dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Our phone # was CE 45567 and yes two longs and a short... 4 party line. Ma Bell was the only game in town. My cousin was in a small town and they had crank phones. Later they went modern and so we got the magneto out of one and made a shocking machine... a group of kids in a circle holding hands and someone cranking... voltage got higher with the speed of the cranking... arms jerking ...who would let go first was the game they were the shame....

Amielee Loc: Eastern Washington State

Ours was two longs and a short. Number was Main (MA) 7147. My mother taught us to remember the number because two 7s were 14. Later when I first got married Ovenjoy bread was 9 cents a loaf and hamburger was 34 cents a pound or 3 pounds for a dollar. My father was a WWI veteran and I remember coming home from church and we were eating lunch when my father suddenly started to cry. I had never seen that before. Yes it was 7 December 1941 and the radio was on. Our world was quite different after that.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Does anyone remember a radio commercial that was sung to the tune of "A bicycle built for two"? Part of the lyrics was "the flavor is rich and creamy, the foam so light and dreamy"?

HOHIMER

I sat on my front steps and watched the milkman and iceman doing their rounds. The doctor would come to our house when someone was sick. I came into this world in the same bed I was conceived in. "Be home by the time the street lights turn on.", Mom would say. I bought gas for my motorbike at 11 cents/gal.
Good times!

Angel Star Photography Loc: Tacoma, WA

Boy that brings back some other memories...

In Savannah, Georgia, the neighborhood boys would all gather around this one huge, tall tree. We had a club in which each had a rank similar to the ranks in the Army. Newcomers always began at the lowest rank and how you progressed up the ranks was to scale up the tree, scoot out on a branch a bit, and then drop. The higher up and the more branches you had to avoid on the way down determined your rank. I made to the sergeant before the neighborhood mothers, mine included, put a stop to it. Our ranks were worthless when mothers were involved.

In the same town, I loved to scale this one tree and making it all the way to the top I could look out over the town of Savannah. This was almost a daily occurrence for me as I just loved to look over the world. This, too, was brought to an end when, one day, my mother came out of the house looking for me and calling my name. I sat quietly watching as calling and sometimes snickering a few times---she looked so small from there and her movements seemed different. I finally answered and that was a mistake to do so from the top of the tree. Instead of hearing her call me by my nickname, "Corkey", her tone changed as I heard in her southern accent, "Oh my God! Charles Richard Smith, you get down here right now! I mean now!" I scurried down the tree as fast as I could but it just wasn't fast enough as she continued to demand I get down from the tree. Upon reaching the ground, I was grabbed by the ear and marched into the house, summarily chastised on my bare backside, and sent to my room until supper. I was told that the spanking was not answering her immediately but I could also see she was scared out of her wits. I still climbed trees but there were a bit more distant to the home.

On another occasion, my parents had taken the family and my cousin, Bobby, to see the world's biggest steam shovel in Tennessee. Bobby's dad worked for TVA---Tennessee Valley Authority---and had told my dad what was happening. At ground level, the machine was impressive but Bobby and I weren't satisfied. We climb a mound of rocks that the machine had made just to look down upon the machine. The pile was probably about three or four stories high. We were able to see the top of the machine, and being so proud of our accomplishment, announced our presence on top of the world. Well, that was the beginning of the end as we heard our mothers calling us down, full name in use meaning there was hell to pay. The way down seemed more treacherous as the rocks would slip out from under us. My mother demand I move faster and after explaining to no avail that I couldn't move any faster I opted for the fastest way down---jump. I was about three stores up. I looked for what would appear to be a soft landing target, spied a mud puddle, and jumped for the center. As I leaped from the pile of rocks, focusing on the center of the puddle, I could my scream, "OH MY GOD! CHARLES RICHARD SMITH! OH MY GOD!!" I hit dead center of the puddle but to my surprise I didn't stop at ground level. I found myself buried in thick, black mud up to my shoulders struggling to get out. The more I struggled the more it seemed to pull me back in. My cousin arrived and I asked for his help only to get, "You got yourself in there, get yourself out." I was on the verge of panic when I began to remember a western where someone was caught in quicksand. Remembering the instructions of, "don't panic, move slowly", I managed to pull myself out just in time to be greeted by my mother and dad. My mother was fit to be tied. My dad was doing all he could to calm her down while at the same time looking at me covered mud with a proud smile on his face. My punish was to strip of all clothing except underwear and sit in the far back with my sisters---quite embarrassing but a small price pay for such a cool jump. I tried to talk about it with my sisters but they wouldn't have it as I had upset mother.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Had not heard of that one!

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

That for me was a bit later in life at the drive in.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

I would ride my bike the five miles into town and sell door to door to make extra money. Christmas Cards, candy, magazine subscriptions... anything that would make me some cash.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

At some point in time I suppose memories will be all I have left. It’s why I travel and take photos.

Keen

I remember gasoline at 10 cents per gallon, with inter-station price wars lowering it to 5 cents per gallon for a few weeks at a time.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Our Dad was a carpenter working the framing crew in a subdivision in East Long Meadow Massachusetts. He put 10 cents down on a new house with his GI Bill and paid $50 a month on it.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

And the taters were peeled and sliced right there for the fries. I remember the potato peeling tumblers and the fry press.

aphelps Loc: Central Ohio

I remember in the early 50s we had the first color tv on the block. On Saturday mornings we would line up chairs in the living room, invite all the kids over and watch cartoons! It was a really big deal. The screen was dim but it had "halo light" which was flourescent light around the tube. It was supposed to make the screen brighter. Mom made real popcorn for us.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

What a great memory! Thank you for sharing.