0
beezyshaw

To Kids of the 40's, 50's, and 60's

Recommended Posts

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of iinnovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Even if I grew up in a different country and in a different culture (I was born just at the beginning of 60's), I recognize myself in 90% of the issues you wrote!!!!! ;)

> You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
Yes, I will.

> Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
Sort of, sort of. It is really surprising to think how on earth we ever survived without Internet, mobile phone, MP3 players, all this other modern bullshit B|
Stay safe out there
Blue Skies and Soft Walls
BASE #689 - base_689AT_NO_123_SPAMyahoo.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
That was beautiful. I never realized in the many years of talking to you and chris :( at the WFFC,That you were such a poet. This is very well written, Good Job. I just made it into the 60s, May 17, 1969 but I fit the profile to the T. I have two kids, and no video games. We live in the country, and they have to ride their bikes or walk (we cave from time to times and drive) to get to a friends house. If you don't have to work a little to get what you want, it's not worth having and even if it is, you wont appreciate it as much. All the difficulty has been taken from life in this country and I to long for the days when you had to work hard to get what you wanted.
HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I Like nostalgia pieces like these. gives a sense of empowerment of a part of my life that is now obsolete. Years from now I'll be looking back at the eighties and actually miss it. Actually it's beginning now with the Eighties' toys. and the VH1's I love the 80's.[:/]
_____________________________

"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
That was wonderful and so true. Thank you for posting it!

I was born in 1971, but your post still applies to me. It makes me long a bit for those days as a child when things were so much more simple. People seemed happier...at least, the children seemed happy, well-developed. People dealt with every day disappointments a lot better back then, and it built character. In traveling overseas to India for instance, I was struck by how happy children were that lived in the U.S.'s definition of "poverty". Those kids found joy in the simple things, like we used to do.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
we put peanuts in a bottle of coke

drop and cover..was very serious

had chapel in school

paid $1 for a botleger for 1 quart of beer

got stamps with gas

actually walked to a DATE

snuck a can coke and candy into the movies

best of all we were young AND had hair

..
59 YEARS,OVERWEIGHT,BALDIND,X-GRUNT
LAST MIL. JUMP VIET-NAM(QUAN-TRI)
www.dzmemories.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Wow! That was good, Beeze! I was born in the mid-forties and remember a whole bunch of that stuff. I now know, what all the adults (when I was a kid) meant by 'the good ol' days! I'm still havin' a hard time with some of the 'gadgets' we have now. Like the ol' boy told me; "If, it ain't got 2-knobs and 5- buttons on it... I don't understand it!":D
edit to add: I wanted to say also, we could eat all that stuff as did other folks because, we played hard and folks worked hard.


Chuck

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If you don't have to work a little to get what you want, it's not worth having and even if it is, you wont appreciate it as much. All the difficulty has been taken from life in this country and I to long for the days when you had to work hard to get what you wanted.


______________________________________

Excellent point! That's pretty much, what my mom and dad taught me. I had a paper route when I was 10, worked in a grocery store, when I was 13 and so-on. That was besides my 'chores' at the house. i know kids now, that don't know the handle end from the cuttin' end of a lawnmower![:/]


Chuck

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Good stuff, Beezy!

My ex was 11 years younger than me and these things were a constant source of aggravation and contention in our views on how to raise our son.

Fortunately for him, I held my ground and I believe he's a better person for it.
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of iinnovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!




dude, please dont get me started. the human race has gotten progressively dumber, and now there are laws to protect the humans from theirselves. i can go on all freakin day about this kind of shit so im leaving now..........


_______________________________
HK MP5SD.........silence is golden

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Y'know...

I noticed some of the differences between my daughter's life and my life, but I didn't realize how different it was until I read this.

That was my childhood. I wouldn't be a kid today (or even 20 years ago) for anything.

rl
If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Okay, first off - I was born during the Kennedy Administration and grew up in the suburbs.

My parent's smoked and drank (but, not to excess) during the nine months before I was born.
Never wore a bicycle helmet.
Rode horses and got thrown by a few.
Built mortars our of tin cans.
Made gunpowder.
Drank alcohol.
Climbed trees.
Built explosives and detonated them - some even attached to rockets and kites.
Played with fireworks.
Jumped out of go-karts.
Jumped off the roof.
Loaded, unloaded, fired, and "played" with firearms.

***but***

I also played and enjoyed primordial video games.
Played with hot-wheels and slot-cars.
Played "inside games" like Monopoly, for instance.
Built models (later blown up, of course)
Read books.
Did not spend every waking hour outside playing.
Played Pee-wee football with some kids who definitely shouldn't have been playing - everyone who tried out *did* actually make the team.
Watched television.
Provided a telephone number to my parents for where I was going to be, per their requirement.
I remember "child-proof" caps on medicine bottles - and defeating them, of course.
I was told to wear seatbelts - and I still do.
Never broke a bone as a child.
Was refused a bb gun for Xmas or birthday - as well as a mini-bike.
Was hit by a car, riding my bike to school (no injuries).
I had a curfew.
Heard many stories about various relatives sueing various entities.
Some of my ancestors were lawyers.
One of them was a very crooked judge in Cook County (who honorably retired with millions).

Rose-colored glasses is all I'm saying. It was what it was as what is, is.

Previous generations had even less at hand with which to deal with life and some did well, while others didn't. Apples and Oranges, in my book.

Actually, it wasn't until I was an adult that I started smoking, experimented with (soft) drugs, broke a bone and lost teeth (no connection to the drug experimentation btw), hitch-hiked (with no ill effect), fell out of a moving pickup truck (actually, an El Camino - no injuries). Was hit off my bike three more times - no injuries.

So - I take the whole nostalgia, "we were this and now it's not this and that is bad so we are greater while the others are lesser" with the appropriate grain or boulder of salt. It was a different time, a different world - and it is always changing - sometimes for the good and sometimes for the not so good - and that depends upon who you talk to.

Lawyers are tools - a means to an end.
Everyone loves to lump it onto lawyers but as soon as their own fat is hitting the legal fire - be realistic - who you gonna call?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I got a pair of scissors right here & a few minutes left on my lunch. Think I'll go for a little jog.

We began training for skydiving at about the age of 6 or 7, jumping off the garage roof, out of trees, and seeing how high and how far we could propel ourselves off a swingset. Of course our moms screamed about it if they saw us, but we'd just go to somebody else's backyard and carry on where we left off.

I remember nce trying to cock a BB gun the wrond way in a treehouse. Somehow the thing kicked back and I was flat on my back, dazed & confused, 10 ft. down, but was back on my feet in a minute or two.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

drop and cover..was very serious



I will NEVER forget my first one of those. In Elementary school they just kinda told us we had a vry dangerous enemy and if the siren went off to get under our desk and wait for the light and then the shock wave. So when they had us practice, I guess I wasn't listening and thought it was for real. I melted down really badly and when they asked me what was wrong I told them they had to get word to my family, so they wouldn't die.

Good God, the Soviets and the constant threat of nuclear war. That's something I don't miss.

This new terrorism thing is bad, but growing up we had MAD (mutually assured destruction) if one side launched it was the End Of The World.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

drop and cover..was very serious



I will NEVER forget my first one of those. In Elementary school they just kinda told us we had a vry dangerous enemy and if the siren went off to get under our desk and wait for the light and then the shock wave. So when they had us practice, I guess I wasn't listening and thought it was for real. I melted down really badly and when they asked me what was wrong I told them they had to get word to my family, so they wouldn't die.

Good God, the Soviets and the constant threat of nuclear war. That's something I don't miss.

This new terrorism thing is bad, but growing up we had MAD (mutually assured destruction) if one side launched it was the End Of The World.




No doubt. I remember those. The teacher said that "in case of an emergency" we would "drop." The drill was her saying, "Ready? Drop!" and we would, as quickly as we could, get below our desks and go fetal. Not too long after that I remember comprehending ICBM's and MIRV's. That at any moment nukes could be going off and it would be "very bad." The "End of the World." I remember thinking, "Could this happen? I hope it doesn't happen!" I watched with fascination film of nuclear tests. There was one where the shot is looking at a maniquin by a window. There was a flash through the window and smoke came off the curtains, then everything exploded. "Wow - what if THAT happened?" But, I didn't dwell on it long beyond hoping it wouldn't happen - a little thought in the back of my head, a little comforted during the Salt Treaty talks, but it, I doubt, will ever go entirely away. Nice thing about skydiving - thoughts like that get relegated elsewhere.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of iinnovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!




dude, please dont get me started. the human race has gotten progressively dumber, and now there are laws to protect the humans from theirselves. i can go on all freakin day about this kind of shit so im leaving now..........



Unfortunately, it is not the human race that is getting progressively dumber, it is the civilized countries of the world. Those countries that are under developed still live in a Darwinian environment. We have stopped evolving here, but they have not. One day they will rule because they will continue to get smarter and faster while we continue to breed in genetic disease and defect, until we are all F-ed up.

Just look at skydiving. It used to be a "only for the strong" sport, That was because you had to be physically supreme and quick thinking to survive. Now anyone can do it, no matter what the infirmity. We have evolved to a level that cannot be supportive of evolution. It's sad but true. We are Rome before the fall.
HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Played more "pick up" ball games than organized ball.

I did not receive a trophy because I showed up. I was in college before I earned a trophy for a championship.

Never locked a door.

invented more games (with washers) than Mattel

drove the drag (cheap date when gas was 25 cents a gallon)

No McDs or any fast foods in my small town besides Dairy Queen.

Burger joints cooked them AFTER you ordered them.

Worked for my dad's carpenters (I dug foundation ditches) for $1 an hour

Football coaches thought it would make you tough to practice two-a-days with one water break (6 ounces) This was Texas and was 100+ degrees in August.

If you failed -- you failed -- no passing through.

If you got in trouble at school you got a whoopin' at home.

my phone number was 5-2350

I could go on ... but, eh ...

steveOrino

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My mom was raised back on the farm, her mother had 18 kids- (14 sons) My mom was the oldest daughter - basically grandma was prego for 18 yrs. and my mom was responsible for way more than I ever was.

She didn't smoke or drink while she carried me- or my older sister & brother but my dad was arrested for bigamy before I was born. My mom raised us on her own. Single mother in the 50's was the shitz- we moved every 5-6 months, no car, t.v., bikes, new clothes, school supplies, shoes, bedroom etc.
My best childhood memory was the fire dept. coming to our door regularly with a box of food.

I was made a ward of the court by age 12 and then ran away from every foster home, group home till I was 16. Living on the streets mostly -67 to -71 was an adventure. Freedom & survival skills
I was charged with fraud (under $1,000.-raised to adult court) spent one year in jail.Failure
On my own and working from 17 and done very well, raising 2 sons the happiest times of my life. Sucess and responsibility

I have volunteered regular to the community "food barn" for 20 yrs. helping feed kids. I love and respect the hell outa my mom, my son's love and respect the hell outa me.
:P:P:P

SMiles;)
eustress. : a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Thanks Beezy, it was good to remember the good old days. I was born in '51 and have experienced most all those things. One thing I feel they should do like the old days is bring back licks (spanking) in school, parents should discipline their kids (not just send them to there room), and they should take calculators out of the schools.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0