For Those Born 1930-1979

[DrKym]

Taken in the spirit it was meant, we are lucky! My older kids were too they all grew up in small towns and relative safety, we knew eveyone and their playing all day and gone till dusk was the norm(funny I never minded summers home with them they were never home LOL)

Things change, Adrian has a cell phone for emergencies and also in case something happens on his bike. Which I do make him wear a helmet the street here are busy, now the playing all day is done in MY yard so that I know they aren't getting nailed with empty needles, drug dealers, or sexual predators. My yard resembles a boys home in the summers and that is fine with me, as they still get to watch fireflies in the evening after the Kool aid is gone, the watermelons eaten the 500th popsicle devoured, and stains made that will challenge even Maytag.

Thanks Mags for the trips down memory lane, and the horror of realizing school is out in 5 weeks LMAO

[moosmom]

WOOHOO!!!! Them was the good ole days!! Where you could sit out on your front porch after dark without worrying about getting killed by a stray bullet. Being able to play in your own yard without the fear of being abducted by some whackjob pedophile.

Where have those days gone???

[Karen]

People are more in touch with the world now. Kids on my street still play outside, and after dark, too. But I know my neighbors, and my neighborhood, and it is the exception, not the rule. Fifty years ago, we would only have learned of the Virginia Tech massacre on the radio, or the newspaper, maybe ther might have been a mention on the network news, but there wouldn't have been the 24-hour coverage there is today. Were children abducted back then? Yes, but with no "Amber Alert" system, the whole country didn't hear about it. Were people killed needlesly back then? Yes, but again, no 24-hour, examine-every-angle coverage.

My mother neither smoked nor drank during her pregnancies, and yet two of my siblings lived less than a day. My friend Sandy lost her eye because of playing on a golf course where she wasn't supposed to be. A neighbor kid was killed when his Big Wheel was hit by a car - no, he didn't have any helmet on. An older kid was brain-damaged for life when he was riding his bike through traffic - no helmet - and got hit by a car. My friend's brother was killed when his mother's car hit a light pole on a slick street - no airbags back then. He was in a coma for two awful weeks before he died.

Want more examples of why the good old days weren't necessarily all that great?

Anyone can look at selected bit of any period of time and conclude it was great, or terrible.

[mike001]

There's something to reflect on. I guess life is so hectic and busy that we forget that there were also problems in those good old days. Different times, different problems. Some of those problems weren't as easy to fix as they are oday. Guess each era has it's own good and bad things.

[dukedogsmom]

I remember when I was about 11 or so, my friends and I would ride all over town on our bikes (and it's not a small town, either) We'd be gone all day to the big public pool or to the mall where we hung out at the game room. Those sure were fun days. Too bad it's not safe to do that now. Kids are missing out on a lot of adventures.

My mom used to iron everything! I have no idea how she found the time. She even ironed the sheets.

Remember catching lightning bugs and putting them in a jar? That's one of the things I remember from Tennessee. I don't think they're here in FL. I've seen them maybe once.

[sirrahbed]

My mom used to iron everything! I have no idea how she found the time. She even ironed the sheets.

mine too I remember when she taught me to iron and I was only allowed to do pillowcases and hankies. I did NOT carry on with what I learned Daughter Missy (sirrahsim) is probably going "iron? what is that??"

Remember catching lightning bugs and putting them in a jar? That's one of the things I remember from Tennessee. I don't think they're here in FL. I've seen them maybe once.

We have lightening bugs galore here in Ohio and it makes me stop and smile each season when they come out. I also have the game Sims2 Seasons and it provides fireflies and jars (yes, I am easily amused)

[Marigold2]

What a wonderful post. So many memories. Gosh I miss grape and lime Kool-aid.

[Dorothy39]

People are more in touch with the world now. Kids on my street still play outside, and after dark, too. But I know my neighbors, and my neighborhood, and it is the exception, not the rule. Fifty years ago, we would only have learned of the Virginia Tech massacre on the radio, or the newspaper, maybe ther might have been a mention on the network news, but there wouldn't have been the 24-hour coverage there is today. Were children abducted back then? Yes, but with no "Amber Alert" system, the whole country didn't hear about it. Were people killed needlesly back then? Yes, but again, no 24-hour, examine-every-angle coverage.

My mother neither smoked nor drank during her pregnancies, and yet two of my siblings lived less than a day. My friend Sandy lost her eye because of playing on a golf course where she wasn't supposed to be. A neighbor kid was killed when his Big Wheel was hit by a car - no, he didn't have any helmet on. An older kid was brain-damaged for life when he was riding his bike through traffic - no helmet - and got hit by a car. My friend's brother was killed when his mother's car hit a light pole on a slick street - no airbags back then. He was in a coma for two awful weeks before he died.

Want more examples of why the good old days weren't necessarily all that great?

Anyone can look at selected bit of any period of time and conclude it was great, or terrible.

Well said, Karen~

[cyber-sibes]

I'm a 50's kid, and considering both the good and the bad, it still seems like a less complicated time for kids. We had more interaction with real people than today's kids, who have 24-hr. entertainment with movies, video games, & computers. I think that this was a major difference between then and now. We knew our neighbors, saw our extended families regularly, and knew every kid in the area. And every adult around knew us, too, and whatever you did got back to your parents!

Oh yeah....ironing hankies, catching fireflies, Saturday Matinees, Chef Boyardi pizza with hot dogs, and the original "Zorro" every Saturday night - still good memories!

[Cinder & Smoke]

I'm a 50's kid ... it still seems like a less complicated time for kids.
We had more interaction with real people than today's kids ...

We knew our neighbors ... And every adult around knew us, too,
and whatever you did got back to your parents!
... and the original "Zorro" every Saturday night - still good memories!

Summers - WALK 2.5 miles to the Township Swimmin Pool - and walk back home!
"Help" the Mailman - WALK his route and stuff the magazines into the box or slot
on the front of each house (not allowed to handle the "First Class" stuff.)

Wonder ?WHO? the Milkman was ... he came so early even the *squeaky* brakes
on his tiny step-in Milk Truck never woke me up. But he ALWAYS came ...
GLASS bottles put into the lil insulated box the company provided - which sat
on the front porch. Mom's "milk list" (can we get a CHOCOLATE milk tomorrow, Mom?)
was carefully filled out every other day and left sticking out of one of the "empties"
that were washed and put in the box.

TV?
We had one of the first TINY round-screen duMont TVs in our neighborhood.
In hilly P-burgh it was a challenge to get the "Rabbit Ears" (which sat on top of the TV)
adjusted "just right" for minimum "ghosting" and "snow".

Transportation?
We had ONE car - which Dad drove downtown to work every day!
On "special occasions" he'd take the Bus and then the Trolley to work, letting Mom use the car.
I think I was in High School before we became a two-car family - and only because Dad
was awarded a "Company Car" that he got to drive home in.

Yuppers, those were the Good Ol' Daze!!

[Randi]

A CAR!? A TV!? Even a telephone! We didn't have any of those when I grew up. Not even sure I had a bicycle back then.

Sweets!! That was only on sundays - and not much!

Hamburgers, pizza's? - oh no, there was no kind of fast food at all - we had organic food - probably why we all survived. Remember the huge wodden barrels with butter in? and fresh farm eggs? Uhmm!

I had a great time though, out all day playing with the other kids, and in the evenings we TALKED and my dad told stories, or we played cards, monopoly or another game.