

Geeeeeezzzzeee, Al, I remember just about all of them!

thanks for making me feel even older   

And bringing back memories of better days gone by! ! 

[KB2WIG]

34 of 42, and I actually met Marlin Perikins.....

klc

[N4LTA]

Dang - I didn't think I was that old - I remember every one of them except Beanie and Cecil and I have some vague feeling about them..

[The Slab Bacon]

the only one that I didn't remember was the tubular fire escapes  

[k4kyv]

I remember most, but not all. I just didn't pay attention to everything back then.  But before getting all nostalgic, think about some of the things not included on the list:

Low-speed dentist drills (the ones with motor and pulley), usually without Novocaine.

"Colored in Rear" signs on the city bus.

Outdoor plumbing, Sears & Roebuck catalogue, corn cobs.

The annual summer polio epidemic.

Party line telephones occupied by chatterboxes just when you expected or needed to make a call.

The monthly major airline crash.

Mumps, measles and chickenpox.

59-year life expectancy.

Castor oil...

[W7TFO]

CONELRAD (control of electromagnetic radiation)

Duck & Cover!

Coast-to-coast highways.

Dan Smoot & Ted Mack

The CBS color TV system

Jeez, where has the time gone?  like a fart in a hurricane, that's where!

73DG

[w1vtp]

I remember most, but not all. I just didn't pay attention to everything back then.  But before getting all nostalgic, think about some of the things not included on the list:

Low-speed dentist drills (the ones with motor and pulley), usually without Novocaine.  Too poor to do this

"Colored in Rear" signs on the city bus.  No buses. Did a lot of walking and biking. Didn't hurt me a bit

Outdoor plumbing, Sears & Roebuck catalogue, corn cobs.  We had a two holer - with a 20' drop. Nice effect in the winter. 'member the Montgomery Wards catalogue but no corn cob. That went into the silage for the cows.

The annual summer polio epidemic. Vaguely remember this but didn't have much time to go swimming

Party line telephones occupied by chatterboxes just when you expected or needed to make a call. Yup! but since we Vermonters don't say much - no problem

The monthly major airline crash.  Don't remember this but spent many hours at Rutland airport watching the planes take off and land

Mumps, measles and chickenpox. Yup

59-year life expectancy.   Too young to worry about this but had a favorite uncle who died from lung cancer - loved Pall Malls. Married to favorite Aunt Martha, W1UET

Castor oil... Cod fish oil for me

[WA1GFZ]

ERRRR I remember it all.
My sister just gave me a book written by the doctor who gave me my polio shots.

[WQ9E]

I was born in 1960 and the only thing I never recall seeing is Topo Gigio (a mouse???).

I am sure a lot of us own several of these items

I have several Akai reel to reel decks and recorders and a Magnavox combination (AM/SW receiver plus turntable and FM tuner) came with several of those 45 RPM inserts in the accessory storage space.  Those old metal ice trays are great and even though we rely upon an icemaker our spare fridge in the mudroom has a couple of these in the freezer.  Many of these products are still available new (I bought our daughter Lincoln Logs a few years ago although they probably are Chinese wood) and some Jiffy pop generally is in the stuff we take camping.

The Kodak Brownie is kind of a sad symbol given Kodak's current state of affairs.  It also reminds me that I am  somewhat irritated that they already discontinued the print kits for the dye sub process photo printer I bought a few years ago.  I much prefer it to ink jet and I guess I will have to upgrade to a more expensive dye sub from a more stable source.

[Ralph W3GL]

Well, I guess  I should get in here with a few memories before they fade away...

1 cent post cards
Blue Sonoco gasoline, 6 for a buck in my dads 1928 Erskine Studebaker Roadster
(used to ride in the rumble seat)
My first auto, not the '58 Study in the article; a '36 Study Business Coupe
At the local watering hole, "I'll have a Falbottle of Smallstaff"
That fire escape tube; where I attended first grade in '32
Do your undies on a wash board in a wooden tub
At the farm; A deluxe 3 holler with lids that had wedges on top to make them
do double duty as back rests...
Friday nights at the drive-in watching the car-hops on roller-skates
NBC's RED & BLUE networks
Ed Morrow's London Blitz Broadcasts
Mr Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
One Man's Family
Wire recorders
and last but not least,
Cod Liver Oil...

Hey, the people passed and most of the junk hit the land fills...

[w1vtp]

Ralph

Ah yes, that was it Cod Liver Oil.  I would make a face every time I had to take it.  What was that for anyway?  To keep me regular? I still remember the taste

Al

[Ralph W3GL]

As I recall, was a source of vitamin C to keep you healthy if you didn't get
enough sunshine...   At least that was my moms story...

[N4LTA]

I grew up in the 50s when most families had a black housekeeper - not just rich people.

Ours ( Lula Mae) was like part of the family. She would dress me and my younger sister up in our Sunday best and take us to "Town" (Concord, NC population about 10,000). We would all ride in the back of the bus in the colored section.

Lots of things have changed for the better.

Pat

[WA1GFZ]

I never got cod liver oil but my parents used to bust our BAs about giving it to us.
They seemed to get joy with that threat.

[N4LTA]

Fletcher's "pleasant tasting" Castoria  - my mother had to chase me and force it down

[AB3L]

I just turned 58 so, unfortunately, I remember most except the escape tube.

If your still storing your original aluminum tree and accessories now might be the time to cash in...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-FOOT-ALUMINUM-CHRISTMAS-TREE-TAPER-TREE-VINTAGE-1960s-ITS-ORIGINAL-BOX-/110801334247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19cc462fe7

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ALUMINUM-TANK-STYLE-CHRISTMAS-TREE-STAND-REVOLVING-COLOR-WHEEL-TRI-LIGHT-/270882613459?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f11dca8d3

[K9PNP]

Lotsa good stuff there.

Sky King, Dragnet, Gangbusters, lots of others on AM broadcast radio.

19 and 20 cent 'premium' [AKA 'Ethyl'] gasoline during price wars.

Brylcreem:  A little dab'l do ya.  The OM said no, so never did try it.

There is still a tube-type fire escape on the old hospital building here that they moved out of in 1961.  I was in HS and helped coordinate the move on 50.58 using Sixers and halos or quarter wave whips and vibrator power supplies in the mobiles.

[k4kyv]

There is still a tube-type fire escape on the old hospital building here that they moved out of in 1961.  I was in HS and helped coordinate the move on 50.58 using Sixers and halos or quarter wave whips and vibrator power supplies in the mobiles.

I'd bet those things were fun to slide down, like a giant chute. Schools probably had all kinds of rules and dire threats to keep kids out of them when there wasn't a fire.

[WA2TTP Steve]

I'am good for about 95% of that list. I grew up in suburban Long Island so at least we had in door plumbing! Some people still had party lines in the 50's but we didn't.
Going to the dentist was a form of torture for me between the slow drill and the cold water rinse it wasn't fun. My kids and grand kids don't think twice about going, no pain.
I remember things like leukemia were a death sentence. I knew two kids who died from it.
I never saw one of those chutes...looked like it could be fun.
Radio Row in NYC was still in full swing.

Steve

[K5UJ]

I don't remember washtub ringers--I think that's the only thing on the list that got by me.

What about ur parents?  Did they ever tell you about their childhoods?   Mom who was born in 1917 used to tell me about steam engines, and the days when radio was new.  She remembered her father and her uncle Howard listening to a crystal set with headphones.  She and her parents at some point in the mid '20s moved to Texas.  The trip from Mississippi was in a Model A.  Roads were mostly undeveloped; there were no cross country national highways and motels.  They got lost a lot (no signs) and had to stop for directions.  They spent nights in churches or out on the ground.   Since there was no TV, internet, and movies were silents, people socialized face to face more.  They'd sit out on their porches or walk around the neighborhood and visit people sitting on their porches.  Towns would provide their own entertainment at school auditoriums if there were no vaudeville shows.  Technology has not been all positive IMO. 

You all in the South may remember porch swings.   

[KC4ALF]

Wow! Things old are new again! I just got the new Lehman"s catalouge and are offering a Brand new Wringer Washer! Course it's foreign made, but to be able to get one. And all the old type candies they carry, Squirrel nut zippers, Sugar Babies, Black Jack Taffy to name a few.

Ah to be 10 again.

[k4kyv]

I don't remember washtub ringers--I think that's the only thing on the list that got by me.

I remember those. Many homes of that era were without hot running water, so one could get little electric water heaters that you plugged into the 110 volt mains, and submerged the whole thing into the water.  The metal case had little holes in it, and water was in direct contact with the heating element.  And often a metal "laundry tub" was used to hold the water. Imagine using one of those things in a damp basement with concrete floor.  They did come with a safety warning on the box.  They would crap out after about 3 months, as calcium built up on the heating coil and whole inside of the thing got gummed up, but they cost only a couple of bucks.

And in the days before electricity, the washer wringer was turned manually, by a hand crank. I have also seen ones run by a small gasoline engine.

Now, how many of these defunct technological marvels do you remember?
http://www.tvkim.com/watch/1639/kim-on-komand-old-technology-r-i-p?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=totd-recap&utm_content=2012-01-08-need-to-know-title&utm_campaign=a

[w1vtp]

We didn't have running water when I was a kid.  The Old Man used to bring water home in a milk can (see upload).  He would fill it up from any old roadside spring, and bring it home.  We'd then dispense it from the can using a dipper. The kitchen stove was a kerosene stove - the kind with the asbestos wick. It actually had an oven but I don't know how that worked

The outhouse - (this at our other home that the Old Man built) was a small 4 x 4' affair that was out back. It was covered with an old maple sap evaporator pan, upside down on the top   When we had to do our duties, we took a 50' walk through the snow to get there.  We had central heating - a sheet metal stove that was in the living area. No other part of the house was heated.  My upstairs bedroom was as cold as the outdoors. I remember waking up sometimes in the morning with snow on the bed covers.

Those were the days.  Oh yeah, every Saturday night I'd get taken to my aunt Martha's apartment and take my weekly bath so I didn't stink for Sunday services. It was there I got introduced to ham radio.  That was a simple, magical time in my life.

Al

[K3ZS]

Medical doctors recommending certain cigarette brands.
Best available blood pressure medication was phenobarbital.
Doctors reusing syringes and their needles, and the needles were big and fat and hurt.
Arms aching for days after getting a shot for some disease that doesn't exist anymore.

Thank goodness for modern medicine.