showing your age...

[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.

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.

[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..

[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

[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.