Post by: Gewehr98 on October 03, 2005, 04:08:46 PM
He was an expert carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade, and whenever he garfed his fingers or hands, the red mercurochrome came out of the cabinet. Do people still use that stuff? Maybe it had something to do with him being a B-17 flight engineer in the 8th Air Force out of England during WWII, and mercurochrome being a common antiseptic, much like betadine solution is these days?
Depending on where I go, I see folks eat spaghetti with either just a fork, or a fork and spoon, twirling the spaghetti in the spoon before sticking the food in their gobs.
My paternal grandfather used to stop working at almost the same time each summer afternoon, place a folding tv-tray in front of his lawnchair, get a glass full of ice cubes, pour a beer into it, and then shake salt into the drink. I always wondered if the beer tastes so bad it needed to be doctored, why drink it? (Corona and lime notwithstanding)
Cod liver oil. Need I say more?
How about liver & onions once a week? I still gag at the thought...
We always went to Friday fish fries. You know, the good beer-battered cod or haddock - and we're not Catholic. Is that a Wisconsin thing?
Tomato juice does actually work to get the skunk smell off a dog.
Old obituaries often stated folks died of apoplexy. What does that equate to these days?
Wife says if she's on top, it'll be a boy. If I'm on top, it'll be a girl. I'd like to see that one played out on MythBusters.
Who figured out that if you put a glass of beer on or in the ground near your strawberry plants, it'll be full of slugs and snails overnight and your strawberries will be protected?
Ok, that's enough for me. I've been sick now for about 4 weeks, and the wife finally brought my laptop to the master bedroom. Bless her heart, it makes trips to the throne room easier when the nausea and other fluid loss hits me. I hate Gatorade, too.
Post by: onions! on October 03, 2005, 04:25:01 PM
I remember being bored to death having to go to Grandmas' every sunday afternoon.After the Grandparents died the family scattered-I've not seen uncles & cousins in years.
Post by: Standing Wolf on October 03, 2005, 04:45:32 PM
Quote
How about liver & onions once a week? I still gag at the thought...
What my mother did to liver and onions should have been a federal felony. I was well into my twenties before a girl friend could sweet-talk me into trying an extremely small bite of chopped chicken liverwhich, naturally, I enjoyed enormously.I'd sooner go hungry for a week than sit down to another meal of fried beef liver that could do double duty as shoe sole substitute.
I'll bet it's been awhile since anyone saw iced tea made from loose tea and water.
I'll bet it's been awhile since anyone baked a loaf of bread starting with flour, yeast, salt, water, et cetera.
I'll bet it's been awhile since anyone watched a black and white television, and awhile longer since anyone had to go to the drug store with a paper bag of tubes to test and replace as needed. The last I heard, the only tubes still being made were Russian, far from plentiful, and expensive.
Post by: Gewehr98 on October 03, 2005, 04:49:02 PM
I agree about the bread thing, and I don't think my bread machine is a suitable substitute for hand-made bread from years gone by.
Post by: grampster on October 03, 2005, 04:57:39 PM
I remember a thread awhile back about you running at both ends. Are you still ill with that. How are you doing? Are you on the mend? Do you know what the problem is? Sorry to hear you're still not well.
We used to got to gramma's house on Friday nights. Go to the grocery store, come back to her house, have dinner then watch the Friday Night Fights (Gillette), Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca (sp?)
Follow the ice man who delivered at homes to replenish the Ice Box. He'd chip off a piece for us to suck on. Drinking the ice cold milk the milk man brought with the layer of cream on top; in glass bottles with a cardboard cap. Fresh veggies and fruit from the cart the farmer drove around the neighborhood. He upgraded to a truck from a horse and wagon when I was about 7 or so.
Gathering at the neighbors house, the whole neighborhood was there, they had the only TV. Eating a pizza when nobody knew what a pizza was. Going around the neighborhood collecting newspapers, magazines, metal, glass etc to turn in for cash for the movies. Movies were 6 cents, candybars, 6oz cokes and popcorn were a nickel. You could spend all day Saturday at the movies. 2 features, a serial, a newsreel, several cartoons and previews.
(I was at the Consumer Electronic Show in Vegas a couple years ago. They had a whole wing of a motel featuring equipment with tubes. Waaayyy expensive. Audiophile geeks were walking around with T shirts that exclaimed Tubes Rule!)
Post by: Larry Ashcraft on October 03, 2005, 04:57:43 PM
Regarding liver and onions, it was never one of my favorites, BUT...
Once dad shot an elk up at Medicine Peak when I was in my twenties. We brought the elk down and the liver was in a plastic bag. I put it in a cold stream to cool out and we had liver and onions that night in camp. One of the best meals I ever remember.
Post by: Guest on October 03, 2005, 05:01:54 PM
If service was bad at a restuarant - one left a single penny to show displeasue with service.
Parents took a pc of clear tape, folded it to make "double stick" tape and placed a dime on the kids new Ked's Tennis shoes sole at night. Come breafast - well I'll be darned..."Ked's Stop on a dime! "
I happen to like Liver and onions.
Never warmed up to Castor Oil.
Vick's Vap-O Rub. "Good Grief Mom, I only coughed once." Head gets forced down into a sauce-pan with hot steamy water with the Vicks in it of course, next Mom's pinkie shoved more Vick's up my nose, then she slatered my chest with Vick's. I got more sick because I couldn't sleep at night. To make matters worse my Oatmeal tasted like Vick's...yeah of course same heavy sauce pan I was forced to hang head over with a towel over my head the night before.
Getting to stay up late and watch TV. Had to wait until the "Star Spangled Banner" finished, and "wait....wait" had to see the Test Pattern and check out the Indian, and check out every detail of that Test Pattern. 9:30 PM was late when I was a pup. Then of course the dart gun with suction cup darts had to shot at the TV. I mean me being a cowboy and all...we had "injuns" invading thru the TV.
FWIW I had a matching pair of 1911 style dart Guns with a Dancing horse on the plastic stocks...*GRIN* Yeah I was too cool - huh?
TV quit working, the drug store has all sorts of tubes. One checked what they brought, and could buy one to fit, check it of course, and the TV was fixed.
I miss the little Red Coca-Cola ice boxes. For a nickel one got a 6 1/2 oz Coke, always had ice in the neck of the Bottle. Stick a nicke in, raise the sliding door up, the cylinder would turn and there you were.
These had the bottle opener on the machine too.
Then the metal 'ice boxes' with other brands of soda were really good. Folks were honest back them. Grab what you wanted, use the bottle opener on the side of the box and paid for the drink before you left.
I cleaned so many soda bottles and made "so much money" at .02 , later .03 each, Turning in for deposit. I wonder how many miles I put on my wagon doing that.
Tent Revivals at night...oh these I did not find soda bottles during the day- I found little whiskey bottles, and money! Mostly change, but I found a ten dollar bill once I was rich! I couldn't give it back - the Tent Revival folks had pulled up stakes and left town...
Car Hops. Oh yeah Sonic has them. Back in the day LOTS of places had them. Nothing like the Car Hop bringing the BBQ, Shrimp baskets, and Fried Chicken to the door. Glove boxes designed to open and set your drink on them too.
The various Cowboys that would show up for kids B-Day parties. Bring the horse carousel in tow, do magic tricks, tell cowboy stories, do quick- draw and all sorts of stuff for Cowboys and Cowgirls. They always made the neatest animals with balloons too.
The neighborhood Ice cream man...
Lemonade stands
The bread man [ small loaves of bread for kids] the Milk man [ small glass bottles with cardboard tops like the school had]
When milk started being put into the waxed cardboard containers...that is what you put Fish in the Freezer with. Also worked for other game meat too.
We all got out of school to see the Parade in town
Bringing knives and guns to school for show and tell, after the 25th of Dec holidays were over - or after your B-day. We all just had to show, and liked seeing what the other kids, and teachers got.
"Writing" the mean old teacher's name in their yard with Mortons Salt. Well the name we called them anyway...
Putting the mean old teachers VW b/t two trees...
Crashing / raiding the girls gyms lockers area - especially during showers
Stealing the opposing teams mascot [ we never got busted, it was tradition]
Drag Racing on the street in front of HS on last day of classes [ never got busted, Cops watched, flagged the start, it was traditon]
Driving Motorcycles across the Steps of HS on last day and popping wheelies on the flat part , before heading down the other steps. This was tradition too. Even the ElectroGlides in Blue rode up and down with us
Water balloons and city buses...from back behind the hedges
Limburger cheese on a manifold of anyone getting married, or anyone you wanted to
The Pickle Barrel at the store, Grocer always let a kid have one to eat while in thier with mom/ parents.
Everyone had one haunted house they were dared to 1) enter, 2) ring doorbell or 3) light the dog poop in the paper bag ring door bell and runnnnnn!
I know nothing about the teacher that could not find their VW that always seemed to have trees grow up in front and back of it during school. It was "lost' on the last day of school so the story goes. Seems the VW was found later in the Gym under the South basketball goal. Wonder how that happened?
Post by: Gewehr98 on October 03, 2005, 05:20:13 PM
I'd almost forgotten about the Vicks Vapo-Rub. All over my chest, and smeared in the cup of that electric hot-water humidifier.
We froze our bluegill fillets in the cardboard milk cartons, too.
As a smallish critter, we spent time on the uncle's dairy farm. The buckets of milk got the cream scooped off and deposited directly onto our morning Cheerios. My wife thinks I'm sick because I'll still do that every now and then, but with a carton of whipping cream these days.
I used to carry my Remington 521T target rifle on the school bus every Thursday. We had Junior Smallbore Rifle Club matches in the locker room/indoor range every Thursday after classes. Nobody gave it a second thought. That was around 1978, rural Wisconsin small town grade school. Imagine the scene it would create these days! (I still have that rifle...)
Post by: Guest on October 03, 2005, 05:30:30 PM
I got bigger and my job was to toss the grounds. I got fussed at for "tossing them out the wrong door". I was a kid, how was I supposed to know when you went from tossing them onto the tomatos and green onions out back to the rose bushes out front?
I still do not understand the "proper seasonal tossing methodlogy".
Post by: Larry Ashcraft on October 03, 2005, 06:00:29 PM
We used to camp out in the neighbor farmers' fields. Just find a nice tree, make a little fire and camp out. We had our Pork 'n Beans, if it rained or snowed, we could just eat them outta the can. Might catch a sunfish or two outta the pond while we were at it, always let them go.
The farmers never bothered us. "Those boys are just playin', let 'em be." We would clean up our "campsite" and go back home.
I don't think we have progressed nearly as far as we think we have.
Post by: crt360 on October 03, 2005, 06:02:40 PM
Quote
I'll bet it's been awhile since anyone watched a black and white television
I'm actually watching one right now.Playing cowboys and indians with cap guns that used the paper roll caps.
Post by: garrettwc on October 03, 2005, 06:10:26 PM
Quote
We always went to Friday fish fries. You know, the good beer-battered cod or haddock - and we're not Catholic. Is that a Wisconsin thing?
Nope. We had them here too. Every Friday or Saturday night at the Mason lodge.Riding a genuine "made in the USA" Schwinn Stingray, without a helmet or spandex body suit.
Going to the hardware store in the neighborhood and buying a sack of ten penny nails, a new pocketknife, and a box of .22lr Super X in the Gold and Blue box. And having change left for the soda machine.
Post by: Guest on October 03, 2005, 06:16:53 PM
>>Wife says if she's on top, it'll be a boy. If I'm on top, it'll be a girl.<<
OH MY GOD WE'RE HAVING A PUPPY!
Post by: Perd Hapley on October 03, 2005, 06:22:14 PM
Quote from: garrettwc
Going to the hardware store in the neighborhood and buying a sack of ten penny nails, a new pocketknife, and a box of .22lr Super X in the Gold and Blue box. And having change left for the soda machine.
You can still do that in North St. Louis County, at Branneke Hardware.I seem to remember clapping at the end of movies. That would have been in the 1980's, when I was a little-un.
Post by: brimic on October 03, 2005, 06:58:00 PM
Quote
d whenever he garfed his fingers or hands, the red mercurochrome came out of the cabinet. Do people still use that stuff?
My grandmother had a jar of that stuff and it was used whenever I skinned a knee. haven't seen that stuff in at least 25 years. Not sure if it contained mercury or chrome but the name would scare the hell out of most people today.Red Ryder BB guns- how many kids on on your street own one of these nowadays? There were 3 on my street, I had to use the use the crappy pump up gun for bb gun fights.
Green glass bottles of coke- My grandfather ran a tavern, one of my fondest memories was being allowed to pick a pop out of the cooler when I visited him on saturday afternoons.
canning vegetables, gardening, making fruit preserves, making pickles- my whole family did these activities in order to trim the food budget and provide healthier food. How many people do this today, other than hobby gardeners?
Buying eggs directly from the farmer.
Buying chickens, hogs, beef directly from the farmer and going out to the farm to butcher the animals ourselves.
Riding out to the range on a bicycle carrying a cased .22.
using a pay phone
Post by: Guest on October 03, 2005, 07:56:25 PM
Radio shows!
Lets see there was Amos & Andy, The Shadow, The Lone Ranger...
Every Halloween we played HG Wells "War of the Worlds" on the phonograph, later I got it on 8-track to play on my Channel Master Stereo...
Emerson AM Radio...one ear plug, and catching "Beaker Street", with Clyde Cifford. Supposed to be sleeping, but the show came on at midnight. Really cool when I could catch Wolfman Jack...
Playing Cards:
Thems for bicycles and making noise on the spokes- worked better with Esso Tiger handlebar grips with the streamers...
Oh, playing cards for tossing into hats, and you could always use them for targets.
Halloween meant tossing toilet paper and eggs, I learned boiling eggs meant the eggs would not bust when carrying and a whole lot easier to toss further...
I guess kids don't jump off the porch with towels anymore, how are you supposed to be Superman now-a-days?
Emerson Window fans. Raise the window and have the fan pull the breeze throuhout the house.
Light bugs in mason jars
Digging in the yard for worms and putting in a Hills Bros Coffee can for fishing...
The skeleton key from Sterlings fit the neighbors house doors too. So if the neighbor actually locked the door when they went out of town, you brought the mail in , and the papers too and put them on their kitchen table.
They did the same for us...
Neighbors just showed up with stew, soup, cornbread, and stuff if you were sick. You got yelled for not telling them you were sick. Of course you fussed at them when you took them food when they were sick for not telling you.
Mowing the neighbors yard if they were sick, hurt or out of town. You also trimmed their side of the hedges .
Rolled up biscuit dough for bait at the Game & Fish Pond caught the big goldfish, turn them loose and catch them again.
Public Library :
Really cool place. Mom could drop you off while she took the younger ones shopping for shoes or for the sister a dress [yuck] and the HS, College kids or the Library folks would read these really cool new books to you. When you got bigger , you took the bus all by yourself, and made a day of it. They will even let you drink you mason jar of milk, eat your PB&J and read the cool books. Big day when they showed you how to work the Micro- Fiche machine...never read a paper from NY until that day.
Oh really cool , for the little kids that had coloring books and crayons to use. Even had free coloring books and crayons you could bring home to lil sibs.
Field Trips:
Firestation always had treats and let us kids slide down the pole all we wanted.
Policeman let us turn on the lights, and siren. If we went to the station, well if we didn't turn out all right, listen to parents, teachers, do good in school and behave ...SLAM! They would close a cell door on us and look at us from the other side of the bars.
We jumped. Then they couldn't find the keys, we got worried, they always found the key to our cell and had treats upstairs for us.
We took turns trying to twirl the baton.
D o boys still tie the long hair of the girl siting in desk in front of them to back of their desk? It stops them from doing that head thingy and hitting your face with long hair. One can get slapped or a black eye from the girl ...once her hair gets untied from behind her...
Camping out in the back yard
Reading comic books, books in general under the covers with a flashlight in bed.
I wonder if kids still put fish in the bathtub? One has to put them somewhere while you get the stuff ready to clean them. Moms are not impressed. REALLY not impressed if you clean them in the bathtub...
Putting fish entrails in the trash attracts stray cats, this leads to slingshot practice...
Post by: Subby on October 03, 2005, 08:05:50 PM
If it involves Kari from the show, I humbly volunteer.
Sub
Post by: thorn on October 03, 2005, 09:52:22 PM
there are too many things that used to go on in the suburbs that don't anymore, like bb gun wars.
mostly thigns that have become too "liable"
PLAYGROUNDS. they all changed right before i got to really use them.
i remember being real little and seeing all the crazy cool stuff, only to se it all ripped out for being too dangerous before i really got to use anything, then years later, just as i was getting too old they replaced everything with safer stuff. i think things are even "safer" now. arg.
certain pranks with fireworks we carried out may not be taken so lightly today.... (NO! not animals, just well placed noise!)
ahhh ,the percolater, that one i remember, and is gone, thanks for reminding me!
that photo stirs THis up=== they aren't really even called "STereos" anymore!
it's a sound system, entertainment center, in my case a digital surround hooked to my computer, but that whole Term "Stereo" is fading- almost everyone has more than 2 channels nowadays, and even with 2 channels its still more often a "system" than a "stereo"......
Post by: telewinz on October 03, 2005, 10:00:20 PM
Post by: Guest on October 03, 2005, 10:22:26 PM
Take a bath and watch Disney.
Can't remember what night Wild Kingdom was on, but that was another favorite.
Mercurochrome. Wow. What *was* that stuff??
Post by: 280plus on October 04, 2005, 02:06:32 AM
Speaking of mercury, we used to take it in the palm of our hands and poke at it with our fingers cause it was cool. Last I heard a local school had a "mercury spill" and that was enough to send the kids home and a have massive cleanup effort.
MY most fond rememberance was getting "WORMS!!" if there was something grandma or grandpa didn't want you to do diet wise they would tell you it would give you worms. If you put too much cheese on your macaroni (when did it become "pasta" BTW?) you would get worms. Too much soda = worms. I'm laughing just thinking about it. Then there was the "Boogieman" if you went somwhere they didn't want you to go they would tell you "The boogieman is down there!" (usually the basement). Grandpa called him "Jake". If there was a noise from the basement it was "Jake".
I mention the worms thing to grandma now and she gets this little wry smile on her face. Kinda like "You caught me."
Then there was, "OH MY GOD!! I forgot it was Friday and had a CHEESEBURGER!! I'm goin' to HELL!!
Lawrence Welk!:O Lassie on Sunday nights.
OH and how about the sugar cereals? Sugar pops are now "Corn" Pops. Sugar Smacks? Now "Honey" Smacks. There's more but I can't remember them all right now. Talk about PC
Post by: JAlexander on October 04, 2005, 04:01:33 AM
People don't pull over for funerals nearly as often as they used to, at least in most places. I always stop, unless it's too dangerous to do so, but most folks around here don't. I pulled over for one in San Francisco one time, and I was literally the only person to do so. My wife had never heard of the custom, and I think she still thinks it's bizarre. Now by contrast, I went to a funeral in Marshall last year and virtually every car we met stopped until the funeral procession was past. They're still a little more old fashioned in east Texas.
One of the things that I notice the most in terms of change is words and expressions that people don't use much anymore. For instance, when the sun was shining and it was raining, my dad and granny used to say 'the devil's beating his wife', but except for me, I can't think of a single person who uses that phrase anymore. I'm sure there're quite a few, but I've never heard them do it.
Does anyone else have favorite words or phrases that have passed out of common usage?
James
Post by: Guest on October 04, 2005, 05:12:02 AM
Maybe someone got a new washer, maybe you got the box from an appliance store ( the man would fold it and put in the station wagon) maybe your uncle brought one over...no matter how....TANKS!
Get inside the box and roll down the yard, steps, and really really cool if more than one appliance box - then you had TANK wars. Going head to head against each other. [Girls would giggle right before they 'smacked" into you - then they had a really weird laugh]. Tired of going head to head to head, team up and flatten the flower bed...by accident of course.
Which reminds me...
Quote
Does anyone else have favorite words or phrases that have passed out of common usage?
"Go get a switch, and you better get a big one - don't make me have to go out there and pick a big one". [We had hedges on all 4 sides, I still hate hedges, no matter how tall I got, the hedges were always just a bit taller than my arms -and I had to use a step ladder ( not a kitchen chair, I learned that lesson real early).
hedges are ..."unkillable". Me cutting, whacking, running lawnmowers into them, getting rid of gasoline , and who knows how many switches...dang hedges lived. I think I was more happy to have younger sibs - hoping they would get into trouble and even more switches were going to be pulled off them hedges. Hedges are still there last time I checked...]
"Go to the coaches office" - Read: Coach has a new paddle with holes drilled different this time and he needs to test it.
Shop Teacher -"Take this paddle to coach" - Means Shop teacher has a new design with holes he wants the coach to try out".
Coach " Run them bleachers until you Puke".
Coach - "You puked because you didn't take your salt tablets".
Coach "Run that mile again, in better time, or I will kick your butt and then try out my new paddle".
Coach "Steve, you had better win that cross- country race, or I will kick your butt and bury you in that vacant lot and you will never be found". [ I never run so hard in my life]
"Don't eat the bones, thems for your younger sibs".
The drumstick was called "the bone", the idea was little kids could eat the "bone" better than other cuts of chicken, not get choked on them.
Mom getting the ladder out- "climb up to roof honey, and adjust the TV antenna - I'll holler out when the station is right"
Mom- "What are you doing on the roof? - Playing aren't you?"
"No mom - I was adjusting the TV antenna..."
Saving Tuna fish cans and digging holes in the yard to play "Washers".
'Honey, why is the tuna fish in the mason jar in the Fridge?" "Why did you open ALL the cans of tuna?"
"'cause Terry, Berry, John, Phyillis, Betty...did not have "Washers game in their yard to play with".
"So how do I know this Persimmon is ripe?"
"Ewww [yuck, pucker pucker, yuck]"
"Now you know honey".
"Why did you shoot the feral cat with a Persimmon with your slingshot?"
"'cause is was not ripe".
I ate everything on my plate, I recall other kid's did not always. Remember...
"Clean your plate -there are starving kids in Cambodia".
One neighbor kid found out not a good idea to suggest to his mom " Well then send this crap to them kids - this stuff sucks".
"Honey, what are you doing on the roof again...and what do you have in that coffee can"
"Moooommm...I ain't doing nothing but shooting the feral cats with 'simmons with my slingshot"
"And just what is wrong with doing that from the tree house in Terry's yard"
"Gee mom, we done got all them cats over his way...a few come over this-a-way"
"Okay honey, be careful , if you fall and break your leg, don't come running to get me..."
Post by: grampster on October 04, 2005, 05:23:48 AM
After reading all of the aforementioned comments it occured to me that I was intimately connected to all of them. Nice nostalgia trip.
Parochial school: Writing 1000 times "I must be obedient" , usually a daily occurence. I was able to control three of those big fat blue pencils so I could do three lines at a time. Having Sister Mary Ralph connect with a 90 mph green gum eraser dead bang in the middle of one's forehead for talking in class. Then getting sent to "Father's House" for a further butt whippin' and then looking forward to being chased around the dining room table by my mother while she was yelling "Wait till your father gets home, young man". (music)An tic i pat ion.
Practicing wind sprints to be able to be in shape to outrun the upper classmen in grade school who routinely "pounded" us younger kids on the way home.
Playing neighborhood tackle football during the day, pass and tap under the steetlights at night, neighborhood baseball, Kick the Can, Capture the Flag, Run Sheepie Run, Pom Pom tackle, soaping windows in late October, Knocking on doors and running.
Post by: garrettwc on October 04, 2005, 06:00:53 AM
brimic, you can still get the green Coke bottles here at the local grocery. They sell them in a six pack in the novelty drink section, along with Orange Crush. For me it was my uncle's barber shop. My mom still cans vegetables (she's in her 80's) and my girlfriend made homemade pickles and relish this year.
Barbara, in our town Wild Kingdom came on right before Disney on Sunday nights. Which brings up another thought. It was "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom". Remember when the shows had sponsors, rather than 20 minutes of commercials?
JAlexander +1 on the funerals.
SM, place my dad worked at always had some kind of big machine that would come in one of those boxes. They were square, not tall like a fridge box. You could cut holes in them and push them together and make a fort with all sort of rooms. They were wax coated so they were good through several rainstorms. If you took care of them they would last almost all summer.
Post by: Waitone on October 04, 2005, 06:06:31 AM
Going over to gramma's house for a big Sunday meal. The males would retire to the front porch for a nice nap. The ladies would talk.
If you took a green coke bottle (glass) and carefully shot a BB into the bottom of the bottle from the neck, you could bust out a wafer of green glass. Great pride in doing it the first try.
Take a green coke bottle (glass) into a canoe and go out into deep water. Drop the bottle straight down. It would drop into the water, submerge, then pop right back out. How many times could you do it before the bottle sank permanently?
Take a bath, don't dry off. Put on PJ's and official Fess Parker Coonskin hat. Run to the B&W TV and watch Daniel Boone on the Disney Show soaking wet.
Post by: charby on October 04, 2005, 07:29:51 AM
Things I miss
Soda in Glass Bottles.
Riding my bike to Bud Mathes' filling station, soda was 25 cents for a 10oz bottle, if you left the place you had to leave a dime for deposit. Bud couldn't compete with the bigger stations so he closed up gas service about the time I graduated from high school, Not sure if he still does service or not.
Penny candy at Balbort's Confectionary. Store closed up a year before I left to the state univeristy.
Sunday drives with Dad to learn all the back roads of Des Moines County.
Family drives to see Christmas lights in Yarmouth Iowa.
Pinball at the Haller's Tap
Stores being closed on Sundays
Hungry Bear Ice Cream, I was home in August for a family reunion and I took SWMBO there for a ice cream cone, she raved how good it was.
Throwing rocks at coal cars as they passed by.
Family weiner roasts at county parks
Camping with Boy Scouts
Summer Camp
Hunting or fishing with Dad. We live 500 miles apart and it has been years since we fished together.
Finally being allowed to ride my bike unsupervised passed Seaman's Bushes.
The annual building of forts in the woods after the first frost to kill the poison ivy as my mother always warned about.
Dad comming home with a grocery bag full of wild mushrooms
My dad's fried catfish.
Oh so many more..
Charby
Post by: DrAmazon on October 04, 2005, 08:04:21 AM
Quote from: telewinz
Your neighbors "policed-up" their own neighborhood. From an abusive husband to a misbehaving boy, the cops were called seldom. Being on relief was rare and having a child out of wedlock was shameful. Doctors DID make house calls! The TV had rabbit ears and had to "warm-up" a while. Arthur Godfrey on the radio and Art Linkletter on TV "Kids say the funniest things". And lastly, military parades down main street.
I am using rabbit ears as we speak. Too broke for cable. Reception is poor enough that I'm watching much less TV.I don't think I'm that old, but...
-actually talking with my parents in the car on the summer vacation, listening to their music, and sitting with the atlas in my lap so I could answer for myself "how much longer".
-Dressing nice to travel. Whenever we flew (rarely), I always had nice "travel clothes". Mom always set out something for car trips too -nicer than play clothes but not quite Church clothes.
-for that matter, a difference between play clothes and church clothes!
-learning impeccable phone manners, in case Dad's clients called him at home
-The sound of a zippo lighter. Dad quit smoking years ago, but I still think of him when I hear one flick open and closed. Also Dad "entertaining" me by lighting his hand whenever he refilled the lighter.
-Wearing gun maker t-shirts to gym class and never getting any flack for it
-Being Mom and Dad's remote control "Turn it up a smidge. Change to channel 6". Hard to believe that my Dad ever stayed on one channel for longer than 30 seconds.
Post by: grampster on October 04, 2005, 09:18:44 AM
Latching on to the back bumper of a car in the winter time and street skiing to school.
Packing a lunch and getting on my bike and leaving home at sunup and not returning till dark or hopping freights and riding about 20 miles to a long curve. We'd drop off, fish and swim in a gravel pit and then hop another freight back home in the evening.
Building forts and rafts along the creek. Sailing said rafts downstream to the river.
Pulling the support braces apart on rival rafts and securing them with string so they'd break apart in the creek dunking the neighbor kids. Watching my Lab, Mike, picking up rocks in his mouth and trying to heave them across the creek by snapping his neck and releasing the rock.
Post by: thorn on October 04, 2005, 09:41:31 AM
Penny candy at Balbort's Confectionary. Store closed up a year before I left to the state univeristy.
we had a peeny candy shoppe that closed when i was like 9. i used to love that place, Frances sweet shop
Post by: charby on October 04, 2005, 09:54:19 AM
Pop sure doesn't taste the same as it used to. Every now and then I get this craving for Coke or Pepsi in the the NR 16oz bottles(the ones that came in the eight packs) over ice. I just used to love that initial sweet bitey taste and how the bubbles tickled your nose. There is a international store here in Ames that sells Coke and Pepsi in glass bottles from Mexico but just isn't the same as it was when I was a kid, is it because of the switch from cane sugar to corn sweetner?
Charby
Post by: 280plus on October 04, 2005, 10:59:24 AM
HMMM, I wonder where that shaker got to anyways.
Post by: duck hunt on October 04, 2005, 11:52:04 AM
Quote
Sunday evening routine:
Take a bath and watch Disney.
Can't remember what night Wild Kingdom was on, but that was another favorite.
Wow, that brings back memories. We never missed it! After the bath and pajamas, you get the bedtime snack in front of the tv while Disney was on.Take a bath and watch Disney.
Can't remember what night Wild Kingdom was on, but that was another favorite.
For some reason I want to say that Disney and Wild Kingdom may have alternated Sundays....possible?
Post by: charby on October 04, 2005, 12:19:54 PM
Charby
Post by: caseydog on October 04, 2005, 07:41:31 PM
Quote from: grampster
Mercurochrome was for WIMPS! That was the pain free cut stuff.
You got that right ! the other option in our medicine chest was "tincture of Methiolate" yowzah ! that stuff burned the germs out, i'll take mercurochrome anyday.Heck i'm only in my 40's but I got a few more from growing up rural.
There was so much writing on the blackboard in school that someone got to dust the erasers outside every day. First day of school in the early grades you got a new double ruled tablet and a pencil , that was for penmanship practice.
When you cut the grass there were no weedwackers , if there was trimming you used grass shears on your knees. If you were smart you edged the sidewalk with an axe , needed trimmed less then.
When you had a snow day from school you went around and shoveled all the older folks out (usually a gang of kids) you didn't charge , they paid in baked goods and hot Hersheys cocoa or Nestle's quik. Of course those folks usually sent Christmas and birthday cards to all the kids in the gang with a little something in them.
There weren't 48 kinds of cereal on the shelves , Wheaties , Corn Flakes , Cheerios and that was about it for brand name stuff, it was a real treat the first time I tried Rice Krispies, milk was on the porch first thing every morning , you could also order eggs , bread, butter, cheese and orange juice from the milkman , just leave a note in the milkbox the day before or catch him to get something off the truck. Mom and pop little grocery in town and a Ben Franklin , next town over had a McCrory's and an A&P - woohoo A&P was a big store.
Then there was the Fuller brush man and a few other traveling salesmen , going to the mall wasn't an option - no such thing for 100 miles in any direction, there were dept stores in the nearest big town/small city , but they were downtown , each in their own building, almost all of them had a cafeteria too. You parked the car and walked around , winter or not, driving two or three blocks was rediculous.
Ray
Post by: Stickjockey on October 05, 2005, 05:11:32 AM
Granddad's Willys jeep. Can't remember if it was a CJ-2 or -3, but i do remember him and I packing a sack lunch and heading up into the mountains around Myrtle Creek just to get away for the day. I was about five or six. I'll always remember the "panic button" he'd stuck on the dash, and the fact that there'd always be a little something in the glove box "just in case"
Being able to open Dad's gun cabinet with a bent coat hanger. (shh!)
Sgt. Rock, G.I. Combat, and Haunted Tank comic books.
Post by: mtnbkr on October 05, 2005, 05:39:30 AM
Quote
I'll bet it's been awhile since anyone baked a loaf of bread starting with flour, yeast, salt, water, et cetera.
I made a batch of biscuits this morning. My grandmother made two batches this past weekend (big family gathering and bbq).Recipe:
self rising flour
lard
buttermilk
no measurements, mix by feel and experience. That said, it's roughly 2cups flour, 1/2 cup lard, 1/2-3/4 cup buttermilk. Don't mix too much though, just enough that the ingredients are mixed and dough is slightly tacky. Break off golfball sized lumps, roll around a bit in your hand with a dusting of flour, put in pan (greased with lard) and press flat (about 1/2" thick). Bake at 450 until bottoms are browning, then broil until tops are brown and crispy. Total cook time is roughly 20 minutes.
Chris
Post by: 280plus on October 05, 2005, 05:45:19 AM
Grandma used to have one of those bottom refrigerator drawers FULL of lard. She'd just reach right in and scoop some out. I'd love to see the look on my doctor's face if I told him I was making biscuits with lard
That said, Thanx for the recipe
Post by: mtnbkr on October 05, 2005, 06:07:36 AM
Quote
I'd love to see the look on my doctor's face if I told him I was making biscuits with lard
This isn't a recipe that you eat constantly (unless you do hard labor every day). That said, my grandmother tried to modify the recipe and use crisco or oil, but it never came out right.Chris
Post by: 280plus on October 05, 2005, 10:07:17 AM
Quote
my grandmother tried to modify the recipe and use crisco or oil, but it never came out right.
Yes lard adds a flavor all its own. I recall that before the big anti fat craze took hold McDonalds did ALL their frying in lard. We used to cut up 25 lb blocks of it with a coat hanger. When they changed to vegetable oil the flavor of their fries was forever altered. 
First I'd have to figure out WHERE to get some lard cause them biscuits sound delish!
Post by: mtnbkr on October 05, 2005, 10:18:57 AM
Quote
First I'd have to figure out WHERE to get some lard cause them biscuits sound delish!
I got it at the local grocery store, but it was hidden in the hispanic foods section. Chris
Post by: ...has left the building. on October 05, 2005, 01:51:19 PM
-People getting fired up for deer season, groundhogs coming out, upland, etc.
-Doritos that didn't get friggin' CHEESIER every year
-Speaking English nearly everywhere in America
-McD's lard fries
-That terrorism was just something you heard about that happened in other countries.
-That you could fistfight at school and have them call your parents, not the NKVD.
-MTV airing things that actually relate to music.
-Black leather mini skirts, these used to be the shizz back in the mid-90s for a year or two...
-Pro boxers that I actually gave a crap about
-Gas that was $1.28-1.40 in today's dollars
-Rap that didn't always have to be about thugz
Post by: DrAmazon on October 06, 2005, 04:18:50 PM
Quote from: charby
one more thing I was thinking about eating lunch today.
Pop sure doesn't taste the same as it used to. Every now and then I get this craving for Coke or Pepsi in the the NR 16oz bottles(the ones that came in the eight packs) over ice. I just used to love that initial sweet bitey taste and how the bubbles tickled your nose. There is a international store here in Ames that sells Coke and Pepsi in glass bottles from Mexico but just isn't the same as it was when I was a kid, is it because of the switch from cane sugar to corn sweetner?
Charby
I've heard tell that during Passover you can get Kosher Coke that is made according to the original recipe using sugar, not corn syrup.
Pop sure doesn't taste the same as it used to. Every now and then I get this craving for Coke or Pepsi in the the NR 16oz bottles(the ones that came in the eight packs) over ice. I just used to love that initial sweet bitey taste and how the bubbles tickled your nose. There is a international store here in Ames that sells Coke and Pepsi in glass bottles from Mexico but just isn't the same as it was when I was a kid, is it because of the switch from cane sugar to corn sweetner?
Charby
Post by: K Frame on October 06, 2005, 04:29:25 PM
I grew up in a neighborhood of old victorian era homes which didn't have central air conditioning, but they all had wonderful front porches. The front porch on the house I grew up in was something like 12 feet deep, 32 feet across the front of the house, turned the corner, and went back another 15 or so feet. It was a porch made for sitting.
Before central air became almost mandatory, houses were built with spacious front porches for sitting in the evenings during the summer.
My Grandparents didn't have AC in the house (Mom's parents never had AC, Dad's had a window shaker) and the front porches were always occupied during the heat of the summer.
Now days, with central air, the front porch is almost non existent in new construction.
Post by: Larry Ashcraft on October 06, 2005, 05:21:38 PM
Quote from: Mike Irwin
Sitting on the front porch in the summer.
We still do a lot of that here at Casa Ashcraft, every day in the summer, as a matter of fact.But then, we're old fashioned.
Post by: K Frame on October 06, 2005, 05:31:08 PM
You talking about me?
I make bread regularly that way.
For several years I was buying my flour in 25 pound sacks.
I've cut back on the amount of bread that I make, but I still have all the fixings.
In fact, just 2 weeks ago I made a loaf of bread for the dinner I shared with Mtnbkr, his lovely wife, his felonious assault (on me) daughter, and his parents.
How was that bread, fatboy?
Post by: K Frame on October 06, 2005, 05:32:39 PM
They used beef tallow.
Post by: mtnbkr on October 06, 2005, 05:51:03 PM
Quote
How was that bread, fatboy?
It was tasty, even better toasted the next day.Chris
Post by: K Frame on October 06, 2005, 06:55:29 PM
Post by: 280plus on October 07, 2005, 01:31:46 AM
Quote
Mickey D's never used lard in its fries.
They used beef tallow.
Same Same?? Don't be gettin' all technical on me now there Mike...They used beef tallow.
Either way it was cool cutting up a 25 lb block of fat with a coat hanger! I highly recommend it.
The thing that really scared me though was the liquid coffee concentrate. I don't know how they do it now or in other places but in WPB FL in the mid 80s your Mcdonalds coffee wasn't made from ground beans brewed in the store.
Post by: mtnbkr on October 07, 2005, 02:07:04 AM
Chris
Post by: 280plus on October 07, 2005, 02:39:59 AM
Post by: K Frame on October 07, 2005, 04:00:16 AM
I guess it doens't matter much. Unless you're the pig or the cow. Or are worried about taste...
"Liquid coffee concentrate."
Actually, that's a VERY logical way of doing it, and "cold coffee brewing" is making something of a come back. There's a brewer called the Toddy or something like that that allows you to make the concentrate, which you store in the fridge, and then add to boiling water.
Cold brewing makes for an EXCELLENT cup of coffee.
Back in the 1950s there used to be coffee pots for just this very process. Water in beans in top, a special glass filter in the middle, and coffee concentrate on the bottom. They're worth a LOT of money these days.
Post by: grampster on October 07, 2005, 04:11:09 AM
Post by: charby on October 07, 2005, 04:37:35 AM
Kosher Coke, I'll have to ask my Orthodox Rabbi buddy about that, he has turned me onto to kosher hotdogs and they are the cat's meow.
Charby
Post by: K Frame on October 07, 2005, 05:36:51 AM
http://www.toddycafe.com/
I think the fact that they want $35 for it is kind of stupid, though.
Oh and a warning fatboy...
Cold brewed coffee has something like half the caffeine of hot brewed coffee...
Maybe eat the grounds?
Post by: Gewehr98 on October 07, 2005, 07:49:08 AM
What happened to Mercurochrome?
23-Jul-2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Cecil:
I had skin surgery recently and was told to apply Mercurochrome to aid in scarless healing. The product, once widely available, is sold by only one vendor in Boise, and I'm told they manufacture their own. Another pharmacist told me they were not allowed to handle or sell it. What happened to this antiseptic that I grew up with? --David Young, Boise, Idaho
Cecil replies:
You're dating yourself, pops. Few under age 30 have ever heard of this stuff. In 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared that Mercurochrome, generically known as merbromin, was "not generally recognized as safe and effective" as an over-the-counter antiseptic and forbade its sale across state lines. A few traditionalists complained: Whaddya mean, not generally recognized as safe? Moms have been daubing it on their kids' owies since the Harding administration! But the more reasonable reaction was: It's about time.
For many years the FDA, faced with the task of regulating thousands of pharmaceuticals and food additives, many of which long predated federal oversight, has maintained the so-called GRAS (generally recognized etc) list, originally compiled as a way of grandfathering in products like Mercurochrome that had been around for ages and hadn't hurt or killed a noticeable number of people. Recognizing that from a scientific standpoint such a standard left a lot to be desired, the FDA has been whittling away at the unexamined products on the GRAS list over time. Mercurochrome and other drugs containing mercury came up for scrutiny as part of a general review of over-the-counter antiseptics that began in 1978, and for good reason--mercury in large enough doses is a poison that harms the brain, the kidneys, and developing fetuses. While no one's offered evidence of mass Mercurochrome poisoning, the medical literature contains scattered reports of mercury toxicity due to use of the antiseptic, and these days the burden of proof is on drug manufacturers to show that their products' benefits outweigh the risks. In the case of Mercurochrome and many other mercury-containing compounds, that had never been done.
The FDA initially proposed clipping Mercurochrome's GRAS status in 1982 and asked for comment. Hearing little, the FDA classified the antiseptic as a "new drug," meaning that anyone proposing to sell it nationwide had to submit it to the same rigorous approval process required of a drug invented last month. (This took place in 1998--nobody's going to accuse the FDA of rushing to judgment.) It's not out of the question that a pharmaceutical company will do so someday--published research on Mercurochrome, though hardly abundant, suggests the stuff is reasonably effective. However, the approval process is time-consuming and expensive and any patent protection Mercurochrome might once have had surely expired long ago. For the foreseeable future those yearning for that delicious Mercurochrome sting will have to look somewhere else.
Post by: 280plus on October 07, 2005, 07:50:47 AM
Post by: mtnbkr on October 07, 2005, 08:19:13 AM
Use less lard than you think you'll need. Too much and your biscuits will melt in the oven. I found out the other night...
For 2 cups of flour, maybe 1/4cup will work. Either way, it's going to take some trial and error to get it right.
Luckily for me, I at least know what they should look and taste like. Speaking of which, these aren't the big fluffy biscuits you see on tv commercials. These tend to be thinner, and slightly dense, but with a wonderful rich flavor and "mouth feel".
Chris
Post by: K Frame on October 07, 2005, 09:40:08 AM
You ever see the Pork Rinds that are sold as a snack food? George Bush I was very fond of them.
That's what's left when you render lard from a pig. They're also called cracklings.
"These tend to be thinner, and slightly dense..."
I'd say that's because you're using self rising flour instead of AP flour with separate baking powder and baking soda.
The acid in the buttermilk PLUS the tartaric acid that's added to the self-rising flour overwhelm the baking soda that is added to the flour. That's why a lot of recipes that call for acidic ingredients and baking powder also call for extra baking soda to even out the acid to base ratios.
If you want lighter, fluffier biscuits, skip the self rising flour and go to a basic recipe that uses baking powder with extra baking soda.
If you like the denser biscuits, then you're gold.
Post by: mtnbkr on October 07, 2005, 09:52:46 AM
Quote
If you like the denser biscuits, then you're gold.
I have the exact biscuits I want. The recipe needs minor tweaking due to my lack of experience, but these at least taste like the ones I grew up with. No other recipe comes close.My description was given to avoid any confusion when they didn't come out like the big, fluffy buttermilk biscuits most people imagine.
Chris
Post by: K Frame on October 07, 2005, 10:01:48 AM
Well DUH!
I was providing counter point explanations for those who MAY want the fluffier biscuits, not Gammaw's Sausage Soakers.
But, you know, you sure didn't turn your nose up at those Tender & Flaky (or whatever they were called) biscuits Michelle made for dinner the other night when I was over.
I'll also throw this in for everyone else...
Biscuits of the kind mtnbkr is talking about are not in my heritage. I grew up in Pennsylvania, where the yeast roll is king.
If you're trying to make biscuits for the first time, don't do what I did and overwork your dough. You're supposed to work the snot out of yeast risen rolls. You need the gluten.
But in Southern quickbread type biscuits, the kind mtnbkr is talking about, gluten is a BAD thing. Overworking the dough will give you what I got the first time I made biscuits...
Hockey pucks.
Post by: 280plus on October 07, 2005, 10:03:49 AM
Thanks for the update on the lard contents AND quantity. I was kinda wondering how much to use.
Post by: mtnbkr on October 07, 2005, 10:20:43 AM
Quote
I was providing counter point explanations for those who MAY want the fluffier biscuits, not Gammaw's Sausage Soakers. smile
Wrong recipe for that. 
Quote
But, you know, you sure didn't turn your nose up at those Tender & Flaky (or whatever they were called) biscuits Michelle made for dinner the other night when I was over.
Of course not. Every biscuit has it's place. Quote
Thanks for the update on the lard contents AND quantity. I was kinda wondering how much to use.
No problem. It's kind of hard to give an exact measurement since grandma doesn't measure the ingredients herself. Mike is spot on about not overmixing the ingredients. In fact, I half jokingly comment that I have to develop the "arthritic fingers" method of mixing the ingredients. Oh yeah, these are mixed by hand, not machine. Wash well before you start.
Chris
Post by: K Frame on October 07, 2005, 10:21:51 AM
She used the original Toll House recipe, which she started making in something like 1939, but I've never been able to duplicate it.
Post by: K Frame on October 07, 2005, 10:22:59 AM
Yep, smack dab along the walls of the left ascending venous cava. It's called a heart attack waiting to happen.
"In fact, I half jokingly comment that I have to develop the "arthritic fingers" method of mixing the ingredients."
And yet you keep refusing my offers to slam your fingers in a car door.
Sheesh. Try to help a guy capture a treasured family tradition and see the thanks you get?
Post by: JAlexander on October 07, 2005, 12:49:55 PM
He was a good man and probably did more to save me from my own teenage angst and stupidity than any other single person. I miss him a whole bunch. He was quite a character and knew everyone, and since this seems to have turned into a nostagia thread, I'm gonna tell a story on him. I figure y'all'll bear with me for a paragraph or two.
Uncle Hays's son, Kenneth, married a girl from Kansas, and not long after they got hitched Tricia's brother decided to take a trip to Texas and meet his sister's new in-laws. They spent a few days in Marshall fishing and drinking beer, after which Tricia's brother and his family headed down to Houston to see some distant relatives. Apparently he was speeding a little bit and got stopped somewhere just north of Houston. The cop asked him where he was headed and where he was coming from, and Tricia's brother said that he was visiting his sister's in-laws in Marshall. Then the deputy asked who he knew in Marshall, and Tricia's brother said 'A guy named Hays G____.' When he did, the cop said 'Aw, you know Hays? Well, get on down the road, and don't speed so much.' So they did, and called Kenneth and Tricia as soon as they got to Houston. True story.
And to bring us back on topic... I miss going to school a little bit late after a couple of hours bird hunting over a good pointer. No one thought you were weird, or a future murderer, and most of the other guys and a few of the teachers were envious.
James
Post by: grampster on October 07, 2005, 12:52:35 PM
Post by: K Frame on October 07, 2005, 12:59:38 PM
What do you miss most about your youth, Grampster?
The yearly tournaments where the knights would joust for the fair maid's hand?
Post by: Brad Johnson on October 07, 2005, 01:18:03 PM
Bactine.
More Bactine.
A trip to the doctor just to have him tell mom to wash me off and hose me down with Bactine (beginning to see a pattern here..?)
Absorbine for aches and pains. Not that pansy Jr. suff, either. And if you were out of Absorbine, kerosene would do in a pinch.
Hour-and-a-half round trips just to get gas (milk we had, and I hated getting that, too. Use your imagination...)
Cistern water with a funny smell and a really strange taste. Kinda like something had died in it (because it
probably had...).
Waking up at 5:30 every stinkin' morning to feed all the animals, even if the weather was so bad the postman got to stay home.
Party lines.
Ever tried an emergency stop in a 5000 lb car with four drum brakes and no power assist? If you have the chance, pass.
Going 'round, and 'round, and 'round a field on a 930 Case with a torn up canopy dragging an eensy little 12-shank plow. In the dead of summer. In Texas.
Fences needing mending. Miles of them. In every direction. And me with a pair of pliers, some bailing wire, and nothing but time. Same summer. Same state.
Things I miss very much...
I miss real family get-togethers where the family, well, got together. No ball games, no movies, no "progressive parties" and such. Just 50 or 60 people sitting around the back yard in old hand-me-down home-made chairs and talking. Add to the mix a couple old silver and green Coleman coolers full of Coors (when it was still illegal east of Texas) and a bunch of us kids to take turns busting up ice and turning the ice cream crank.
I miss Christmases with the same bunch. A houseful of us screaming cousins. Aunts and uncles sitting around sipping "hot chocolate" (riiiiight!) and playing 42. A Christmas tree patched together from pieces and parts of cedar trees, and big enough to cause a minor Hiroshima should it ever ignite. Santa coming to visit (never did find his reigndeer, and I'm here to tell you I LOOKED!!).
I miss hay rides with real hay and real horses.
I miss seeing stars at night, and the quiet stillness of a country evening.
I miss being carried in from the car because I was "asleep" though I knew full well that Mom and Dad weren't fooled.
I miss Grandmother, Grandad, Papa, and MaBerries.
I miss Fische's Dry Goods where you got a sucker when you went in, and when you went out.
I miss songs that tell stories.
I miss my dad's 64 Galaxie, and when 100 miles and hour felt like 1000.
I miss popcorn popped with real butter.
I miss aunt Cornelia's molasass bread and Grandmother's coconut pie at Sunday dinner. (that's "lunch" for you non-southern folk)
I miss people who greet you with a solid handshake instead of a limp lump that feels like you're grabbing a handful of wet toilet paper.
I miss doctors who knew your name before they looked at the chart.
I miss people smiling and waving as you pass.
I miss not having to worry about bills, or work, or whatever.
I miss being able to be a kid without everyone giving you strange looks.
Brad
p.s. - I like liver, but only if it's buttermilk breaded and deep fried.
p.p.s - In bacon grease.
Post by: 280plus on October 07, 2005, 03:57:54 PM
Quote
Sunday dinner. (that's "lunch" for you non-southern folk)
Actually up around here it's lunch Monday through Saturday but on Sunday it's "dinner" Never could figure THAT one out.
Post by: Strings on October 07, 2005, 05:05:28 PM
Yep... 16oz Coke bottles were the PROPER way fro the drink to be served. And were also the best fo bottle rockets...
How about being able to buy fireworks without all the hassle. REAL fireworks, not the lil' sparklers they sell now...
A group of 20 of us kids at the school LATE at night, to play "ditch" (team hide-n-seek)...
Post by: Gewehr98 on October 07, 2005, 05:59:24 PM
Quote
Ever tried an emergency stop in a 5000 lb car with four drum brakes and no power assist? If you have the chance, pass
A 1960 Chevrolet Apache 20 3/4 ton pickup was my first car. 235 straight six, granny 4-speed, and somebody had installed an Eaton 2-speed rear axle before we bought the truck, so I had 8 speeds forward, 2 in reverse. First gear up front and first gear in back, I could step out of the truck while it was moving, adjust the engine RPM by the throttle knob on the dash, and steer the truck through the open driver's window while walking beside it. That came in handy in the woods when pulling down widowmakers. I remember the big old HD truck tires on 17.5 inch rims. Typical drum brakes all the way around, no power brakes, and no power steering (aka Armstrong steering). Dad taught me early on to engine brake if I wanted to stop in a hurry, it freaked out my girlfriend when she first saw me do it. My wife still gets unnerved when I do it with my current Chevy pickup. Then there was the big emergency brake handle sticking up through the floor to the right of the shift lever. Crank back on it through the ratchet detents, and it grabbed the driveshaft by way of an additional drum brake collar. But I parallel parked the damn thing downtown for my driving test, and I loved those big vent windows that cranked completely through to almost 180 degrees, for a lot of ram air on hot days. I miss that old beast.
One of my good buddies has an original Coca-Cola bottle dispenser machine. And he keeps it loaded in his shop with the proper bottles of Coke, chilled perfectly. I gotta remember to be real nice to him and get in the will...
Post by: Gewehr98 on October 07, 2005, 06:35:03 PM
Post by: Guest on October 08, 2005, 07:22:17 AM
Old hardware stores with wood floors and smell of new bicycles at the western auto.
Buying comic books with the covers ripped off for half price at the corner store.
This could go on and on , in many respects I don't think we have progressed at all in our hearts. Yeah, our medicine is way better, and our consumer toys are better, and it costs less to live, adjusted for inflation, but I would trade it all for the openness and freedom we enjoyed. Hell, you can't even give a kid walking home from school a ride anymore without becoming a suspect.
Post by: DrAmazon on October 08, 2005, 08:54:39 AM
Quote from: grampster
Ahhhh. Front porches. Many games of monopoly that went on for days.
We did this in my neighborhood too. Sometimes the "bigger kids" played as a pair with a "littler kid" who rolled the die and moved the pieces for you. I can still remember playing sitting crosslegged on my parent's screened in porch with the neighbor kid, Zachary, in my lap. He's married now...Taking your Monopoly money home with you for dinner and overnight, or convincing someone's Dad to hold the money and the bank until the next day. We'd known each other for years, and didn't trust each other a minute with monopoly money. But when the kids on the next block messed with one of the gang, we'd defend each other to the end.
I wouldn't want to be a kid now. Too many organized activities and supervision. Too many dangers. Too much time inside. Not enough time to learn things on our own without the parents around (or at least you think they're not around).
Post by: Guest on October 08, 2005, 10:23:29 AM
-Making Popcorn Balls - messy, ended up with "sticky" from here to there...yummy
-Hardwood floors and sliding on them in sock feet.
-Tree-houses
-Crystal Radios
-Tree-houses, Crystal Radios, PB&J sandwiches, non-ripe persimmons and slingshots. [Feral Cat Watch & Control]
-Blackberry picking time
-Fig Perserves my Uncle used to make and bring up
-New business would open up Downtown, all the neat cool toys for kids.
-The old Sears store Downtown. Wooden Floors creaked when you entered, I swear they had fans blowing the scents of buttered popcorn, and the chocolates from the "Goody Section" to the front door. Upstairs was the Billing Dept, baskets would be lowered and raised from ground floor to Upstairs part. Just duck inside for a second, get a whiff of some popcorn, see the baskets..."sonny, would you like a free bag of popcorn?"
-Sinking Trees
Let me explain. I started hating fall holidays by the time I was 8 or 10. The 25th of Dec especially. I utterly Detest it now. My Uncle was the first one to introduce me to sinking them stupid trees so the Crappie would have habitat. As I got older I found any excuse to work - to not participate on 'that day'. I did have a tradition of sinking trees in various places for fish.
-Every Jan 1 I played golf with some friends, all dead now. Tradition was to have breakfast at the Toddle House. Mabel was always working - no matter when I went in, she was working. After breakfast we played golf. Sometimes it was REALLY cold, and we only played "One and Nine". Many times it had snowed, or was still snowing. Sitting in the Toddle House, Mabel shaking her head laughing watching us paint our golf balls with nail polish..."You boys are nuts - but I wouldnt' trade this tradition of seeing you every Jan 1 for nothing."
-Shooting the diaper pail. Oh yeah, that was my own personal devised "custom". I was the eldest. Three more came after me. I do not care how much money you spend on a diaper pail, it is going to rust out with them cloth diapers. Stinks too. None of this rubber stuff back then..
"Honey, what do you mean you want that rusty old pail?"
"Going to dispose of it - honest mom".
Oh, okay, but you are not up to something are you?"
"Would I do that?"
"Yes"
There is no good way to carry a stinking diaper pail on your bike - in case you ever wondered. Burlap sack I found to be the best method. Off to the woods I would go and shoot the smelly , rusty thing. Coming back it was more 'portable' and easier to carry. The Grocery Store had a BIG Dumpster, so did the Fillin' Station, I took turns sharing.
In about 2 weeks I was ready to shoot the new replacement pail.
-Some sixth graders "said" to a first grader it was a Tradtion to remove the hinge pins off the Principa'ls door at the beginning of the school year - and after the fall holiday break...and certain other times "as needed".
Some first grader got his start doing this Tradition in the second grade. For five years of Elementary school he never got caught. In fact he brought and shared this traditon to his Jr HS, and then in the 8th grade to the new JR High he transferred to.
High School was tricky, even so he managed with the Office being past two more sets of doors.
Rumors about some other doors having locks switched and teachers could not get in to classrooms - meaning students could not take tests...
...said kid still has never been caught.
Post by: K Frame on October 08, 2005, 12:22:43 PM
Funny you should mention that...
The other night I was fortunate enough to eat dinner with mtnbkr and his wife and daughter. They rolled out the fig preserves, which one of their relatives had put up.
I'd never had fig preserves before, but I'm game to try anything at least once.
WHOA!
GOOD stuff!
Post by: Larry Ashcraft on October 08, 2005, 01:49:08 PM
My grandad managed the Denver Elevator Company grain elevator in Akron Colorado from the early fifties until his untimely death in 1977.
My brother and I would spend endless hours playing in the feed storage warehouse. Lots of hiding places and neat stuff. We would give each other rides on the sack dolly until we ripped a sack, and then grandad would put an end to that.
The smell of grain, burlap, salt blocks and who know what else stays with me yet. Anytime I walk into a feed store today I think of my grandad.
Grandad also loved his 1950 John Deere AR tractor. It remains in my loving care still, and still earns its keep too.
Post by: Guest on October 08, 2005, 01:56:59 PM
Whoa! is right.
This Uncle lived in a bedroom community of Houston, not far from the Ship Channel. He passed on, a few years later his wife / my aunt said perhaps the pollution finally killed off the Fig Trees.
I say the trees died of neglect and all the attention my Uncle gave them.
He would come up in his Pick-Up every April on his way thru to his annual Fishing Trip to Kentucky Lake with his BIL. He always brought the Fig Preserves, along with other goodies.
Fig Preserves with Biscuits, as a side for anything, just poke your finger in the jar when nobody was looking.
Decisions , Decisions, biscuits, ham, Red-eyed gravy, eggs and the Fig Preserves...Great " WE gotta have more biscuits...!!!" I mean we had to have enough biscuits for the Preserves, the gravy, and to sop up the eggs.
-
Thanks for reminding me of another great Custom Mike.
This Uncle was so cool. He might make it up during other times of the year, still April was the 'bestest time' and fondest memories.
He was in the Appliance Business
[ his store can be seen in the movie "Urban Cowboy"., paid him to keep his sign on]
He used to have these HUGE styrofoam ice chests called "Low Boys" - this is what all the Fresh Fish and other goodies brought back where kept cool in. Or anything he was bring up to us or BIL.
One April he shows up and 3 freezers in the bed of his truck. One really small square chest and two bigger square type.
Mom got the smallest one and still has it.
One he left with BIL
.
The Third...the third replaced all the ice chests he used to use. When Annual Fishing Trip in April came around...He dollied it from his big garage in TX, strapped into his GMC Short bed, step-side, and headed this way.
It kept stuff cold for the drive up here.
Give us the white shrimp, and anything else he had frozen in Milk Cartons...plug up for the night at our house...just run the long orange cord out to the truck.
100 crappie a day - each, easy - often times greater than that . Limits were real generous back in the day. Started early, nap , fish late evening, sometimes all thru the night if really biting.
Clean fish, put into milk cartons [ everybody saved mild cartons and used them this way] and "Stock" the freezer duing the week as he/ they went along. Freeze stayed plugged in while he was up there, still in the bed of his truck all the time. Usually drove a old beater truck for fishing - just kept at the cabin...
When time to head home, unplug, head to our house, FISH FRY when he arrived , plugged the freezer in for the night, next morning, unplug the freezer - once home , Dollie that freezer into Big Garage.
Nope, never a problem with stuff spoiling en-route. Uncle could drive and his trucks would RUN for sure...*wink*
Work Smarter not harder. Not to mention beats the heck out of keeping up with LOW BOY ice chests, and buying ice...
--
Which reminds me of another 'custom'.
Siver Coins
Both of my Uncles had B-Days the same month of mine. About a week later, a few days apart. They both bought silver coins by the roll. Dollars, half-dollars, quarters and dimes. April was really neat , because I would get silver coins for my B-DAY...and other gifts too, but the silver coins were special.
"Be a shame to have to unwrap a roll just give you a coin or two from each...might as well have the WHOLE roll of each one! WOW!
Maybe there was somethng to this "getter older now" bit.
Post by: mtnbkr on October 08, 2005, 02:43:57 PM
Quote
I say the trees died of neglect and all the attention my Uncle gave them.
Probably so. It's my understanding that they're high maintenance plants. Still, I'd like a couple when I get a place that has enough yard. I love figs fresh, dried, and in preserves.Quote
Fig Preserves with Biscuits
Heh. Had that last weekend while at my grandparents' house. Had it again this weekend, though I made the biscuits this time.Chris
Post by: mtnbkr on October 08, 2005, 02:47:14 PM
That's my grandfather tendin' the pig, my aunt (dad's sis) with her back to us, my cousin's husband, my dad's cousing looking at the camera, and my uncle (dad's BIL) on the other side of the cooker.
Chris
Post by: K Frame on October 08, 2005, 04:32:08 PM
It's good that you lost all that porkage, Chris, or your family might have tossed you on the grill by mistake!