Community Forums

Ann n Gene · 02-28-2005, 11:20 AM

Yep, telephone no. 100. and you had to turn the crank on the side of the phone to call "central" to get connected to someone else unless you were on a party line and some of ours had 10 families on one line! I could hear my dad whihstle all over town and knew I had better be getting home quick. If I heard that dreaded first, middle then last name I knew I was in deep dodo, not that I would ever have dared to use that term then. Great friends, good games, all of us poor(economically) but no one knew it cause we were all the same. ON THE OTHER HAND, no Interned forums to talk about the old times, no color tv, no cell phones, cars wore out at 40-50000 miles, no cabs on tractors or combines no conveniences at all, just good friends, hard times, and lots of fun. Gene

JRNOLL · 02-28-2005, 03:05 PM

First phone number was SK( Skyline)6-5797 in 1953, we had a Black and White TV. Dad used a coat hanger in the yard as an antena. In Blythe in 1959 ,You only dailed 4 digits to reach another party. From our house we had to cross the main Hwy (Hwy 60) to get to school walking.

stuck lo · 03-15-2005, 09:44 AM

Rick,
Heck yes I remember the garbage can lids! LOL. They were indispensible in a rock fight. There was an old RR trestle near my house and we would split up, one group occupied the trestle and one group had to attack and re-take the trestle. Railroad ballast thrown from on top of a trestle REALLY HURTS BAD! God was surely with us little nuts. No one ever had an eye put out, or stitches,(of course back then you had to have a limb severed before parents took you to a Dr. or hospital)

I haven't thought about a "3 on the tree" in a long time.... I first encountered it on a Ford Comet. I loved that car.

Ken Lenger · 03-15-2005, 10:03 AM

I understand that getting the shifter moved from the floor to the steering column was considered and improvement because it got it out of the way.

I had a 1971 Nova with a 307 3 speed floor shifter. Shifting was really crappy. I found out that there was a linkage from the floor shifter to the steering column lock. Removed the linkage and shifting was great (except now the backup lights never came on).

RustyJC · 03-15-2005, 11:40 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Two Bit:
Radio was all AM. There was a station 500 miles away in Mexico we could here at night in Dallas County. The "X" Remember the ZZ Top song "Heard it on the X" It is about that station. Wolfman Jack was on the air and Bob Wills. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>XERF - the 500,000 watt

clear channel voice of Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. Their studios were across the river in Del Rio, Texas, but the transmitter was in Acuna to avoid FCC regulation. Supposedly XERF could be heard all the way into Canada. I would lie in bed and listen to the Wolfman with the lights off and the radio turned down - supposed to be sleeping, you know. They also had Reverend Ike screaming fire and brimstone - at 10-11 years old, that skeered me to death!!

I do remember, though, that a $5 donation to his ministry would get you a "...personally autographed picture of Jesus Christ

and a prayer cloth!" I found out later that it was a photograph of a painting of Jesus with Reverend Ike's autograph on it. Oh, well, so much for truth in advertising.

Rusty

jdoc · 03-15-2005, 12:21 PM

How about walking down alleys after Christmas looking for trees and boxes people had already thrown away, and building forts out of them.
Jerry

mick · 03-16-2005, 05:46 AM

Yep I remember all those things, plus these
Camping was sleeping in the back of a 41 chev pu, while fighting the mesquitos all night

sleeping in the summer meant, elec fans, sweat, and more mesquitos.

sleeping n the winter meant, dearborn heaters, fireplaces, and plenty of blankets.,

TV was black and white and you watched what mom and dad wanted to watch,

Phone conversations with your friends, not allowed , as other people had to use the line. yep party lines and if you were kooky , you could listen in to their conversations

Riding a big yellowschool bus to school , no heat, no a/c mean fat old truck driver.

Chargin 5 cent candy to your parents charge acct at the local mom pop store, and getting whooped for it.

Yep these and many more memories of the "good ole days", but thanks to others , I now live the good life and dont have to put up with that kind of living anymore. Thank you whiz kids

dirko · 03-17-2005, 06:19 AM

Hi Ho: Thanks for all the memories. I do remember our first TV set. We got it in 1948 (one of the first on the block). And it was a 19-inch Midwest (really big). The only problem was that it had about 50 or 60 tubes and they needed constant replacement (at least that was the concept). We had a whole bag of replacement tubes after a while. My dad thought that all the alignment controls need constant adjustment, so the picture was always squashed one way or the other. TV shows were The Lone Ranger, Sky King, Amos and Andy, but I'm not sure because radio was still a favorite and some of these were also radio shows. What was "Only the shadow knows"?

Our phone number was 74714 and there was no area code until the early 50's. You got long distance by calling the operator, but that was too expensive.

Do you remember collecting pop bottles or popsicle wrappers to get refunds or prizes?
We thought that baseball, basketball, football, etc. should be played most of the day during the summer and that was the purpose for the empty field behind our house. It's kind of sad to see kids regimented by adults to play these games on a schedule.

We also dug holes in the ground covered them with boards and dirt and had tunnels and rooms underground.

Did you have apple trees for climbing and eating green apples by the dozen? I don't remember anyone ever getting sick as a result.

Cokes were a nickle, but we never had a nickle. We could also get Nehi drinks (orange, rootbeer, grape) and they had 10 ounces instead or 7 ounces for coke. If there was a coke machine you moved your drink along rails until it got to the output mechanism and pulled it up.

I wonder what ever happened to all the kids I grew up with. Now there's an idea--I bet they can be located on the web.

plntmgr · 03-25-2005, 06:44 PM

Our phone # was Custer 5475 in Milwaukee Wisc. I remember all that had been posted, but do any of you remember the ice man who came up the alley with a block of ice for the fridge? Or the ash man who collected the ashes as did the trash man? How about the Kiesel man who threw 1 ton of #1 coal and 1 ton of #2 coal through the basement window on his shoulder? Not to mention penny candy. Have a good time reminiscening. Don

TTBeachbums · 03-31-2005, 04:59 AM

8-tracks?
45's?

Walking to the school bus where everyone on the block gathered (now every other house, the bus stops at).

Bounder4rfun · 03-31-2005, 05:59 AM

Tight T shirts with smoke packs rolled up in the sleeve. Fuzzy dice on rear view mirror. First t.v. was a Dumont, station came on for 3 hours during the day and 3 hours at night. Saving milk carton tops for prizes at the movie theater. That is enough for today..

Two Bit · 03-31-2005, 06:37 AM

Having a milk cow and milking by hand, not with a milking machine.

PhilnJune · 04-06-2005, 08:27 AM

Listening to "woo woo Ginsberg" on a Buffalo AM
radio station.

Going to the AW Drive in Restaurant.

Walking to school everyday.

Going to a Drive in Movie in the trunk of a buddies car.

Never having fear of harm from a stranger.

Trying to ferment our own version of "Wine"

Playing "Kick the Can", "Stickball", "Red Rover"

Having to take Cod Liver oil in school.

Getting my first "Red Rider" BB gun for Xmas.

Going to the Saturday afternoon movie.

Chips were .05, pop was .10, movie was .25

Lynnvt thank you for the memories.
Phil

dirko · 04-06-2005, 01:07 PM

Hi Ho: The comment about A&W Drive-in made me think about my early experiences as a ham radio operator. We used AM on 2 meters and found that the new-fangled PA system in the drive-in picked up the ham radio and we could place our order for hamburgers on the 2-meter radio.

Do kids have as much fun today as we did?