Remember this stuff......things that bring back good memories

[John Holotko]

Many of life's fondest memories escape from us as we grow older. You remember the old passage from a song "you dont know what you got till its gone".

One of the things from the past that I miss the most was holiday get togethers!!
Ours used to be at my aunt Liz's house.( the family matriarch figure) Dozens and dozens of people!! Kids coming out of the wood work.And the food!! Oh, my God, the food!

You too eh ?? Same thing with my family although we used to meet at my  grandpa's house every christmas eve. My grandpa lived on Minford Place in the South Bronx. We were a large Bronx Italian family and on Christmas every aunt, uncle, cousin, in-laws, freinds, etc. used to converge on that  house in the Bronx. The grownups all sat packed in the ktichen and us kids would be in the living room off to the side of  the kitchen.  I was famous for entertaining my younger cousins and annoying the heck out of one of my older cousins. And there was plenty of food and plenty of stories from aunts , uncles, and cousins, particularly those whom I seldom saw except for that one time per year.

There also used to be an occaisional summer gathering. I remember everyone either sat in the kitchen as my grandma had a large pot of sauce cooking on the stove and the roast chicken in the oven. The temp in that kitchen was  probably well over 100 degrees but nobody ever compained about the heat. Arround dinnertime everyone would gather round the table. Generally  they would always send me down to the corner grocery store (bodega)  to get some cold soda's because I was  the only cousin who wasn't afraid to walk through the streets of the South Bronx alone. The neighborhood was pretty rough in those days , drug and crime ridden at the time but for whatever reason  ot never  bothered me to walk through the neighborhood by myself.

In any event those were great times. Today my  grandfathers house,no longer stands. few of the buildings that were in that area back  then are standing today. If I go there today the neighborhood  looks compeletely different except for an occaisional old building that was  somehow spared the bulldozer  or fire and still stands looming like a ghost from the past.

[WA1GFZ]

Wasn't there also a 372 hemi?

I remember Christmas when I was real small. after the party had been going on for a few hours and everyone was full and raising hell my Grandfather would go into his bedroom and come out with a handful of envelopes. Everyone got one with a fresh $10 dollar bill. Imagine the value of a $10 in 1955.
I also remember the day we moved into our new house in 1957. We were so happy to be out of the city but my dad was pretty broke. My GF gave him $200 to celebrate. I still remember the smell of my dad cooking steaks that night.......and he had enough left over for the first month's morgage $104 if I remember.
Imagine $15,000 for a house on an acre of prime farm land.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Clark: Our holidays were always such a mess.
Clark Sr.: Oh, yeah.
Clark: How'd you get through it?
Clark Sr.: I had a lot of help from Jack Daniels.

-- from the movie Christmas Vacation

[The Slab Bacon]

Wasn't there also a 372 hemi?

Frank,
        Under the "Chrysler" name the original "A" block hemi's were 331cid (1951-54),
354cid (1955-56), and 392cid (1957-58).

There were smaller versions sold under the Dodge and DeSoto brand names with strange displcements that I barely femember. Dodge used  243 and 277 cid versions in the early 50's. DeSoto had a 301 cid version as well. I think there were a few other displacement sizes, but to my knowledge they never made a 372.

They also had a 277 cid "poly head" engine that was used in the Dodges and Plymouths, it later evolved into the early style 318 with the saw shaped valve covers.

The "Wedge" motor first appeared in late 1958 as a 361 cid version, then stretched to 383, then 413, then 426, and finally 440 cid versions.

the 426 hemi first appeared in 1964 as a race only "crate engine" that was basically a wedge motor block fitted with a new set of "trick" racing heads. The block and bottom end components are basically the same. In the beginning it was a dealed installed option.
                                                           the Slab Bacon   

[The Slab Bacon]

.......and he had enough left over for the first month's morgage $104 if I remember.
Imagine $15,000 for a house on an acre of prime farm land.

Here is a perspective to ponder. My late father bought the house that my mom still lives in in 1951 for $5200.

My moms neighbor bought the house next door in 1974 for $33,000, his payments were around $300 a month, back then I thought that was a tremendous amount of money!

I bought a house 5 doors down from my mom's on the same street 19 years ago.
I paid $66,500 for mime and my payments are $650 a month. By todays standards that is cheap!

Now, the house next to mine sold for $210,000 last fall!! It is not in as good a shape as mine. Where does it end?? I dont want to know what her payments are!!

                                                        The Slab Bacon

[W9GT]

Isn't it interesting how the cost of certain things such as houses and cars have went up at tremendously higher rates than other items?  For instance, I remember paying a whopping $10,400 for my first(small) house in 1966.  That same house would sell for around $90,000 or more now.  I also remember that a new 1962 Chevy 2DHT with a 300 327, 4 spd was around $3700.  I think something roughly equivalent would run about 8 times that much now.  On the other hand, look at TV sets.  A 21" black and white console set might have run you $400 or $500 back in the late 50's.  You can buy a pretty nice color TV for $200 now.  Of course you can also spend a lot of bucks if you want a big Plasma HDTV job.  Even considering the rate of inflation and the cost of living index, there seems to be quite a disparity between various items and commodities.  I suppose the high costs of implementing government pollution, fuel economy, and safety standards coupled with high labor costs did much to push the cost of vehicles up.  Also the high demand for housing, particularly in some areas, did much to really cause prices to explode.  Ah,  I miss the days when you could buy a half way decent set of wheels for $200-$300.  I think I originally only paid $160 for my first car (a fixer upper).


73,  Jack, W9GT

[K1JJ]

 

[K1JJ]

I remember Christmas when I was real small. after the party had been going on for a few hours and everyone was full and raising hell my Grandfather would go into his bedroom and come out with a handful of envelopes. Everyone got one with a fresh $10 dollar bill. Imagine the value of a $10 in 1955.

Great story, Franz.

Reminds me of back in 1959 when my grandfather gave me a $1 bill. I was about 7 years old.  I went down to the local corner market and bought 75 Bazooka bubble gums and 25 fireballs. (they were 1 cents each)   For the next few days I smoked my mouth out with those fireballs and chewed the Bazookas 'til my jaw hurt.

Dentist? We don't need no stinkin dentists!

T

[Carl WA1KPD]

look at TV sets.  A 21" black and white console set might have run you $400 or $500 back in the late 50's.  You can buy a pretty nice color TV for $200 now. 
73,  Jack, W9GT

And that $200 TV will have many options you could never have gotten before. Remotes, 100's of channels Video input etc.

Same thing with the car. The base model is likely to include the following options from the "old" days

Windshield washer
Delayed wipers
Electric windows
Rear Defogger
Radio- (most likely FM stereo too)
Turn signals
Back up Lights
Seat Belts
Heater
Power steering


And back on topic- ham rigs

New rigs come standard with features unheard of in the 50s
Memories, readouts, stable VFOs" small size, 12 v operation etc

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

And it's not like cars haven't gotten a lot better. Used to be turn over 100k miles was a big deal. Now, almost any car, properly maintained will do that with ease. When's the last time you had to set a choke, lube the chassis, have brake fade, change points............

[Carl WA1KPD]

Yeah but damn, they reduced the size of the back seat considerably

Oh, wait a minute. With my parking days over and two young daughters I am in favor of that change too

[W9GT]

And it's not like cars haven't gotten a lot better. Used to be turn over 100k miles was a big deal. Now, almost any car, properly maintained will do that with ease. When's the last time you had to set a choke, lube the chassis, have brake fade, change points............

Ya know...that is certainly true.  It used to be that if you had 100K mi on a car it had already, or was ready to "hit the wall".  Now it isn't unusual to put a lot more miles than that on a vehicle.  Seems, though that transmissions don't seem to last as long as engines.
Have heard a lot of horror stories about that...........been lucky myself.

I think it is true, however, that those old cars had a lot of character, as well as a lot more metal in them.  I sure still enjoy going to car shows and seeing the restored cars as well as the street rods.....cost of gas though is making a dent in the popularity of that endeavor.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[W1RKW]

And it's not like cars haven't gotten a lot better. Used to be turn over 100k miles was a big deal. Now, almost any car, properly maintained will do that with ease. When's the last time you had to set a choke, lube the chassis, have brake fade, change points............

maintanance schedules new have increased too.  100K miles spark plug change interval...

[w1guh]

That was the original "Turbo - Hydramatic"

The first year of Turbo H's was '65.  They were three-speeds.  The four-speed ones (great trannys) werer the orig. Hydra-matics from 'way back.  You spent about a half second in first!  Until the Turbo, the three speed sucked.  When you went from 1st to 2nd things bogged way down.

[WA2TTP Steve]

  I miss the days when you could buy a half way decent set of wheels for $200-$300.  I think I originally only paid $160 for my first car (a fixer upper).


73,  Jack, W9GT

I paid $200 total for my first three cars! $125 for a 56 Chevy, $25 for 56 Olds and $75 for better 56 Olds with AC. I had these cars from 1965 to 1968. They served me well while in tech school. When I got my first full time job at Con Edison in NYC I bought a year old 67 Olds 442 for $2700.  It was a blast to drive but only had it 5 weeks before it was stolen from the Wantagh LIRR train station on Long Island. It was never recovered. Bummer!!

Steve,
WA2TTP

[W1QWT]

I miss the days when you could buy a half way decent set of wheels for $200-$300.  I think I originally only paid $160 for my first car (a fixer upper).

My daughter just sold her 1993 Nissan for $350! It had 180K on it and a few dents but ran well. Last year the mechanic at the inspection station said it barely passed the emissions test and so might need some work next time around. So she put it in the paper at $350 firm. It was sold within a day and the phone rang off the hook for a week.
The guy that bought it thought it was a misprint!.

Regards
Q, W1QWT