Way Back When

Some days a blog topic is as obvious as a big splat of bird dung on your windshield. Other days it's as elusive as the proverbial needle in a haystack. Lately, I've suffered from the latter and today is no exception.

Problem Child had an 80's quiz a while back so I thought it only fair to take you back to the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth the days of my childhood. Try not to laugh too hard.

Quotes from 1955
"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20."

"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2000 will only buy a used one."

"If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous."

"Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?"

"If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."

"When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage."

"Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls."

"I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying 'damn' in 'Gone With The Wind,' it seems every new movie has either 'hell' or 'damn' in it."

"I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas. "

"Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president."

"I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."

"It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet."

"It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work."

"Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more; those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat."

"I'm just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business."

"Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress."

"The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on."

"There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel."

"No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood."

"If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it."

With a few exceptions, those quotes could be from today. You'd just have to change the amounts. I'd love to pay $15 for a hotel room. Or 29 cents for a gallon of gas (that's actually about what gasoline cost when I started driving). And I wish the worst thing I heard in a movie was hell or damn. Of course the average income was only $4100 and a house cost $22,000. I suppose it's all relative.

I remember having a big "I Like Ike" button, and I remember the original Mickey Mouse Club, Howdy Doody and seeing Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show. And I remember learning to read in first grade from the 'Dick and Jane' books. I have to wonder what kind of childhood memories my little granddaughter will have.

What are YOUR memories from childhood?