OT: Something you miss from summers you had when you were young

[Deepelm]

Yearly summer trips to Lake Hayward , with many visits to the Colchester bakery.

 

[Waquoit]

Not quite the same I know but Jem's, a little ice cream stand about a mile from the Buckland Mall has an excellent Toasted Almond ice cream. Definitely brings back memories of Good Humor.

 

[ThetaZoo]

Picking Shade Tobacco in Portland Made In the Shade: Connecticut Shade | Cigar Aficionado

You miss this!? This was the filthiest, grimiest, job that I ever had but I guess it made a lot of grown-up jobs a piece of cake.

 

[ThetaZoo]

a tick-free environment.
I was played outside in the woods, and never saw a tick.

Same with me. I spent 8-10 hours a day in the woods in the summer when I was a kid. Never even heard the word tick mentioned.

 

[Flipside]

You miss this!? This was the filthiest, grimiest, job that I ever had but I guess it made a lot of grown-up jobs a piece of cake.

That's exactly what I miss about it

 

[Waquoit]

You miss this!? This was the filthiest, grimiest, job that I ever had but I guess it made a lot of grown-up jobs a piece of cake.

My understanding was that it paid lousy as well. I was good with my paper route and a few hours at Friendly's.

 

[Zanzman]

My understanding was that it paid lousy as well. I was good with my paper route and a few hours at Friendly's.

If my memory is correct 3.47 an hour in 1978 for broad leaf tobacco worked for 3 years loved it Delivered the Manchester herald a couple of years rag paper and the courant a few years, worked Friendly s for 3 years where I met my wife

 

[Stinger92860]

I know what I do not miss…

Free Federal cheese and Cube steaks…yuck

At one time I got so sick of prince spaghetti night which we had almost every night, it was a very affordable meal. Now I miss the family spaghetti meals.

 

[HooperScooper]

If my memory is correct 3.47 an hour in 1978 for broad leaf tobacco worked for 3 years loved it Delivered the Manchester herald a couple of years rag paper and the courant a few years, worked Friendly s for 3 years where I met my wife

I picked tobacco in 1978 or 1979 and I remember about $2.65 an hour. $3.47 was about the minimum wage for regular jobs back then. Since I wasn’t 16 yet they could pay us a percentage of minimum wage. Definitely the grossest job I ever had. I remember a kid eating a tobacco worm for money. That in and of itself grossed me out.

 

[MTHusky]

I grew up in a family that was very loving and though we didn't have a ton of money, summers were always a blast.

One thing I miss a lot was playing Jarts or lawn darts. I remember having to wait until I was old enough and then loved it. I would play with my parents, brother, uncles and cousins.

I know they are banned in the U.S. now. I wish they would unban them. Is there anyone who can explain to my why they are banned, but I can drive 20 minutes and go to a place and drink and throw axes in a public venue?

Going to my aunt's house in Seymour to cool off by swimming in the Housatonic river

 

[Flipside]

My understanding was that it paid lousy as well. I was good with my paper route and a few hours at Friendly's.

$120/week + overtime, tax free as 14yr old ... a couple of summers paid for at least 2 semesters at UConn in the early 80s

 

[cwh20]

All of these stories sound very familiar as it was how kids played all over. Besides the wiffle ball and other sports I’ll add tree forts and homemade go-carts. We built them and they were really hard to steer without turning them over which added to the fun. Heading over to Page Park to swim. We needed a ride to get to Lake Compounce but then we were on our own once there. All the woods surrounding us had paths we could bike on. They are exactly where they put the streets when new houses went up eventually. And we started a fire club. That didn’t last too long as the fire dept had to come and put one of the blazes out behind my friends house. (I wasn’t involved that day! Haha). And for DennisMenace I remember they had a rope swing right off of Broad St where you could swing into the river.

 

[Waquoit]

If my memory is correct 3.47 an hour in 1978 for broad leaf tobacco worked for 3 years loved it Delivered the Manchester herald a couple of years rag paper and the courant a few years, worked Friendly s for 3 years where I met my wife

That's about 1.5x minimum wage at the time, iirc. Could have been worse.

 

[Waquoit]

I picked tobacco in 1978 or 1979 and I remember about $2.65 an hour. $3.47 was about the minimum wage for regular jobs back then.

I'm not sure about that. Minimum wage was more like $2.21 in 1978 when I quit Friendly's.

 

[HooperScooper]

That's about 1.5x minimum wage at the time, iirc. Could have been worse.

Minimum wage in CT was $3.32 in 1982. I think I still have the pay stubs. Lol

 

[Zanzman]

That's about 1.5x minimum wage at the time, iirc. Could have been worse.

Guess my memory is not that good then farm wage was less than regular minimum wage

 

[mauconnfan]

Honestly, my mom and dad!

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Yearly summer trips to Lake Hayward , with many visits to the Colchester bakery.

Loved Colchester Bakery. Use to walk to the local IGA every Sunday morning to pick up the papers. They had boxes and boxes of things from Colchester Bakery to pick from. Loved their cake style doughnuts and Russian black bread.

 

[zymurg]

I'm surprised that there was only a single mention of summer camp. Itbwas Boy Scout camp for me; then in high school I went to church camp on an island off Portsmouth for two summers. The other clear memory is how much we were involved in our street. Yes, the kids played together but multiple families picnicked together.

 

[Waquoit]

The other clear memory is how much we were involved in our street. Yes, the kids played together but multiple families picnicked together.

The best example for me was 10/1/1967. The Red Sox had clinched at least a tie for the pennant in the afternoon. But they needed Detroit to lose their last game to win outright. There was no place to get the scores back then. But word got out that one of the neighbors found the game on a Detroit radio station on his kitchen radio. There were about 25 people in that kitchen for the clinching last out.

 

[Mr. French]

People picked tobacco? Wild.

That’s something my WNY childhood missed, not that I don’t live in a rural area but no tobacco fields around.

My brother did go out to Iowa one summer with cousins and worked in the corn fields in 100 degree weather. I missed that too. I was too busy playing David Justice and Fred McGriff in little league.

 

[alexd]

Minimum wage in CT was $3.32 in 1982. I think I still have the pay stubs. Lol

When I went from assisting to running the kids tennis clinics for the town of W. Hartford in 1983, they paid me $10/hour. Pretty nice at the time for a college kid.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

People picked tobacco? Wild.

That’s something my WNY childhood missed, not that I don’t live in a rural area but no tobacco fields around.

My brother did go out to Iowa one summer with cousins and worked in the corn fields in 100 degree weather. I missed that too. I was too busy playing David Justice and Fred McGriff in little league.

Connecticut was/is famous for its cigar wrapper shade tobacco. There is a movie IIRC from the 50s 0r 60s with this industry as the background. They used paper making pulp refiners from Black Clausen then run it on paper making machines...

 

[Flipside]

People picked tobacco? Wild.

Here's a recent docuseries done by June Archer

After 2 years in production, 'Stepping Into the Shade' screens at the Bushnell. Eastern-produced docuseries highlights Connecticut's tobacco history
Published on September 30, 2024
After 2 years in production, 'Stepping Into the Shade' screens at the Bushnell

 

[superjohn]

People picked tobacco? Wild.

That’s something my WNY childhood missed, not that I don’t live in a rural area but no tobacco fields around.

My brother did go out to Iowa one summer with cousins and worked in the corn fields in 100 degree weather. I missed that too. I was too busy playing David Justice and Fred McGriff in little league.

The Connecticut River Valley was the place for shade tobacco in the whole world. It's the reason CT has by far the highest per capita Puerto Rican population in the 50 states and why the Hartford area has a huge Jamaican population.