Chik a Boom
Member
Thanks for the drive in list, Oldman45. My first job as a teenager showed up on the dead list. Starting at $1.05 an hour, with the occasional free burger, pop and all the popcorn I could eat.
What do you miss these days?
- Thread starter oldman45
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bobsdad
US Veteran
If you grew up in the 1940's and early 50's you may remember Nabisco Shredded Wheat cereal and the Niagra falls box it came in. For a few years, back in those days, each box contained a wonderful set of prizes!!! between each layer of shredded wheat (if I remember right, it was each layer) was inserted a sheet of balsa wood printed with the profile image of a WW2 fighter plane. You could borrow a razor blade from Dad and cut these out and assemble them. And pretend they actually could fly by throwing them around. In other words they were much like the cheap balsa profile gliders of recent days, but much smaller of course and more interesting as there were a number of different models. If only I had known. I bet these would be worth a pretty penny today if someone had collected them and kept them uncut and in one piece. I never liked the shredded wheat that much, but I'd eat it just to get the model planes.
It surprises me that nobody has mentioned how much money some of the old stuff would be worth today. I got a neighbor that paid $370 for a danged old Pez dispenser a while back. He collects them and has his collection valued at $50K.
An attorney friend has been paying thousands of dollars for each of full sets of Topps baseball cards from the 50's and 60's.
Wayne02
Member
I miss the Farah Fawcett poster I had on my bedroom wall as kid. I know, I'm a simpleton. 
rburg
Member
I also miss huggin' and kissin' purty girls,..... what was that other thing we use to do? .
See, you were lucky and your mind went first!
rburg
Member
On the real soft drinks issue. Our Kroger stores sell the Mexican Coke in the ethnic foods section. They're in an open cooler case.
Pepsi marketed a product a few months ago called "Throwback". It was just Pepsi and Mountain Dew made using cane sugar instead of the sticky sweet crap they substituted from the corn field. My wife bought a 12 pack of each. Adult sons guzzled down the Dew without any noticing. Just caffiene to them. Then they started in on my sugared Pepsi. I yelled. They didn't care, to them it was just fluid. Probably why they're satisfied with HFCS sweetened drinks. They don't notice that its awful.
Last year when the thread hit over on the SIG forum about Mexican Coke, I bought 2 bottles. Drank one over ice and it was good. I saved the other, fending off others attempts to steal it. The real reason was they probably weren't smart enough to find a bottle opener. I think maybe I'm better off moving to much less frequent real sugar drinks.
Pepsi marketed a product a few months ago called "Throwback". It was just Pepsi and Mountain Dew made using cane sugar instead of the sticky sweet crap they substituted from the corn field. My wife bought a 12 pack of each. Adult sons guzzled down the Dew without any noticing. Just caffiene to them. Then they started in on my sugared Pepsi. I yelled. They didn't care, to them it was just fluid. Probably why they're satisfied with HFCS sweetened drinks. They don't notice that its awful.
Last year when the thread hit over on the SIG forum about Mexican Coke, I bought 2 bottles. Drank one over ice and it was good. I saved the other, fending off others attempts to steal it. The real reason was they probably weren't smart enough to find a bottle opener. I think maybe I'm better off moving to much less frequent real sugar drinks.
Dad ordered my first firearm from the Sears catalog and the mail man brought it right to the door. He waited while I opened the box because he wanted to see what was in it as much as I did. The hardware store had a note on file from my mom saying I had permission to buy ammunition, I was 7 at the time. Now unless you get the wrong impression I could only shoot with direct adult supervision. However I did yard work and roamed the town collecting stray pop bottles for ammo money.
I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again: The 1950s. When men were men, women were women, and the rest of the world knew, if it stepped out of line, we'd nuke 'em! 
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
From my perspective the world as I knew it changed at viet nam.
Lee, if it's a REAL soda fountain you desire you have to go to Wiles-Smith Drug Store at 1635 Union Ave. in Memphis. They have the swivel bar stools, but alas no marble counter top. They still serve hand made shakes, malts and sundies. Since it hit 90* today I had to have my yearly chocolate malt. It was well worth waiting almost a year for. Follow the link for pictures. Wiles-Smith Drugs - Memphis, TN
Class III
feralmerrill hit it pretty close when he said:
"From my perspective the world as I knew it changed at viet nam."
Everything seemed hunky dory until the mid 1960s. We had it made and we knew it. We didn't know it wouldn't last.
However, on a personal note rather than a social note I miss the same things most have already posted. I miss killing two chickens Saturday afternoon in preparation for Sunday when relatives would invariably stop by after church. We would have a meal in the afternoon often consisting of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and things fresh from the garden when in season. Dessert was popularly homemade jam cake. We never knew who would show up but there would always be someone.
I miss seeing my mother, sitting in her green chair, reading the bible.
I miss hearing my father, sitting in his yellow chair, laughing at Ernie Kovacs or William Bendix.
I miss wing windows on vehicles.
I miss country stores with punch boards and the .22 rifle that was frequently the big prize.
I miss seeing long gun racks and handgun cases in nearly every hardware store.
I miss the 1950s.
My country had pretty much vanished by the late 1970s.
"From my perspective the world as I knew it changed at viet nam."
Everything seemed hunky dory until the mid 1960s. We had it made and we knew it. We didn't know it wouldn't last.
However, on a personal note rather than a social note I miss the same things most have already posted. I miss killing two chickens Saturday afternoon in preparation for Sunday when relatives would invariably stop by after church. We would have a meal in the afternoon often consisting of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and things fresh from the garden when in season. Dessert was popularly homemade jam cake. We never knew who would show up but there would always be someone.
I miss seeing my mother, sitting in her green chair, reading the bible.
I miss hearing my father, sitting in his yellow chair, laughing at Ernie Kovacs or William Bendix.
I miss wing windows on vehicles.
I miss country stores with punch boards and the .22 rifle that was frequently the big prize.
I miss seeing long gun racks and handgun cases in nearly every hardware store.
I miss the 1950s.
My country had pretty much vanished by the late 1970s.
gearchecker
US Veteran
Guy's find your nearest COSTCO store. They sell Mexican Coke by the case all day, every day up here. they've been selling it for about 2 years here now. I'm sure they're in the other Costco stores as well.
I miss playing under the streetlights more than just about anything.
I miss playing under the streetlights more than just about anything.
There are some sort of laws about being under 16 or thereabouts riding in the bed of a truck on interstates. States will vary in their laws as do municipalities and many more are limiting who rides in the back of vehicles. It is a dangerous practice.
When some of us here were doing it, there were fewer vehicles on the road, slower speeds, more rural settings and no air conditioning so it was common and not as dangerous.
Here in TN my first wife was first in line at a RR crossing - Gate down - No train --- YET
A pick-up with a bunch of kids in the back went around the stopped traffic and around the gates just in time for the train. My wife NEVER got over what she saw.
A push was on to make *riding in the back* illegal as a result. Many (too many) of the legislators from rural areas actually said that they would loose their positions if they voted for such a law.
For a long time I kind of thought - Too Bad, get a real job. But then again - They should be voting the way the folks that put them in office want.........
A pick-up with a bunch of kids in the back went around the stopped traffic and around the gates just in time for the train. My wife NEVER got over what she saw.
A push was on to make *riding in the back* illegal as a result. Many (too many) of the legislators from rural areas actually said that they would loose their positions if they voted for such a law.
For a long time I kind of thought - Too Bad, get a real job. But then again - They should be voting the way the folks that put them in office want.........
rburg
Member
Y'all grew up way too rich. The swivel bar stools, yes, Marble? We had formica, and we were glad it was there. The big kids worked the counter (they were at least in mid highschool, probably about ready for SS at 16 or so years.) The good times were when they hired someone you knew, because they slipped you an extra fill up when no one was looking. Once they had a pretty girl working it too. She was my favorite, even if she was ancient (probably 17). She'd give me some fries on the plate with my burger (20 cents), or accidently make a mistake and put cheese on it at no cost! Once she even cooked up an order of fries for some rich guy eating at the end of the counter where it turned. He got his saucer size plate of fries. She dumped the extras on my nearly empty plate (the burger was about gone!)
Mom cleaned the house. But the kids working the fountain had an always present rag and wiped the counter constantly. When you walked in, it was sparkling clean and inviting. If they didn't know you, they knew your big brother. Maybe some of the treatment was an offshoot of that.
Yes, those things too, but the thing I miss most is good old insensitivity.
I am so @*&%$ tired of hearing how people get their feelings hurt about every little thing I could just squeak!
A wise man once said: "The worst thing you can do in life is take yourself too seriously." There is a lot of truth in this.
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
I'm so %&^$ing tired of the *%^&^$ing profanity used every time someone opens his %&^$ing mouth.Yes, those things too, but the thing I miss most is good old insensitivity.
I am so @*&%$ tired of hearing how people get their feelings hurt about every little thing I could just squeak!
A wise man once said: "The worst thing you can do in life is take yourself too seriously." There is a lot of truth in this.
The Do Drive In on Metairie road- "Do it at the Do" was the motto. Sneak in with one kid driving and about 4 in the trunk-the lady never understood why one guy in a car had 5 lawn chairs and a 10 pound bag of pre popped popcorn and a ice chest in the back seat
I'm so %&^$ing tired of the *%^&^$ing profanity used every time someone opens his %&^$ing mouth.
Yes, that too! Thanks, counsellor.
Mom
Dad
Sky King and Penny
Fury
Abbott and Costello
The Million Dollar Movie..
The WOR Sunday afternoon "War Movie"
13 Rue Madeleine
Fishin' for "Sunnies"
Wiffle Ball
NOrth-6-1421
Mom
Dad....................
Dad
Sky King and Penny
Fury
Abbott and Costello
The Million Dollar Movie..
The WOR Sunday afternoon "War Movie"
13 Rue Madeleine
Fishin' for "Sunnies"
Wiffle Ball
NOrth-6-1421
Mom
Dad....................
Now that is true enough, but remember girdles? You younger guys have no idea what a trial those were.
Maddog 521
Member
A lot of ya'll mentioned Coke here. FWIW They still make and bottle the original Dr. Pepper in Dublin Texas. It is still as good as ever. I have a couple of cases the old bottles and I take them there and they will refill them. I really miss camping out like we did back in the 50's and 60's. My old body just don't like to do that any more.
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Easier to cut through kevlar
bobsdad
US Veteran
From what I remember about women, girdles were utilitarian. Corsets, on the other hand, were recreational.
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