Old Timers Unite---Give it Your Best Shot

[Rick Parker]

FRE KLR:

Boy did you hit the nail on the head with that one! Who would ever have thought that we would be paying more to wet our lips than to power our cars. Remember when they added chilled drinkin water faucet to the side of soda bottle dispensers and cokes were 10 cents and 2 cent deposit for bottle. Coke machines, the kind with 8 oz Cokes. Looked like a red refrigerator with a lever handle on the front. Seemed tall??
Riding around on your bike collecting coke bottles and turning them in for a randsom for candy and bubble gum or saving up for a model???
Flying model airplanes on Saturday morning with your buddies. Oh.......... take me back to the simple times.

..............Rick

[petek]

Just thought of another one, not directly car related, but if you were a smoker you usually carried a tiny box of 'em with you when you went on a date: Sen-Sen.

I wonder if they still make it...

[cobra427hp]

I'm so old I remember when all it took to fix a Ford was a hammer, pair of pliers, screwdriver, and some baling wire (mechanic's wire for you younguns).

[Excaliber]

You know, even today thats about all the tools you need to carry with the new cars. Because if you can't fix it with those items, it's electronic and you can't fix it anyway!

Ernie

[Bob Parmenter]

How about:

Porta-walls.

Grandpa's two holer WAS the john.

You had to have a set of bongos in your back window to be cool, and the "package" shelf had to be white roll and pleat or fuzzy material.

Bermuda bells were in.

Chevrolets were referred to as stovebolts.

NASCAR actually ran STOCK cars, and the championship car was a flathead six with dual carbs. BTW Dan, the folding seat/bed would have been a Nash, not a Hudson Hornet.

An E-ticket was what you used to get on the best rides at Disneyland, not an admission pass you buy online.

The really old can't remember any of the neat stuff we've all listed.

[CobraDan]

I remember traveling south from Ohio to Alabama when I was a kid to visit the relatives and the gas price wars bringing down the price of gas to 15 cents a gallon. Of course when they didn't have a price war and you bought 8 gallons or more you got 6, 8oz. drinking glasses with your gas purchase. Some one also pumped your gas, cleaned the windshield and checked to see if you needed a quart of oil (you always needed a quart of oil). The oil came in glass containers, then round cardboard with metal top and bottom, until the plastic container we have today. I can also remember my dad telling me when he went to the corner bar for his dad as a child to get him a beer for a nickel and there was a large table set up with food so you could make a sandwich which was free, when you purchased that nickel beer.

Dan, just turned 63 in March of this year.

[G.R.]

A few others I remember:
MoonPie and an RC for $0.15(you brought back an empty so you didn't have have to bay the deposit)

Skiing at Aspen and Vail for $8.00 a day, all lifts including the Gondola @ Vail--other areas were a max of 2 bucks

Pendelton shirts were the rage in winter--$15

Having to carry out the "garbage" every night, then carry the can to the curb once a week along w/"trash"can-- then having to clean out the "garbage" can--Yuck!

Having a school "Christmas pagent"

You knew all the neighbors on your block by name--and Summer " Block Parties"

The "coolest" bike was a Schwinn 3-spd and a playing card clothespinned to the frame---Vrooom!

"ape hangers" on your bike or first MC

"DA's" and crewcuts

When you could find and buy a good, used, '57 BelAir for under $500, a convertiable was about $800, "posts" and 4-doors were less

My Dad's '32 " Vicky" 2-door--his fishin'/huntin' car he bought for a 100 bucks in '47--wish he'd kept that one!


guess I really miss those ol' Days--

[mikiec]

I remember going to the corner store to buy range oil.
I remember shoveling coal into the boiler for heat.
I remember the gas lamps in the hallway of our building.

Milk deliveries to your door, the ice man. Boiling water on the converted wood stove for the bath.

Mike

[chopper]

(1) Spoolies. These were little martini-glass shaped hair curlers, made out of soft rubber. The ladies separated a lock of hair, wrapped it around the “stem” of the Spoolie, and then folded the “bowl” part down over the lock. After a couple of hours, the Spoolie was removed, leaving a “spit curl”. A talented young lady could convert herself into a poodle in little over three hours.

(2) Round television picture tubes. Original tubes were round rather than rectangular. Before the glass industry figured out how to make rectangular tubes, the viewing display was made to look rectangular by placing a mask over the front of the round tube.

(3) Instant Color Television. In the prehistoric past, when all televisions were monochrome, these little plastic sheets were sold to add color to the sets. The sheet was the size of the television screen, with the top 1/3 tinted blue, the middle 1/3 left clear, and the bottom 1/3 tinted either green or brown. The operating theory here was that they were used primarily during the cowboy shows, which concentrated primarily on outside scenery. The ICT would be placed over the picture tube, where it would stick due to static attraction and would provide tint to the picture. Incidentally, these were sold for both round and rectangular picture tubes.

(4) PEZ dispensers.

(5) Romper Room, the forerunner of Sesame Street. This was mainly a Midwest phenomena, as it apparently originated out of a Chicago television station. A lot of the kids I went to school with learned to read before attending kindergarten by watching Romper Room.

(6) Fanner-50 cap pistols.

(7) I don’t remember what they were called, but the drug stores used to sell little wax bottles of colored sugar water. The wax bottles were about an inch and a half tall. The procedure was to bite off the top of the bottle, drink the syrup inside, then chew the wax bottle like gum.

[mikief]

Damn Mikey that's old!

Being from a really small town...600 tops, AND a long time ago
I remember going to the store for something and just saying
"charge it". No name ...nothing.

Then being amazed as the ticket went up to the "accounting dept" on a clothes line type gadget.

But the neatest thing about being 7 or 8 in a small town...your mom told you to go play...you and your buddies roamed the countryside for miles around and didn't need to be back home 'til supper.

How about heading right from school to the music store to check out the lastest 45's...and you could play 'em to see if you liked 'em!

[BO DUTCH]

I'm Sooooo Old that.........

Pumping gas at a service station was an honorable profession.
The attendants wore uniforms with hard billed hats and neck ties.
They knew your name even though you only used his service to fill the front tire on your bicycle.
The machanic would give us all the lead wheel weights we wanted for fishing sinkers. Of course we would often drop off a few fish to him for his family.

Stores and businesses were all closed on Sunday, so you had to plan ahead on the weekends. All stores closed at 5pm, and dinner was served at 6pm sharp !!

Things we were afraid of.......
Starter crank kick back !
Magnito shock !
The crazy man who never came out of his house !
Falling into the canal !
Big dogs chasing you on your bike !
Bullies !
and...... women drivers !!

How many remember the Flagging System used in empty milk bottles to tell the milkman what you needed that week ?

How about the squirrel tails or coon tails hanging from the radio antennas of cars ?
Coon skin caps, Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier.
Hah, you didn't know I could sing, did ya ?

Nuff for now !!

[snakeeyes]

I remember when Saturday was the most-anticipated day of the week, because cartoons were on all morning...that was the only time they were on all week, there weren't five channels of Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, etc. etc. running them 24/7. Good Lord, what did we kids do with ourselves all day? Oh yeah, we used our imaginations outside, or read books...

I (distantly) recall S & H Greenstamps...

Heck, even pre-Internet life is hazy to me...it seems quaint now, the thought of ordering a book or some other merchandise by mail, filling out the order form, writing a check, mailing it off, giving it three or four days to get there, another few for processing and check clearing, then several weeks for shipping...now we get pissed if we can't track our order on the UPS website within 12 hours of clicking "Buy Now" with our mouse button...

[G.R.]

Bo,
One chore I really loved was getting the fresh milk from the box in the morning--if I was real lucky(folks weren't in the kitchen) I got the first glass out of the new bottle Remember that taste?

Flagging system--got in big trouble when I ordered a gal of Rocky road


Fanner 50--Mattel--sponsor of the tv show "Cheyenne"
Tv Shows: Sugarfoot, Adventures in Paradise w/Gardner Mckay(Think this is when I first wanted to sail), The Rebel, Foreign Legion(remember the legionairre hat w/drop down neck cover, almost as popular as the coonskin cap in my area), 7 League Boots-a new adventure every week, Hopalong Cassidy, Sheriff Scotty(a Denver local show on Saturday Afternoons)
TV went off the air at midnite--

When 5 bucks in a Birthday card was a fortune

[mikiec]

Chopper,

You can still get those little wax bottles, along with wax lips.

http://oldtimecandy.com/nik-l-nips.htm

Mike

[BO DUTCH]

Gary,

Yep, that first taste out of a new bottle of milk, Mmmm !
All the cream came to the top !
Did you get the same lecture as I did from your Mom ?
" Don't drink out of the bottle !" Always tasted better out of the bottle !! Plus, I didn't have to wash the glass !!

Leather gun belt with "Real" nickle ingraveing and a texas long horn on the "real" ivory plastic grips, sitting in front of the Hoffman TV saturday afternoon watching "Bar 7 Theater".
Channel 7 in the Bay Area, one half hour western after another for 3 hours. Roy Rogers, Bob Steele, Lash Laroo, Gabby Hays, Hoppy,
Sky King, Smilly Burnett, Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley, Tex and Gene and many others.

We had only 3 TV channels to choose from and the channel selector switch had to be replaced once a year, would wear out !!
When the TV started to act up we had to unplug it, remove the back and take the tubes down to the drug store and test them, replace the bad ones. The old tubes were fasinating to look at, they reminded my of a high rise building under glass !!

We use to fly alunimun foil kites out by the airport !! That always created excitement on the Radar scopes !!

Hell, I can't remember what I did yesterday, but recalling years gone past is kinda fun !!

[dscott]

I remember when Saturday and Sunday morning were the best! Mighty Mouse, Heckel and Jeckel, Davy and Goliath. Following my Dad around as he mowed the grass and making believe it was a new road. Going to the outhouse in the winter, Pumping water from the cistern to drink. Taking a bath in a big wash tub after it rained. We had 3 of them and that's the only time we took a bath! No running water. Going Rabbit hunting with my Dad and Uncle and putting the dead rabbits in my hunting coat to keep warm. We actually ate them because we needed the meat. Penny candy was sometimes 5 for a penny. The most wanted toy was lincoln logs and an erector set. My grandmas peanut butter sandwiches!!!!
Don

[Faro]

I'm so old I car remember getting cold feet at buying a 64Cobra for $6000. I could afford it at the time but just didn't want to sacrifice the payment.

[Edley Rondinone]

"Romper bomper stomper boo, Tell me, tell me, tell me true." How about taking coffee can lids to church for the "poor people." Ice cream at Thrifty's Drug store, five cents a scoop. Arco was "Atlantic Richfield", and Exxon was "Esso." Our '64 Ranchero had 13" tires. Paper boy came every month to "collect." "Cool" was temperature-related. People who drove VWs waved at other people who drove VWs. Getting "swats" for misbehaving in school. Winds blowing down the TV antenna. No tamper-proof packaging. Having Dad put the car in neutral and "coast" down hills. Newspaper drives at school, and filling up the large roll-off bins. Double-features at the movies. With cartoons. Bottle brushes. Paper routes. Sitting in the backs of pick-up trucks while others drove around town. Women in curlers with scarfs. Toys in cereal boxes. Helms Bakery delivery trucks, with their whistle. (An L.A. thing) Three-on-the-tree. Bench seats. Necker knobs. Defrosting the freezer, and the refrigerators with latch handles. Filling up with "Ethyl."

[EdOrlando]

I cannot forget the excitement of getting the Sunday paper and following the comics while being read over the radio. (No TV then)

When TV finally came to Arizona, all I can remember is Kukla, Fran and Ollie, Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry and The Lone Ranger. Actually both Gene Autry and Roy Rodgers visited our elementary school with their horses and all.

The earliest car story I can remember is in 1953 when my mom's Buick breaks down in Vaughn, New Mexico. There was not much in Vaughn in those days. Some valve lifters went bad. The mechanic had never seen a Buick like this before but said he would try to fix it. He had to drive to Albuquerque (100 miles) to get parts. My mom started to get worried if he could fixit and did she have enough to pay for the repair. We ended up there for 3 days. My brother and I spent all of the time playing around the old railroad terminals and a pin ball machine. In the end the mechanic felt sorry for us being stuck there and basically charged for the parts which was only a few $$$. That was the good ole days.

[Dan Semko]

How about the puppet dog Farfel on the Nestles Chocolate commercials, Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob. Yoyos made of wood, then plastic and learning how to "walk the dog"
Good & Plenty pink and white licorice and Sugar Daddy all day suckers. Rock Candy on strings. Beanie Caps with propellers.
Rubber band guns made from old inner tubes. Lilac powder that the barber used to brush on your neck after a haircut.
Jungle Larry wooden puzzles and Cootie Games.

Smoking corn silk and thinking you were really cool. Lux Liquid in plastic squeeze bottles. Life and Look Magazines.
Alfred E. Neuman and Mad Magazine with the best section being Spy vs. Spy.
Rowan and Martin's Laugh In. Ruth Buzzy as the Operator, one ringy dingy! The Smothers Brothers Show and Pat Paulsen running for President. Uncle Milty, Milton Berle and Uncle Tonnuse on the Make Room for Daddy, DannyThomas Show.
Here's an oldie...Sebastian Cabot as the butler....remember the show's name? How many children were there?
Ossie and Harriet with sons Ricky and David Nelson. The Hit Parade Show on Sunday Evenings along with Ed Sullivan and toppo geggio.

Pepsodent toothpaste commercials.
I'm so old I remember when the bulls eye on Lucky Strike cigarettes was colored green and they used to give a small 5 cigarette sampler pack during store grand openings. (the small packet that was in each of the C rations during the war.)

And G.R.
Sen Sen still produces those little pungent licorice micro squares but they cost .75 rather than .15 and they still make you pucker!

Bob,
Our neighbors Hudson's "back seat" folded into the trunk making a bed. The Nash Rambler had "front seats" that fully retracted making a bed. I had some "early lessons" in the back seat of that Hudson that still bring a smile.

One last add on: Rocket Crystal Radios that never needed a battery only a good ground for the alligator clip. You could receive a radio station by pulling the small antenna up from the nose cone.