Memories of Growing Up in the 40's and 50's (and since, even)

email | 1/4/01 (this time) | Unknown

[Dakotabound]

"Hey Dad," My Son asked the other day, "what was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?"

"We didn't have fast food when I was growing up."

"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?"

"We ate at home," I explained. "Your Grandma cooked every day and when your Grandpa got home from work, we all sat down together at the table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I had to sit there until I did like it." By this time, my Son was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer some serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to get my Father's permission to leave the table.

Here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I had figured his system could handle it.

My parents never: wore Levi's, set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country, flew in a plane or had a credit card. In their later years they had something called a "revolving charge card" but they never actually used it. It was only good at Sears-Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears and Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was because soccer back then was just for the girls. We actually did walk to school. By the time you were in the 6th grade it was not cool to ride the bus unless you lived more than 4 or 5 miles from the school, even when it was raining or there was ice or snow on the ground.

Outdoor sports consisted of stickball, snowball fights, building forts, making snowmen and sliding down hills on a piece of cardboard. No skate boards, roller blades or trail bikes.

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 12. It was, of course, black and white, but you could buy a piece of special colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue, like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone's lawn on a sunny day.

I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza. It was a Sam's Pizza at the East end of Fruit Street in Milford. My friend, Steve took me there to try what he called "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down and plastered itself against my chin. It's still the best pizza I ever had.

Pizzas were not delivered to your house back then, but the milk was. I looked forward to winter because the cream in the milk was on top of the bottle and it would freeze and push the cap off. Of course us kids would get up first to get the milk and eat the frozen cream before our mother could catch us.

I never had a telephone in my room. Actually the only phone in the house was in the hallway and it was on a party line. Before you could make a call, you had to listen in to make sure someone else wasn't already using the line. If the line was not in use an Operator would come on and ask "number please" and you would give her the number you wanted to call.

There was no such thing as a computer or a hand held calculator. We were required to memorize the "times tables." Believe it or not, we were tested each week on our ability to perform mathematics with nothing but a pencil and paper. We took a spelling test every day. There was no such thing as a "social promotion." If you flunked a class, you repeated that grade the following year. Nobody was concerned about your "self esteem." We had to actually do something praiseworthy before we were praised. We learned that you had to earn respect.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and most all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered the "Milford Daily News" six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 2 cents. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my customers. My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to keep the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut on screen. Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and they just didn't do that in the movies back then. I had no idea what they did in French movies. French movies were considered dirty and we weren't allowed to see them.

You never saw the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers or anyone else actual kill someone. The heroes back then would just shoot the gun out of the bad guys hand. There was no blood and violence.

When you were sick, the Doctor actually came to your house. No, I am not making this up. Drugs were something you purchased at a pharmacy in order to cure an illness.

If we dared to "sass" our parents, or any other grown-up, we immediately found out what soap tasted like. For more serious infractions, we learned about something called a "this hurts me more than it hurts you." I never did quite understand that one?

In those days, parents were expected to discipline their kids. There was no interference from the government. "Social Services" or "Family Services" had not been invented (The ninth and tenth amendments to the constitution were still observed in those days.)

I must be getting old because I find myself reflecting back more and more and thinking I liked it a lot better back then. If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your kids or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they wet themselves laughing. Growing up today sure ain't what it used to be.

[wardaddy]

BTW....I don't know about the rest of ya'll but the morning of September 11th, 2001 and watching those buildings collapse eclipses all other pivotal national events for me by a long shot and I was already 43 at the time.

Kennedy, Watergate, 72 Olympics, Hurricane Camille, Iran hostages, Reagan being shot...etc are all footnotes to the big one so far.

[Naplm]

Born in 1965, 20 years ago, if someone told you someday folks would pay a buck and a half for a pint of water, you would have told em they were crazy, my dad drove a semi truck, the thing was loud as a hurricane and its smoke was coal black and thick, you could get a candybar for 15 cents, you had to stop 3 times for freight trains when going across town, G.C Murphys and Sears were the big
department stores, the speedlimit was 75 on 2 lane highways, most business and shopping was done downtown, no such thing as a stripmall.

[JimVT]

Down our street it was Don S., a kid everybody couldn't stand...but....his folks had the only neighborhood TV and the access to the Saturday Notre Dame football games...so ol' Dave all of a sudden became everyone's best pal!

[janetgreen]

I'd give up computers, calculators, TV, etc., if I could return to the early days of the 40s and 50s.

Me too, the good old days when no one even had to lock a house or a car, there were fewer laws and less crime and low taxes. One salary could support a family then. Kids could be kids, and the only entertainment needed for a kid was an occasional trip to the beach, a ball and jacks, paper dolls, roller skates and a jump rope. A bike was a luxury, as was a trip to the movies to see the Flash Gordon serial.

Remember when you bought a watermelon and the seller would "plug" it for you to see if it was a good one? Remember cranking the ice cream freezer? Remember playing kick the can until dark? Remember playing marbles? Remember playing "statue"? A trip down memory lane back to a good time for kids.

[Conservababe]

I remember ironing clothes without a steam iron. Yep, my Mom used to sprinkle the dry clothes with water from a coke bottle. You could buy those tops that fit on the bottle especially for sprinkling clothes. Then she would put them in a bag in the refrigerator until I could iron them. Sometimes we had more clothes than food in the frige. LOL

[ErnBatavia]

I grew up in Glendale, too (born 1947)...remember "Scot's Burgers" at a dime apiece? My little pallies and I would piss 'em off there by going two blocks away and getting Bob's Big Boy to go, then eat them on the outdoor tables at Scot's.

And Damon's steak house!! They're now on Brand versus Central, but still cranking 'em out.

[Dog Gone]

BTW....I don't know about the rest of ya'll but the morning of September 11th, 2001 and watching those buildings collapse eclipses all other pivotal national events for me by a long shot and I was already 43 at the time.

I think that is probably true for all of us. Maybe if Pearl Harbor had been televised live we could have a comparison.

I do vividly remember watching live television on our black and white TV with my father in his study one Sunday morning in 1963. Lee Oswald was shot on live television right in front of me, and I'd never seen a person die (for real) in my whole life.

Obviously, that doesn't compare to what happened on 9/11 but it had a profound impact on me.

[Humidston]

(Born in the '40's) and by jove, I believe you're right! Pre-Kennedy death, we were more innocent. After his death, it seemed like more people scrambled for "security" and the dawn of "PC" was invented.

I remember laying on our stomachs in the living room, listening to all the cool radio shows while eating ice cream.
Victory garden during WWII.
Saving foil for the war effort.
WOODEN milk cases on the porch.
Saturday morning fun club started at 9:00 and lasted till 1:00.
Soap in mouth, learning manners - the hard way, sometimes.
Total respect for elders.
Lying was grounds for serious injury!
Forts, fields, kick the can, marbles, dolls.
No "kid safe" toys. Everything was home made and had straight edges (OH HORRORS!)
No car seats, no seat belts.

My grandmother told me when SHE was a kid, they weren't even allowed to yell OUTSIDE if the house windows were open and the adults inside might be disturbed(!!)

[ErnBatavia]

Another '47 checking in! I do, however, remember skateboards, but they were all homemade by way of nailing old fashioned roller skates to a plank. We all had 'em and traveled many a mile that way.

[don-o]

more just shock and my dad saying early on that he felt there was a connection between the two.

May indeed have been a connection.

Did your Dad say more about his thoughts on this?

The fact that cerain documents were sealed for, what 50 years, is a splinter in my brain.

[Lynne]

Born in 51 and remember all this stuff!! A guy down the block worked for RCA and had one of the first color televisions. The whole block went down to his house on New Years to watch the Rose Parade (he still has New Years Day open houses).

The older boys actually let us little girls play with them with NO sexual or other problems!! They gave us rides on their bikes and in their boats (we are on a lake), they let us play touch football, etc. They actually looked out for us.

We never locked our door. On Sundays I wore a frilly dress with white gloves and a hat to church. We had block parties on the lake. All the men on the block got together every Saturday and drank, are you ready, Horlacher Beer.

The Moms I knew stayed home, Dads worked, and people were still able to buy a home and raise a family and send them to college on one salary.

So many memories.

[muggs]

I was looking through a copy of The Vermont Country Store catalog the other day. They had one of those sprinkler things you stick in a coke bottle. It made me remember my mom sprinkling the clothes and putting them in the refrigerator too.

[Conservababe]

I'm a 47, too. I can't help but notice how many of us on this board. But, I guess it should not be surprising, as WWII had ended and the men were coming home.

[GrandMoM]

....I don't remember the shoe-locs, but I do remember you cool guys with your cleats and your cigatettes rolled up in your sleeves.

oh....and the cars then, they were beautiful. I knew all about them then, because there weren't so many models. Ford Galaxies, Chevie Belairs, Bescayne's,Bonneville, Impalais..... my all time favorite though was the 1941 black Cadillac. My husband and I just looked at one last week, it was over $82,000, just beautiful, convertable with red interior.

[wardaddy]

Yep....I remember those too.....my mom hated ironing.

My wife...she irons all her cotton stuff....which in today's time means just about all clothes for warm weather doesn't it?

[Texican]

Dakota:
I was born on June 5 1924 and grew up in the 1930's. We were almost like the "Okies" in the Grapes of Wrath. We ate lots of macroni and cheese, or Macroni and tomatoes. Lots and lots of pinto beans, and one sumer we were so bad off we had to eat Maize. Now that is not something that you wanted to make a steady diet of. Sundays we got pinto beans with ham hocks, that was a real treat. Lots of corn bread, butter milk, and turnips.
I am 78 years old and still remember eating young tumble weeds for greens. I got a lot of whipins, (not that I needed them though) ha ha. and I still grew up with out any kind of a police record. Our first TV was a Hoffman with an amber screen, all the neighbors would come over to watch the KEYTV logo (San Luis Obispo, CA.)as there was no programing yet. My first car was a 1928 Model "T" Ford Touring Sedan, used of course. I taught my wife how to drive it, (big mistake, she still drives and it drives me crazy.) However, in my estimation, we are now living in the best of times. I would not even think of going back to those days. I love living TODAY and make the most of every day.
The very best to you and yours.

Semper Fi
Tommie

[wardaddy]

I remember Oswald being shot as well. My uncle lived in Dallas off Harry Hines (that also says something of how times change) and I remember never looking at that Hospital or the Book Depository the same again.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Deal.

[ErnBatavia]

Wild Kingdom

Complete with squeaky voiced Marlin Perkins "for Mutual of Omaha"

[dalereed]

When Bobs was a few stools and a takeout counter it used to be one of the nightly stops to street race in the early & mid 50s. Also the Mutt and Jeff bike cops, Marinelli and Smith who used to try and catch me doing something wrong when I crossed the line every afternoon. I grew up in the Los Feliz Silverlake area and went to Marshall High in L.A. but moved to Glendale in 66 and still have the home in the hills above Mountain.