jean1941

WE got our first Tv when I was in the 3rd grade I started to school in 1947 at the age of 5 I will 70 before year is over. Tv did not come on until noon and went off at 10 pm only had 3 channels. I lived close to Dallas, Ft Worth area of Texas. Only about a3 kids in my class had tv Now we have 100 of stations and there was more on to watch when we only had 3 LOL

Barbshobbies

Thank you all for your answers here, I for got about the coloring margarin , and the 3 colored TV. We played out side all day every day, till we were about 6 or 7 then we had contract beans & pickels, so we could buy shoes & cloths for school. The next time you go any where for a ride, just look at the houses, there are never any kids out side playing, how sad.

teacherbailey

I'm 49 and remember some of that....you should have heard me explaining to my own children (late 20's) why they didn't ride in the car in crash-tested car seats (they were just starting to come out and were very expensive and not required), about eating lots of any kind of fish I wanted while I was pregnant (a big no-no today) and not having a color TV growing up----they were way too expensive and not widely available until I was around 10 or so. My kids think I grew up on Mars!

nativetexan

I second that!!! I'm over 65!!

76 and counting

I am 78 and that was true for my age every thing on the list fit my age

Nancy Ingham

Thank you all for the trip down memory lane! I am 65 and I remember walking back and forth to elementary school over a mile each way in fresh starched dresses and I had seven siblings…five of whom were sisters. I remember watching the man travel along Main Street lighting the gas street lights at dusk. I remember the coal stove in the living room, the wood stove in the kitchen, and Mom heating up hot water for our Saturday night bath. I remember the water closet over the toilet in the bathroom. I remember playing Dominos and Chinese checkers with my great Aunt while eating Lorna Dunes and pink & white mints when we were good. I remember playing outside until dark, collecting bugs in jars, playing kick the can, marbles, hind-n-seek, hopscotch and jump rope. I remember grandpa eating broken up bread in his tea for breakfast (I was told this was from the depression years). I remember the ice man stopping by the house on hot summer days, breaking off a piece of ice (with his ice pick) for each of us kids to cool off with and the icy water running down our arms and dripping on our bare legs while we sat on the back steps. I remember families getting together on Sundays after church and there being lots of food and music with my Grandpa playing the spoons and singing ‘Good Night Irene’ (my mothers name). And…I remember that our school teachers would hit us on our knuckles with the ruler when anyone misbehaved in class.

Thanks for the memories.
Nancy

stitchofclass2

A great story and an even greater surprise. Everyone experienced "new" fangled things at different times. One of my young memories was when my mom worked at a small store. Its windows faced the main street and she cooked potato chips in a large pan and then they were dumped (by hand) into a pile to cool. You could see the piles of chips cooling through the front windows. The chips were then bought by the (brown) bag full and filled as you purchased them. No OSHA or FDA interference in those days. I thought it was so much fun to watch the process with my face pressed up against the windows. We did NOT eat potato chips. My mom never brought any home. They were quite expensive. We also had an "ic" box. The iceman delivered a huge block of ice that went into the top of the refrigerator and drained into a pan at the bottom. My mother also curled my hair with a curling iron heated on the gas burner of the cooking stove. I am 73.

Kkimberlee

My grandpa wouldn't buy a TV until the 60's, when my uncle would sneak out to watch tv at a friends house.

kwilter

WOW! ....a walk down Memory Lane! I remember metal scrap piles, rationing, rolling cigarets for my parents (!)our Model A Ford my dad bought for $50; my grandmother's incredible apple strudel; no "crazy glue" to keep the loose soles of my shoes from flapping....and more!

damaquilts

yeah I am 58 and remember quite a few of those things. I think that may have been writen a while back. Big bands were my grandparents music. I was born in 1952 my mother was 16 at the time .
I love these things though. Unfortunatly there was a lot of things going on behind closed doors that people didn't know about, things weren't quite the nirvana it was made out to be. But then I was a teenager in the late 60's sooo... some of the things I see touted about that time period was a wonderful as it seems now.