Author Topic: Are you older than dirt?? (Read 2790 times)

BUGEYE · « **Reply #60 on:** July 25, 2011, 05:24:41 AM »

dang it PM, it's bringing tears to my eyes reading this.

Spencer, Carey · « **Reply #61 on:** July 25, 2011, 05:45:04 AM »

Fellas, ya'll are really hitting home. My brothers and I would be literally a mile and a half into the woods, or at a pond fishing. These days, I worry when my two boys are out of the yard. How the times have changed. Im not a pessimist, but I really have a sense of foreboding about the future.

MSP Ret · « **Reply #62 on:** July 25, 2011, 06:11:55 AM »

I remember all 25 and the ones that others added as well. I must REALLY be old, or just have a great memory (for an old guy). But then again yesterday was my birthday so I guess I really am a year older than I was just a couple of days ago.
Great thread guys and it was a pleasure reading it..Thanks Powderman and to all who posted here.
One I did not see was having to be home when the street lights went on unless you let your parents know where you were and who you were with....<><....

powderman · « **Reply #63 on:** July 25, 2011, 06:45:46 AM »

Almost forgot. Til I got to high school I never heard of eating dinner at suppertime. Dinner was our midday meal, supper was evening, leav it to those city folks to screw that up. I'd never heard the term latchkey kids either, they had no parents home when school got out, mothers were working. I only knew of one mother in our town that worked outside the home. Her husband was a drunk so she had no choice but to work. Never knew of anybody being on welfare, except one family, and there was no such thing as food stamps. Our moms all cut our hair, never went to a barber. Went to school with some really poor kids. They always brought the same lunch. Homemade bread with home made butter and jelly. Last day of school we had a cookout, they wouldn't eat even a hot dog. They saw that as charity and their family would have none of that. They grew up to be fine upstanding adults. POWDERMAN.

BUGEYE · « **Reply #64 on:** July 25, 2011, 07:08:58 AM »

back then kids were taught responsibility, honor, manners and love of God.
we were lucky to have lived back then.

gstewart44 · « **Reply #65 on:** July 25, 2011, 07:55:07 AM »

Quote from: BUGEYE on July 25, 2011, 07:08:58 AM

back then kids were taught responsibility, honor, manners and love of God.
we were lucky to have lived back then.

+1 Yessir, looking back I feel very fortunate for my childhood years. Living in NC then FL, no airconditioning -no problem, playing outside with neighborhood kids, exploring the woods, going fishing after school and bringing home a stringer of bream or specs, then cleaning them so mom could cookem up. I got to be a kid - in a safe world. I detest all the video games but just as much I fear the real dangers that surround the part of FL I now reside. The LE website shows a dozen child molesters that have registered within a 3 mile radius of our neighborhood!

I do miss the good old days, and I thank God for the blessings I have had to experience them.

Spencer, Carey · « **Reply #66 on:** July 25, 2011, 08:04:36 AM »

Guys, some of you got a few years on me, but when I was a kid, to say we were rural was an understatement back in Sumter county S.C., and I guess I was fortunate enough to have been there in one of those "places that time forgot" for awhile before it was remembered. You couldnt tell it now. I remember when (think late 70's/EARLY80's) we could walk down the side of the road through town to "Simpsons" hardware with our shotuns to buy 7 1/2's to bust rabbits and squirrels with. Brian, my best freind or I would wait outside by the edge of the parking lot guns in tow right out there in front of God and everybody while the other went inside to buy the shells. Carried an old 20 Topper back then.

Nobody would bat an eye. Try that now. Can hardly find a real place to take my two great boys to shoot anymore. And dont get me started on wildlife habitat........

rockbilly · « **Reply #67 on:** July 25, 2011, 08:20:05 AM »

I feel very fortunate that I can still remember these things after all the years. I remember my Dad’s old Plymouth pick-up, it wasn’t much but all we could afford at the time. I remember an old green Henry J, (a rolling sardine can) that the Preacher drove.

Back in those days people looked out for one another, we never locked a door, Mom was always willing to provide a meal for anyone who needed it, I remember her saying “If you look out for your family, friends and neighbors then the Lord will look out for you.”

I guess there is some meaning to the saying, "The good ole days."

rdlange · « **Reply #68 on:** July 25, 2011, 08:51:09 AM »

Turned 64 yesterday. I remember them all and then some.

Uncle Bill had a Packard. Grandpa had a Studebaker. He lost a leg in the 'first' big war and had the clutch on the shift lever like a motorcycle. He had a TV too. Remember Jungle Jim, anyone? How about Sky King?

So what do I get for lasting this long? Still got my hair...

powderman · « **Reply #69 on:** July 25, 2011, 11:16:24 AM »

If you look out for your family, friends and neighbors then the Lord will look out for you.”

ROCKBILLY. You had a very wise Mother. In grade school, late 50s, we had milk breaks every day about mid morning. A 1/2 pt ctn was 1 or 2 cents, we paid by the week and teacher would mark it down and keep track for us. A brother and sister in our class came from a very poor family, their house was an old tar paper shack a few miles from town, they never had milk money. Neither would accept when we'd offer to pay, can't take charity ya know. We played dodgeball in the gymn and the teacher played too. he was rough on us boys and several of us got hit pretty hard enough to bruise. Several of us put a bounty on him of 1 or 2 ctns of milk apiece to whoever got him out. He'd get a lot of us boys out then accidentally on purpose trip and let Karl or Carol get him out. They would split their reward and both have milk every day and at lunch too from just one game cause they EARNED it. Don't think they ever caught on to that trick to help them out. POWDERMAN.

BUGEYE · « **Reply #70 on:** July 25, 2011, 11:32:14 AM »

hey, when you see a kid on a street corner all slouched over with his hand on his crotch to hold up his pants and 6inches of his underwear showing, do you want to stop and slap the tar out of him?
I do, and then I'd like to drag him home and slap his parents.

powderman · « **Reply #71 on:** July 25, 2011, 01:20:23 PM »

BUGEYE. YEP, me too. Morality and decency used to mean something. POWDERMAN.

ironglow · « **Reply #72 on:** July 26, 2011, 01:45:16 AM »

Quote from: powderman on July 25, 2011, 06:45:46 AM

Almost forgot. Til I got to high school I never heard of eating dinner at suppertime. Dinner was our midday meal, supper was evening, leav it to those city folks to screw that up. I'd never heard the term latchkey kids either, they had no parents home when school got out, mothers were working. I only knew of one mother in our town that worked outside the home. Her husband was a drunk so she had no choice but to work. Never knew of anybody being on welfare, except one family, and there was no such thing as food stamps. Our moms all cut our hair, never went to a barber. Went to school with some really poor kids. They always brought the same lunch. Homemade bread with home made butter and jelly. Last day of school we had a cookout, they wouldn't eat even a hot dog. They saw that as charity and their family would have none of that. They grew up to be fine upstanding adults. POWDERMAN.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
OHHH Powderman.. You just brought back memories..especially with the dinner/supper conundrum !

So many similar memories..except Dad cut our hair, with one of those old "hand-squeeze" clippers (they sure did pinch & pull). Same attitude toward welfare..due to "tough breaks" (illness, sudden death & a polio death) we were probably foir a few years, the poorest family in our neighborhood, way below today's poverty level. We weren't aware of it though, because most of our neighborhood friends were little better off financially.
The beauty was that nobody stooped for welfare..and we all maintained high moral values..
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Memory lane.. The 7 oz classic Coke bottles had the address of the local bottler, cast into the glass bottom. Most areas were of course dominated by the name of the local coke bottler. On the Army post though, due to the transient nature of the job..tyhe Coke machine might dispense a bottle from anywhere in the US and sometimes foreign countries... During a break, We often played a game where the one who got the furthest bottle..covered the cost of all.

I recall being a young trooper in Ft Knox (1955) and getting a bottle dispensed which I upended and read.."Havre de Grace"..Thought for a moment I had a bottle from France...soon found out it is in Maryland..

BUGEYE · « **Reply #73 on:** July 26, 2011, 03:25:15 AM »

to benefit our little 1 room school, the women would make box suppers and the men would bid on them in auction and when you bouught a supper, you sat with that women to eat. having the best Dad in the world, he would help me bid on a girls supper, the older boys hated me for that.

Doublebass73 · « **Reply #74 on:** July 26, 2011, 08:34:48 AM »

Quote

One I did not see was having to be home when the street lights went on unless you let your parents know where you were and who you were with....<><....

Nice one Andy. We had the 5 O'Clock whistle (an old fashioned steam whistle) at the paper mill across the river to tell us it was time for supper then after supper we'd go out and play until the street lights came on.

gstewart44 · « **Reply #75 on:** July 26, 2011, 09:08:40 AM »

Anyone remember the airraid sirens that used to go off at noon everyday? I remember seeing the squadrons of B47s and later B52s doing their runs out of the SAC base. Their return approack was right over my house and like clockwork the landing gear bays would open as soon as they were overhead.

And - How bout ducking under your desk in case of a nuclear attack?

How naive we were back then. One of my neighbors built a Fallout shelter - concrete and corrogated steel - looked like a miniature Quonset hut. Inside it smelled like mildew.

Sensai · « **Reply #76 on:** July 26, 2011, 10:08:13 AM »

I'm old enough to remember when SpiritHawk invented dirt! I remember walking to the store, about four miles, with my younger brother and five pennies. We could buy a Coke for six cents and split it, but Mr. Cofer would let us pay him five cents and give the bottle back. There was a one cent deposit on the bottle. I think that the biggest difference, and it shows in all these tales, is that people were responsible for their actions then. Also, there was pride in your reputation. I guess it just boils down to honor, whatever that is/was.

S.S. · « **Reply #77 on:** July 26, 2011, 03:21:03 PM »

Thanks for reminding me how old I am

chefjeff · « **Reply #78 on:** July 26, 2011, 04:09:27 PM »

Not quite as ancient(51) but I remember all but the BJ gum. How about "kelvinator" and "frigidaire". Outhouse with a big 'ol sears catalog or two.I told my son in training we had three channels to watch(I was thankful!) and he thought it was just awful to have ONLY three! Fellas, I do believe we have lived the bulk of our lives in the best time and place of man. I try to give thanks every day.I fear the next generations will not have it so good.

1marty · « **Reply #79 on:** July 26, 2011, 04:21:11 PM »

24 I'm depressed. I asked my grand kid to put the milk in the "ice box" the other day. She asked what the heck is an ice box. I think I'll take a double shot of prune juice and go to bed.

powderman · « **Reply #80 on:** July 27, 2011, 12:53:31 PM »

HEH. A lot of great posts here, you guys have brought back a lot of great memories. There was Nothing quite like a swim in the little wabash river after a hot, hard day in the hayfield. We got cooled down and washed off at the same time. My cousin had to hog it first for fish, catching fish with your hands. One day he suddenly got a reall shocked and pained expression on his face. When he came out of the water with a big cat, he had run his hand in it's mouth and it had him good. We had to cut the fishes jaws to get him loose. Had a little cut ring around most of his wrist. Bob caught a lot of nice fish like that. One day heading for the river in Dans old ford here came the big dog that always chased the car. I told Dan to drive close to the mailbox. The dog was running right alonside my car door so I shove it out and peeled the dog off on the mailbox, knocked him silly. After that the dog would run out til he recognized the car then just sit down and watch us go by. I think a lot of us grew up in the same small towns all accross America. I have another story for later, about a rabbit supper. POWDERMAN.

powderman · « **Reply #81 on:** July 27, 2011, 02:01:15 PM »

When I was a pup growing up in ILL almost everybody hunted. Every winter we would have a rabbit supper at the grade school gymn. The farmers had their crops in and most butchering over with so the whole community would gather for a good meal. Theres was rabbit about every way you could think of to cook it, fried, baked, bbqd, roasted, and usually some with saur kraut. Don't remember what other foods but there was a lot of it, desserts too. I learned the first year to only eat out of moms roasting pan of fried rabbit. Others were full of shot, and hair. We were blessed with a lot of local talent, good ol country music at it's best, banjo, guitar, and of course a fiddle or 2. One guy brought his steel guitar and played ATTEL GUITAR RAG for my Dad. There were games, prizes, etc. It was a great way for everybody to get together. Those were good times. Like my Dad said 50 years ago, people don't take the time to live anymore. POWDERMAN.

ironglow · « **Reply #82 on:** August 01, 2011, 01:57:06 AM »

Not only ration stamps, but those little red fiber 'tokens' sometimes used with ration stamps.. Stickers on the car windshield with a large letter .A,B,C,D etc ..telling the service station your level of Gasoline buying priority. Lots of Blowout patches etc..to make those tires "last for the duration".
I suppose many here can still recall when it was a "service" station..check the oil, water, tires and give you a free map if you wanted one.
Then there was "Chum Gum"..cheaper than Wrigley's spearmint or Juicy Fruit....and those BB BATTS lollipops..a little brick of taffy on a stick..choc, vanilla, strawberry and my favorite..Banana..

spikehorn · « **Reply #83 on:** August 01, 2011, 05:07:19 PM »

Wow ironglow I haven't had banana taffy in forever, I'm gunna have to go find some now!

powderman · « **Reply #84 on:** August 01, 2011, 05:43:07 PM »

IRONGLOW. Mom still has a few of those ration stamps I believe. She has a copy of an old church bulletin from during ww11. The pastor appointed a lady to teach Sunday School, she declined stating that it was not a womans place to do so, it should be a man. She accepted the job when the pastor pointed out that there were no men left in the Church, they were all in the war. There were several letters from soldiers telling of the hardships they were going through, several telling of burrowing under the snow to keep from freezing to death. There were also some minutes of services from many years before that. I found out through reading them that my Grandmother was a loose, wanton woman. Oh the shame of it all, she was caught, can barely stand to say it it's so embarassing. OK, she was caught red handed dancing with a boy at a CHURCH SOCIAL, her fiance. I hope yall won't think less of me for this confession. A year or so later they were married. The church minutes said she was severely chastised by the church, don't know what that meant though. POWDERMAN.

streak · « **Reply #85 on:** August 01, 2011, 06:47:37 PM »

Well put me in for 24!
i guess I am "older than dirt" but proud of it! It took alot of time, effort, money,happy times, heart aches, fights, to get to this plateau!! So it is time to start enjoying life, what`s left of it.

How many of you remember the old saying "Don`t get your tit in the ringer"?
Well I old enough to know where that came from and also actually saw it happen!

powderman · « **Reply #86 on:** August 02, 2011, 06:31:42 AM »

STREAK. HEH, never saw it happen but had heard of it happening more than once. Washing clothes used to be not so easy. MAN, that would hurt. POWDERMAN.

powderman · « **Reply #87 on:** August 02, 2011, 06:47:46 AM »

Anybody remember the old quilting bees?? I clearly remember Grandmas old quilting frame on the front porch taking up well over 1/2 of the room. There would be 2 or 3 of the ladies on each side sewing away as they talked about families, Church, etc. Making quilts was a lot of work and when they combined their efforts it went much quicker. Grandma could point to certain parts of a quilt and tell you whose stitch it was, they were all just a bit different. Quilts size depended on who was making them and the physical size of the family they were to be used on. My grandma Bells quilts were not nearly as long as my Grandma Nelsons. HEH, the Bells were somewhat shorter. I'd imagine that a lot of the worlds problems were discussed and solved around that old quilting frame. My wife still makes quilts. Material is expensive anymore. POWDERMAN.

streak · « **Reply #88 on:** August 02, 2011, 09:42:48 AM »

Quote from: powderman on August 02, 2011, 06:47:46 AM

Anybody remember the old quilting bees?? I clearly remember Grandmas old quilting frame on the front porch taking up well over 1/2 of the room. There would be 2 or 3 of the ladies on each side sewing away as they talked about families, Church, etc. Making quilts was a lot of work and when they combined their efforts it went much quicker. Grandma could point to certain parts of a quilt and tell you whose stitch it was, they were all just a bit different. Quilts size depended on who was making them and the physical size of the family they were to be used on. My grandma Bells quilts were not nearly as long as my Grandma Nelsons. HEH, the Bells were somewhat shorter. I'd imagine that a lot of the worlds problems were discussed and solved around that old quilting frame. My wife still makes quilts. Material is expensive anymore. POWDERMAN.

Powderman,
I spent many a winter evening and night watching my mother and aunts,cousins, friends, grandma`s all standing around the quilting frame making those quilts! Sadly all of those experts are now gone but I still have some of the quilts as memoirs!

streak · « **Reply #89 on:** August 02, 2011, 09:51:20 AM »

How many of you guys ever draw water from the well with an old bucket and rope and pulley? Then heat up water to take with the milk bucket to milk Ole` Bossy!

Also going to the outhouse on a cold winter day and using an old Speigle catalog for TP?