What was it like growing up with your generation?

[Strat]

With the constant, rapid advancement of electronics, being a 4yr old now is very different from being a 4yr old in the 50s. As the times change, old technology fades away along with the older way of life. I'm interested in how you folks lived your lives as kids and teenagers as well as fads and things you don't use anymore (i.e. typewriter, bell bottoms with fluffy pirate shirts, pay phones, etc).

I'll start. I was born in 85. I don't remember much from the 80s, just some faint memories. In the 80s our living room looked like a hangover from the 70s and evidently short jean pants on guys was cool.

I'm really more of a 90s kid. In the 90s most of my friends played video games. Back then though video games weren't as immersive as they are now so I think I would only play an hour or two at a time and not every day. I remember spending nights at friends houses, riding bikes, going to the beach, all kinds of stuff.

When I was a boy I remember I was proud of a paper boat and grappling hook I made, bent paper clips tied to about 4' of string (surely Batman inspired). I absolutely loved riding my bike with a friend to Blockbuster to rent games/movies and buy candy. I had my parents card and once got in trouble for renting Texas Chainsaw Massacre II.

As I grew older I played sports. Wrestling was the most physically demanding and (American) football was the most memorable. It's crazy looking back on it then, the term concussion was never mentioned. If you got hurt and were dizzy or something you were told that you just "got your bell rung" and to "walk it off." We also weren't allowed to have water whenever we wanted. We could only drink water when the coach allowed.

Some notable things I remember from those times are payphones, typewriters, encyclopedias and Encarta95. Magic eye was really cool for like a week. Everyone had a book. I remember the tv guide was handy, as was a sears/jcpenny catalog. A must have was a phone book.

If you wanted something and you couldn't find it locally then you had to send away for it in the mail and include a check or cash. Sometimes you can find listings in old magazines and the address to write to is an office in the world trade center. Speaking of which, I still have an umbrella that I bought from the WTC. Not sure which tower. I remember it was raining and looking up at the building it went into the clouds.

Surely I'm missing some things. I'll post them down below when I remember. Oh and I like this video, it's somewhat applicable:
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[TomKat]

I found this. If you grew up in the 50s/60s:

Remember?

Gay meant happy
Flip flops were called thongs
The milk man
Cars without seat belts
Drive-in movies
Dinner was called supper
The bathroom sink was a lavatory
"Fill her up with ethyl and check the oil"
TV repairmen made house calls and you could buy TV tubes at the store
$100 was a lot of money
"Surfers" and "Hards"
Woolworth's lunch counter
Single-file was called Indian-file
Eenie, meenie, minie moe, catch a n....
Hi! was for greetings and Hey! was "for horses"
Sen-sen for bad breath
Half the guys were named: Jim, John, Steve, Bob, Bill, or Mike
Stamp catalogs
Karate chops
Dime stores, not dollar stores
Transistor radios
Indian head pennies and buffalo nickels
Liquor and cigarette commercials on TV
Bic pens really did write "first time, every time"
Students weren't learners, signs weren't signage, worrisome was not concerning, and custom was not bespoke
Gas cards
Cigarette machines
Beijing and Mumbai were Peking and Bombay
Rolodexes, phone books, rotary phones, answering machines and high (analog) quality phone lines
Wanted posters in the post office
People knew how to hyphenate
Novels were written in first OR third person, but never BOTH
Postage Paid envelopes for paying bills
People said "groovy" and "far out"
"Literally" didn't mean "virtually"
A thousand was a G and not a K
Tang, Crisco, Brilcream and Ivory Soap floats

[Satori]

I found this. If you grew up in the 50s/60s:

Remember?

Gay meant happy
Flip flops were called thongs
The milk man
Cars without seat belts
Drive-in movies
Dinner was called supper
The bathroom sink was a lavatory
"Fill her up with ethyl and check the oil"
TV repairmen made house calls and you could buy TV tubes at the store
$100 was a lot of money
"Surfers" and "Hards"
Woolworth's lunch counter
Single-file was called Indian-file
Eenie, meenie, minie moe, catch a n....
Hi! was for greetings and Hey! was "for horses"
Sen-sen for bad breath
Half the guys were named: Jim, John, Steve, Bob, Bill, or Mike
Stamp catalogs
Karate chops
Dime stores, not dollar stores
Transistor radios
Indian head pennies and buffalo nickels
Liquor and cigarette commercials on TV
Bic pens really did write "first time, every time"
Students weren't learners, signs weren't signage, worrisome was not concerning, and custom was not bespoke
Gas cards
Cigarette machines
Beijing and Mumbai were Peking and Bombay
Rolodexes, phone books, rotary phones, answering machines and high (analog) quality phone lines
Wanted posters in the post office
People knew how to hyphenate
Novels were written in first OR third person, but never BOTH
Postage Paid envelopes for paying bills
People said "groovy" and "far out"
"Literally" didn't mean "virtually"
A thousand was a G and not a K
Tang, Crisco, Brilcream and Ivory Soap floats

“Yes sir” or “No sir.”
“Yes ma’am” or “No ma’am.”
Sharing a room and a bed with one, or more, siblings.
One TV, if any, and it was black and white.
Rabbit ear TV antennas. No remote.
One car, if any, per house.
Hand-me-down clothes.
Sitting at the table for meals with the family.
Pick-up games of baseball, basketball or football with neighborhood kids.
Kick the can.
Gardens in backyards, fruit and vegetable.
Apples, peaches, tomatoes, et... to be picked off the tree or vine.
Watermelons stacked next to houses in summer.
Susan, Kathy, Linda, Shirley, Beatrice, Brenda ... we’re common names for girls.
“Girls” and “boys” under 18. “Young women” and “young men” between 18 and 21.
25 cents was a lot of money for a kid. A dollar and you were rich, and popular.
Making money by cleaning garages, washing cars, cutting grass, shoveling snow.
Reading and studying for courses at school. Writing. Showing your work and how you solved a problem.
Riding a bus to school, even as a teenager.
Respect for elders.
..........

[Gracy]

Two main things have stuck with me ever since childhood (60's and 70's generation), both wound up being promises I made to myself once I got "old" myself.

1) I remember hearing "kids today". Promise to self: "I'll show you. And no matter what, never have that attitude yourself toward kids in the future. No matter HOW much you may feel they deserve it in that time!".

2) I remember the occasional senior citizen ass hole, the "get off my grass!" type. Promise to self: "Never, ever, EVER, wind up being that person".

[WhiteFeather]

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This is pretty much how it was. Good video.

I always treasured my bicycle and my records. It got me through the times.

[Ernie Nemeth]

I remember smoking on airplanes and the funnest - smoking on a bus! Loved those little armrest ashtrays.

Ah, those were the days!

[Le Chat]

Growing up in the UK in the 60s was......Fab!

[greybeard]

One word, freedom.
Chris

[raregem]

I miss my bell bottoms. Had lots of freedom (ty greybeard).
Red, white and blue moccasins. Dr. Scholl's sandals.
Klackers. Pet rock. 45's. Cassettes.
FAT pom-poms!.
"The Streak" t-shirt". P-coats, MIA bracelets.
Steel roller skates with key for tightening.
Short-shorts aka hot pants.
Uni-cycle, dirt bikes, muscle cars. (Boys had these)
No fear of people,police or guns.
More time outside than inside or t.v. .
Adding: mood rings, puzzle rings, Bundt cake mix and 3 color jello layers

[waves]

Phone Booths

[TomKat]

I remember when parents spanked their kids and principals paddled them. Now they might be arrested or sued for that. It wasn't the pain, it was the humiliation. You can't hurt someone there unless you're Joe Frasier or Bruce Lee.

Makes me wonder what a "progressive" wants to progress us towards? Hell on Earth?

[Alecs]

Born in '62, at the tail end of the baby boomer generation, I've felt in between generations. Being a child during the 60s, llfe seemed good. People around me who were not quite so old were talking about love and peace. Everything was colorful. But, I recall wondering why there was an issue between black and white people. And, for me, the Vietnam War was just pictures of jungles and helicopters in the background of the evening news with Walter Cronkite. (The war was not even taught while I attended in high school.)

I recall hoola hoops, superballs, TV dinners as well as instant junk foods like Tang, boxed mashed potatoes, and cake mixes. Soap operas were on the 3 major TV channels in the afternoons. My playmates' older sisters wore bit loop earings, and made hash brownies. My favorite "outfit" was purple, long bell bottoms and a stripped turtleneck.

My friends and I had few limits where we played, but it was always outdoors until dark. Walking a mile or two to a store or the library was not an issue. Sometimes my friends and I stopped in the Bell Telephone building to get some free different colored wires that we used for braided rings and bracelets. Board games were never as exciting as those we invented!

Our family gatherings for holidays and birthdays always had a lot of people and was fun. Picnics were common.

The economic strains of the 70s led to mom entering the work force. I recall that women wore scarves like ties, with their suits.

When I reached college in the early 80s, focusing on getting an "international" job was in the picture. Also, I recall a lot of layoffs for engineers in firms that supported the steel industry. Many moved their families to the southwest U.S. Many of my cousins moved to different states.

I would have to say, in hindsight, the Dr. Richard Day tapes where spot on in terms of how things changed. And, honestly, and in speaking generally, I felt somewhat betrayed by the older Boomers. But, I understand that now... We had absolutely NO insight about the behind-the-scenes nonsense.

[enfoldedblue]

I remember when parents spanked their kids and principals paddled them. Now they might be arrested or sued for that. It wasn't the pain, it was the humiliation. You can't hurt someone there unless you're Joe Frasier or Bruce Lee.

Makes me wonder what a "progressive" wants to progress us towards? Hell on Earth?

I'm an generation eXer and am so glad that my father decided that violence wasn't the way to solve problems. We learned many wonderful lessons growing up...but never through violence or humiliation.
I practice the same approach with my child. Our son is strong, confident and secure with healthy self esteem. We are constantly told by others what a kind and considerate child he is.

In my work as a quantum healer I am CONSTANTLY witnessing the damage done to people through harsh methods of learning. Hidden shame is at the root of so much that is wrong with this world. It is really really tragic when aspects of a person's inner child comes forth and I see the burden of shame that they carry. With 99% of people this shame is at the heart of their blocks. It holds them back from their true potential.

[Bluegreen]

Well so long as we're getting autobiographical here ...

http://i.pinimg.com/originals/08/1e/91/081e9144af0d1ce1c07cf843299f951d.jpg

http://img.discogs.com/vHkauaU4bl_LRkmMw9d0iVoYq48=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-9598101-1483414085-5027.jpeg.jpg http://www.realstylenetwork.com/celebrities/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/05/Jim_Baker_thumb-300x300.jpg

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http://media2.fdncms.com/chicago/imager/u/original/47481436/oprah-1986-2.jpg
http://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/square-product/small/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/richard-petty--43-stpdodge-charger-1977-atlanta-500-david-bryant.jpg http://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/square-product/small/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/chuck-berry-pop-art-mary-bassett.jpg
http://static.wixstatic.com/media/15b71c_00a3b68de2d14e12ad4d9163db899362~mv2.jpg

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/489e92dcc1977a88f3ca8f2cdacc1d2f1417c6c1/c=0-14-1000-764/local/-/media/2016/11/24/Bergen/batmanpow.jpg?width=534&height=401&fit=crop

:cat:

[TomKat]

Well so long as we're getting autobiographical here ...


I'd forgotten about Bird is the Word. If you ask me it's a rip off of the much more insightful Papa Ooom Mow Mow :-)

[TomKat]

I remember when parents spanked their kids and principals paddled them. Now they might be arrested or sued for that. It wasn't the pain, it was the humiliation. You can't hurt someone there unless you're Joe Frasier or Bruce Lee.

Makes me wonder what a "progressive" wants to progress us towards? Hell on Earth?

I'm an generation eXer and am so glad that my father decided that violence wasn't the way to solve problems. We learned many wonderful lessons growing up...but never through violence or humiliation.
I practice the same approach with my child. Our son is strong, confident and secure with healthy self esteem. We are constantly told by others what a kind and considerate child he is.

In my work as a quantum healer I am CONSTANTLY witnessing the damage done to people through harsh methods of learning. Hidden shame is at the root of so much that is wrong with this world. It is really really tragic when aspects of a person's inner child comes forth and I see the burden of shame that they carry. With 99% of people this shame is at the heart of their blocks. It holds them back from their true potential.

There is a good and bad side to everything. By substituting character assassination or pleas for spanking you can end up with whiny, passive-aggressive adults. Children need to know the boundaries and a spanking can do it quickly and efficiently.

That said, I'm no fan of the taciturn, inaccesible fathers of the GI generation who drove their sons to rebellion. Boys who grow up without fathers seem to do better than those who had them, having missed out on a lot of emotional scarring.

[Mike]

I remember when parents spanked their kids and principals paddled them. Now they might be arrested or sued for that. It wasn't the pain, it was the humiliation. You can't hurt someone there unless you're Joe Frasier or Bruce Lee.

Makes me wonder what a "progressive" wants to progress us towards? Hell on Earth?



So true!

I have 2 sisters and a brother, and when we were kids my Dad didn't give a f#ck where we were or what kind of crowd was around; we could be at the white house and he wouldn't hesitate to line us up like a shooting gallery and spank us relentelssly if he felt we were misbehaving. It always seemed to happen at the grocery store. If you could go back in time to the mid 80's and visit Price Chopper in Liverpool NY, you might see all four of us, lined up, hands on the wall like we were being arrested, getting spanked assembly line style by my very angry father...with a slightly curious but not entirely concerned crowd looking on. Those days it wasn't such an unusual thing to see. People just walked by and kept it moving. Today, the crowd would likely tackle my Dad and send me off to a shrink where I'd be therapized to death for the next 20 years

Folks these days claim those events are traumatizing or some such thing. Not for me. I remember it all pretty fondly actually. It's always a great laugh when someone brings it up at family gatherings or whatever. Makes for great stories.

I was born in 77. Grew up in the 80's. I have very fond memories of dirt biking and running around my neighborhood from dawn till dusk...playing all kinds of games with the neighborhood kids. The families were all pretty close, so the adults would cook out and drink beer and let us run loose. Whenever I smell hamburgers on a grill, it immediately brings me back to those nice memories.

Remote control cars.

Garbage pal kid trading cards.

Baseball cards.

Above ground swimming pools.

Bee stings

Dancing and singing with my Mom to Michael Jackson and Hall and Oates.

Camping

My brother beating the **** out of me

Atari and Intellevison

Playboy magazine

Go carts

Bebe guns

Train sets

...and having a huge crush on my neighbor Leila. She wrote me a note one day, out of pity I think, explaining that I was her "3rd best boyfriend". That confused young Mikey LOL. I just couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. Any attention from her was thrilling for me, but 3rd place seemed a little discouraging .

These are a few things that stand out for me during that time.

[Sadieblue]

Moon Pies and RC Cola along with my transistor radio...I had it made.

[Bluegreen]

Hanging out at the Dairy Queen after dark dressing to look good for the girls :)

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[Constance]

So true!

I have 2 sisters and a brother, and when we were kids my Dad didn't give a f#ck where we were or what kind of crowd was around; we could be at the white house and he wouldn't hesitate to line us up like a shooting gallery and spank us relentelssly if he felt we were misbehaving. It always seemed to happen at the grocery store. If you could go back in time to the mid 80's and visit Price Chopper in Liverpool NY, you might see all four of us, lined up, hands on the wall like we were being arrested, getting spanked assembly line style by my very angry father...with a slightly curious but not entirely concerned crowd looking on. Those days it wasn't such an unusual thing to see. People just walked by and kept it moving. Today, the crowd would likely tackle my Dad and send me off to a shrink where I'd be therapized to death for the next 20 years

Folks these days claim those events are traumatizing or some such thing. Not for me. I remember it all pretty fondly actually. It's always a great laugh when someone brings it up at family gatherings or whatever. Makes for great stories.

I was born in 77. Grew up in the 80's. I have very fond memories of dirt biking and running around my neighborhood from dawn till dusk...playing all kinds of games with the neighborhood kids. The families were all pretty close, so the adults would cook out and drink beer and let us run loose. Whenever I smell hamburgers on a grill, it immediately brings me back to those nice memories.

Remote control cars.

Garbage pal kid trading cards.

Baseball cards.

Above ground swimming pools.

Bee stings

Dancing and singing with my Mom to Michael Jackson and Hall and Oates.

Camping

My brother beating the **** out of me

Atari and Intellevison

Playboy magazine

Go carts

Bebe guns

Train sets

...and having a huge crush on my neighbor Leila. She wrote me a note one day, out of pity I think, explaining that I was her "3rd best boyfriend". That confused young Mikey LOL. I just couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. Any attention from her was thrilling for me, but 3rd place seemed a little discouraging .

These are a few things that stand out for me during that time.

Snap on the bee stings and Hall and Oates!

I have been thinking about all you have said here in relation to disciplining kids. I believe that we need to offer children very firm boundaries right into their teen years and beyond.

My son was exceedingly difficult to handle from just about the moment he was born. I couldn't understand how two gentle and loving parents could have such a difficult child.

I remember being at my wits end because my son would not stop biting, pinching and kicking myself and others up until he turned eight. What it all boiled down to at the end of the day was that he was reacting in anger and fear to our passive parenting and he had to find some way of expressing his anger around all of this.

I remember one day when my son said to me, "Mama, you are too kind to me."

I was so shocked to hear him say that because I had always thought that because of my own harsh upbringing, that kindness was the foundation for having a healthy relationship with my child.

But it wasn't kindness and endless compassion that my own son so badly needed, what he needed to know was that his mother was human, she had her limits and that if he overstepped the boundaries, it would not be tolerated and that she meant business!

When I ask my son now about those trying times (he is now 15) he doesn't remember why he was so angry with me. But I know why. It was because I was a crappy mother who hadn't set firm boundaries.

Acknowledging that I was a crappy mother despite how hard I had worked to not be that crappy mother was the hardest thing I've ever had to face. 

And so as it often goes, I then swung to the other extreme and became bootcamp mama. lol. I couldn't find the balance at first, and I was completely rigid and authoritarian with my son. And that was completely exhausting too. However, I eventually struck that balance and things are now so good between us that I can't imagine ever going back to that place.


I have so many nostalgic memories from the 60's and 70's.

Neighbours and my family being very close. Playing in the backyard of my neighbours houses, the whole length of the street. Long nights at my neighbours home as the parents, played cards, argued, cooked and played pole tennis.

Weekends at my grandparents house where all my cousins would converge. Going down to the creek, wading through muddy waters and watching tadpoles grow into frogs. Running around the neighbourhoods at night, rabbit and kangaroo spotting.

Building cubby houses out of grass trees and bark in the bush that surrounded us and being out on my bike (with no helmet) from morning to dusk. The freedom!

Making paper dresses with the tags on them for my cardboard dolls.

The slinky!

The Beanie comics

The six million dollar man

Elastics!

Handstanding every day in the school yard, girls and boys alike.

Monkey bars and slides that would take the skin off the backs of your legs when you slid down them and twirled around them on scorching hot days.

Endless hours of reading and grape and apple eating whilst sitting under my favourite tree in the front yard.

As a teenager, talking on the C.B radio whilst driving around with my friends.
Spending hours in the phone booth counselling my girlfriends (yes, even then!) because dad had to put a lock on the landline. (three teenagers and one phone)


Purchasing sea monkeys by mail order from the MAD comics. Bluegreen, you made me feel completely nostalgic with your post - In hindsight, I really loved that sense of delayed gratification. It really gave you something to look forward to. Those sea monkeys never arrived but it was fun thinking about it. Time moved so slowly back then.

Watching an all-day cricket match at the cricket with the likes of Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh.

Swimming in our above-ground swimming pool all day long during the long hot days of school holidays. Battling monster waves on the beach, swimming in a pristine lake. Swimming, swimming and swimming.

No supermarkets, K-marts, Targets. I saw my first supermarket when I turned 17.

Watching movies at the drive-in cinemas. They were everywhere back then.

Sending and receiving telegraphs

Watching my nerdy science friends tackle the first computers to come into our high school.

Library cards - hanging out at the library with the other nerds.

1 toilet for the entire family - and it was outside. The bush dunny. Lots of redback spiders :)

[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]

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]

"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.

43085

[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.:blushing:

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. :sun: 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):heart:
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.:happy dog:
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.:bearhug:

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.:flower:

Later I heard about the crimes of communism, but my compassion did not help, history has already developed.:flower:
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.:heart:

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. :hug:

[Bill Ryan]

What an incredible look into your childhood, and into the view of communism through the eyes of innocence. Thank you for sharing. :hug: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 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?112133-What-s-the-real-root-of-that-bad-decision-you-made&p=1379352&viewfull=1#post1379352), on the What's the real root of that bad decision you made? (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?112133-What-s-the-real-root-of-that-bad-decision-you-made) thread.

:heart:

:focus:

[TomKat]

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]

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...

44558

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

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]

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]

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

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.