OT: the good old days.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I was born in 1945 so when I grew up in Sacramento many things did not exist yet. Life was very simple in those days. Nobody had any money except professionals and contractors.

Families had one car. We had a station wagon.



With 5 kids, we went to the drive in movies. It was very 'cool'.

When you went to the gas station they pumped your gas, checked your oil and you got out so they could get inside to wash the inside of you windows too.

People had a 'burning barrel' in their back yard to burn paper.

There were no air-conditioners in houses, just swamp coolers.

Single car garages were common.

Houses had one phone and sometimes it was on a party line. That meant that several families were on the same line. Your phone had a special ring.

No television. We sat around a radio and listen to the "Lone Ranger" and other old programs.

I had two paper routes. I think I had about 170 customers at one time. It was the Sacramento Bee. On Wednesday and Sunday I needed help. Sometimes my uncle would come over on Sunday morning and we would deliver the papers out of the back of his old 1947 Ford pickup.

We "porched" every paper. That meant that when the customer opened the door they could bend over and pick it up. I could usually do this from the sidewalk after a few years from my moving bike.

Today I feel lucky if I can even find my newspaper on my property.

I bought my first bike used for $7. My dad really knew how to work on bikes so we took it apart and completely rebuilt it with those special handle bars for carrying a "Bee bag". I had a rack on the back for carrying a "double Bee bag".

We would go around the neighborhood looking everywhere for soda pop bottles so we could trade them in at the grocery store for the 3 cent deposit.

Then on Saturday we would walk a couple of miles to the Manor Theater where we could watch movies all day for 25 cents.

At the movies there were 'serials' which were short movies kind of like weekly TV shows.

There were great cartoons too.

I remember we had a 'yo yo' contest between the movies during the intermission. My friend Tom won the event.

And there were news reels of what was going on in the world because there was very little TV yet.

I remember the first TV we ever saw. Our neighbor down the street was a roofing contractor and they had the first one on the block. After school many mothers would come over and the kids all sat on the floor. We watched a little ~12" round screen in a huge wooden box almost the size of an upright piano.

The picture "rolled" and we always had to adjust the "horizontal hold". There was 'snow' to on the picture. It was black and white and nothing like what we have today.

After WWII they brought back the spinning reels from Europe and they had invented nylon monofilament too. Fiberglass used for fishing rods came out of the war.

They brought over little foreign cars from Europe and bicycles with skinny tires and 3 gears. My uncle had one of the first ones.

Cars were very inexpensive and gas was 25 cents a gallon. Used cars were $500.

Also there were no freeways. When we drove on our vacation in the summer to Disneyland in LA we drove down hwy 99. After Sacramento it was two lanes and you drove though every small town all the way down there. Lodi, Stockton, Modesto, etc. It was very slow.

Life was very simple.

http://billstudepage.homestead.com/files/57wagbhlv.jpg

1957 Studebacker wagon

[Jay Murakoshi]

Hey Bill,

Great flash back in life. I was a '46 baby. Being born in SLC. Live in the snow for a while, didn't like that.

My dad passed away when I was 5. Back then, cancer was a rarity and they new nothing about it. My mom raised me and my sister.

I learned how to cook, clean and wash clothes at a very young age.

I too had a paper route. the largest in the paper shed. The winters were tough delivering the sunday paper. I had 125 customers and in the winter time, I would walk my early morning route because the snow was too deep to ride a bike.

I remember we had the first tv on the block: round screen and a homemade tv case. It was made from a heath kit.

My first bike was a JC Higgins and then a brand new Schwinn.

Our car was a Studebaker. Black was the only color available

The movie I loved the most when I was a kid was "The House of Wax"

Do you remember the Flash Gordon series? Love to watch the phony looking space ships. Never thought in a million years that we'd be in space. Back then I was just a movie.

I remember going to the corner drug store and having a root beer float.
They had a soda bar inside the store and the owner use to give me a float every weekend but I had to cut the grass and cut up card board boxes.

Too many things to list..... BUT what would kids nowadays do without computers, cell phones, Ipod, Walkman, Xbox, etc..... Do you think they would survive

Jay

[sculpin]

I guess I'm a youngster, I was born in 49. I remember all the things mentioned. Up here in Oregon we still have burn barrels and at the gas station they still pump your gas (State Law). Once in a while they will wash your winshield but not on the inside. I remember my paper route as a kid and the month I made $42. I thought I was rich for sure. Things sure were much more peaseful then.
Jay if kids didn't have all the crap you mentioned and spent some of their spare time on a paper route they might learn good manners, common sense, discipline and respect. Who knows things might go back to being more peaceful. :)

Mark

Jay and Bill
Sorry guys! I am a little too yong to remember that stuff.
Sturm 76 and counting

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Sturmer,

Seriously we want you to tell us something of your childhood.

Where were you born?

You might be the oldest guy here?

Old Joe Shrishac was born in 1922, same as my dad, and he is still fishing.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Jay,

Where is SLC?



I remember "Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe".

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/3622/comcody.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/3622/ccsmou.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/3622/moonrocket.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/3622/larryfly.jpg

I think this was a TV show when I was a kid?

[Jay Murakoshi]

Bill,

SLC > Salt Lake City, Utah.

Hey Strum,

it would be interesting to hear about you. Let's see, 76 That should put you around the dinosaur's. Nah, just kidding but I remember Godzilla and I still watch those old B&W movies on TV. Dang, I just hoping to see 62 so I can start collecting Social Sec.

Bill, that '57 chevy sure does look nice. That was my very first car I had. I bought it from my aunt for $50.00 and had to push it home. It was a '57 chevy two door Nomad wagon. Probably worth some big bucks now.
I pulled the 6 cylinder and dropped in a 283 cu in engine bored out, with a cam and a dual quads. Muncie 4 spd and all the frills. But like you mentioned gas was 25 cents.

Whatever happened to the Barney Fife days

Jay

[Jay Murakoshi]

When I was down in Downey a couple weeks ago, they interviewed this lady from loma linda who was 104 years old. She lives in a senior housing. Every morning she gets on a stationary bike and rides for 8 miles and then takes a walk after that. Heck, I think she could run circles around me. I'm back to riding about 14 miles a day right now but have to stay away from hills until my knee is completely healed.

What I really need is some strong knees for wading the rivers. I need to get back into the shad fishing next year. I love the grab

Jay

[Wednesday Caster]

We emmigrated to a little town in PA (75 odd miles E of Pittsburg) in '76. Because it was a small town in the rolling hills on the edge of the Appalachians, I too experienced a lot of those things you gents speak about (some 20 years after) and I am very thankful for every second: playing ball in big yards coming home all muddy, sledding down snow covered fields, raking leaves only to rake it again the day after, shoveling snow on your sidewalk and the older lady's next door and she gives you a dollar and a quarter, floating the creek in innertubes, talking to buddies and girls on your porch on cool evenings until you can hear their parents calling for them when it got too late, riding bikes out to the creek to fish, delivering newspapers in the snow, rain, sleet, and heat, skating on the pond next to the junior college, catching lightning bugs, sparklers on the 4th, camping in your backyard with a couple of pals, Friday night football games where the entire town came to watch, eating chips and drinking "pop" from bottles while playing monopoly for 5 hours when it rained, watching Happy Days, Lavern and Shirley and reruns of The Little Rascals, our parents driving us out to the dairy that had an icecream shop (never had a scoop that compares since) in that baby blue '70 Ford Grand Torino, and building a go carts with a lever brake and foot steering system. The only electronic toys we had was the 2-way walkie-talkie and video game was PONG- no guns, knives or blood, just trying to keep a dot from getting past. Oh, life was sooooo good.
Quinn

[Darian]

1940 was the year my folks decided was a major event (not necessarily in their favor).... Was raised in South Central LA. Life wasn't very different from others for me.... 8) We had a TV and I recall programs like Space Patrol, Buck Rogers, Beanie/Cecil and Howdie Doody.... On Saturday, we all walked to the movies.... The neighborhood population was diverse but peaceful, then. The Watts Towers were a source of curiousity to us (very cool). 8) 8)

The only thing close to fishing required a bike ride from my street (91st) to the "108th Street drainage ditch" where we caught crawdads.... 8) Played baseball, kickball, dodgeball and football (cause there wasn't much else to do). Fishing required a drive in the car, usually to a salt water pier or to Palos Verdes to fish of the rocks. Fortunately, my dad was an avid hunter/fisher.... :D

We used to go on vacation to Sacramento to visit my uncle and drove up '99. On the way were the famous "Burma Shave" signs and the "Big Orange" drive-ins.... I recall my first swim in Lake Natoma (while it was being filled) at Negro bar in July. The water was so cold I came very close to imitating Jesus by walking on it..... :shock: :shock:

My first car was a black '41 Ford, V8, 4 door. 8) Once while we were driving to the Tejon Pass area, one of my buddies sitting in the rear opened the back door while were doing about 60 mph.... It was just like putting out the dive brakes..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

One year we went to the Rose Parade and built a fire in a trash can (to keep warm) and it melted into the surface of the asphalt/street.... :(

City life was OK but I wasn't really happy until I left LA for NorCal in 1968.... Been wonderful since then. :D :D :D

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Darian,

I was waiting for your story.

I think many of us have good memeories of our childhood.

Hey Bill
I am no writer like some of your guys.
Joe has me by 7 years.
I do remember catching steelhead near the log hole 64 years ago.
I fished the "A" this afternoon. Big mistake. 30+ gusts and no fish.
I fished from walnut down to the pink house. Only one other person until late in the day.
I delivered the Bee in Oak Park before you needed protection.

[Tracy Chimenti]

I was born in san Fran. My dad was a ship builder in Oakland and then went on to build houses and became a crew chief on a PG&E utility rig in the city. He's had pictures of welding operations on gas mains where a 100-foot tall plume of flame was coming out of a trench as the welders worked to repair the breach.

we moved to roseville when I was three and there were creeks all around me.

I played in Linda creek darn near every day of my life. Little did i know, that some day the preident of the US would visit my neighborhood after my little creek flooded. Spent many days catching bluegills, cats and shiners and of course, swinging from rope tied to big oaks.

Later, found out about bass fishing and my friends and i would ride 50-miles per trip to catch them-- rattlesnake bar, Hopp's Pond, Hidden Lake, which is surrounded by huge homes and Granite bay highschool. i can remember getting new camping gear every Chritmas and my friends and i would hike from our house to Eureka Road and fish and camp at the pond. We liked to camp in one of the old ravines and i can remember sneaking around one night next ot a car parked in the trees and hearing some girl moan... "Oh, Pete... oh, Pete...." and once we were even flooded out of our camp when it rained and the little ravine filled up.

TV? we had TV and we always watched Gad About Gaddis, Bel Lange, Roland martin, and jerry McKinnis. Spent rainy days at my buddy's house looking through bassmasters, feeding his king snake, and dreaming of fishing with the big boys on the BASS tour.

We also fished Secret and Minor's ravines and caught trout out of both as well as bass and bluegills.

Linda creek was right behind my house and so alot of Folsom fish were transplanted there. I brought a bluegill home and put him in there and caught him for the next four years under a big root ball. How did i know it was him? he had one eye. My dad and I called him "Ol One-Eye". "Hey dad,", I would say, "I caught 'Ol One Eye' again.

Tree forts were our expertise, as was sliding down the creek bank on cardboard.

we'd walk across town at night to see movies at the Tower and hit Dairy Queen on the way home.

Those were great days. I hope my son can have some of the same experiences.

Tracy

[Tony Buzolich]

Bill, You sure got everybody into a meloncholy mood about growing up.
I grew up in North Sacramento when it was its own city. Woodlake area. The American River was my playground, and Del Paso Blvd was like my backyard, Arden Way being the dividing line.
My dad and I used to walk over to the American and watch them build the Business 80 bridge before traffic was allowed. We'd watch the salmon and the carp and the suckers from the railing.
He'd tell me stories about wanting to buy some grassland out farther for $7.00 an acre. My mother would say no, It's just grass and sheep out there. That grassland is now Cal-Expo.
The boulevard had two movie theaters, the Grand and the Del Paso. Movies were a quarter and they'd sail glider plane models inside with prizes during intermission.
Never ventured much north of the boulevard till high school, that was Norte Del Rio. Rough area then and was a rival with Grant HS.
The old black railroad bridge used to have a hobo village under it and we'd always get scared as we ran by down to the river.
The area behind what is now Cal-Expo still looks the same as it did then except for the sheepherders being gone.
Loved the American back then, love it now.
TONY

[Jay Murakoshi]

Keep the stories coming. I check in every hour to see what old geezer has posted. Oppps, I think it was Paul Newman who said "never tell your age or your body will think it's getting old" or something to that tune.
He's 80 something. Gotta get the Geritol

Jay

[Bruce Slightom]

Bill, good stories! I was born in Woodland in 50 and had a Bee route for a long time. Was given a belt buckle that was a bee.

[Darian]

These stories are really great.... :D :D I gotta add a couple:

During the '40s in LA, it was a regular Saturday, early AM event when the Helms truck would come around. :D :D The Helms truck delivered bakery goods to individual homes. 8) You always knew they were coming as the driver would blow a three tone pipe/whistle.... Good stuff, too.... :D Helms bakery was a major employer in LA who, also, established and maintained the Helms Athletic Foundation. The foundation supported athletics and had a museum, of sorts, of major athletic events and records.... 8) Long gone, now.... :(

Ice was, also, delivered in 25 or 50 pound blocks to your ice box. :shock: Every home had ice picks for chipping off what you needed.... Margarine came in a plastic pouch, with a little pill in side, that required massaging to disperse the color thru it. 8) 8)