Wednesday, April 04, 2007

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?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some of my favorite memories are of my first car. It was a green over yellow 1954 Chevy. The horn didn't work until my dad rigged a telegraph key to the steering column; the trunk opened with a doorknob; and it wouldn't go faster than 40 mph, but, Honey, I was Queen of the Road in that car. My friends and I would rob our piggy banks, buy 50 cents (with pennies) worth of gas and ride all night -- or at least until my 10:00 p.m. curfew. Ahhhh, those were the days.

Problem Child said...

In high school, concert tickets were $12.50--general admission seating.

Of course, not too many places do general admission seating anymore, and ticket prices are always over $30. (And headliners like Billy Joel or the Eagles are pricy as hell...)

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

My fondest memories of childhood involve Guns 'n Roses, Metallica, and Van Halen :-) The first movie I remember seeing in the theater was Return of the Jedi. And I remember paying $1.30/gallon when I started driving.

The first book Sweet Pea read by herself was a Dick and Jane compilation that my mom bought her. See Dick run is still the perfect introduction to reading.

Instigator

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I remember watching the premiere of MTV along with other shows my mom and her friends liked, like Magnum PI, Riptide, Simon & Simon, and Knight Rider.

I remember a ticket for Disneyland being $25 dollars and my mom refusing to pay it since she doesn't ride anything.

I remember my grandpa complaining because stamps went up to 25 cents.

I remember saving up to buy my very first 'adult' record (ie. not Disney). It was a double LP of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. On vinyl, mind you. Took me forever to wrangle that 11 dollars.

I also remember my mom saying we'd be set if she could only make $10 an hour! What a dream!

Katherine Bone said...

Coke in bottles, popping the lids on the coke machine at a gas station.

SP, I remember the video show that was the precursor to MTV first airing a video by Iggy Pop and the J Giles Band.

Sewing while watching my favorite TV shows, Lost in Space, The Big Valley, Gilligans Island, The Munsters, The Adams Family, Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and all those Three Stooges Shorts.

And listening to the first EVER rap music, Raper's Delight by the Sugar Hill Gang!!!

Finally being old enough to go to the Disco!

Men found the moon, my Dad went to war, twice. Watching the news and wondering if any of the dead soldiers they showed on TV was my Dad. Asking my Mom about it and never watching the news again until the war was over.

Coming home for the holidays and seeing my Grandparents. (As an Army brat we were always far away from our grandparents and these trips meant everything to us.)

Memories.... like the corners of my feeble mind.

Pat L. said...

Playing hopscotch and jumprope. I also loved to color - esp loved that coloring book where the numbers represented colors. When my gma would give me a dollar, I could buy a big box of new crayolas - loved those brand new pointy crayons. In my art class, they will give us each a new box of the fat crayolas. I was in heaven. LOL.

I remember when gas was 30 cents a gallon when my husband and I were dating.

Pat L. said...

How could I forget that I loved to read: Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden - devoured them, would also use gma's $1.00s to me to buy the books.

Loved getting books from the school library - Beverly Cleary, Little House books, Maud Harte Lovelace and Clarence Day books.

Playground Monitor said...

$10 an hour! That's what #2 son makes and I'm wondering if he's eligible for public assistance.

I always loved a new coloring book and box of crayons. What a treat! I did jumprope and hopscotch too. And did anybody else play jacks? I was really good -- could scoop up all 10 on one bounce of that little ball.

*sigh* I remember taking #1 son to see "Return of the Jedi" at the theater because he was such a big Star Wars fan.

PM

Katherine Bone said...

I remember standing in line to see Grease and Saturday Night Fever!

Jacks, boy I was good at that game! Loved it!

Sweet memories...