What was it like growing up with your generation?

[Valerie Villars]

Real chemistry sets you could order from a catalog. My two male cousins using it to try and blow up a bridge.

It was easier to lie to your parents about where you were; there were no cell phones. Everybody in the house could hear your conversation when a boy called to ask you out. Boys used to do that.

Parties in the country in the middle of someone's cowfield. Police were never really an issue back then.

Back then, you weren't told to "see something, say something". If you did, you were called a snitch and no one would talk to you.

The first book I bought when I went to college was a dictionary. You actually had to look a word up so you would know how to spell it and what it meant.

Music. In New Orleans there was constant, unending live music all over the place. I miss festival seating.There was no such thing as "liability" to be worried about.

We were never home and never inside, ever.

"The Twilight Zone". That show used to scare the **** out of me. My parents never even thought about whether it was appropriate or not.If I had nightmares, it was my fault for watching the show and not some failure of my parents.

We had to fight our own battles. I don't remember ever crying to my Mom or Dad that someone was mean to me.I had to learn how to deal with it.

Fake I.D.'s. If you had one (and I did) the world was your oyster.

Getting and writing letters on actual piece of paper.

Freedom, as Greybeard said.

[Orph]

School playgrounds weren't fenced in and locked up like they are now. In the summer us kids could go play basketball, baseball, football, or play on the swings and stuff.

I remember swinging so high, the seat of the swing would be higher than the crossbar. Then the swing would drop straight down, literally in a free-fall, (albeit a short one). Then when you hit the end of the slack in the chain, you'd be slammed back into the seat so hard you'd practically get whip-lash and get knocked out of the swing. I was sure I would break the swing at some point. Of course, what kid didn't enjoy letting go of the swing and seeing how far he could "fly".

And the big slide they had on the playground. Nothing that high anymore. Made from steel, the sliding surface was made of stainless steel. We would take a piece of wax paper, sit on it, and WOW, it made going down that slide scary fast.

[araucaria]

One or two colours in an essentially drab world. Homemade b&w photography. Stripping distemper, inch by inch, off the walls prior to… wallpapering, wow.

Postwar relics: a tank on the clifftop; iron railings melted down for the war effort. No spare cash.

4-digit call-operator telephone number. Single-channel TV on half-a-dozen sets undergoing repair, and needing new valves; standing holding the horizontal/vertical hold knob to get so much as a flickering picture.

Algeria/General de Gaulle on the news every night. Later Vietnam ditto. In between, JFK.

Pre-central heating in northern climes. Getting dressed in the morning. Later, the winter of 62: solid ice in the school playground until late March. Chipping away with spades at two inches of ice: strange rediscovery of asphalt.

The special Saturday feeling. And Sunday. Before we ever had a car.

Soccer boots in raw leather, to be worn in the bath to get them into shape (or not).
Standing in a 40,000 football crowd… and all the way back to the bus station.

Old-style ceremonial religion, and… the wonderful people who brought it.

[TomKat]

Remember when cop cars had RED lights, not BLUE?

[shaberon]

Posted by raregem (here)
No fear of people,police or guns.
More time outside than inside or t.v. .

This is the main thing that was probably true for millions of years, and ended shortly after me.

One can see in the 80s, "international" became important, and steel and autos went into decline. Then you have people raised by machines, inside locked doors and other increasing restrictions. Something important is gone.

There isn't progress, it's all downhill and backwards, with more pollution.

In 1983, our class studied the book 1984, so I figured everyone understood this stuff and wouldn't allow it, but it didn't help much.

[Le Chat]

Posted by Valerie Villars (here)
"The Twilight Zone". That show used to scare the **** out of me. My parents never even thought about whether it was appropriate or not.

Valerie, I love the Twilight Zone way back then and still. The fairly recent bluray remasters are something to behold. They have done a first-class job.
What gave me the willies was The Outer Limits, leastways some of the episodes. One I remember was the Zanti Misfits - ants with human faces that could talk.

[Anka]

I have always been an obedient and good child, even now, except that I now play the role of parent for my parents.

It was a good time for me, in the childhood of those times, in my country, socialism was in power (That was the name ... Socialist Republic).
But I was so small that I didn't know what the real consequences were in society, my parents were always afraid to explain to me, especially because I was "very talkative".

I was a little girl who loved her "leader of the country", at less than six years old, we all sang hot tributes in his honor, I simply respected him intensely, of course, as I was taught in school, my parents could never warn me, that my reality is not the real one, because they were very afraid to do it, the consequences are known, it is not worth mentioning them here, the suffering of many people under that regime was enough.

At the age of 7 I was so happy, I was a very social child, with serious inclinations towards art, I sang, I danced, I played with all the children, I learned very well.
When I went out to play in front of the block, I preferred more betting games or the construction of racing strollers with boys,
the rallies of strollers on the asphalt level were quite exciting, as well as precision games with winning chips exchanged on aptibilds with footballers.

We didn't have heat in the houses, we weren't allowed to use even other heating sources, as a child, I slept dress in wool from hat to socks, but I got used to a little chill all the time, it was ok, I didn't know It could be different, so I was just simple happy. An entire country didn't have heat, it only had a few hours of TV propaganda, and fake news, but there were a lot of educational shows on TV as well, and even cartoons that I enjoyed true and wholeheartedly.

Food… yes. The shops were almost empty. But my family had a garden far away in the country.
Living in the city, I could hear from the apartment when someone shouted "The oil has arrived!" and everyone was leaving the houses, all sitting in line (if they weren't at work), waiting in line to just buy oil.

As I was smaller and faster, I ran before to sit in line, to keep "the place" occupied until my mother came, and if my parents were at the service, I sometimes sat in line for four hours, to finally tell me that the goods are finished. It was the same with meat and more.But is was fun.

One person, in those times, had a food ration per month of: 1.2 oil, 1 kg of sugar, 1 flour, 1 cornmeal, but the most fun was the ration of 187.5 grams of butter for a family per month. Yes, there were cities in that there was no toilet paper at all.
I was lucky to live in a very busy city with many employees, where there were more in stores and my father was a person skilled in quality control in restaurants, and from there he received a lot of food as "a kind of bribe", even oranges or bananas or canned meat (other children dreamed of such a thing, and I was not allowed to give them)
People had made their own gardens and animal husbandry, outside the cities, but even there, a "protection fee" had to be paid to those who approved it.
My mother had a larger garden far away, in the country, but even from there she had to, from what she produced, give a "gift" to the State, sometimes even 70 percent, practically, she worked as a handmade carpet weaver for export during the week,
and on the weekends, she worked "like hell", always tired, the garden soil, to get some vegetables, which she carried alone on the train (130 km) and I waited for her by bike in the station to somehow carry both, the cabbage, onions, nuts or potatoes or any edible things… in the apartment, to make supplies for winter.

In the country, people raised more animals in households than the limit imposed (they bribed a local veterinarian whose job was to "control"), on Saturday at the market, the peasants brought geese or chickens and my father sacrificed one there and brought it home every time.

At five o'clock in the morning, the milk came, and I had another baby sister, I was responsible for going to sit in line there, but I always did that happily, because I was used to it.
My mother was too tired and my father was always at work. For a few hours a day, I was a child with a baby, I knew instinctively what to do, but I didn't need dolls anymore because I was taking care of a pretty lively one, noisy too, but sweet.

I went with the class to the medicinal plant fields where everyone had a "harvesting norm" and I was so happy to do that, at home I did the possible and the impossible to honor my parents who appreciated that in their own way.

I truly lived in a wonderful world, I was almost 11 years old until one day, when suddenly we had to cover the windows of the house with blankets, and crawl through the house in the dark, because bullets were flying out of nowhere, I did not understand nothing at the moment, the revolution against communism in 1989 had begun on the eve of winter in Romania, on TV I saw "my beloved leader" shot in the head, with a direct bullet in the forehead and his wife as well (who for me, was "mother of the country" ) that's what they told me at school then, and I believed that in the absence of other information. I was devastated as a child to see how the communist leaders are shot, now I see it as the seal of the Romanian people.

Later I heard about the crimes of communism, but my compassion did not help, history has already developed.
When hunger, cold, fear, reaches the bones, Romanians shoot their leaders in the head, it sounds strange, but that's the truth of the limit of every simple man, probably. It can be about, just survival in the end, maybe.

The story seems sad, but I was really happy and I am convinced that, despite any situation, adaptability and survival can lead even a child in all his fragility, to be very strong.

I loved the other children and created beautiful connections in our play then, despite the political and social situation, I was happy even after the revolution, again to other and other forms of adaptability over time.

Just one form to say I was a happy child, and still am.

Anca

[Sarah Rainsong]

What an incredible look into your childhood, and into the view of communism through the eyes of innocence. Thank you for sharing.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Sarah Rainsong (here)
What an incredible look into your childhood, and into the view of communism through the eyes of innocence. Thank you for sharing.

I don't want to derail this thread! But I'd like to draw attention to Anka's equally fascinating companion post about her most remarkable life, here, on the What's the real root of that bad decision you made? thread.

[TomKat]

Posted by WhiteFeather (here)
I always treasured my bicycle and my records. It got me through the times.

One of the several times I broke bones was flying off a ramp on a stingray bicycle and the front wheel falling off in mid-air.

[Ron Mauer Sr]

I was full of mischief as if I were rebelling against something.

[pueblo]

Posted by TomKat (here)

Posted by WhiteFeather (here)
I always treasured my bicycle and my records. It got me through the times.

One of the several times I broke bones was flying off a ramp on a stingray bicycle and the front wheel falling off in mid-air.

All risk is being removed from children's lives.....how will they learn what risks are worth taking in life if they never get a dry run?

I remember this...



and this song sums up a lot for the 70s/80s kids!

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mBqVyWvXPKw

Thatcher was in power
Times were tight and sour
The letter A was sprayed in a circle everywhere
And everybody's head was gettin' shaved or spiked
My sister stitched her flares and made 'em into drainpipes
She was into Adam Ant and Wuthering Heights
I was getting into Madness and grifter bikes
Mom had to work late, I had no complaints
Used to get away with murder when Grandad babysat
Used to play fox and hound 'til the sun came down,
Singin' Lip Up Fatty, running wild through the ghost town
And all I wanted was Doc boots and braces
My ear pierced, "So, mum, what's a racist?"
She didn't explain that we weren't quite Caucasian,
As we could see black children on some future occasion
And she'd keep that shtum
All my friends are gettin' brainwashed
NF and swastikas they're scratchin' on the desktops

Riots and violence on the TV
Broken down on Newsround while eatin' Toast Toppers, watchin' coppers get beat down
Church discos and trips with the play scheme
Dancin' to ska, kissing the girl of my dreams
My tenth birthday and those two-tones stay pressed
Money in my card I bought One Step Beyond, yes
Lent it to a friend, never got it back
Dear Jim could you fix it for me?
Remember that?

Just a 70s baby, early 80s child
Reminiscin' 'bout the days in the brick backyard
Just a 70s baby, early 80s child
Reminscin' 'bout the days and you think times are hard

Oh, let me tell you now, woo, oh, a wicked witch was in power
And oh, my god she did devour
Cast a spell called depression made a living hell
Turned man against man forgot the boys and girls
We had no future, home computer
Had to make do with what we had
Knock-a-door-run and the hand-me-down gowns
Current beat, upbeat, Cracker Jack of Underground, synthpop, Muppet Show, electro on the radio
Mum, turn it up, it's a new thing, yeah
Now all I want is high tech's with fat bass
He's got the next best friend started scratchin' and breakin'
Snatch your racks and battery by the stack to keep the boom box from going flat
Didn't cope and went in over the store with a performance kid this place has never been so packed
Street light for a spot light, cardboard box for a stage
And if you had a score to settle you resolved it with your breakin'
Not like now they're using guns and bats
Robbin' old folk, we don?t need no more of that

Just a 70s baby, early 80s child
Reminiscin' 'bout the days in the brick backyard
Just a 70s baby, early 80s child
Reminscin' 'bout the days and you think times are hard

Every brick and every stone thrown
Was for you and me
They stood firm
Truly revolutionary
Gave back as good as what they go

[greybeard]

I was born 1945 --freedom indeed.
I witnessed, was part of a culture revolution.
Up until my generation you were the image of your parent -male or female.
You wore what your elders did

So many new inventions, inside toilets in the 40's electric light replacing gas light.
Street lights still gas fuelled when I was a Kid, telephones very heavy, few cars on the road.

THEN!!! The sixties were amazing, new styles of clothes, many colours, exciting loud music.
A great time to grow up.
Chris

[The Moss Trooper]

I miss the casual violence of the 70's and early 80's.

Had quite a bit directed my way from the Old Man, teachers, cops etc......... Yeah, beating kids to within an inch of their lives, that was always gonna work out well wasn't it, you know, for helping mould a well rounded individual, a positive contributor to society.

Great days, great days.









(Sarcasm off)

[Satori]

Posted by TomKat (here)
Remember when cop cars had RED lights, not BLUE?

That's because they want you to think the cops are approaching, not receding. Blue shift red shift, Doppler effect thing. (I'm kidding, sort of.)

[Brigantia]

My first memory that I can place - watching the first moon landing footage on TV.
Long summers outdoors, cycling into the countryside.
‘Factory fortnight’ holidays - first two weeks in July, everyone at Skegness was from Leicester. Next two weeks - everyone was from Nottingham.
Anywhere abroad apart from Spain - such as French Riviera, Italy, USA - was exotic.
Groups of kids at the local park talking to each other all afternoon, even better when someone brought a radio.
Police car sirens that went “nee-na, nee-na, nee-na”.
The rag and bone man coming down the street on his horse and cart.
Bus conductors.
Jobs with two wages - one for men, one for women.
Feeling rich with my Saturday supermarket job - £8 for my all-day shift.
Glam rock, disco, punk.
Flares and cheesecloth shirts.
Slapping on make-up to look 18 to get into the cinema to see Saturday Night Fever at age 14 (success!).
Always slapping on make-up to go the the cinema even though no one could see you in the dark, and usherettes pointing this out to us.
Exotic food - chicken in a basket, prawn cocktail, Black Forest gateau.

And - as has already been said - freedom. We did things that parents won't allow now through fear and Health and Safety. We were warned about creepy men offering us sweets, but never understood why.

[Brigantia]

Posted by Sarah Rainsong (here)
What an incredible look into your childhood, and into the view of communism through the eyes of innocence. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you from me too, Anka. Somehow my father managed to get us a very reasonably priced 2 week holiday in Romania in the summer of 1975, near Mangalia I think. What I remember the most is the kindness of the people, it was a wonderful 2 weeks.

[norman]

The church warden chucked me out of the church for playing Z-Cars theme tune on the organ. Church was my mum's thing really. I just tagged along in my short trousers while they dressed the church for harvest festival.

thanks H-Ch for reminding me with your Police car sirens that went “nee-na, nee-na, nee-na”

[Brigantia]

My thanks to you Norman for the Z Cars theme on the church organ - still laughing!

[Jake]

How Dino would run up behind Fred Flintstone and start barking, sending Fred shooting up through the roof...

How Gilligan would always say, "Skiiiippeeeeerrrrrr!".

Chips. (Ponch and John)

Riding in the trunk to sneak into a drive in movie.

When everyone was talking about how hot princess Leia is.

Nelson mandela's funeral March, which apparently never happened.

I always liked MaryAnn better than Ginger.

My great Aunt Dell sitting on the porch with a shotgun and a bottle of whiskey.

That little green alien that's always giving Fred Flintstone a hard time.

Bueller? Bueller?? Bueller???

Holy (insert bizarre phrase) Batman!!!

Drinking out of the water hose.

Hey, hey, hey, it's Fat Albert.

When Spanky would host a 'He man woman haters club' meeting.

Casey Kasem always had a good story to tell.

Blowing sooooooo hard on an Atari 2600 cartridge.

Standing up my G.I. Joe's and He-Men on the fence and shooting them with a beebee gun.

(Getting in trouble for it)

Interplanet Janet. (She's a galaxy girl.)

First seeing Gallagher smash a watermelon.

Memorizing the patterns for pac-man on the Atari.

5 1/2 inch floppy disk, playing Math blaster.

Mom having tupperware parties.

Sometimes things were Bogus, or Gnarly or Rad.

The Flux Capacitor.

Spacely Sprockets.

Roscoe P. Coletrain.

That time we thought we'd put teachers in space.

When conspiracies were just theories.

Fun thread, Strat.