I remember before freeways, aerosals, computers, digital anything, microwaves, seat belts. I remember my folks had an 8-party partyline on the phone and if you had more than one phone in the house you were either well-to-do or you worked for the phone company. Long distance calls were an event and you had to practically shout your conversation. Our blonde wood t.v. had a green screen and rabbit ears brought in 3 channels that went off the air at 1:00 A.M. on the weekends.
Ladies used to get whistled at and they would NEVER call a guy on the phone. People used to blush and watch what they said in mixed company. What have you seen change?

going to the grocery store and you could get S & H green stamps or Top Value Stamps (the kind your mother saved forever) so she could send them in to get something really nice.

Also going to the corner (Mom and Pop) store where you could buy penny candy for just a penny!!!!!

Computers -- The computer they had at my first job, took up a whole room and the disks were round, pizza pan sized, but about 3 inches thick.

I remember going down to the town of Bedrock in a car powered by foot,eating bronto burgers with my friend Barney Rubble(sigh).They really were great days or should I say yabba dabba do days

when cigarettes were 25 cents a pack.. gas was like 35 cents a gallon... and i think i'll stop now.. im feeling OLD!!

I remember when a pregnant woman was referred to as "PG"...

No profanity on TV

No nudity on TV

The change dispenser that gas station attendants wore (I used one)

That cheap assed old bastard giving me $2 at Christmas time and telling me to "keep the change, Merry Christmas" when he owed me for three weeks and it was 65 cents a week

Flavored dots of colored sugar on a roll of paper

My dad telling me that girls were "baby machines"

25 cent hamburgers at Carrolls. (There wasn't a Mcdonalds or Burger King yet in our town.

Riding our bicycles around the neighborhood until 11pm without worrying about being picked up by strangers.

Walking a mile to school, up hill in a snow storm (sorry couldn't resist-but we actually did)

kids spent hours outside, and playing in the park instead of on the computer or video games.

Changes I've Seen:

Using your imagination while listening to radio

No Television

Penny Candy

That if you got a star on your popsicle stick you
would get a free one

I remember seeing a Tucker Automobile

Gasoline at $ .18 a gal

wow lots more but I'll bet you all can fill the gaps

8 track tapes

LP's and 45 records

remember atari

remember playing stickball

.35 for a pack of smokes.

School dress codes

Manners were EXPECTED from children, actually from EVERYONE.

People worried about "Personal Integrity"

However...if you aren't changing, you're probably dead!

I have my Dad's last pay stub the wk before he died in 1967.
He was making $3.50 an hour and supporting 4 kids.

Gas under .35 a gallon. smokes for .35. Mimumin wage jobs were under 3.00. And a bus ride was .25 with a transfer for .10. Amamzing what things are now. I remeber green stamps with my grandmother, glueing them in the book and going and buying things with them. Black and white TV usally one to a home. Black Telephones with a dial.
NO buses to school we all walked.. Going home from school at lunch time. We had over an hour, eating and playing out in the yard befor going back to school. Maybe you had one car in your home. Mommies stayed home and so did grand mothers. Dishes were washed in the kitchen sink and clothes dried on a line. And they had to be ironed.Takign soda bottles to the corner market and gettting candy for them. : ) There were always kids around to play with. This was when I was young.

Today we all have computers. Several Color tv sets with HD and even flat screens. We have many phones in our homes. Land lines and cells. Push buttons and voice activated.
smokes are 5.00 a pack. Gas was 4.00 last summer. Now it is 2.50
many cars for on family. Few moms are home. No children walking home from school or playing in the neighborhoods. Dishwashers , clothes washer and dryers take over as well as trash compactors and garbage diposals. Modern appliances to save us time.

Is it better? I don't know. Commucation wise yes.
But as for the fun I had being able to go home to a loved one waitng after school vs going to a child care place. I rather go home. Change and go and play in my own yard.

I started this topic and here I am again, I can't contain myself. Some of you gals might relate to this one I just thought of: On Saturday nights Gunsmoke came on and I would sit on the floor between my Mom's feet and she would set my hair in....Spoolies! They were rubber curlers in the shape of an hour glass and the top part folded down over the bottom securing the hair. Of course there was no backcombing or hairspray in those days so in the morning my hair was curly but I looked like a squirrel in heat! But Gunsmoke was always good.

I remember spoolies.........but i sat with my grand pop to watch it.
And the rifle man. Bonanaza and let's not forget the Big valley.

Children were respectful to all adults. (generally)

The pond of water behind our home froze every winter.

You could walk for miles in the forest and see no person.

Teachers were respected in their classrooms.

Gasoline costs 19 cents.

The prime airliners had propellers.

I remember running home off the school bus, we lived in the country, to watch Dark Shadows on tv, none of this Days of Our Lives or The Guiding Light. Helping with the household chores and doing homework before going out to play. Going to Grandma's house every Sunday for dinner, seeing all the aunts, uncles, and cousins there. Playing jump rope and going to the nearby school to play on the playground equipment, not destroying it while we were there. Helping others who needed it with out expecting payment in return.
I remember when you used a phone to call someone, a typewriter to write something, and a camera to take pictures, ahhh, the instant cameras where the film developed right before your eyes. Did anyone else fan it to make it dry faster?
Lots of things have changed. Is it for the better? Maybe, maybe not.

Propellers! Yes! Once a year my Grandma came out from Chicago on a plane and we met her at Lindbergh Field and actually stood on the tarmak(sp) waiting for the plane to stop taxi'ing!

Steam Locomotives on trains

Home delivery of

Milk, Bread, Coal and Ice

Yes, and my Mom had a card she put in the window if she needed any bread. Ha! It was PeterWheat and Helms Bakery.