Black and White TV

[slusher]

Those was good and simple times. Taking coke bottles to the store for deposit and getting candy chips.Dad Buying matchbox cars at the drug store out of the big display case that could be turned. No reality programs just great tv shows. Parents use to buy some type of worm medicine and give us as kids. We said the pledge of allegiance everyday. I grew up in Chicago

Edited December 17, 2014 by slusher

[High octane]

You're a VERY lucky person Carl to have grown up in Chicago, as I know that I am.

[Harry P.]

You're a VERY lucky person Carl to have grown up in Chicago, as I know that I am.

I grew up in Chicago, too. Lived in the city until our son was born. Then we moved to the 'burbs. But I have nothing but great memories of growing up in the city as a kid. But the city I grew up in is a bit different than the city today. Times change, and not always for the better.

[angelo7]

And don't forget our Daisy BB Guns.

[Danno]

Remember the great TV shows we used to watch as a family? Hysterically funny jokes, gags, and bits . . . without every other line containing a foul word or a reference to genitalia. How was humor so funny before comedians discovered potty-mouths?

(We wear out the nostalgia channels finding great old shows to watch. Refreshing!)

[jdean]

well this thread makes me feel at home, bad thing I am probably the oldest of the bunch (72). I was in the forth grade before we got a tv,we had 3 channels .I walked to school, was in third grade before i got my first bike.raisedby the best parents one could ask for, not much mone but plenty of love

[Tom Geiger]

I had a strange upbringing since my father was a US Army officer and we lived in different countries. In the time frame where everyone was experiencing a lot of great stuff, we lived in Izmir, Turkey which was still in the stone age. There was no TV, nothing to buy, sparse air conditioning (and it was sooo hot!), and no refrigeration in the markets. The US Forces had one radio station that played old radio shows, and we listened to those for entertainment, like the generation before me had done. We read books, played with our friends, and took very good care of our toys since there was no replacing them. And we thought Coca Cola was meant to be drank warm.

We got back to the USA in 1968 and it was sensory overload. So much to do and see. We caught up on TV in reruns, dove into Hot Wheels and model cars! We thought it odd to drink cold Coke because it hurt our teeth. We learned about pizza.

But in 1969 it was off to Europe. A little better because we had one US TV station that played reruns from the year before. There was German TV if you could learn to watch the Brady Bunch in German. We could buy our Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars on the local market. There were some model car offerings but very expensive.

We returned to the USA for good in 1972 and again got absorbed into things kids took for granted like McDonalds and Burger King, which hadn't penetrated the Euro markets back then. And again we had to catch up on TV. We discovered that the Bradys indeed spoke English, although they had different voices. And I remember my first trip to Two Guys department store that had a good hobby department. I almost died seeing an entire aisle of model cars. And after pining for US muscle cars and funny car models for years, what was the first model I bought stateside? Revell Porsche 914! I had wanted it when I saw it in a German hobby shop for the equivalent of $10 so I never could afford it. Here it was for $2.50 so I couldn't resist!

Edited December 18, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Harry P.]

Remember the great TV shows we used to watch as a family? Hysterically funny jokes, gags, and bits . . . without every other line containing a foul word or a reference to genitalia.

Yep. Back when funny didn't rely on toilet humor. These days what passes for "comedy" is pretty pathetic. And what's even worse is that the general public eats it up.

[Tom Geiger]

. without every other line containing a foul word or a reference to genitalia.

Isn't that the Italian airline?

[LoneWolf15]

Rich ..... A few more ?

Thirsty after playing baseball ? Went to your buddy's house and drank out of the hose . Walked everywhere , even to school up until my junior year . Played in the woods and fields , drank out of fresh water springs , ate fruit from off the trees , gathered it up and took it home to our moms so they could make desserts .

Baseball cards , built models , Tarzan swings out over dizzying heights , raced big wheels down steep hills . Cartoons on Saturday till 9 am and then out the door , B/ W TV of coarse . Hunted , fished , camped out , all from the time we were 13 years old and on .... Jumped trains to ride from one town to another as we became older .

No seatbelts , no helmets , etc .... How did we ever survive ? Lmao !

[High octane]

You nailed it Harry as the city is a LOT different than it was back in the 50's & 60's, which I thought were just great. I wouldn't have wanted to spend those years anywhere else.

[Ramfins59]

Yeah Donn, flipping baseball cards, pitching coins against a wall, stickball & hitting a 3 sewer shot with a brand new "Spaldeen" (Spaulding hard pink rubber ball), building a soapbox scooter with 2 X 4's & roller skate wheels, 10 cent comic books and nickel candy bars, ... Shoveling sidewalks and driveways after a snowfall to make some money, Chocolate sodas (pop) and real, fresh-made Black Raspberry ice cream cones on Saturday afternoon after shopping with Mom.

One of my best memories as a kid is an old Italian guy who would push a Hot Dog cart around the neighborhood..... Mom would throw me down a quarter from our 4th floor apartment window in upper Manhattan, NY, and for that quarter I'd get 2 Hot Dogs with mustard and onions in a red sauce and an orange drink.... gourmet food for a 9 year old kid..!!

[von Zipper]

My parents didn't get a color TV until I was 6-7 years old. Even then a lot of TV shows and the news was still broadcasted in black and white. The man on the news would smoke cigarettes while doing his broadcast.

Even though there were only 4 or 5 channels -some time after mid night the channel would play the Star Spangled Banner then sign off for the night-the screen went to a test pattern until morning.

This is a great topic, Richard

Had this playing while I was reading this- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3tikxwAXyg

[slusher]

You're a VERY lucky person Carl to have grown up in Chicago, as I know that I am.

I have some great memories Nick..

I grew up in Chicago, too. Lived in the city until our son was born. Then we moved to the 'burbs. But I have nothing but great memories of growing up in the city as a kid. But the city I grew up in is a bit different than the city today. Times change, and not always for the better.

I have to agree with you Harry, I have some great memories of growing up in the city. I know Chicago not the same as when I was a kid over 30 years ago. I always planed on moving back but married a girl from Missouri and her parents are from this area so it grew on me here. Its like living in the burbs except I miss the food and my Cub games at Wrigley field. I married a Cardinal fan also..

[BirdWatcher]

I remember being the remote control for my dad, before we had remote control. Milk in glass bottles delivered by a cool old guy named Clarence that would drive me around the block in his truck, standing up front open door and all. The helms truck coming around to spoil my appetite. We had to start locking our front door when Richard Ramirez the Nightstalker was roaming around, I never had a key to the front door until then.

[mnwildpunk]

Just barely under 40 so I must be on the cusp of it cuz I remember many things you say. Many thing I remember is saying the pledge in my younger yrs but not in high school I do remember I drove probably the oldest car in class a 1941 chevy coupe that I hacked together from yes a mercury comet/ maverick 302 grabber and a lot of (sigh) bad hack work. Four wheel discs and a chain for a tranny mount. But things were different then imo things I did I wouldn't let my stepson attempt! My dad was of the school (well lets see what will happen) after college I am a more safety conscious then my dad but am still a bit from the school of well he needs to learn from his mistakes

[1930fordpickup]

If an adult told you to do something you better do it. None of that you are not my parent stuff.

Teachers had the right to spank you if you were bad. You might get another one when you get home.

The farmers had loaded shotguns in the back windows of their unlocked trucks (this was in the 80's) and had a pocket knife or one on their belt.

Most of us had a pocket knife come to think of it.

[southpier]

summer vacation wasn't complete without poison ivy and a tetanus shot

[oldscool]

Red Skelton

[Crazy Ed]

Our Family didn't get a Color Set until I was a Jr. in High School. All the neighborhood kids'd go over to The kid's house that had a Color Set to watch the Disney's Wonderful World of Color and later the Origonal Star Trek.

I grew up in the North end of the San Fernando Valley and to watch the First Super Bowl my dad made an antenna that was mounted on a wooded ladder in the front yard from plans in the Newspaper so we could catch the signal from San Diego as it was Blacked Out in the LA area. The only Cable used forTV back then was the Power Cable

[unclescott58]

We did not have a color TV when I was growing up in the 1960's and early 70's. My folks got their first color TV after I was out of house. I too have a lot of fond memories growing up in the 60's. Now I work with kids, and I don't think its really any worst for them today. It's just different. No better. No worst. And most kids are still turning out just fine. There are the screwed up kids out there, but there were back in my day too. I remember being afraid of the bullies. Kids in my day used drugs, smoked cigarettes, shop lifted, vandalized, and did other stupid stuff that adults would tell you they never did back in their day. Yet there were plenty of concerns and movies made about juvenile delinquents going back into the 1930's that I know of. By the way, I find it interesting that worst school massacre/killing in U.S. history happened in Bath, Michigan back in the late 1920's.

The more things change. The more they stay the same.

Scott

[Tom Geiger]

The more things change. The more they stay the same.

Scott

I wish I could find the quote, but someone I knew once had a plaque with a long quote about how kids today are lazy, show no respect to their elders and are going to hell in a hand basket... it was signed by one of the ancient Roman or Greek writers... written around 2000 years ago. Some things never change.

[unclescott58]

I wish I could find the quote, but someone I knew once had a plaque with a long quote about how kids today are lazy, show no respect to their elders and are going to hell in a hand basket... it was signed by one of the ancient Roman or Greek writers... written around 2000 years ago. Some things never change.

The quote your think of is credited to Socrates by Plato. It's worth looking up. Every generation, I'm sure way before Socrates has thought the same things about the upcoming youth. Things never really change, or so it seems. The kid are and will be okay. This has been going on forever. And we'll mostly keep see our youth through rose colored glasses.

Scott

[Harry P.]

I remember the junkman coming through the alley once a week. And the produce guy through the alley once a week... in a horse-drawn wagon! For real! This was in the mid '60s... probably the end of the line for that sort of thing, but I remember it. Also the guy that came through the alley once in a while and sharpened your scissors and kitchen knives for you.

To this day, and I don't know why... but I distinctly remember the produce guy when he would come down the alley. I remember him yelling out "Freestone peaches, four pounds, one dollar!" I remember that clearly to this day, yet I have no idea why that particular memory is so strong.

[wayne swayze]

We got our bread, milk and ice for the ancient ice box delivered by guys in wagons pulled by horses. You could leave your milk bottles on the front porch with a list of what you wanted, along with cash for the items. It never got stolen. The milkman always took a break in front of our house, and put the feed-bag on the horse. Man, those were sure the innocent days, but what great memories!