This one old lister does remember! On a cold, snowy afternoon in St. Louis, the memories have warmed me. Many thanks. Bev Goyette Mieure ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 11:10 AM Subject: [ILSTANNE] Olden times > The following from the internet, and a little wordy, and not dealing strictly > with genealogy, and of course nothing anyone of our listers would remember, > but maybe something our elders experienced in the (g)olden days-- > > Stroll with me...close your eyes...and go back before the > internet...before bombings, aids, herpes, before semiautomatics and > crack...before SEGA or Super intendo...way back! > > I'm talking about sitting on the curb, sitting on the steps...about > malt shops,hide-and-go-seek, Simon says and red-light-green-light. Lunch > boxes with a thermos... chocolate milk, going home for lunch, penny candy > from the store,hopscotch, butterscotch, skates with keys, jacks and > Cracker Jacks, hula hoops and sunflower seeds, wax lips and mustaches, Mary > Jane's, saddle shoes and Chinos for the boys, and Coke bottles with the > names of cities on the bottom. Cars had running boards. Some even had > rumble seats. > > Remember when it took five minutes for the TV to warm up. When > early everyones's Mom was at home when the kids arrived home from > school.When peanut butter had a quarter inch of oil floating on top, if you > were lucky enough to get it. If you were Italian you had Bologna sandwiches > spread with “tub” butter from the tub at the market, or for a snack, little > dishes of seasoned oil to dip celery into.. > > When TV showed the test pattern most of the daytime hours. When we used to > sit around in the living room and listen to the radio. When we had to > squeeze a couple dozen oranges to make a pitcher of orange juice. Or, if > Italian, we sqweezed two or three oranges into a picture of ice and water > with sugar to make Aranciata [Orange-ade] . > > When nobody owned a purebred dog. When a quarter was a decent allowance. > When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny. > > When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces and had seams down the back > that had to be perfectly straight.. When all of your teachers wore neckties > and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels, but > not, if they were nuns. > > Remember running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bobby pins, Mickey > Mouse Club, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Kookla, Fran and Ollie, Dick Clark's > American Bandstand...John Cameron Swazye giving the news report and > advertsing TIMEX watches, all in black and white and your Mom made you turn > it off when a storm came, and when company was coming, Mom always left the > porch light on. > > When around the corner seemed far away and going downtown seemed like going > somewhere and you got all dressed up and didn’t wear jeans. Climbing trees, > making mud pies, making forts, lemonade stands, cops and robbers,cowboys and > indians, staring at clouds, jumping on the bed, or if you were Italian, > making fresh pasta and sausage;... pillow fights,ribbon candy, angel hair on > the Christmas tree and bubble lights and the Nativity Set beneath the tree, > white gloves and “Spring” coats, walking to the movie theater, being shown > to your seat by an usher with a flashlight, and being entertained with live > organ music played before the movie began and the movies cost only .25 and > you stay and watch it a 2nd time. > > Running till you were out of breath, your first haircut, remember that? If > you were poor, it would done at the barber shop, whether you were a girl or > a boy. > > Not stepping on a crack or you'd break your mother's back, paper chains at > Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington, the smells of school and > paste and the smells of all the ethnic cooking in the neighborhood if you > lived in one, and crocheted doilies on the tables. > > When you got your windshield cleaned, oiled checked and gas pumped without > asking -all for free- every time. You didn't pay for air and you got > trading stamps to boot. When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or > towels hidden inside the box. > > When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner to > a real restaurant with your parents. When the worst thing you could do > at school was flunk a test or chew gum. Or drop coke on the gymnasium > floor, if you went to parochial school. > > The prom was in the gym or the lunchroom and you danced to a real orchestra. > And if you went to parochial school, the girls had to fishnet lace their > shoulders, because strapless gowns weren't allowed, and you had to slow > dance "leaving enough room for the Holy Spirit" > > When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed--and they did > it. > > When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate > that awaited the student at home. Unless your principal was a nun! > > Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by > shootings, drugs, gangs etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much > bigger threat! But we survived because their love was so much greater than > the threat. > > Remember when people went steady; and girls wore a class ring with an > inch of wrapped adhesive tape so it would fit their finger. When no one ever > asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the > ignition, and the car and house doors were never locked. Remember having a > curfew and obeying it, and gas costing a .25 a gallon. > > Remember playing baseball, stick ball and kick ball in a vacant lot with no > adults needing to enforce the rules of the game. And, with all our progress, > don't you wish, that just once you could slip back in time and savor the > slower pace...and share it with the children of > today? > > The Lone Ranger and Tonto, "High Ho Silver, Away,…." "Who was that masked > man?" The Shadow Knows...., Howdy Doody, [ and the Peanut Gallery]….Kukla > Fran & Ollie, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to you, until we meet > again”…. > > Trigger and Buttermilk....., Red Skelton and Sid Ceasar and Imogene Coca and > Perry Como crooning “come along with me, I’m on my way to the stars”; and > your "Hit Parade". > > As well as the sound of a real mower on Saturday morning, watching cartoons, > eating baked macaroni and cheese that did not come from a box, and summers > filled with bike rides, baseball games, bowling, visits to > the pool, picnics, reading comic books, watering the garden, pickling > vegetables, climbinbg trees and picking mulberries and eating more than made > it into the house, feeding the pigeons, walking to the lake with the inner > tube, polishing the “Shooter-Chute” [Slide] with wax paper so the slide down > would be fast., eating Dream sickles, and fudge bars and icy watermelon on > the front porch that had a glider to sit on. And sliding down a snowy hill on > a big piece of linoleum, if you didn’t have a sled, eating Kool-Aid powder > with sugar from the palm of you hand and drinking Hot Chocolate made from > scratch, and going for a “ride” on Sunday afternoons or went viisiting and > always brought something good to eat. > > > > > > > > ==== ILSTANNE Mailing List ==== > Please tell your fellow St. Anne area researchers about this list. To join, an interested person should send an eMail to [email protected] with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line or message box. > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237