I REMEMBER WHEN

[williamlayton]

I had a dream and it got me too thinking about life back in the fifties. Now there are a lot of reasons not to want to go back too those days---remember the pressures of puberty?---I digress, but there are some things that I do remember fondly. These seem to be the things that didn't require all the pressures of growing---just things that we did that were all about real fun.
I remember buying bricks of 22's and, with buddies or alone, finding a high bluff over the Trinity River or a good old big creek and everything that was in sight was in the kill zone, sticks, turtles, fish, snakes, birds on a limb, armadillos, skunks, possums, coons well anything that moved.
It was a fun day, no shooting at cows, respect the land, respect the property, be safe and shoot the hell out of most anything we thought a worthy target.
AWWWW GEE---well anyhow
Blessings 

[rockbilly]

William. you must have been RICH.  We couldn't afford .22 by the box, and surely not by the brick.  I remember buying .22s at a dry goods store for .02 cents each.  I could find enough bottles to return for the refund and earn 10-15 cents, and then off to the dry goods store.

[rex6666]

I did not even hear about bricks until i was about 17-18, we did buy 22's by the box, my dad loved to ride around the alfalfa meadows  and shoot Jackrabbits.
When i got old enough i would go to the sandhills, about 2 miles from the house (s.w. Okla.)
i would walk for miles HUNTING. elephants, rhinos and lions, some times i would SHOOT a world class
jackrabbit. those were good days.

[williamlayton]

Well. I got a paper route when I was 12. I had my own spending money and as I recall a brick was about $5. No car payment, no rent, didn't smoke, small town and walked a lot, no place too go--or--there was not much overhead.
Went dove hunting during season. Had a gun, bought by my mother for me when I was 12---old breakdown .410 single shot.
Bought my own .22 when I was 15. Drivers lic. when 14. Three blocks was outside the city limits in any direction (that is a small lie, but it was a small town   ).
Shoot we were not rich. No dad and my mother worked--so did I.
Blessings

[victorcharlie]

Life changed in 1968.......

I remember going to a small store in Lewisport Ky around Christmas of 1967 to by .22 shorts........the fellow in the store told me "You better buy what you want now, I won't be able to sell them to you in January".......

[powderman]

AH yes, the famous dumcrap gun control act. What had cost me $2 by mail then cost $5 over the counter. Sure saved a lot of lives, yeh buddy. POWDERMAN. 

[deltecs]

Yah, me too.  I remember when teachers used corporal punishment in school and most parents punished the child again after finding out.  I remember when we wore the colors of our gang, which was the Boy Scout uniform and upheld the Scout laws.  I remember when hunting, picnics, turkey shoots, and schools all had some firearms training at some time.  My school even had an intramural .22 target team that shot against other schools teams.  On opening day of deer season, half the school was absent.  Most teachers upon return to class, asked how big was the rack and said they'd marked you absent with a smile.  Almost all the kids worked at a part time job or did odd jobs and learned responsibility for their own actions and the value of money.  Most were not wealthy, but had plenty to eat, loving parents, good neighbors, and ethical examples to live by.  A fist fight was for pride, not killing or maiming.  You generally ended up friends afterwards.  Rather than remember when, we should be asking "why" now.

[ro]

rockbilly, i remember walking down these muddy Mississippi gravel roads picking-up coke bottles to trade in at local general store for a box of winchester 22 shells in the old red and blue box, Remington were blue and yellow box, back then i think a box of 22 shells was 20-25 cents a box, the old man at the store gave me a penny each for the bottles, i grew up on my grand pa's farm, he let me shoot his Stevens single shot 22 rifle, but in squirrel season we used his winchester mod 61 pump. grandpa was born in 1889 and lived to be 90 years-old, i will never forget those days.

[JustShootin]

Rich and wealthy are two words used here. The posters denied they were either of these. The posters did recall memories and spoke fondly of them. They probably even stopped typing for a moment to daydream about them. The fond memories they had can and should be labeled rich and wealthy. This is the type of wealth that a lot of todays youth will never experience. Just my two cents worth.
Grant

[oldandslow]

I never did manage to scare up enough money to buy a carton of shells until after I was married. It was just one or two boxes at a time but I still managed to spend a lot of time hunting. I grew up on a dryland farm and some times you worked nights and Sundays depending on when the rain came or when the bugs showed up in the cotton patch. Other than that Sunday was a day of rest just like the bible said. My idea of rest was to grab my .22 and jump the fence of one of the ranches our place adjoined and spend the day hunting. Winter and early spring gave more opportunities. I was really selective on the shots I would take because I didn't have any ammunition to waste. I still have fond memories of those days. Everyone was in the same boat financially and no one felt deprived. It was just the way times were.

[rex6666]

Their was not a lot of money floating around when i was growing up, lived on a cotton and wheat farm. We had a huge garden every year, and about 5 acres of corn and blacketeed peas.
In 4-h I could get 40 baby chicks free, then my Dad would buy 100, we rasied these and put them in the  freezer along with every thing else we would kill 1-2 calves a year and 2-3 hogs
we did this all our selves, not taking them to town. Their was a black man lived on the farm, he helped my dad work the farm and cattle, he ate the chickens beef and porkers just like we did.
he was just part of the family, i minded him just like my Dad. Their wasn't much money but never remember being hungry We moved to town when i was 13 pop. about 500, things just
never were the same afterwards.

[ro]

justshootin, think you for your post, you are right kids today will never know what tuff is, back then we didn't go to town every day, there were no shopping malls, no new cars and trucks we rode the yellow bus to school, these kids today i think will be the end of this country as we have all know it, we when to town two times a month, at the first of the month to the government comodies food, and the next time was the feed hardware store, it was a big deal to get into town remember the 5 and 10 stores downton, we had a big garden each year, raised cows,hogs and chickens, in 1992 the ole farm place came up for sell i am Glad to say i bought it and am living here now and will until i die, each time i deer or turkey hunt on this place, i am so think full the Good Lord let me come back home, yes you are right we are not Rich or Wealthy but only in our hearts.

[DalesCarpentry]

I remember working in our families restaurant doing dishes from about the age of 10. The money I received from working there I bought my first wrist rocket slingshot. I could walk along the railroad tracks and pick up round steel balls that looked like ball bearings for ammo. I also remember picking up pop bottles and returning them for the deposit. On Christmas when I was 11 years old my dad bought me my first real gun. It was a Sears 20 guage shotgun. He taught me to shoot clay pigeons with it. We had a thrower that would throw 3 at a time and with a lot of pratice I was able to bust all three an a regular basis. I went Pheasant and Rabbit hunting with the chief of police. From the time I was 12 years old at our camp in the mountains I was allowed to go practice shooting on my own with that shotgun. My father bought me a Marlin 22 LR when I was 13 and a Marlin 30-30 when I was 14. I can't tell you how many thousands of rounds I shot in my youth. Boy I have to say that was a fun time. I had all my guns stolen when I was 20 years old or so. I know where my my first shotgun is because I sold it to a friend before my other guns were stolen. I have spoke with him and plan on buying my first gun back from him. I think of it now and wonder how I ever could of sold my first gun. I think it means more now that my father is gone. By the way shooting clay pigeons is like riding a bike. When I was 25 I took a cruise and you could shoot clay pigions from the back of the ship. I bet it was close to 10 years since I shot any. Anyways I won a contest shooting them at the end of the cruise. Dale