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Good ole days...

sandman2234sandman2234 Member Posts: 894 ✭✭
edited April 2002 in General Discussion
How old is Grandpa?Stay with this - the answer is at the end - it will blow you away.One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about currentevents.The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings atschools, the computer age, and just things in general.The granddad replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born, beforetelevision, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses,Frisbees and the pill.There was no radar, credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man hadnot invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers,andthe clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man hadn't yetwalkedon the moon.Your grandmother and I got married first-and then lived together. Everyfamily had a father and a mother.Until I was 25, I called every man older than I, 'Sir'-and after I turned25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, 'Sir.'We were before gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, daycare centers,and group therapy. Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, goodjudgment, and common sense. We were taught to know the difference betweenright and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a biggerprivilege. We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the eveningbreeze started.Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings andweekends not purchasing condominiums.We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters,yogurt,or guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, andthePresident's speeches on our radios.And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening toTommyDorsey.If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk. The term'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.We had 5 & 10 cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10cents. Ice cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsiwereall a nickel. And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend yournickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards .You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 but who could afford one? Toobad,because gas was 11 cents a gallon. In my day, 'grass' was mowed, 'coke'wasa cold drink, 'pot' was something your mother cooked in, and 'rock music'was your grandmother's lullaby. 'Aids' were helpers in the Principal'soffice, 'chip' meant a piece of wood, hardware' was found in a hardwarestore, and 'software' wasn't even a word.And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed ahusband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" andsaythere is a generation gap. ...and how old do you think I am ???. This man would be only 58 years oldThis has probably been on the board many times, but the Wife said "do it" so I did. The closer she gets to Forty, the younger 58 seems. Me, I don't remember 40...
Have Gun, will travel
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Comments

  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000 ✭
    edited November -1
    Careful Sandman! I resemble that remark!
    Save, research, then buy the best.Join the NRA, NOW!Teach them young, teach them safe, teach them forever, but most of all, teach them to VOTE!
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  • njretcopnjretcop Member Posts: 7,975
    edited November -1
    As I read down this post, I realized that I knew all the things that was in it. Now what bothers me even more is that I should only be 58. Oh, to be 58 again, lol......those were the days -Charlie the aged
    It's the stuff dreams are made of AngelNRA Certified Firearms InstructorMember: GOA, RKBA, NJSPBA, NJ area rep for the 2ndAMPD. njretcop@copmail.com
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  • BoltactionManBoltactionMan Member Posts: 2,048 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Don't fret Charlie, making it past 58 sure beats the alternative.KC
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  • gunnutgunnut Member Posts: 724 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well from a 30 something kid, I must say I could only wish to have lived in those times. My hat is off to those of you who still believe in those values.The Nut
    ~Secret Select Society Of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~
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  • S&W ManS&W Man Member Posts: 208 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I guess I have a minor problem. I remember all that and that was how life was and I haven't quite made 58 yet.
    The second admendment GUARANTEES the other nine and the Constitution!
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  • sandman2234sandman2234 Member Posts: 894 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    S&W man, that just means you had good parents. Tought you the right values.
    Have Gun, will travel
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I remember all that too and I am not yet 58 (or even 56!). Easy to be nostalgic about those days, but frankly I prefer indoor plumbing central heating (and AC), and computers. Where would the GB family be without those? I still run into as many kids that say sir as I did then, as many folks who are honest and give it their best. I miss the Jazz of that era, early rock, and blues, and guess what; I got 'em on CD sounding better than they did then. I remember the smell of summer nights in the early '50's and can't seem to get that back. I remember when the population of the US was 180,000,000, and sadly we will never get that back.I often wonder if a couple of codgers sat in front of a cave 50,000 years ago complaining about how easy the kids have it now, how values have changed, and about the trailer trash in the cave down the valley. Seems like human nature to be nostalgic over the past, but I got no complaints about today. I have more guns now than I ever had in the '50's or '60's!!!
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  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I remember all that. Also VE and VJ day and how everyone went downtown to celebrate the end of the war.But the best thing about those days was that most of our freedoms were still intact, and hadn't been whittled away by a bunch socialist jerks in the Congress.I could buy a box of .22's as long as I had the money and could reach high enough to put it on the counter.Bought my first rifle at age 15 - money on the counter, no fuss, no muss, just pay and take it home.Could carry a gun to the quarry for an afternoon of shooting, and nobody saw anything wrong with that.There was no OSHA, EPA, Batf or other alphabet agencies and the federal budget was $100,000,000 a year with half of it going to National Defense.
    PC=BS[This message has been edited by badboybob (edited 04-06-2002).][This message has been edited by badboybob (edited 04-06-2002).]
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  • whiteclouderwhiteclouder Member Posts: 10,574 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    HeDog:Boy howdy. Seventy yards to the outhouse and that changed somehow to 170 when it was -20 and the wind was blowing. Hard seats that curved always in the wrong place were the norm in school, fastened to runners, in rows, one behind the other. No audio/visual aids except a milky-white chalkboard and me with bad eyes anyway. Coal stove to heat the house that was either so fiery hot you couldn't approach it, or panting its last breath cuz it was so cold nobody wanted to get up and stoke it.Nope, I like now.Clouder..
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  • RembrandtRembrandt Member Posts: 4,486 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    PBS will be running a show this month where 3 families try to live in the "good Ol'days" and find out just how hard it really is...should be an interesting show. Click below to see previews..... http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/
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  • UnclePatUnclePat Member Posts: 77 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ahhhh, the good ol' days...when men were men, and women were...grateful!
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  • sandman2234sandman2234 Member Posts: 894 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Guess you know that I am only 46... and the wife, well she turns 40 next May. But I still like to hang around people who know all these things.
    Have Gun, will travel
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  • OtomanOtoman Member Posts: 554 ✭
    edited November -1
    Good Post Sandman, Calling someone Sir today sounds way to formal but I called a young that was a car hop Sir today. I guess we all slip up now and then...When I was about 3 I remember sitting on the rain barrel and letting my Aunt cut my hair and I I was good I got to go swimming with the adults in the pond for my reward....
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  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,105 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    There were a lot of good things in the old days but I would hesitate to call them the good old days. I think families were a little closer. There was less planned entertainment so when Saturday night came and the whole family went to town it was a shared adventure.White Clouder pinned it with that cold path story. Our out house was probably the cleanest in the neighborhood. It even had a linoleum seat. You don't waste much time there in the winter. We lived about 50 miles from Kansas City and about once a year we took a trip there. When you got within 20 miles of K.C. you could see the haze and start smelling the manufacturing plants and the stock yards. Now when you go there it's on an interstate highway in an air conditioned car. The air is clean and so's the town. Now with the modern conveniences, electronics, good wages etc. life can be much easier even if not simpler. Sometimes we just are so busy trying to keep up all of our toys we lose sight of the good things around us. Family, dogs and pets, smelling a rain, closing your eyes and feeling the sun in the spring.I'll bet some of you younger guys are going to look back on now and say "Those were sure the good old days." I don't think the geezers have exclusive use to the good days.
    "It's great to be great, but it's greater to be human." Will Rogers
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  • almagunsalmaguns Member Posts: 88 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    How's this for " THE GOOD OLD DAYS" We used to go duck hunting before school then stash our guns in the Ag. room and get them after school for the evening flight. Try that now. If we were late a good morning flight was a valid excuse.
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  • almagunsalmaguns Member Posts: 88 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    How's this for " THE GOOD OLD DAYS" We used to go duck hunting before school then stash our guns in the Ag. room and get them after school for the evening flight. Try that now. If we were late a good morning flight was a valid excuse.
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  • bartobarto Member Posts: 4,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    in grades 1-2-3 we had 6 grades in one room, one teacher. it seemed like bedlam a lot of the time but i dont think i could have gotten a better start anywhere else.i guess you soak up some of the upper grades lessons by osmosis. never forget mrs. watkins.
    the hard stuff we do right away - the impossible takes a little longer
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  • .280 freak.280 freak Member Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Barto -I shared a VERY similar experience. My first through third grades were spent in a one room school also. Only difference was that we had 8 grades and one teacher. I think that you were correct on the part about learning by osmosis!We had electricity, but no running water, just a hand pump out front of the school to pump drinking water with. Two outhouses out back, one for the boys, one for the girls. Stealing a first kiss from one of the girls, let's see, was it Debbie or Mary Ann, can't remember, behind the cloakroom door! Ah, memories!Guess it's official, I'm a geezer.
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  • gskyhawkgskyhawk Member Posts: 4,773
    edited November -1
    barto and 280 you guys must be alittle bit older than i am but i can recall most of that stuff, when i was in 8th grade we moved to Neb. in Jan. of 72, there was 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade all in one room with one teacher, learned more in that one winter than i ever did any time else in school
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  • mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    How many of you "geezers" remember where you were on 12/7/41? I do. I also remember where my father was....Pearl. Scary for a few days.Anybody remember:Ration stamps and tokens (For gas and food.) Combat aircraft silhouettesScrap drivesAir raid drills and blackoutsThe people we were fighting were "Nips" and "Krauts"Going to the movies (for 15 cents) to see Duke, Gene, Roy, Hoppy, Randolph Scott, "Lash" LaRue, Bob Steele, "Spy Smasher" and "Capt. America" serialsNewsreels about stuff that happened a month agoThat'll about do it for now. I have to go work on the old time machine.Mudge the geezer
    I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
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  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I remember Mudge. Looke like you're an old fart just like me.
    PC=BS
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  • .280 freak.280 freak Member Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Nah, I ain't really that old, according to the calendar, anyway! Just feel old, some days. Hell, in 1941, I wasn't even a gleam in the old man's eye, yet.The one room school I went to for the first three grades was one of the last ones still in operation around these parts. The building was moved a few miles after it was no longer needed as a schoolhouse. The guy that bought the building converted it into a gun store, and had a gunsmithing practice there for a number of years. The place is still there, but hasn't been in operation for some time now.
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  • concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ha ha, in 1941 my dad wasn't even a gleam in HIS dad's eyes yet! I'm only 29, so I never experienced a lot of what you guys are talking about. But, I can tell you I wish that some of the things you mentioned were still around today. On Friday I went to a local church to donate blood. B- type is somewhat rare so I like to give whenever possible (incase I get in an accident maybe my own donations will be there!!!).Anyway, I found out that I have high blood-pressure. At 29?! Life is too hectic these days, too much pressure and stress. Hell, it's been years since I slept in until I no longer felt like sleeping. Bills, commitments, meetings, it never ends.I do remember spending the summers in Northern Michigan with my grandpa, though. While it was only about 20 years ago I used to get up and go to the work with him (he ran a local bait shop), fish all day at the pier, then come home and wander through the woods exploring or go fishing for trout in the river. That was about as close as I've ever come to the "good ole days".G36
    Gun Control Disarms Victims, NOT Criminals
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  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,105 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I went to a one room school, 8 grades one teacher. Outside toilets, coal and horse shed, coal furnace. The year I got to the eighth grade they installed inside restrooms and a stoker on the coal furnace. They also split the room with a folding curtain and got a second teacher. Ultra modern yeah!There were only three boys in my eighth grade class, so we went together with two other schools to have a graduation ceremony. There were a total of 9 graduates.Where I live now I have a coal shed from a one room school left on my property.
    "It's great to be great, but it's greater to be human." Will Rogers
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Heck Clouder, you had it easy! According to my Mom, it was even tougher in the 20's and 30's. Why according to her, she walked to school three miles in snow two feet deep (winter and summer) and it was uphill both ways! I seem to remember something about holes in her shoes with peices of cardboard stuck in to keep the snow out.Here is a little known fact: The incidence of black widow spider bites declined markedly in the last half of the 20th Century. Previously, most bites occured on the genitals and buttocks. Guess what changed. Guess it would have been a danger in the winter too, if anything hung down at-20!
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