Older Than Dirt

My not that much younger sister sent me this email yesterday about objects and events from a long, long time ago when the earth was still cooling. It was interesting to see the things from my youth that I still remember and were a part of my childhood.

1. 45 rpm spindles. We didn't have a record player so I have no idea what this are.

2. green stamps. Yes, I remember these being in the junk drawer. I believe there was a catalog that you could choose things to "buy" with your stamps.





3. metal ice cube trays with levers. Yes, we had these.





4. Beanie and Cecil. Who?

5. roller-skate keys. We lived on a dirt road, need I say more?

6. cork pop guns. Nope. We weren't allowed to have guns, even play guns. We were forced to use sticks.

7. Marlin Perkins. Again, who?

8. drive-in movies. Score! The first movie I went to was a drive-in theater.





9. drive-in restaurants. Not a part of our lives. We never ate out.

10. car hops. see number nine.

11. studebakers. I wasn't aware of the names of cars. The only car I rememeber from when I was young was a pink station wagon with buttons.

12. Topo Gigio. Who doesn't remember him? He was on the Ed Sullivan Show which we watched every week. Thankfully, it was on CBS or I wouldn't know that one.





13. washtub wringers. We had one of these bad boys in the basement. Loved watching the clothes go through the wringer.





14. the Fuller Brush Man. Nope. Heard of them, don't think they ever stopped by our house.

15. Sky King. I need help here.

16. reel-to-reel tape recorders. I have heard of them, but we never had one. Come on, get real, we didn't have a record player. We did have an eight track player, though.

17. tinkertoys. didn't have them.

18. erector sets. ditto.

19. lincoln logs. We had these and spent hours building things with them.





20. 15 cent McDonald hamburgers. We never ate out. I think the first time I ate at McDonalds I was 10 or so. We led a sheltered life what can I say?

21. 5 cent packs of baseball cards. There may have been a few around. They weren't something we really collected like D did. Now he has baseball cards.

22. penny candy. Now where were we going to buy stuff like this?

23. 25 cent a gallon gasoline. I had no idea what gas cost when I was young.

24. JIffy Pop popcorn. I know we made popcorn on the stove in a pan. We may have had these occasionally.



25. 5 cent stamps. What things cost were of no concern of mine.

26. gum wrapper chains. Score! I made these by the yard. And the best part is they smelled so good.





27. Chatty Cathy dolls. My not that much younger sister had one of these dolls and I had Thumbelina. My doll was better.





28. 5 cent cokes. We didn't have pop around the house until I was older and we didn't live where we could buy Coke off the shelf. Man, we were so deprived growing up.

29. Speedy Alka-Seltzer. I have heard of him.

30. Falstaff Beer. I have never heard of this brand. Strohs would have been the beer of choice in Michigan.

31. Burma Shave signs. Don't remember them.

32. Brownie camera. We had one of these. It was blue if I remember correctly.





33. flash bulbs. We had these too. They were in the linen closet.





34. tv test patterns. Don't remember them. Of course, we only got one channel and it didn't always come in that clear to begin with.

35. Old Yeller. It wasn't on the right channel. Never watched it.

36. Chef-Boy-Ar-dee. We didn't eat this growing up. No fast food and no box mixes. Wow.

37. fire escape tubes. I don't think I have ever seen one.

38. Timmy and Lassie. It was on CBS and I believe we watched this occasionally.

39. aluminum christmas trees. Ours was always real. The better to strip the needles off of it, right, brother?!


Well, how did you do? Can you claim to be older than dirt?