No I wasn't around in the 50's but a lot of this was still the way we lived in the country outside of a small town in the 60's and 70's. It is fun to be reminded of all the things we did as families back then. Enjoy.
I WAS around in the 50s. I remember going to the mom and pop corner grocery store (no super grocery stores back then) and buying penny candy from a large round glass jar from the owner I knew by name and he knew my name and asked about the family. I remember 5 cent cokes and candy bars. I remember going to the movies every Saturday morning and watching the weekly serials and the main attraction and the smell of the concession stand where you could by a large dill pickle for a dime and if you didn't have that much you could pay 5 cents and get a cup of pickle juice.
I remember when you opened the doors on the TV cabinet to watch TV and the stations weren't on the air all day. A lot of times you turned it on and got the big Indian chief test signal. I remember Indian Chief writing tablets, Ding Dong School, Mr. Wizard and Captain Midnight.
I remember one phone in the house and getting all excited when the operator connected a long distance call! You had to talk louder on those because the sound quality wasn't very good. I remember passenger planes with propellers and the thrill of seeing my first DC 8 jet passenger plane when grandpa came to visit.
I remember my mother shopping for clothes and paying cash for everything because the only credit card was Diners Club and you used that for eating out. You had to pay the full balance each month. If you didn't have enough cash to pay for something, you put it on layaway and paid for it over time and didn't get until it was paid for.
I remember getting mail TWICE and day and waiting for something I'd sent in box tops for. "That's OK, if it didn't come this morning, maybe it will come this afternoon," my mother would say. I remember a morning paper and an afternoon paper and the network evening news was 15 minutes with film from around the word, sometimes days late because it had to be flown to New York in an airplane.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane, Viking.
P.S. American Graffiti was supposed to be a single night in August 1962.
Strange that I distinctly remember it being delivered twice a day but in researching I find articles that say twice-a-day delivery was discontinued in 1950. I wonder if that was my mother pulling my leg.
.25/pack of cigarettes...coupons/stamps on cigarette packs redeemable for gifts, etc...walking everywhere...stickball till dusk on the street where we lived...coal being delivered through the basement...RUNNING AND PLAYING OUTDOORS FROM SUNUP TO SUNDOWN! :swinging:
