Sitting in the corner store under the magazine rack with a NeHi and a peanut butter cup. Life magazine on the outside girlie mag on the inside about 1955!
First day of first grade, walked 4 blocks to school (alone) IIRC I had wet my pants cuz I was so scared. S&H green stamps(I had to lick them and put them in the book, don't recall ever getting anything from there that I liked. Schwinn Stingray bike, mine was a 3 speed, friend had a 5 speed and he could do wheelies down the whole block. Riding bike to ice cream/burger shack for sloppy joes 5 for a dollar(1965 IIRC). Picking green beans and strawberries to buy new school clothes. Paper route to pay for Stingray bike. First hunting rifle(6mm Remington)at 13 or 14 after passing hunters safety class.
Being the youngest and getting away with the most. Followed my Dad everywhere. He was the greatest. As the youngest my Brothers and Sister would push me thru the small milk box door on the side of the house so we could get in if the main door was locked.
A 1957 Chevy 2 door post for a family car. Two adults and four kids. My little brother's normal place to ride on trips was laying down up on the package tray in the back window. In 1965 we got a Ford station wagon with three seats (one facing backwards)and thought it was a limo.
Carrying a bottle opener and a cup around so we could get a free "pop" out of the Coke machine, remember those Larry.
Watching the guy fall off the end of the ski jump every week on the ABC Wide World of Sports. Riding in the new 1964 Fords on the Magic Skyway at the 1964 New York World's Fair The 'Gray Ghost' Chrysler New Yorker NJ State Police cars on the NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway Watching Sugar Ray Robinson on the Gillette Friday Night Fights on TV. . .Look Sharp, Feel Sharp! The yearly Mobilgas Economy Run The Chrysler Trouble Shooting Contest Dagmar Bazooka Joe The Little King B.O. Plenty Little Orphan Annie Dagwood Bumstead Hatlo's History Little Iodine Sam Ketchum Steve Canyon Felix the Cat
Oh yeah....MAD magazine!....I spent my allowance on that....the whole magazine was incredibly stimulating to my brain, ....or I think it was! -----about 1968 I built a glider out of old lumber and a little red wagon...then rolled it down the driveway for lift-off, literally 'expecting' it to fly....but only took out my mothers flower garden and her car passenger door when I hit it....good times!
Spinning donuts in the middle of an intersection in front of my high school, in my 55 Chevy in Fowler Ca. { still a little farm town} and coming to a stop only to see Chief of Police Quintana sitting there watching, then him telling me " Damn it Brown, next time I see you pull that crap im gonna tell your dad" .......instead of a ticket. Getting up at daybreak and riding my bicycle to all the neighbor ranches to shoot pigeons out of their barns. 10 cents each killed and 25 cents for every live squab we could catch. Earned enough to stop at Mr Hernandezes store at end of day to buy new can of .22 cal pellets for my Benjamin pellet gun and a Double Cola...........Oh yeah, I was a professional killer, a paid pigeon assasin at 9 years old. Tapeing steelies to the primered end of a shotgun shell, throwing them as far as you could, and running like hell. Yup, my idea of a homemade hand grenade. Seeing my dad and uncle come home with our new family car......a factory liteweight acid dipped 64 Dodge only to have my mom tell him to take it back and get a real car.........4 hrs later we were proud owners of a brand spanking new 65 VW.........crap! Riding horses over to the drive in theater, turning on all the speakers in the back row and watching the movie from horseback looking over the back fence. Im now 62 and never been in an accident, never shot my eye out, still have all my fingers and I still love horses and hate VWs...........Man those were the days.
Blindfolded i can tell a 55 chevy by the smell if it still has the original seats. I catch that smell from time to time at car shows and its like 1965 all over. Cant describe it but never forget it.
Scraping the mud off dad's race car on Saturday mornings , 57 chevy/ 64 nova. Tow bars on the front of race cars. When dad got a trailer , he would let me ride in the car (on trailer) to the races. One time the car rolled off the back and into the cat tails In the ditch . Mom wasn't happy !!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Ghoulying behind a bread or milk delivery truck when the snow was packed on the streets (very dangerous!); getting a quarter from Grandma before entering the drug store and knowing I could buy five candybars with it; staying up late at night and looking out my second story farmhouse window to watch the young guys in their hotrods and souped up stockers rumbling in and peeling out of Ed's Drive-in restaurant across the highway from our house.
I think you guys about have it covered. Except: when change was made from silver. Red Goose shoes (mentioned before, but not the gold egg with toy inside you got with a pair!) Sugar Pops, Quisp, Quake, Captn Crunch, Coco-Puffs, Fruit Loops, Hawaiian Punch (needed a church key for the steel can) KBOX and WRR in Dallas Sonic Booms (worth mentioning again) Spending time in the 'little creek' building dams and finding tadpoles in the AC Cooler tower at the church Horny Toads "pet" Chameleons tied to string pinned to your shirt - bought at the State Fair. Arguing with the kids from New Orleans if they were called craw-daddys or crawfish Corn-cob fights in the hay barn Poison Ivy, Calamine lotion, deer ticks, the outhouse at grandpa's farm, shooting gophers in the gravel pit Schools and shops with the big incinerator/chimney out back burning trash every day damned goat-head thorns when playing barefoot outside comics were 15 cents, allowance was a quarter a week for doing chores. 10cent frozen zero bars from the gas station. This thread really brought back some great memories. Thanks to everyone who contributed, wish I could thank those folks who made it possible way back then... Oh, yes, and Malt-O-Meal
Attaching playing cards and balloons to bicycle spokes with clothes pins to make it sound like a motorcycle. Frying ants on the sidewalk on a hot and sunny day with a magnifying glass. H.O. roadrace track spread all over the house. Peeking thru Jimmy's older sisters' bedroom window while she was getting dressed. Going down to the carnival grounds on setup day to offer help for ride tickets. Collecting pop cans in the canal under the bridge downtown.
Saw this on another thread and it reminded me of the fun and trouble we got into doing this in the winter time.
Did that too...on local highway. Driver had to be a bit careful in selecting the best ice path. We referred to it as "bumper shaggin"
'Round here it was called "hookie bobbin"; My parents had a flat roof on the house, one year my brother decided (parents out of town iirc) that we could all get on the roof (about 8 or ten of us) and throw snowballs at cars, and they'd never figure out where it came from. (yeah.. sure) We creamed one car really bad, they were all on the baseball team, and the driver was pissed. A few days later I heard a very agitated mom call for my brother to come upstairs right now. What could it be? As I climbed the stairs, I heard radio static and very official sounding noises on a walkie talkie, and the creak of leather.. Uh-oh.. Busted!
The Jalopy Journal
