For those born before 1980

[Reedus]

We SURVIVED the
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

We took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.


We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.


We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !
!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.



We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phon es, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it woul d happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO

DEAL WITH IT ALL!

[Iceaxe]

born 1960.... yeah baby... :2thumbs:

[Scott Card]

1963. :2thumbs: OK, was the author following me around? He just described my childhood to a tee. I so clearly remember going to Canada almost every summer laying in the back window of our Tuna Clipper we called our car. Never even had seat belts. And yup, got my own BB gun when I was 8 and my first shotgun when I turned 14. I was using a chainsaw when I was 14 and splitting fire wood at the same time. I played basketball nonstop and my daughter gasped last night when I told her I would practice 4- 6 hours a day. She wondered where I got all the time. She is trying to figure out when to practice soccer. Hmmm lets see, black and white TV, only three channels, AM radio, and scratched records, and no other form of electronic entertainment maybe? Ahh those were the days.... pass the prunes. :five:

[DiscGo]

78 but with the exception of not having a nintendo everything else applied (I think). I had really kind of forgotten how exciting it used to be to ride in the back of a truck before reading this (I may have forgotten because I have a big scar on my chin from being tossed out of a truck). It was fun to read some of those and have a brief moment of reliving the experiences.

[Iceaxe]

Remember when TV20 (Now Fox) hit the air waves. With four channels (public access didn't count) we thought we had died and gone to heaven. :nod:

I had a BB gun for as long as I can remember. I had both a .22 pistol and rifle when I was 12. I had a mini bike when I was 8 and a full size motorcycle at 10. Our favorite activity in summer was inner tubing from the mouth of Little Cottonwood to Murray Park. And we actually kept score at little league games.

But the best thing of all..... we could have all the sex we wanted because a little penicillin would fix anything.

:five:

[Scott Card]

How could I forget the inner-tubing. Started somewhere up towards Provo Canyon and tubed a canal all the way into BYU Campus. We knew what poison ivy was and just avoided it along the banks. Do you remember the "Go outside and don't come back till dinner" from your mom/dad? You never hear that anymore with all the nut cases walking the streets.

[TreeHugger]

1962. That sums up my childhood perfectly as well. Especially the part about leaving the house after school and not coming home til the streetlights came on. Awesome!

We played all day - usually in the cemetary behind our house and the open fields.... games, real games, games where you had to run and laugh and move about.

A refrigerator box was more fun than an X box and tv was hardly looked at. We read, listened to music, oh, and talked to each other.

Neighbors all new each other and watched out for one another.... yep those were the days!

[DiscGo]

"Go outside and don't come back till dinner" from your mom/dad? .

The first time my Mom said that, I wasn't sure what to think. Did she not want me to come back ever? I felt pretty bad at first thinking I must have been pretty awful... but I got over it.

[accadacca]

What about 7-11 slurpees..no mention of that. :nod: :2thumbs:

[Scott Card]

OK, did anyone else do this for fun also??? Get your mom's old pantyhose and cut the legs off then put about a cup of firm mud in the toe, tie a knot near the mud and swing them as hard as you could in a circle (like an old fashoned sling) and then launch them as far as you could? I'll never forget the day when our neighbor lady that lived below our house called and said "Um, my daughter was on the roof sunbathing and she just got hit by what appears to be a nylon stocking filled with some mud. Did that come from your son?" Who me??? Where did I hit her... if it was me??? Anyone else dig big holes in the vacant lot and cover them with plywood and then dig a bunch of trenches to have dirt clod fights? Those were good times pelting your friends with dirt clods and mud.... :popcorn: Sorry, having way too much fun with this thread.

[Scott Card]

What about 7-11 slurpees..no mention of that. :nod: :2thumbs:

Best thing ever. Especially the "suicide slurpee" You were cool if you got one of those.

[JP]

1969 :haha:
No remotes and those damn antennas that had to be facing the right direction to get somewhat of a good picture. I don't miss those pre-cable days :naughty:

[Iceaxe]

Anyone else dig big holes in the vacant lot and cover them with plywood and then dig a bunch of trenches to have dirt clod fights?

You mean the plywood you nicked from the new house they were building down the street :lol8:

And build a tree house with a rope swing :nod:

:popcorn:

[chickenlicken]

Yeah we dug forts and covered them with plywood and dirt then burned green army men inthem for light until we all had blisters on our all our fingers.

[savanna3313]

Guess I'm the old broad here. :hail2thechief: 1959
Of course, it was the latter part of 1959 (Nov)

:popcorn:

[JP]

Anyone else dig big holes in the vacant lot and cover them with plywood and then dig a bunch of trenches to have dirt clod fights?
Neighbors wooded backyard :2thumbs: Man, dirt is dry when it hits ya in the mouth :roflol:

[chickenlicken]

Yeah we dug forts and covered them with plywood and dirt then burned green army men inthem for light until we all had blisters on our all our fingers.

[JP]

then burned green army men inthem for light until we all had blisters on our all our fingers.
Wow, the memories keep flooding back in. It was funny how the flame thrower guy was always the last man standing, when suddenly his tank exploded :roflol:

[savanna3313]

1962. That sums up my childhood perfectly as well. Especially the part about leaving the house after school and not coming home til the streetlights came on. Awesome!

We played all day - usually in the cemetary behind our house and the open fields.... games, real games, games where you had to run and laugh and move about.

A refrigerator box was more fun than an X box and tv was hardly looked at. We read, listened to music, oh, and talked to each other.

Neighbors all new each other and watched out for one another.... yep those were the days!

Sounds like you were a tomboy. Me too. :2thumbs: It was more fun going to my grandparents house because they lived out in the country. We used to catch fireflies at night in a jar, go down in ditches to collect wild berries, and literally play outside until the street lights started coming on. Then it was upstairs to take a bath and wash all the day's grime away. :haha:

[Scott Card]

and literally play outside until the street lights started coming on. Then it was upstairs to take a bath and wash all the day's grime away. :haha:

Hey, when the street lights started coming on was the time we started rounding up all the kids to play "kick-the-can" or "steal the flag" or some other night game. Baths were for Wednesdays and Saturdays only.

[JP]

when the street lights started coming on was the time we started
Bat hunting :haha:

[bruce from bryce]

Stole crab apples from a tree then ate so many we got sick to our stomachs and outed ourselves.

Halloween night gathered in San Mateo Park (subdivision) with shaving cream, a dozen eggs, water balloons and rotten fruit. Had a great pitched battle with 200-300 kids til the police arrived. We then covered their vehicles with everything we had left. When they started chasing us we ran up to the nearest house and the owners let us come in to avoid getting arrested. When police left we all went outside and pulled out our beer and whiskey that we had hidden and the next day had a helluva day in school.

Those were the days..... :rockon:

[Scout Master]

1957 here,
The Peak of the baby boom
I got my BB gun at 10 and a 22 at 13.
For 3 years a pick up truck was our only family vehicle
I was never good enough for Little league.
I wrecked my motorcycle more times than I can remember.
I fell out of our tree house and broke my leg.
Sledding and tubing was the highlight of our winters (Until we started snow skiing)
We never wore any kind of helmet
We dug trenches and forts and had rubber band gun fights.
I definitely remember 3 channels of black and white TV.
During the summer we never came in until dark.
And we walked to school rain or shine, sleet or snow, up hill both ways.

[DiscGo]

Did you guys ever work hard (selling kool-aid or whatever) and then bury the money so you could come back to it later? I think my brothers stole my money after I bury it, because I could never find it again but I thought it was so cool burying it (where I believed to be safe).

[psl53]

God, don't tell me I'm the oldest 1953 and the start of that year to boot.
Someone's got to be older........... What were we talking about ???????
Peter

[greyhair biker]

1964 here - all I can say is WOW...I NEVER came in the house. We were always building bikes from scrap parts and jumping them over canals and gutters. We'd build em for our skateboards...we BUILT our skateboards! We used to ride down to the DRIVE IN and watch movies outside the fence and throw eggs and tomatoes at cars ...yeah, the UTE theater in Sandy by the train overpass over state st....for anyone that remembers.
...I was a teenager when DISCO was big...(ouch) My FIRST 'album' was Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon....and Hogans' Heroes was my favorite TV show....I remember 'The Green Hornet' - I wanted to be KATO!

[TreeHugger]

:-)
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollor Babies was my first album (remember LPs?) ini 5th grade.
We had a car with an 8 track player.

Cigarettes were .35 a pack! and gas was probably .35 a gallon!

Did anyone play Capture the Flag? One of our favorite games. The Partridge Family was my favorite show. LOL!

[greyhair biker]

:-)
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollor Babies was my first album (remember LPs?) ini 5th grade.
We had a car with an 8 track player.

Cigarettes were .35 a pack! and gas was probably .35 a gallon!

Did anyone play Capture the Flag? One of our favorite games. The Partridge Family was my favorite show. LOL!
...must have been a girl thing...my wife was head over heels for Shaun Cassidy...and I had 'Eagles' and Styx -Pieces of Eight on 8track. I still have my album collection..."stuff's gonna be worth something someday..."

[Scott Card]

We were always building bikes from scrap parts and jumping them over canals and gutters. We'd build em for our skateboards...we BUILT our skateboards!

Did you ever flip the frame of those old metal tricycles upside down, reverse the seat and handle bars, and make your own big wheel? Let me guess on the skateboard. Before the polyurethane wheels with "closed bearings" (those were soooo cool) you used old metal roller skate wheels. Problem was any little rock or a crack sent you flying.

[DiscGo]

I used to love night games. Every Saturday night in the summer we would all meet at the same house (without having to call each other, and before email) and we would start playing at sunset and not stop until curfew.

[Scott P]

Back when we were kids in SLC, we used to ride the buses to the mountains/foothills and climb them (without adults). This is when we were 9-11 years old and we used to take my four year old brother because the bus was free for him. Starting at ages 10-12 we used to do the same thing and go camping overnight.

It's a differerent world now and I don't know if it practical or as safe to do those kinds of things now days.

[Rev. Coyote]

1962.

We had pine cone battles, built forts, rode bikes everywhere, and shot rapids on the James River riding LOGS. Years later I got my ACA certification paddling the same stretch with a stupid helmet on. Class 3. On a log.

[DAA]

:-)
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollor Babies was my first album (remember LPs?) ini 5th grade.
We had a car with an 8 track player.


How cool is that? Born in '64 here. My first albums were Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle of Love. Don't remember the exact year, but I couldn't have been 12 yet. Bought them both at the same time, at Odyssey Records on Main Street in SLC. Rode the bus up there, 10 cents each way.

Anyone else remember that old Odyssey store on Main? When they were closing down me and a buddy scored all kinds of cool stuff from them for free. I had that life sized Alice Cooper cutout from the Welcome to My Nightmare album cover in my room for a couple years after that (my Mom HATED it, heeehee). My buddy got that giant poster of Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous that they used to have - took up almost a whole wall in his room.

Growing up in the Salt Lake area in the '70s and '80s was pretty cool. When I see that movie Dazed and Confused, it reminds me a lot of how we used to goof off and party around here back then.

- DAA

[accadacca]

AC/DC put out their first album in Feb. 1975 and little acca came out in March.

Rockgremlin and I used to raise all kinds of hell in our Salt Lake neighborhood. We used to light fires in the gutter and one time a cop pulled up with no lights on. We ran like hell to rockgremlin's garage. The cop shined his light all around but never found us. The cop also knocked on rockgremlin's door and asked his Dad if he had heard anything suspicious. The cop said there was a prowler out. :haha:

We used to throw water balloons at cars driving by on state from an alley way. We would have several cars slam on their brakes and slam it in reverse. We would run like hell up the alley. Those balloons would make a loud bang as they hit the side of the cars.

Those were the days...

[DiscGo]

We had pine cone battles


Pine Cone battles were the best. We used to always have those until we got bb guns. Then we just put on 3 layers of clothes and shot ourselves.

[greyhair biker]

We were always building bikes from scrap parts and jumping them over canals and gutters. We'd build em for our skateboards...we BUILT our skateboards!

Did you ever flip the frame of those old metal tricycles upside down, reverse the seat and handle bars, and make your own big wheel? Let me guess on the skateboard. Before the polyurethane wheels with "closed bearings" (those were soooo cool) you used old metal roller skate wheels. Problem was any little rock or a crack sent you flying.
:roflol: ...had some of my best wrecks on those old metal wheels! And, I was stoked when I got my first 'real' board....california GT orange board with a big kicktail and california trucks...extra wide!!...the thing ROCKED! used to ride my bike with my board on board up to Rocky Mountain Surf up on Ft. Union up around the Whitmore Library area.

[Rev. Coyote]

Did you ever flip the frame of those old metal tricycles upside down, reverse the seat and handle bars, and make your own big wheel? Let me guess on the skateboard. Before the polyurethane wheels with "closed bearings" (those were soooo cool) you used old metal roller skate wheels. Problem was any little rock or a crack sent you flying.

Did all that! We made skateboards out of old roller skates, rode huge hills and damn near killed ourselves. I still have my last sketeboard, and recently found out it's worth some pretty good coin as an "old school" rig.

Rockitz 27" warptail, ACS 651 trucks, and 1st gen. Kryptonic 70s. Rad Pads too. Just have to keep it for the memories. I rode it recently and can still do decent 180s. It kind of freaked out the goth kids on the block.

[DAA]

AC/DC put out their first album in Feb. 1975 and little acca came out in March.


Way to make me feel old... That means little acca was only 3 years old the first time I went to an AC/DC concert :rockon: . Actually, it was an Aerosmith concert. AC/DC was the warm up. Didn't have one of their albums before seeing them for the first time. Went out the next day and bought TNT, High Voltage and Powerage.

- DAA

[Iceaxe]

I still have my last sketeboard, and recently found out it's worth some pretty good coin as an "old school" rig.

DITTO!!!!

Sims deack, California Slalom Trucks, Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Wheels purchased in 1976 :2thumbs:

The local skateboard shop offered to build me a new board with the best of everything in the shop in exchange for my old board. A new top skateboard costs about $150.

:five:

[savanna3313]

How about this from the boomer generation archives: Going out to trick or treat and going home and not having your candy inspected??!! :twisted:

The only thing I used to hate about Halloween, is that my Dad would be waiting for us to get back, we would empty our pillowcases (yes - pillowcases so we could haul all of our loot.) Those little plastic pumpkins kids carry today would never have worked back then. :haha: He would then go through our candy and pick out what he liked. No one ever heard of razor blades in apples or poisoned candy back then. In fact, instead of throwing away anything that was homemade (like popcorn balls and caramel apples), you looked for those things because they were the best. We would stay out until at least 10 because the next day (All Saints Day) was always a school holiday in New Orleans.

[JP]

(yes - pillowcases so we could haul all of our loot.) Those little plastic pumpkins kids carry today would never have worked back then. No one ever heard of razor blades in apples or poisoned candy back then. anything that was homemade (like popcorn balls and caramel apples)
:nod: to all of that :2thumbs:

[greyhair biker]

AC/DC put out their first album in Feb. 1975 and little acca came out in March.


Way to make me feel old... That means little acca was only 3 years old the first time I went to an AC/DC concert :rockon: . Actually, it was an Aerosmith concert. AC/DC was the warm up. Didn't have one of their albums before seeing them for the first time. Went out the next day and bought TNT, High Voltage and Powerage.

- DAA
..Aerosmith Double Live Bootleg Bootleg....second album :rockon:

[TreeHugger]

(yes - pillowcases so we could haul all of our loot.) Those little plastic pumpkins kids carry today would never have worked back then. No one ever heard of razor blades in apples or poisoned candy back then. anything that was homemade (like popcorn balls and caramel apples)
:nod: to all of that :2thumbs:

Yeah, pillow cases - we used the king sized ones, and had a method where we could hit EVERY house in the neighborhood!

Aerosmith was (and is) my favorite band. I used to have a huge Aerosmith wing (the ones with the A in the middle) painted on my bedroom wall. I even did an oil painting of the band in high school. Aerosmith ROCKS!

[Rev. Coyote]

Aerosmith was (and is) my favorite band. I used to have a huge Aerosmith wing (the ones with the A in the middle) painted on my bedroom wall. I even did an oil painting of the band in high school. Aerosmith ROCKS!


I got into Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps was new) and Hendrix early on. Still love them both -- especially Neil.

[savanna3313]

I got into Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps was new) and Hendrix early on. Still love them both -- especially Neil.

I love Neil Young's older music - Rust Never Sleeps is a classic and is the music he contributed to with Crosby, Stills and Nash. *So Far* was my favorite with them all. I don't really like Elton John these days, but his old stuff was the best. Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water. I feel like boomers grew up in the very best music era. :2thumbs: Of course, I suppose each generation feels that way. :haha: How many of you got into what I refer to as "head" music? (get your mind our of the gutter Ice) One particular album (besides the alltime classic Dark Side of the Moon) was Bridge of Sighs with Robin Trower. The good old days....... :cool2:

[savanna3313]

Aerosmith was (and is) my favorite band. I used to have a huge Aerosmith wing (the ones with the A in the middle) painted on my bedroom wall. I even did an oil painting of the band in high school. Aerosmith ROCKS!

My teenaged nieces couldn't believe Aerosmith was a popular band back when their Mom and I were teenagers. I brought out the old ALBUMS to prove it to them. :2thumbs:

[Rev. Coyote]

How many of you got into what I refer to as "head" music? (get your mind our of the gutter Ice) One particular album (besides the alltime classic Dark Side of the Moon) was Bridge of Sighs with Robin Trower. The good old days....... :cool2:


I love jam bands. Railroad Earth, New Riders, etc.

[Cirrus2000]

1965. Fun to see all this stuff... I actually live in the house I grew up in. Fun raising a family in the old homestead. Neighborhood sure has changed in some ways - though not so much in others. Still a great place to raise kids, but not so many kids along the street now. And much less "out until dark".

In 5th grade, I discovered the radio. Spent recess & lunch time in the schoolyard with a little transistor AM radio pressed to my ear. A couple of years later, I discovered the stuff you couldn't hear on the radio: My classics are The Clash, Gen X, Ramones, The Buzzcocks, The Damned, etc... Mmmm, The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette is still an album I can put on and enjoy again and again.

[Scout Master]

Three Dog Night :twisted:

[wojo342]

1960
Green River Utah
Spent most of my summers floating portions of the Green River on inner tubes. Swasey's Rapids and "The Beach!!!"
Riding peddle bikes, tote-goats, then motorcylces when I got older.
Stole lots of melons from local farmers.
Had to travel to Moab (The big city) to watch a movie or go bowling.
Out-doors, all day, every day (and night)

[capn_blasto]

Most o' them things you guys wemember so fondly could be possible today if the genewal pubwic wasn't asleep at the wheel!!! What the hell're YOU doing to end the appetite for destruction (YEAH!) and the rule of lawyers and there crooks in this fine nation of ours?

[nefarious]

My classics are The Clash, Gen X, Ramones, The Buzzcocks, The Damned, etc...Yep, yep, sure, maybe, and I don't remember. What about TSOL? I used to listen to a "New Wave" station in Utah back in the day before it got shut down for playing TSOL's song about necrophilia and Hillary's "Drop Your Pants." Super 107, what a great station that was!

[dillweed]

76 - I did a lot of those things too - digging forts into the ground w/plywood roofs, BMX dirt jumps, night games, toilet papering, etc. I used to walk up to the swimming pool w/o shoes on. One of my favorites: I would get the nasty runoff water out of the gutter (foam and all) and put it in mugs and try to sell it to people as root beer floats. I don't think I sold too many! Another favorite of mine - friends and I would pour a long line of gasoline down the middle of the road, some like 100 feet long, and throw a match onto it and watch the flames run up the street!

My wife would play steal the flag as a kid and the team she was on would always win because she would take the flag and climb a light pole and sit on the mast arm at the very top! Holy crap! She's lucky to be alive in my opinion.

This thread is awesome.

Edit: I also loved dirt-clod fights! And we could stay out until dark too, but the rule was we had to come in when the street light came on. But I discovered that if you kicked the metal pole really hard it would somehow turn off the street light. When it came back on after about 10 minutes, you just had to kick it again!

[sparker1]

1942 here, pre-boomer I suppose. I had a .22 rifle at 12, we got our first TV when I was 14. Nothing on for kids, except for westerns on Sat night. we played ball (football, baseball, basketball) EVERY day in FL. Walked home alone after dark. Our forts (in the ground or in trees) used boards, because we never heard of plywood then. No dirt in FL (only sand), so we had rock fights. I still have a scar on my lip from an oyster shell that hit its mark. We hitch-hiked everywhere and no one thought it was dangerous. That's how I got to school most days. I saw Elvis in concert before I even knew his name, shortly after his first record. Our favorites were Elvis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Coasters, the Platters, etc. I could bore you youngsters to death.

[DiscGo]

My teenaged nieces couldn't believe Aerosmith was a popular band back when their Mom and I were teenagers.

You just have to show them Dazes & Confused. :haha:
That movie was great!

[Iceaxe]

The space race and watching the boyz from Apollo 11 walk on the moon. I remember my entire grade school would gather in the gym and watch lift-offs and splash downs on one old TV set.

:flag:

[gonzo]

I was born in '77, but I was already skiing by 1980. (I bet my parents still have my first skis, along with the pie tip thing my dad made from two C clamps and some surgical tubing).

I was heavy into BMX when I was a kid. I spent nearly every summer waking up early to go to swim team, then riding my bike at the dirt track up on Danish Road in Salt Lake. (What was the name of that track? Kamikaze?). Turns out I was horrible at BMX, but I kept at it for years.

In the summer before junior high my buddies and I walked down the railroad tracks for a day to find the body of kid that had been hit by a train. Oh wait...that wasn't me.


I love jam bands. Railroad Earth, New Riders, etc.

Railroad Earth is playing at The Depot on April 9.