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DO YOU REMEMBER.....THE FIFTIES? Were you a kid in the fifties or so? Everybody makes fun of our childhood! Comedians joke. Grandkids snicker. Twenty-something's shudder and say "Eeeeew!" But was our childhood really all that bad? Judge for yourself: In 1953 The US population was less than 150million....Yet you knew more people then, and knew them better....And that was good! The average annual salary was under $3,000.....Yet our parents could put some of it away for a rainy day and still live a decent life....And that was good! A loaf of bread cost about 15 cents...But it was safe for a five-year-old to skate to the store and buy one.......And that was good! You could go into the local Drug Store's and the owners: 1) Mr. Bill Stafford Jr & Sr, 2) Mr. Bill Coy & Mr. Sam Eggers, would ask about you and your family...by their first names,...and ask how the sport of the season was going...because they sponsored them and knew each player, every year.....And that was good! Remember when their ice cream cones were only 5 cents....the hot dogs were 15 cents and you could even get a bag of chips for 5 cents and still have money left for a candy bar to eat on your lunch break while walking back to school......And that was good! Did you ever live in a town that had a "5 & 10" store when you could get two big pieces of bubble gum for one penny..and if you would help Mr. or Mrs Wiggins with carrying a box to the back, you could even get one for every one of your brothers and sisters (6) for free....And that was really good! Did you ever lived in a town where the local market had two meat cutters, Mr. Ellis and Mr. Schultz, and they knew how many cuts of meats your family needed when you said 'pork chops'...and sometimes the response was also: "We don't have a real good cut of those today, would't you like another kind?" And they would let you call 'Mom' and ask..for free, on their phone......And that was really good! Prime-Time meant I Love Lucy, Ozzie and Harriet, Gunsmoke and Lassie....So nobody ever heard of ratings or filters.....And that was good! We didn't have air-conditioning...So with the windows staying up.. and half a dozen Mothers ran outside when you fell off your bike......And that was good! Your teacher was either Miss Salsman or Mrs. Kellum, Mrs. Housefield, Mrs. Phelps, Mrs. Craig, Mrs. Niles, etc. or Mr. Kost, Mr.Sfreddo, Mr Shore, Mr. Holmes, Mr.O'Brian, Mr. Wallace, etc...But not Ms. Becky or Mr. Dan....And that was good! Has your Basketball team ever played in a tourney, when it showed so much during the games..that everyone had to stay in the gym all night?......And that was really good! Remember the sock hops in the gym after the basketball games........And that was really good! The only hazardous material you knew about....Was a patch of grass burrs or poison oak around the light pole at the corner of Swinford Park.....And that was good! You loved to climb into the fresh bed....Because sheets were dried on the clothesline.....And that was Good! People generally lived in the same hometown with their relatives....So "child care" meant Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles....And that was Good! Parents were respected and their rules were law....Children did not talk back.....And that was good! TV was in black-and-white....But all outdoors was in color.....And that was certainly good! As a teenager, did you go to the Burger Ranch? Sometimes to meet all of your friends, and all of you put in a quarter for gas...when someone got the car from their parents...and we went into 'Ben Davis' to the Parkeet on High School Road........And that was good! Making Kleenex flowers for our homecoming floats..and the fun of the whole class going over to someone's garage to put them together, on a wagon, to build our float........And that was good! Your Dad knew how to adjust everybody's carburetor....And the Dad next door knew how to adjust all the TV knobs.....And that was very good! Your Grandma grew snap beans in the backyard....And chickens behind the garage..(homemade chicken and noodles)....And that was definitely good. Your church youth group having the Sunday evening services..and when it is your time to wittiness or speak...you see your friends smiling faces in the front row, and giving you the thumb's up, showing their faith that you will do well..(Thanks Larry, Linda, Mary Beth, etc).......And that was better than good!!! And just when you were about to do something really silly....Chances were you'd run into your Dad's high school coach.... Or the nosy old lady from up the street.... or your little sister's piano teacher....Or somebody from Church....ALL of whom knew your parents' phone number....And YOUR first name.....And even THAT was good!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~REMEMBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Send this on to someone who can still remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot & Costello, Sky King, Little Lulu Comics, Brenda Starr, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Bell, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk as well as the sound of a reel mower on Saturday morning, and summers filled with bike rides, baseball games, meeting at the corner of the local theater before the Saturday matinee, bowling and visits to the pool....and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar, and wax lips and bubble gum cigars. And I will pray that they will feel really good too! Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say,.......Yeah, I Remember That! AND WAS IT REALLY THAT LONG AGO? Submitted to the "Class of 1963 at PHS" 40th YEAR CLASS REUNION By one of your fellow classmate....Sandie (Ward) Winkler I LOVE YOU ALL.... AND THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL MEMORIES.......THEY GREW EVEN BIGGER IN THE 60'S...SO THIS WILL BE CONTINUED AT OUR NEXT REUNION!......AND THAT WILL BE GOOD! I hope that all will attend our next reunion...to make more memories in our hearts......AND THAT WOULD BE SO VERY MUCH BETTER THAN GOOD!!!!!!!!!!! Please take care and keep in touch, whenever you can find a free minute. Luv, Sandie |
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Date Posted or Edited: 7/14/2003 |
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I remember the floats,all of those kleenex flowers that we made in the garages,the slumber paries at Jane's and Linda's but most of all I remember the 1960 Babe Ruth State Tourney at Lebanon. I remember the cherry cokes at the Burger Ranch and all of the fun and noise that we had there,the basketball games and the sock hops after them;the good times that I wish all of our ccchildren and grandchildren could enjoy today. |
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Date Posted or Edited: 4/24/2003 |
