I am so old I remember........

[WobblySam]

I remember:
Red Skelton as Freddie The Freeloader (there are many of them nowadays) and Jackie Gleason as the bartender in his weekly show.
The Andy Williams Show, The Perry Como Show, The Lawrence Welk Show and Sing Along With Mitch.
My Three Sons, Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet (later known as The Nelson Family), Mr. Ed, My Favorite Martian, Hulk, I Dream of Geanie (Geanie was really, really, very, very hot), Bewitched, The Honeymooners, The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle USMC, Get Smart, Hazel, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Perry Mason, The Patti Duke Show.
American Bandstand, Shindig and Hullaballoo.
The original game shows like The Price Is Right, Let's Make A Deal, What's My Line.
Nightline with Tedd Koppel and his very hairy wig.
What I consider the funniest show of all times, All In The Family, with Archie, Edith, Gloria and "Meathead".
I never missed any of them except Hazel and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington which I didn't really like.

Yep, me too - along with Gidget - followed by the Flying Nun a few years later and Peyton Place - my older sister got to choose. And first run episodes of Bonanza on Sunday Nights. NBC's had the big "Saturday Night at the Movies" in the 60s too.

And our telephone was on a "Party line" - we shared the line with 2 other families in the neighborhood.

 

[onwardjames]

Some things I recall....

Warner Brothers and my old green rocking chair + big bag of Reeses Cups on Saturday morning. If i awoke early enough, Superfriends.

Listening to Reagan's inaugural speech.

Riding my banana seat bike with all the other kids in the neighborhood for HOURS unsupervised.

Getting duct tape applied to my lips because I was talking in class. Paddlings. Other forms of what we now call "abuse".

Being in line to see Superman, only to find out it was sold out. Saw "Every Which Way But Loose" which was pretty damn good. Me and Pop. I was 5, but I remember every detail of that day.

Cat turds in my sandbox.

I remember when 18 year olds could drink. I was tiny, but I remember thinking how bad it'd suck if they changed it the day before your 18th.

Seeing baby chickens dyed every type color and sold at the local convenience mart (which always sold vinyl as well....Black Sabbath Mob Rules and AC/DC Highway To Hell both scared me senseless!)

I remember going to the local bike shop....HUNDREDS of nice models, and dad said "Pick one...." not my model, but its predecessor. And I didn't own a helmet.

 

[Sandy G]

Those colored chicks & ducks were kinda sposed to DIE a day or 2 after Easter because, let's face it, what IS a suburban kid gonna DO w/a chicken or a duck ? The kids who lived on our farm had one that lived, he turned into a VERY healthy Rhode Island Red rooster, named "Turbo", stood a good 18"-2' tall, was NOT scared of a thing, & had 3-4" long spurs on his legs... A formidable creature, to be sure. You'd put yr hand in front of him, he'd peck at it & draw blood. He'd happily eat pieces of chicken meat if offered. You'd put a toy chicken in front of him, he'd attack...

 

[onwardjames]

Those colored chicks & ducks were kinda sposed to DIE a day or 2 after Easter because, let's face it, what IS a suburban kid gonna DO w/a chicken or a duck ? The kids who lived on our farm had one that lived, he turned into a VERY healthy Rhode Island Red rooster, named "Turbo", stood a good 18"-2' tall, was NOT scared of a thing, & had 3-4" long spurs on his legs... A formidable creature, to be sure. You'd put yr hand in front of him, he'd peck at it & draw blood. He'd happily eat pieces of chicken meat if offered. You'd put a toy chicken in front of him, he'd attack...

We raised many to fruition, but neighbor's dogs would always get inside the pen we made and it'd be a slaughter.

I had a Rhode Island Red just like that! Funny story, as some morbid rite of passage, Dad asked me to put it down with his Sweet 16 Browning shotgun. It had been beating up all other roosters, so it had to go.

I drew aim....shot....it went down....only to POP UP AGAIN! I was young, didn't understand...so I kept blasting! Dad's waving his hands screaming for me to stop....

couldn't eat a single bite of it without tasting lead.

 

[harman/kardon]

I am so old I remember steam locomotives used regularly (and not sporadic as a tourist attraction like now) on the Black Forest Railway.

 

[steerpike2]

When we wanted visual entertainent, we'd hire a 16mm film. There was no such thing as television, so the alternative was radio dramas. Always we had to check we had spare bulbs - one lamp at least - either main, or sound - almost always popped during the film.

And radio request shows, where you could send in a postcard asking for a specific song to be played - about in about 3 weeks time.

When television became availible, the evenings transmission closed with a prayer and the National Anthem.

When you bought petrol (gasoline to 'foreigners') you got a collectible plastic token commemorating an Apollo mission, or a national airline, etc.

Shops were closed on Sundays - by law. Certain products you were allowed to buy (books, sweets), so if a dealer sold those items, the shop was partitioned to allow only certain sections to be open on Sundays.

 

[finnbow]

I remember when boxing was in its prime and big time fights were routinely on network TV.

I remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.

I remember when Michelob was considered good beer and Mateus, Lancers or Blue Nun were considered good wines.

 

[nitrous]

....watching the TV channel test pattern while awaiting the first morning TV show (which was shown after the morning farmer program, and this was in NYC.)
When FM radio had no commercials, no disc jockeys, & they played entire album sides straight through (good time to own a reel to reel tape deck.)
When people got dressed up to fly on airplanes.
When large pretzels were 3 for 25¢, comic books 10¢.
You could get admission to a Major League Baseball game for $1.50; a rock concert with top acts for $1. And almost everything seemed affordable.

 

[roberttx]

I remember "old money" - 4 Farthings to a Penny, 12 Pennies to a Shilling, 20 Shillings to a Pound.

 

[Sharpstik]

Those colored chicks & ducks were kinda sposed to DIE a day or 2 after Easter because, let's face it, what IS a suburban kid gonna DO w/a chicken or a duck ? The kids who lived on our farm had one that lived, he turned into a VERY healthy Rhode Island Red rooster, named "Turbo", stood a good 18"-2' tall, was NOT scared of a thing, & had 3-4" long spurs on his legs... A formidable creature, to be sure. You'd put yr hand in front of him, he'd peck at it & draw blood. He'd happily eat pieces of chicken meat if offered. You'd put a toy chicken in front of him, he'd attack...

Lol, my parents bought me a duck. I think it was my mother who named it Daisy. We would put him ( her ?) into a kids pool and let her swim around. Eventually, off to the farm they took my duck to where there was a big pond. I was devastated.

...
When FM radio had no commercials, no disc jockeys, & they played entire album sides straight through (good time to own a reel to reel tape deck.)
When people got dressed up to fly on airplanes.

Yup.
Flying on Eastern Airlines by myself back in the 70's , the stewardesses's dresses, you could cut your finger on the creases.

 

[Tapehead47]

When we wanted visual entertainent, we'd hire a 16mm film. There was no such thing as television, so the alternative was radio dramas. Always we had to check we had spare bulbs - one lamp at least - either main, or sound - almost always popped during the film.

And radio request shows, where you could send in a postcard asking for a specific song to be played - about in about 3 weeks time.

When television became availible, the evenings transmission closed with a prayer and the National Anthem.

When you bought petrol (gasoline to 'foreigners') you got a collectible plastic token commemorating an Apollo mission, or a national airline, etc.

Shops were closed on Sundays - by law. Certain products you were allowed to buy (books, sweets), so if a dealer sold those items, the shop was partitioned to allow only certain sections to be open on Sundays.

And that was in 1995! I made a funny....

Commando Cody serial being played between the movies at the Saturday double feature.

Sinclair "Service stations"

And Esso.

My dad buying recycled oil in the glass bottles with the metal funnel built in.

Draining the gas hoses after the station closed to get fuel for our mini-bikes and go karts.

Nobody smoked pot.

The dentist wore a black rubber apron

Push-button gear selectors.

High School lunch was $.35 and extra milk was 2 cents. And it was a big meal!

When keyboards had 'cent' and 'degree' keys!

 

[2tumsup]

I remember when telephone numbers were only 4 digits - mine was 3893. We were middle class and had a semi private line only shared by one other person and the norm was 'party lines' shared by 4 people. Potato chips came in 5 and 10 cent bags. Cigarettes 2 for a nickel 5 for a dime - 35 cents a pack. Gasoline 35 cents a gallon. Beer came in quart bottles. Only one tv channel and the family gathered around for "Hockey Night in Canada" every Saturday night. You'd get 1 cent for returning a pop bottle to the store and 3 cents if you bought it there - 8 cents for a coke or pepsi minus the return of course. Minumum wage was 50 cents an hour.
Right now I'm feeling great that at my age I can still remember this stuff! After all, weed was sold in nickel and dime bags ($5-$10) for a half or full ounce. That was years later though

 

[2tumsup]

I remember when we in Canada changed over to the metric system and gas was 19 cents/liter........or litre for my American friends.

That was when the Liberal Party ousted PM Joe Clark and the Conservatives in a non confidence vote because the Tories wanted to increase gas by almost five cents a gallon. The Liberals won the next election and within a year converted to metric and raised gas a penny and a half a litre which equated to 6.8 cents a gallon and the people were so confused with the 'new' system, it passed with little to no resistance at all. Since then we've been driving 62 miles an hour or 68 on the TCH

 

[kfalls]

I'm soooo old------Oh I forgot what we were talking about.

 

[Rome]

I can remember when the only OTC pain meds were Anacin, BC Powder, & Stanback!

Rome

 

[toxcrusadr]

Anyone remember the old allergy pill, Dristan? Was that the one with the time release "tiny time pills"?

 

[robgmn]

Anyone remember the old allergy pill, Dristan? Was that the one with the time release "tiny time pills"?

Yeah, weren't the two capsule sides different colors too?

How about the diet pill named "AIDS"?
Talk about bad business luck...

 

[Tapehead47]

I remember the diet candy AYDS.

How about Bromo Seltzer?

 

[dnpainting]

I'm so old, I remember Radio Shack was stocked full of components
My sister had an Easy Bake Oven, that was an oven and not a microwave
Tonka Trucks were the toys to have
"The Six Million Dollar Man" was a prime time weekly show, then came "The Bionic Woman".
Tylenol was a Capsule, not a caplet, until the cyanide scare
Boxing matches were 15 rounds
Watched the hostage situation in Iran at school
The shooting of The Pope
The shooting of President Reagan
Where I was when they announced the death of Elvis Presley
Allen Ludden was host on "Liars Club" Game Show
Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" used to scare the crap out of me.
Seatbelts were an option
You could ride in the back of a Pick-up
Christmas Crap was put out "AFTER" Thanksgiving, Valentines Day Stuff in February, Thanksgiving stuff in November, Etc.
Cigarette machines were at gas stations, when you bought smokes you were given matches.
To Me, This Is My Main Memory!
People Trusted People, Kids were respectful to adults, we called our friends parents by Mr. and Mrs. so & so. To this day, I still do this and they usually chuckle and say to call them by their first name, which sometimes I don't know.

 

[Rome]

8 lug wheels & bumper jack!

Rome