"Dimestore" -- oh, LoveItaly, what that evoked!

Woolworth's -- you walked in and smelled popcorn and nuts, because they had a kiosk where they kept the nuts warm next to the popcorn maker. There was also a lunch counter where you could get the drippingest cheeseburgers and french fries whose perfection I've never met since (my cardiologist is less rhapsodic about that).

For no more than about 2 weeks' allowance, I could buy a turtle (poor thing) or a box of stick-on gold, silver, and blue stars or a "starter" lipstick with no color but it felt glamorous or paste earrings to give my mother for mothers' day.

A little more money bought a 45-RPM recording of Bobby Darin, Tommy James, or, godhelpme, the Chipmunk's Christmas Song. And my own first full set of gaudy rhinestone jewelry -- necklace, earrings, bracelet -- that I only wore at home in front of the mirror.

Wooden floors, ka-tching cash register (one), screen doors in summer (no a/c of course), and above all when I was in 7th and 8th grade, the possibility of running into my latest secret crush hanging out with his buddies -- just to watch him (I'd NEVER actually talk to him).

No studded body parts, no bare midriffs, no "Attention shoppers!" PA system, no shopping carts with appliances and giant sized shampoo and laundry soap.

This whole thread is making me crave a Time Machine -- it IS a Time Machine. Sure, in some ways, it was no better than now (my father was dying, McCarthy was on a popular rampage); and in my grandmother's view, it was much worse than 40-50 years earlier when SHE grew up. She might have been right, but I wonder what my grandchildren (godwilling) will reminisce about re: the 2000's.

I was born in 1962 and on Halloween when I was small, my Mom would leave a large cut crystal punch bowl on the porch (full of candy) with a sign that said "Please take one" while we all went out for the night. this lasted several years until we were shocked when someone finally stole the punchbowl. What was the world coming to? Oh, we also left the doors unlocked while away.

I also remember the milkman, and Charles Chips delivering a big metal container of potato chips. They used to let me ride around the neighborhood in the truck and safely drop me back home after their rounds...I never told my Mom that I was going.

...when we played on a "playground" that was black asphalt and a tall jungle gym and slides that would heat up in the sun and burn your legs when you went down, ha ha ...also rode bikes without helmets, stood up or laid down when in a car, and rode around in the shopping cart, and only used baby oil when laying out in the sun...GOOD TIMES...none of that fancy plastic safety stuff and mulchy playgrounds they have now...and I went to London looking for the Sex Pistols and real people with mohawks, etc......(late 70's/early 80's)

Wednesday,

And when we did get hurt, we certainly didn't tell anyone because Mom would certainly put mercurchrome or merthiolate on it...

And in our well-aged medicine cabinet, we still have a bottle of mercurochrome, marked 39 cents...

Byrd

My big brother and I used to argue over whose turn it was to get up and change the channel on the TV set (which was a dial). Remember, "Don't touch that dial..."? I used to love watching "My Little Margie" with Gale Storm and Charles Farrell. And her boyfriend Freddie and her neighbor Mrs Odets down the hall.

We had to wind up alarm clocks and watches.

The phone was black, had a rotary dial, and there were no area codes. No ZIP codes either, come to think of it. And the state abbreviations were longer: Conn, Fla, Calif, etc.

There were 48 states til Alaska and Hawaii joined.

((S))((*))

>There were 48 states til Alaska and Hawaii joined.<

When my grandparents came to the US there were only 46 states.

When my father was born there were 47.

((I))

"And when we did get hurt, we certainly didn't tell anyone because Mom would certainly put mercurchrome or merthiolate on it..."

Oh My God! I forgot about that!! Man that stuff stung so bad and it was so red. We called it "monkey blood" when I was little. Also, my grandmother always kept a jar of cloverine salve at arms reach because it was the cure-all especially for burns.

Wow, what a thread! I remember...
Cars with running boards.
Our first TV (1948)--not sure how large it was, 10 or 12 inches, but we had a magnifying glass over it to see better. Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. When we watched Uncle Miltie, I loved it when, at the beginning, four men dressed as gas station attendants came out holding hub caps and singling "We are the men of Texaco, we work from Maine to Mexico..."
Milk delivered in your milk box (which your little brother could crawl through if the family ever locked itself out, not that we locked the door all that often). And the milk had cream on top. We were supposed to shake the bottle before using it, but I liked to put the cream on my cheerios. When I was really young, milk was delivered in my neighborhood by horse-drawn wagon--I fed the horse sugar cubes.
During the war, Mother painting small light bulbs with nail polish to get colored lights for the Christmas tree--you couldn't buy them. Paper drives. Yes, squeezing the olio bag to make it look like butter. Mother saving grease in a can. And putting make-up on her legs. Our victory garden. Playing "bombs over Toyko" on our backyard swing (I would swing high and be the plane, then let go and jump and be the bomb.) The radio announcer talking about "Japs"; I didn't know they were the same people as the beautiful people wearing kimonos in my picture book of haikus (and my parents didn't tell me.)
Later, friends using juice cans to curl their hair. (I slept in curlers a lot.) Crinolines. Capezios. Merry widows. Circle skirts (felt). Garter belts (I can't remember the sizes nylons came in--it involved denier).
I may think of more...
Carolyn (born 1940)

My mother didn't believe in merthiolate.

Iodine.

(Talk about feeling the burn.)

((I))

Mine, too (she was an RN). She claims that at the hospital, they grew cultures in merthiolate and mercurichrome.

I'm so old that i remember when Detroit was a vibrant lively (and safe) city much like the European cities we all so love. A true melting pot, Italian neighborhoods were a bit like Italy - one friend even speaks English with an Italian accent as her parents only spoke Italian. Anyway as kids in the 50s we'd trundle down to downtown Detroit on a Saturday and head to Hudson's which billed itself as the world's largest department store and this wondrous emporium had lots of delights for a child, or anyone. I remember the brass drinking fountains next to the elevators, which were manned by blacks - we never saw a black person in suburban Plymouth so that was impressionable, as were the black ladies working at the Woolworth's counter - the type you no longer see with swivel seats along it - like a bar and these dark ladies all had white finger tips - i guess from lots of washing of dishes - anyway that's what i thought. Anyway taking the train down to Detroit was a real treat. Detroit was the shopping hub for a few million people who thronged downtown on Saturdays - Detroit is now, except for a few pockets, more like Baghdad in looks, a war zone where nobody goes unless it's for sporting events or some nefarious reason. The decline of America's cities into slums of abject poverty is not only a national embarrassment for the US but unlike Europe we miss out on the fun of vibrant cities. I love cities and that's one reason I love Europe and I miss the lures of a pleasant city. So sad.

Here's a fun way to see how old you really are compared to famous events and celebrities
Age Gauge
http://www.frontiernet.net/~cdm/age1.html

I remember when long distance calls were placed by the operator, and you only talked the minimum 3 minutes since it was so expensive. we'd call Grandma on Christmas day and Mother's day only. All other correspondence was on paper.

I remember sending oranges from our yard to Grandma for Christmas, because she couldn't get them at that time of the year.

I remember when they turned on lots of lights in museums and historic places...so you could see the art really well. I remember touching the Pieta, making unlimited rubbings in cathedrals for free, and literally climbing into and on ruins.

I also remember the 17 flights to europe with no movie, and we had to refuel in Gander.

No cell phones or instant messages in those days..when travelling "overseas" ( even that term is no longer used!), we stood in line at the phone company then the operator directed us to a booth when our call was placed.

Family only heard from you via postcards, and you got weeks old mail at Poste restante.

My first trip without the parents was 10 weeks bumming around europe. total cost: $700 + airfare from LAX to London. Couldn't believe my parents paid for the ticket!

Second extended trip was 6 months around the world: cost $3000 including all the airfares. We stayed in some real dives but didn't seem to notice the dirt and lack of amenities. Have railpass, will travel. We changed our plans daily. "Lets Go, Europe" was our bible.

Thanks PalQ! what a great thread!

Can you stand another one??
I'm so old that I remember helping my grandmother roll her own cigarettes on one of those long roller thingys and then you cut them to cigarette size with a razor blade!
I'm also so old that I recall our family having the first tv on the street and my dad bringing it onto the front porch, turning it around and all the neighbours brought their lawn chairs, sat on our lawn and watched tv!
And I'm so old that I remember my mom making candied apples on Halloween, all the kids running to our house first - without worrying about what might be "buried" in the apples!

First car was a big '55 Dodge Coupe - white/yellow - ran like stink, but could not brake nor turn.
M

My wife remembers the air raids on the Clyde in Scotland and her dad piloting the boat that took the pilots to the troop ships to guide them to their moorings. If they were lucky, he got fresh fruit to bring home.

She remembers sitting on the wall of the train line saying "Got any gum, chum?" to the soldiers when their train stopped.

At 5/6 years old you didn't ask for nylons.

haha, I remember in high school, the girls wearing paint on nylons. I'm getting depressed, let's talk about WHAT IS GOOD NOW?

Okay I posted before. But here are some Canadan memories I offer to my compatriots:

1. In 1959 -- the Queen s first vist to Canada as monarch. We drove (in our coral pink 1955 Chev) to Hamilton to see her. From the farthest seat of a stadium, I saw a tiny figure in a big-skirted pink dress and everyone was cheering.

2. We visit Niagara Falls. My older brother wanders off and my mother is frantic, thinking he has gone over the Falls. We were not allowed to go on the Maid of the Mist -- too much excitement, isn t the view from here enough for you kids.

3. A homeless man -- we call him a hobo - comes to the back door, asking for food. My mother gives him a meal on an aluminum plate (Jane Parker apple pie from the A&P came in those plates) and he eats it in the garage.

4. Halloween candies -- Chinese chews -- collected in a pillow case during trick or treat. The collection must be emptied out onto the dining room table. We are allowed to keep the apples, raisins and Nestle products (Pure milk chocolate from Mother Britain is permitted us). The Chinese chews (They could take out your fillings!) are confiscated.

5. No Sunday sports, no Sunday movies, no lawn-cutting, no Sunday anything. I am not allowed to do schoolwork on Sunday -- Get up early tomorrow, you are NOT doing homework on the Sabbath! One Sunday my grandmother asks my Father to stop the car (Sunday driving is okay) so we can buy Ginger-ale for my brother, who has an upset stomach. Commerce on Sunday -- a crisis! It is sanctioned -- medical necessity.

6. General De Gaulle visits Canada in 1967: Vive le Quebec libre. Across Canada, outrage. He is asked to leave the country...De Gaulle Blvd. in Ottawa is re-named Confederation Blvd.

I remember when you had to have several dates with someone before you could even hold hands . . . and it was a big deal when he finally put his arm around you in the picture show. Only a slut would kiss on the first date!

With anything going nowadays, are there any such things as sluts anymore? I'm sorry that the young people don't have romance in their lives.

I grew up in a small town and every once in a while, our "one" movie theatre would have a midnight movie . . . it was a really big deal to be able to go.

Sandy (in Denton)

Does anyone remember mustard plasters? You got a cough and your mother made some g*d awful mixuture of something (horseradish maybe was in it?), spread it on a piece of cloth and then put in on your chest for so many minutes and then on your back for so many minutes. It burned like h*ll! Oh yes, the good old days, LOL.