Old Timers Unite---Give it Your Best Shot

[Cal Metal]

Saw a piece in one of the trade publications that had a contest that, essentially said (automotively speaking), " I'm so old, I can remember when......."

One of the better responses was: "Owning a 1/2 inch socket set that was measured in 32nds".

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to give us your best automotive answer to that question, "I am so old I can remember when.......". Best answer will receive something Cobra related.

I can assure you that the winner will be selected arbitrarily, with considerable prejudice and extreme bias. Give it your best shot.

My response to the question: Buying valve cover gaskets for my '58 Corvette from the Rapids Chevrolet dealer for 36 cents a piece. List was 72 cents. I always made sure I wore my DX shirt to the parts department and asked for valve cover gaskets that were for anything but the Corvette. If they found out it was for personal use, they clipped me for the list price.

[KobraKarl]

I'm so old , ALL my cars were TWO seaters........... even the FOUR doors ..........they seated SEVEN.............and were ALL purpose...

[mr bruce]

I can remember Prestone Anti-freeze in the rectangular cans, 2 gallons for $.98 cents. If you bought a whole case(6 gals) it was $2.49.Or Quaker State 30 wt, also in tin cans , 5 quarts for a dollar.

[Excaliber]

I remember a "Gasoline Price War" when gas was selling for around 25 cents on a normal day. It went to 19 cents before the "war" was over.

Ernie

[btsai]

Well, I guess I'm not quite as old as some of you guys, but this is Cobra related...

I can remember when Steve Arntz was the only (that I was aware of) builder of replica "Cobras". Even got one of his brochures back in about 1977... Wish I still had it.

Ben

[Matt M FFR 1502]

I'm so old that my dad sent me to the gas station with a half gallon jug so I could buy him some "solvent"

[Buzz]

I'm so old, I can remember when the rest of you guys turned 60!

[Neal Jackson]

Oh yeah? Well, I can remember when my Mom was driven home from the hospital (as a new born baby) by her dad in his 1927 Dodge Brothers "Fast 4" that he bought brand new for $500.00. That very car is in storage in my folks garage.

[Cal Metal]

C'mon, Neal. You're so old you can remember the FIRST Cheetah----the one that graces the African Serengeti with four legs.

[Art Burtt]

I'm so old I remember privys,kerosene lights,and drinking "spring"water out of the bucket with a steel ladle. I remember buying "dressed" chickens which meant they were
gutted and all their feathers were off. Could never figure that one out I thought a dressed chicken would have it's feathers!!!Best of all I remember my 46 Buick Roadmaster convertible with a straight 8 and dual carbs and leather interior.

[Rick Parker]

I remember a family trip to Monterey loaded with 4 of us kids. The oldest being about 8 with Mom & Dad in the '47 Chevy 2dr with tutone paint. Lost a single blade off of a 4 blade fan, it went through the fender and cut the wiring harness to the headlights. Shook like a cow crapping razor blades. Dad stopped and broke out the tool box that he always carried and cut the opposing blade off with his hacksaw. We entertained ourselves a a roadside amusment park. An hour and a half later off we went like nothing had happened.
Rick

[Dan Semko]

I'm so old that I remember when the golden arches meant you could buy a McDonald's hamburg for .15, a cheese burger for .18 , fries for .15 and a shake for a quarter and you stood in line, outside to order.
I remember when Manner's Big Boy Drive-Ins had carhops on roller skates that took and delivered your meal to a tray that fastened to your window.
I remember when the Fleetwing Gas Stations had gas pumps with glass cylinders on top with a spinner that rotated with each gallon of .21 leaded gas. I also remember that that very gas station had a condom machine in the men's rest room that took a quarter or a well flattened slug that came out of electrical boxes.

I remember when the Disney Muskateers had Annette Funichello (sp) and Shows like Our Miss Margie, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy and Chuck Conners as the Rifleman. And Wyatt Earp, and Palladin, "Have Gun Will Travel"

I remember crawling under school desks because the "Commies" we going to drop a bomb on us and our geography books were probably going to save us from extinction.

I remember the smell of fresh brewed Maxwell House Coffee in the morning that my Mom made in a Jewel Tea Dripalator.
I remember buying a volume of the World Book Encyclopedia each time we visited the grocery store and when a box of Tide always had a glass hidden somewhere in the crystals.

I remember when the only worries I had could always be soothed by a mother that was always at home and vigilent. When saying a cuss word meant a trip to the bathroom for a quick taste of Ivory soap and when talking back to "an elder" became grounds for a quick seat warming from one of those wooden paddles that had the ball on the long rubberband that became a parents implement of acknowledgement.

I remember when a man's word was more important than any written document.
I remember finding out that putting Old Spice aftershave in your arm pits wasn't a good idea.
The best rememberance: I remember my younger brother Dave who also graces this forum, as a little boy that used to watch me shave and get cleaned up in the morning. I remember when he came downstairs to breakfast one morning, with his arms tightly clenched to his body with his crew cut standing straight up and finding out that he had confused the "butch wax" for his crew cut with the Old Spice Stick deodorant and vice versa. His hair sure smelled nice but it took sometime for the palmade wax cleansing from his underarms.

[Lubrecon]

I am so old that I remember when my family stepped up in the world and sold the 47 Nash and got a 49 Crosley...Jeez, look up the Crosley on the web if you don't know the car.

[G.R.]

I am old enough to remember the only "Real" Davy Crockett was Fess Parker, Annette and Darlene looked nothing like the girls in my school .
"Camping " in the back yard, the only fear was what we created in our own imaginations.
When we entertained ourselves and didn't have to be entertained
to have fun
When a dispute was settled with fists rather than guns
When gas was 20 cents a gal, there "were" service stations, not gas stations, were the attendent would fill your car, check the oil, wash the windshield and give you change back from a $5.
You could buy a six-pack of Coors for $.99, 2 tickets to the drive-in for $1.50,
When "cruising" on a weekend night was not against the law
When adults were shown respect---or else...

"Sputnik"
Air raid warnings--hide under your desk
Shots for measles, TB, ETC., while in grade school(Think this has stuck 'cuz they usually did it alphabetically--I was most always first and as much as I hated/feared shots I couldn't cry(I would have been subjected to unmerciful ribbing),--and if any of you remember these times you know it struck fear in your heart 'cuz you all were probably like me

[Tommy]

I'm so old I can remember when I could accurately name the make, model and year of every car my dad and I saw. Of course it was much easier then because there were so few makes and models, and so few older cars ran long enough to stay on the road.

[petek]

Ok, so I wasn't around when they invented dirt, but I was there when they created mud!

On the car related front: I remember those carboard cans of oil that you had to push a spout into to get the oil out. And I remember...

... steel jerry cans for gas
... gas station attendants that would fill up the car, check the oil, and wash the windshield (with gas at $0.24 / gal.)
... gas pumps with a little window and a whirlly gig thing inside that would spin while the gas was pumped
... putting a canvas bag of water on the front of the car to have cool water when you stopped
... falling into a service pit at a gas station when I was 5 years old
... checking the water level in the battery of a VW bus by using a dental mirror to see the tops of the cells in the battery
... AM radio and 8 track tape
... driving down a highway and waiving at the only other car on the road and having them waive back

And finally...

Traveling up to Alaska from Maxwell AFB in Alabama in a 1965 VW bus. Six kids (the youngest was 3 months old, I was the oldest at 12). We carried a "spider frame" tent inside the bus and would pitch camp every night. Dinners and breakfasts cooked on a Coleman stove. Lunch consisted of sandwiches. Potty breaks far and in-between (thank goodness for glass jars for the in-between necessities).

Stopped in Canada only a few days from home because the engine in the VW had shot craps (I don't remember what the problem was but it took a day to fix). Only other problem (other than the unpaved ALCAN Highway) was getting the back window broken out by a stone thrown by a passing semi truck. We were only a day or so out of Anchorage so we fixed the window with plastic sheeting and duct tape.

Of course the trip to Maxwell AFB from Hickam AFB in Hawaii was easier ... my folks only had 5 kids then!

[Lew the taxman]

I'm so old, that I remember going to grandma's house in our family's Henry-J. Boy! I wish I could get my hands on one now.

Lew

[Matt M FFR 1502]

Alright Dammit, I'm so old I know the difference between a 59A, a 59AB, and 8BA, and a 8CM!!!!!

[southernfriedcj]

Originally posted by petek


Traveling up to Alaska from Maxwell AFB in Alabama in a 1965 VW bus. Six kids (the youngest was 3 months old, I was the oldest at 12

Of course the trip to Maxwell AFB from Hickam AFB in Hawaii was easier ... my folks only had 5 kids then!

Pete, I lived on Maxwell AFB from '65-'70. Maxwell was a great place to be a kid.

[Dan Semko]

Gotcha beat Matt,
I remember a neighbor with a Hudson Hornet that had a back seat that folded into a bed and the small table attachment that connected that back to the rear of the front seat.

I remember a 1962 Vespa Car, two cylinder, two cycle, rear engine rear wheel drive with a fold down top and suicide doors.

How about Lambretta Motor Scooters or Wizzer Motor Bikes.
Here's one for the archives: How about Grit Newspapers that sold for .15 and were frequently advertised on the back of comic books. I remember oil in quart glass containers with metal pour spouts. How about clod hoppers, small leather boots that had the yellow reinforcing pull strap in the back.

Want to talk about some old home remedies? What was the common treatment for ear infections? How about a little urine in your ear? yep, no lie, and being the ever caring older brother, I always volunteered to donate to the cause for our middle brother (with free, non stop delivery) My parents didn't subscribe to that treatment but I was always willing to voice an early medical opinion.

I remember the old fashioned linament that everyone used on sore muscles. Note: NEVER, ever put linament in someone's jock strap unless you can out run them!