I remember my forehead cracking my grandfathers windshield because I was standing on the transmission hump while he was driving and a truck pulled out in front of him causing him to lock 'em up. I was 3 or 4, and that was only in the 80's. Seatbelts? Who needs seatbelts? I survived without 'em, and look at me now!!! I'm only mildly retarded.
Being pulled over as a Teenager and having your Beer poured out and escorted home to my parents... OOPs!
Going to the Hot Rod Barn In K-Town and talking with Dale Sr. and thinking he thinks he's going to be somebody,with that cowboy hat on. Guess I was wrong.Remember when you ventured to the next town where you had very few friends and when you first pulled in town everyone would be checking out your car saying who the hell is that,and you had about 5 or 6 guys ready to race before you got thru town. What fun that was.
I remember $.10 coffee but I don't remember their being an age requirement. I remember sitting on the tank of the Ol' Man's Henderson for a mid-night blast down the coast because we couldn't sleep (more than once) Sitting on the Ol' Mans shoulders at the Chinese New Years parade, and him running through the California Street tunnel with me up there so I could see the dragon one more time. Blue jeans with a little belt on the back to make them fit right. A red stripped T shirt from a good friend of the family, just because life is lived in minutes and why miss all that fun. Orthopedic shoes, and a pair of PF Fliers to celebrate not needing to wear them any more. Getting a free hot dog from the old Italian guy at the butcher shop because we were little kids. Not knowing that he didn't speak English because no one ever told me. (ignorance is bliss I guess) Not knowing that some of the people I met were famous (or infamous) because they were just friends of the family. Calling adults that you didn't know well by their last name.
His Pakistany horn always had the "fine tone". Remember "Make it or break it"? After Detroit's radio scene went to hell, CKLW was the only station to listen to. "CKLW the Motorcity"
My thirteen year old grandaughter likes to hear storys from my youth of all the things we did as kids. She remarked about the carefree attitude we had and the freedom to do things. I think back and realize she's right. Times were different for us. We never locked the house or car, we weren't afraid someone would kidnap and kill us, we walked or rode bikes everywhere even in the evening darkness without fear. She says it's scary being a kid these days because you have to be so much more aware or your surroundings and who you associate with. I explained to her it wasn't all fun and games growing up and told her about the Cuban missle crisis days. My father was with the Air Force in the missle command group so we moved around a lot during those days. We were living in northern Kansas and were surrounded by missle silos. One day the school I attended issued dog tags with your name, DOB, address and parents names. You could wear it as a necklace or bracelet but you were checked every morning as you entered school to be sure you had your tag. We boys thought it was pretty neat to have our own dog tags but never really knew how serious the situation was. That was really the only time of concern for me as I grew up. Those really were the good ol' days.
Getting sent to the store for a loaf of warm sunday bread and having to explain why part of it was missing when you got back......mmmm hot bread. (Age 7 or 8)
guys this thread has sent me on a trip i didnt want to return from. i went back and started thinkin about all the things i did as a young gun. god im still alive...lol.no such thingb as safety first in my day. bikes and no helmet laws. or seatbelts. all the things that the law says we must now do.i can remember when a dr.. wasnt afraid to prescribe you a strong narcotic for exreme pain.when the police just pour out your booze and either took you home or followed you home and tellin ya not to go out again tonite. you didnt need to go to to the bank to borrow money to pay a speedin ticket.but what i really miss is people really caring about other people.and the yes sir no mame thing.i cant remember the last time i heard anyone but myself say that to anyone.you were taught table manners and all the other things that society says we should do.yes the times were really better back then.even with the threat of the atom bomb i still liked the days of my youth. but im sure damn glad my mom aint givin me haircuts anymore!!! but the truth be known im having a hard time adjusting to living in the time.i really find myself slippin back to the old days.some day im gonna slip on back and never come back...oh the joy..lol
I remember our neighbor trading in his green 51 Chevy for a blue and white 55, 210 two door. We didn't have a car, I fell in love for the first time. I remember picking cotton for $2.50 per hundred. I remember losing a load of logs the first time I drove a log truck. The neighbor had cut his leg badly with a chainsaw, I was 12 or 13. We made it to the hosp. but the floor of the truck was awash with blood. I remember getting a real good switching for cussing. Ok, I'll stop.....
I am right there with ya friend. Times when I was a little kid were just great, even being a young man times were good. I suppose that times are not so bad today, but they sure are different. Right there with ya, I doubt that I would do anything different if I had it to do over, but doing it over would sure be a blast.
Growing up, I remember: Hearing all the old folks sitting around recollecting the good ol days and thinking damn I hope I never end up doing that !
Back in '57 I was driving a '53 Merc to high school and blew out the clutch (no big surprise to my friends). The shop that fixed it gave me a loaner car... a '40 Ford 2dr sedan.
I thik about it everyday any more, not the PF Fliers I am afraid. I do remember being as proud as a peacock when I got those fairy fliers though.
Combing the under construction houses every day trying to find that damn "R" bottle cap so I could spell "PEPSI SPIRIT" and win the big prize. Stealing scraps and nails from said house to add on to our fort in the woods. Walking home with a shoe full of blood after stepping on a nail in a board while working on said fort.......
Bazooka Joe comics. Jumping from car to car in my uncle's junkyard, traveling most of the yard without touching the ground.
YES, it was a way different world back then. And a wonder most of us survived to tell about it based on some of these posts. A lot of this stuff would either get you or your parents arrested if the same things happened today. Or at least generate some "interesting" lawsuits.
..............having to bang my fist on the headlight of my 55 chevy to get it to work. Adding leaves to the rear spring pack and twisting in those aluminum spring spacers nito the front coils. Powershifting my 235 chevy to grab second gear scratch. Replacing broken 55 chevy axle shafts Replacing broken rear springs because the new leaves ate into the old ones..sliding a couple 4X4s beteween the trunk floor and the busted spring. Backing 12 miles through Portland Oregon at 2 am because the overdrive sprag broke....again.
Taking some change and walking to the market alone to get my mom a "package of King Size Kools" at 6 or 8 years old. Never even got murdered once Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
the smell of testors spray paint..... putting that show car finish on any AMT model.....$1.50 in those days.....'' full race flatheads '' at the local fairgrounds....they started early in april in our neck of the woods....sunday afternoons if it did'nt rain......my brother and i would pray our asses off in church sunday morning for good weather for the rest of the day just to watch those coupes and sedans go at it.....nothin' like it since
Going to church in a converted movie theater and not understanding why the lady jump out of the balcony and ran around screaming until she fell on the floor quivering. Still not understanding after someone explained it to me. Movie theaters with balconies. Holding hands. earthquake and bomb drills at school. Bonking heads with Freddy Bryant in a real earth quake. Comming home for dinner when the street lights came on. Not noticing that the street lights were on. Getting sent to bed without supper for not noticing and everyone sneaking food to me when no one else was looking. Getting vacinations from the school nurse. Gas station attendents with little hats and white shirts. Airing my tires and washing my bike at the gas station because air and water was free. Getting run off because I didn't by gas for my bike.
Savin' my 'hay' money all summer to spend it at the firemens fair in August. Scrounging the ditch's for pop bottles at 2cents a piece. Building the first 'extended' front fork in town for my 24" Roadmaster. Sitting on the bench in front of the local store, drinking 12cent Pepsi & practicin' cussin'. Buying $2 tires at the junkyard for my '62 Galaxie. Spending all afternoon mounting tires in the driveway, with a jack & tire irons. (where the cussin' practice paid off ).
Squilling my Atlas Plycron and butron tires, 10 cent movies, 2 pictures, riding in my Grandpops 47 Desoto, 2 door busness coupe, on a home-made tool box in back of the front seat, going to the Silver Doller drive (Alburquerque NM)in with 3 guys in the trunk, shoveling snow for a quarter, 2 cent totse rolls and 1 cent bouble gum, sure there are a lot more, but at 66 sometimes it gets hard to remember!!!
A crazy lookin car flying past us on the highway and my mom saying “ That’s the new Studebaker …. they have superchargers”
Going on vacation for a week and not locking the house. Hell, I don't know if there ever was a key for the back door. It was never locked. Mom and dad not being able to find the key to the '55 Bel Air because you didn't need the key. At least until some 6 year old who will remain nameless figured out how to lock the doors from the outside. Pulling weeds in the garden and helping mom and dad can everything - tomatoes, pickles, green beans, beets, cherries, beef, etc. Going to pick up our annual supply of potatoes - 1,200 pounds, one potato at a time in the freshly turned soil. Cleaning out my grandmother's chicken coop and hauling it home to fertilize the garden. Making the mistake of riding in the pickup box with the poop. Watching the first moon landing on TV. BB gun fights. Playing tackle football in the snow with no helmets or pads. My great-aunt's sugar cookies - at least 8" across and paper thin. Would melt in your mouth.
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