Back in the day...

[Boston Guy]

Sort of related... :-)

 

The Washington Post had a contest wherein participants were asked to tell the younger generation how much harder they had it "in the old days." Winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions are listed below.

 

 

Second Runner-Up:

 

In my day, we couldn't afford shoes, so we went barefoot. In winter, we had to wrap our feet with barbed wire for traction.

 

 

First Runner-Up:

 

In my day, we didn't have MTV or in-line skates, or any of that stuff. No, it was 45s and regular old metal-wheeled roller skates, and the 45s always skipped, so to get them to play right you'd weigh the needle down with something like quarters, which we never had because our allowances were way too small, so we'd use our skate keys instead and end up forgetting they were taped to the record player arm so that we couldn't adjust our skates, which didn't really matter because those crummy metal wheels would kill you if you hit a pebble anyway, and in those days roads had real pebbles on them, not like today.

 

 

And the winner:

 

In my day, we didn't have rocks. We had to go down to the creek and wash our clothes by beating them with our heads.

 

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

In my day, we didn't have fancy health-food restaurants. Every day we ate lots of easily recognizable animal parts, along with potatoes.

 

 

In my day, we didn't have hand-held calculators. We had to do addition on our fingers. To subtract, we had to have some fingers amputated.

 

 

In my day, we didn't get that disembodied, slightly ticked- off voice saying 'Doors closing.' We got on the train, the doors closed, and if your hand was sticking out, it scraped along the tunnel all the way to the next station and it was a bloody stump at the end. But the base fare was only a dollar.

 

 

In my day, we didn't have water. We had to smash together our own hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

 

 

Kids today think the world revolves around them. In my day, the sun revolved around the world, and the world was perched on the back of a giant tortoise.

 

 

Back in my day, '60 Minutes' wasn't just a bunch of gray- haired, liberal 80-year-old guys. It was a bunch of gray- haired, liberal 60-year-old guys.

 

 

Back in my day, they hadn't invented electricity. We had to watch television by candlelight.

 

BG

[jackhammer91406]

Short term memory loss

 

Of course, those of you who said it wasn't John Edwards who hosted WHAT'S MY LINE? were absolutely correct.

 

It was John Daly

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/4439/johndaly.jpg

 

Ain't he a hunk?

 

And to those who realized that Kitty Carlilse was on TO TELL THE TRUTH. The other panelist was Arlene Francis.

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/4439/arlene-1.jpg

[Barry]

RE: Short term memory loss

 

Black and white AND 8 shades of grey. That was a damn good TV set Jack.

 

Barry

[Justice]

>Well, I suppose it's appropriate to ask here if anyone

>remembers Princess phones? :-)

>

>BG

 

Not only do I remember them, I want one!

 

I'm seriously considering ordered a reconditioned one from one of several sites that I've discovered while googling. (The only thing that's holding me back is that they're very expensive.) Sigh.

 

http://customphones.com/item79654.ctlg

 

http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/telephones-princess.html

 

(Although if I do break down and get one, it's going to be a touch tone model. Nostalgia is one thing, regressing is another. )

 

Justice

[Trixie]

Yes, "AYDS"... and it came in a chewable candy, probably laced with speed. I used to sneak into the cupboard at eat my mom's stash... no wonder I was rail thin and Hell-on-

wheels as a child!

 

La Trix

[+ nycman]

>Do they still make those straws filled with flavored sugar?

 

Yes...

 

http://www.candydirect.com/bulk/Pixy-Sticks.html

[Boston Guy]

Cool.. they even look the same.

 

Looking at them just made me remember those little candy watermelon slices. I can still taste how they tasted!

 

Then I started looking though the site and found:

 

DOTS! I had completely forgotten dots... appropriately, they're in the "movie candy" section, because that's where I remember eating them, along with licorice. Ditto with Black Crows (also on that site).

 

Then, on the next page: GOOD & PLENTY! I feel like a kid again! Do you remember Good & Plenty??

 

On the next page: JUNIOR MINTS. I used to love Junior Mints as a kid. Remember how they were kind of "squishy"?

 

On the next page (you see how this is going...): MILK DUDS!

 

Under gum: BAZOOKA and BEEMAN'S GUM and BLACKJACK GUM!

 

And yes, in case you were wondering, I just placed an order. :-)

 

Thanks for the walk down Candy Lane.... what was that game called???

 

BG

[+ deej]

>what was that game called???

 

Candyland.

[Boston Guy]

Oh, yeah. Boy, it's been a long time since 5 years old. But wasn't there also something called "sticks and ladders"? "Trucks and ladders?"

 

And do you remember Careers? Wasn't that the one that had the wheel in the middle that you spun?

 

BG

[Justice]

>Oh, yeah. Boy, it's been a long time since 5 years old. But

>wasn't there also something called "sticks and ladders"?

>"Trucks and ladders?"

 

 

Chutes and Ladders. (I cheated -- I have a 6 year old niece.)

 

Justice

[Boston Guy]

LOL: You're absolutely right!

 

BG

[LurkerSpeaks]

the one with the "wheel" in the middle was the game of "Life"

[Boston Guy]

Oh, Geez! How did I forget Life? Isn't memory a funny thing?

 

Thanks for coming up with the right answer!

 

BG

[+ deej]

Life, Candyland, and Chutes & Ladders are actually still for sale. Check out http://www.boardgames.com , which can quickly turn into a MAJOR stroll down memory lane.

 

By the way: YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP!

[Boston Guy]

OMG... I forgot completely about Battleships!!!

 

I used to play that for hours with the kid down the street when we were in something like 5th grade.

 

BG

 

ps: Without using a search engine, can you name all six of the characters in Clue? For extra credit, name the six weapons. Then, name all nine rooms. :-) But no cheating!

[+ deej]

Without Google? No friggin' way!

 

I remember playing marathon Monopoly sessions with a kid down the street. At the end of each session we'd carefully write down which properties we each owned, and how many of each denomination bills we had, and who had houses/hotels on which properties, and we'd continue the game later.

 

We played that damn game all summer and NEVER GOT TO THE END! LOL

[samwhygy]

do you remember when you could spend 10 minutes of bliss behind the stage at the gaiety for $40

[flguy]

Princess Phones??? I can't believe that is wasn't Rick that wanted that. Seems very appropriate for him, if he stops at my house on the way to Tampa I can probably help him out.

[jaden]

Can you remember when Snack Pack pudding came in individual cans?

No.

Can you remember when the phone company brought out your phone when they set up your service?

No.

Can you remember when television channels consisted of ABC, CBS, and NBC? (unless you were able to PBS)

No.

Can you remember when you had to get up to change the tv channel?

No.

Can you remember when you had to defrost your freezer?

No.

Can you remember when the Ford Pinto was popular?

No.

Can you remember when Flip Wilson was on tv?

Who?

Can you remember when Bea Arthur was known for Maude instead of for Dorothy?

??? what?

Can you remember when Nancy Sinatra sang "These Boots are made for walking?"

I'm so lost!

 

 

 

I feel so left out.