Nostalgic Memories of America

August 17, 2003 | Myself

[hardhead]

This is a Sunday afternoon exercise in fun and memories of days-gone-by. We do a lot of fightin' and arguin' here in FR during the week, so on Our Lord's day of rest, how about relating your memories of things that have passed on into the dustbin of American history - things you yearn for or wish were still among us.

Have you caught yourself saying to your kids or your friends, 'well, when I was a little kid, we did it this way' or 'we didn't have any money but we were happy'.

[Spok]

Hide and go seek games that involved every kid on the block, and watching Bonanza when Chevrolet would introduce next years' models during the commercials.

[ThreePuttinDude]

Do you remember Riverview, and the sounds of the old rickity
wooden roller coaster?

I got my first kiss at Riverview, the girl was a couple of years older...and she wore a bra....and she had lipstick...and she had smelly perfume....and she had hairspray that made her hair hard....and she....well you know.....the story could go on and on and on.....

[backhoe]

Collecting soda bottles for a cent each, then rowing my bateau to the Pier in the Village to redeem them at Ward's Drugstore for a 25-cent lunch.

A hotdog and a small Coke.

Thanks for making me recall that happy time so long ago.

[mathluv]

Just yesterday, with my daughter's family, my youngest granddaughter asked me to tell her about school when I was young.

[hardhead]

Nostalgia is big time right this very minute and I don't think it is all for profit. People want to reclaim a segment of their past and two things I have experienced recently make me believe that. I live in Wyoming but am able to pick up a radio station in Los Angeles (KNX) that broadcasts old radio shows every single night. They have been doing this for at least 15 years. Jack Benny, The Great Gildersleeve, Lux Radio Theater, Gunsmoke, The Shadow, Night Beat, The Lone Ranger, and so on. KSL out of Salt Lake does the same overnight with more radio shows.

I was browsing eBay's 'Collectibles' and you wouldn't believe the number of old comic books that are being offered, as well as other much sought after memorabilia.

[faithincowboys]

Great contribution-- I wish I had been alive back then.

[Foxfire4]

"Going out to play," in other words, your parents kicked you out of the house

I'm a Generation Xer, but we had the "red, white and blue rule", which translated as "Go outside and don't come back unless there's blood, bruises or broken bones." My mother, the humanitarian... :-)

[faithincowboys]

Well, have you ever heard the song "1970 Something"-- it's a country songs about kids that grew up in the 70-s and 80's. Parachuste pants, The Dukes of Hazzard, et al. Vaguely charming but nothing like what prior generations had.

Now the kids are going to have gangsta rap, playstation and look at the President they had for 8 years. No dreamy recollections of a hero President (like Ike) are available to them. Dubya-- a decent fellow (who the elites try to make look like Satan) is hopefully held in better regard by our young people.

[ThreePuttinDude]

A hotdog and a small Coke

And the Coke bottles were small too,
Were they 8oz. bottles? And the tastes was great.

[hardhead]

I suspect that GW is held in higher esteem by young people than some of their parents who were 'long-haired hippies in a chartreuse mini-bus'. I think that sometimes we need to cut young people a bit of slack, especially those who are fighting in Iraq. I'm proud of them.

[rockfish59]

I probably have heard it.

A lot of kids these days will have

MTV
Jackass
Reality TV
(c)RAP
Lame Hollywood 'movies'
Gun control hysteria
Abortion
etc, etc

I don't envy them!

[ThreePuttinDude]

We were kids of the 50's/60's....I remember Saturday morning cartoons,

Heckle and Jeckle
Woody Woodpecker
Mighty Mouse
RoadRunner [I was always pulling for Wile E.]
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Dudly Doright
FogHorn Leghorn...to mention just a few.

Black and White TV shows

Dragnet
Highway Patrol
Car 54 Were are You
Sea Hunt
Lassie......[I always thought Timmy was a wimp]
Ozzie and Harriette
Leave it to Beaver
Andy Griffith.....[Ernest T. Bass was a favorite]
My Friend Flicka..[that one came from the ThreePuttinBabe]

[ThreePuttinDude]

I wonder if Chelsea will have a favorable memory of her mom and dad.

Thats a sad thought, if she actually admires them.

[ThreePuttinDude]

I wonder if Chelsea will have a favorable memory of her mom and dad.

Thats a sad thought, if she actually admires them.

[ThreePuttinDude]

Damn, my trigger finger stuttered....

[19th LA Inf]

10-cent Comet kits! In 1938 I got a year subscription to Model Airplane News AND a 10-cent kit, probably Comet, for a whole dollar. Good start on a lifetime of model building.

[Maria S]

"Great contribution-- I wish I had been alive back then."

Thanks! I look back and sometimes it seems like yesterday; other times, a thousand years ago!

[Maria S]

"No dreamy recollections of a hero President..."

He wasn't all that dreamy to me (Jackie WAS my heroine...I loved the way she looked with her hair and clothes), but I can remember the exact moment when I heard about the Kennedy assassination. What I was wearing, who I was with. Wonderful blue sky/autumn afternoon...and it just seemed like the world suddenly fell apart. Such things just did NOT happen in my world. Looking back, I realize how naive we all were about real life.

[Maria S]

"Abortion"

No such thing as abortion (at least not legally available)in the 50's. Young ladies occasionally DID either suddenly get married or left town "to help out an ailing aunt" for several months. Too much shame and embarrassment to say the girl had gone off to have her baby, then give it up for adoption. Unmarried girls did NOT raise their babies by themselves.

[Jacvin]

Egg creams at Bernie's Candy store in Queens,Chocolate ices from Laguli's,canolis after Sunday Mass, Sister Bridget Thomas,Lime Rickey's,"slice of Sicilian from Rose and Joe's",Father Capabianco,going to Chinatown to buy fireworks for the fourth,"Johnny ride the pony,knowing every family on the block, waiting in line to confess every Saturday,walking home from school,delivering the new york daily news,hanging out on the stoop,stickball, hockey on roller skates,Pop Warner,Joe Willie Namath, The Amazing Mets,Tom Seaver,Al Atkinson,Tug McGraw, Emerson Boozer, Eddie Giacomin, Earl the Pearl Monroe, Clyde Frasier,Willis Reed,Dave Debuschere, Bill Bradley, Phil Jackson,First Communion, confirmation, watching Ed Sullivan every week with the whole family,topogigio,
Jones Beach,little Italy when Italians actually lived there,CYO baseball, and Mass on Christmas Eve.