How old is Grandma?
07-14-2011, 08:13 AM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nevada
Posts: 6,958
Has anyone else received this? This came in my Quilters Quarters newsletter today, in their Smiles and Giggles section:
How Old is Grandma?
Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you away.
One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events. The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.
The Grandmother replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before: ' television ' penicillin ' polio shots ' frozen foods ' Xerox ' contact lenses ' Frisbee s and ' the pill'
There were no: ' credit cards ' laser beams or ' ball-point pens Man had not invented: ' pantyhose ' air conditioners ' dishwashers ' clothes dryers ' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and ' man hadn't yet walked on the moon.
Your Grandfather and I got married first, .. .... ... and then lived together..
Every family had a father and a mother.
Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir". And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."
We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.
We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions. Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.
We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Draft dodgers were those who closed front doors as the evening breeze started.
Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CD's, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.
We listened to Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.
If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan or China' on it, it was junk.
The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.... Pizza Hut, Mc Don ald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Ford Coupe for $600, . .. . but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.
In my day: ' "grass" was mowed, ' "coke" was a cold drink, ' "pot" was something your mother cooked in and ' "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.
"Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, ' "chip" meant a piece of wood, ' "hardware" was found in a hardware store and ' "software" wasn't even a word.
And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap.
How old do you think I am? I bet you have this old lady in mind....you are in for a shock! Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time. Are you ready ?????
I am 59!
How Old is Grandma?
Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you away.
One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events. The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.
The Grandmother replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before: ' television ' penicillin ' polio shots ' frozen foods ' Xerox ' contact lenses ' Frisbee s and ' the pill'
There were no: ' credit cards ' laser beams or ' ball-point pens Man had not invented: ' pantyhose ' air conditioners ' dishwashers ' clothes dryers ' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and ' man hadn't yet walked on the moon.
Your Grandfather and I got married first, .. .... ... and then lived together..
Every family had a father and a mother.
Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir". And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."
We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.
We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions. Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.
We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Draft dodgers were those who closed front doors as the evening breeze started.
Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CD's, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.
We listened to Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.
If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan or China' on it, it was junk.
The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.... Pizza Hut, Mc Don ald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Ford Coupe for $600, . .. . but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.
In my day: ' "grass" was mowed, ' "coke" was a cold drink, ' "pot" was something your mother cooked in and ' "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.
"Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, ' "chip" meant a piece of wood, ' "hardware" was found in a hardware store and ' "software" wasn't even a word.
And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap.
How old do you think I am? I bet you have this old lady in mind....you are in for a shock! Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time. Are you ready ?????
I am 59!
07-14-2011, 08:17 AM
#2
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
I'm not sure this is correct. I am 65 and I remember the delivery men carrying in our first black-and-white television set when I was about 5. We were one of the last families in the neighborhood to get one, so I think they had been out for awhile before that.
I also remember getting a polio shot in school when I was about 8yo, and I don't think that was the first year they were offered.
Will be interested to see if my memory is any good!
Edit: OK, I went and Googled television. Apparently my memorty is okay. The 59yo age will work for someone whose family was really late getting a television set (we were a working class family in a working class neighborhood, so we couldn't have been more than average in our timing for purchasing a tv). There were network broadcasts available coast-to-coast by about 1947, when I was a year old.
I also remember getting a polio shot in school when I was about 8yo, and I don't think that was the first year they were offered.
Will be interested to see if my memory is any good!
Edit: OK, I went and Googled television. Apparently my memorty is okay. The 59yo age will work for someone whose family was really late getting a television set (we were a working class family in a working class neighborhood, so we couldn't have been more than average in our timing for purchasing a tv). There were network broadcasts available coast-to-coast by about 1947, when I was a year old.
07-14-2011, 08:30 AM
#4
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Northeast IL
Posts: 2,064
Polio Shots *shudder* My school was one of the testing schools. I remember being real brave and getting three shots. It was a blind test and wouldn't you know it I got the 'dummy' shot. I had to get three more of the real vaccine.
To this day I hate needles!
To this day I hate needles!
07-14-2011, 08:33 AM
#5
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Vermont
Posts: 6,980
We were just talking the other day about TV coming out (first ones for sale) in 1939. Of course what was there to watch?
Penicillin was in full production at the end of WW 2, so that is off by a few years.
"you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards. " - in 1952 (59 years ago) that would have cost 7 cents.
credit cards - from Wikipedia -- "The modern credit card was the successor of a variety of merchant credit schemes. It was first used in the 1920s, in the United States, specifically to sell fuel to a growing number of automobile owners. In 1938 several companies started to accept each other's cards. Western Union had begun issuing charge cards to its frequent customers in 1921. Some charge cards were printed on paper card stock, but were easily counterfeited.
The Charga-Plate, developed in 1928, was an early predecessor to the credit card and used in the U.S. from the 1930s to the late 1950s"
And I don't even have to check Wikipedia on the frozen foods, pretty sure they came out in the 1920's or so.
Can't help it, it is the librarian in me.... ;)
Penicillin was in full production at the end of WW 2, so that is off by a few years.
"you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards. " - in 1952 (59 years ago) that would have cost 7 cents.
credit cards - from Wikipedia -- "The modern credit card was the successor of a variety of merchant credit schemes. It was first used in the 1920s, in the United States, specifically to sell fuel to a growing number of automobile owners. In 1938 several companies started to accept each other's cards. Western Union had begun issuing charge cards to its frequent customers in 1921. Some charge cards were printed on paper card stock, but were easily counterfeited.
The Charga-Plate, developed in 1928, was an early predecessor to the credit card and used in the U.S. from the 1930s to the late 1950s"
And I don't even have to check Wikipedia on the frozen foods, pretty sure they came out in the 1920's or so.
Can't help it, it is the librarian in me.... ;)
07-14-2011, 08:40 AM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Maine, Where else!
Posts: 1,526
I turned 70 this year and I got a polio shot at school. My allowance was 35 cents a week and with that I could go to the afternoon movie on Saturday for 17 cents, have a coke for a nickel and popcorn for ten cents. We got our first TV when I was 17 but that was in Nova Scotia, they didn't have any stations til then. Fish & Chips were 35 cents so was a banana split (can you tell what my favorite foods were).
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