Recovery Board
: RfM
Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum.
Everything you said was sooo familiar! My husband, like my father, still uses old coffee cans for his nuts and bolts.
I loved to help my mom burn the trash; when I got older she let me strike the match.
In the fall everyone raked their leaves into the front ditch and burned them. We kids helped by doing a little raking and then running through the smoke.
My mom washed all our clothes on a washboard in the kitchen sink until the mid-50s, when we got our first washer. Clothes were hung outside on the clothesline and if a summer shower started we did a wild run to get them inside.
Yes, it was once-a-week hair washing with Halo shampoo.
Whenever we met a new kid one of the first questions was, "Where was your daddy in the war?" Playing war was a favorite game, and we decimated the Germans and Japs.
How I loved to make mud pies!
I loved to help my mom burn the trash; when I got older she let me strike the match.
In the fall everyone raked their leaves into the front ditch and burned them. We kids helped by doing a little raking and then running through the smoke.
My mom washed all our clothes on a washboard in the kitchen sink until the mid-50s, when we got our first washer. Clothes were hung outside on the clothesline and if a summer shower started we did a wild run to get them inside.
Yes, it was once-a-week hair washing with Halo shampoo.
Whenever we met a new kid one of the first questions was, "Where was your daddy in the war?" Playing war was a favorite game, and we decimated the Germans and Japs.
How I loved to make mud pies!
Me, too. My dad brought home a large Nazi flag from Germany in WWII. It was kept in a trunk in a garage storeroom. One summer morning I and my friends got it out and spread it on the back lawn for a picnic.
When my mother spotted it, she ran out as fast as she could to gather it up and put it away, scolding us! God forbid the neighbors would see something so awful in our yard!
When my mother spotted it, she ran out as fast as she could to gather it up and put it away, scolding us! God forbid the neighbors would see something so awful in our yard!
what it was like when we were growing up!
They call a dial phone: antique!! LOL
I remember the clothes lines! Fortunately, they were right by the back door and we could rescue the clothes from the rain!
I still love the lines! Used to have lines in the yard but not in this house. Now I use racks in the summertime.
My step-grandmother had an old wringer washer out in another room of the chicken coup.
My aunt, when I could read, sent me a recipe for Mud Pies!
I spent hours trying to put salt on the tail of a bird thinking I could catch it! LOL
Yes, I remember Halo shampoo! And Prell, in the green bottle! Then I put my hair in rollers and sat under my blue hair dryer!
My "dad" (maternal grandfather) was in charge of getting the burn permit and burning the trash. He always kept me away from it. (I was very well protected -- in more ways than one!)
Then the dreaded polio epidemic hit Portland, OR where we lived. We all had the disease on some level. My mother became disabled by polio in her mid 30's and had to learn to walk again. My cousin spent much of his life in an Iron Lung, then a portable breathing machine and died about eight years later.
I came home from school and got to watch Bandstand (in black and white) before dinner and doing homework, and practicing my instrument.
Then I changed from my school clothes, (shirts and blouses with lots of petticoats-no pants), into my "grubbies" or play clothes - peddle pushers, and sneakers,etc.
We didn't have a car and my mother didn't drive. My "mom and dad" (maternal grandparents) lived next door and helped us out a lot especially after mother became disabled.
How did we ever get along without: a car, microwave, clothes dryers, computer, (used to take up a whole room), cell phone, a TV in every room, IPod,(etc.), and on and on!
We had a tree house in the back yard and my boyfriend and I would sneak up there and hold hands while my little brother climbed the tree and tried to see what we were doing, then would run in the house and tattle!:-)
I remember saving my money (minimum wage was under a dollar), putting clothes on "lay-away" (at Meier and Frank where I worked most Friday nights, & Saturday and Sunday), until I paid for them. I had a Butte Knit suit in mint green with matching pointed toe heals, and Betty Barclay blouse and dresses. I still have a coat I bought during those times!
Now, my grand daughters would love to have my high school wardrobe. But I gave everything away.
Those were "good old days" in so many ways.
They call a dial phone: antique!! LOL
I remember the clothes lines! Fortunately, they were right by the back door and we could rescue the clothes from the rain!
I still love the lines! Used to have lines in the yard but not in this house. Now I use racks in the summertime.
My step-grandmother had an old wringer washer out in another room of the chicken coup.
My aunt, when I could read, sent me a recipe for Mud Pies!
I spent hours trying to put salt on the tail of a bird thinking I could catch it! LOL
Yes, I remember Halo shampoo! And Prell, in the green bottle! Then I put my hair in rollers and sat under my blue hair dryer!
My "dad" (maternal grandfather) was in charge of getting the burn permit and burning the trash. He always kept me away from it. (I was very well protected -- in more ways than one!)
Then the dreaded polio epidemic hit Portland, OR where we lived. We all had the disease on some level. My mother became disabled by polio in her mid 30's and had to learn to walk again. My cousin spent much of his life in an Iron Lung, then a portable breathing machine and died about eight years later.
I came home from school and got to watch Bandstand (in black and white) before dinner and doing homework, and practicing my instrument.
Then I changed from my school clothes, (shirts and blouses with lots of petticoats-no pants), into my "grubbies" or play clothes - peddle pushers, and sneakers,etc.
We didn't have a car and my mother didn't drive. My "mom and dad" (maternal grandparents) lived next door and helped us out a lot especially after mother became disabled.
How did we ever get along without: a car, microwave, clothes dryers, computer, (used to take up a whole room), cell phone, a TV in every room, IPod,(etc.), and on and on!
We had a tree house in the back yard and my boyfriend and I would sneak up there and hold hands while my little brother climbed the tree and tried to see what we were doing, then would run in the house and tattle!:-)
I remember saving my money (minimum wage was under a dollar), putting clothes on "lay-away" (at Meier and Frank where I worked most Friday nights, & Saturday and Sunday), until I paid for them. I had a Butte Knit suit in mint green with matching pointed toe heals, and Betty Barclay blouse and dresses. I still have a coat I bought during those times!
Now, my grand daughters would love to have my high school wardrobe. But I gave everything away.
Those were "good old days" in so many ways.
She never used any other kind. She believed that the newfangled "automatics" would destroy clothes. And she never owned a clothes dryer. Everything was either line-dried, or iron-dried if it was needed in a hurry.
When the old wringer washer finally died, Mother had to special-order another one through Montgomery Ward.
My roommate had to show me how to use a coin-operated automatic washer when I went away to college. I can remember asking, "How do you put the water in?" She looked at me like I was from another planet.
When the old wringer washer finally died, Mother had to special-order another one through Montgomery Ward.
My roommate had to show me how to use a coin-operated automatic washer when I went away to college. I can remember asking, "How do you put the water in?" She looked at me like I was from another planet.
Hi suzieq!! I can remember s&h green stamps, my grandmother used them to get things. I was a little girl, though. I do remember some of those things.
It was my job to paste the Green Stamps (and later Blue Stamps) into the books. My mom got a beautiful hard-sided luggage set that way that our family continued to use up until a few years ago.
I recently saw the movie, "The Help", and the supermarket scene in that movie looked so much like the market we used to shop in during the '60's.
I recently saw the movie, "The Help", and the supermarket scene in that movie looked so much like the market we used to shop in during the '60's.
17 books got you a sting ray type bicycle.
Meier & Frank?
Must be a Portland girl.
Must be a Portland girl.
nl_gigantor Wrote:
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> Meier & Frank?
>
> Must be a Portland girl.
You bet! I worked at M&F when it was only one store covering a whole block.
I was born and raised and joined the LDS Church in Portland, not far from the first mall, the Lloyd Center, which was originally a totally outdoors mall. We used to walk down to the construction site and watch them building the mall. I graduated from Grant High School.
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> Meier & Frank?
>
> Must be a Portland girl.
You bet! I worked at M&F when it was only one store covering a whole block.
I was born and raised and joined the LDS Church in Portland, not far from the first mall, the Lloyd Center, which was originally a totally outdoors mall. We used to walk down to the construction site and watch them building the mall. I graduated from Grant High School.
Well, Cleveland here.
We had a dial phone.
We had a black and white TV that took 30 seconds to warm up. It was in the basement. In the back room of the basement was the old oil burner that would heat the home in winter.
I remember the blue equivalent to S&H Green stamps (but cannot remember what they're called).
For my kindergarten picture, I wore a bow tie.
Mom would use the clothesline in the back yard in the spring, summer and fall.
We had a black and white TV that took 30 seconds to warm up. It was in the basement. In the back room of the basement was the old oil burner that would heat the home in winter.
I remember the blue equivalent to S&H Green stamps (but cannot remember what they're called).
For my kindergarten picture, I wore a bow tie.
Mom would use the clothesline in the back yard in the spring, summer and fall.
to my conversion to Mormonism, having no clue that it was not just another Christian religion that we were all raised in for many, many generations.
I married an RM in the temple (a little over a year after I joined) and some months later, moved to Wymount Terrace Married Student Housing when it was new.
That was my introduction into my new "tribe" along with the new Utah language!
I learned Mormonism from the core: apostles spoke at many of our small Ward Firesides, at weekly meetings on campus (forgot what they were called) and in Ward and Stake Conferences. Stores, gas stations and our on campus laundry house were all closed on Sundays. (Washed a lot of clothes in the tub!)
Those were the days of Ward Bazaars, and lots of fun activities.If you were at BYU in the early to middle 60's you know what I am talking about.
We lived in close proximity to one another so we developed friendships and worked together as a neighborhood. We couldn't afford a phone and didn't have a TV - (no cable just Rabbit Ears!)We had one car, my 1955 Plymouth, and my husband acquired a bike, in pieces that he put together.
There was no amplified music on campus in those days.
Those days in Mormonism, as well as the times, are long, long gone.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2011 11:32AM by SusieQ#1.
I married an RM in the temple (a little over a year after I joined) and some months later, moved to Wymount Terrace Married Student Housing when it was new.
That was my introduction into my new "tribe" along with the new Utah language!
I learned Mormonism from the core: apostles spoke at many of our small Ward Firesides, at weekly meetings on campus (forgot what they were called) and in Ward and Stake Conferences. Stores, gas stations and our on campus laundry house were all closed on Sundays. (Washed a lot of clothes in the tub!)
Those were the days of Ward Bazaars, and lots of fun activities.If you were at BYU in the early to middle 60's you know what I am talking about.
We lived in close proximity to one another so we developed friendships and worked together as a neighborhood. We couldn't afford a phone and didn't have a TV - (no cable just Rabbit Ears!)We had one car, my 1955 Plymouth, and my husband acquired a bike, in pieces that he put together.
There was no amplified music on campus in those days.
Those days in Mormonism, as well as the times, are long, long gone.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2011 11:32AM by SusieQ#1.
@michael - those were Blue Chip Stamps you were thinking of.
vivo Wrote:
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> @michael - those were Blue Chip Stamps you were thinking of.
Thank you, vivo!
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> @michael - those were Blue Chip Stamps you were thinking of.
Thank you, vivo!
These are all positive memories also. I didn't realize that before.
It was a big treat to be old enough to play with my mothers paper dolls she cut out and colored when she was a little girl in the 20's in Nebraska.
I was considered old enough, (this was the 40's) at about six to help (step) g/pa with the chicken dinner. I got to pick out the chicken, and he put it on the block and cut the head off, and just like the saying: it ran around with it's head cut off, then flopped down. G/ma put it in the boiling water and then plucked the feathers off then cooked it.
I still remember her wiping the bread plate off on the back of her dress and putting it back in the cupboard! :-0
I also was given the job of picking the vegetables from the garden for dinner.
The most tedious job was churning the cream to make butter. I thought it would never make butter! :-)
My mother was one of those women that made cooking on a wood stove an art. She managed that skill to perfection!
It was a big treat to be old enough to play with my mothers paper dolls she cut out and colored when she was a little girl in the 20's in Nebraska.
I was considered old enough, (this was the 40's) at about six to help (step) g/pa with the chicken dinner. I got to pick out the chicken, and he put it on the block and cut the head off, and just like the saying: it ran around with it's head cut off, then flopped down. G/ma put it in the boiling water and then plucked the feathers off then cooked it.
I still remember her wiping the bread plate off on the back of her dress and putting it back in the cupboard! :-0
I also was given the job of picking the vegetables from the garden for dinner.
The most tedious job was churning the cream to make butter. I thought it would never make butter! :-)
My mother was one of those women that made cooking on a wood stove an art. She managed that skill to perfection!
vivo Wrote:
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> @michael - those were Blue Chip Stamps you were thinking of.
Thanks. I honestly couldn't remember.
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> @michael - those were Blue Chip Stamps you were thinking of.
Thanks. I honestly couldn't remember.
Top Value stamps may have been the blue ones.
Checking in with all my fellow old farts:-) My Dad burned leaves and garbage in an old tin drum of some sort. Of course we had one old black dial phone, and when I was a very small child it was a party line.
My grandma had a wringer washer in the cellar, also a wood stove, and canned all sorts of vegetables and made her own kielbasa when they killed a pig. We still have the stone smokehouse out back. My grandma also killed her own chickens for soup.
We had to wear skirts or dresses to school, no slacks for girls and certainly no jeans. My family was Catholic and we wore hats to church, and sometimes white gloves.
We had a black and white TV and watched all the old shows and cartoons. Of course I remember Halo shampoo and Prell, and awful home permanents by Toni. I even had a Toni doll. My brother and buddies were always playing war and killing Japs and Nazis, aided by a Japanese helmet with a bullet hole in it my uncle had brought home from the war. My aunt was a Navy nurse and my grandma had souveniers she had sent from the South Pacific where she was stationed and met her husband, a wounded Marine.
We rode our bikes everywhere and just had to be home when the five o'clock whistle blew. My class were "Polio Pioneers", the first group of kids vaccinated when the Salk vaccine came out.
We got better science education after Sputnik, and had those strange hide under the desk air raid drills. I had a Ginnie doll, a Revlon doll, and later the very first Barbie in the striped bathing suit, and many, many movie star and bride paper dolls.
My grandma had a wringer washer in the cellar, also a wood stove, and canned all sorts of vegetables and made her own kielbasa when they killed a pig. We still have the stone smokehouse out back. My grandma also killed her own chickens for soup.
We had to wear skirts or dresses to school, no slacks for girls and certainly no jeans. My family was Catholic and we wore hats to church, and sometimes white gloves.
We had a black and white TV and watched all the old shows and cartoons. Of course I remember Halo shampoo and Prell, and awful home permanents by Toni. I even had a Toni doll. My brother and buddies were always playing war and killing Japs and Nazis, aided by a Japanese helmet with a bullet hole in it my uncle had brought home from the war. My aunt was a Navy nurse and my grandma had souveniers she had sent from the South Pacific where she was stationed and met her husband, a wounded Marine.
We rode our bikes everywhere and just had to be home when the five o'clock whistle blew. My class were "Polio Pioneers", the first group of kids vaccinated when the Salk vaccine came out.
We got better science education after Sputnik, and had those strange hide under the desk air raid drills. I had a Ginnie doll, a Revlon doll, and later the very first Barbie in the striped bathing suit, and many, many movie star and bride paper dolls.
I was in charge of burning trash until it became illegal to do so. I love it because I would wait until it got dark. It was so pretty.
Before we got a washing machine we used a tub. For large items like blankets we used the bath tub, my job to walk up and down to swish them around. I was too little to help wring.
The wringer washer used to pop off buttons a lot.
Eventually we got a dryer, but used that in winter or when it rained for several says in a row.
We also collected green stamps and scotch plaid stamps.
WE had to wear dresses or skirts to school. If you lived within 6 blocks you HAD to go home for lunch. . I lived within the 6 block area for grade school. I always wanted to eat lunch at school.
If you lived within 1.5 miles you couldn’t take the bus. Most of us walked, some precious snowflakes got driven, even to high-school. Most of use liked having that time to hang out without adults around.
We rode our biked everywhere, usually didn’t even lock them.
We had air-raid drills too, after the first one they decided everyone within a 3 block radius had to run home. This caused all sorts of fuss, some mothers worked, or may not be home. In my case they sent me out a door that I didn’t usually use, so it took me 35 minutes to get home. I’m not sure if they made it clear to me I had to HURRY.
Does anyone else remember things like rent/money? For some reason I knew that our rent until 1961 was $19.50 a week and my mom made $ 25.00.
WE moved to a house after that , my mom having remarried. It wasn’t a Mormon town, but it was a REAL BIG DEAZL that my last name did not match theirs. The town we moved to had been founded by another (cult) religious leader.
Before we got a washing machine we used a tub. For large items like blankets we used the bath tub, my job to walk up and down to swish them around. I was too little to help wring.
The wringer washer used to pop off buttons a lot.
Eventually we got a dryer, but used that in winter or when it rained for several says in a row.
We also collected green stamps and scotch plaid stamps.
WE had to wear dresses or skirts to school. If you lived within 6 blocks you HAD to go home for lunch. . I lived within the 6 block area for grade school. I always wanted to eat lunch at school.
If you lived within 1.5 miles you couldn’t take the bus. Most of us walked, some precious snowflakes got driven, even to high-school. Most of use liked having that time to hang out without adults around.
We rode our biked everywhere, usually didn’t even lock them.
We had air-raid drills too, after the first one they decided everyone within a 3 block radius had to run home. This caused all sorts of fuss, some mothers worked, or may not be home. In my case they sent me out a door that I didn’t usually use, so it took me 35 minutes to get home. I’m not sure if they made it clear to me I had to HURRY.
Does anyone else remember things like rent/money? For some reason I knew that our rent until 1961 was $19.50 a week and my mom made $ 25.00.
WE moved to a house after that , my mom having remarried. It wasn’t a Mormon town, but it was a REAL BIG DEAZL that my last name did not match theirs. The town we moved to had been founded by another (cult) religious leader.
We lived by a woods, so my dad and my brother would sometimes put a target on a tree a bit of a distance away and shoot their rifles off of the back porch!
There is a huge intolerance today for drying clothes in the fresh air. I remember the scent of air-dried clothes as being so heavenly, especially the sheets.
We also had WW2 souvenirs in our basement. I remember the helmets, and we even had part of a plane that was used in the Battle of Britain. My brother still has that.
The rotary dial phones! We had an extra one in the basement that was not quite legal, it was always very hush-hush! lol
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 12:05PM by summer.
There is a huge intolerance today for drying clothes in the fresh air. I remember the scent of air-dried clothes as being so heavenly, especially the sheets.
We also had WW2 souvenirs in our basement. I remember the helmets, and we even had part of a plane that was used in the Battle of Britain. My brother still has that.
The rotary dial phones! We had an extra one in the basement that was not quite legal, it was always very hush-hush! lol
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 12:05PM by summer.
I just have to horn in and tell my story. We didn't have a dial phone we had a crank. Our number was 8F4 so if there were 4 rings is was us. If there were 10 you knew it was an emergency and everyone got on the line. I still used a wringer washer and clotheslines in 1964 when my oldest was born. Nothing smells better than line dried clothes unless its new turned earth. Good old days.
I saw one of those dial phones like we used to have - the heavy black one .... it was selling for "$125 in an antique store!
I still hang out my clothes to dry on nice days.I love sheets and blankets and towels hung out in the sun to dry.
We all walked to school. There were no buses. Had to take the regular bus transit to get to high school though. Used to cost a dime, then we had to get a transfer. There were no vending machines in the schools, no sodas, no candy.
We had school clothes and play clothes in grade school. No kindergarten in those days. No after school programs either.
On a certain day in high school, we changed from our winter clothes to our summer clothes.
We all wore a hat and gloves (and matching purse) to go out and to church on Sunday.
Polio went through our family - mother was disabled the rest of her life, we all had a mild case, including me.
We saved Green Stamps (from gas stations) but didn't drive much so never got enough to buy much.
When we lived in BYU Married Student Housing, we didn't have a phone, or a TV (got one right before we left),the wash house was closed on Sunday (as well as most of the town). If you didn't have a dime and a nickle you couldn't do a load of wash. The dryers were free. Washed a lot of diapers in the bathtub!
We held our local ward auxiliary meetings in the basement of one of the buildings. Even had a Well Baby Clinic every month or so there.
When the grand kids come to visit they asked where the other TV's are! At the time, we only had one!(Now we have two.) We only had one phone for a long time also.
For a long time, we only had one car. We realized we only need one car these days, even though we have two.
Some days, I long for the simpler life! We have too many things, to much stuff! Time to declutter!
I still hang out my clothes to dry on nice days.I love sheets and blankets and towels hung out in the sun to dry.
We all walked to school. There were no buses. Had to take the regular bus transit to get to high school though. Used to cost a dime, then we had to get a transfer. There were no vending machines in the schools, no sodas, no candy.
We had school clothes and play clothes in grade school. No kindergarten in those days. No after school programs either.
On a certain day in high school, we changed from our winter clothes to our summer clothes.
We all wore a hat and gloves (and matching purse) to go out and to church on Sunday.
Polio went through our family - mother was disabled the rest of her life, we all had a mild case, including me.
We saved Green Stamps (from gas stations) but didn't drive much so never got enough to buy much.
When we lived in BYU Married Student Housing, we didn't have a phone, or a TV (got one right before we left),the wash house was closed on Sunday (as well as most of the town). If you didn't have a dime and a nickle you couldn't do a load of wash. The dryers were free. Washed a lot of diapers in the bathtub!
We held our local ward auxiliary meetings in the basement of one of the buildings. Even had a Well Baby Clinic every month or so there.
When the grand kids come to visit they asked where the other TV's are! At the time, we only had one!(Now we have two.) We only had one phone for a long time also.
For a long time, we only had one car. We realized we only need one car these days, even though we have two.
Some days, I long for the simpler life! We have too many things, to much stuff! Time to declutter!
SusieQ#1 Wrote:
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> Polio went through our family - mother was disabled the rest of her life, we all had a mild case, including me.
My brother was born in the 40's. My mom told me that she and dad debated for a long time about whether or not to give him the (then brand-new) polio vaccine. It was a live vaccine back then, so that was a concern. But there was one awful summer when so many people were struck with the disease, that it swayed their opinion in favor of vaccination.
I also remember -- for shampoo, I used Breck -- "Beautiful hair Breck". We used Ivory soap -- there wasn't much to choose from back when. Mom used cake mascara. Ladies got their hair "done" once a week. My mom's hair would be shampood, set on rollers, dried under a hair dryer, and then given a copious amount of hair spray.
Our milk and dairy products were delivered in glass bottles. Once a week the delivery man would leave fresh items in an insulated box in our garage, and collect the used bottles. We had our dry cleaning delivered as well.
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> Polio went through our family - mother was disabled the rest of her life, we all had a mild case, including me.
My brother was born in the 40's. My mom told me that she and dad debated for a long time about whether or not to give him the (then brand-new) polio vaccine. It was a live vaccine back then, so that was a concern. But there was one awful summer when so many people were struck with the disease, that it swayed their opinion in favor of vaccination.
I also remember -- for shampoo, I used Breck -- "Beautiful hair Breck". We used Ivory soap -- there wasn't much to choose from back when. Mom used cake mascara. Ladies got their hair "done" once a week. My mom's hair would be shampood, set on rollers, dried under a hair dryer, and then given a copious amount of hair spray.
Our milk and dairy products were delivered in glass bottles. Once a week the delivery man would leave fresh items in an insulated box in our garage, and collect the used bottles. We had our dry cleaning delivered as well.
ice boxes
coal delivery
having to give the operator the number you were calling
Howdy Doody, Romper Room, Winky Dink,and Kukla Fran and Ollie T.V. shows
Halo & Prell shampoo, in glass bottles
metal and wood toys-then came the first plastic ones-Brick Town and Block City These were a prelude to Legos
pogo sticks, Ginny Dolls
playing outside very late in the summer, and being eaten by mosquitoes
entire days at the beach, and burning our skin
clothing that froze hanging on the outside line
pleated skirts, and pull over sweaters
Thanks for the memories everyone. The list could go on and on.
coal delivery
having to give the operator the number you were calling
Howdy Doody, Romper Room, Winky Dink,and Kukla Fran and Ollie T.V. shows
Halo & Prell shampoo, in glass bottles
metal and wood toys-then came the first plastic ones-Brick Town and Block City These were a prelude to Legos
pogo sticks, Ginny Dolls
playing outside very late in the summer, and being eaten by mosquitoes
entire days at the beach, and burning our skin
clothing that froze hanging on the outside line
pleated skirts, and pull over sweaters
Thanks for the memories everyone. The list could go on and on.
And it does...
I played jacks, hopscotch, jumped rope, dodgeball, tetherball, tree tag. I crocheted and taught myself how to sew. My best friend was pitied by everyone because her mother forced her to take accordian lessons.
Before hairspray was invented, there was lacquer. It came in a small glass bottle and you poured it into an open reservoir which was attached to a black rubber bulb. Then you formed your barrel curls, pincurled them in place and sprayed with lacquer.
I pincurled my hair every night from the time I was five, which was in 1951. I still have a small dent in my right tooth from opening bobby pins.
In the Los Angeles suburb where I lived, delivery trucks came down the street selling baked goods in long drawers with shiny tin bottoms. The ice cream man came with the tune I still remember, "TA-ta-ta-ta-tatata, ta-TA-ta-ta-taaaaah" The ice man came before we got a refrigerator. He would life out the huge almost transparent cube of ice and he always gave us kids an icycle to lick. We wandered around the neighborhood freely, barefoot on the warm sidewalks, speculating about the "witch" who lived in the shadowy overgrown house on the corner and running screaming the one time she opened the door (poor old soul!)
We were allowed to go into people's gardens and get something to eat if we asked first. The neighbor let us pick out own and then let us wash what we had in the hose. We ate the carrots or apples on the spot. My mother had a dichondra lawn which she was inordinately proud of. One day gophers came in and she went after them screaming and stabbing at them with a shovel. Blood spurted out of the grass and she screamed in victory GOT YOU JAP! I thought the gopher's name was Jap and had nightmares for months. I also had nightmares about airplanes shooting at the ground. I have no idea where that came from since I was born in 1944. Maybe I heard adults talking.
"Halo, everybody, Halo! Halo is the shampoo that glorifies your hair, so Halo everybody, Halo!" That was one of the first advertisements I ever saw on TV. When my dad brought it in, I thought it was a radio with glass so you could see the working parts. My mother told me there were little people inside the radio and she laughed and laughed thinking somehow I would believe that (I could see the heads were too big for the whole body to fit in the radio). It was a five inch screen and my Dad said we'd have to watch it from the front porch because it was so big. There was no word for "cartoons" then and so when one would come on, I would run to the porch and yell "Funny thing, funny thing" and my sister and her friends would run into the house to watch it. Three stations and a pattern of an Indian on a target. TV ended at ten or so at night and the pattern was on all night until 6:00 am.
Candyland hadn't been invented. We played Parcheesi, Pirate and Traveler, Monopoly, Checkers and Chess, and Chinese checkers. That was it, plus puzzles of course. Every family had a big puzzle out, all the time.
One time I went to the car lot with my parents who bought an Rambler station wagon, which we named "The Little Jewel." At the end of the row of cars were round playhouses, which I fell in love with. I asked my mom if we could get one and she said, "Those are bomb shelters but we're not getting one because I'd rather die than live in one of those."
Anagrammy
PS. I wore so many crenolines (sp?) starched slips, the principal in high school told me they made my legs look like toothpicks. I had a hickey on my neck, which she thought was a bruise from an attempted strangulation and she called the police, who told her what it was. The look on her face makes me laugh to this day. She was treating me like a domestic violence victim and her face shifted from worried concern to this look of absolute hatred and contempt which practically blistered the paint behind me.
I played jacks, hopscotch, jumped rope, dodgeball, tetherball, tree tag. I crocheted and taught myself how to sew. My best friend was pitied by everyone because her mother forced her to take accordian lessons.
Before hairspray was invented, there was lacquer. It came in a small glass bottle and you poured it into an open reservoir which was attached to a black rubber bulb. Then you formed your barrel curls, pincurled them in place and sprayed with lacquer.
I pincurled my hair every night from the time I was five, which was in 1951. I still have a small dent in my right tooth from opening bobby pins.
In the Los Angeles suburb where I lived, delivery trucks came down the street selling baked goods in long drawers with shiny tin bottoms. The ice cream man came with the tune I still remember, "TA-ta-ta-ta-tatata, ta-TA-ta-ta-taaaaah" The ice man came before we got a refrigerator. He would life out the huge almost transparent cube of ice and he always gave us kids an icycle to lick. We wandered around the neighborhood freely, barefoot on the warm sidewalks, speculating about the "witch" who lived in the shadowy overgrown house on the corner and running screaming the one time she opened the door (poor old soul!)
We were allowed to go into people's gardens and get something to eat if we asked first. The neighbor let us pick out own and then let us wash what we had in the hose. We ate the carrots or apples on the spot. My mother had a dichondra lawn which she was inordinately proud of. One day gophers came in and she went after them screaming and stabbing at them with a shovel. Blood spurted out of the grass and she screamed in victory GOT YOU JAP! I thought the gopher's name was Jap and had nightmares for months. I also had nightmares about airplanes shooting at the ground. I have no idea where that came from since I was born in 1944. Maybe I heard adults talking.
"Halo, everybody, Halo! Halo is the shampoo that glorifies your hair, so Halo everybody, Halo!" That was one of the first advertisements I ever saw on TV. When my dad brought it in, I thought it was a radio with glass so you could see the working parts. My mother told me there were little people inside the radio and she laughed and laughed thinking somehow I would believe that (I could see the heads were too big for the whole body to fit in the radio). It was a five inch screen and my Dad said we'd have to watch it from the front porch because it was so big. There was no word for "cartoons" then and so when one would come on, I would run to the porch and yell "Funny thing, funny thing" and my sister and her friends would run into the house to watch it. Three stations and a pattern of an Indian on a target. TV ended at ten or so at night and the pattern was on all night until 6:00 am.
Candyland hadn't been invented. We played Parcheesi, Pirate and Traveler, Monopoly, Checkers and Chess, and Chinese checkers. That was it, plus puzzles of course. Every family had a big puzzle out, all the time.
One time I went to the car lot with my parents who bought an Rambler station wagon, which we named "The Little Jewel." At the end of the row of cars were round playhouses, which I fell in love with. I asked my mom if we could get one and she said, "Those are bomb shelters but we're not getting one because I'd rather die than live in one of those."
Anagrammy
PS. I wore so many crenolines (sp?) starched slips, the principal in high school told me they made my legs look like toothpicks. I had a hickey on my neck, which she thought was a bruise from an attempted strangulation and she called the police, who told her what it was. The look on her face makes me laugh to this day. She was treating me like a domestic violence victim and her face shifted from worried concern to this look of absolute hatred and contempt which practically blistered the paint behind me.
Yes, we did. And remember how we wet our shirts with our hands, dipping them in water and the collars in starch-water, and then rolled up the shirts and put them in the refrigerator to be ironed the next day? And how if you waited too long they dried out and mother got furious?
And Dad or the brothers would spill catsup on something rolled up and we would be mad. This was all before foil and saran wrap were invented. All we had was wax paper.
Anagrammy
Sorry- this supposed to be under SQ's post.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 04:55PM by anagrammy.
And Dad or the brothers would spill catsup on something rolled up and we would be mad. This was all before foil and saran wrap were invented. All we had was wax paper.
Anagrammy
Sorry- this supposed to be under SQ's post.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 04:55PM by anagrammy.
anagrammy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, we did. And remember how we wet our shirts
> with our hands, dipping them in water and the
> collars in starch-water, and then rolled up the
> shirts and put them in the refrigerator to be
> ironed the next day? And how if you waited too
> long they dried out and mother got furious?
>
> And Dad or the brothers would spill catsup on
> something rolled up and we would be mad. This was
> all before foil and saran wrap were invented. All
> we had was wax paper.
>
> Anagrammy
>
> Sorry- this supposed to be under SQ's post.
We didn't use the frig. I remember sprinkling the laundry, with a coke bottle with water in it and a stopper with holes in it, rolling it up and putting it in the ironing basket. It had to be ironed the next day or it could get moldy if too wet and left too long at the bottom of the basket. I was using this method into the 60's before polyester came out.
Before plastic wrap, we used waxed paper.There was a real art to folding it to preserve the food. Aluminum foil was the other (expensive) choice, - which was used, washed, and used again. we didn't have any package clips, we used rubber bands.
We used to buy food in bulk when we had kids and lived in CA - 25 to 50 lbs of flour, sugar, honey, powdered milk, beans, rice, etc. It sure came in handy when hubby was laid off from time to time.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, we did. And remember how we wet our shirts
> with our hands, dipping them in water and the
> collars in starch-water, and then rolled up the
> shirts and put them in the refrigerator to be
> ironed the next day? And how if you waited too
> long they dried out and mother got furious?
>
> And Dad or the brothers would spill catsup on
> something rolled up and we would be mad. This was
> all before foil and saran wrap were invented. All
> we had was wax paper.
>
> Anagrammy
>
> Sorry- this supposed to be under SQ's post.
We didn't use the frig. I remember sprinkling the laundry, with a coke bottle with water in it and a stopper with holes in it, rolling it up and putting it in the ironing basket. It had to be ironed the next day or it could get moldy if too wet and left too long at the bottom of the basket. I was using this method into the 60's before polyester came out.
Before plastic wrap, we used waxed paper.There was a real art to folding it to preserve the food. Aluminum foil was the other (expensive) choice, - which was used, washed, and used again. we didn't have any package clips, we used rubber bands.
We used to buy food in bulk when we had kids and lived in CA - 25 to 50 lbs of flour, sugar, honey, powdered milk, beans, rice, etc. It sure came in handy when hubby was laid off from time to time.
Oh, yeah. And I still remember how excited I got dancing to rock n roll for the first time. It was strictly "our" music and all our parents hated it.
In the Catholic high school where I went for ninth grade, the seniors had the job of checking the freshmen. This meant they checked to make sure you were wearing a slip under your clothes (!) and they were allowed to run a finger over your eyebrows to see if you were wearing eyebrow pencil. They could also pull your eyelashes to check for mascara. It turned out to be a form of bullying for dark-eyed girls like me.
I still remember the smell of my first lipstick named "Honey" by Revlon, metal tube painted aqua. And my hand shaking trying to put it on--how DID my mother do it with one smooth gesture?
It's fun remembering another time, a bygone era. I remember when TV dinners came out. It was so futuristic! We each had our own TV tray and one day a week, we got to eat Swanson's Chicken TV dinner, which was out-of-this-world delicious. That was the only time we ate in front of the TV, like a ritual.
Anagrammy
In the Catholic high school where I went for ninth grade, the seniors had the job of checking the freshmen. This meant they checked to make sure you were wearing a slip under your clothes (!) and they were allowed to run a finger over your eyebrows to see if you were wearing eyebrow pencil. They could also pull your eyelashes to check for mascara. It turned out to be a form of bullying for dark-eyed girls like me.
I still remember the smell of my first lipstick named "Honey" by Revlon, metal tube painted aqua. And my hand shaking trying to put it on--how DID my mother do it with one smooth gesture?
It's fun remembering another time, a bygone era. I remember when TV dinners came out. It was so futuristic! We each had our own TV tray and one day a week, we got to eat Swanson's Chicken TV dinner, which was out-of-this-world delicious. That was the only time we ate in front of the TV, like a ritual.
Anagrammy
When I was little we didn't have a TV so I listened to things like The Lone Ranger and Gunsmoke on the radio. We got our first TV when I was nine.It was balck and white and we had three channels. Reception was bad most of the time. Our first phone was the kind where you had to speak to an operator. Later we got a dial phone. We didn't have a dryer until I was in my teens. My grandmother cooked on a wood burning stove when I was tiny. She saw no reason to spend money on an electric one. She also had a wringer washer. Her kids eventually bought her a new stove, but she used the wringer until she died. She still had an outhouse in the back yard although they had indoor plumbing by the toie I came along. We used to think it was cool to use the outhouse even though the smell was awful. Girls had to wear dresses to school and boys could not have long hair. Dress codes were strict. We could pretty much see any movie or TV show we wanted because there were no R rated movies or no adult channels. I lived in a small town and walked to school, played outside in the dark and so did everyone. I remember that you could buy a soft drink for a dime and a candy bar for a nickel. A malt was 50 cents and coffee was a dime.I got paid between 25 cents to 50 cents an hour to babysit and could actually buy something with the money.I remember visiting SLC with my mom when I was a teen. We ate steak at Sizzler, there were 5 of us and it cost less than ten dollars.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 05:13PM by bona dea.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 05:13PM by bona dea.
This is lots of fun. I was too young for starched petticoats, but felt very grownup in 6th grade in a plaid straight skirt, red tailored blouse, and knee socks. Shortly after that came garter belt, bra, and stockings and shoes with a little heel for dressy events. We were shown the Kotex film in girl scouts and given one of those miserable belts and some pads for when we really "grew up".
Music became very important, American Bandstand, AM radio, silly novelty songs like "Short Shorts" and "Purple People Eater" as well as all the romantic ones, Everly Brothers, Shirelles etc. Doris Day movies were a wholesome hit, but the more daring were watching Peyton Place and reading the book, along with "Auntie Mame" that I read in 7th grade, and even more "daring" stuff some of my friends were reading and seeing.
We had all the "modern" conveniences by the 60s except a dishwasher and I still do not have one. We inherited my parents house so I live in the house I grew up in. My son who is now living with us does his own wash and likes to hang certain clothes on the line. I like to put the sheets out, when I am not too lazy. We still have a land line phone. None of my kids do. I only use my ancient cell phone when traveling.
In high school, you got sent home if your skirt did not touch the ground kneeling, or you teased your hair too high or wore too much eye makeup. The "bad" girls who did regularly smoked up the girl's room and made it a smelly, scary place to go. One girl in my class had waist-length hair and we thought she was weird, Two years later, everyone had it. Times changed really fast. Remember when the Beatles first came out and were thought to have such long hair? :-)
Music became very important, American Bandstand, AM radio, silly novelty songs like "Short Shorts" and "Purple People Eater" as well as all the romantic ones, Everly Brothers, Shirelles etc. Doris Day movies were a wholesome hit, but the more daring were watching Peyton Place and reading the book, along with "Auntie Mame" that I read in 7th grade, and even more "daring" stuff some of my friends were reading and seeing.
We had all the "modern" conveniences by the 60s except a dishwasher and I still do not have one. We inherited my parents house so I live in the house I grew up in. My son who is now living with us does his own wash and likes to hang certain clothes on the line. I like to put the sheets out, when I am not too lazy. We still have a land line phone. None of my kids do. I only use my ancient cell phone when traveling.
In high school, you got sent home if your skirt did not touch the ground kneeling, or you teased your hair too high or wore too much eye makeup. The "bad" girls who did regularly smoked up the girl's room and made it a smelly, scary place to go. One girl in my class had waist-length hair and we thought she was weird, Two years later, everyone had it. Times changed really fast. Remember when the Beatles first came out and were thought to have such long hair? :-)
Jersey Girl Wrote:
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> Remember when the Beatles first came out and were thought to have such long hair? :-)
Oh yeah! I remember watching their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show as a young girl. My parents were just shaking their heads. Now it seems so innocent. I also remember the "I Love Paul" buttons. I was the weirdo -- I liked George the best. If you were *really* weird, you liked John the best, ha ha! One of my friend's parents took her to their Shea Stadium show. I was soooo jealous.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Remember when the Beatles first came out and were thought to have such long hair? :-)
Oh yeah! I remember watching their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show as a young girl. My parents were just shaking their heads. Now it seems so innocent. I also remember the "I Love Paul" buttons. I was the weirdo -- I liked George the best. If you were *really* weird, you liked John the best, ha ha! One of my friend's parents took her to their Shea Stadium show. I was soooo jealous.
Oh, wasn't it wonderful, such a sweet innocent time, when boys wore ties and girls wore crinolines. Bullshit. Right, the wonderful 50s, when a guy beating his wife and kids was no big deal- after all, they were his own property, right? If you were molested by someone close to you you never, ever, told, because no one would ever believe you and if they did it was your own fault, you were a bad, rotten kid. And of course a 14-year-old boy could be killed, fucking killed, simply for whistling at a woman and no one batted an eye and the murderers were acquiited with a wink and a hearty good-old-boy slap on the back, because he was black and she was white. There was no such thing as a gay person... they were just a bunch-a-damn queers. Pansys. Fairys. If you were a real man you practically had a social obligation to beat the crap out of em, or like my first boyfriend did, take up yer rifle in your pickemup truck and go shoot out the windows in that damn queer bar!
Nope, I'll take now, and the good old days can eat shit as far as I'm concerned.
Nope, I'll take now, and the good old days can eat shit as far as I'm concerned.
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