How Old Are You

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I remember the Apollo 11 moon landing, though it is a pretty vague memory and I was supposedly pretty grumpy because it was late at night and I was a very tired little boy.

I remember seeing the Vietnam War covered regularly on the nighty news, with a reporter reporting from the field. Again, I was pretty little and didn't know what to make of it all.

I remember staying home with a baby sitter while my parents went out to see an X-rated film. I wonder if it was "Behind the Green Door," since the timing would have been about right.

I remember when Herpes was thought of as the worst STD to get.

I remember staying at the homes of older relatives during vacations; the washing machines they had had open tops and roller ringers mounted to the sides (there was no spin dry). My mom explained how you had to fold clothes a certain way with the buttons on the inside before running them through the ringer, or the buttons would pop off and shoot across the room. She also explained that with older model ringers, if you got your fingers caught they would pull your whole arm in and mangle you or kill you. These newer model ringer were made to pop open if something as big as your arm tried to go through. She would not let me put any clothes through the ringer.

[WendyNY]

Great topic Square !!!

I remember when Elvis died. He was coming to perform in our town. I begged my mother to let me see him.He died just before the concert.

I used to listen to his music. My Dad had a lot of old 45's and I would play them on my record player . It was white and red and it was built inside a special

case you could carry.

I remember 8 track tape players and CB radios.

I remember when we had "Party Lines". I would listen in to the other person sharing our phone line.

I remember walking to school when I was 5. (something you would never let your kids do now. ) I walked a long way for being that little.

I remember playing outside all day long in the summers. We would leave early in the morning and come back just before dinner.

Our parents never checked on us and there were no cell phones then !

I put a lot of miles on my bicycle !!

I think life was much simpler then even though I love the age I am now.

Whenever I hear a certain song or smell a certain fragrance (leaves, snow, grass) it reminds me of a certain time in my life.

I can't wait to read what others will write about.

[Tyger]

I'll be 40 in May.

I remember Big Wheels, roller skating, Trans-Ams were THE car to have/want. I remember Green Stamps, rotary phones, riding my bike while listening to my Walkman, hair bands where the tough men looked more like women, big hair, parachute pants, polyester, neon colored clothes that sometimes even changed color, Addidas sneakers with no laces, the birth of rap, the emerging and big scare of AIDES, We Are The World, tv's you actually had to get up to channels, the birth of home movie watching via VCRs, Oregon Trail in simple green and black blipping graphics, the first Space Shuttle Explosion, cars that talked to you, and the death of disco.

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Seeing Saturday Night Fever when it came out. I was barely a teenager and my parents took me. There was a scene with a stripper showing her breasts, and I was horrified and mortified, sitting there next to my parents. I glanced sideways at them without moving my head, wondering what they were thinking, but they didn't flinch.

I remember the Empire State Building being the tallest in the world; and later seeing the World Trade Center going up, watching from a spot 15 miles away in NJ. TV channels only went from 2 to 13, with only half of them having a station. The pictures on the upper channels would hardly come in if it rained. The first handheld calculators cost $350. Six or seven years later you could get a model for $20 that did almost as much.

WWII vets were in their 60s, some in their 50s; Korean War vets were in their 40s or 50s; and Vietnam War vets were in their 30s.

My mom had a car with a flat floor across the whole back seat. I could stand up back there without hitting my head.

Taking family driving trips to the midwest states before there was much of an Interstate Highway System in place. Roadside motels with paper thin walls were the norm for overnights; you had to leave a 50-cent deposit for the room key. A stay at a Howard Johnson's was a treat. Gas cost about 30 or 35 cents a gallon. Esso was still around.

[ReadyToMoveOn]

Probably one of my earliest memories as a child which has anything to do with Our American History, was hearing JFK had been shot, I was just a toddler, but I do recall seeing my Mothers reaction as the TV announced the news....

I remember Texaco gasoline at 29 cents a gallon (this was in the South at the time), I remember going into a grocery store and trading a RC cola bottle for some candy cigarettes, not rolling up your car windows as you went into the store much less locking your front door at night.

I remember Henry Aaron of the Atlanta Braves breaking Babe Ruths Home Run record vs, the LA Dodgers I remember the Apollo XI lunar landing..

I remember Elvis was/is the king of Rock n Roll...

I remember Jimmy Carter and his flawed presidency which led to the Iran hostage taking, only to be released on Ronald Reagan's 1st day as President.

I guess I go back a bit...

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The CB radio comments made me smile. For a while there it seemed everyone had to have a "handle," whether they had a CB radio or not. Bookstores sold CB lingo dictionaries. And I wondered why Smokey Bear meant a police officer instead of a firefighter.

I remember phone numbers were a word and a number, then four more numbers, like "MUrray hill 5 - 5473" (The name was some sort of telephone exchange name, and the first two letters corresponded to the first two numbers of the phone number). Postage stamps were 11 cents. Choo-choo train passenger cars had windows that opened instead of air conditioning, and toilets that just dumped straight out onto the tracks. On long car trips, curling up to sleep in the back seat foot well with my legs tucked under the front seat; man, if we ever crashed I woulda lost my legs. The announcement of Lynden Johnson's death over the radio; they interrupted the music for a special announcemnt. We had relatives living outside Washington D.C. that had a steel bomb shelter in their basement; I guess that's what people had built into their homes during the height of the Cold War. Gasonline shortages and implementation of the 55 mph national speed limit; it made those two-day summer vacation drives a lot longer. Most tractor trailer cabs were cab-over-engine style. Farrah Fawcett bed sheets. Cigarettes could be bought from a vending machine. People dressed up to get on a jet airliner. Hippies. Predictions that another ice age might be coming.

[mudshark]

Probably one of my earliest memories as a child which has anything to do with Our American History, was hearing JFK had been shot, I was just a toddler, but I do recall seeing my Mothers reaction as the TV announced the news.... I remember Texaco gasoline at 29 cents a gallon (this was in the South at the time), I remember going into a grocery store and trading a RC cola bottle for some candy cigarettes, not rolling up your car windows as you went into the store much less locking your front door at night. I remember Henry Aaron of the Atlanta Braves breaking Babe Ruths Home Run record vs, the LA Dodgers I remember the Apollo XI lunar landing.. I remember Elvis was/is the king of Rock n Roll... I remember Jimmy Carter and his flawed presidency which led to the Iran hostage taking, only to be released on Ronald Reagan's 1st day as President. I guess I go back a bit...

I may have about 5 years on you, I think. (I'm 58). But, I do remember watching Oswald's assassination by Jack Ruby live on television with my parents. Will never forget that. When JFK was shot, I was eight. Mom and I were in Dr's waiting room. Suddenly, I noticed all the women go silent and most started weeping. Won't forget that either.

[ladylove]

Old enough to know better and not to care.

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Old enough to know better and not to care.

C'mon, this is your chance to pass on a snippet of what life was like back in the day, to those who weren't around.

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It was normal and accepted for a smoker to come into the home of a non-smoker and smoke. The non-smokers kept ashtrays on hand for such occassions.

Candy cigarettes for the kids. Tubes of chocolate wrapped in paper, and which came in a case like a cigarette case. And kids in 3rd grade art class would make pottery ashtrays.

Toothpaste tubes were made of metal isntead of plastic.

Not being allowed outside to play when the rains brought radioactive fallout from a Chinese nuclear test that had gone off two weeks earlier. (Don't remember if being kept inside was just during the rain or for some number of days afterwards.)

[12GAUGE]

Great topic Square !!!

I remember when Elvis died. He was coming to perform in our town. I begged my mother to let me see him.He died just before the concert.

I used to listen to his music. My Dad had a lot of old 45's and I would play them on my record player . It was white and red and it was built inside a special

case you could carry.

I remember 8 track tape players and CB radios.

I remember when we had "Party Lines". I would listen in to the other person sharing our phone line.

I remember walking to school when I was 5. (something you would never let your kids do now. ) I walked a long way for being that little.

I remember playing outside all day long in the summers. We would leave early in the morning and come back just before dinner.

Our parents never checked on us and there were no cell phones then !

I put a lot of miles on my bicycle !!

I think life was much simpler then even though I love the age I am now.

Whenever I hear a certain song or smell a certain fragrance (leaves, snow, grass) it reminds me of a certain time in my life.

I can't wait to read what others will write about.

I barely remember 8 tracks. Tho my last job my Foreman had an 8 track in his work truck. Of the 4 or 5 old style boom boxes I have only 2 will play CD's and they will play cassette tapes.

The first house I lived in I walked 2 miles each way to school. We moved to a new house when I was about to enter 3rd grade. It was about 6 blocks to my new grade school. Grades kindergarten to 6th grade. No middle schools back then.

In the summer we played outside all day too. The big rule was be home before dark or CALL HOME. TBT I can't remember ever missing dinner around 6 in summer time. My Mom was a great cook. I rode my bike everywhere. When I was about 12 I learned how to ride the bus downtown. This opened up my world to all of the wonderful Army-Navy Surplus stores not to mention hobby stores. I built ARMOR models in 1/35th scale.

I remember America back then as a mostly happy place. The really bad kids at school got caught for shooting spit wads with rubber bands, pulling a girls hair or talking in class. Back then no one would have ever brought a gun to school. We all said 'I Pledge Allegiance' every morning right after the first bell. I watched Leave It To Beaver in black and white when the show was brand new. When I disobeyed I got a spanking. If I was Real Bad I got the Belt.

I was in 5th grade and at school the day JFK was shot. The teacher told us we would have a quiet time for a minute or 2. I probably prayed. Other people were crying. I'm trying not to cry but not having much luck.

I have a CB radio in my truck now. No cell phone.

[RC4BLUE]

Old enough to know better, young enough to not care.

Old enough to remember Apollo, hair bands, and the turn to politics of fear.

Young enough to still play hard, enjoy life, and be sex positive.

[12GAUGE]

I remember I was a senior in high school and watching the Lottery Draft on TV. They took the first 121 birthday guys. My birthday was picked number 122. Two years later I enlisted. Gas was about 32 cents a gallon. The Mobil station where Dad bought gas gave away Melmac dishes if you filled up enough coupon books. I still have some Melmac dishes in my kitchen.

I didn't have my own color TV till Christmas 1979. I drove a 1959 Chev Apache pickup back then. I shot Black Powder guns back then for fun. The summer of 1979 I scored a year round job and worked there 11 1/2 years. Gas was around 75 cents to a dollar a gallon. At the time I'd lived in a small town surrounded by dairy and crop farms for 4 years.

Thirty four years later I still live in that small town and I'm 61. My hair is the longest it's ever been and about 8 years ago I discovered I could grow a Fu Manchu and 'stache and my hair is mostly gray.

[Sunshine Sam218]

I'll be 31 in February.

When I grew up I still remember all the 80's cartoons, playing with My Little Ponies and I loved Rainbow Brite.

Still remember playing with the Fisher Price kitchen set and playing in the woods.

Loved alternative rock/Grunge music and loved watching Nickelodean and The X-Files.

My favorite activity was skating at the rollerink and riding my bike in the neighborhood.

Still to this day I still feel young at heart.

[Kinky Twinkie]

Beatle cartoons and hippy vans, boy this was one thread I not sure was a good read(LOL)

Glenn

[12GAUGE]

It's kind of off topic but I don't care. Usually I'm in a pretty decent mood. I've been fairly surly the last 2 weeks now.

Last year I lucked into a pro freedom website by accident following a link from somewhere else. I've been there a tad over 14 months now and have over 4,000 posts there. I have a lot of time on my hands these days so I spend most of my time there. I've made some good friends there. Folks who I'd be fine with them as my next door neighbors.

I'll be 62 in July and I'm seriously considering getting my ponytail cut off. I've come to learn why some women wear their hair short. Taking care of long hair is a real drag.

[Tyger]

Yes 12, long hair can be a PITA at times. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. The good thing about hair, if you cut it off, it will grow back.

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Was paying a credit card bill a couple of days ago and I thought, "I remember when Mastercard was called Mastercharge, and the commercials announcing the switchover."

[Rio]

reading some of the things on here is quite reminiscent of my childhood. Remember growing up in New Jersey and going out early in the morning and playing all day long. My mom would just say come back when the street lights come on. Can't Do that today

[kanga grey]

i remember Apollo 11 the Beatles break up Vietnam war every night on the news also here in Australia we to were told to come home when the street lights come on not these days  it sucks