September 21, 2009

Retro Monday

Last February I blogged on "Memories" from the past. It was so fun I'm doing it again. Jimmy enjoyed walking down memory lane with me and added a few himself. So, hop on board and let's reminisce about things of the past.

I remember...
  • Rotary dial phones. Loved the phone numbers that were full of 9's and 0's.
  • Jaw breakers the size of baseballs. I'd take my oversized treat, place it in a kitchen towel, grab a hammer, and smash it into bite sized bits. I'd be gone by dusk.
  • Lushy chocolate malts.
  • Manual typewriters in high school and layers of carbon paper.
  • Ditto machines that printed in lavender and had a weird indescribable smell when fresh off the roller.
  • When children were the remote control.
  • How movies like Frankenstein, Mummy, and Wolf man were extra spooking in black and white.
  • Replacing T.V. tubes.
  • Dialing "O" for the operator to make a long distance phone call.
  • Cars without A/C, power steering, power windows, or power brakes. Driving to the store was a workout.
  • Crawling in the engine compartment to work on a car. This is Jimmy's. I only crawled under cars to retrieve a ball or frisbee.
  • AM radio only. You knew a storm was coming when it got all staticy.
  • When gas was 29 cents/gallon.
  • When filling station pump dials only went up to 99 cents. As gas prices exceeded 99 cents/gallon, the price had to be cut in half and when it was time to pay, the price was doubled. Now that was confusing.
  • 8-track tapes. Never like them.
  • 45 records and their colorful adaptors.
  • Defrosting the ice box with pans of boiling water. Once defrosted we'd use every towel the kitchen had to offer soaking up the wet mess.
  • Cold aluminum ice trays that stuck to your hand when you pulled the lever to release the ice.
  • Full meals were served on airplanes.
  • When there was no Tylenol, only Aspirin.
  • The first home hair dryer that consisted of a plastic cap with a vacuum-type hose leading to the machine. There were also hard fold down dryers like in the beauty shops.

  • When the first hand held hair dryer came out to replace the plastic cap. Mine was light blue, I got it for Christmas, and it was handier than a pocket on a shirt.
  • When hot rollers replaced pink sponge rollers.
  • Stamps were 5 cents.
  • When cheese slices were peeled apart not individually wrapped.
  • Wax lips.
  • Penny candy.
  • Sea monkeys.
  • When JFK was shot. I was four years old and it seemed as if the world stood still.
  • When Elvis Presley died. My family was on vacation on Padre Island. I was sitting on the hotel deck looking out at the ocean when my dad came out and told me the news.
What are some of your childhood memories? Where were you when you heard the news of JFK and Elvis? I'd love to hear what lies in the cobwebs of your mind.

4 comments:

Cheryl Barker said...

Nancy, I well remember the hair dryer with the plastic bag and hose -- and most everything else you mentioned, too, since I'm a few years older than you. Thanks for the memories :)

By the way, I was in my 3rd grade class when the news of JFK's asassination came over the intercom -- very sad. And believe it or not, Elvis died on my birthday so that's a date I probably won't ever forget.

Ice Machine Pump said...

Really nice memories!!
Awesome and Amazing!!

Amy E. said...

I love the hairdryer with the bag thing..we had one!! I remember my mom putting her rollers(the ones that were black..and poky like a hairbrush) in my hair and sticking that bag on my head! I think she even has a picture.

I loved my 45 records and my record player. I loved riding my bike without a helmet and catching fireflies in the backyard.
I loved my Easy Bake Oven and made many a tasty treat.
I remember recording songs off the radio. I would patiently wait to here the song introduced and start recording as soon as I could!! I always miss just the first bit.
I remember my mom RENTING a VCR and movies for my slumber parties.
Oh and I loved my pink bike with streamers coming out of the handles.
We had a Fry Daddy and used it often, my body has never fully recovered. Steak Umms were a favorite dinner choice. My Lite Bright was a favorite toy.
OH I could go on and on!! I love remembering past times.
I was in the 6th grade when the space shuttle exploded. Chrisine McAulfe was on that mission. We wrote letters and stories about how we felt. The cafeteria was all abuzz that day with rumors on what had really happened. We all had to wait until the 6:00 news to learn the facts.

Thanks for leading me down memory lane! I better stop now!

Anonymous said...

I have all those same memories -'cept, of course, crawling in the engine like you. I'm the same age as Cheryl so I remember Nov '63 well.

Elvis was much less important to me, I guess. Couldn't even tell you the year. Barbara