Back in the ol days

[misfish]

I believe Bruce put it right about "on the run". Grab a slice go,grab a sub and go. The things I learned back when,still are put in place today. Make a lunch,dont have to eat out all the time,eat off a upchuck truck at 1st break ,lunch,2nd break.A treat is nice once a week or two. Some of the co-workers here look at me wierd when I grab a slice of spanish onion out of a plactic bag and slap in my liverworst sandwich . How do you eat that crap they ask. I say what are you having,and how much did it cost you? They respond by saying,more then that probly. I say yep,so stop yer whining yer broke every monday after friday payday.

 

A movie I found really put it into perspective and showed values,was Cinderilla Man.

Edited November 25, 2010 by BrianB

[Gerritt]

Ugh, Powdered Milk, and Puffed Wheat cereal... just the thought of it makes me vomit a little, as that was my breakfast staple growing up, Liver n Onion's as it was cheap to this day I still cannot stand the stuff as I was forced to eat it, or starve..

 

I remember getting the belt when I did wrong, Do that now and you're in jail...

 

Hercules, Rocket Roger Man, Astro boy, G I Joe and the Smurfs were on the tube.

 

I remember spending time on my Grandparents farm.. Whole milk right from the cow... still warm, with "stuff" floating in it... Culling chickens, riding hogs, helping cows give birth..

 

.25 went a long way then..I too remember mom writing a note so I could pick her up some smokes.

 

I remember my dad being proud that he earned 30k a year in the very early 80's (guess that was a decent wage then?)

 

 

this is how I grew up.

[misfish]

Ugh, Powdered Milk, and Puffed Wheat cereal... just the thought of it makes me vomit a little, as that was my breakfast staple growing up, Liver n Onion's as it was cheap to this day I still cannot stand the stuff as I was forced to eat it, or starve..

 

I remember getting the belt when I did wrong, Do that now and you're in jail...

 

Hercules, Rocket Roger Man, Astro boy, G I Joe and the Smurfs were on the tube.

 

I remember spending time on my Grandparents farm.. Whole milk right from the cow... still warm, with "stuff" floating in it... Culling chickens, riding hogs, helping cows give birth..

 

.25 went a long way then..I too remember mom writing a note so I could pick her up some smokes.

 

I remember my dad being proud that he earned 30k a year in the very early 80's (guess that was a decent wage then?)

 

 

this is how I grew up.

 

 

And you wonder why we grew up to be good people?

 

Liver and onions,oh ya that was one hard to stomach down,but like I said,you learn to eat it,and is a staple in my home for the wife and I. You gotz to use your amagination when cooking G. Add spices and maybe a marinade to the liver. It,s meat after all.

 

30 gs in the earlly 80,s for a 19 year old was huge. I thought I had the world by the balls.Then came one son,ok were both working this is cool.The second son,time to budget.One car,different shifts.Thats a trick and a half.Finally went into debt and bought a second truck. Nightmares from there on. Lessons learned.

Edited November 25, 2010 by BrianB

[crappieperchhunter]

Powdered Milk. Haven't thought about that crap for years. We used to mix it with Nestle's Quik to make it tolerable. Funny we went through so much Nestle's Quik that my folks probably never saved a dime by cheaping out and not buying real milk. Got the quik at the grocery store but my folks probably should have ordered it direct from the factory...by the yard

 

One car family and my Dad worked shifts. So if I had a hockey game or practice..it was walk to the arena. Approx 4 miles each way...slugging hockey gear in the cold. My son NEVER had to walk to the arena...EVER. Most families where in the same boat. And it wasn't just hockey...we walked or rode our bikes EVERYWHERE. Most from my generation probably walked more before they where 12 years old then most people these days ever will there entire lives. I'm not complaining...I didn't mind it at all...that's just the way it was.

 

Once you where 16 and old enough to drive, weekend's where grab a box of beer and jump in the car and drink & drive. Not real proud of that now...and I'm glad that has changed...but again that's just the way it was.

 

We lived a mile out of town and every boy had a PELLET GUN...and I don't know anyone who ever got hurt. God help you if you where a black squirrel or a starling though Used to be able to pedal our bikes into the hardware store and buy our own pellets too, all you had to do was have the money.

 

I also remember hardly ever wearing a shirt in the summer. As soon as it warmed up for the day, if you where outside playing or working and a guy, you where shirtless. No way you could do that now. 30 minutes in my veggie garden and I have to retire to the shade or put a long sleeve shirt on or I will be as red as a beet.

 

In 1981 I started working for the company I am still with today. Starting wage was $6.85/hour ...within 3 years I was up to $12.44, which was pretty decent then. However the last 25 years my wages have not increased that fast. Like most production environment jobs, I think wages have not kept pace with inflation. Overall today your money doesn't go as far.

 

Great thread...let's hear some more.

[misfish]

Im loving this. Thanks guys for all your stories.

 

One car family and my Dad worked shifts. So if I had a hockey game or practice..it was walk to the arena. Approx 4 miles each way...slugging hockey gear in the cold.

 

When I started playing it was the same,but different sercomstances back then. My spelling sux I know. Also to make some extra cash I officiated hockey games. 15yrs old at the time. Walk there in the cold and walk home,10 pm,dang there was some cold nights.Made 10-15 bucks a game.4 hours in a cold rink then walk home,,,,,,,,BBUUURRRRRRRRRRRR.

 

How many parents do you see carry a kids hockey bag out from a rink? WAY TO MANY.

[mercman]

I also remember the whole familly sitting aroung the Old philco tV my dad paid 15 bucks for,watchin the Ed Sullivan show, or Red Skeltons Christmas special.Mom would bake for months before Christmas and my Bro and i would hide in the basement and eat the frozen cookies. Gram and Gramps would drive from Ottawa to NB in his 56 Ford and bring us kids all kinds a stuff.They would stay for a month and we would go toboganing on an old sled made from shipping crates Dad brought home from the Base Exchange.

Gump Worsley,Eddy Shack,Rocket Richard, CBC Hoskey Nite in Canada.The Avengers, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , Lassie, Walt Disney. TV shows were well done and always entertaining. Anyone remember Wayne and Schuster or the Smothers Brothers or Don Messers Jubilee !!! I watched them all with Pops sipping hot chocolate made the the afore mentioned powdered milk. What a life eh

[spincast]

At 7 I could walk 2 miles home by myself from school, play inthe creek, catch crayfish and see minnows galore, and get home 45 minutes after I was expected and my parents wouldn't be freakin'or worried about what happened to me.

I knew almost everybody in each house on the walk home, and would wave to the 4 or 5 familes whose back yards I used to take short cuts through to and from walking everywhere - even when I was 16

 

I could stop at any stream or pond, drop in a worm on a hook and catch a fish

 

My mom flipped out the first time she spent 100 bucks on groceries - even though it was for a neighbourood bash with about 10 famlies and work people attending, and took 2 shopping carts and a couple bag boys to bring them out to the car --- Which

was a Chevy Nova station Wagon -- Seat belts????? Ha!. Me and my brother used to play in the back of it on long trips to the holiday get away - with the back window rolled down and our feet stickin out.

I could ride my Honda CT 70 all day for $0.10

Phones only came in black with a dial, unless you were rich

everyone I knew had black and white TV, if they had one and adjusting the bunny ears and getting up to change the channel were facts of life (we watched way more commercials then,,,,,)

AM radio was it, and if you styed up late on hot summer noghts you coudl actually hear radio from a town other than the one you lived in..

45's were music and 33's were what you could afford when you were older and had a good job

Stereo was introduced but is nothing like what we know as stereo today

Long distance calls were only made on the weekends during certain time periods and kept very short. To call our grandaprents in the UK - OUT of the question!! $10.00 /minute

Most Moms didn't (have to) work.....

[mercman]

almost forgot 8 track tapes, beta cassettes,transistor radios and crystal radios !!!Not to mention remote controls attached with a wire. Man am i old

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Cliff, I assume you are talking about cents per litre? When I came to Canada in 1974 we were paying in the mid 40 cents per GALLON......

 

I think that sounds about right. TJ is saying it was 40 cents a liter where he was at. But I remember 40 cents a liter not too long ago. Probably 40 cents a GALLON! Talk about robbery!

 

When I was a kid I delivered the Globe 80 papers by 7 am in midtown Toronto. We were paid 2 cents per paper, as the bag got lighter I would collect pop bottles and cash them in also at 2 cents to supplement my income!

 

Dang! I forgot about that! All the bottles I used to scrounge to buy my cigarettes!! I started smoking at a very young age....

 

same old story from what i've heard...

costs rise faster than wages... rich get richer, poor get poorer..

.

now that i've hit my 30's i understand more and more of the lessons in life the elders in my family had to learn the hard way when times were ACTUALLY tough. immigration, the depression, and a few major wars are difficulties that make me appreciate the life i lead now, as difficult and expensive as it seems some times... i realize that we have it pretty good these days!

 

Even though we are not living under the aftermath of a war? Times before the wars were much better then today.

Wars brought debt, taxes and inflation.....

 

Necessities of life were much cheaper back in the day........Non essentials were more expensive since not everyone bought them(or needed them).

 

Back in the day one income could support a family. Today two incomes and people are still trying to make ends meet. People spent more time with their families. Less hours, less overtime, more vacation time. Now some people cant even afford to take vacation.....

 

Still we have things like A/C, TV, VCR, Washing machines, Dishwashers, telephones(used to be for the rich), cars(ditto), ect.....You'd think with all this we would have more time to spend with our families, but we have less time, because we have to work more to pay for it all.....

 

Anyways, I remember we used to make our own toys out of wood. Bows and arrows, sling shots, wooden planes, guns, pinball machines, goal carts,ect...

 

I remember walking an hour to get to the local swimming pool.I remember walking half an hour to get to school everyday.My parents used to walk a quite a few miles just to go to the store........ Now walking is a foreign concept to me(and most kids)...

 

Everything is rush, rush, rush, and everyone is trying to outdo the next guy.......And this competition drives prices up.

 

If you want to live the simple life, go to Europe and see how they live off of the land, you will see who lives the better life. Go to an Italian wedding where the family slaughters a couple of lambs, pigs, the pasta(made from Scratch),vegetables, fruits,ect... I'm talking a table full to the rim of food. Lots and lots of bottles of home made wine, and then break out the harmoncia and the accordian and dance till dawn.....You know how much a wedding costs in Canada? All competition.

 

I think the newfies on this board can relate!

[Terry]

yet

 

I remember my Grandparents saying all these things

 

and I remember my parents saying these things and now I am saying the same things were cheaper simpler safer sweeter better and what a world the young ones are growing up in and growing up so fast now.....

 

every generation says it in my opinion

[outllaw]

when i started in a lumber yard 1.25 per hour.. gas was 20 cents a gallon. a new plymouth fury 2 was 35 hundred... no fast food, cellphones cable and we only had 4 channels in black and white. i listened to leafs cames on a crystal radio set. that was the days when mom was home raising us, and you never questioned dad. born in the early 50,s when folks knew the neighbor, . funny world we live in t-day

[Guest Johnny Bass]

yet

 

I remember my Grandparents saying all these things

 

and I remember my parents saying these things and now I am saying the same things were cheaper simpler safer sweeter better and what a world the young ones are growing up in and growing up so fast now.....

 

every generation says it in my opinion

 

That's because taxes and cost of living always go up. They never go down....Every generation has it harder.When old folks used to complain about the good old days and the youngins just thought they were senile are now starting to see things changing very rapidly. Heck I am not that old and I feel like those old guys that complain about how the world is changing for the worse. I have many great childhood memories(most outdoors). Seeing what society is becoming is sad. Kids don't even play in the streets anymore. At least not in the city.

[mercman]

maybe, but i talked to my mom, who is 80, and she says we are lucky today to have all the tecnology and medicine.In her days a mere scratch getting infected could have meant amputation or death. Being able to pick up the phone and talk to familly without having to wait for the neigbors to finish talking (party lines).Painless surgery and her big screen TV She wouldnt trade what she has today for anything in the world.

[mercman]

That's because taxes and cost of living always go up. They never go down....Every generation has it harder.When old folks used to complain about the good old days and the youngins just thought they were senile are now starting to see things changing very rapidly. Heck I am not that old and I feel like those old guys that complain about how the world is changing for the worse. I have many great childhood memories(most outdoors). Seeing what society is becoming is sad. Kids don't even play in the streets anymore. At least not in the city.

 

 

Het JB, shouldnt you be over in the cost of hydro thread or sumfin !!!!!

[misfish]

Het JB, shouldnt you be over in the cost of hydro thread or sumfin !!!!!

 

NAW,First he,s got to fix the leafs. Now theres some history that needs to come back.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Het JB, shouldnt you be over in the cost of hydro thread or sumfin !!!!!

 

I just came from there.lol

 

Technology and medicine wise we are better off for sure.

[bigugli]

Hey! Lay off on the liver and onions. We loved em. pan seared calf liver, medium, served up with a mound of bacon and carmelized onion.

When things were real tight we ate lots of P B, and dozens of eggs. Cheap protein with bread. Still love eggs and to this day will dig into the peanut butter jar with a spoon. The one cheap plentiful source of food was our fish. Only fish worth buying at the store was tuna, salmon and pickled herring. I still eat fish 3 days a week.

One thing I've learnt in the past year. Being on a limited income, due to health, we've downsized a lot and simplified. Life is getting better just by not having, wanting, or "needing" so much stuff. I'm introducing my family to simple, wholesome cooking. No fast food or takeout. No nukem plastic dinners. Supper tonight, a big pot of cabbage soup, topped with a dollop of sour cream, right out of a Scandinavian cookbook.

Living in an apartment you cannot collect all the latest fad toys and gimmicks just to let them gather dust. Before moving I loaded an 8 x 15 dumpster full of junk, and probably gave as much to every charity in town. Gave away well over 1000 LP's that were taking up lots of space and gathering dust. I'm feeling a lot happier having made the leap.

As things are going to remain tight for the next while, folks are just going to have to learn to prioritize and simplify. Maybe even learn to appreciate all the good things they do have.

Edited November 26, 2010 by bigugli

[mercman]

NAW,First he,s got to fix the leafs. Now theres some history that needs to come back.

 

 

Hell ya. member when the ice was red with blood and ole gump used his face to stop the puck.

[misfish]

I think the newfies on this board can relate!

 

If there was a job for me like I said many times down there,I be gone.

 

IMO,and this is MO,there is to much IGNORANCE these days.

 

From what I read so far,it was simple and relaxed BACK IN THE DAY.

Yes there were hard times,just like now for many,but back then,they took the bull by the horns sorta speak,and went on. Lessons most that were willing to learn from,and carry on to this day.

 

Guess what I am saying is,today we are dealt with rising costs. You have to know yer limits. Live with what you need,and dream about what you wish you could have.

 

 

 

 

You never know,you just might hit the 1,000,000 dollar dream,and have no worries.LOL

[misfish]

Maybe even learn to appreciate all the good things they do have.

 

Was typing while you posted Bruce.

 

Well said.

[Roy]

Life will always have been simpler a few years earlier from whenever. And yes Brian, balogna is still good but you have to buy the good quality square stuff that doesn't roll off the table. Life and things past, no matter how bad they might have been at the time, will always be better now because they are good memories.

We had a milkman who would wake the neighbourhood clanking the milk bottles in his racks every morning.....a breadman who would knock on the door to show us the specials of the day...he also would leave free hot cross buns on our doorstep before Easter every year. We had an ice man who still used a horse to pull his ice load around. My neighbours were called the Yanors. Margaret Yanor was 7 years old ..I was seven as well. She wanted to marry me. One day, the ice man arrived in the heat of summer and left a block of ice for the icebox on their doorstep. I was trying to fix a fishing rod outside when she called for me to help her put the ice in the icebox. And so I did....made a mess because of it melting all over the kitchen on the way in...it weighed a ton! Mother Yanor was sleeping as usual that afternoon and when she heard me making the racket trying to get the dang huge block up to the upper icebox, she got up and cursed me till I was sure I was going straight to hell. Margaret and I never got married.....

It's a wonder I'm still alive.....

[mercman]

Life will always have been simpler a few years earlier from whenever. And yes Brian, balogna is still good but you have to buy the good quality square stuff that doesn't roll off the table. Life and things past, no matter how bad they might have been at the time, will always be better now because they are good memories.

We had a milkman who would wake the neighbourhood clanking the milk bottles in his racks every morning.....a breadman who would knock on the door to show us the specials of the day...he also would leave free hot cross buns on our doorstep before Easter every year. We had an ice man who still used a horse to pull his ice load around. My neighbours were called the Yanors. Margaret Yanor was 7 years old ..I was seven as well. She wanted to marry me. One day, the ice man arrived in the heat of summer and left a block of ice for the icebox on their doorstep. I was trying to fix a fishing rod outside when she called for me to help her put the ice in the icebox. And so I did....made a mess because of it melting all over the kitchen on the way in...it weighed a ton! Mother Yanor was sleeping as usual that afternoon and when she heard me making the racket trying to get the dang huge block up to the upper icebox, she got up and cursed me till I was sure I was going straight to hell. Margaret and I never got married.....

It's a wonder I'm still alive.....

 

 

remember how in the winter the milk would freeze in those bottles and would push up from the opening with the cardboard cap on the end. AAhhh those were the days my friend.

[Joey]

Awww, that's just sweet Roy

[Roy]

hahahaha yeah Paul....pasturized milk...usually, folks didn't shake it to mix it...they poured the top stuff off for their coffee or for baking.

[mercman]

yup we're geezers now.ooohhh my achin' back