Mid-Century Reflections

[Pooker]

Now I'll REALLY show my age! My grandmother was just about the first person in town to own a television set - a 12" Sears that my rich uncle bought for her. There was only one station on the air and they only broadcast two hours a night (8-10). The whole neighborhood would gather in my grandmother's living room, sitting mainly on the floor, to watch the wrestling one night; Arthur Godfrey another; Milton Berle, boxing, etc. All ages watching this miracle and we thought every show was spectacular. Everyone had their own personal favorite wrestler and we cheered the good guys and jeered the bad ones out loud!

When the station started showing a show (usually a soap or kid's show) every so often during the afternoon, we thought we'd gone to heaven! Remember test patterns? The large production commercials? The Toni twins? The cigarette dancers? The live refrigerator commercials that sometimes went south - what was her name? Senior moment. The live Timex watch ads where they did all sorts of things underwater? And sometimes the watch failed. And my grandfather NEVER missed John Cameron Swazy! We delighted in everything television had to offer and wouldn't miss a commercial. Now I get 150+ channels and can't find a thing to watch half the time.

Wish we could have that sort of innocent wonder back again. I guess that would be my New Year's wish for all of you: To discover something that awes you and makes you tingly happy all over.

Pooker

[Cedar518]

What great memories! ........... I was left-handed for a short time, and, with the teacher's suggestion, I taught myself to write with my right hand.

I was changed from left handed to right handed too.... must be what was believed to be correct back then. But one of the boys in my class is still left handed. Guess they didn't bother with the boys. I always thought it's why my penmanship is not the best.

Interesting to think about school back then. I started kindergarten in 1947, ... no chewing gum in school (now teachers give out gum to help kids relax when taking tests), no eating or drinking in classrooms, (now every kid carries a water bottle), kids had to walk in straight lines with their arms at their sides, no talking,... (now kids are more relaxed and may walk with their friends)... always had to sit in a desk/chair.. (now kids can sit informally in a room for some classes,.. or outside under the maple tree in front of the school,... our young science teacher often takes his classes outside in good weather)..

Our school now has great new classes such as Women Writers, Drama Improv, and several AP (advanced placement) courses. Overall, we got a solid education in the 50's.... but I think today's high schools are a lot more fun.

This is a great thread,...really brings back memories and/or makes us think.

[mitch5252]

ice boxes, ice men, milk men, chewing tar from the street, margerine with the little color capsule, stamps for butter and meat, Christmas Carols sung by everyone in school -
hanging clothes on the line in winter, ironing dish towels!, wringer washers, no phone, no TV, WWVA Wheeling West Virginia all night radio, women teachers that wore dresses and stockings, getting dressed up to go to the movies,
avacado, harvest gold and bronze appliances, car seats for kids that hooked over the front seat and came forward when you stopped the car, (still throw my arm out) all the kids in the back of the big station wagon, tuna sandwiches in metal lunch boxes that sat out till lunch, blue and green stamps - still have a scale I got with them. kids Tonka trucks were made out of heavy indistructable (almost) metal, bean bag chairs,
My God I didn't realize I'd gotten that old.

Carol, I've heard of everything you said, and experienced some. All except chewing tar from the street? Really? No harm to your teeth/mouth?

..

[MsBHaven]

Buster Brown shoes, Easter outfits with a hat and gloves, Shirley Temple dresses, brush rollers in my hair (or beer cans) with a scarf and going out in public (what were we thinking about back then?), pink foam hair rollers, pin curls with bobby pins, going to town on Friday night and daddy driving around the block until he could find the perfect spot in front of the five and dime, diners, lunch counters with stools, my first transistor radio (turquoise), seeing the peacock on the first color TV show I saw, wearing a girdle to hold up my "hose" - and I was skinny as a stick and had no need for a girdle, and my mother getting me my first bra because all the other mothers were getting them for their daughters - I lived in constant fear that someone would bump into my 'bust' and that padded bra would have one cup sticking out and one cup collapsed since I certainly had nothing to contribute to them!

Just some memories of childhood that came to mind as I read the other posts.

I had one of those blow-up tubes in my slip also - that thing was really weird!

[AlmostThere]

Having 3 older sisters I do remember poodle skirts and button sweaters worn backwards so the buttons ran down the back. Add ons were faux fur collars that hooked in the front. 45 and 78 RPM records.
I guess I came along after the saddle shoes era as I remember penny loafers were in. The "in" girls wore their boyfriends class rings wound with angora yarn to make it fit, all fluffed up using a toothbrush. Generally pink, white and baby blue were the chosen colors for that. Later mini skirts, Na-rhu (?) collared jackets, and knee socks were ther rage, then pointy toed high heeled shoes. Hated wearing a girdle to hold up my nylons. Oh, and clear nail polish to stop the runs in those nylons. The DA haircut then the afro then Twiggy's short cut all came and went. We still used the brush curlers in our hair for curls (I remember trying to sleep in those!! )! Our kitchen table was bright red formica with the silver trim with matching chairs. The colored appliances came after I got married so I had the proverbial avocado green.

[Echo]

Black patent leather shoes with 'pearl' buttons. Ankle socks with lace trim and flowers. Yep Easter bonnets with netting. Wearing white gloves to church. Bouncing horses, red cowboy boots, red felt cowboy hat with white stitching, cap guns and holsters. Wearing Keds. Playing hide and seek after dark, kick the can, stick ball, crack the whip. Riding in the back of the pickup. Hay rides in the dark. Out houses with Sears and Roebucks catalogs. Had white appliances to compliment Mom's black and white check kitchen, sink with a drainboard on both sides. And yes the chrome kitchen set, Mom's was black and gray with sparklies (still love that style). Steel wheel roller skates with skate keys, the dog pulling me while wearing skates. Oh my the crashes!!! The first time I saw a color tv! And the show was Bonanza, so bright that the green of the grass hurt your eyes. Saturday morning cartoons and shows, The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, Rin Tin Tin, Fury (about a horse and boy), Flicka with Roddy McDowell. (can ya tell I was a tom boy and horse nut?) Gun Smoke, The Rifleman, Wagon Train, The Virginian, Have Gun Will Travel. The roller skating rink on Saturday morning and wearing a skating skirt. Block dances with my older brother and half sister. Straw wrappers that said, "It's a pleasure to serve you" that you could fold and it would say "I love you". Home milk delivery, glass milk bottles at home and school with thin cardboard caps. Push button shifting in cars. Girdles with slide hook things to hold up stockings. Or even those elastic ring things (forget their name) that ya rolled your nylons on to hold them just above the knee. Padded bras! Omg I hated those things but had to wear them to protect the growing boobs. Mini skirts, maxi coats, monks capes, sling backs, sweater sets, brown suede saddle shoes, bell bottoms, elephant leg pants, clingy nylon dresses, polyester pant suits.

Oh yeah!!!!

ps. and if you were caught cussing, lying or sassing back ya just knew you were gonna get your mouth washed out with soap and more than likely a good crack on the behind !!!

[BirdbyBird]

Sky King, Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Davy Crocket, Later when you actually got to stay up to watch the news...the test patterns, because everyone went to bed and why would programs want to go on all night. Stores were not open on Sunday. Home milk delivery and the chunks of ice in the milk truck to keep the milk chilled....Playing dress up with the cat Playing all over the neighborhood riding bikes, going into and out of friend's houses. Just sitting out on the front yard fence in the summer evenings after supper and watching the cars go by. (Dad had made the front corner fence and rails extra sturdy in anticipation of this with a nice wide rounded top railing ) Making leaf houses in the fall by raking the leaves into lines for walls and rooms, playing kick the can, swimming in the neighbor's pool.....if you were one of the lucky kids to be invited that particular day Taking blankets and making "forts" out of tables and chairs. Going sled riding on the big hill within walking distance from our street. Especially if you got to go at night and sit around the fire the "big" guys built...and, oh, maybe watch how many kids melted holes in the toes of their rubber snow boots.....Especially the ones that had the metal clasps that folded over on themselves. Going fishing with our Dad and spending more time turning over rocks in the creek hunting for small snakes and crawfis....or floating through the fishing hole on a large log you happened to find upstream.....not sure how serious Dad was about his fishing but we had fun! Playing in the tree house, again Dad had made sure it had a nice roof and an electric light! It helps to have an engineer/can fix anything pa.....When we went camping, singing songs in the tent at night before we went to sleep. Getting back rubs....I miss the ones that my big sister gave the most of all. We lost her 30 years ago. Pig tails and pony tails. Baths on Saturday night! Read books and more books......the Black Stallion series and a bunch about living on ranches (with horses of course) out West. Enough for now, need wine to continue.....

[mitch5252]

..
Howdy Doody and Flash Gordon.
Lost In Space.
Topo Gigo.
Red Skelton.
The Honeymooners.

..

[Excel]

Wow! What great posts...I remember mostly everything. Was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, so some of our 'fads' were different than those that lived in other parts of the U.S. I do remember having to help dry the lace window panels by attaching them to a 'stretcher'. (It was up in the attic above the 'flat' we lived in.) Anyway, it had little pins every inch or so & you had to place the material edges over the pins so they would dry flat & not need ironing (I guess...) Anyhow, in the summer that attic would be so hot that you could hardly breathe. I was a 'tomboy' too & I remember we had a vacant lot on our block where we used to play baseball...Teams would be picked by tossing the bat between two players, then wrapping your hand around it when you caught it & the other guy would wrap his on top of yours till you reached the top...Whoever got there first got first pick of those of us wanting to play. We used a 'softball' & had no gloves or anything to protect our hands. I caught a hard hit ball once the wrong way & it jammed into my right ring finger....caught the ball but damaged my finger so badly that till today there is no way I can get a ring over the knuckle...
We were really poor & my Mom was almost blind so there were alot of hard times....but most of my memories are that I had a wonderful childhood. Oh yes...one more thing...I remember going to my Grandma's house on Christmas & looking at the windows where people would put Christmas lights around the frame on the inside of course...With snow everywhere & those sparkly lights...I remember thinking how beautiful Christmas was.... Thanks for this thread, it sure brings back some really wonderful memories...

[AlmostThere]

Tina, Echo and Mitch; yes allot of those memories for me, too, only we would clean out someone's hayloft and have skating parties there. We were farm folks after all. No frill dresses but for Easter. I wore my brother's hand me downs. Mostly jeans with suspenders and flannel shirts.

[rvgrammy1953]

Geez, I remember alot of these things.....Mom had the chrome table and chairs....with a big family (6 kids) we had the leaf in all the time....Once she had to run to town so she took three youngest with her, thinking that she was taking the mess-makers and trouble-makers with her.... Well, my cousin was visiting (which ment that there were 4 pre-teens left at the house)...we were "horsing around" and my brother, a yr. younger than me, and the cousin, picked me up and threw me down on that kitchen table, breaking it just as Mom & Dad came thru the door.... Needless to say, we didn't sit much for about 3 days.... and the family joke has been since then...."The Biggest Kids make the Biggest Mess." My sisters still "can" stuff from the garden, pick berries,etc......I remember Easter and Christmas dresses....how my Mom ever got 4 girls, 2 boys, Dad & herself ready for church every Sunday....swimming in the creek that runs thru the farm.....tenting in the pasture and waking up to find cows bedded right outside the tents....Quick and Quack...our pet ducks......Mom making us all stay up to watch the men landing on the Moon....watching JFK's funeral on a snowy TV screen.....oh, like the rest of you, I could go on and on and on....

[JanetA]

well,, ME, being a child of the 50's and 60's,,, started school in '54 . Don't think we ever had a party line but my grandparents did. That was a hoot. I remember when we went from a dial phone to touch tone. That was a BIG DEAL!

I gotta say there have been a lot of things that have come along which has helped make our lives a lot easier and I'm grateful. I got a GPS for Christmas, which thrilled me, and I love it.. but I DO agree w/ Karen, that it sometimes LIES. lol

All in all,,, i DO miss our childhood good times but would I go back? Gotta say,, even tho' i'd like to turn back the clock on my age,,, the advances and inventions that have come along the last 40 years,,, I vote we keep them!

[Redetotry]

This thread brought back lots of memories for me also. We had an outhouse until I was about seven, can still remember that frost on the wooden seat hitting my bottom on cold mornings! We had a galvanized washing tub where we took a bath on Saturday night and as part of the song goes, 'shivering an a shaking & a burning and a baking that's the price I had to pay taking a bath on Saturday night in a galvanized washing tub, now I'm a girl of clean habits and I believe in a bath a week but if I had my druthers I'd druther eat a bug than to take a bath on Saturday night in a galvanized washing tub!"
For those who have never had the experience the shivering and shaking etc was because the tub was placed by the coal stove and which ever side of your body was away from the stove was cold as the heat didn't radiate out too far, the water for the tub had to be heated on said coal stove so yes all three kids bathed in the same water to which they just kept adding too as it heated. YUCK
We played outside as much as possible building forts and club houses, we always had matches and built fires at night and stayed out until someones Mom yelled that it was time to come in then we would all go inside. I spent almost as much time at our one neighbors house as I did at my own. She was a good cook and always happy. She also loved to play the piano and we'd sing along all the top tunes.
When my little brother was born I traded him to the man down the street for a pony. When I raced home to get him they pretended to go along with until I started to his bed to get him. I remember I protesting so much that I ended up with something to cry about besides the trade! A few years ago I found a card that said I'm glad I have you for a brother instead of a pony and sent to him.
It's fun sharing all the memories.

[snowball]

when you mentioned the baths was reminded off reading something that told how popular sayings came to be and the one something about don't throw the baby out .......why that would be popular who knows? but it seems like in days gone by like in the Tudor era there about the baths when they had them started with the man of the home first then the sons on down the baby was the last to get a bath and the water by then was pretty thick so they would say something to the effect don't throw the baby out with the wash water....glad for these days personally ...although do have some memories of most of what was mentioned. sheila

[Echo]

Corn roasts at the lake, it was stolen field corn too. (yum) Campfires and burnt marshmallows in my aunt and uncles backyard. Catching fireflies in a jar to be used for a nightlight. Camping out in my own backyard. Sleeping on the porch and listening to the rain on the roof. Lying in the hayloft hearing the rain hit the tin roof.

This thread has been such a thoroughly wonderful read! It's been mind stretching and memory poking!!!

Thank you so much Pooker for starting it. And Thank You to all the others who have joined in with their memories. What I couldn't remember fully on my own? The sharing of all of your memories prodded the latent, hidden ones of mine!

What a great bunch you all are.