What are you old enough to remember?

[+ 7829V]

Going to the store to buy sodas, and bringing the glass empty bottles… or paying an extra fee for not bringing them. 

[+ Axiom2001]

When this post first appeared two months ago, it piqued my interest.  I failed to respond.  Today, July 3, 2022, my AT RANDOM list follows:

- ice boxes  - milk delivered in bottles   - blocks of ice delivered   - wooden desks in classrooms with ink wells.  - blackboards   - white chalk   -   Manuel typewriters  -electric typewriters.   -  hi fi systems.  - clock radios.  portable stereo systems.  -  fans.    -8 inch television screens.  -  3 channels on televisions.  -black n white television.  - bell bottom pants.  - high heel shoes for men.  -  paisley shirts.  - Sear & Roebuck catalogs.  - Montgomery Wards catalogs. (major chain department stores). domination of the BIG THREE automobile manufacturers:  Cryslers (sp), Ford, and General Motors.  -  2 or 3 hole notebook/binder paper.  -  fountain pens.  - rotary phones.  -  telephone operators. -  party lines for phones  -  boom boxes.  - tapes.  -  VCR's.  -  vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream  (only flavors)

And the list continues if the items were to appear inside of my brain in order for me to impart them.

[+ WilliamM]

Truman's inauguration on January 20, 1949. I was in kindergarten. We listened on the radio.

[+ sync]

Oh God, the endless kneading of the Oleo Margerine bag:

[+ WilliamM]

When I was a child, I remember seeing John Wayne walking  alone in downtown Boston

[Luv2play]

I remember touring the White House in 1956 with my family. The main rooms on the first floor were deep colours, blue, green and red if I remember correctly. Also remember the National Gallery and all the monuments and the cherry blossoms that were in full bloom. Lastly the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington Cemetery.

I was a Canadian kid fron Montreal but that trip made an impression on me more than the one to Toronto the previous year. It was pretty boring in comparison. Today I would take Toronto over Washington anytime.

[Boink]

Some July 4th play things from my childhood:

[BtmBearDad]

Many memories going thru the replies! 
 

My list would include: 

• getting milk delivered in glass bottles
• learning cursive
• learning telephone numbers by exchange (ie; ENdicott7-0932), using a rotary phone, and always carrying a dime in case you needed to make a call
• onion paper and envelopes with red and blue trim for air mail
• it may not have been a thing everywhere, but the dance schools girls used to attend for ballet lessons, they would hold dances once a week after school from 4-6, where we’d learn waltzing, the foxtrot, the lindy, the mambo, etc.. Boys had to wear jacket and tie, girls a party dress. I do remember it was considered “bad form” if as a boy, you didn’t rotate among the handful of schools for the dances
• going to FAO Schwarz (the old location on the east side of Fifth Avenue) on Saturdays for their story time and puppet show followed by ice cream at The Sherry-Netherland. 
• adults arguing about Watergate
• when the Duke of Windsor died
• the death of el Caudillo 
• when Elvis Presley died
• the Bicentennial - I can vividly remember that summer in particular. There were so many events going on - the tall ships in the harbor, the naval parade down the Hudson stand out. Many museums, and organisations, (like the DAR), had exhibits, dances in honour of the bicentennial. We spent much of our summers out east at my grandparents beach house, and every Monday night there was a fireworks show at the beach from offshore. It was a big social event - while you didn’t necessarily dress up, you were smartly dressed. I also remember everything that could be was painted red, white, and blue - fire hydrants, telephone poles, fire call boxes, mailboxes. Every town, sometimes every block, had some sort of party/potluck/bbq on the weekends with all the patriotic bunting, and sparklers for the kids.  I remember that summer so well, even silly details like who was wearing what and where - and at least in my memory, I don’t recall a really rainy day. 
 

BBD

[+ FreshFluff]

-International calls placed by an operator

-Duck and cover drills in school, though we were told they were for earthquakes

-The TV movie The Day After

 

[+ Charlie]

At the gas station:

Driving in, cranking down the window, and saying "Fill 'er up!" (with leaded gas, of course) to the attendant.

Watching the attendant automatically wash the windshield and check the oil stick (and possibly saying, "It's down; do you want me to add some?").

Paying for the full tank with dollar bills and coins.

[+ WilliamM]

Making up my lines as Ed Norton in a six grade take off on The Honeymooners in Billerica, Massachusetts. We ran out of lines and the the teacher said try to keep going on.

I saw her many years later and we laughed  about it. Surprised me.

[+ FreshFluff]

On 5/21/2022 at 10:41 AM, sync said:

I remember when automatic transmissions were a wonder.

Yikes!

I’m old enough to remember when “automatic transmission” didn’t make me think of COVID. 

[Bucky]

[MiamiLooker]

Sonny Bono...my 33 year old masseur sort of knew who Cher is but had no clue about "Sonny & Cher".

[+ WilliamM]

That General Douglas MacArthur ran for president in 1952 as a Republican 

 

[+ Charlie]

1 hour ago, MiamiLooker said:

Sonny Bono...my 33 year old masseur sort of knew who Cher is but had no clue about "Sonny & Cher".

It isn't so surprising that your masseur didn't know "Sonny & Cher": their career together only lasted about ten years, and was over before he was born. Cher's entertainment career has lasted much longer as a solo performer, but Sonny went into local politics instead, and would be remembered primarily by those of us in SoCal, where he became mayor of Palm Springs and then a Congressman; he has been dead for almost a quarter century. There has been controversy recently in Palm Springs about statues honoring former mayors, and some have pointed out that Sonny was a Republican who was opposed to gay marriage.

[Luv2play]

1 hour ago, WilliamM said:

That General Douglas MacArthur ran for president in 1952 as a Republican 

 

I'm pretty sure Eisenhower and Nixon were on the Republican ticket and won.

[MiamiLooker]

On 7/6/2022 at 9:14 AM, Charlie said:

At the gas station:

Driving in, cranking down the window, and saying "Fill 'er up!" (with leaded gas, of course) to the attendant.

Watching the attendant automatically wash the windshield and check the oil stick (and possibly saying, "It's down; do you want me to add some?").

Paying for the full tank with dollar bills and coins.

And the gas station bell that alerted the attendant that a car had just driven up.

[MiamiLooker]

1 hour ago, Charlie said:

It isn't so surprising that your masseur didn't know "Sonny & Cher": their career together only lasted about ten years, and was over before he was born. Cher's entertainment career has lasted much longer as a solo performer, but Sonny went into local politics instead, and would be remembered primarily by those of us in SoCal, where he became mayor of Palm Springs and then a Congressman; he has been dead for almost a quarter century. There has been controversy recently in Palm Springs about statues honoring former mayors, and some have pointed out that Sonny was a Republican who was opposed to gay marriage.

LOL It didn't surprise me either that he didn't know Sonny. He barely knew who Cher is. My masseur is Cuban-American and has only been in the US for about 16 years. But I'd bet most Americans under 40 wouldn't know who Sonny was. I wonder how much of Cher's success can be attributed to Sonny. As a side note, I saw Sonny & Cher in Las Vegas (I think it was at the Sahara) about a year or two before they launched their tv show.  

[+ WilliamM]

6 minutes ago, MiamiLooker said:

LOL It didn't surprise me either that he didn't know Sonny. He barely knew who Cher is. My masseur is Cuban-American and has only been in the US for about 16 years. But I'd bet most Americans under 40 wouldn't know who Sonny was. I wonder how much of Cher's success can be attributed to Sonny. As a side note, I saw Sonny & Cher in Las Vegas (I think it was at the Sahara) about a year or two before they launched their tv show.  

Who cares about his time in Palm springs. So glad you saw Sonny and Cher in person

[+ Charlie]

46 minutes ago, MiamiLooker said:

LOL It didn't surprise me either that he didn't know Sonny. He barely knew who Cher is. My masseur is Cuban-American and has only been in the US for about 16 years. But I'd bet most Americans under 40 wouldn't know who Sonny was. I wonder how much of Cher's success can be attributed to Sonny. As a side note, I saw Sonny & Cher in Las Vegas (I think it was at the Sahara) about a year or two before they launched their tv show.  

Sonny was a successful songwriter before he teamed with Cher, and he wrote and produced all of their hits together. He even wrote some of her songs after they were divorced. All four of Sonny's wives survived him (Cher was #2). His last wife, Mary, succeeded him in Congress.

[+ WilliamM]

18 minutes ago, Charlie said:

Sonny was a successful songwriter before he teamed with Cher, and he wrote and produced all of their hits together. He even wrote some of her songs after they were divorced. All four of Sonny's wives survived him (Cher was #2). His last wife, Mary, succeeded him in Congress.

Was he a Republican

[+ sync]

9 minutes ago, WilliamM said:

Was he a Republican

 

He was mayor of Palm Springs, California, from 1988 to 1992, and the Republican congressman for California's 44th district, elected during the Republican Revolution and serving from 1995 until he died on a skiing trip in 1998.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Sonny_Bono

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BtmBearDad]

@MiamiLooker I’ll see your “Sonny who?” and go one better! 

A few years back I was drafted into the organizing committee for a reunion. We’re at the point of determining which former teachers we’d invite. I was thinking of one of the language teachers but couldn’t recall his name, so I offered to the others on the committee “oh you know the one - he had an arm like the Kaiser!” only to be met with doe eyes and a slack jawed “arm like a what?” from the 20-something alumni relations administrator. The other gents on the committee got the reference, and we eventually figured out his name. At that point the dean who was in the meeting, 70-something Bro. Ranulf, passed the comment to me “That was an unique reference not many would get (looks at the alumni admin), and yours is probably the last generation that will. Pity.” 😂

BBD 

[+ Charlie]

17 minutes ago, BtmBearDad said:

@MiamiLooker I’ll see your “Sonny who?” and go one better! 

A few years back I was drafted into the organizing committee for a reunion. We’re at the point of determining which former teachers we’d invite. I was thinking of one of the language teachers but couldn’t recall his name, so I offered to the others on the committee “oh you know the one - he had an arm like the Kaiser!” only to be met with doe eyes and a slack jawed “arm like a what?” from the 20-something alumni relations administrator. The other gents on the committee got the reference, and we eventually figured out his name. At that point the dean who was in the meeting, 70-something Bro. Ranulf, passed the comment to me “That was an unique reference not many would get (looks at the alumni admin), and yours is probably the last generation that will. Pity.” 😂

BBD 

I had to laugh when I read this, because I had just received a phone call from someone I haven't seen in years, a German friend whose last name is Kayser. He did not have an arm like Wilhelm.