We got to wear snow pants on snow days. You know, the kind that matched your winter coat and they made that swish swish noise every time you took a step? But they went underneath our dresses. When we got to school, we'd take the pants off and lay them on the heater to dry out.
Posted by: Tosca
Date posted: Tue Jan 8 20:47:20 2008
Message:
I remember when we had one phone in the house. And my mother would yell "SHHHHHHHHH! It's LONG DISTANCE! "
I remember we had a magnifying glass thing a magig in front of our tv screen to make the picture seem bigger. We only got a few channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. We had antennas on top of the house. If you were really fancy, you had a contraption that rotated the antenna so you could pick up some stations more clearly. In those days, we actually sat down for an entire hour and watched one show. No switching around. Maybe that's why older people have a better capacity to focus for longer periods of time. We weren't raised on 3 minute Sesame Street skits, media sound bites and the ability to surf channels during a commercial.
We played outside unless it was raining or the temperature was below freezing. My mom would say "GET OUTSIDE!" We'd play board games outside, Barbies, we'd play "Army", make forts in the woods, take walks along the powerlines for hours - and never had cell phones to check in to say we were ok. We had to be home when the streetlights turned on.
When we answered the phone we had to give our full name, "Hello, this is Mary Elizabeth Johnson. Who is this, please?" Now it's not a smart thing to reveal your name when answering the phone. Since there was no such thing as call waiting, or caller ID, our phone calls were limited to, like 4 minutes, just in case someone was trying to call us. Of course, in an emergency, you could call the operator and ask her to cut into the conversation.
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We only had the one phone, too--and the short telephone cord, so if you were a pacer, you were in trouble :) We loved board games, army and barbies. In the summer, we were allowed to go back outside and play after the street lights came on. The kids in the neighborhood would play night time hide and seek and the borders were our house and the houses on either side (whose owners gave us permission to play on their yard). It was a lot of fun. eom, Shannon L.
Yes, in the summer we could play outside after dinner. We also played hide and seek, as well as kick the can. Or caught lightening bugs, played freeze tag etc. Sometimes when my Dad cooked on the grill (real charcoal briquettes) we'd roast marshmallows over the coals when he was done.
This is a fun topic! I remember being in Kansas at my cousins catching lightning bugs in a jar!! It was fasinating to a California girl!! Also the short phone cords!! : ) I have this photo (black and white) of me sitting on the floor in the kitchen... with my hair in big rollers trying to get some privacy!! Outside was where we were all the time (weather permitting) I wish my grandchildren had less electronic simuli! I think they are missing out on alot of creative fun!! TDQ
TDQ, my three granddaughters live in Long Beach, CA. When we go back to the midwest one of their favorite activities is catching fireflies./mm
I love all these rememberings. I used to love cutting out and playing with paperdolls. /// Bd
Oh mann I was really into paper dolls myself! I waited patiently for McCalls magazine to come in the mail as I loved Betsy McCall!! The Mary Engelbert Magazine's ( Home Companion) have some really cute paper dolls in each issue....I save them all for when my grandaughter comes to visit!! (I think I like them more than she does!) TDQ
So California doesn't have fireflies? I had no idea! //ltv
Not that I've ever seen and I have lived here my whole life! TDQ
Nope, no fireflies in CA. Altho my daughter had some fake ones put in her back yard. She hired the guy who did the ones at Disneyland./mm
My stepbrother told me there weren't any thunderstorms in California. Or at least they were rare. Is that true? He always loved coming to the east coast, hoping for a thunderstorm!
I always hope for a really good thunderstorm when I go back east, too! They are so rare here, that when I hear one good clap of thunder I give a good shout. Then, that's usually followed by one or two more and it's done....One night, about two years ago, loud thunderstorms rolled through my area all night long and I was exhausted the next day because I lay awake all night just listening to them. *That* was extremely rare. As for the fireflies, because of my children's school schedule, we never make it back east in time to see them. They are all gone by the time we get there and it makes me sad that my kids will never experience them. I hope that when they grow up, they visit their family back east and don't feel too old to go out and catch some fireflies. I want them to do that at least once in their lives. eom, Shannon L.
Shannon, I live in Illinois so I get to enjoy the thunderstorms. I love to watch the lightning in the distance and listen for the rumble of the thunder. I remember when my brothers and I would go out to the shop during a thunderstorm so we could hear the rain on the tin roof and watch the storm. I don't have tin roof where I live so I miss that. /Sammie
Posted by: lifetimeviewer
Date posted: Tue Jan 8 20:09:18 2008
Message:
I remember making aluminum "flags" for the TV antena. I remember when you gave your phone number as "Express 7-8953 or Adams 4-7160. I remember when soda bottles were glass and were returned for a deposit (usually 2 cents). In fact I remember walking all over the small town where my cousins lived and collecting discarded bottles to turn in for the deposit and then taking that "fortune" to the penny candy store and pigging out.
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I remember the alumininum flags and the glass soda bottles, too. And in regards to the tv, how many times did you hear , while someone was adusting the picture for you ''it comes in better while you are holding it--could you just stand there for a half hour'' ? :) eom, Shannon L.
Morning ltv! I remember those too! We must be from the same era!! TDQ
Television was fairly new when I was a teenager. I used to baby sit and always hated it when the stations (there were only 3) went off the air. They would always play the national anthem. Gotta tell, time just crawled by until the parents got home./mm
Posted by: trkdrvrsqueen
Date posted: Tue Jan 8 19:24:58 2008
Message:
I remember when we had a party line telephone!
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My grandmother had a party line for a long time. I had to remember to not answer the phone if it was the wrong ring and if I wanted to make a phone call, to listen for voices before dialing. eom, Shannon L.
I was raised by my Grandmother and it was her telephone that I remember it on! I think it was a 4 party line! TDQ
