OT: Once Upon A Time or Do You Remember When?

[McFly]

♪Here we are, back with you again.♫ Oh by golly, yes by golly, Kukla, Fran, and dear old Ollie♪.....
Vtcw, apparently the Sisters of Mercy were considerably more merciful than the nuns you remember.
I remember getting the "rat-hand" (rattan) in public school.
The rag man had a horse drawn cart. Any manure the horse left quickly found its way into someone's garden.
The Janelles got the first TV in the neighborhood. Mr. Janelle would invite the neighborhood men to watch boxing and the Red Sox.
I remember bonfires on the Fourth of July, and a second one in 1945 celebrating VJ Day.
Couldn't tell which way the '47 Studebaker was heading. The '53, on the other hand, was quite good looking.
My brother joined the Navy at 17, so, thanks to him, I was smoking sea stores cigarettes at 10¢ a pack, and wearing bell bottom "seafarer" jeans, long before they became fashionable.
♫When the blue of the night, meets the gold of the day♪.............. Bing Crosby on the radio at noon.
The Asian Flu and hurricanes in the 50's.
Even so, they really were the good old days.

 

[Husky fanatic]

I remember the baseball card to spokes but the radios we had were not portable. They were pretty large size boxes with big vacuum tubes. We had a stand up floor model radio in the living room where we listened to nightly shows. The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, The Bob Hope Show, Blondie, My Friend Irma, Amos and Andy, and many others that were popular in the day.

my grand parents had one almost as big a jukebox. Listened to those above plus the Shadow and George and Gracie

 

[bantamlaker]

A different perspective on the Dodgers. We both cried for them. You cried when they left Brooklyn, we cried (tears of joy) when they arrived here. Your loss was our gain. You lost 2 teams (Giants & Dodgers), but you still had the Yankees.

Oh Carnac, how could you say that. If you were a loyal Dodger fan you absolutely hated the Yankees. It took me many years before I would even consider going to a Yankees game.

 

[veryolddog]

I think that this is the most enjoyable thread that I have looked at in a long, long time. Thanks to everyone for bringing back their memories.

 

[donalddoowop]

I think that this is the most enjoyable thread that I have looked at in a long, long time. Thanks to everyone for bringing back their memories.

I figured you would have a few. I think we experienced and enjoyed a number of things at the same time in our lives.
I remember when we could go to the park and sleep at night and not be concerned about being assaulted
We could go to bed at night and leave the doors open and feel perfectly safe

 

[and one]

Oh Carnac, how could you say that. If you were a loyal Dodger fan you absolutely hated the Yankees. It took me many years before I would even consider going to a Yankees game.

There are NL fans and AL fans. As a kid my grandfather and I were Giants fans. The rest of the family pulled for the Dodgers. Hating the Yankees was common ground. When our teams headed west and the Mets arrived we were all Mets fans. I still am to one degree or another. Still root for the Yankees to lose. As a NL person All-Star games are a sore point for like it seems forever.

 

[mbr33ct]

My parents got an entertainment center for their wedding in 1948. The tv was only about 7-8”. Had a turntable, radio, and built-in speakers. Quite a piece of history... and it’s still in the house.

I think our TV back then was bought primarily for being a piece of "furniture". The top of this "furniture piece" also acted as the Liquor bar. As you mentioned even after the TV died the "bar" was still active.

I remember coming to US (West Haven) in April 1959, not a word of English, started grammar school right away. When temps got warmer, I wore shorts to school and was promptly told to go back home and change into long pants, maybe it was too much of a casual attire for the states.

The books I learned to read and write back then were the Dick and Jane books.

I remember Savin Rock amusement park and everything that went along with it.

 

[Carnac]

I remember the baseball card to spokes but the radios we had were not portable. They were pretty large size boxes with big vacuum tubes. We had a stand up floor model radio in the living room where we listened to nightly shows. The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, The Bob Hope Show, Blondie, My Friend Irma, Amos and Andy, and many others that were popular in the day.

You can still listen to all of those shows on the internet for free. Google “old time radio” and relive the golden years of radio. I listen to the Lone Ranger Featuring Brace Beemer as the the masked man every day. Right now I’m listening to episodes first aired in 1943.

I also like Yours truly Johnny Dollar and Boston Blackie. You can find all of the shows you mentioned and many more. Did I mention it’s all for free. Enjoy.

 

[Carnac]

There are NL fans and AL fans. As a kid my grandfather and I were Giants fans. The rest of the family pulled for the Dodgers. Hating the Yankees was common ground. When our teams headed west and the Mets arrived we were all Mets fans. I still am to one degree or another. Still root for the Yankees to lose. As a NL person All-Star games are a sore point for like it seems forever.

I’m not a baseball fan anymore. I get my sports fix following the NFL, WCBB (UConn year round here in the yard), and the WNBA. I was always a NL fan. Naturally I was a Dodger fan as they were the local team. I went to many games in the Coliseum before Dodger Stadium opened in 1962. I only hated 1 team, the San Francisco Giants, especially after Giant pitcher Juan Marichal attacked Dodger catcher John Roseboro with a bat.

Juan Marichal hitting John Roseboro @ Candlestick Park Aug 23, 1965

 

[Carnac]

Who has owned a Commodore computer 64? (Commodore 64 Estimated units sold: 17 million; original price: $595 in 1982)

My first computer was a Radio Shack computer that did not have a hard drive or Windows. The internet was not up and running yet.

 

[FridaFriend]

On a more somber note, as a child I experienced a series of illnesses: chicken pox and mumps, followed by measles which transitioned to pneumonia for which I was bedridden for months. I missed a year of school. I was 7 years old.

My best friend spent time in an iron lung, which saved his life from polio. He never fully recovered.

 

[donalddoowop]

On a more somber note, as a child I experienced a series of illnesses: chicken pox and mumps, followed by measles which transitioned to pneumonia for which I was bedridden for months. I missed a year of school. I was 7 years old.

My best friend spent time in an iron lung, which saved his life from polio. He never fully recovered.

I remember when it was announced that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed the serum to protect people from polio.

 

[JordyG]

"Sister Ita rapping me across my knuckles with a ruler. "

and if she was realllly pissed she hit with the ruler on edge. I did 8 years penance in a Catholic grammer school more than 60 years ago and I still think that nuns were the meanest, nastiest people on the planet.

I guess you didn't have to deal with the brothers. They didn't need or use rulers. They just whipped your butt with their hands and fists. I remember one kid not paying attention and a brother walked up behind him and smacked him in the back of the head.

 

[vtcwbuff]

How about cars with the high/low beam switch on the floorboard and the driver used their left foot to change between them

We had a truck with the starter switch on the floor.

 

[Bama fan]

Once Upon A Time

 

[vtcwbuff]

I guess you didn't have to deal with the brothers. They didn't need or use rulers. They just whipped your butt with their hands and fists. I remember one kid not paying attention and a brother walked up behind him and smacked him in the back of the head.

I think I could write a book about nuns. I'm know they weren't all horrors but I saw enough to convince me that many were dried up old b*tches that took out their misery on kids.

Read about the St Joseph's orphanage lawsuits. Makes a ruler across the knuckles mild.

 

[Bama fan]

Remember When

 

[vtcwbuff]

I guess you didn't have to deal with the brothers. They didn't need or use rulers. They just whipped your butt with their hands and fists. I remember one kid not paying attention and a brother walked up behind him and smacked him in the back of the head.

My grandfather would not let me get anywhere near "the brothers" for reasons you can probably imagine. They had a summer retreat near his farm and they had a very bad reputation.

 

[Philly Kid]

I remember when it was announced that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed the serum to protect people from polio.

Our scout troop did crowd control for the nurses handing out sugar cubes with the vaccine in the local elementary school.
Our first TV was a 10" diameter in a big wooden console cabinet. I remember my mom saying who were those people sitting on the couch in the corner. My grandparents said they thought they were friends of hers and nobody really cared they were from the neighborhood somewhere. It was sitting room only with the only TV around and I think there was only one show on TV on Saturday night?
I had a top secret clearance cause the radar set I worked on had a transistors and not tubes.
They used horse drawn carts for fresh produce and the rag guy mentioned earlier.
Every house had a coal delivery.

 

[BBallF]

1) I remember a small cherry coke for 5 cents and a large for 10 cents made in the sweet shop in front of you
2) I remember a large soft pretzel for 5 cents at the same store
3) I remember a play on the pinball machine also for the same 5 cents at the same store
4) I remember a banana split from the Mr. Softee soft ice cream truck for 20 cents
5) I remember a new pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars for $7.99
6) I remember a 7 oz bottle of coke in a glass bottle freezing cold from a coke machine for 10 cents
7) I remember being totally bored on Sundays waiting for the Celtics(Russell) to play the 76ers(Wilt) on TV
8) I remember being totally bored on Sundays waiting for relatives to visit
9) I remember reading a lot- what else was there?
10) I remember 6 players on a team in women's college basketball- only 2 could go on both sides of the court
11) I remember double features with cartoons in between for 35 cents
12) I remember tv channels 2,4,5,7,9,11 and 13 and nothing else!

 

[Bama fan]

I guess you didn't have to deal with the brothers. They didn't need or use rulers. They just whipped your butt with their hands and fists. I remember one kid not paying attention and a brother walked up behind him and smacked him in the back of the head.

I went to Catholic schools for 12 years. Nuns in grade school were strict, and every now and again you got the ruler. Or the paddle in the principal's office. In high school the Christain Brothers were anything but christian many times. You got whacked in the head for talking in class. If you wanted a fight with a student you were expected to "meet on the path" after school. If you got caught fighting in school, they gave you the option of detention, or meeting one of two Brothers in the gym. After school. boxing gloves on, the whole school in the bleachers, and the only two guys who tried it got the crap beat out of them. There were about 1200 boys in the school, and even with all that testosterone flowing very few discipline problems. Guess you could not get away with it now, but we got a very good education.

 

[and one]

1) I remember a small cherry coke for 5 cents and a large for 10 cents made in the sweet shop in front of you
2) I remember a large soft pretzel for 5 cents at the same store
3) I remember a play on the pinball machine also for the same 5 cents at the same store
4) I remember a banana split from the Mr. Softee soft ice cream truck for 20 cents
5) I remember a new pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars for $7.99
6) I remember a 7 oz bottle of coke in a glass bottle freezing cold from a coke machine for 10 cents
7) I remember being totally bored on Sundays waiting for the Celtics(Russell) to play the 76ers(Wilt) on TV
8) I remember being totally bored on Sundays waiting for relatives to visit
9) I remember reading a lot- what else was there?
10) I remember 6 players on a team in women's college basketball- only 2 could go on both sides of the court
11) I remember double features with cartoons in between for 35 cents
12) I remember tv channels 2,4,5,7,9,11 and 13 and nothing else!

Those were the NYC channels. Pretty sure 2 was CBS, 4 was NBC, less sure of ABC, 7 I think, 11 PIX and 13 the public station. That leaves one I can't guess at. How did I do?

 

[BBallF]

Those were the NYC channels. Pretty sure 2 was CBS, 4 was NBC, less sure of ABC, 7 I think, 11 PIX and 13 the public station. That leaves one I can't guess at. How did I do?

Great. WOR-TV was channel 9.

 

[JordyG]

Those were the NYC channels. Pretty sure 2 was CBS, 4 was NBC, less sure of ABC, 7 I think, 11 PIX and 13 the public station. That leaves one I can't guess at. How did I do?

The channel you've forgotten was channel 5, which Merv Griffin ultimately dominated and took over.

 

[JordyG]

My grandfather would not let me get anywhere near "the brothers" for reasons you can probably imagine. They had a summer retreat near his farm and they had a very bad reputation.

I spent a very short time getting catholic instruction. One of the other kids told me that when you were very bad the brothers would bring you into another room and paint the walls with you body. The smack in the back of the head was enough for me to say adios to catholic instruction.

 

[and one]

Great. WOR-TV was channel 9.

Aw man, how could I forget WOR?

Someone earlier in this intermatable thread mentioned as an old timey thing having to physically change channels and adjust volume. I don't remember when remotes became a thing, and I must have walked to the TV to do whatever a million times, but for the life of me I have a hard time remembering actually doing it. I guess like pain you remember the concept better than the actual experience. How did we put up with it? Or go without AC, car and home. I was in high school before living in an apartment that had a few window units. Prior to that going to the movies was about the only way to get into AC.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Those were the NYC channels. Pretty sure 2 was CBS, 4 was NBC, less sure of ABC, 7 I think, 11 PIX and 13 the public station. That leaves one I can't guess at. How did I do?

My grandparents had a TV a year or so before us. They got 1 channel out of Montreal. Half the programming was in French and half in English. The only programming I remember was wrestling in English and Hockey in French.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I spent a very short time getting catholic instruction. One of the other kids told me that when you were very bad the brothers would bring you into another room and paint the walls with you body. The smack in the back of the head was enough for me to say adios to catholic instruction.

After I graduated from the 8th grade my father gave me the choice of continuing on to a Catholic High School or switching to the local public school. A no brainer - above my mother's objections.

Examples - In the 7th grade a nun hit a kid in the seat behind me with her fist. She broke his nose. Nothing happened to her.
In the 8th grade a girl wore lipstick to class. A nun brutally scrubbed her face, called her a whore and then made her kneel in the front of the class for the whole day.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

My NYC HS years (1961 to 1965) I had season tickets to the NY Football Giants, who played at Yankee Stadium.
The season tickets cost $7.00 a game for 7 home games = $49.00 a year!

Cars were made of steel not plastic or other lighter cheaper materials!

As a kid you had to have a Spalding/also called a Pinkie a soft rubber ball for street games.

I was riding a D train home to the Bronx from my HS in Manhattan when JFK was shot in Dallas and 2 days later was playing street football when someone yelled out a window the guy who shot Kennedy was shot in Dallas!

 

[JordyG]

After I graduated from the 8th grade my father gave me the choice of continuing on to a Catholic High School or switching to the local public school. A no brainer - above my mother's objections.

Examples - In the 7th grade a nun hit a kid in the seat behind me with her fist. She broke his nose. Nothing happened to her.
In the 8th grade a girl wore lipstick to class. A nun brutally scrubbed her face, called her a whore and then made her kneel in the front of the class for the whole day.

The good old days. I for one received Catholic instruction (my sisters were raised catholic), and I attended Sunday school at my Baptist church (my father was a deacon). My sisters married Jehovah Witnesses, so I attended their services (they were 10 years older than I), my family had Pentecostal friends, so I attended their services, and my 1st cousin became a Buddhist, so I attended their meditative circles. There was nothing like the violence and vindictiveness I saw during my brief stint at catholic instruction anywhere else.