Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

To All the Kids Who Survived the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s
An email from my wife ^ | Unknown | Unknown

Posted on 09/06/2023 9:11:54 AM PDT by jcon40

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930’s, 40’s and50’s !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank-While they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs Covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs Covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.’

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day and, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, Only to find out that we forgot about brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not Have Play Stations, Nintendo and X-boxes. There were No video games, No 150 channels on cable, No video movies Or DVDs, No surround-sound or CDs, No cell phones, No personal computers, No Internet and No chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS And we went Outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, Broke bones and Lost teeth, And there were No lawsuits From those accidents.

We would get Spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, And no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, And mud pies Made from dirt, And The worms did Not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, 22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we were told it would happen - we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts And not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.

The past 60 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

~~~~~~~

The quote of-the month by Jay Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of Coronavirus and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"


TOPICS: Humor
KEYWORDS: bestyears
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-114 next last
To: Cowgirl

In the 1940’s I played with my electric train set. It went around in a circle of tracks that I pushed together. the transformer emitted an ozone smell I can still smell today when I think about it. I survived with no problems


41 posted on 09/06/2023 10:29:31 AM PDT by Deo et patriae (Make America Great again! rantings.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: jcon40

My two brothers and I got MERCURY out of a broken thermometer and actually played with it in the palms of our hands! None of us died from it.

However, my daughters have always said I was weird. Come to think of it, my younger brother is weird too. Hummmmm . . .


42 posted on 09/06/2023 10:30:10 AM PDT by Old Grumpy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GOPJ
...dive off a bride into a stream...

While the groom was chasing you, too.

43 posted on 09/06/2023 10:30:12 AM PDT by 4Runner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: FamiliarFace

YES! Saw your comment after I posted my own. Fun times!


44 posted on 09/06/2023 10:32:20 AM PDT by Old Grumpy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Don W
OOOO ya “clackers”

A buddy actually had a set EXPLODE ..... was that cool or what?

WE spent the next several weeks trying to get some to do it again.

45 posted on 09/06/2023 10:42:57 AM PDT by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Old Grumpy

It is amazing the many daredevil things we did when we were kids, and managed to not only survive our childhoods, but we THRIVED as a result.


46 posted on 09/06/2023 10:46:40 AM PDT by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner; jcon40

“dive off a bride”

Sounds like you guys lived on a pretty cool street ....
Did I miss something in my childhood?


47 posted on 09/06/2023 10:47:34 AM PDT by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Chainmail

I remember the rockets in HS, too. Usually they were set off near the football field.


48 posted on 09/06/2023 10:48:07 AM PDT by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Chainmail
” making rocket fuel “

And the ones that came in the young scientist kits ...

all kinds of great stuff in those ... and you knew just what to do ..... because it had those little danger symbols by all the good stuff.
The best sulfur smoke/stink bombs ....

49 posted on 09/06/2023 10:52:52 AM PDT by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: AppyPappy

“Remember iron lungs? ... Those were good times”

Seems like not much has changed considering the ventilators with bacteria -laden tubing forced on to the elderly in 2020. Good times.


50 posted on 09/06/2023 10:55:56 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: jcon40

When I was a kid living at Myrtle Beach AFB in the 1960’s we’d routinely follow the mosquito spraying truck on our bicycles as it went through base housing.


51 posted on 09/06/2023 10:56:44 AM PDT by CodeJockey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FamiliarFace

There still are a few of those mercury thermometers at the family homestead where Mom lives. They’re the only ones whose results I trust. The digital ones are a joke.

And, yes, we used to play with the mercury balls when they broke.


52 posted on 09/06/2023 10:58:52 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: jcon40
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.

Street lights?

We didn't have street lights.

53 posted on 09/06/2023 10:59:05 AM PDT by gitmo (If your theology doesn’t become your biography, what good is it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MayflowerMadam

“And they’re raising spoiled, entitled, fragile little bitches. The old ways were better.”

_________________________________________________________

Well said, Madam.


54 posted on 09/06/2023 10:59:50 AM PDT by Murder of Crows
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: jcon40

We played in the fog from the DDT trucks.


55 posted on 09/06/2023 11:00:16 AM PDT by gitmo (If your theology doesn’t become your biography, what good is it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jcon40

Even though I am old enough to know better; I just went up AND down a flight of stairs holding a pair of scissors to cut a couple of mulato isleno peppers off a plant for a fresh batch of salsa.


56 posted on 09/06/2023 11:01:50 AM PDT by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...siameserescue.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jcon40

My mother, during 1933, use to sometimes ride a motorcycle while I was in the oven...

Two packs a day and weekend parties...
I was born at home with an old lady in charge...

Here I am, 90 years later, never smoked and haven’t had a beer since I was 55...


57 posted on 09/06/2023 11:02:14 AM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is the next Sam Adams when we so desperately need him)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jcon40

Who does the author think made all of the crap we are dealing with today?

The average age in the Senate is 64. ts a little younger in the house.

Trying to pawn off the shitty state of today on the Millenials is about ten years too early. Sure…their voices are getting louder, but they dont have the power to change stuff yet.

All that is around you is on the boomers and Xers.


58 posted on 09/06/2023 11:02:15 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

“Many didn’t.:”

“Many”, my ass. I know of only two people who died in a car accident in high school and no one died other than that.

Far mor kids die today from bad vaccines, bad illegal drugs, suicide, transgenderism, and all sort of liberal crap.


59 posted on 09/06/2023 11:06:20 AM PDT by CodeToad (No Arm up! They have!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: jcon40

Monkey bars on concrete! Fun stuff.

Tether ball.

We used to go out when the street lights came on, tie a rock into a white tee shirt, throw it up and net bats chasing it in the way down.


60 posted on 09/06/2023 11:12:21 AM PDT by Fledermaus (It's time to get rid of the Three McStooges; Mitch, Kevin and Ronna!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-114 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson