showing your age...

[allmycats]

tonight I bought cigarettes( I know they are bad, I am trying to quit:eek:)
and the clerk and I started talking about the price, and I told him, well the first pack I bought, in Jr high school, was...........40 CENTS! guess that really shows my age! I'm in my late 40's. and I felt so OLD when I said that!
40 cents:eek:

so , you fellow smokers out there, how much did your first pack cost?

[caseysmom]

I'm too old to remember!

[chocolatepuppy]

I can remember rolling up pennies (.50) to buy hubby a pack of cigarettes. :o

ETA: hubby quit smoking 10 years ago. ;)

[Medusa]

I don't smoke and never have, so I have no comparison to make there. I don't want to highjack your thread and if it you object, I'll delete my comment but your question got me to thinking about the price of things now as compared to the "old days". When I was a little girl, movies cost $.25. Truly. My son always teases me and says "Yes, Mom, I know. And you walked uphill to school both ways in the snow". But it really did only cost $.25 to see a movie, so if I had a dime extra, I could buy two candy bars and watch a double feature! Now do you still feel old? :eek:

[pomtzu]

I remember my Dad buying cigarettes at $2.00 per carton.

And I remember the 3 cent stamp. And if you didn't seal the envelope and just tucked the flap in, you could mail it for 2 cents. I only remember that on Christmas cards tho, so that might have been the only time you could do that.

[happylabs]

Wow that was too long ago for me to remember. I smoked some in high school but gladly I quit in my early twenties. You should think about quitting. Think of all the money you will have saved and also health care costs.

[moosmom]

I remember going to the store for my Mom to get her smokes. The cost??? $.25 a pack. Mom's been gone for 36 years. Died from lung cancer. Nice.

[Willow Oak]

I used to wlk into Winn Dixie and buy a coke out of the coke machine for a nickel. Anybody remember that?

[davidpizzica]

I don't remember what cigarette prices were in 1962 when I started, but I do remember that when I quit in 1982, they were up to .65 cents a pack which I thought was too high. I haven't smoked in 27 years!

[kokopup]

I dont remember the lowest price for cigarettes but I remenber 25 cent in the stores and 10 cent onboard ship while in the Navy.

I remember getting into the movie for 10 cents and not telling the truth about my age when I turned 11 so I didn't have to pay 18 cents.

quote by Willow Oaks

I used to wlk into Winn Dixie and buy a coke out of the coke machine for a nickel. Anybody remember that?

Williow Oaks, prices must have been much lower in Mississippi than they were in Alabama and Florida. I remember when they put the penny honor box on coke machines to raise the price to 6 cents. I was 8 at the time and you would not have been born for another 7 years. They finally went ahead and made them 10 cents when I was around 10 or 11. Back then the small coke bottle had the date and place it was made on the bottom of the bottle. We use to have a game to find the bottle from the furtherest place away.

[pomtzu]

I remember in elementary school when we had a milk break in the morning. You got a half pint of milk and it came in a little milk bottle (no cartons then), and it was 2 cents.

We had the savings bond program too. You had a book that you filled with savings stamps that you purchased, and when it was full, you cashed it in for a bond (whatever the denomination of the book you filled).

Sorry if I got off track here, but this thread brings back a lot of old memories. ;)

[Medusa]

I remember in elementary school when we had a milk break in the morning. You got a half pint of milk and it came in a little milk bottle (no cartons then), and it was 2 cents.

We had the savings bond program too. You had a book that you filled with savings stamps that you purchased, and when it was full, you cashed it in for a bond (whatever the denomination of the book you filled).

Sorry if I got off track here, but this thread brings back a lot of old memories. ;)


Yes, we had milk breaks, too. Milk was $.04 a bottle. And the savings bond program reminded me of S&H Green Stamps and later on Plaid Stamps. Remember those? They came in quite handy for trading in for household items to be given as wedding gifts. And do you recall being given glassware when you purchased gas? Some of it is selling at a premium now at antique stores.

[Willow Oak]

Yes, we had milk breaks, too. Milk was $.04 a bottle. And the savings bond program reminded me of S&H Green Stamps and later on Plaid Stamps. Remember those? They came in quite handy for trading in for household items to be given as wedding gifts. And do you recall being given glassware when you purchased gas? Some of it is selling at a premium now at antique stores.

You just opened up a whole can of worms. Gas stations? My memory fails me in many ways, but for some reason there is a snapshot image still in my mind of the Esso station and its 32 cents per gallon gas. And my dad complaining about the price of gas!

[Medusa]

Also, grocery stores gave a free book to a set of encyclopedias w/every order over a certain amount but I can't recall what amount. I acquired the entire set of encyclopedias that way from my parent's shopping. Funk and Wagnalls, I think. LOL That may have come later, I'm not sure.

[pomtzu]

Yes, we had milk breaks, too. Milk was $.04 a bottle. And the savings bond program reminded me of S&H Green Stamps and later on Plaid Stamps. Remember those? They came in quite handy for trading in for household items to be given as wedding gifts. And do you recall being given glassware when you purchased gas? Some of it is selling at a premium now at antique stores.

My Mom used to shop where they gave Green Stamps. I still have a set of pyrex mixing bowls that she got with them, and a locket too.

I remember the gas station glasses too. We had a set of really tall green glass ones, and Dad made rootbeer floats in them! That was always a big Saturday afternoon treat.

[Willow Oak]

I remember the gas station glasses too. We had a set of really tall green glass ones, and Dad made rootbeer floats in them! That was always a big Saturday afternoon treat.

Shut up! Root beer floats! I believe they were called "black cows."

I always have a Texas gallon of ice cream in the fridge and a six pack of coke (in bottles only) so that I can make a coke float about every other day.

[Medusa]

Root beer floats make me think of my ex-husband. He LOVED those things!

[pomtzu]

Back in the early 60's when my ex and I were first married, we rented a place that had a kerosene furnace, and paid 18 cents per gallon for the fuel. We were appalled when it climbed to 43 cents. :eek:

[Medusa]

I can see this thread lasting forever. LOL

When my first husband and I were married in the mid-60's, we had a Renault Dauphin and seeing that we were living on an airman's pay, we put $.50 into that thing and drove for what seemed like weeks. Our rent was a whopping $75 a month for off base housing and people thought we were uppity! LOL

[pomtzu]

Shut up! Root beer floats! I believe they were called "black cows."


I was born and raised in New England, and they were just "floats" up there. I think you native southerners called them "cows". :D

[Kfamr]

Oh man, it scares me to think if prices have inflated this high since you lot were my age, how high will they be another 20-30 years from now? Scary.:eek:

My parents were telling me when they went to buy their first home (some 25+ years ago) it cost them $27,000ish. They were freaking out wondering how they were to afford it. Now, all the houses I look at under $100,000 are run down and need a ton of work, can't get a loan on them, etc.:(

[Willow Oak]

Oh man, it scares me to think if prices have inflated this high since you lot were my age, how high will they be another 20-30 years from now? Scary.:eek:

My parents were telling me when they went to buy their first home (some 25+ years ago) it cost them $27,000ish. They were freaking out wondering how they were to afford it. Now, all the houses I look at under $100,000 are run down and need a ton of work, can't get a loan on them, etc.:(

The first new house we loved in -- brand new in a brand new subdivision: $14,000.

[Willow Oak]

Root beer floats make me think of my ex-husband.

Good thoughts?

[Willow Oak]

And at the gas station you had two choices: regular or ethyl. All the poor ladies whose names were "Ethyl" really took a beating back then.

[pomtzu]

I remember the first house I lived in as a kid - it was a bungalow style - 2 bedroom with a full basement - nothing fancy, yet nice - and my parents bought it in the 30's for around $3,000. They sold that and bought a brand new 3 bedroom rancher in the mid 50's, and paid around $11,000 for it. Today, you can't even buy a little travel trailer to take camping for that price.

[kokopup]

I'm a sheltered southerner and I don't remember the Black Cow. We had A&W as a chain that was popular back then. They had a great Root Beer float. Maybe it was called a "Black Cow" I can't remember.

Pomtzu, I do have a few fond memories of New England. I loved the grilled Hot Dog that had the flat buns and the "Awful Awful" sold at Newport Creamery. :D

[Randi]

OK, when I was a child, I could make a local phonecall for 0,018 USD - that is if there was a telephone at all! :eek:

And when I was an au-pair in England, I could get a chocolade bar from a machine for 6 pence. :p

[Willow Oak]

OK, when I was a child, I could make a local phonecall for 0,018 USD - that is if there was a telephone at all! :eek:

And when I was an au-pair in England, I could get a chocolade bar from a machine for 6 pence. :p

We used to have something called a telephone. Now everyone uses a cell phone. I don't even have a land line.

Also, I have noticed that phone booths seemed to have disappeared.

And ..., phones used to ring. You know: Rrrriiiiiiinnnnnggggg!

Oh yeah -- we had party lines. I used to sit and listen to the old ladies gossip about their neighbors.

Okay. I'm done.

[pomtzu]

Pomtzu, I do have a few fond memories of New England. I loved the grilled Hot Dog that had the flat buns and the "Awful Awful" sold at Newport Creamery. :D

Ah yes - Newport Creamery - the hangout after the Friday or Saturday night date!
I miss Rocky Point and the clam cakes and chowder at the shore dinner hall. I have the original recipe for their clam cakes, and I've made them a few times. They're awesome.

[kokopup]

Randi I remember a phone call at a public booth costing 10 cent. You would be hard pressed to find a phone booth today. The Hersey chocolate bar cost 5 cents when I was young.

For those discussing Gas stations, do you remember that they used to pump your gas ,clean the windshield, and checked you oil as a part of the service? Then they went to full service at a premium ,or self service if you wanted the best price. I don't recall seeing a full/self in years. They are all self only now.

[Edwina's Secretary]

When I went to university -- tuition for a semester (in state students) was $145.00. Out of state tuition was $675.00.

And the dorm did not have phones in the rooms. Communal phones in the hallway and a switchboard in the lobby. Phone calls and visitors were announced by a buzzer system.

[Willow Oak]

Randi I remember a phone call at a public booth costing 10 cent. You would be hard pressed to find a phone booth today. The Hersey chocolate bar cost 5 cents when I was young.

For those discussing Gas stations, do you remember that they used to pump your gas ,clean the windshield, and checked you oil as a part of the service? Then they went to full service at a premium ,or self service if you wanted the best price. I don't recall seeing a full/self in years. They are all self only now.

I helped out at a service station when I was about 12 or 13. My job was to sweep the driveway, fix flats, wash cars, etc. One day I decided to try my hand at pumping gas. On my very first customer I placed the nozzle into what I thought was the proper place located just behind the license plate.

Need I tell you?

Well, let's put it this way: I was never allowed to pump gas again.

Anyway, that little red rag hanging out of the back pocket was a real source of pride.

[pomtzu]

For those discussing Gas stations, do you remember that they used to pump your gas ,clean the windshield, and checked you oil as a part of the service? Then they went to full service at a premium ,or self service if you wanted the best price. I don't recall seeing a full/self in years. They are all self only now.

It's illegal to pump your own gas in NJ and OR. I believe they are the only 2 states that haven't caught up with the rest of the country.


And I remember the party line phones too. You were considered somewhat well off if you had a private line. I remember thinking we were really something when we went from a 2 party to a private line.
This is scary - but I remember the old phone number. That's when you had to talk to an operator - there were no dials or dial tones. Bayview1225W. Guess I must have spent more time on the phone than I remember, if I can remember the number after all these years. :eek:

[Willow Oak]

It's illegal to pump your own gas in NJ and OR. I believe they are the only 2 states that haven't caught up with the rest of the country.


And I remember the party line phones too. You were considered somewhat well off if you had a private line. I remember thinking we were really something when we went from a 2 party to a private line.
This is scary - but I remember the old phone number. That's when you had to talk to an operator - there were no dials or dial tones. Bayview1225W. Guess I must have spent more time on the phone than I remember, if I can remember the number after all these years. :eek:

775-4810. I was around five, I guess, when we got that number.

[Edwina's Secretary]

775-4810. I was around five, I guess, when we got that number.

EXport9-6482 (399-6482)....and then when we got a princess phone with a light up dial - yee ha!

[Randi]

Four well-dressed men sitting together at a vacation resort. "Farewell to Thee" being played in the background on Hawaiian guitar.

Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.
Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier wine, ay Gessiah?
Terry Gilliam: You're right there Obediah.
Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin'
here drinking Chateau de Chassilier wine?
MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup o' tea.
GC: A cup ' COLD tea.
EI: Without milk or sugar.
TG: OR tea!
MP: In a filthy, cracked cup.
EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a rolled up newspaper.
GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.
TG: But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.
MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money doesn't buy you happiness."
EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof.
GC: House? You were lucky to have a HOUSE! We used to live in one room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the
floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of FALLING!
TG: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a corridor!
MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.
EI: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.
GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!
TG: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.
MP: Cardboard box?
TG: Aye.
MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home, out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!
GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, go to work at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!
TG: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues.
We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four
hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.
EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night,
half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves
singing "Hallelujah."
MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.
<!-- / message --><!-- sig --> ALL: Nope, nope.. __________________

[Medusa]

The first new house we loved in -- brand new in a brand new subdivision: $14,000.

I remember my brother-in-law from my first marriage telling me that they paid $11,000 for their first home and I thought "I'll never be able to afford my own home at those prices!"

[Medusa]

Good thoughts?

ALWAYS. :love:

[Medusa]

It's illegal to pump your own gas in NJ and OR. I believe they are the only 2 states that haven't caught up with the rest of the country.


And I remember the party line phones too. You were considered somewhat well off if you had a private line. I remember thinking we were really something when we went from a 2 party to a private line.
This is scary - but I remember the old phone number. That's when you had to talk to an operator - there were no dials or dial tones. Bayview1225W. Guess I must have spent more time on the phone than I remember, if I can remember the number after all these years. :eek:

Our prefix was ORCHARD, so you dialed OR and then the number. When we first got our phone, I told my friend to call me and I ran home, picked up the receiver and waited. Finally I said to my mother "Nothing is happening. I can't hear anything except this sound". I wasn't even blonde then. ;)

[Willow Oak]

Our prefix was ORCHARD, so you dialed OR and then the number. When we first got our phone, I told my friend to call me and I ran home, picked up the receiver and waited. Finally I said to my mother "Nothing is happening. I can't hear anything except this sound". I wasn't even blonde then. ;)

Okay. I laughed.

[blue]

I think a pack was $1.50 at Denny's, in the late 80s before they removed the machines.

[Daisy and Delilah]

I used to pay 35 cents for a pack. That was the price of my high school lunch and milk and I sometimes bought cigarettes instead of lunch.:eek: ~Is my Mom reading this??~~ Yikes!!

I remember buying gas for 26 cents a gallon in 1974, on our way to move to Utah. That was when the gas rationing was, I think.

The house we grew up in was in Ormond Beach and pretty close to the beach. It cost my parents $17,000. That was in 1957.

This thread is taking me back.:)

[blue]

I remember buying gas for 26 cents a gallon in 1974, on our way to move to Utah. That was when the gas rationing was, I think.

That was the year I was born. Ild drive ALOT MORE if gas was that cheap.

[Daisy and Delilah]

That was the year I was born. Ild drive ALOT MORE if gas was that cheap.

Me too.:D It was a little more expensive in Florida but it got cheaper and cheaper as we headed further west.

[Taz_Zoee]

Randi I remember a phone call at a public booth costing 10 cent. You would be hard pressed to find a phone booth today. The Hersey chocolate bar cost 5 cents when I was young.

For those discussing Gas stations, do you remember that they used to pump your gas ,clean the windshield, and checked you oil as a part of the service? Then they went to full service at a premium ,or self service if you wanted the best price. I don't recall seeing a full/self in years. They are all self only now.

Hey, I actually remember these two things. A phone call being only a dime and the full service at gas stations.
Recently we stopped at a station on the motorcycle and someone came out and told us to move to another pump because we were at a full service pump (which you pay MORE for when they actually have them). Its very rare, but they are still out there.

[Willow Oak]

Does anybody recall an item that we used to call a "typewriter?"

[Randi]

WO, I was learning to type on one of them - a solid green IBM. :D

[Medusa]

Does anybody recall an item that we used to call a "typewriter?"

Ah yes, learning to curve the fingers in just the right way so the teacher wouldn't smack our hands w/the ruler. Same w/penmanship in grade school. If I held my pen or pencil the way we were expected to, you couldn't read my writing. If I held it my own way, I had beautiful penmanship. That didn't matter, though. Had to do it their way or you'd have to hold out your hands and get them smacked w/the ruler across the knuckles.

[Medusa]

Hey, I actually remember these two things. A phone call being only a dime and the full service at gas stations.
Recently we stopped at a station on the motorcycle and someone came out and told us to move to another pump because we were at a full service pump (which you pay MORE for when they actually have them). Its very rare, but they are still out there.

I sure do remember. No getting out of your car in bad weather. Sigh. More people working, too. Now it seems everything is going the way of DIY.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Does anybody recall an item that we used to call a "typewriter?"

Manual or electric???:D

[Willow Oak]

Manual or electric???:D

They came in electric?

[Willow Oak]

Uh oh. I'll just bet there is no one who remembers having to get off the couch, walk across the room, and turn the knob in order to change channels.

[Medusa]

Uh oh. I'll just bet there is no one who remembers having to get off the couch, walk across the room, and turn the knob in order to change channels.

Heh heh heh, of course. Rabbit ears w/tin foil and all. In the same vein, you mentioned typewriters and before high school and learning to type, if we had a report due, we had to actually walk to the library and do research w/BOOKS! Now everything is at our fingertips w/computers and the internet and that isn't necessarily a bad thing but we sure earned our grades back then because we had to put forth the effort.

[Karen]

I sure do remember. No getting out of your car in bad weather. Sigh. More people working, too. Now it seems everything is going the way of DIY.

Around here you definitely still have a choice. There are some stations that are "full service" and some that are self-serve - and the price at the full-service is often cheaper than the self-serve! Seeing as I can pass 4 gas stations in less than a mile, I just go with whomever is least expensive.

[lvpets2002]

:p Yup I do & still there was only Black & White screens.. I can remember when we got one of the first Color TVs & oh it was so Great.. Still no remotes yet.. Also remember when at night & the TV Stations went off the air = there was the Indian in the circle & the TV just bussdd.. Also by the way I do still own a Manual & Electric Type Writer..
Uh oh. I'll just bet there is no one who remembers having to get off the couch, walk across the room, and turn the knob in order to change channels.

[Medusa]

Around here you definitely still have a choice. There are some stations that are "full service" and some that are self-serve - and the price at the full-service is often cheaper than the self-serve! Seeing as I can pass 4 gas stations in less than a mile, I just go with whomever is least expensive.

As far as I know, there was only one in the entire Canton area and I'm not sure if they're still full service any more because the only reason I even stopped in there once was because I was driving on fumes. They were waaay more expensive, too, so I bought just enough gas to enable me to get to a self serve. I don't mind pumping my own gas except when the weather is awful. Plus back in the day I knew all the service people by name and we'd talk about family, etc. Now it's all in-and-out.

[kokopup]

Some of the discussions on this wayward thread have been on the cost of things today compared to yesteryear. I recall if you were talking about a $5000 car it was a Mercedes and 10,000 was a Ferrari. Now 5000 will buy nothing new and $10,000 may buy a low end Kia.

The only thing that cost less today than at any time in History is anything tied to technology, like TV's and Computers. We can thank Japan, China and Korea who we are selling our soul to. That is where all of America's wealth is going. America has THE worst trade deficit of ANY country in the world.

I'm sorry to say all these good times we are recalling are history, never
to return.

[pomtzu]

Typewriters??? :confused::rolleyes:

Ok - now I remember. Typing I was on that IBM manual, and Typing II you got the luxury of an electric.
And remember the course in Business Machines? - the 10-key adding machine and the monstrous Friden Calculator that was as big as a desk top? It would sit there and clack and grind and take 5 minutes to work an equation and spit out the answer. You could sit there and do homework for other classes while waiting for it!

I think kids should have a mandatory course in basic typing in elementary school now. They start out so early on the computer that they should be taught the proper way to navigate a keyboard.

[Willow Oak]

Heh heh heh, of course. Rabbit ears w/tin foil and all. In the same vein, you mentioned typewriters and before high school and learning to type, if we had a report due, we had to actually walk to the library and do research w/BOOKS! Now everything is at our fingertips w/computers and the internet and that isn't necessarily a bad thing but we sure earned our grades back then because we had to put forth the effort.

Books? :confused:

Now let's see, here ..., where have I heard that word before?

[Willow Oak]

:p Yup I do & still there was only Black & White screens.. I can remember when we got one of the first Color TVs & oh it was so Great..

That is a fact. One of the sweetest things I ever experienced was finally getting that color TV.

[Randi]

Uh oh. I'll just bet there is no one who remembers having to get off the couch, walk across the room, and turn the knob in order to change channels.
That's what I have to do now, although not to change channels - but volume, on/off and everything else. :( I need a new TV!!

[kokopup]

post by Pomtzu

I think kids should have a mandatory course in basic typing in elementary school now. They start out so early on the computer that they should be taught the proper way to navigate a keyboard.
__________________

Kids today can type faster on a phone keypad, with their thumbs, than
most could do with 10 fingers on a standard typewriter. Times are a changing.

[pomtzu]

post by Pomtzu


Kids today can type faster on a phone keypad, with their thumbs, than
most could do with 10 fingers on a standard typewriter. Times are a changing.

:D :D You've got that right, but darned if I can. I watch my grandkids in amazement while they're texting! :eek:

[Taz_Zoee]

This thread is cracking me up!!
We have a typewriter here in the office and one time I was using it a younger co-worker walked by and said "you know how to use that thing?". I about died.

Several years ago when I was working in child care we had a record playing during nap time. I asked one of the college students, who was working for his hours, to restart the record. He looked at me like this :confused: and said I don't know how. :eek:

[pomtzu]

Remember when drug stores were drug stores, and not mini Walmarts? And of course every one had a soda fountain where you could sit down at the counter and get sodas, shakes and sundaes.

I remember the first of the fast food burger joints where I lived, before the onslaught of McDonalds and the rest. Burgers were 15 cents or 10 for $1.00 - and they were good - not like what is typical now.

[lvpets2002]

:) You watch == The Speed of Texting will be in the Olympics..:D
:D :D You've got that right, but darned if I can. I watch my grandkids in amazement while they're texting! :eek:

[beeniesmom]

Great thread....

Not to add to the pile but....
Who had a Polaroid camera?

[lvpets2002]

:) Hey I have a 1950/1960? model.. The camera & lens comes out of the case like a acordian.. I also still have a 70's model that works..:D

Great thread....

Not to add to the pile but....
Who had a Polaroid camera?

[pomtzu]

Great thread....

Not to add to the pile but....
Who had a Polaroid camera?

ME!!! I had one of the more expensive ones that my Dad gave me. I still have it - maybe I can sell it to a museum some day. I don't think there is even film available for them anymore - not that anyone would want it anyway. :eek:

[Willow Oak]

I have a lot of dogs and cats. I have a nice bed, and I have a vague recollection of sleeping in that bed and not on the floor.

[Medusa]

Great thread....

Not to add to the pile but....
Who had a Polaroid camera?

I did. Just got rid of it a few years ago.

[Medusa]

Remember when drug stores were drug stores, and not mini Walmarts? And of course every one had a soda fountain where you could sit down at the counter and get sodas, shakes and sundaes.

I remember the first of the fast food burger joints where I lived, before the onslaught of McDonalds and the rest. Burgers were 15 cents or 10 for $1.00 - and they were good - not like what is typical now.

We had one here in Canal Fulton until just a few years ago. The same counter w/stools, etc., real ice cream, too. They sold it, though, and now it's a Thai restaurant. :rolleyes:

[Grace]

I remember my Dad buying cigarettes at $2.00 per carton.

And I remember the 3 cent stamp. And if you didn't seal the envelope and just tucked the flap in, you could mail it for 2 cents. I only remember that on Christmas cards tho, so that might have been the only time you could do that.

I remember these prices, also. And gas for 25¢/gallon.

[Grace]

And I remember the party line phones too. You were considered somewhat well off if you had a private line. I remember thinking we were really something when we went from a 2 party to a private line.
This is scary - but I remember the old phone number. That's when you had to talk to an operator - there were no dials or dial tones. Bayview1225W. Guess I must have spent more time on the phone than I remember, if I can remember the number after all these years. :eek:

Ours was Hillsgrove1147R - yikes!! You are taking me way too far back, Ellie!!!

[Grace]

Ah yes - Newport Creamery - the hangout after the Friday or Saturday night date!
I miss Rocky Point and the clam cakes and chowder at the shore dinner hall. I have the original recipe for their clam cakes, and I've made them a few times. They're awesome.

Have you seen the movie about Rocky Point - You Have To Be This Tall? I saw it when I visited my brother in East Greenwich a few years ago. Boy, the memories it brought back. It's available on DVD now.

[lvpets2002]

:) You all know of those Bigg Fat Pickles that are $1.00 to $2.00 now == Well I can remember them at a .05 cents.. And on for another .05 cents you could have 5 pieces of candy.. It was called penny candy.. Also I can remember BirthControl Pills at .75 cents for a whole month.. Thought it was hwy robbery when they was $1.25 a month pack.. Hey this is all fun..:D

[kokopup]

Post by BenniesMom

Great thread....

Not to add to the pile but....
Who had a Polaroid camera?

When I went through Navy Basic training in 1958 they were fairly new. I bought one at the PX and started taking pictures of other recruits in their uniform. In no time I was sending my friend to buy film. In just one afternoon I paid for my camera. I had a line of sailors around 100 feet long. I would snap a picture and pull the picture from the camera. While I was taking the next picture my friend was waving the one I pull from the camera,in the air, to develop it faster. We had quite an assembly line going. :D

[kokopup]

Originally Posted by pomtzu View Post

Remember when drug stores were drug stores, and not mini Walmarts? And of course every one had a soda fountain where you could sit down at the counter and get sodas, shakes and sundaes.

My best memories as a kid was going to Mr Wombles drug store for the fountain drinks. I loved the "Vanilla Coke","Cherry Coke" and the real squeezed fountain "lime aid".

Today the only way to know if you are in a drug store or not is to look for the tire section. If there are tires then you are probably in Walmart. The Walgreens and Rite Aids must do alright though because you see one on every corner.

[blue]

Me too.:D It was a little more expensive in Florida but it got cheaper and cheaper as we headed further west.

Alaska refines our own oil into gas and heating oil yet we had some of the highest prices during the fuel crisis. Its wierd.

[blue]

Does anybody recall an item that we used to call a "typewriter?"

My stepdad still has one, and he still uses it.

[blue]

Uh oh. I'll just bet there is no one who remembers having to get off the couch, walk across the room, and turn the knob in order to change channels.

I was the remote control, I learned numbers before I could read.

[blue]

Great thread....

Not to add to the pile but....
Who had a Polaroid camera?

My mom used to get very pissed at my stepdad and the polaroid camera.

[Medusa]

I was the remote control.

Now that's funny!

[pomtzu]

My mom used to get very pissed at my stepdad and the polaroid camera.

I'm not even going to ask you to elaborate on that statement....... :eek::D

[pomtzu]

Have you seen the movie about Rocky Point - You Have To Be This Tall? I saw it when I visited my brother in East Greenwich a few years ago. Boy, the memories it brought back. It's available on DVD now.

Thanks for that info. I definitely will send for it.

[mruffruff]

I remember, too. Maybe too much!

We had an outhouse when I was about 7. It got real cold in the upper Michigan winters and smelly in the summer, so we didn't spend much time out there. Baths were Saturday night in the kitchen. Mom hauled the water from the pump next door on a wagon and heated it on the wood stove.

My brother & I were sent out to scour the edge of the roadway to collect bottles to turn in at the nearby store so the parents could afford cigarettes.

Dad had a shop where he fiddled with electronics. We had an oscilloscope to watch before there was a TV station in our area. Later, he repaired other people's TVs and finally got one of our own. All of the programs looked like they were being done in snowstorms.

We didn't have a phone for a long time. When we finally got one, it was a party line. We only had three numbers, no exchange.

Mom & Dad built the house I grew up in. The neighbors brought their dray horses over and pulled the logs from the woods so they could be stripped and slotted to fit. I remember using a two handled knife to strip the bark off the pine trees. Lard was the only thing that got the sap off your hands.

The big city of Marquette was 5 miles away. The school bus stopped right in front so I didn't have to walk "uphill both ways". Mom spoiled me in the winter by putting my socks on before I got out of bed because the wood stove wasn't hot yet. And she made me Coco-Wheats (chocolate flavored farina) in a glass so I could drink it before school. I still have a box of Coco-Wheats in my cupboard but I don't think they sell them anymore.

It was a good life, although I didn't realize it then. It certainly made me appreciate running water and central heat:D

[Willow Oak]

We had an outhouse when I was about 7. It got real cold in the upper Michigan winters and smelly in the summer, so we didn't spend much time out there.


I caught the tail end of the outhouse era. I've often wondered how folks in the upper regions got along during that time -- especially in the dead of winter.

I know that when I was very young there was not even an outhouse in some cases. We would go to a country church. There was a pump in front of the church if you needed a drink of water; and a path behind the church if you needed to ...



Dad had a shop where he fiddled with electronics. We had an oscilloscope to watch before there was a TV station in our area. Later, he repaired other people's TVs and finally got one of our own. All of the programs looked like they were being done in snowstorms.


I recall the man coming over and changing out the tubes in the TV. Then later on you could go to 7-11 and test your tubes there or buy new ones.

[Medusa]

I caught the tail end of the outhouse era. I've often wondered how folks in the upper regions got along during that time -- especially in the dead of winter.

I know that when I was very young there was not even an outhouse in some cases. We would go to a country church. There was a pump in front of the church if you needed a drink of water; and a path behind the church if you needed to ...



I recall the man coming over and changing out the tubes in the TV. Then later on you could go to 7-11 and test your tubes there or buy new ones.

Oh my gosh, yes! Testing tubes! I totally forgot about that.

As for outhouses, my sisters grew up resenting me because by the time I came along, we had indoor plumbing. One summer when I was a teenager, Dad took us (mom, one of my friends and me) to a cabin in the woods for a "vacation". (Groan.) I asked him if the bathroom was inside and he said "yes" so I figured all was ok. When we got there, I looked for the bathroom and said "Ok, where is it?" He said "Where is what?" "THE BATHROOM!" I answered. He pointed to the outhouse and I said "You lied to me! You told me it was inside!" He said "It is inside. It's inside that building right out there." My eyeballs were floating by the time we got home because I was stubborn and I think I used it only once.

[Willow Oak]

Some of you may or may not have such a recollection of running hot water into your kitchen sink, filling it with dirty dishes, and then scrubbing said dishes by hand. I say that because although I do have an automatic dish washer I have never used it.

Also, this summer will complete four years since I bought Willow Oak. The clothes-line poles and line are still intact behind the house. I have never used the clothes-line here -- I use an electric dryer, of course -- but well do I recall the days of watching my mother hang the clothes out back to dry.

[Randi]

Medusa, your post bring back memories.... a half an hour before I had to get up, my dad lit up the stove (that took petroleum, and I believe coal when I was real little), and put my clothes in front of it. :) I have always hated getting up early, so every trick counted.

When I grew up, there was no hot water coming out of the tap, no, we had to boil a keddle of water if we wanted it hot! Sometime in the 70ties, my parents got a gas heater above the sink - what a luxury!

WO, I still don't have a dishwasher, I wash up by hand - and it's really not that hard, unless you have dinnerguests. I would much prefer a washing machine, but then, I have the laundrette everyone in the building use down in the cellar 2 min away. :) You really should try air drying your clothes, it's so much better!

[Medusa]

I used to hang my clothes outdoors to dry but now there are so many bugs and mosquitoes flying around and they seem to light on my wet clothes so I don't do it any more. Yuck!

[pomtzu]

I was fortunate to not have known the joys of an outhouse, thank goodness.

And I remember Dad testing tubes in those then modern day early electronics, and he didn't take them to 7-11 to do it, since convenience stores weren't even in existence.

Does anyone still use an iron? I remember that Mom ironed everything including sheets, pillowcases, handkerchiefs, etc., and it took her hours every week. I won't even buy anything anymore if it requires ironing, altho I do own an iron - just in case. It's around here somewhere. :p

Hang out clothes? - not me. I don't even have a clothesline any more. A lot of these new housing subdivisions don't even allow them.

I remember that the folks had an icebox before a refrigerator. The iceman came a couple of times a week to deliver blocks of ice for it. In the summer it was a big treat for all the kids to run up to his truck since he would give us big chunks of ice to suck on. It sure didn't take much to make kids happy way back then, and we were never bored since there was always something to do outside!

[Taz_Zoee]

We have an iron and use it all the time. Bruce uses it to iron his shirts for work and I use it each week to iron my pants.


How about 8-track tapes? We had the 8-track tape player in our old motorhome. I remember listening to The Oakridge Boys on it. That was the only place we could listen to it because it was the only player. LOL

[finn's mom]

I remember 8 tracks. :) My dad had one in his pickup. We had an old Curtis Mathis floor model tv with the knob for channels. I kept it until the late 90s. :)

I line dry a lot of things, sometimes indoors, sometimes outdoors.

I don't do a lot of dishes by hand, that's one chore that I can't stand.

My husband irons a lot of his clothes for work.

I make tea with a tea kettle that whistles. I love that thing.

We have an Airline radio that is from World War II. We need to fix it, but it even says on the front "When civil defense sirens sound, do not use telephone, turn radio to 640 or 1240."

[mruffruff]

I don't iron much anymore, but I learned how early. We had an old flat iron that had two inserts. The handle clamped over one when it was hot while the other waited on the wood stove. They were shaped like pointy ovals and weighed a lot for a kid of 7, 8 or 9.

We always hung our clothes outside. Mom had a washboard and had to do all of the laundry by hand. She had a wringer that clamped on the side of her washtub. Later, when we got electricity, she got a wringer type washer. She was pretty happy with that.

I remember my sister's diapers coming in from the clothesline in January stiff with ice and standing in the sink to thaw.

And this was in 1955!

[Medusa]

I still iron whatever doesn't get dry cleaned. How do you get away w/not ironing? I don't get it. What am I missing here?

[Willow Oak]

I don't iron much anymore, but I learned how early. We had an old flat iron that had two inserts. The handle clamped over one when it was hot while the other waited on the wood stove. They were shaped like pointy ovals and weighed a lot for a kid of 7, 8 or 9.

We always hung our clothes outside. Mom had a washboard and had to do all of the laundry by hand. She had a wringer that clamped on the side of her washtub. Later, when we got electricity, she got a wringer type washer. She was pretty happy with that.

I remember my sister's diapers coming in from the clothesline in January stiff with ice and standing in the sink to thaw.

And this was in 1955!

Diapers? I've heard of those. What are they?

[DJFyrewolf36]

I find myself saying "when I was your age" a lot to teenagers...and I'm only 27 :rolleyes:

A lot of things have really gone up in price even in my lifetime. I cant immagine what things will be like when Im 50! :eek:

The lowest price I think I paid for smokes was about $2. Looking at prices now I'm glad I quit! Gas was about $1.60 a gallon when I first started driving. I recall food being a lot cheaper too..

BTW in Oregon, they still pump your gas. In fact pumping your own gas is illegal up here lol.

[Medusa]

I find myself saying "when I was your age" a lot to teenagers...and I'm only 27

That's funny! I remember the first time someone called my son "sir". He was in his 20's and it freaked him out and he called me and said "Someone called me sir". I said "Yeah. So?" He said "Do I look old enough to be called sir?" "Apparently", I told him. Of course, they were little kids but it really disturbed him. :p

[pomtzu]

I still iron whatever doesn't get dry cleaned. How do you get away w/not ironing? I don't get it. What am I missing here?

Sweatpants - jeans - knits.......that's about all I live in anymore since retirement. :D

When I was still working, I did touch-up ironing of slacks and skirts, but never much more than that.

[Medusa]

Sweatpants - jeans - knits.......that's about all I live in anymore since retirement. :D

When I was still working, I did touch-up ironing of slacks and skirts, but never much more than that.


True. I should've thought of that since I'm sitting in a velour jogging suit right now. I guess the bleach is finally making its way to my brain.

[pomtzu]

True. I should've thought of that since I'm sitting in a velour jogging suit right now. I guess the bleach is finally making its way to my brain.

That's what I mean. The last time I wore anything that needed any ironing, was when I was working, altho I ironed a shirt for my grandson a couple of years ago!!! :eek:

Hey - remember silk stockings and garter belts before the days of pantyhose, and the stockings had that miserable seam up the back that you could never get straight? I know they are still sold, but not much for everyday wear, if you get my drift - Frenchie! :D

[pomtzu]

Diapers? I've heard of those. What are they?

Great polishing rags! I still have some.....

[Medusa]

Hey - remember silk stockings and garter belts before the days of pantyhose, and the stockings had that miserable seam up the back that you could never get straight? I know they are still sold, but not much for everyday wear, if you get my drift - Frenchie! :D

Oh I sure do remember, Gigi! When I was pregnant, I got so phat that I couldn't wear my garter belt any more. We went to see Dr. Zhivago at the movies and back then going to the movies was a dress up occasion. I wore a dress w/hose held up by garters. Need I tell you what my ankles looked like after sitting through that long movie? And, of course, my girlfriend shrieked "OMG, look at your ankles!" (which looked like I had a tennis ball on each one) so that everyone in the theater turned to see the freak. When pantyhose was invented, I truly considered it a gift from God. I loved the seamed hose but you're right, it was nearly impossible to keep the seams straight. I think thigh highs are sexy now but I can't keep them up! That kinda spoils the look when your hose is down around your ankles. Makes ya look like the ol' lady w/her socks rolled down.

[pomtzu]

I loved the seamed hose but you're right, it was nearly impossible to keep the seams straight.

:D :D Hmmmm - me thinks the part about "everyday wear" went right over your head........................Frenchie :D :D

[Medusa]

:D :D Hmmmm - me thinks the part about "everyday wear" went right over your head........................Frenchie :D :D

Nope. I got it. This is a family forum, Gigi. LOL ;)

[pomtzu]

Nope. I got it. This is a family forum, Gigi. LOL ;)

Okay! :D

And I am a "GG" - I just heard someone saw her with the baby. Too bad she couldn't let me know about it. :(

[Medusa]

Okay! :D

And I am a "GG" - I just heard someone saw her with the baby. Too bad she couldn't let me know about it. :(


PM or email me and tell me all about it, if you want. That's a shame, Ellie.

[Willow Oak]

When I was pregnant, I got so phat that I couldn't wear my garter belt any more. We went to see Dr. Zhivago at the movies and back then going to the movies was a dress up occasion.

You're not old enough to have been pregnant when Dr. Zhivago was playing at the movies. Dr. Zhivago was, is, and always shall be my favorite movie.

[Medusa]

[QUOTE=Medusa;2150268]When I was pregnant, I got so phat that I couldn't wear my garter belt any more. We went to see Dr. Zhivago at the movies and back then going to the movies was a dress up occasion.QUOTE]

You're not old enough to have been pregnant when Dr. Zhivago was playing at the movies.


If only.....

[kokopup]

I read post about TV before the remote or having to test tubes to repair the TV you own. How many out there remember when there was no TV. I remember sitting around the radio listening to shows like "Amos and Andy" ,"The Shadow" and "Intersanctum" .

Day time radio had some of the same Soaps that we see on TV today. I remember a popular soap "Just plan Bill" was one of my mom's favorites. In the Radio days they depended a lot on sound effects to enhance the imagery of the story line. Special effects today means car crashes/chases and/or explosions.

[Willow Oak]

I read post about TV before the remote or having to test tubes to repair the TV you own. How many out there remember when there was no TV. I remember sitting around the radio listening to shows like "Amos and Andy" ,"The Shadow" and "Intersanctum" .

Day time radio had some of the same Soaps that we see on TV today. I remember a popular soap "Just plan Bill" was one of my mom's favorites. In the Radio days they depended a lot on sound effects to enhance the imagery of the story line. Special effects today means car crashes/chases and/or explosions.

Well, I'm not but a child. I did, however, listen to a radio program when I lived near Chicago, narrated by E. G. Marshall ("The CBS Radio Mystery Theater") -- something to do with the "macabre." It was great.

Did you live in the era when you did all or most of your cooking on a wood stove? My mother did, and a few years back when this area of the country was crippled with a massive ice storm, and electricity was out for weeks, mother cooked all of her meals in her fireplace.

My dad talks about the luxury of finally getting a wood stove for the bathroom when he was a boy. He said that one time when he was taking off his pants to take a bath in a #2 wash tub, his foot got caught in his pants and he stumbled ... backwards, butt-naked against the red hot stove!

[kokopup]

Quote by Willow Oak


Did you live in the era when you did all or most of your cooking on a wood stove? My mother did, and a few years back when this area of the country was crippled with a massive ice storm, and electricity was out for weeks, mother cooked all of her meals in her fireplace.


I missed out on Wood Stoves, Outhouses and the like. I was a city/suburbia kid that had most of the conveniences all my life. We even had a private line on our phone.

I do recall as an 8 year old, me and my older sister going to spend the night with our black maid Essie. I don't even remember what the ocassion was but for some reason my parents were out of town. I remember the smell of her wood stove till this day. My fire place smell will drum up that memory from time to time.

The thing I remember the most about that night was when Essie woke me the next morning I saw my first snow. :)

[Edwina's Secretary]

Well, I'm not but a child. I did, however, listen to a radio program when I lived near Chicago, narrated by E. G. Marshall ("The CBS Radio Mystery Theater") -- something to do with the "macabre." It was great.

But...I remember Rod Sterling and the Twilight Zone on tv. Some of the shows still haunt my dreams. Somehow the "suggestion" was more realistic and spooky in my mind than all the "special effects" that are now available!

Going my way????......

[pomtzu]

I remember the world before t.v. too. Mom used to listen to "The Guiding Light" every day. And of course Dad and my brothers always had to listen to the Red Sox baseball games.

I was about 7 or 8 when we got the first t.v. Dad's favorites were Victory at Sea, the Jack Benny Show, Art Linkletter, and Ed Sullivan. I can't really remember what early shows I watched other than American Bandstand when I was a little older.

Remember when stations went off the air for the day - you got the test pattern.

Do any remember what car your parents had? My first real memory was of a blue Kaiser Frazer sedan, but there was another before that - looked like an old Model T from pics I have, but just a very vague memory of that one.

[Medusa]

I remember the world before t.v. too. Mom used to listen to "The Guiding Light" every day. And of course Dad and my brothers always had to listen to the Red Sox baseball games.

I was about 7 or 8 when we got the first t.v. Dad's favorites were Victory at Sea, the Jack Benny Show, Art Linkletter, and Ed Sullivan. I can't really remember what early shows I watched other than American Bandstand when I was a little older.

Remember when stations went off the air for the day - you got the test pattern.

Do any remember what car your parents had? My first real memory was of a blue Kaiser Frazer sedan, but there was another before that - looked like an old Model T from pics I have, but just a very vague memory of that one.

For some reason, I can't recall the event of getting our first TV. I do remember my mother watching The Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow, both shows being only 15 minutes long back then.

As for the cars, my parents never had a car that didn't make me want to hide my face from everyone. When he finally was able to afford one, Dad bought a 1948 Hudson that had cloth interior and because Dad smoked then, I got sick every single time I got in that thing. He once bought a Plymouth something-or-other, a huge yellow car w/fins and rockets on it. It looked like a big banana. The worst, though, was a ridiculous car, I don't even know what make or model, that had different fenders on each side, a hood w/a doorknob on it because the piece broke off that was used to open the hood and all were painted various colors. He drove me to high school some mornings because school buses didn't run where we lived and I'd ask him to drop me off a couple blocks before we reached the school because the car was such an eyesore. My maiden name is Rhome and the kids called my dad's car the Roman chariot. Funny in the telling but not so much when you're a teenager and appearance means everything.

[Willow Oak]

Among the images of my dad I have in my head are him working on the car. We always had an old used car, and dad was always "tinkering" with it: adjusting the brakes; greasing the chassis; changing the oil; tuning the engine; etc. Every once in a while he would take all four tires off and set the car on cement blocks. He would have me sit in the driver's seat and pump the brakes while he bled the lines. On one such occasion we did that, then later in the day, Dad put the tires back on the car, and we went for a ride in the country. We were all enjoying the afternoon drive among the trees and the birds when all of a sudden ...WHAM!!!

There we were, bottom of the car slammed against the gravel of the old country road ...

... Dad had forgotten to put the lug nuts on the tires! In my mind's eye I can still see the tires rolling past, all four in perfect synchronization.

[pomtzu]

There we were, bottom of the car slammed against the gravel of the old country road ...

... Dad had forgotten to put the lug nuts on the tires! In my mind's eye I can still see the tires rolling past, all four in perfect synchronization.

Good thing we had no Interstates back then..... :eek: :D

[pomtzu]

On the subject of cars and driving...

How many of you older members had parents that both drove? My Dad was of the mindset that women had no need to know how drive, and Mom went to her grave at 79, never having driven a car. He wouldn't teach me how and wouldn't sign for me to take driver's ed either. My ex taught me to drive after we got married. I learned on an old used Opel Kadett that we bought in Long Beach, Ca. We were military, and he got transferred from CA to VA - piled all our meager possessions in the back and headed across country with me driving most of the way - with no driver's license! :eek: I finally did get it once we got settled in tho.

[RICHARD]

RC Cola, in bottles, 25¢
4 track tapes
45 singles
'Buy them by the bag!'
'Fill er up?'-A 20 won't do it today.
'Check under the hood?'
Landing on the moon??
Menu? LARGE bottle of pop, bologna and cheese sub and a bag of chips or Hostess snowballs/cups and change from a dollar.
Milk in the square wax paper box w/the flap stapled to the lid.
Disneyland ticket books. A tix were worth a dime and the E tix-I may be wrong-were 65¢ each.
Drop drills-Hide under the desk to escape the effects of Russian radiation-Now kids hide from their peers!!:rolleyes:
Friday a.m. air raid siren tests.
Protest marches with wet hippies in the streets and anarchy was a sit-in at the Dean's offie.
LOL-cappucino was the drink of Bohemians!

I learned to drive in a Kadett, too! Canary yellow!

[kokopup]

My first memory of a family car was a Nash. My father would trade ever year and tell us to not tell anyone we had a new car. Back then they looked the same for several years. He bought the same color, which was sort of a butterscotch color. When I was around 13 he switched to Buick and he drove Buicks until I left home at 17. When I was 16 he also ownered a VW Carmen Gia that I got to drive on occassion. My mother had a Nash Rambler wagon that I learned to drive in. I remember knocking down a shrub next to the driveway because I could not get the gas/Clutch thing down and kept rolling backwards until the shrub was squashed. I remember at 13 trying to put dads car in the garage and hitting a post with the left fender. Needles to say I was in big trouble.:mad:

I remember when we had our first TV, Television was so new in Birmingham there was only one station. There was the indian test pattern showing most of the day until late afternoon when they would start normal broadcast. The first show to come on was "Howdy Doody time". My favorite night time show was "Dragnet". "Just The Facts Ma'am":D

[pomtzu]

How could I have forgotten Howdy Doody??? - and Bob Smith and Clarabell? :confused: Shari Lewis and Lambchop was my very favorite tho - I loved Lambchop!:love:

RICHARD: My Kadett was blue/green

This thread sure got off topic, didn't it? I hope allmycats doesn't mind too much......:(

[Catlady711]

Ok so it's not cigarettes, gas, or movie prices, but when my mom delivered me in the 70's it cost her $3,000 to be in the hospital for 3 days and she had 3 different doctors checking in on her.

Fast forward the the mid 1980's when I had my tonsills out, 3 hours outpatient basis = $3,000

I can't imagine what either of those would cost today.:eek:

[Willow Oak]

Ok so it's not cigarettes, gas, or movie prices, but when my mom delivered me in the 70's it cost her $3,000 to be in the hospital for 3 days and she had 3 different doctors checking in on her.

Fast forward the the mid 1980's when I had my tonsills out, 3 hours outpatient basis = $3,000

I can't imagine what either of those would cost today.:eek:

Okay you just opened up a whole 'nother can o' worms (as we say in Missippi) now.

One June 23 of last year I went for a Thallium stress test at a hospital in Memphis. I had been complaining of back pains -- pretty severe back pains -- and the doc lined me up for the test as a precautionary measure.

I arrived for the test on Monday morning, and ...

..., I was not released from the hospital until Wednesday evening.

The whole time I was there (mostly in ICU) I kept trying to get them to let me go home. The had performed a procedure on me, and after all was said and done I could not see what all the hullabalo was about.

A few weeks later the EOB's started to arrive. Good thing I have insurance: the total hospital and doctor bill went well over six figures. Turns out I had a 99% occlusion of the LAD, the dreaded "widow maker." I survived the exact same condition that killed Tim Russert. It just so happens I was on the treadmill -- already nuclear (or is it nucular?) -- when BAM!

Anyways, that's the whole can o' worms.