things have changed

how about when a friendly car salesmen met you on the dock with a brand new car when your scallop dragger landed, he was just there to give you a ride home, of course he had a run and coke with ice already waiting for you, the next morning you look and theres a brand new car in your driveway and the papers on the seat with your name on them, those were the days. didn't happen to me but i know a few guys who bought there cars that way and the car salesmen who did it..lol

 

someone was talking about Drive In Theaters earlier in the thread. When I was young say about 5 or 6 the family would load up on a Saturday evening and go to a drive in , there where at least five or six close to us. My brother and I would carry pillows because we never could stay up till the end of the movie. Some times we would be wearing our PJ's too. Mom would pop a big bag of popcorn to take so we didn't have to buy any there. That was nice , me, mom, dad ,and brother. Sometimes I'd wake up on the way home but pretend I was asleep so I didn't have to walk , dad would carry me. Kids today don't get to have that kind of fun.

 

For english press 2

 

In the old days if you couldn't speak English it was tough shit and the operator hung up.

 

What about when people delivering your packages to you would actually knock on your door to make sure you got them? Now they just drop them off and leave. From know on,anything I buy off of eBay will have instructions to require signature or to knock on the door.

 

We used to live close to the Thunderbird Drive Inn and our phone # was one digit off from theirs and people would call all the time to find out what was playing. Sort of funny cause my uncle would be drunk and tell them all kinds of stuff. Then on Saturday mornings they would have a flea market and you get all kinds of cool stuff and junk. That's when flea markets had junk and not a bunch of new stuff. Which gets me to this anybody rember flea markets that were actually flea markets? Not some sort of sell your new stuff kind of deal?

 

Let me see, Mexicans were native "South" American Indians or a mix of Spanish blood,,, further diluted by now. "Native Americans" north or south came across form Eurasia. Spaniards came from Europe (Eurasia) and are as white as my ancestors from the emerald Isle. Rome made sure that gene pool was pretty mixed up. Go back a few thousand years and the general theory is it all started on the African continent. Creationist have their own truth. If we all came from Adam and Eve, it would all seem we are brother/sister and more the same than different. I guess we should all own are own problems, and shortfalls.

I grew up in a small town in New York and we did the peanut & Coke thing at Don Walburn's garage in the early 70's. I don't remember much Pepsi and RC was a rare treat. Anyone remember Purple Passion soda pop?

I remember most of the things you guys speak of.
I had to laugh at the kid... way back in the 90's

 

What is an operator

 

We had both of those in Cleveland also. (Ohio) Polka Varieties.

 

50 cent cans of soda

pull tabs

no curfews

parents actually giving a damn about their kids and teaching them how to act in public

A&W drive-ins

I also grew up in a one cop car town and my first car didn't come with a passenger side mirror

phones being answered by living people who spoke english

good shows on TV

 

I just got one of those in a box of shit from an estate auction. mine is kentucky 1944.

 

I work at a Shellmart part-time, they give us no discount on gas. I drive 2 miles away to the Mom-and-Pop Gas Station and Restaurant and buy my gas unless its an absolute emergency. They let you go a couple cents over a dollar, and give you coupons for so many cents off their food everytime you buy gas. They want your business, and they don't care if it costs them 10 cents or so, because you'll come back, unlike the penny penching corporate franchises.

 

I miss seeing "Made in the U.S.A".

 

Can't remember what we got for S&H Green Stamps... but I do remember my Dad getting a New Fishing pole and a "Zebco" reel for his Raleigh cigarrette coupons!!!

 

When we went to Tennessee to visit my grandmother she always had RED ROCK ...its was some sort of drink..I never tried it and I've never seen it here in Georgia.

 

I remember when seat belts were something they had in airplanes, riding in the back of a pickup was perfectly safe (as long as you sat on the bed floor), and a babyseat, was where ever you planted his butt. Oh yeah, don't leave your crayons on the back package tray in Dad's car.

 

Red Rock....................Ginger Ale, and yes, you can find it here, as I have seen it in a vending machine at work...........If it's the same recipe, it used to be quite sharp on the tongue, from the ginger..........

 

There is a huge difference between me and my brother even. I was born in '91, he was born in '03. When I grew up we had 3 channels, one tv, no internet, no cell phones, and video games were for mom and dad.

His generation of kids suffer from so called instant gratification. Everything is over the top and right now. They even have to speed the theme song up for the cartoons they watch.

 

I just had a flat and had to stop for air. paid $1. Yup. A dollar. For air.

 

I remember the bell too, from the Sunoco I worked at during high school. I didn't realize just how rare this was these days until I visited relatives in Ottawa who live on the 5th floor of a condo building. From their balcony I heard a gas station bell, and looked around and spotted a real old fashioned 60's style gas station nearby, with pumps, work bays, big glass windows in the front, neat and clean just like the one I worked at. I half expected to see a young guy in a company uniform rush out to greet a gas customer. I still have my Sunoco shirt with my name on it, and I was proud to wear it back in the day. I can't remember the brand name on this garage and I have no idea if their work is any good, but it sure brought back memories, and I stayed on the balcony a while just to hear that bell.

 

was the station owner's last name Patel ?

 

Not a lot of people know it but in Ct. "Free Air"is a requirement for a gas station license !It is actually stated in the licensing application that the station must supply free air to the public (not just a customer).It still doesn't stop them from installing those coin operated air stations but I have had a few places turn the damn things on from inside when I tell them I know it's in the license agreement.

 

Horn and Hardart's Automats.

(If you grew up near New York or Philadelphia, that is.)

 

I pumped gas in high school and for laughs we would stick the air hose up the far end of the bell hose (untie the knot at the end) and make it ring continuously like a fire alarm or a school recess bell. The boss, leaning on the service desk and reading the racing form, would jump about a foot straight up, laugh a little, and then tell us knuckleheads to clean up the service bays or the shitters.

 

Anyone remember SST cars made by Kenner? Those were fun! Pull a T-handle and they'd spark and run down the driveway

 

Went out in the front yard and took some pictures of two bumpers and the Coke machine with the door and glass bottles. the coke machine still works good for keeping beer cold OldWolf

 

Yep, thats them... Used to see them everywhere instead of the factory ones.Good pictures.

 

When I grew up in the Ozarks I didn't know there was such a thing as people that didn't speak English. My 6th grade teacher taught us "Silent Night" in German and I thought that was the only other language there was and I didn't think it was here in the USA.

You guys around Chattanooga should know about Double Cola. My Dad sold Double Cola in his store in MO and I always thought it was the best of the bunch. Every time I go through Chattanooga, to this day, I get a bunch of Double Cola.

 

I had forgotten about Double Cola....I might have to ride up to Coker soon and while I'm there I think I'll grab some .