"Hey Dad," My Son asked the other day, "what was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?"

We didn't have fast food when I was growing up."

"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?"

"We ate at home," I explained.

"Your Grandma cooked every day and when your Grandpa got home from work, we all sat down together at the table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I had to sit there until I did like it."

By this time, my Son was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer some serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to get my Father's permission to leave the table.

Here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I had figured his system could handle it.

My parents never: wore Levi's, set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country, flew in a plane or had a credit card.

In their later years they had something called a "revolving charge card" but they never actually used it. It was only good at Sears-Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears and Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was because soccer back then was just for the girls. We actually did walk to school. By the time you were in the 6th grade it was not cool to ride the bus unless you lived more than 4 or 5 miles from the school, even when it was raining or there was ice or snow on the ground.

Outdoor sports consisted of stickball, snowball fights, building forts, making snowmen and sliding down hills on a piece of cardboard. No skate boards, roller blades or trail bikes.
We didn't have a television in our house until I was 12. It was, of course, black and white, but you could buy a piece of special colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue, like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone's lawn on a sunny day.

I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza. It was a Sam's Pizza at the East end of Fruit Street in Milford. My friend, Steve took me there to try what he called "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down and plastered itself against my chin.

It's still the best pizza I ever had.

Pizzas were not delivered to your house back then, but the milk was. I looked forward to winter because the cream in the milk was on top of the bottle and it would freeze and push the cap off. Of course us kids would get up first to get the milk and eat the frozen cream before our mother could catch us.

I never had a telephone in my room. Actually the only phone in the house was in the hallway and it was on a party line. Before you could make a call, you had to listen in to make sure someone else wasn't already using the line. If the line was not in use an Operator would come on and ask "number please" and you would give her the number you wanted to call.

There was no such thing as a computer or a hand held calculator. We were required to memorize the "times tables." Believe it or not, we were tested each week on our ability to perform mathematics with nothing but a pencil and paper. We took a spelling test every day. There was no such thing as a "social promotion." If you flunked a class, you repeated that grade the following year. Nobody was concerned about your "self esteem." We had to actually do something praiseworthy before we were praised. We learned that you had to earn respect.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and most all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered the "Milford Daily News" six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 2 cents. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my customers. My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to keep the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut on screen. Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and they just didn't do that in the movies back then. I had no idea what they did in French movies. French movies were considered dirty and we weren't allowed to see them.

You never saw the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers or anyone else actual kill someone. The heroes back then would just shoot the gun out of the bad guys hand. There was no blood and violence.
When you were sick, the Doctor actually came to your house. No, I am not making this up.

Drugs were something you purchased at a pharmacy in order to cure an illness. If we dared to "sass" our parents, or any other grown-up, we immediately found out what soap tasted like. For more serious infractions, we learned about something called a "this hurts me more than it hurts you." I never did quite understand that one?

In those days, parents were expected to discipline their kids.

There was no interference from the government. "Social Services" or "Family Services" had not been invented (The ninth and tenth amendments to the constitution were still observed in those days.)

I must be getting old because I find myself reflecting back more and more and thinking I liked it a lot better back then.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your kids or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they wet themselves laughing.

Growing up today sure ain't what it used to be.

 

I grew up in Winnipeg and it sounds like I'm a little younger than you, but between my parents and older brother it sounds like growing up in that day was pretty much the same everywhere. [We didn't get the coulored plastic for the TV] I too think there were a lot of good things back then. I think people had a lot more respect for others. I had to forward your post as it brought back things I haven't thought of for a long time. Thanks.

 

not true!!! i have a pair of Roebuck workboots!

[sings] Those were the dayssssssssssss!!!! [/sings]

 

SVT_KY:

That sure was a great post. I may not be that old because McDonalds was my favorite fast food when going up.

I was basically brought up like you but in the late 70's and early 80's we always ate dinner at the table togeather. Never ever did I even think about talking back to my father or mother, didn't much care for the taste of soap or feeling the belt or switch (small tree branch) and for those of you that may think that is cruel, it wasn't, did it hurt, hell yes but I got the point.

I guess what I would say happen is the 60's. With the 60's came drugs, and from the ones that mostly did the drugs became liberals who in turn thought and continue to think they know what is best for everyone else but themselfs.

To them no one is responsible for what they do. Punishment, like belt or switch is cruel and those that use it should be locked up for life for even thinking about teaching a young mind full of mush right from wrong. Yet they have no problem protecting someone that kills or does something seriously wrong with "it's not their fault"

I do like what I am seeing now days from some kids which is somewhat a return to where you came from, back to the basics. I think some of todays youths are seeing the damage liberals and people that follow them have done to this great country.

In your days it was the RIGHT time, and the RIGHT way. For the moment we are still in the WRONG time and the WRONG way. Soon alot of the dead brain cells that smoked alot of dope in the 60's will be dieing off, and those that believe in what they think was right (everything must be fair) are begining to see what damage they have truly done.

I have alot of hope that by the time my daughter has children of her own, and I am a grandfather my grandchildren will hear me talk about the 90's and now, and laugh and wet themselfs saying "really? no way people could do what ever they wanted and never get into trouble???" and I'll be able to say, "yes, thats what happens when you smoke to many drugs"

 

sigh...i too find myself telling my kids about the past and making lists of things they will never know. (black & white tv without a remote,no microwaves,etc)

BUT i do talk about the present and the future a lot too. we have made great strides in the past century that we need to keep in mind when we talk about how good it used to be.

we live longer,drive safer,longer lasting,cleaner vehicles,nuclear power,grocery stores with safe food,etc,etc,etc...i mean how many of you could live without a pc right now? (If you say you could you would be missing out on this great site!)

oh well back to the present and work!

 

I love it... I thought my family was the only one that had the plastic film over the television screen. When I told my kids about that one, they just knew I was lying. It took my dad to tell them that it was true. We did on rare occasions go to White Castle and get the .10 Hamburgers (usually when going to watch the fireworks or something like that). My dad never drove me to ball practice. And I didn't know school busses were for kids to go to school until I was in the 6th grade. (we only rode them to go on field trips.) "What a different world"

 

ahhhh,

the white castle in clifton new jersey.

sitting in my dads 64 econoline ford van, three on the tree, with the black metal motor cover in between the two front seats (the passenger seat was an option for that year)

you had to make sure the motor cooled down enough before you could sit on that thing.

that was a big treat for us, back in the day when they had the microphones in every parking spot, and they girls brought the food out to you and put it on the trays that hung from the window.

boy do i miss that.

 

now what would be cool is to go back to your parents parents and ask the difference from those 2 life styles, probably even more drastic than the differnce between you and your sons, things like indoor plumbing, electricity, grocery stores, refridgerators, washing machines, cars, roads...every generation is different but the ones that went through the industrial revolution had to see the biggest changes.

 

I bet I got most of you beat.

Did you guys have a slop man who came by once a week to empty the slop bucket? We had one until the early 60s when my father bought a garbage disposal.

How about buying vegetables off of the truck that came by a couple of times a week?

How about a dry cleaner who did pickups and deliveries?

How about Motorola and Packard Bell TVs or Gonset Communicators (two way radios)?

One thing I don't miss about the good old days. Power outages because too many people decided to cook at the same time.