hey, thanks a lot for your contributions and now here's some more memories from when we were kids. these come from seven different families.
cartridge pens were a big deal because it eliminated bottles of ink. ball points were next.
hot lunches. if you went to a catholic school, this was a big deal. maybe 6 times a year, you had a shot at a sloppy joe or a hot dog. other than that, you brought your lunch. milk was 2 cents.
corduroy pants. you couldn't sneak up on anyone.
reaching 7th grade and getting a locker for the first time.
forgetting your combination.
playing outside ALL DAY in the summer until the street lights came on. then you begged for just a 'little more time.'
being yelled at when you ran thru the grass at dusk. "you'll stir up the mosquitos!" little did they know that their yelling attracted more of them with carbon dioxide than we did by running.
catching lightning bugs and putting them in a mason jar.
my sister making me and my brother take part in a funeral 'procession' for the parakeet.
the girls washing their hair in the utility room because they couldn't tie up the only bathroom.
getting your first little league uniform. all wool but very cool.
getting my first autograph from pete ward at the grand opening for a 7-11.
going to the dump in northern wisconsin after dark so you could watch the bears come in and eat
the garbage. seriously.
blistering the roof of your mouth on a hot pizza.
shaking a pecan tree and then selling them for a nickel a bag.
learning how to play pinball. and pool.
curling your hair with a curling iron heated on an open flame.
almost everyone smoking cigarettes.
going to the local gas station to buy cigarettes for your mom. don't you dare forget the note! and then putting a quarter in the machine and getting the pack with two pennies inside the cellophane. that was your reward.
a washing machine with a manual wringer. how about a mangle to steam press your clothes? there was nothing permanent about 'permanent press.'
that's it for now.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
THE WAY WE WERE
the other day my nephew dan brings me a can of 'throwback' pepsi which proudly proclaims that they are using 'real' sugar and the original recipe for a limited time. ice cold, it was aces in flavor and got me to thinking about when i was a kid:
my dad was a milk man who left the house every day about 0400 and got home in the early afternoon. i had no clue how hard he worked but i was very much aware that we were the first kids on the block to get egg nog at thanksgiving and strawberry milk on a hot summer day. the milk was in glass bottles and had a cardboard stopper with a little tab that you pulled to open. HOWEVER, more often than not, that damn thing ripped off when you pulled it and you were forced to open the stopper with a fork or knife, which shredded it permanently and totally pissed off your parents because the bottle could never be closed again. many times a piece of paper and a rubber band served as the cover.
television was a snap with 2-5-7-9 your only choices and all in black & white. there were no remotes and spinning the channel dial would always get a reaction out of my dad with his most popular phrase "do you think i'm made of money, buster?" i'd race home from school to call 'dibs' on the tv and watch the mickey mouse club until my sister pat muscled me out of the way to watch american bandstand at 4 o'clock. worse than that, i had to watch her dance to the tunes for the next half hour and a war was always guaranteed if she tried to make me dance with her.
my mother watched lawrence welk every saturday and god help you if you screwed up that hour because that would mean no gunsmoke at 9:00 and early bedtime.
sports captured my attention at an early age and i watched the blackhawks every saturday night when they played out of town and lloyd pettit was the announcer with "shot and a goal!" being his catch phrase. today, you might see his name on an ice arena just off the tollway as you near milwaukee. both the cubs and white sox were broadcast on channel 9 and jack brickhouse was the announcer for both teams. the cubs only played day games and going to a friday night game at comiskey park was big time fun. basketball and soccer were non-existent and the bears never broadcast a home game on local tv so you had to listen to brickhouse (yep, he did everything) and irv kupcinet on wgn radio.
my mother or father cooked every meal and the almost nightly question of 'what's for dinner?' was often answered "leftovers.' according to my brother in law roy.....if it was in the
refrigerator and not green or moving, it got eaten on leftover night. tupperware was non-existent in our house and for some reason, my mother thought that 'tin foil' kept everything fresh. it didn't. my father thought the shiny side of tin foil had to be on the outside for it to perform properly. he was wrong. he also thought tin foil protected a roast from drying out in the oven....... but not when you cook it at 475 for 5 hours, dad.
i polished my shoes every saturday and had assigned chores the same day. during the week, homework was supposed to be done before going out to play after school. this was the rule most often broken. you changed clothes as soon as you got home from school and switched into jeans that probably had more patches than a pirate. only girls wore shorts, even in the summer.
t-shirts had no reference to sex, drugs or rock n roll. maybe a picture of a deer with 'boulder junction, wisconsin' written underneath it.
telephones were all rotary dialed and you stretched the cord to the laundry room for a 'private' conversation. NO ONE was allowed to use the phone after 9:00. doctors made house calls and the dentist really hurt. teachers smacked you if you were bad and so did the parents of my friends. i can't count the number of times mr. cervone smacked me and his son jim in the back of the head and told us to knock it off.
my buddy is on the phone and is cracking me up with his stories so we'll do some of those next time. stay warm. HEY! if you've got some childhood memories, share them and i'll put them in the next blog and no, i won't use your name. thanks.
my dad was a milk man who left the house every day about 0400 and got home in the early afternoon. i had no clue how hard he worked but i was very much aware that we were the first kids on the block to get egg nog at thanksgiving and strawberry milk on a hot summer day. the milk was in glass bottles and had a cardboard stopper with a little tab that you pulled to open. HOWEVER, more often than not, that damn thing ripped off when you pulled it and you were forced to open the stopper with a fork or knife, which shredded it permanently and totally pissed off your parents because the bottle could never be closed again. many times a piece of paper and a rubber band served as the cover.
television was a snap with 2-5-7-9 your only choices and all in black & white. there were no remotes and spinning the channel dial would always get a reaction out of my dad with his most popular phrase "do you think i'm made of money, buster?" i'd race home from school to call 'dibs' on the tv and watch the mickey mouse club until my sister pat muscled me out of the way to watch american bandstand at 4 o'clock. worse than that, i had to watch her dance to the tunes for the next half hour and a war was always guaranteed if she tried to make me dance with her.
my mother watched lawrence welk every saturday and god help you if you screwed up that hour because that would mean no gunsmoke at 9:00 and early bedtime.
sports captured my attention at an early age and i watched the blackhawks every saturday night when they played out of town and lloyd pettit was the announcer with "shot and a goal!" being his catch phrase. today, you might see his name on an ice arena just off the tollway as you near milwaukee. both the cubs and white sox were broadcast on channel 9 and jack brickhouse was the announcer for both teams. the cubs only played day games and going to a friday night game at comiskey park was big time fun. basketball and soccer were non-existent and the bears never broadcast a home game on local tv so you had to listen to brickhouse (yep, he did everything) and irv kupcinet on wgn radio.
my mother or father cooked every meal and the almost nightly question of 'what's for dinner?' was often answered "leftovers.' according to my brother in law roy.....if it was in the
refrigerator and not green or moving, it got eaten on leftover night. tupperware was non-existent in our house and for some reason, my mother thought that 'tin foil' kept everything fresh. it didn't. my father thought the shiny side of tin foil had to be on the outside for it to perform properly. he was wrong. he also thought tin foil protected a roast from drying out in the oven....... but not when you cook it at 475 for 5 hours, dad.
i polished my shoes every saturday and had assigned chores the same day. during the week, homework was supposed to be done before going out to play after school. this was the rule most often broken. you changed clothes as soon as you got home from school and switched into jeans that probably had more patches than a pirate. only girls wore shorts, even in the summer.
t-shirts had no reference to sex, drugs or rock n roll. maybe a picture of a deer with 'boulder junction, wisconsin' written underneath it.
telephones were all rotary dialed and you stretched the cord to the laundry room for a 'private' conversation. NO ONE was allowed to use the phone after 9:00. doctors made house calls and the dentist really hurt. teachers smacked you if you were bad and so did the parents of my friends. i can't count the number of times mr. cervone smacked me and his son jim in the back of the head and told us to knock it off.
my buddy is on the phone and is cracking me up with his stories so we'll do some of those next time. stay warm. HEY! if you've got some childhood memories, share them and i'll put them in the next blog and no, i won't use your name. thanks.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
just some idle thoughts
holidays in the midwest were nice this year. white christmas, jack frost nipping at your nose and all that other good stuff. now where is the button i push to melt all this crap?
i still think ice fishing is just another excuse to drink.
remember the warped sense of excitement & panic you would get as a kid when you walked slowly across the ice and heard some cracking? kind of like pushing a loose tooth with your tongue. continue? stop? just one more step. just one more push. memories.
the only ice i hear cracking today is when my warm amaretto goes over the rocks in my glass.
ok, WHO still has old metal ice cube trays with the pull handle to release the cubes?
you know it's cold outside when you don't see a squirrel. those little bastards are everywhere most of the time.
i also have a show to offer to rod blagojevich. it's the morning dj at WDOC, the department of corrections radio station.
i'm constantly amused by cub fans and their eternal optimism. they have very little knowledge of baseball but you can't question their loyalty, blind as it may be. if you think i'm kidding, try and get a ticket to the cub convention which is held every january in sub-zero chicago.
the oscar for best actor will be either jeff bridges or george clooney. tough choice.
i wish they posted the vote totals for the academy awards.
want a sure thing? bet the mortgage on CHRISTOPHER WALTZ for best supporting actor for his exciting performance as the evil nazi colonel hans landa in 'inglorius basterds."
think you might be getting a little older? try looking at the list of nominees for this year's grammys and see how many names you recognize. ouch.
both of my nephews are currently hiding from the locals down in florida. they relocated from chicago a couple of weeks ago and the sunshine state promptly had their coldest weather in 55 years. the grove owners are still throwing black oranges at nephew john's car.
i get a little more nauseous each time brett favre wins a playoff game.
why is online poker against the law but poker machines in taverns is soon to be ok?
do they still call them taverns?
where i grew up, one of the most popular taverns was called 'ding & fuzz.' i kid you not.
the most exciting 'club' was the american legion because you could climb all over the tank in the parking lot until an adult yelled, "do you want to break a leg?" sure i do.....right after i say 'yes' to the famous question asked by every parent as they raised their hand, "do you want something to really cry about?"
59 days until spring. stay warm.
i still think ice fishing is just another excuse to drink.
remember the warped sense of excitement & panic you would get as a kid when you walked slowly across the ice and heard some cracking? kind of like pushing a loose tooth with your tongue. continue? stop? just one more step. just one more push. memories.
the only ice i hear cracking today is when my warm amaretto goes over the rocks in my glass.
ok, WHO still has old metal ice cube trays with the pull handle to release the cubes?
you know it's cold outside when you don't see a squirrel. those little bastards are everywhere most of the time.
i also have a show to offer to rod blagojevich. it's the morning dj at WDOC, the department of corrections radio station.
i'm constantly amused by cub fans and their eternal optimism. they have very little knowledge of baseball but you can't question their loyalty, blind as it may be. if you think i'm kidding, try and get a ticket to the cub convention which is held every january in sub-zero chicago.
the oscar for best actor will be either jeff bridges or george clooney. tough choice.
i wish they posted the vote totals for the academy awards.
want a sure thing? bet the mortgage on CHRISTOPHER WALTZ for best supporting actor for his exciting performance as the evil nazi colonel hans landa in 'inglorius basterds."
think you might be getting a little older? try looking at the list of nominees for this year's grammys and see how many names you recognize. ouch.
both of my nephews are currently hiding from the locals down in florida. they relocated from chicago a couple of weeks ago and the sunshine state promptly had their coldest weather in 55 years. the grove owners are still throwing black oranges at nephew john's car.
i get a little more nauseous each time brett favre wins a playoff game.
why is online poker against the law but poker machines in taverns is soon to be ok?
do they still call them taverns?
where i grew up, one of the most popular taverns was called 'ding & fuzz.' i kid you not.
the most exciting 'club' was the american legion because you could climb all over the tank in the parking lot until an adult yelled, "do you want to break a leg?" sure i do.....right after i say 'yes' to the famous question asked by every parent as they raised their hand, "do you want something to really cry about?"
59 days until spring. stay warm.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
NEW YEAR'S THOUGHTS
toughest volunteer job around the holidays? the person from the salvation army ringing the bell outside your local grocery store for 8 hours a day. big hearts.
i find it amusing that republicans are stomping their feet because president obama hasn't fixed all the problems after less than a year in office. they conveniently forget that it took eight very long years for president bush to screw everything up. and yes, i voted for mr. bush.....twice. but fair is fair. give the new guy some time.
the cubs are slapping their fans in the face again. while free agents were being scooped up left & right, they let themselves be handcuffed by the milton bradley situation for three months as they tried to screw other major league teams into taking that steaming pile of crap. they finally just traded piles of garbage and other MLB teams have yet to stop laughing. with a lame duck manager, this team is doomed.
there were a lot less outside christmas decorations this year. a lot less.
putting a wood burning stove in my house was a pretty good idea. and watching tv in the same room when the stove is cookin' is sweet.
if you haven't experienced high definition television, spend the extra eight bucks a month and give yourself and your family a treat.
dogs are still my favorite but for some reason, cats seem ok now. but not as good as dogs. ever.
fleming's steak house in linconshire is pricey but verrrrrrrry nice.
isn't it strange how we accept $2.50 a gallon for gas? wasn't too long ago, people were screaming about two bucks. i guess we all adapt to everything in life eventually.
i think i might be getting old. three kids i used to help with their homework in junior high school have either graduated from college or are graduating in june. woosh. that was the sound of time flying by.
isn't the rebirth of the blackhawks great?
less than 80 days til spring. stay warm.
i find it amusing that republicans are stomping their feet because president obama hasn't fixed all the problems after less than a year in office. they conveniently forget that it took eight very long years for president bush to screw everything up. and yes, i voted for mr. bush.....twice. but fair is fair. give the new guy some time.
the cubs are slapping their fans in the face again. while free agents were being scooped up left & right, they let themselves be handcuffed by the milton bradley situation for three months as they tried to screw other major league teams into taking that steaming pile of crap. they finally just traded piles of garbage and other MLB teams have yet to stop laughing. with a lame duck manager, this team is doomed.
there were a lot less outside christmas decorations this year. a lot less.
putting a wood burning stove in my house was a pretty good idea. and watching tv in the same room when the stove is cookin' is sweet.
if you haven't experienced high definition television, spend the extra eight bucks a month and give yourself and your family a treat.
dogs are still my favorite but for some reason, cats seem ok now. but not as good as dogs. ever.
fleming's steak house in linconshire is pricey but verrrrrrrry nice.
isn't it strange how we accept $2.50 a gallon for gas? wasn't too long ago, people were screaming about two bucks. i guess we all adapt to everything in life eventually.
i think i might be getting old. three kids i used to help with their homework in junior high school have either graduated from college or are graduating in june. woosh. that was the sound of time flying by.
isn't the rebirth of the blackhawks great?
less than 80 days til spring. stay warm.
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