For Old Guys Only

[Buzzard]

I know I'm a little late on this one, but its always been decoration day to me. I can remember my grandmother cutting flowers out of her garden and giving them to people to pur on graves of the fallen soldiers. I see Uncle Sam decides the nonvets a little recognition, 50 years late. Heres some things you might remember, telephone, phonograph, automobile, they all had a crank. Using alcohol because you couldn't afford anti freeze in the radiator of the car. On Saturday night my grandfather liked to listen to the Grand Ole Opry on the old am battery operated radio, we couldn't afford the batteries so we would drive the car up to the window and hook the radio up to the car battery. I wonder what women would do today if they had to clean a live chicken in the kitchen sink?? And wash clothes in an old Maytag gas washing machine. All we do now is just push buttons.
buzzard

 

[NEAT TIMES]

BUZZARD

You forgot to mention, could not hot rod it with the alcohol in the radiator, it would boil over. Also, don`t have your thumb around the car crank, your thumb could get broken. That is why the model A Fords had the timing retard lever on the steering column and a hand throttle.

Can remember the gas maytag washer with the oily flex pipe going out thru the woodshed wall. Back then, lots of farmer`s built their own tractors, used a car frame with two transmissions for low gears and a big truck rear axle.

My grandfather had one of the first surge milkers. He told me, if he had only one cow with one tit he would still use it! true story

Shania Twain - still the best selling country singer in history, and worth over $500,000,000 does not hesitate to say, she use`s bag balm (for cows udders) on her legs, arms and face. She also love`s the smel l of campfire smoke in her hair.

Ron

 

[Buzzard]

WHAT HAPPENED THE YEAR YOU WERE BORN?
1937....
Amelia Earhart disappeared over Pacific
Hindenburg explodes
First jet engine built
Spam sold in stores
Golden Gate Bridge opened
Lincoln Tunnel completed between New York an New Jersey
US Supreme Court rules in favor of minimum wage law for women
President: Franklin Roosevelt
Unemployment: 14.3%
First class stamp 3 cents
Avg. Income $1,789 year
Car $675
House: $6,622
Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs hits theaters and becomes an instant classic
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy debut on radio NBC
buzzard

 

[happycheapskate]

maytag 2cycle engine in motorized bicycle
http://youtu.be/R-oLV9DW_n8

I know I'm a little late on this one, but its always been decoration day to me. I can remember my grandmother cutting flowers out of her garden and giving them to people to pur on graves of the fallen soldiers. I see Uncle Sam decides the nonvets a little recognition, 50 years late. Heres some things you might remember, telephone, phonograph, automobile, they all had a crank. Using alcohol because you couldn't afford anti freeze in the radiator of the car. On Saturday night my grandfather liked to listen to the Grand Ole Opry on the old am battery operated radio, we couldn't afford the batteries so we would drive the car up to the window and hook the radio up to the car battery. I wonder what women would do today if they had to clean a live chicken in the kitchen sink?? And wash clothes in an old Maytag gas washing machine. All we do now is just push buttons.
buzzard

 

[Dan]

1964 Events & Facts
MAJOR EVENTS:

After completing what would have been the final year of John F. Kennedy’s first term, President Johnson re-elected in a landslide over Barry Goldwater
President Johnson declares "war on poverty," introduces a variety of federal welfare programs, including Medicare (initially proposed by Kennedy in 1960)
Three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi during "Freedom Summer"
24th Amendment to Constitution adopted, ensuring fair voting practices
Race riots break out in Harlem and other U.S. cities
Investigating the Kennedy assassination, the Warren Commission determines that "Oswald acted alone" in killing the president
U.S. military forces launch attacks on North Vietnam in response to an alleged attack on a U.S. destroyer off the Vietnamese coast; Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution that gives the President greater freedom to authorize combat actions in Vietnam
Soviet leader Khrushchev falls from power, is ultimately replaced by Leonid Brezhnev
Anchorage, Alaska hit by massive earthquake
Turkey attacks Cyprus
BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa convicted of fraud, conspiracy and jury tampering
The average hourly wage for blue collar workers has increased from between 50 and 75 percent since 1949
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

Space probe Mariner IV flies by Mars, transmitting pictures of the planet’s surface back to earth
The world’s longest suspension bridge, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York, opens
Concern in Britain over "brain drain," or the mass emigration of British scientists to the U.S.
World’s Fair held in New York
First lung transplant
SPORTS:

World Series: St. Louis over New York Yankees, 4-3
Olympics held in Tokyo
Cassius Clay (the future Muhammad Ali) defeats Sonny Liston to win heavyweight boxing title
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

Movies: Lord of the Flies, A Hard Day’s Night, My Fair Lady, Goldfinger, Zorba the Greek, Mary Poppins
Songs: I Want to Hold Your Hand, Hello Dolly!, She Loves You, Can’t Buy Me Love, Do Wah Diuly Diuly, Oh Pretty Woman, Baby Love, My Guy
TV Shows: The Munsters, The Virginian, Daniel Boone, Outer Limits, Gilligan’s Island, Man From UNCLE, Flipper, Dr. Kildare, Voyage the the Bottom of the Sea
Books: A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemmingway (posthumous publication); Herzog, Saul Bellow; In His Own Write, John Lennon
"Beatlemania" spreads as the Beatles become a global phenomenon
Musicals Hello Dolly, Fiuller on the Roof debut
Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton after divorcing Eulie Fisher 10 days before
Cole Porter dies
FUN FACTS:

According to some reports, not a single juvenile crime is reported in New York City the night of the Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

On topic or not....I got to drive a 1930 Model A five window, completely stock Sunday.
I drove it about 30 miles to a car show. The car belongs to my sister and brother in law.

It was interesting to say the least.

 

[Ilikeabikea]

Minimum Hourly Wage $1.00 Per Hour
The minimum hourly wage is raised in the United States from 75 cents per hour to $1.00 per hour ( for a 40 hr week this would provide about $2,000 PER YEAR )

Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr
Rosa Parks sets off a bus boycott in Montgomery, Georgia when she refuses to give up her seat in the “colored” section of a bus . Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the boycott lasted for over a year and resulted in the desegregation of the busses. This is often thought of as the event that started the Civil Rights Movement nationwide.

on 21st December 1956 Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the first passengers of the new integrated bus system in Georgia where blacks and whites rode together

Bill Haley and the Comets "Rock Around the Clock"
Bill Haley and the Comets, record "Rock Around the Clock" the song is released in May 1954 but is not a major chart hit, but in July 1955, after the song is used as the theme song for the movie "Blackboard Jungle" it goes to number 1 on the pop charts.

Salk Vaccine Against Polio
The Salk vaccine against Poliomyelitis commonly known as( Polio or Infantile Paralysis )was declared safe and effective. The vaccine works by inducing immunity by developing protective antibodies to polio.

1955 Big Freeze In Britain
With over 70 roads now not passable the big freeze continues in the UK with many essential supplies including food and medical supplies now in jeopardy. The RAF is dropping food and medical supplies in the worst affected areas and are also dropping tons of hay over the Scottish Highlands as sheep are now starving due to the massive snowdrifts that have built up .

McDonalds
1955
A burger, fries and drink were 45 cents

 

[beach cruiser]

I remember the following things long passed:
Leaded gas was 25 cents a gallon, Levi 501's were $4.25, Milk came in cartons that were wax coated, peaches had fuzz on them, minimum wage was $1.25, you needed a can opener for beer & pop, candy that was a penny, washing machines where mom had to wring out clothes thru those rollers, grandma washing clothes by using a wash board and basin, no AIDs, no mass shootings & no Rap music!

 

[fasteddy]

Toasters that didn't pop up. You had to open the doors and turn the bread around to toast the other side.

The first pop up toaster. My brother and I thought this was so great we ran the entire 45 cent loaf of bread through it. Not a happy mother.

Bacon with the rind on it. They didn't remove the skin before it was cured. Very happy cat who got the rind.

First television in 1951. We invited the neighbours over on Saturday night to see the programs. Sofa was full of kids saturday morning to watch the cowboy movies and cartoons.

First car. Where I lived they were $50 and if it still had a floor it, it it was a $100. Loved that rust belt living. Mostly because I didn't know any better.

Milton Berle, Red Skelton and in Canada, Wayne and Schuster.

Ed Sullivan. He gave how many people their start in show business. If you saw Elvis Presley when he had his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show I feel sorry for you because your really freaking old.

National Anthem after the news and the the test pattern came on. Programing started at 7am if I remember correctly.

Tree forts. Try that today with out violating a city/town ordinance.

Your grandparents lived in the country or a small town. They didn't disappear right after Christmas in thier motorhome and show up in the spring with a sun tan and stories about Arizona.

As Beach Crusier said penny candy. Usually bought from an elderly couple who ran the store out of the former living room of thier house. Often wondered over the years how they made a living doing that.

Favorite penny candy story. Right after the Christmas/ New Years school break, kid in my class comes to with a dollars worth of black balls. These little puppies are 3 for 1 cent and hard as a marble. Put one in your mouth and it took a 1/2 hour to melt. Your mouth was as black as the inside of a coal mine after the first one due to the coating so it was hard to hide the fact you ate one and the colour lasted for hours with just one candy. Wise guy has them hidden under his coat and he's almost at his desk when the bag breaks. Three hundred candies bouncing everywhere and the teacher trying to get order in the class room in the mad scramble that followed.

Marbles. They were 25 cent or 13 pop bottle which ever you got first, for a hundred at Woolworths or your local 5&10 store. Called a five and dime for you younger folks that never had the joy of seeing one.

Steve.

 

[2door]

Steve,
I remember them all very well. As for the corner store and candy, my grandad was the guy who delivered the candy to them. He had a basement full of candy that he bought wholesale then drove around town and supplied those little stores. He used to go in with boxes tied together with white string and then he'd open the boxes and arrange the candy on the shelves for his customers.

Our first TV had a little round screen. If my memory serves me it was about 8 or 10 inches in diameter. My aunt had the first color set I ever saw. It wasn't even real color. It had bands of color across the screen; blue at the top for the sky, sort of pinkish in the center for people and the lower bands were shades of brown and green. You had to sort of use your imagination and put the colors where they went best. That was about 1952-55, maybe?

Tom

 

[GearNut]

Old TV's...
Does this image bring back any memories?

 

[2door]

Yep, and to this day I still wonder about the significance of the Indian Chief. No disrespect to Native Americans, but what was that all about?

Tom

 

[fasteddy]

Living in Canada we had the CBC {Canadian Broadcasting Corporation} for both radio and the new television station, Chanel 6. True to the "Just like over home in Britian" thinking we suffered from there was a Don't let American Culture seep into Canada thought as well.
Remember this is 5 years after WW2 ended and our troops had been elbow to elbow with American soldiers and there was a great deal of admiration for things American. This set the very British Government types on their ear.

British tv had formal music concerts, ballet ect and by God so were we. Dad referred to the dancers as the CBC Wigglers and turned the channel to 2 or 4. The stations out of Buffalo N.Y. and we all sat back and enjoyed the quality tv and dived head first into the American culture that the British culture hawks drove us to.

The reins did loosen after a while and there was better programs of a more varied lot but way too late.
How could they compete with Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob?

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Tom,
That was a question I always wanted an answer to as well. Maybe to signifiy that it was an American station?

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

And here is the answer.

Steve.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...hMDGDQ&usg=AFQjCNEPvLA1mcpUtUwyOCkoTqfiLg-tFw

 

[GearNut]

Yep, and to this day I still wonder about the significance of the Indian Chief. No disrespect to Native Americans, but what was that all about?

Tom

According to my dad, who used to repair TV's waaay back when, an experienced television studio technician could simply glance at the Indian head to get a fast assessment of the state of tune without having to scrutinize all the bars, graphs and circles.
The bars, graphs, and circles are there for very fine detailed adjustments of both cameras and TV sets.

Edit: Ok, fasteddy was faster than me!
That wiki should back up what I quoted from my dad.

 

[Dan]

"If you saw Elvis Presley when he had his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show I feel sorry for you because your really freaking old."

LOL, cracked me up Steve.

As a little kid, we (my brother and I) lived with Grampa and Granma in the bronx. I had my first fist fight in an ally. I lost.

I forget how often but Granpa would give me and my brother a dollar bill. We would go down stairs to the little market and buy a whole bunch of penny candys then set up a bucket or bench what ever we could find and sell them for a nickle. Right under the store window. We didn't get rich like my brother thought.

My Grandpa came over on the boat from Europe. He hated it, the boat ride. Not long after they shipped him back out to the Pacific in the early '40s.

Then he came back and became a cop in the Bronx. Great and good man.

 

[fasteddy]

Dan,
My mother came over from England with her family in 1929. She did not enjoy the trip either since she was seasick from when the ship left the dock until it docked again in Canada.

I think your brother and I may have done well in business together. I learned at a young age that a pay check was better that trying to be the guy who provided it. Did give me a rather unique view of what it was like to be a business owner though.

Steve.

 

[locell]

ya those are Hub-Shiners (at least that's what i've heard them called) popular on fat tire cruisers. They keep the hub clean but are **** on your wheel bearings because they are constantly making a very fine dust that can get sucked into the hub.

 

[fasteddy]

Tom,
I remember people like your grandfather who sold to the small stores like the candy stores. Some had small panel trucks but most of the salesmen had either a business coupe with no back seat and an extra long trunk lid to cover the deeper trunk that increased the storage available or a large car like a Packard or a Buick station wagon.

I remember them as a kid, coming by the gas stations where I worked and selling out of their station wagon or trunk and back seat that was loaded up until they could barely see over the pile.
When you asked for something they would burrow into the pile until they were 4 levels down and come up with what you asked for. The price was always reasonable so you bought it. After all, the poor man went to all that trouble how could you say no.

After I received my chefs training papers at the end of my apprenticeship I decided that wasn't for me and went to work in a butcher shop. After wrapping up the meat in butchers paper you had to reach up and pull the string down from the roll overhead and tie the package up.
We used what was called a butchers knot so that when you pulled it tight it stayed tight. It was used to tie roasts, ect together as well.

Crud. When I look back at what I've seen over the years I'm starting to think I could be bordering on getting old.

Steve.