# 54 years ago today!



## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

*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 
Preparing for it down inTexas ..

'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 hair cut, forget it.'


----------



## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

My earliest memories were gasoline at 23.9 per gallon, a loaf of bread for a quarter, hot dogs at Wienerschnitzel for a quarter and nickel popsicles and donuts. My mother would pull into a gas station and say "give me a dollars worth".


----------



## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

On the other hand, when I started my first professional job, I bought a new car, which cost half a year's salary ($16,000/32,000). I complained to my dad, who told me the same thing happened to him, only it was $2000/$4000.


----------



## lilredweldingrod (Nov 23, 2009)

I used to go to town on Saturday with .50. .25 got me a hamburger, frys, and a coke at the Dairy Queen. .10 got me in the movies and.15 got me a coke and a huge box of popcorn. That was 1958. Oh! and an ounce of gold was $20.00. Rampid inflation? Naww never happen.


----------



## dlmckirdy (Oct 27, 2009)

I remember my dad sending my brother and I to Standard Brands Paint Store with 5 empty one gallon cans and $1. We were to get paint thinner (10 cents a gallon) and we could stop at the ice cream store on the way back, but he wanted the change when we returned.


----------



## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Happy Birthday.

I hate to think back to the things we bought. Candy Bars 5 cents, 6 for a quarter.


----------



## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

One of my earliest memories is 3 candy bars for a dime at the drug store. And they were big candy bars.

Over the years I watched them get smaller and smaller and all of a sudden they got back to normal size but were called king size and they charged you more. After a while the stopped printing king size on them and it started all over again.

It's still happening today.


----------



## mmax (Dec 9, 2008)

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 "at home", I explained. !

'Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the kitchen 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 & Roebuck.
Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died..

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 13.
It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people.

I was 15 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.

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.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers-I delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 3 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 1 cent. On Saturday, I had to collect the 18 cents from my customers. My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 20 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. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive.

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.
Head lights 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.

How many do you remember?

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 & Teaberry also (my favs)
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 on the telephone
8. Newsreels before the movie 
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax 
11. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels [if you were fortunate]) 
12. Peashooters 
13. Howdy Doody 
14. 45 RPM records 
15. S& H greenstamps 
16. Hi-fi ' s
17. Metal ice trays with lever 
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulb
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 some of the best of my life.


----------



## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

my favorite one is from 1908 "The horseless carriage while they may soon be produced for under 1000 dollars will never catch on to the degree of the bicycle"

unfortunately the only inflation i've ever witnessed is when my favorite hot dogs went up from 1.50 to 1.75. you guys are talking about hot dogs for a quarter… geeezzz


----------



## RetiredCoastie (Sep 7, 2009)

Ah! I remember when I first saw an add for PF Fliers, " You can run faster and jump higher with PF Fliers" I pestered my mother until she bought me a pair. Those were great shoes.

I remember all but the first item on the list, so I'm older than dirt!


----------



## yank (Feb 1, 2007)

I can remember 24, # `18 I am not sure of.

Guess I can join the "older then dirt crowd".

Wayne


----------



## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

teenagewoodworker - You will get to see it happening all over again. Save some of your advertisements and have some laughs (or maybe some crying) 30-50 years from now.

My parents bought a house in 1956 for less than $10,000. In 2006 it sold for $450,000. At that rate in 2056 it will sell again for $20,250,000. OVER 20 MILLION!


----------



## dlmckirdy (Oct 27, 2009)

RetiredCoastie,

Blackjack chewing gum was licorice flavored and turned your mouth black. It is still produced in small batches by Beemans once a year.

Yank,

Mimoegraph paper was that paper pringted in a blue/purple color that your school tests, etc. were printed on. When they were fresh they smelled like alchohol. I remember having to stay after school (I wasn't the best behaved little boy in the class) and help the teacher print the tests (even though I saw them ahead of time, I didn't do well). I think the mimeograph solution had a higher VOC than lacquer thinner!

I must be really old,because I can rember all these and much more! If only I could remember my pt dinosaur's name?


----------



## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

"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 scored a 25, and invented dirt. LOL I remember White castles were 5cents each,50cents a dozen. If anyone does not know WC, they are the original sliders. LMAO


----------



## littlecope (Oct 23, 2008)

Not only do we pay more, but we get significantly less! Anybody check a lb. of coffee lately? They're now 11.5 oz.'s! And re: Woodworking, what about "2 X 4's"?! How much smaller are they going to get? :-(


----------



## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

I can remember all 25 and many more.


----------



## musician (Mar 19, 2009)

I bought a brand new l954 Cadillac Coupe DeVille with power steering, brakes, windows and air-conditioning, very rare in those days, for $4,110.00, and I earned the princely sum of $410.00 monthly. My wife worked part-time, we had a new baby boy and lived in an "upscale"(for then) part of Dallas Texas. And, believe it or not, we saved $10/month! Forgot to mention, I'm 83 now.


----------



## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

Fun post *Bob*!


----------



## Bureaucrat (May 26, 2008)

What I miss is the 10 cent "shorty" at the local tavern.


----------



## RAH (Oct 14, 2007)

I remember them all, those where good days fond memories growing up. I hope kids these days have the same feelings just different memories.


----------



## waroland (Oct 5, 2007)

Older than dirt? Not me. NOT. I got all 25 + a few that were not on the list. I am retiring as of Dec. 31, 2009 @ 66+. Time now to do what I want. There you young whippersnappers that still have to work!


----------



## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

*5 years ago I could walk into my home depot with equivelant of $100, and walk out with a portable sander, 5 litres of thinners, 2 pliers, a Eastwing hammer, box of welding rods, 3 measuring tapes, set of engineers squares, 6 grinding disks, pair of saftey boots, and a few more odds and ends.
Can't do that now…..
Too many security cameras. ;-)*

ROTFLMAO!!!


----------



## drfixit (Oct 16, 2009)

Whats an Electric typewriter?


----------



## KentS (May 27, 2009)

Ouch, I got 24 of those. I remember gas wars when we paid 19 cents for gas. 18 cent hot dogs at Weinersnitzel. In Jr high I got 50 cents for lunch and could go to the local drive-in and get a hamburger and a small coke. If I had an extra penny for tax, I could add candy bar to that. Now kids can't leave school for lunch.

But were those really the good old days? Yes and no. Look around, we all have so many material things, but at what price? We have way better houses, lots of luxuries, nicer cars and more of them per family, everything to make our life easier, yet we're all sressed out most of the time, just trying to keep up. Families are rarely families anymore-too many places to be, things to do, money to be made. Children aren't safe outside their own homes (Sometimes *in *their own home)

Yes it is interesting to remember those days, maybe simple is better!


----------



## JAGWAH (Dec 15, 2009)

Pumped gas at a Vickers station when I was 11. The gas was 12cents a gallon due to a price war with the station across the street. I was making 35 cents an hour. I got a good job that summer after I turned 12 at the local burger drive in, Jobe's, earned 45 cents as a car hop. By the end of summer I was inside flopping burgers and deep frying mountain oysters for a 10 cent raise. I was in high heaven.

Ya I'm old but chicks dig the beard.


----------



## dlmckirdy (Oct 27, 2009)

Drfixit,

Whats an Electric typewriter?

Heck, I still have an old manual typewriter beside my desk (honestly).


----------



## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

I got 23. That's pretty good since I am 54. Who was it that said we are all teenagers, living in an old persons body, wondering what happened?

I just found out that I am going to be a grandfather. My gosh, this ain't right. I'm no where near old enough to be a grandfather. I don't consider myself old, just high mileage. My plan has always been to burn out rather than rust away.


----------



## pommy (Apr 17, 2008)

My earlist thing i remember is mo-jos 2 for a penny but i'm not as old as you guys LOL…........


----------



## cabinetmaster (Aug 28, 2008)

Wow, I remember them all. I pumped gas at a station for 15 cents a gallon. There was no self service then. We pomped gas, washed the windows, all of them not just the windshield, Vacuumed out the floor boards, check the fluid levels. Those were the good ole days.


----------



## drfixit (Oct 16, 2009)

I used to.. got rid of it when i could not get the ribbon any more


----------



## Michael121 (Jun 30, 2008)

My Grandmother died in 85 Milk in a glass bottle was delivered until 1982. She had a root cellar in the house.

My dad at 7 used to go down to the bar and get a bucket of beer for my Grandfather.

They had a radio and heard about Pearl Harbor.

My Grandfather was the only one when they arrived in Europe in WW who could actually drive a truck off the train. So his Army time was spent unloading them.

I myself was pumping gas at 25 cents a gallon.


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

i guess i'm not very old ,

I CAN"T REMEMBER ANYTHING !


----------



## Billinmich (Mar 8, 2008)

I can remember all of those.Hot dogs 5 for a dollar on Tuesdays and that was in 73.I don't feel to old as my kids listen to the same rock bands I did in 60's and 70's.


----------



## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

*Pumped gas at a Vickers station when I was 11. The gas was 12cents a gallon due to a price war with the station across the street. I was making 35 cents an hour. I got a good job that summer after I turned 12 at the local burger drive in, Jobe's, earned 45 cents as a car hop. By the end of summer I was inside flopping burgers and deep frying mountain oysters for a 10 cent raise. I was in high heaven.

Ya I'm old but chicks dig the beard.*

Great post *JAGWAH* welcome aboard!


----------



## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

*i guess i'm not very old ,

I CAN"T REMEMBER ANYTHING !*

HA!


----------



## nmkidd (Sep 18, 2009)

I am in the older then dirt category…..remember them all.
A few more….....
white castles for $.05
cafe juke boxes $.05 a play or 7 for $.25
$.75 at the drive-in would get you a burger, fries, milk shake and change
$.05 cherry phosphate at the local drug store soda fountain
$.30 at the theater would get you in…..a soda, popcorn and a candy bar
double bubble gum….2 for a penny
popcicles 2 for a nickel
brown paper bags
new vw bugs for $700.00
mopeds for $less than $100
and many more

Thanks for the memories


----------



## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

I wonder if it occurs to anyone that those folks that were saving for retirement when prices were that low are having to deal with what we are all facing now .

It's tough to save for retirement when you are earning under $2.00 per hour and buying a tank of gas now at $3.00 /gallon.


----------

