Do You Remember When

[F.R.O.G.]

Don't tell Cindy that I told you this, but she grew up in a small New England town where you called the town operator (who was also the town gossip since she could listen in on every call) to place a call. If she got home from school and her Mom wasn't home, Cindy could call the operator, who would tell her if she'd just see her Mom going into a store, starting for home, or whatever.

At the time, her telephone number was 1. I still kid her about her age and tell her that Alexander Graham Bell's was 3.

[paverdave]

When refrigerators were called ice boxes...And no speed limit on Nevada Hwys...My Dad had a 55 Olds and he always tried to get 100 mph out of her..only remember once that he did it...what fun we had....

[pgandw]

Building your own boat from a kit - my Dad built a power boat, and I built a small sailboat.

[TitanMike]

This thread is starting to sound like a song by the Oakridge Boys.

[BehindBars]

Gasoline engine “run-on”. You turn off the key and the engine keeps running (dieseling). You’re trying to find a way to make it stop.

Motor oil that came in cardboard cans, and usually leaked all over the carton they came in.

Milk came in one gallon waxed cardboard boxes.

[JWood422]

My first vivid memory is of Daddy taking us outside to watch Telstar as it came over the house. I was 4. I also remember seeing Get Smart in color for the first time. I had no idea there was a red line in the middle of the hallway until then. (And I always wondered how he could keep getting his nose smashed in the door.)

[outlawten5]

I'm only 53 but I remember those oil cans. You had to stab a spout through the top

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by outlawten5

I'm only 53 but I remember those oil cans. You had to stab a spout through the top

Yep. Like this.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Gasoline engine “run-on”. You turn off the key and the engine keeps running (dieseling). You’re trying to find a way to make it stop.

Motor oil that came in cardboard cans, and usually leaked all over the carton they came in.

Milk came in one gallon waxed cardboard boxes.

I remember quart oil jars with a screw-on spout filled from a 50 gallon drum, tin oil cans and glass milk bottles, and home-made butter or buttermilk on hot cornbread.

I grew up churning butter from milk, having fresh cream on cereal and strawberries. Soup beans with ham or bacon on fresh baked cornbread once a week.

I still love buttermilk on a bowl of crumbled warm cornbread for breakfast. Kemps makes buttermilk that tastes closest to homemade.

[updhaul]

Members of the "Hunt club" had to check their rifle and ammo at the school office or leave them in a car until using the range. Of course hunters had to leave school early on Fridays get to the field.

[Iwannacamp]

Some parts of the country close during deer hunting season.

[chriscowles]

I remember the UHF converter box on top of my grandparents B&W TV that had only VHF on the built-in tuner. It was the equivalent of digital converters for analog TVs when the country switched to digital in 2009

[JWood422]

Originally Posted by updhaul

Members of the "Hunt club" had to check their rifle and ammo at the school office or leave them in a car until using the range. Of course hunters had to leave school early on Fridays get to the field.

Yep. Only the cool kids at school had gun racks in their pickups. Complete with shotguns. It never occurred to anyone that guns would ever be outlawed anywhere for any reason.

[rjshiflet]

I grew up in a pretty small town and my earliest childhood memories include picking up the telephone receiver, waiting for the operator to come on and giving her a number like "47" or "3M7". There was no dial on the phone yet.

My mother-in-law (who is 17 years older than me) grew up in Fort Worth and has no recollection of every doing that - but, I guess that's the difference in a small town and a city back in the early 50s.

[nomad297]

I remember when, beneath the Golden Arches, there was a sign that said “Over 5 Billion Served”. The reason I remember it is because I didn’t know what “Billion” meant — I remember asking my Dad, and his answer was “A lot”.

“Billion” wasn’t a word or number thrown-around much in 1969, but today it seems like just another number that easily rolls off of the tongue and is no longer extraordinary or thought to be “that much” or, even, “A lot”, especially when it comes to politics. Today, the attention-grabbing word seems to be “Trillion”. I wonder if McDonald’s will use this word when the day comes that they estimate that many people have been served?

I just Googled the history of that “Over 5 Billion Served” sign and found it was displayed in 1969. McDonald’s stopped trying to keep track and displaying the sign of how many had been served in 1983 when they reached 45 billion, but the estimates are that they have served well over 500 billion today.

Bruce

[GL1800Rider]

"buying my first computer - a Commodore 64 with a 5.25" floppy drive (separate purchase)"

I still have the color monitor for the Commodore 64. Used it for years with our Panasonic VHS camcorder set up for creating videos for weddings, etc.

[whirledpeaz]

Originally Posted by nomad297

I remember when, beneath the Golden Arches, there was a sign that said “Over 5 Billion Served”. The reason I remember it is because I didn’t know what “Billion” meant — I remember asking my Dad, and his answer was “A lot”.

“Billion” wasn’t a word or number thrown-around much in 1969, but today it seems like just another number that easily rolls off of the tongue and is no longer extraordinary or thought to be “that much” or, even, “A lot”, especially when it comes to politics. Today, the attention-grabbing word seems to be “Trillion”. I wonder if McDonald’s will use this word when the day comes that they estimate that many people have been served?

I just Googled the history of that “Over 5 Billion Served” sign and found it was displayed in 1969. McDonald’s stopped trying to keep track and displaying the sign of how many had been served in 1983 when they reached 45 billion, but the estimates are that they have served well over 500 billion today.

Bruce

They still deep fry their apple pies in Hawaii. I wish they did here!

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by GL1800Rider

"buying my first computer - a Commodore 64 with a 5.25" floppy drive (separate purchase)"

I still have the color monitor for the Commodore 64. Used it for years with our Panasonic VHS camcorder set up for creating videos for weddings, etc.

I remember buying my first computer as well. It was a very confusing experience because I went into it not knowing a thing about computers or why I really even needed one. I just knew I had to have one. When I walked into this huge computer store to buy one, I was greeted by a salesman who asked me what I was looking for. I told him I didn’t know. He asked, “Well, are you a DOS guy or a MAC guy?” I told him I didn’t know, so his answer was “You’re a DOS guy, then.” He sold me a Hewlett-Packard.

I still don’t know whether I am a DOS guy or a MAC guy.

Bruce

[My17Ram]

Originally Posted by cc102bob

ZOIKS! Your Burger Chef must have been waaaay better than mine! We had one right next to our house for a few years when I was a kid. We could go place an order, go home, cook up a burger, eat it, then go back to the Burger Chef and our order might be ready. We were never sure how that place lasted as long as it did.

I remember having family TV night every Saturday evening. Wonderful World of Disney, Carol Burnett, Hee Haw... I don't really remember if they were all on Saturday, but I know we watched them regularly.

Marlin Perkins Wild Kingdom on Sunday evening....he was usually wrestling a snake or alligator or something!!

[CNYCamper]

Originally Posted by My17Ram

Marlin Perkins Wild Kingdom on Sunday evening....he was usually wrestling a snake or alligator or something!!

In his later years Marlin stayed in the helicopter while they dropped his assistant, Jim, onto the back of a rhino so he could tag its ear.

Our first TV had 2 channels (3 for NBC and 8 for CBS). When ABC (the new kids) came along it was assigned to channel 9 and CBS was moved to 5.
Our first computer had Windows 95 and a local place would custom make your computer based on your needs. Compared to today's it was pitiful. We paid over $1,600 and I can still remember telling DW, "We better buy now, they will never be cheaper!"