Things we did in the 50's and 60's that would not fly now

[Tankeryanker]

Chuckies shoes made me think of this.

I was four when, with a note from my mother, would go a few houses down to a store and get things for her.

My parents did not smoke, but I know that several kids with a note from their mother, would buy packs of cigarettes and think nothing of it.

I was gone from dark to dark as long as my chores or homework was done if I had any.

During the dark to dark period, I could be anywhere in the town, or at any of several friends' homes. You could not pinpoint where I was but could find me by calling around.

From 1-6 I lived in a small town. From 6-10 I live in San Jose, now not a city to mess with. From 10-18 I lived in a small town. All this time I was a free-range kid. I was born in 63.

[Bonniegirl]

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

Chuckies shoes made me think of this.

I was four when, with a note from my mother, would go a few houses down to a store and get things for her.

My parents did not smoke, but I know that several kids with a note from their mother, would buy packs of cigarettes and think nothing of it.

I was gone from dark to dark as long as my chores or homework was done if I had any.

During the dark to dark period, I could be anywhere in the town, or at any of several friends' homes. You could not pinpoint where I was but could find me by calling around.

From 1-6 I lived in a small town. From 6-10 I live in San Jose, now not a city to mess with. From 10-18 I lived in a small town. All this time I was a free-range kid. I was born in 63.

I was born in 62, and what you posted was true with me too! Also driving in the car, my Sister and I in the big back seat , even very little we weren 't in car seats , no seat belts even either and we would practically be jumping around back there sometimes, until Dad would tell us to stop! Not for safety reasons, but just because we were being annoying !!

[stevea]

No, back in the day (I'm about a decade older) there were no car seats or seat belts.

Meat for dinner thawed on the counter. Nobody ever heard of e coli or norovirus, just "germs."

Mercurochrome was red stuff you put on a cut and it had mercury. So did thermometers. Feeling ill and need to check your temperature? It also had mercury in the glass vial you put under your tongue.

Asbestos and lead paint abounded. We never heard of radon but we somehow made it through.

If you had an upset stomach your mother gave you paragoric, which evidently was an opiate. Ether was a gas that put you to sleep when your tonsils were taken out. Penicillin was the cure-all drug and it was always a shot--if you were (kind of) lucky it was in the arm, but if not, in the butt. Arthritis was called rheumatism. The common kid viruses were measles, mumps, and chicken pox and there were no vaccines to prevent them. If the flu was fatal we didn't know it at the time.There was a vaccine for the polio virus, one invented by Salk that was a shot, and a later oral one called Sabin.

Cars were huge, heavy, and gas was a few cents a gallon. Sirens that were tested were called air raid sirens. The Soviet Union was viewed as a threat and it was behind the "Iron Curtain."

In New Jersey traffic circles were hated and were to be gotten rid of. Now in many states they are making a comeback and are called roundabouts.

Dentists had spit sinks and there was no such thing as a dental hygienist--the dentist actually cleaned your teeth and did whatever else needed to be done. Fluoride was actually put on your teeth probably with a small cloth--it probably wasn't added to the water.

Every house had a black phone or maybe two, with a rotary dial. There was actually a human operator who could help you if you needed assistance. When you called a store or company a human being actually answered the phone. There were no recordings with press one/press two--in fact, the only telephone recordings were maybe weather and the time.

Fast food was not in the lexicon, but there were chain restaurants, the most well-known being Howard Johnson's (boy did I like their ice cream cake roll with chocolate sauce for dessert!) There were automats, which had food items behind a door, which operated with a coin insert.

Another thing not in the lexicon was the term "big business"--the biggest ones were maybe some department stores that operated in a couple of areas, maybe in Philadelphia and New York, for example. Banks were all local, as were most other businesses. Grocery stores had groceries, and that was it. Go to a hardware store or five-and-dime variety store like Woolworth's for other items; for drug items or prescriptions, go to the drug store, like Rexall.

Going to the dr.? Take $3, and pay the nurse at the desk. At most other places, pay cash also, but the department stores had what were called charge-a-plates. No pay at the gas pump either; in fact, an attendant pumped your gas and washed you windshield--he also checked your oil and didn't expect a tip.

[Tankeryanker]

Originally Posted by stevea

No, back in the day (I'm about a decade older) there were no car seats or seat belts. Meat for dinner thawed on the counter. Nobody ever heard of e coli or norovirus, just "germs." Mercurochrome was red stuff you put on a cut and it had mercury. So did thermometers. Feeling ill and need to check your temperature? It also had mercury in the glass vial you put under your tongue. Asbestos and lead paint abounded. We never heard of radon but we somehow made it through. If you had an upset stomach your mother gave you paragoric, which evidently was an opiate. Ether was a gas that put you to sleep when your tonsils were taken out. Penicillin was the cure-all drug and it was always a shot--if you were (kind of) lucky it was in the arm, but if not, in the butt. Arthritis was called rheumatism. Cars were huge, heavy, and gas was a few cents a gallon. Sirens that were tested were called air raid sirens. The Soviet Union was viewed as a threat and it was behind the "Iron Curtain." The common kid viruses were measles, mumps, and chicken pox and there were no vaccines to prevent them. If the flu was fatal we didn't know it at the time.There was a vaccine for the polio virus, one invented by Salk that was a shot, and a later oral one called Sabin. In New Jersey traffic circles were hated and were to be gotten rid of. Now in many states they are making a comeback and are called roundabouts. Dentists had spit sinks and there was no such thing as a dental hygienist--the dentist actually cleaned your teeth and did whatever else needed to be done. Fluoride was actually put on your teeth probably with a small cloth--it probably wasn't added to the water. Every house had a black phone or maybe two, with a rotary dial. There was actually a human operator who could help you if you needed assistance. When you called a store or company a human being actually answered the phone. There were no recordings with press one/press two--in fact, the only telephone recordings were maybe weather and the time. Fast food was not in the lexicon, but there were chain restaurants, the most well-known being Howard Johnson's (boy did I like their ice cream cake roll with chocolate sauce for dessert!) There were automats, which had food items behind a door, which operated with a coin insert. Another thing not in the lexicon was the term "big business"--the biggest ones were maybe some department stores that operated in a couple of areas, maybe in Philadelphia and New York, for example. Banks were all local, as were most other businesses. Grocery stores had groceries, and that was it. Go to a hardware store or five-and-dime variety store like Woolworth's for other items; for drug items or prescriptions, go to the drug store, like Rexall. Going to the dr.? Take $3, and pay the nurse at the desk. At most other places, pay cash also, but the department stores had what were called charge-a-plates. No pay at the gas pump either; in fact, an attendant pumped your gas and washed you windshield--he also checked your oil and didn't expect a tip.

and nobody taught paragraphs. Way to hard to read.

[stevea]

Right. Tried to fix it up a little.

Oh, and they did teach paragraphs. I was absent that day.

[Tankeryanker]

Originally Posted by stevea

Right. Tried to fix it up a little.

Oh, and they did teach paragraphs. I was absent that day.

[Coffeecup]

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

Chuckies shoes made me think of this.

I was four when, with a note from my mother, would go a few houses down to a store and get things for her.

My parents did not smoke, but I know that several kids with a note from their mother, would buy packs of cigarettes and think nothing of it.
.

When I first read the "Parents did not smoke" and read on, I thought you mean the mother would send the tots to buy cigarettes. I thought that is really nervy having the kids do the shopping but later thought little kids can't buy tabacco products.

[Tankeryanker]

Little kids did buy tobacco as long as they had a note. It wasn't until the 80s that people started cracking down on sales to minors.

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by stevea

Right. Tried to fix it up a little.

Oh, and they did teach paragraphs. I was absent that day.

LOL

if some wrote in " Today TEXT" they were call illiterate !

[Scrabjan1]

I’m confused stevea wrote in paragraphs and found it very easy to read. Oh maybe he updated it with paragraphs. Either way it was all true and very informative. I like how you could go down to the local grocery store and cash a check. My mother called it a charge a plate at the department store too. All coins were considered essential and $.50 was a lot of money in 1965.

Talk about going down memory lane. They were the good old days if you had a good life.

But it’s never too late to have a happy childhood. (Don’t start a sentence with but.)

[Tankeryanker]

Originally Posted by Scrabjan1

I’m confused stevea wrote in paragraphs and found it very easy to read. Oh maybe he updated it with paragraphs. Either way it was all true and very informative. I like how you could go down to the local grocery store and cash a check. My mother called it a charge a plate at the department store too. All coins were considered essential and $.50 was a lot of money in 1965.

Talk about going down memory lane. They were the good old days if you had a good life.

But it’s never too late to have a happy childhood. (Don’t start a sentence with but.)

Actually, some claim it is okay to start a sentence with and, but, or...

Yes, check cashing and store credit. Many places would let you cash a personal check. In the movie, Adventures in Babysitting where the girl wanted to sign over the check she got from some other girl's mom to the hotdog vendor. We could do stuff like that at the mom and pop stores.

[GentlemanJim]

Lunch counters in drugstores

The hoses in gas station parking lots that rang bells when you drove over them

The ladies who worked in the produce section at the grocery who would weigh and bag your selections

Service bays in gas stations with "Mechanic on Duty" late into the evening

The Merry Mobile

Those machines in stores that you could test TV tubes with

[GentlemanJim]

One that really goes back further than the 50s and 60s would be the ubiquitous neighborhood grocery store with no parking lot, because people walked to them.

There were a few straglers left as "independents" in the 1960s, but if you go through an old city directory from like the 1920s and 30s...those small groceries were everywhere. Kroger, A&P, likely others regionally...frequently within a few blocks of another Kroger and/or A&P.

I used to notice buildings that were out of character with the other buildings around them and wonder why they were so unique. For instance a brick building covering a "lot and a half" with only wooden frame houses all around it, where the brick building had been cut up into duplex or triplex apartments....those odd duck buildings were the old neighborhood groceries.

Often they would try to differentiate themselves from the competition by one store offering the best price on cereals, while the other on meats, or fish, or produce...hoping that shoppers would come to them for the one, and then buy other needed items on the same visit. But some hardy souls actually had it in them to "make the rounds" on foot, and buy just the specialty items from each location.

Can you imagine people walking to the grocery today?

[stevea]

Originally Posted by Scrabjan1

I’m confused stevea wrote in paragraphs and found it very easy to read. Oh maybe he updated it with paragraphs.

I did try to fix it with paragraphs. "Tanker" had a point. It was a mess of a read.

In fact as it originally was I doubt anyone would bother to read it. I think I dashed it off after a long day and wasn't really thinking about readability.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by GentlemanJim

Lunch counters in drugstores

The hoses in gas station parking lots that rang bells when you drove over them

The ladies who worked in the produce section at the grocery who would weigh and bag your selections

Service bays in gas stations with "Mechanic on Duty" late into the evening

The Merry Mobile

Those machines in stores that you could test TV tubes with

Elevators with a person inside who operated it.

A person who collected tolls at the bridge, turnpike exit, or along the parkway.