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We Are Survivors
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TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
– – unknown |
First, we survived being born to mothers who
took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, drank coffee, and didn't get
tested for diabetes.
After that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored
lead-based paints.
We had no childproof: lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when
we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took
hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar
in it, but we weren't overweight because… WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back
when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the
bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have PlayStations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no
99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell
phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms…
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us
forever.
On TV, we stayed up late on Friday and Saturday nights to watch horror
movies or we got up early on Saturday mornings to watch science fiction
movies then later cartoons. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and
tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out
very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't
had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They
actually sided with the law!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers
and inventors ever!
And the past 50 years has been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned…
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! |
And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up
as kids,
before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own
good.
And while you are at it,
forward this to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.
And thanks to Mark Smollin, John Smith, and Mr.
Anonyman for the inspirations.
A John Kyle sent the 'We Are Survivors' article to Mark Smollin
which was the impetus for this page.
Thanks to John for sending the following: |
Subject: I guess I'm older than dirt.......I remember them all
'Someone asked the other day,
'What was your favorite fast food when you were
growing up?'
'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,
'I informed him. 'All the food was slow.'
'C'mon , seriously. Where did you eat?'
'It was a place called 'home,'' I explained.
'Grandma cooked every day and when Grandpa got home from
work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if
I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit
there until I did like it.'
By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was
afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I
didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission
to leave the table. But here are some other things I would
have told him about my childhood if I figured his system
could have handled it:
Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levis,
set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country or
had a credit card. In their later years they had something
called a revolving charge card. The card was good only at
Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears AND Roebuck. Either
way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died. I think
his best friend, Montgomery Ward, died also.
My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This
was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a
bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one
speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house
until I was 11, but my grandparents had one before that. It
was, of course, black and white, but they bought a piece of
colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue,
like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass.
The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that
had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone's lawn on a
sunny day. Some people had a lens taped to the front of the
TV to make the picture look larger.
I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza, it was
called 'pizza pie.' When I bit into it, I burned the roof
of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered
itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the
best pizza I ever had.And pizzas were not delivered to our home, but
milk was. When milk was delivered and if it was freezing outside, we
fought for the cream under the milk's cardboard stoppers.
I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone
in the house was in the living room and it was on a party
line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make
sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the
line.
All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys
delivered newspapers I delivered a newspaper, six days a
week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 2
cents. I had to get up at 4 AM every morning. On Saturday,
I had to collect the 42 cents from my customers. My favorite
customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me
to keep the change. My least favorite customers were the
ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.
Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least
they did in the movies. Touching someone else's tongue
with yours was called French kissing and they didn't do that
in movies. I don't know what they did in French movies.
French movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to see them
If you grew up in a generation before there was fast
food, you may want to share some of these memories with your
children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust
a gut laughing.
Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?
MEMORIES from a friend:
My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she
died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola
bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of
holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter
had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt
shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on
the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with
because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.
How many do you remember?
Head light dimmer switches on the floor.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
Real ice boxes.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.
Older Than Dirt Quiz:
Count all the ones that you remember not the ones
you were told about. Ratings at the bottom.
1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P. F. Flyers (tennis shoes)
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (OLive-6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulbs
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers
If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!
I might be older than dirt but those memories are the best part of my
life.
Don't forget to pass this along!! Especially to all your really OLD
friends
I'm older than DIRT...John |
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Where are the GOOD OLD DAYS ??????!!!!!!
Webmiester
says
thanks to the many who sent this in!
SCHOOL - 1957 vs. 2007 |
Scenario: Jack goes
quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in
gun rack.
1957 -
Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and
gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off
to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for
traumatized students and teachers.
Scenario:
Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end
up buddies.
2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and
Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started
it.
Scenario:
Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the
Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie.
Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a
disability.
Scenario:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a
whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to
college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed
to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister
that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison.
Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.
Scenario:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug
violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario:
Pedro fails high school English.
1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles
appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for
graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school
system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum.
Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because
he cannot speak English.
Scenario:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a
model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1957 - Ants die.
2007 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with
domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home,
computers confiscated, Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is
never allowed to fly again.
Scenario:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found
crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her
job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of
therapy.
| Thanks to Randy for
sending the following:
God Bless America
55
YEARS AGO!!! Funny....yet
sad... almost 55 years ago...This
is truly the way it was!
Comments made in the year 1955!
'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are,
it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for
$10.00.
Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be
long before $1,000.00 will only buy a used one.
'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. 20
cents a pack is ridiculous.
'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents
just to mail a letter.
'If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to
hire outside help at the store.
'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would
someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving
the car in the garage.
'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since
they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE
WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.
I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible
to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even
have some fellows they call astronauts are preparing for it in
Texas .
'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract
for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if
someday they'll be making more than the President.
'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances
would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters
now..
'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few
married women are having to work to make ends meet.
'It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire
someone to watch their kids so they can both work.
'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a
whole lot of foreign business.
'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government
takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are
electing the best people to government.
'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I
seriously doubt they will ever catch on.
'There is no sense going
on short trips
anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay in
a hotel.
'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $15.00 a day in the
hospital, it's too rich for my blood.'
'If they think I'll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it.'
Those were the days we thought will never end.
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If any one has a similar website or article that belongs here,
shoot us an e-mail and we'll consider it!
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This page was conceived during the month of October 2008,
first posted as beta on November 1, 2008.
We worked on this page sporadically since then
and was last updated on
03/23/2011.
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