You know me, I always have a litle sumthin’ sumthin’ off in the corner accumulating for blog candy. Since last week I embarked (notice I say embarked because this is long from finished) on a little organization out in the studio, I hit the jackpot for some more giveaway items and they need to go now!! So, I have a little stash of goodies that I’m offering starting today and I’ll pick a winner on next Friday night. Feel free to leave a comment on this post every day until then – that should give me enough reading material, lol!!! On Friday, I’ll use random.org to pick a winner. The winner must reach out to me on my contact page to give me their address and after 48 hours I’ll give someone else a chance to win if no one has responded.
So this past week our whole family had an opportunity to be together (remember birthday?) for a couple of dinners – the older everyone gets unfortunately the less frequently this happens. We’re always a story telling crew and my kids never fail to remind me that I’ve told them "that" story at least 10 times before. I think I love telling them stories because it simply rekindles the memory to things I never want to forget – this world is so different now than it was in my childhood. So for this blog candy, I’m giving you an opportunity to share a memory, you know, just like the song says "tell me ’bout the good ole days".
For me, I wasn’t old enough to go to school where my family lived so my mother sent me off to live with Grandma so that I wouldn’t have to wait a year to start first grade. Over the years, I spent a lot of time at the farm – precious memories and a blessing since I’m now a suburb girl. I hate it that my kids will never know what it’s really like when it’s dark outside and there’s no sound except the cows in the field, the pristine water from a pump where there is no running water, woodstoves for heat and a fan for AC, kids who entertain themselves and play outside, a trip to the outhouse, real chores, a foot pedal Singer sewing machine to sew the quilt you need, shelling butter beans, walking to school, hanging clothes out on the clothes line, catching rain water to use in a wringer washer machine, hand me downs, always respect to elders, knowing all your neighbors and being able to trust them. Oh gosh this sure makes me sound ancient, I could go on and on. This was more than just one but you get the idea ;-)
![](https://www.amazingpapergrace.com//wp-content/uploads/image/BFCustomImages/BeccaSig.jpg)
The good old days? Ah…playing in the neighborhood with complete freedom till dark, catching crayfish in the pond, and just having fun. So excited to be the first to post!
Shawn K.
Cool things! I love them all!
The good ol’ days? I recall growing up in Franklin MA the 2nd house from a dead-end and woods, and maybe 3 houses in another direction from a farm. As kids we were always outside … and my Mom would gather us back home from beeping on the car horn … (how to share via text?) … beep beep * beep beep beep* beep * beep
(with the *s as pauses)
Thanx for the trip down memory lane, and t’riffic blog candy opp!
I remember the good old days where every summer was sunny (thats my memory playing tricks on me I’m sure!) x
Oh do you remember the game Red Rover? All the neighborhood kids would get together in our big yard and play Red Rover, Red Rover send Becca right over!
Riding my horse through the country side. We lived in the country and had so much room to roam!
All of the kids in the neighborhood played together- not just kids that were the same age. We played ALOT of hide and go seek-we’d get out the flshlights after dark….. We had alot of kids in the neighborhood, so always had a game of some type going…..baseball, red rover, kickball, etc Koolaid stands, collecting clams from the river (in our back yard) for a man down the street that would give us $$$ for them….Oh, the good old days! Thanks for jogging my memory!
Oh my gosh! That brings back memories of my rural childhood. We grew or raised just about everything we ate. We had to help take care of the garden and when it was time to harvest we had to get it ready for canning by the time mom and dad got home from work. We too hung our clothes on the clothes line. Nothing better than fresh towels and sheets from the clothes line. During the summer, we would sleep out in our sleeping bags almost every night and stay up late watching the stars on the pitch black nights. We hardly ever watched Tv except Sunday evenings when the Wonder World of Disney came on. We had dirt hills down the road and spent hours riding our bikes on them… such a wonderful life.
I would stay with my step dad’s grandmother in the city. In the hot summertime, she would bring out the old feather mattress and put it on the screened in, upstairs back porch, a pillow, sheet, and, believe it or not, a blanket. She would put a fan on and that’s where I’d sleep. By morning, I was burried under the sheet and blanket, up to my eyes. That was so much fun.
Carole Miller
Hi
What I remember as a kid is always being barefoot all summer long. If we went to bed with dirty feet (or dirty anything) it didn’t matter what time it was my Mom would always check and make us get up and wash our feet. I still go barefoot in the summer. And make sure I have clean feet before bed as I know just because my Mon is gone she is still watching. Thanks for a chance to win some candy.
Bon
Playing with all of the neighborhood kids, catching lightening bugs – no worries! They were great times.
hugs,
Gini
Summer memories mostly come to mind… I remember the “freedom” of riding my bike barefoot as fast as I could down our road in front of our house, feeling the wind in my hair. And walking around barefoot and sticking my toes into the warm, gooey tar in the cracks of our paved roads that was warmed by the sun. And being able to stay out until dark… childhood was fun!
Thanks for a chance to win, and for taking me back to some wonderful memories!
The good old days when family lived nearby and you didn’t have to drive 2-10 hours to visit with cousins or wait until a funeral to see relatives. The annual family reunion, Aunt Esther’s chicken and noodles, playing in the barn. I miss those days too. Wish I had 1/8th the energy I did back then, heck maybe even 1/16th!! Thanks for offering blog candy!
I remember helping my grandparents on the farm. I would be in long sleeves and jeans on 80 degree days, bailing hay. My sister would drive the tractor and i got to help throw the bails of hay onto the wagon. They were hard times but you spent quality time with the families back then.
Playing hide and seek in the street with friends at dusk on a summer evening, way past bedtime because Mum had come out to call me in but had got chatting to a neighbour!
Wow, a real walk done memory lane!
Childhood days are always so magical in our memories…although I’m sure I didn’t think they were when living them lol
Memories of going to the cottage, spending lots of time with my cousins who were all boys! lol….Summer heat and not being able to sleep feeling hot and sticky so I’d sneak downstairs to the livingroom couch where it was cooler. Scary thunderstorms with magical looking lightening….wow definitely some fabulous memories!
Thanks again Becca for helping to bring it all back..its been a great walk down memory lane today!
The good ‘ole days-brings back memories. Everyone had a different “alarm’ to bring us home for supper. We had a bell, 1 of neigbors had the car horn, and another one the mom’s whistle was ear piercing!!!! Beening out all day in the summer, playing tag at night. Having homemade pizza on Saturday-it was a treat with soda!!!! We only had Kool-aid and Saturday’s was nice because we could watch cartoons-Jetson’s, Johnny Quest etc. The thing that I loved was going to my Grandpa and Grandma’s and staying with them for 2-3 weeks every summer with my sister. It was a wonderful life back then, ( it is bringing a tear to my eye.) Wish somedays I could go back!!!
Oh yeah, lightening bugs! What fun to catch in a jar or smash and write your name on the sidewalk with them for it to glow! I loved to swing on my little swing set or on the porch swing during a rain storm! Playing hopscotch with a rock instead of chalk to draw the lines. Being the first family on the block to get a color tv. These are some of my favorite memories.
on those warm summer nights, being able to go out side after dinner and play flashlight tag!
Oh, that’s such an easy one:-
I remember, as a tot, visiting Grannie (even tho she wasn’t my real one, as both of my real Grandmas died before I was born). She was a wonderful lady who treated me like her own!
She would pull out her container of buttons and I would play for hours and hours with them — sorting them, etc. Or she would give me an old catalogue and I would cut out my very own “paper dolls”.
Thanks, Becca, for bringing these wonderful memories back to me!! :-)
Hi,
The good old days,I loved being outside,barefoot and in the woods.
I remember when the feed man would come to the farm. He always had bubble gum for us kids and we would rush over to see him.
OMG, I do remember those good ole days! It was good to be a kid back then. Running all over the neighborhood playing with friends/relatives until dark. The only time we’d go back home was to use the bathroom, LOL
I use to love to go stay the week-end at my grandma’s and grandpa’s. They had a wringer washer too. We used to go to the Pike, don’t know if any of you know what the Pike was, but it was an amusement park, I could walk into any and all of the venues that had fun stuff, I was probably between 10-12. I did this at night all by myself too. No one worried that someone might take me away. It was a simplar time then.
Now enter me into the contest Becca!
I remember being able to ride my bike all over the neighborhood until dark. Something my kids can’t do these days.
Thanks for a chance to win…
I remember being in high school and doing some crazy things with my sister. Like my car breaking down and she pushing the car so we can get it started and then her running and jumping into the car. It was also so much fun to be around her.
Oh wow… this is so funny that you have asked us to remember the “good old days”… because I was watching TV in the middle of the night last night (typical for me as I have trouble sleeping straight through any night.. ) and something was said on the TV show I was watching that took me back to my childhood. After that, I spent a lot of time thinking about the things I miss in my life now that were there when I was a kid… little things and big things, but all wonderful things. But, OK… one memory for today’s entry. I was a city kid but it was always great when we went to visit one aunt and uncle who lived in the county. One of the best memories of those days was going when the bounty of the garden was ready for the taking. My mom and my aunt would do a lot of canning which provided such wonderful food for months to come. I miss the wonderful fresh foods and also the yummy things they canned. I wish I had learned how to do all that… but now I live in an area where things don’t grow well anyway. But, maybe someday we’ll build a greenhouse… at least it’s been mentioned! LOL!!
Oh such memories are always there,like playing outside until dark,
diging in the dirt making castles,playing marbles.Finding glass bottles
and turning them in to get money to spend on ice cream truck that
would come by everyday.So much to think back on,too much to list.
But picking wid blackberries and eating them right off the stickey vines
that hurt but it was worth it
I was a city kid from Brooklyn,NY. During the summer,we played stoop ball, and rode our bicycles up and down the block. On hot days,we went to the local park to run through the” fountains”(sprinkler type with a cement border around it) with lots of kids.My Grandmother (at 70 years plus)walked 20 city blocks each way to pick me up every Saturday,and bring me back to her Brownstone Apartment house so I could stay over for “girl time”,doing some baking and watching her favorite programs on the tiny TV.I miss her so and just thinking of her makes me smile. Thanks for sharing with us Becca as you do with each new blog.Hugs from Michigan.
The good ole days? I remember disappearing for an entire day into the woods after packing some snacks (and a book) into my backpack…
the good Ol’ days, sigh…. what I wouldn’t give to go back for a day to making mud pies with a bowl or rice puffs(huge bags of cereal that my Mom would buy), they were awful! but they made really good mud pies,hehehe….
I spent so much time outside catching fireflies too, and frogs and grasshoppers galore,
thanks for the chance to win some candy…
I remember playing with my doll carriage outside of my parent’s candy store/luncheonette, while they took care of customer’s inside. I would dress my cat up and he would lie in the carriage, just like a doll. What a great time with a wonderful cat who loved being my “baby” and the freedom to be outside by myself without my parent having to be afraid that someone would kidnap me. We lived in a large city, but times were very different back then.
I am thinking of my MIL’s homemade ice cream! It was made with the old hand crank, ice and salt. I have never tasted any ice cream that good i my life. The only problem was that I have too many in-laws with which I had to share.
Hi Becca
Wow, the good old days huh. Well the good old days for me were different than what I have read so far. I remember World WWII and how every family member was issued a ration book containing coupons for tea, coffee, and sugar, along with spares in the event that other products would be rationed. Stamps for butter, sugar and a few other necessities were later added. I also remember the Great Depression and it was very difficult for families to be joyful during those difficult times. Thankfully and with faith and prayer many of us made it through.
Hi Becca!
A Favourite summers day – my best friend and I heading off to the pond in the woods (there’s a University campus there now!) – taking a biscuit tin of sandwiches, bottle of lemonade, a blanket. After the picnic and a little fishing with twig pole and string, we’d fill the tin with wild raspberries and bring them home to Mother. The scent of ripe raspberries still brings those sunny, bee-buzzing days back to me! Thanks so much for the chance to share, and also for the chance to win such lovely candy!
We had a fire whistle that blew at 9PM, that when we all ran to go home!
good ol’ days. running around the neighborhood with friends without a worry of predators…
I remember riding my bike all over town and stopping in at the Commons on the Oregon State University campus to get a big ice cream cone. Staying outside all day playing and coming in at dusk for dinner. Friday night roller skating and Saturday night drive in theaters. Great times. Thanks for having us go down memory lane. Good blog candy too. LOL
I recently came across a wonderful Mo Manning digi image.
Depicted are a little girl dancing with an older gentleman. This brought back one of my earliest memories.
I was chosen to be a flower girl at our neighbour’s daughter’s wedding. I was 4 years old. That was 53 years ago!
I don’t remember the ceremony or any of the preparation or reception except for this one thing. The groom asked me to dance. I remember his telling me to stand on his feet and then feeling as if I was flying as he waltzed me around the room. It was magical and still brings a huge smile to my face.
Ahhh the good ol’ days!
Wow, Becca, your rendition of growing up sounds very much like mine, but it was our house on the farm, not my Grandparents. No running water, no bathroom, wood/coal stoves for cooking/heat, clothes on the clothesline after being washed in the wringer washer. Endless hot/humid summers, but we always had the energy to play “kick the can” until dark. And those wonderful summer nights eating cold watermelon or strawberry shortcake on the porch and swinging in the porch swing. Good parents, hard work, but precious memories of days gone by!
Just being able to be kids. Unlike today when everyone is trying to outdo the other. Memories of playing outside; doing some chores(that’s part of being a family) not worrying about bad neighbors. Just the good ole days
I used to love to watch my grandma make our clothes on a sewing machine that you had to work the petals to make the make work. The machine was a very shiny black and silver and very old fashioned. we had really good times together. Dani
Hi Becca, you have such a wonderful website, so much inspiration. I remember when I was a child we only had an ice box and the ice man would come by and all the neighborhood kids would appear like magic and we would all get a small chuck of ice to suck on. There were 47 kids on our street and on a hot summer day we would all wait for him to come. We always had someone to play with, always out side, even on rainy days, gum boots and yellow hooded raincoats. I would love to have a picture of us, we must have looked like a herd of ducklings. (I’m afraid I don’t know what a group of duckings is called!)
Great memories, Thanks.
My Mom and I were discussing this very same thing last week! She could hardly believe the places she let us go and things we were allowed to do on our own…riding across town 3 miles on our bikes to the pool for swim lessons and fun, hanging out under the overpass throwing rocks and sticks into the Mississippi River, hiking to the woods on the edge of town to build forts and do what kids did after school and on weekends (play long and hard), neighborhood softball and four square games, sledding, ice skating after supper and then walking home in the dark, kick the can, crossing the railroad tressel between trains, and best of all, not coming inside until after dark so tired and happy that you fell into bed…dreaming about what adventures awaited you when you woke up in the morning.
My favorite good ole’ days memory is playing outside late on warm summer nights. There were a lot of kids old enough to make sure I stayed safe and we had the run of the neighborhood in a good way, playing tag and other games, floating in and out of each other’s homes. Our mom’s would all scream out the back door to call us home for dinner, and as long as we ate well, we got to run outdoors again!
Thank you, Becca, for your fabulous work!
Ah, the good old days….. carefree and happy! My family and another family were such close friends that we had dinner together at our home or theirs several times a week — the Moms and dads talked, the kids played, we all gathered around to eat whatever was on the table…….. such a special memory. We’re close friends to this day, almost 40 years later even though we’re in different countries now…
Oh my gosh Becca, the good ole days were way back in the early 50’s when we could go to the beach (Jacksonville Beach) my grandmother lived about 2 blocks from the ocean and my sister and I would stay on the beach all day.. my grandmother would bring us sandwiches and drinks at lunch and we would just stay there… sometimes the ocean would be smooth as silk and never a ripple. Other times it would be rough and we would have a ball jumping and swimming in with the waves. We would be sad when summer ended.. no one ever bothered us as we lived there when hardly no one else was living there and it was not a popular place to go and we lived about 10 blocks from the center of the main street..
Thanks for the memories!!
Hugs, Jean
I remember my four brothers and me sitting on cut off fence posts eating watermelon during a family picnic. Those were the good ol days when familes came together and did something as a group.
My favourite memoirs game “Grasshopper” – two pull an elastic band, and the third jumps through it different variants. With each level an elastic band raised above and above.
We played every day in the street and were happy without computers and mobile phones.
Thanks Becca for the chance to win this awesome candy!!!!!
Oh my! So many many memories, but two opposites come to mind. My daddy is a preacher-man. And, he always had stashes of those small new testaments. So, one day, without asking (I must’ve been around 6) I filled up my wagon with them, and went door to door selling them, so people could “learn” about Jesus. The other is when I was around the same age, and we would find cigarette butts in the gutter and try to smoke those awful things….lol
Life was SO sweet…back 55 years ago!!! Thanks for turning on my memory machine this beautiful Sunday!
Yesterday was my husband’s brother’s 74th birthday. I took a chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream to their house for us all to enjoy. It was fun sitting around listening to the two brothers and a sister reminiscence about all the places they had lived growing up- a LOT!! My DH was naming them and his sister was keeping track, then a memory would surface of that particular place and then they would have to start over. A fun afternoon.
Becca, love visiting your blog. Your cards are beautiful. Thanks for sharing your heart.
Awesome, I am a newbie & anything I could win would be a plus! Love your site!!!
I grew up in the city where my girlfriends and I would get together on Saturday morning and ride our bikes uptown to check out all the new items at the dime store and then to the drug store to see what new comic books were there. All this time we just left our unlocked bikes outside the door of the stores and they were always there when we come out. I had a fine collection of comic books and never owned a bike lock!
My mom was a single parent long before it was acceptable. In the summer she would send me and my sister to stay with my Uncle Clifford in Babcock WI. One summer he had a government contract to raise green beans. We were elated when he “hired” us to pick the beans. The government paid him 3 cents a pound and he paid us 3 cents a pound. By the end of summer, we thought we were millionaires.
Remember Becca, if you don’t live it, it is still wonderful to have family members that can share their experiences.
Saturday afternoon at the theater is one of my favorite memories. All the kids sat down front together in the theater. Applauded when something good happened and boo when something happened that we did not like.
Playing outside till supper time. Running and playing everything under the sun. Also helping my grandad plant his garden. He in turn helped my husband and I plant our first garden. Hot all the time. And kool-aid to drink. If we had a coke we split it. and it would be on a weekend.
The good ol days. More time then we needed.
So fun to hear about your and your blogfriends childhood in America. I live in Norway, Europe, and my childhood was quite like yours, Becca. I am born in 1961, and until my father retired in 1986, I lived on a small farm in the south of Norway. I was lucky and was one of the last persons in Norway to live on a farm which was very oldfashioned. My family did not own the farm. In those days, it was quite normal to rent a farm from a rich landovner who also owned lots of woods. So my father worked in the woods, using a horse to drag timber from the woods to the road. Up till the sixties it was normal to float timber over lakes and down rivers. From the sixties timber lorries took over this transport.
Our farm had no traktor, and we used the horse to pull the machine that cut the grass. Me and my mother (- occationally we got help from friends and family) then turned the hey around on the fields until it was dry. The horse pulled the big full hay vagon into the barn. We had cows, horses, pigs, rabbits, hens, dog and cats on the farm. I was a real lucky child, don’t you think? We fished in the lake, and had a sand beach nearby.
OK, I had a long school ride by bus, the toilet was outside, cold and windy, the work days was long in the summer, lots of mosquitoes and it was lots of snow in the winter, but it was worth it!
And the silence! I really miss the silence now. (Now I live just outside a small town.)
Well, Becca, I hope somthing of this was interesting for you. Since we Norwegians love American movies, we know a lot about the US, you know. Lots of Scandinavians moved to America in the 1800’s, so we feel that we have a near connection to America. My last name is Horntvedt, and we are just 207 persons with that name in Norway. In US there are lots and lots with that name!
(When you pick a winner on Friday, I am on my way to a weekend trip to Poland. So if I should be so lucky to win (would be fun!) I am not sure that I have access to a computer until Monday 4th. )
in the OLD DAYS, I remember that my parents knew where we were most of the time because we had lots to entertain us, AND also most neighbor kids: we had a go cart track in the back yard and in the middle was a trampoline!
I love blog candy. I live on a farm, and there is never a dull moment around here. From being chased by the bull to having a coyote chase my son up the fence. Thanks for the promt to relive memories.
Laurie
BECCA BECCA ONE OF MY MEMORIES IS WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER
(MUCH YOUNGER) AND WE LIVED AT THE COTTAGE ALL SUMMER LONG.
OUR LAKE WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH ? TO STAY AND PLAY SO ABOUT 11 OF
US USED TO PACK A LUNCH AND TIE IT ON TO THE BELT LOOP AND WALK
4 MILES THRU A PINE FOREST STATE PARK CROSS THE HIGHWAY GO THRU
THE CEMETERY AND PLAY IN THE TINY RIVER. IT HAS A LONG TO CROSS
THE RIVER IF YOU DIDN’T WANT TO GET WET. MY MOTHER NEVER
WORRIED ABOUT STRANGE MEN OR EVEN ALL OF US CROSSING THE HIGH
WAY. WE HAD TO BE HOME BY 4;00 PM. WE WOULD LEAVE BY 8;30 SO
WE HAD A FULL DAY ON THE RIVER.
CYNTHIA B.
What fun reading all these wonderful memories which bring back so many of my own. Mostly being free to play outside and bike throughout the neighborhood; visit grandparents farm and collect eggs, milk the cow and make butter in an old fashioned churn. Going to lots of family gatherings and playing with all my cousins (lots of them). Going to church with my very proper Grandmother and if I was good and sat still, I got an ice cream cone (and I always got one). So many wonderful memories to think about especially today. Thanks for all you share!!
Making homemade ice cream in the hand crank ice cream freezer. When it got really hard to crank, my Dad would “hire” me to sit on top which was covered by a gunny sack. The extra weight kept the freezer steady. My pay…I got to lick the freezers paddle!
I remember the good old day going to my Aunt’s farm for the summer and catching up with cousins that you only get to see once a year. Farm had lots of fruit trees to climb and pick the freshes fruit that you could ever get. Weekends were spent at the beach were you got to meet people of all ages and enjoy basking in the sunshine and enjoying the cool breeze coming from the ocean. I remember looking forward every year to our summer vacation. It was filled with lots of memories.
Fab candy. The Good Old days were definitely those with the freedom to roam about in the woods where I lived… something I am so sad that my son can’t do when he visits Grandma & Grandpa… he gets chaperoned walks instead!
Childhood memories? That goes in lots of directions. While we had a permanent home in SC, I say I grew up in Staten Island, NY because that’s where all my memories are. Walking to school …… and having a neighbor boy come by to walk me……and I didn’t like it because my grandfather would tease me……so I would slip out the back door and across the fence so I would be ahead of him and pretend I didn’t know he ever existed. My grandfather owned a store and we lived upstairs……..that creeky stairwell kept me upstairs when it got dark because I never could find the light chain and I was so scared of that dark…….it was really dark and the floor made noises! And the kids and teachers made me do lots of talking because I had a southern accent and I don’t know whether they were making fun of me or enjoyed the accent, but I did lots of oral reports and plays. Awww, it was a different world…..thanks for letting me remember the good ole days!
the good old days eh?
I remember the Milk in glass bottles and being delivered to the house….. I used to love taking the seal off the bottle (with mom’s help). I still remember the milk man…. I was very little but I do remember that
God! many many moons ago eh?
you are so generous …I would love to win that blog candy, thanks for the opportunity.
Have a great Sunday
Maria
I remember going to Disney World just after it had been opened, into it’s 2nd week of operations! There was so much to take in, and though I was only 4 years old I can still remember being in awe of the characters and wanting to meet them all. One you don’t see anymore is the Oscar Meyer weenie guy. He had the little whistle and everything. We were at the Main Street restaurant and could barely eat, for we kept getting out of our chairs to see the characters. Dad took some old videos that Mom just had put to DVD recently. SO thankful to have some of that to watch again with my own kids today!
I remember the good old days playing outside in the yard til dark, even chasing lightening bugs after dark and catching them in jars. Riding our bikes around the neighborhood and friendly folks in the neighborhood – in a very small county town. What fun we had as kids. It is too bad that most children today don’t get that opportunity.
Thanks for the chance at your great blog candy and thanks for all the inspiration on your blog.
Have a blessed week.
Roller skating with skates with a key up and down the sidewalk all day everyday in the hot sticky summertime. Of course we never felt the heat or the humidity. What fun that was
AH the good ol days- days before responsibilities! I would love to go back to days on my Papaw’s farm- feeding the cows out of our hands, all lined up behind him. Picking green beans, blackberries, the taste of tomatoes right off the vine… I miss the summers of my childhood!
One of the earliest, fondist memory I hold was when I was about 5 years old (back in the 60’s). I remember my handsome dad sitting out front after working hard all week, under a shade tree, maybe in the afternoon on the weekend, in one of those folding, aluminium webbed chairs, clean in his white t-shirt listening to the Phillies game on a little leather covered transistor radio. My young mother was in the house somewhere, cooking something. Anyway, the radio would have this little button you could push that would light up the dial- I loved to push that little button. The game broadcasted in AM of course, with the static- where you would have to move the antennae to get the strongest signal. Today, when the Phils play (I’ll look for an AM station), I can just close my eyes and and replay this in my mind and I see my handsome dad sitting out front after working hard all week…
A lot more time was spent outside, playing, etc. My parents’s signal to remind us it was time to come back was flicking the outside light switch on/off. Obviously we had to be within the visual prompt. It was a silent reminder that somebody cared for us and was looking out for us…..
I just got an e-mail about life inthe good ol’ days on Long Island with pictures and everything. It was fun to walk down memory lane and think about my first fast food hamburger at Wetson’s, going to Jahn’s ice cream parlor with my friends or riding the bus to Roosevelt Field shopping mall. These things that are such every day events for my kids (except taking the bus to the mall…they would never dream of waiting on the corner for a bus) were such big events in my life. Funny how time changes all things. Thanks for the chance to reminisce.
My entry for today isn’t as exciting as those mentioned above, but, to this day, the same memory floods back to me.
It was the early 1950s. I must have been about five when I began to notice a color pattern in the evening sky. From my bedroom window, when it was time for bed, I would lay on my bed and look out at the sky and, at a certain time of year, note the soft pastels. I remember the muted grey-blue, orange, and cyan with a dusting of yellow. I called it my CIRCUS SKY. For some reason, at that age, I already had realized that when the sky made those colors, the Barnum & Bailey Circus would be coming soon. It always did. We always went. Now, my sweet husband will sometimes come to me and say, “Come with me. I want you to see your CIRCUS SKY.” I still watch the evening sky for those colors and their pattern. It floods my mind with sweet memories of times gone by.
Thank you so much for all the inspiration.
We lived out in the country on 3 acres when we were growing up. One winter we had a blizzard we had so much snow for our neck of the woods. After everything settled we went out and played for hours building snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights…….the usual. But the real memory was the tree branches were loaded with snow. We would stand under the big fir trees and shake the branches over us. My 6th birthday was during this time and my Mom made me a chocolate cake with pink icing and peppermint candy, so on these cold days Mom would send out slices of that cake and eating it out in the snow. I still remember that cake.
The ‘good ‘ole days’ were coming home from school, changing clothes, and going out to bike & play with friends. I hate the expression ‘play date!’
They say that progress is good, but I have to wonder sometimes. Your post brought me back, and there are several of those things you mentioned that I really miss. I think the kids of today would be better off if they knew some of the “old” ways.
Barbara
Something that just popped into my head was climbing trees. We did it all the time. We had a bunch of brambly trees that looped all over and we called them the monkey trees ’cause we climbed them for hours at a time. I wonder if I went back to see it now, if I would think, “These are really small” but to us at that age it was wonderland.
Thanks, Becca, for the inspiration.
Sunday’s were always “boring” to the kids. nothing on tv on the 3 or 4 channels that we had. everyone sat around after lunch, which was always boiled dinner, pork, cabbage, carrots, and onions, and talked about the good ‘ole days. we had no stores open or anything. how i wish i had listen a little more and wiggled a little less.
How funny is this as just yesterday my sister called and we were talking about when we were kids. Mind you we are in our late 60’s and 70’s so we go way back. Grew up on a ranch and had so much fun playing with our brothers and sisters. There was always so much work that needed to be done even though there were always hired hands running around we had to pull our share of the work. We were taling about one 4th of July when Dad went into town and purchased some fire works… each time he would light one he would say “well there goes a lot of money up in smoke” then laugh like crazy. Oh what fun we had!
Oh what a great giveaway Becca! Hope Mr. Becca’s birthday was grand!!
I remember traveling by car each year to Georgia to visit my mom’s family; we took 2 weeks every summer for this trip; just getting there took just shy of two full days. Once there you sat on the porch and played outside – no TV, no radio, no central heating/air – in fact, not even a window unit. It might be 100 degrees outside and 105 with humidity but we would sit on the porch and swing, snap green peas, work in the gardening or went fishing. Such fun!
Of course growing up, my brother and I thought this trip was sheer torture…only when you age do you realize the value in those moments!
Thanks for yet another chance to win some blog candy. Wonderful memories do need to be retold lest they be forgotten :D I spent my childhood in Costa Rica and like you, enjoyed so many wonderful experiences: a tree house in the jacaranda tree, growing our own pineapples, a poinsettia hedge, a fabulous array of fruit to eat, warm oceans to play in, endless beaches, digging a tunnel under the sand we could crawl through, making hermit crab race tracks and “racing” them only to be disqualified if one crossed into someone else’s lane, getting sugar cane to suck the sweet juice from when the neighbours harvested their crop, sucking the sweet slimy covering off ripe coffee beans and attempting to dry ours in the sun, fumigating our house twice a year to keep the creepy crawlies out, finding taranchula’s (sp?!) in the neighbours wood pile or on the side of our house, collecting lizard tails (if you put your finger on the tip of their tail they drop their tails so they can get away), so many ways you could discover life and just be a kid without any need for electronic games. Wonderful childhood memories :D
Oh, wow, Becca………which memory! I guess I mainly remember being able to ride my bike to the neighborhood pool, by myself, and playing in the water all day long! Just having a lot of fun with friends! Thanks for the chance at winning the blog candy!
Blessings,
pat
Comme c’est bon de profiter de cette occasion pour me souvenir encore de tous les bons moments de tendresse que j’allais passer auprès de ma grand-mère paternelle ; j’aimais l’écouter, me confier à elle ; jardiner aussi … merci pour ce souvenir.
j’en profite pour tenter ma chance pour ce candy blog
bonne soirée
Oh yea! Knowing who your neighbors were and who lived where and who lived in the house before them. Everyone knew everyone on our street. Ah and the watermelon feasts, when all the kids gathered at our house and Dad would slice the watermelon to be shared by all.
Oh my Becca, you do come up with the most thought provoking questions! Lets see, when I was a kid Mom was a SHM. We had a small cabin on a lake that we went to every summer from the time I was maybe 6. We could leave the house in the morning and not go home till it was time for dinner! Mom never worried about us. First off, it was a safe area, second if we’d gotten up to anything she’d have known about it before we could have gotten home! And that’s if one of the other Mom’s hadn’t already paddled our butts! I’ll tell you some more about it tomorrow.
Thanks for the chance at your candy. One of these years I’ll have to get lucky and win it!
R/
Becca:
Love your creativity and your cards! My memories of the fifties and later are just about like all those above. Time flies–have fun while you can. Enter me in the drawing for the blog candy–whoopeee. Carol
I grew up in a neighborhood full of kids, each family had between 2-8 children so there was always someone to play with. I loved all the games we used to play…hide n go seek, red light green light, mother may I, king of the hill, tag, red rover red rover send Karyle right over…..lol. I loved being able to play outside until dark and not ever being afraid. All the adults looked out for all the kids, if my parents forgot to give me lunch money I could go to any of my neighbors and they would give it to me, my parents did the same for their kids.
I remember hopscotch, double dutch (and many other forms of skipping), building forts, riding bikes, being able to stay out and play until almost dark. Once it started to get dark we had to be in our yard – if it was the weekend we got to stay outside a little longer (as long as we were in our own yard).
homemade ice cream and playing croquet outside. Now it is store bought ice cream and corn hole. Still good times.
Oh how i wish that my kids or grandkids could have the good old days ,, playing in the back yard, walking in the streets without fear of anything bad happening to them,,listening to the stories on the radio instead of just watching tv, going to the cinema and having a packet of chips with salt and vinegar afterwards,,, the freedom of your spirit,,,thats very important,,,thanks so much for this offer of blog candy,,, and remembering the good o’l days!!!! Greetings from South Africa.
First of all, I love and like my brother. My dad was longline truck driver and was away for long periods of time. My brother is 9 yrs older. Unfortunately for him, he had to babysit me. I was not the “easiest” child to watch. I bugged the heck out of my poor brother! So he was pushed to the end and put me in the hall closet! This is where I start laughing. Well, he forgot me and went to bed. Mom and Dad came home and I wasn’t in bed. They immediately though I was sleepwalking again. They couldn’t find me so woke my brother who didn’t remember anything at first. When they finally found me I was sound asleep! Now I’m on the floor laughing hysterically! My poor brother still feels guilty. He shouldn’t. I know what a monster I was! Silly brother!
Sharon L
Your childhood sounds like mine!! But I also remember picking blackberries and selling gallons of them when I was in my early teens! When I was a child I cut up Sears, Roebuck catalogs and played with paper dolls. I made all of my own clothes, quilted, crochet, etc. from a very young age! By playing alone as a child, I am still not lonely now when I am alone — just different toys!
Like the song says….” Back in the days when I was young I’m not a kid anymore, but some days I sit and wish I was a kid again”…… well ain’t that the truth!
When I remember the Good Ole days, I think of Chinese Jump Rope and my favorite white and hot pink rollerskates. From the moment I woke up till the moment I went to sleep, I had those skates on my feet. This is going to sound funny, but I loved those things so much, that a few years ago I went and bought some “adult” skates and you guessed it, in white and hot pink. LOL ….. Then of course there’s the wonderful moments I spent playing Barbies with my Brother…..hahahaha…. Yes that’s right, my brother. I would be Barbie and he would be Godzilla… hahaha…. That was before he got old enough to say boys don’t play with dolls….. WOW, I haven’t thought about that in years. I think I’ll call him up now and remind him of his “Barbie” days. LOL……. I love your Blog Candy giveaways, not only for the wonderful giveaway, but because in the end we all end up winners. Your giveaways allow us to take a break from the real world and think about something else, whether it’s the good ole days or our favorite movie. Thanks Becca! :) Have a wonderful day! Good luck everyone! :)
Wow! So many to call upon. The main theme I think is being outside. My brother and I could ride our bikes 5 miles to the DQ and get a dilly bar all by ourselves. We’d ride down to the park and Mom would ring the dinner bell when it was time to come home. We’d actually hear it then because there was less traffic and fewer houses between our house and the park.
Or we’d play in the woods behind the house all day. We’d build tree forts with the neighbor kids. Grandma and Grandpa actually lived thru the woods (but not over the river) and we could go see them whenever we wanted to. Our other grandparents came over every weekend to play cards.
The summers were spent camping thru the National Parks west of Texas. We’d hook up the tent trailer and head out for a few weeks to experience this great land we call America.
Us kids ate breakfast, got dressed and headed outside, only coming back in to eat and sleep…..lol Such fun with the neighborhood kids! We really only watched tv on Saturday mornings, and maybe a show or two during the week.
Yep, the good ol’ days! Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
:) Beth
My fondest memories are of catching fireflies down by the creek at night and crawdads during the day. I loved walking through the pastures and picking all sorts of wildflowers. To this day, I have dreams that I am walking over the hills at my parents’ farm and find a treasure trove of beautiful blooms. I’m lucky that my kids go and spend about 4-5 weeks of the year with my parents on the same farm; I love that they get that opportunity!
I loved the good ol’days. I remember lots of road trips and camping trips we used to take. There were no seat belt laws then and my sister and I would curl up in the back seat of our ’64 ford LTD andwe would sleep at night, one on the floor and one on the seat. We would take books to read and enjoy the scenery. I wonder if any one today even looks at scenery. They have to have their dvd players and nintendos and psp’s. Thanks for reminding us, Becca.
Boy, your list made me feel old, too! I grew up in the Sierras just south of Yosemite. Fresno was only an hour a way, so we really weren’t far from civilization, but I remember almost all those “old-timey” things. Don’t forget the 10-party line. Ours ring was 3 longs and 2 shorts, or something like that. And if we were really careful, we could sneak and pick up the phone and listen to someone else, but after 7 minutes there was an automatic cut-off so you couldn’t hog the line. If Daddy caught us listening to someone else’s calls or calling a friend back after our 7 minutes, there was trouble! But Daddy was gone a lot! :o)
Count me among the ancient because I remember all of these things right along with you. Living “in the country” while growing up is something I’ll always treasure although at the time I wasn’t so sure it was the best. All my friends lived “in town” which was 10 miles away so that made for some solitary times since I was an only child. I grew up being a tomboy and killed my share of birds with my BB gun. Good times!
Hi Becca,
You are my favorite artist and I absolutely love your cards! I visit your blog everyday and I have gotten some wonderful ideas. You have given me so many projects. Some of them are a little difficult for me but I keep trying. Hopefully you’ll draw my name for the blog candy goodies.
Lynn
Oh Becca, your list of memories almost made me cry. It reminded me
of my childhood and it does bring sadness that my children and
grandchildren will not experience these things. The hope is that we
have heaven to look forward to and can you imagine what that is
going to be like!!! My Grandmother had a cabin at the beach and we
took a vacation there every summer. There were 5 of us and then
sometimes our cousins would meet us there. Our mothers would be
up in the cabin visiting and making food while we played on the beach
and in the ocean working up a serious appetite. Then in the evening
it was a bon fire and marsh mellows; yummy! We didn’t have much
money so my Mother really had to pinch pennies for the gasoline to
drive there. It was sure worth it because we all have fond memories of it.
Thanks Mom for giving us a life worth remembering~~~she is in heaven
now so she knows what we have to look forward to and because of her
witness all her children and many others know Christ.
Becca, you’ve described my childhood. Oh how blessed we were to grow up in those sweeter, simpler times. Precious memories! No wonder your cards are so glorious, your inspiration comes from such sweet good ole’ days. Days before they tried to take God out the picture. Thank you for lifting up His name and bringing Him glory! Iris, saved by Grace!!!
Sometimes I feel bad for my children just simply for the fact that they won’t get to experience the same kind of good ole days that I did. When visited my grandparents in the mid 1960’s in southwest Missouri they had an out house, a well house and a smoke house on their property. They had a hand pump in the house for water and we took our baths in a metal tub in their house. I thought these were the biggest hillbilly’s I had ever seen. ( I grew up in Calif. ) Now I have those wonderful memories and I wouldn’t change them for the world.
The good ole’ days…….playing until dark, trading marbles, catching night crawlers with my father, hanging out laundry in the fresh air, I could go on……
OMG! The Good Ol’ Days! Wow! Does that ever bring back many, many memories. As I read the comments above they just brought back more and more memories. I can remember watching my grandmothers washing with an old ringer washing machine. I spent lots of time with Grandpa at the old grinding wheel, while he sharpened knives and scissors. I will never forget having the old washtub in the back yard for “swimming” and then in the kitchen for our bath!!! I recall making dandelion chains and checking under the chin to see if the yellow showed up (can’t remember why that was so important). In the summer (in Iowa) we would sleep on the linoleum flooring just to try and keep cool and if we needed to use the bathroom at night, we used a chamber pot!! How about going out to the farm and watching them milk the cows and squirting the stream directly into the cats mouth. Every kid in the neighborhood walking a mile into town just to catch the Saturday Matinee and eat candy at a nickel for an all day sucker. Boy, I could go on and on and on. I was born in 1937 and those really were to “GOOD OL’ DAYS”!!
I remember that the family was always together. No matter where we went it was always family. My mom and Dad were sweethearts and their families played together so there was no division or separation between in-laws and out-laws we were one big family.
Today is the “good ole’ days!” It is always the one we are living now! That’s why it is so important to make the most of each day – so that we remember each day as joy-filled and one that reflects the love of God! Blessings to all this “good ole day”. Louise
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. City life in the 50s at its best. I remember so much and also tell my kids and grands many times over. They tell me I should write a book…yeah, with what time? :D . So, I remember playing double dutch jump rope, red light, green light, and giant step. Now that’s for the games. Now the food…foodie that I am. Brooklyn was such a hodgepodge of ethnicities. On any given day, you could eat apple streudel, Polish sausages, giant pickles from a barrel, authentic pizza, juicy watermelon (from a man who drove a big horse-drawn wagon and hollered, “waatteeerrrmelloon,” for all to hear on hot humid city streets. More memories to come tomorrow. Thanks Becca. This is fun.
As far as the “good ole days”, I used to ride my bike or walk to school about a mile. It was good excercise and fun. Blessings!
I remember a lot of things from the good ol’ days. I really enjoyed your list and all the comments from people. Loved catching lighting bugs and putting them in a jar to share with friends. Loved walking to school even in the snow. Loved playing “kick the can” with all the neighborhood kids. I have a lot more to share in the coming days.
Shirley L.
Roseville, CA
my memories of good old days were spent in Rio- Brazil playing with my 3 cousins…
that I now miss so much =(
Being able to ride my bike all over without worrying about “predators” or “stranger danger”.
I was born in 1950. Almost immediately I was raised by my father’s parents. My mother suffered numerous nervous breakdowns and that’s why I was raised by my grandparents. I had a spinal meningitis when I was three years old. Back then there wasn’t physical therapy as we know it today. I couldn’t walk. I learned to walk again by pushing my doll stroller through the house. I still have doll stroller and doll. The doll didn’t do much. The only way she would walk, was me moving her leg by leg. Her legs moved, but not automatically. Even though that doll doesn’t do as much as today’s dolls, she is still pretty special to me.
I’d have to say when I had a job, our son was young and my parents alive. Not in that order of course. Those were the great days. We have so many wonderful memories.
Hi Becca,
Your little stroll down memory lane in the country brought back one particular memory, it’s one that my dear grandmother (she’s now in heaven) and I would laugh about when I brought it up to her. My grandparents had grown up in a rural community about 40 minutes or so from the city where we lived, and they bought an old house and gradually fixed it up, adding electricity and other modern conveniences over time. They were so good to me, and would take me with them there overnight at times. There were no street lights there, and when I awakened one night to use the washroom, there wasn’t the usual light to guide my way. Somehow I stumbled into the closet instead of finding the door (I was probably about 6 at the time), and as I fumbled in the dark, I panicked and called out to my grandmother (who was fast aslep I’m sure with my grandfather, it was after all the middle of the night) to help me, saying that I was stuck in the closet and I couldn’t get out! My dear, sweet grandmother simply came in and guided me to the door so that I could find my way to the washroom. That incident brought laughter between us many times over the years, and in my grandmother’s later years after she had a brain injury and couldn’t always communicate by speaking to us, I would talk of family stories and memories, and this story never failed to bring a smile to her face, and even a laugh from her–how I miss that wonderful laugh of hers! Thank you for providing me with the opportunity of thinking of my grandmother today, I have been blessed with having 2 sets of christian grandparents, and am so thankful for that heritage. Hoping that this little silly story will remind others of some precious memories that may only be special to you because of the people involved. I believe that my memories are one of my most dear assets, and I enjoy sharing those with close family members often.
Blessings to you, Becca, and to your dear family, and those who read this blog regularly as I do, and learn so much from you and your artistry.
Those were the good old days, I did not grow up on a farm but I went to my Aunt who lived in the country, and she had an apple tree on one side of the house a pear tree on the other then there was a peach tree in the back and the had a garden and my Uncle would bring in watermelons and put them in the freezer to get cold and then we would eat them, I ate a many of green pears growing up. Those were the good days. Those were the best summers ever.
We share many of the same memories.
My favorite was families always visiting. My mother came from a family of 7 and my father 9. We always had aunts & uncles and of course cousins stopping in to visit. In the summer we would sit outside until long after dark (of course as a child we didn’t do much sitting) with some family members who always stopped by for some reason. Every single Sunday there would be dinner guests. I loved that time spent together. People don’t visit any more. It is more like a chore. I am guilty myself. Thanks for reminding how wonderful my childhood was!
Growing up in Texas, one of my favorite memories is eating tons and tons of watermelon outside on the porch. It’s not as easy to find great watermelon in California, but I miss it so much.
My good ole memories were back when my and my sisters and brothers used to rde our bikes around the whole neighbourhood, all through summer! So much fun! i don’t remember if we ever ate any lunch.. hahhahaa
hugs
juli
Those were the days – the sun always shined & everything was wonderful, why oh why did we have to grow up.
Love your blog Becca, thanks for the chance to win your candy :)
Oh my, Becca, have you inspired a flood of memories! I think I could sit here all day recounting them all. As so here have already said was all the fun we had playing with the simplest things. No need for all these electronic gadgets to keep us entertained. Some fondest memories were spending time at my grandmother’s. She, too, lived in the “country” and it was a real treat for a “town” girl to visit her “country” relatives. My grandmother had a small “mom and pop” store attached to the house with gas pumps out front. What a treat it was to get an ice cream cone there or to be able to “pump” the handle so people could get gas. My mom was one of nine children so I had lots and lots of cousins to play with not to mention my sisters. We had so much fun!
my kids were way too young to remember when we lived so far out in the boonies that sunlight had to be shipped in…LOL…but you are absolutely right…there is something to be said for dark nights, and water that you draw up from a well….
The good ole days!! I was just talking about this. :)
When I was a kid a group of us 3 or 4 would start out in the morning to play, in my yard I had an apple tree so we would start the morning eating from there, later on we would go to another friends who had a peach tree-we ate from that, later we would carry our jars of vinegar to the pier and catch perry winkles and put them in our jars and set them on the wall for the sun to cook them, while we waited we would run to the park where there was a nut tree, and we would eat nuts and play, later we would go to another friends who had a cherry tree and we would munch and play there. By now it is noon, we go back to the pier and eat our perry winkles with the safety pins we would attach to our shirts every morning for this treat we would have every day. After we ate and played there it would be time for desert. We would run down to the field and pick and eat black-berry’s and raspberry’s to hearts content. We sucked honey suckles and we would run here and there. Then we all would run fast as lightening to make it home before the street lights came on. When I was a child you would never go hungry, there was a fruit tree in every yard if not 2 or 4 different kinds. Can you imagine being gone a whole day with out eating anything from your house.
Thanks for a chance to win some blog candy.
My favorite memory is about when all us girls (there were 4 of us) played house inside the big pine tree up on the hill. This tree was so huge that if you ducked under the branches there was a huge opening inside and that was our “house”. We would go out into the field and pick elephant leaves to make “salad”, some long thin weeds, never knew the name of them to make “spaghetti” from the stems after we peeled away the seeds and used them for “peas”. We made meatballs out of mud, we had such a fun time under that tree. When we were kids we never stayed in the house during the summer because doing that just led to more chores. Staying outside meant more playtime and since we weren’t under mom’s feet she was just as happy as we were.
The smell of a hot meal on the table, replete with garden produce grown from our garden, as we walked up the road from the bus stop; Sitting on the front porch during a thunderstorm with an old green army blanket wrapped around me; gathering eggs directly from the henhouse with my Grandpa; the feeling of going barefoot on a dirt road. My childhood was simple and beautiful!
The good ole days.
One that I bring out of my memory bank is when I was about 9 or 10 I would go visit my grandparents and I would grt to play with Grammie’s sewing it had a knee pedal, I was so pleased to be able to play with it. I now own that machine it was made in 1927 one of the first electric machines in the area.
Iam so pleased to have it,and the special memories I have of my grandparents.
Jocelan P
I’ll start the week echoing what so many others have already said. Playing OUTSIDE (not sitting in front of the tv) with friends, and friends of friends. Everyone tagged along. Knocking at someone’s door to see if they could come out and play and having their mom say (as soon as they are done with dinner, homework, etc). But we played, and we played hard. Outside, lots of fresh air, lots of great exercise [though we didn’t know that]. And we play til dark. Then someone’s mom would start calling their name telling them it was time to come in, and off we’d all go. No worries at all. Those were good old days. I wish the kids today could really experience that.
Hi Becca
I wasn’t raised in a farm like you, but every summer vacation we used to go to my mother’s aunt farm…..and spend some lovely time there……
two of my mom’s aunts lived in farms those days…..so we spent a little with both…..this was like 42 years ago…
In one the farms there was no electricity……only candles by night……all the food came from the animals and plants grown there.
In the other farm, aunt Angela’s farm..there was an eletrical generator…..it used the power of the river to bring electricity home. I remember being very afraid of the river noise……LOL
Those were wonderful times…..
hugs
Marcia
I remember the good old days in the country, climbing trees with the neighborhood kids, playing dress up as a nun, walking home to and from school for miles and running in the fields in summer time…good old healthy fun that we don’t see anymore…
Denise Trottier
One of my fondest memories is going on hikes with a group of neighbourhood friends. We would gather early in the morning with a lunch packed in a paper sack (no plastic zip lock bags back then!!) to collect tadpoles, frogs, grasshoppers and wildflowers! Those were definitely the good ole days!
This is so much fun reminising! I remember penny candy at the soda shop at the corner, going to the farm in the summer (I was was a suburb girl) two-party telephone lines, amd lighting a match under the thermostat in the summer to get it to 80 degrees so our parents would take us to the beach (everyone has pools today).
My daddy was raised about three miles outside of town in the country. We lived in a very small town and Daddy always planted our garden out there at “the farm”. I remember helping plant corn seeds and how my fingers would turn pink from those seeds. I liked running through the corn stalks when they were tall. I liked the feel of the garden dirt under my bare feet. I was a little girl then. As I got older, I was allowed to help Daddy stake the green beans! He always had a beautiful garden and raised enough food to give to neighbors and friends. Sometimes he would just leave food on someone’s door step, but they usually figured out who it was from. Daddy has passed on, but when I see a pretty garden I always smile and think of him!
What a great theme to write about! The good ole days for me are back when reading a book aloud or playing a board game together were good weekend entertainment. There were no cell phones or internet to keep us from spending lots of quality time together as a family.
Well your story sure made me “homesick” for those days. Entertaining ourself for hours with toys made from sticks and dolls made from tea-towels. Coming in so tired that we didn’t fuss at bedtime to stay up longer. Grandmother letting me “sew” on her foot-pedal Singer (without the thread) – I pedalled miles! Hanging clothes on the line and making sure the “unmentionables” were on the middle line and the sheets and towels were on the outside lines to hide the undies. Oh my – I bet my day will be filled with these old memories now…sigh
In the summer when I was little, the county would tar all the streets in our little town and then cover the tar with chat. I’d go off to play with a friend for hours (barefoot of course). When I started back home many of the streets had been done, and I would have to go a long way out of my way to find streets that I could cross. It happened to me every summer. And I knew better then to come home with tar on my feet.
I remember going to my Grandparents’ house for visits…gathering eggs that were still warm, my Grandmother’s wonderful cupcakes made with butter she had churned, drawing water up from the well, the oil rig on the front of their property that lulled you to sleep at night, snuggling under layers and layers of her homemade quilts to get warm in her fluffy feather beds, the brown sulfur water piped into the house for non-edible tasks such as bathing…the water was so soft you couldn’t get the soap off, which by the way my Grandmother made her own soap, their big bath tub that was up on feet, my Grandmother’s blue hair that she got freshened up regularly at the local beauty “parlor”, combing my dear sweet Granddaddy’s silver/white hair until he nodded off to sleep, seeing my reflection in my Grandmother’s spotlessly polished hardwood floors, exploring in the woods on their property, picking flowers from her flower garden and fresh vegetables she grew in her vegetable garden, my Granddaddy’s car that my Grandmother never learned to drive….such simple times…such happy times….those were the good ole days.
How great to remember the “old days.” Mine were much like all of those I have read so far, except more. I was born in 1920, so there was no TV, and not many people had cars. You walked wherever you went or rode the “Street car” (now called a trolley) The freedom of being able to go out to play and not worry about any harm coming –not locking our doors. (This practice was carried out even into my early married years.) The outdoor games we played. Red Rover — Bum, Bum, Bum–What’s Your Occupation? Making a play house under our house, and using lids and broken dishes for utensils to cook our make believe food. I’ve thought so much about my childhood in the last few years, as I have enjoyed my later years that were not promised by God, and thank Him everyday that he has allowed me to live to be 90 years old and still able to create and inspire others, and to be able to remember those days. Today’s children are missing so much!
What a lovely theme for your blog. It’s been a real pleasure to read the responses, too. I live in England and share memories of being turfed out of the house in the morning with instructions to go and play. Mothers were quite happy for children to play all day in the local fields and woods. You got dirty, took a tumble and didn’t dream of running home over something trivial. If you scraped your knee, you sucked it clean! (There’s now research to show that sucked wounds heal faster!)
On Bonfire Night (a festival in November) the local children would all collect wood and build one enormous bonfire in the field. Parents would gather in the evening, bringing fireworks. No-one was in charge, and no one thought about health and safety rules, in fact I doubt if there were any then. In the winter, children would slither under the barbed wire to sledge down the farmer’s cow field only coming to a stop in the stream at the bottom.
Like most families here, we had no ‘fridge in the 50s and early 60s and so would look forward to the daily ice-cream van in summer. Shopping would be done daily by stay-at-home Mums without cars – I even remember shops before supermarkets! I still hold on to some traditions: preferring to hang the washing on the line in the summer rather than use the tumble dryer and getting most of my milk from the milkman (they are an endangered species, but they are treasured and they still deliver milk in glass bottles).
My fav story is our Thanksgiving tradition at my Grandma’s house – her TV was in a corner with a chair and couch on either side. Every year, there would be at least 6 of us grandchildren crammed in there and piled on top of each other to watch “The Wizard of Oz” – my favorite!!
You’re so generous Becca. The good ole days….living on a very little travelled country road and playing in the street till dark or later. Everyone knowing everyone
The good ole days.when they were happening we didn’t realize how good they were,We all thought we had it so bad, times change.
The good ole days,,,hmm. Mint julep candy at the corner cigar store, playing kick the can in the alley behind our house, swimming at the local pool everyday in the summer, friends with whom we laughed until our sides hurt. Seems so far away but the memories are so fresh. Thanks for the encouragement to reflect back. Blessings! Kim
I was just thinking yesterday how we used to camp at the “farm” (our name for some property that my DH’s family owns) and the kids would play in the creek and catch crayfish and mussels. And sometimes when it was raining and they couldn’t play in the creek we’d fill up a barrel with rain water and they would climb in and have a ball. of course they were pretty little then and both boys could fit in the same rain barrel. Now a days I doubt that one of them could fit in the rain barrel. Thanks for the smiles remembering the good ole days!
I was a tomboy, so I loved running barefoot in the woods and through the creeks collecting frogs and snakes (eek! wouldn’t touch either now lol) climbing trees, hanging with my dog Tippy and visiting my elderly neighbors. They always had such great stories to tell. One of my most favorite neighbors was 95 and still climbed a ladder to her flat roof so she could shovel the snow off! In winter, of course there was the local hill to go sledding and a skating “pond”, which I’m sure now was just a huge puddle in someone’s yard that had frozen. Walking to the local store and buying those wax lips. I could goof around with those for days!
Thanks Becca, for reminding many of us what it was like to be a kid and for the opportunity to win such yummy candy!
The good ole days remind me of warm summer days catching frogs with my friends. Even though I was the only girl I could catch more frogs than all of the boys!
Brenda
LOVE this!!! Yes going outside for hours to play, with what? Nothing at all, just playing and having fun. I remember getting my first swing set…. WOW!! Had that thing for YEARSSSSS, poor Dad had to keep fixing it where it would rust, kept it painted that was my job too… any color I wanted… that was fun too.
This is really fun to write about. I remember playing with jacks, marbles and pick up sticks. On of the things we did with marbles besides shoot them in the normal way was with the use of a “real” cigar box that I got from Grandpa. We cut a small square hole in the top of the box. A playmate would drop their marble from about waist height. If the marble went into the hole, we had to give them back their marble along with one of ours. If their marble did not go into the hole, we got to keep their marble. I still have marbles that date back to my childhood in a fancy jar in my living room.
Sally
Gee this one will make me sound OLD as well. My parents chose a catholic school for me eventhough we were not catholics because it was the best school in the area and because I was their third child and my sisters had taught me to read and write before I was old enough to go to the public school.
It WAS a good school but quite strict and I was such a tomboy. I got
a note home from the headmaster after only two weeks because we had been on an outing to a nearby park and the weather was lovely. My sisters had taught me how to do a handstand and since it was my best new thing to show off I showed it to my classmates not realising that our school uniform which was a grey flannel pinafore dress would not stay up like my jeans normally did. This way the entire class AND our teacher Sister Bernadette all saw my underwear and this was a BIG no no…
Imagine that – compared to now when young girls wear very revealing clothes to school.
My mother wrote back to the school ” So sorry about that – I hope you noticed my children always wear clean underwear”.
I grew up in the 60’s/70’s– we lived on a dead-end street with no through traffic. There was a stream near our house and all of the kids in the neighborhood would hang out in the woods and play in the stream. We would catch cray fish and tad poles and play until it was getting dark out. There were no worries about all of the preditors and weirdo’s that we have today. My Mom loved crafts, so we always were learning something creative. We had lots of good times!
Thanks for the generous blog candy opportunity Becca!
Oh, the good ole days. Sweet, sweet memories. My favorite was playing hide and go seek at dusk. Best time to play !
One of the childhood memories that I am most thankful for is being taught (time and time again) to be respectful of anyone older than me, especially parents and grandparents. We were taught (sometimes with a swift swat to our rear ends) how to behave in public, and how to help anyone that needed help of any kind. Thanks, Mom and Dad!!
Linda S. in NE
When I was younger and we were in Germany, the ice cream and candy trucks would come into the neighborhood (my dad was in the Army so we spent a lot of time in Germany). We would save up our money and wait for those ice cream truck musical sounds. One of the trucks served ice cream spaghetti. You picked which gellato flavors you wanted and they went into a ricer and out came strands of ice cream that looked like spaghetti. Then they poured strawberry sauce on top and added shredded coconut for cheese. Sounds kinda gross, but to us kids, it was paradise!
Then the candy trucks would come and they had all sorts to choose from…every kind of gummy bear/candy you could think of. My siblings and I would scour the house looking for loose change!
You always have great blog candy! Rosemary :)
Thanks for a trip down memory lane and for a chance to win some great blog candy! Enjoy your week!
I remember wandering free in the neighbourhood with no worries.
The good ole days! I remember all of the things you mentioned and more! One of the best memories is visiting my grandmother who had no money and no toys for us to play with, but she had a box of buttons and a box of wooden spools. We played with those buttons and spools for hours, and guess what, I still love buttons and I have a small box of buttons that belonged to her.
Another great memory is all of the neighborhood kids would play outside all day and after dark without worrying about a predator. Nothing every happened to us, we played hard all day and played hide and seek, kick the can, red rover, and so on at night.
I treasure those memories and my secure, happy childhood.
Hugs,
Linda
I grew up in the country in a housing developement of about 9 houses and lots of kids. We would run freely after school, weekends, and summers…digging in the dirt piles, riding bikes, hula hooping,pogo stick jumping, playing dolls on the front porch, chasing lightening bugs when the sun set, sleeping out under the stars….they were carefree days where all the moms took care of all the kids and all the dads scolded all the kids…the god ol’ days!
Wow, I love your “sumthin, sumthin!”
Hmmm, I suppose my favorite memories revolve our front yard. All the neighborhood kids gathered in our yard because we were one of the few Arizona yards that had grass (most yards had gravel and cactus). We would play freeze tag, red rover, and hide and seek all day long and until the street lights came on.
Of course the best–you could ride your bike any where in the 50’s and how much fun to catch lightening bugs!!!
One of my fondest memories of my childhood is that all of the neighbourhood kids would play every evening after dinner on the street. We would play tennis, red rover, hide and seek and many other fun games until after dark and there was never any worries about stranger danger, life was so good and the memories are great although I am always sad for children now who spend so much time indoors due in part to the fear of them being in danger outside.
Hi, Becca,
One of my favorite memories is that we had a milk man and if there were a few extra pennies, my mom would let us kids get chocolate milk..this is in a glass bottle with a silver foil cap. We were living large!
We lived in the basement of our future home, had an outhouse, and had a garden, a couple of chickens, and we picked morel mushrooms in the neighborhood forest. I also went to a one-room schoolhouse from 1st-3rd grade. When I tell most people about my childhood they find it unusual that I had this type of schooling because I am 53. I guess we were behind the times in northern Illinois. Thanks for sharing your walk down memory lane. Yes, our kids are missing out on some cool experiences! Hugs, Jeannie
The first good ol’ day memory for me would have to be when I was younger and went Trick-or-Treating. I remember one year when we had our bags full of candy and it started snowing. We laid down in a big lot between some houses and just looked straight up at the snow falling down. It was quiet, and a nice break from running door to door all covered in our costumes and masks. Now when kids come to our door for Halloween, they rarely even say ‘trick or treat’, and even rarer say thank you. And some kids aren’t even in costumes! Those were the days…when I was a kid…
I teach at a K-4 elementary building and I feel older by the minute. The kids love to hear my ‘stories’ – all true with a little embellishment (gee, that sounds like a card challenge!). The technology that this younger generation is growing up with just boggles my mind. I love to tell them “back when I was a kid we had black and white TV and I remember when we got our first ‘tele-vision’.” They really don’t understand how we had to get up out of our chair (or floor for the kids) to change the channel and the sound. And it really boggles their little minds when I tell them we only had 3 channels to start with and I can remember how excited I was when it got up to 5. Their response? “Wow, that’s sad Mrs. McDonald!” Love to have their sympathy about the good ‘ole days!
ps I grew up with chocolate candy, now I really like card candy – thanks for sharing!
The good ole days? Back when I played with my cousins at my grandparents’ farm . . . went for LONG walks on Sunday afternoon, built forts in the woods, rode bicycles for miles, played with the barn cats, gathered eggs, watched the milkman get the milk, feed the baby calves, feed the baby chicks, make mudpies, . . . . SO many wonderful memories about he good ol’ days!
So many happy childhood memories to write about! My family had a cabin up on the mountain and we would go up there almost every weekend. My Dad plowed up the ground and we planted potatoes. I remember getting out there in my bare feet feeling the fresh turned ground squish between my toes while I planted potato “eyes”. Of course there were also potato bugs we picked off the plants when they were growing and putting them into a jar. Such a happy time growing up. Both of my parents and some of my siblings are gone now so memories are all I have of them!
Your blog candy looks so great and hope I can be a winner someday!
Growing up we never had to lock our doors. We played outside all day and when the street lights came on we had to head home (we were only several houses away). Sunday was church family dinners and visiting with friends and family. Nothing was open on Sunday. It was a true day of rest and for family. Sunday nights treat was watching Walt Disney. Oh how I miss those good ole days.
Whenever my family gets together, we’re always telling stories about the “good ole’ days” too! The funniest thing is that my parents are just starting (or have been the past few years!) to find out what my brother, my sister and I were really up to back then! Chasing my brother up the silo, painting my sister with poison berries to look like an Indian… yikes, but we had “fun”!!
Becca, Thanks for sharing a wonderful blog candy with us all. Thinking of the good ole days so many great memories come to mind and how easy the times were back then being a kid. One of many memories were when we would wait for someone to get a new frig or wash machine and we would cut the box up and side down on it, on a big hill behind our house. Just thinking of it makes me laugh!
Good old days memory: Mom baking dessert every night and that’s what my sister and I ate for breakfast the next morning, pie or cake! And we didn’t have to worry about the weight!
Fabulous Candy (I have NO spellbinders) LOL
I always love your very elegant cards!
ok, so we are allowed to post everyday, so one memory a day then, or about LOL!
Family game night!! especially scrabble, as my Dad was not very good at spelling, it almost always gave all of us good belly laughs…for example…one night he put down FUDD…we started to think this was some kind of big spelling error, until he told us, it was for ELMER FUDD ( which of course—proper names aren’t allowed, LOL)
Risk was also a good one, until my brother said he wouldn’t play with my mom and I anymore…you see he won pretty much 100% of the time, and it seemed to us that he was being overly aggressive and mean to my mom and I…I guess we were just whiners, LOL
and yes RESPECT…this is a big bone of contention when having discussions with my own children. Their “line” is well behind where my line is, and more so my hubster’s ( he is 19 years older than I)
My kids, and their generation (and most I have been able to see in action are worse than mine, and a few are better) but they say all respect must be earned…they do not believe in the “Elder” thing, to a point(my kids anyway, and some of their friends, is NOT at all)
Like holding the door open at the convenience store cause you see someone approaching…how many say “thank you”?…not many, and what is worse, the 30 something on their cell phones, don’t say it either. UGG!! don’t even get me started on cell phones. LOL
Becca, my mom grew up on a farm in southern most Indiana…and it is in my blodd and we live a “farmish kind of life” on our “farmette” of 5 acres…more to be said another day.
AWESOME idea for Blog candy!!
Susan
I truly wish the kids of today would know and understand the “Good Ole Days” but those days will never EVER come back so I just wish the children of today would take the time to listen to their parents and grandparents tell those stories over and over again after all the first time they immediately forgot what was said but after a few more times they will remember there parents really lived in those “Good Ole Days”. Like Andy Rooney once said “The best teacher is at the foot of an elderly person”. How true a statement that is.
Becca, what a nice thing to bring up in this time of the many hardships that people are having to live thru now with the economy, good or bad, but it is what it is and will be remembered as they choose to remember it – good or bad or perhaps a future lesson in learning.
I truly hope your many blog candies do make the winners happy to just win anything right now – and it didn’t cost them anything but an entry in your blog contest. Again, bless you for offering it and giving so many of us the opportunity of a chance to win. I know I would be extremely grateful to win anything now since I have hit my all time lowest point in life since I became disabled (at the hands of an irresponsible 15 year old driver) and now have a hard time functioning financially but thanks to those “Good Ole Days” I some how am managing – we were taught well… And like in those days we didn’t worry about tomorrow until tomorrow came.
May God Bless You ALWAYS Becca.
it used to be common at our house to have a whole pipe band arrive in a school bus and provide entertainment on a saturday night…it was the most popular house on the street…
Catching fireflies (lightning bugs), putting them in a jar and putting them by my bed for a nightlight!! Eating watermelon on the big picnic table in the backyard with family & friends…so many to share!!
I remember my Mom making matching dresses for my sisters and myself! We thought it was so wonderful!! Thanks for the opportunity to win some blog candy. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself with us!
I have 3 distinct memories of childhood. Do any of you remember the Betsy McCalls cut out dolls in the magazine, I use to wait impatiently for my mom to say it was OK to cut it out. My other memory is car holidays. We drove all over North America with no hand held games with our main activity being I spy with my little eye. We would also play “who am I” and give the facts about some famous person and we would all have to guess who it was. The biggest problem with this game was my little sister was 8 years younger and would totally mess up the facts. My 3rd memory was the entire Saturday at the theatre with my 2 sisters (25 cents each). Thanks Becca, some of these things I haven’t thought of in ages and this brought a huge smile to my face.
Wow the good old days were when kids could play outside and we were safe, have the kids in the area play games at the bottom of the street as there was hardly any cars, mum making lots of bottles of jam
with fruit that was in season. Having milk and bread delivered to the door, this was in Australia. I miss how simple life was, but still loads of fun.
One memory from my childhood while living in NW Chicago, is playing softball in the ally with all the kids on the block. The ally was not dirty like one would image. We did not have a park anywhere nearby so we made do with what we had. Our moms could see us playing and we had a grand time!
Ahh….Sadle Oxfords, Ducktails, Jeans rolled up above your ankles,
poodle skirts and stand out slips! A pack of cigarettes rolled up in my uncle’s t-shirt sleeve and a comb sticking out of his hip pocket to comb his duck tail. He was too cool!
`I don’t think I could come up with a better explanation of the “Good Ole Days” than what you have described. I have two daughters that appreciate this talk. But nieces and nephews think we had a very boring life. If they only knew!! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to think back and see what we now miss.
Merry-go-rounds at the park (too dangerous by todays standards) running around so fast to get it spinning then holding on for dear life and falling in a fit of laughter on the grass (not bark or rubber matting) if you were flung off. Being allowed to be a kid, to run free, go where we wanted as long as we were home by 5pm, wouldn’t hear of that now.
How things were, I wish for some of the way to come back. Growing up said yes sir and no sir etc, we were raise to respect people and there property, we would not dare cross people yard we would go to bed early and get up early doing school time. We walk to school and had to be home at a certain time not a minute late. We had to do our homework, no playing around. Clean our room and then help to clean the house like wash dishes each of us had a week we had to do it, and when it was not your week to wash dishes, there were plenty of thing to do in the yards to do pick up trash that blow in the yard cut grass etc. even help the neighbor if they needed help they were well in years some of them and they would need help so we did it for them. We knew our neighbor and our neighbor knew us. Our neighbor had the blessing of both parents to discipline us at anytime which we didn’t like because if they had to then that mean our parents had to alsodiscipline, so two discipline for your acting beleive me it was not worth it. If we went to the store our parent count the change they were young before they would say, and I say they never forgot it either. My kids think my parent were mean and strick but I tell them it is not easy raiseing 18 kids we never got in trouble with the law. The way I was raise Help me to be a good parent by the grace of God. I learn don’t give up, that life can be hard and unfair at time but it is not always going to be this way. My parents are now gone I miss them they raise me the best way they knew how they never got a divorce they stay together through the hard time so when the hard time came in my life I didn’t leave either I miss them
I was raised in a children’s home. Even tho my parents were living, they were unable to take care of us. Oh how i dreamed of being in a home with parents but that was not possible. There were 50 of us in the home. So loneliness we never knew. My favorite memory was playing softball. Oh the fun we had running, laughing and hitting the softball and just having a good time. The people in charge left it to us to choose who we wanted on our team and some how it always turned out to be the girls against the boys. Nine times out of ten the girls won. Oh the memories. Good luck everyone.
When I was about 7 years old, we lived in California during a drought, I remember going cardboard sliding down a hill when all the grass was dead and brown. We would climb up the hill and eat pears out of the tree then slide down again.
Ahhhh, the fun I had doing that!
Days of kick the can, relievio, hide and seek, dodgeball, giant step, and redlight!!! Family nights of Monopoly, Parcheesi, Clue, and puzzles on the dining room table. Let’s not foget the Rinnngggggg Rinnngggggg Rinnngggggg of the bell on the ice cream truck!
Those were the days my friend…we thought they’d never end!!!!!
-Bonnie
Living in the country as a child was such a wonderful experience growing up. I grew up in a family of seven siblings. Playing out in the fields and waiting for the whistle to blow so you knew it was supper time. Oh to be that carefree again. Hugs, Nellie.
Oh, the good ole days. I have lots of fond memories. One of them is after my dad retired from the army we bought a house in the country. Living in the country was something we always dreamed of. We always wanted animals but because we moved so often and lived overseas several times, we couldn’t have animals. Dad always promised us we’d have animals after he retired. Boy did we keep him to his word. We had 9 dogs, 2 cats, a duck and a racoon. One of my fondest memories was when my brother taught me to climb the tree at the end of the house. This was a big deal for me because I was a real girlie girl. On Saturday morning we would get up and get 3 bowls, milk and cereal and climb up in the tree to eat breakfast. We had to have 3 bowls because if we didn’t give the racoon a bowl he would keep sticking his paws in our bowls. Those Saturday mornings were like a dream come true to my brother and I.
The good ole days – closing the street down – playing kick ball with neighborhood friends, enjoying neighborhood bar-b-ques, and playing tag outside til it was dark!
Hi Becca,
The second world war…in Britain…food rashions…our weekly amount of butter for a family of six was a 4″x4″ cube…and we used it all up in one morning spread on fresh bread rolls that Mum had baked and it was scrumptious…I was seven at the time but I still remember it to this day and I am 67 now.
rene from Oz xo
I was actually just talking about this to someone the other day. I was buying some flour sack cloth for dish towels and the clerk asked me if I was going to embroider on them. That she has a lot of older ladies that buy them up because they are hard to find and they embroider on them. I’m 43, but I said “back in the day” yes, I would have embroidered them, but not any more, there just isn’t time for such things any more. If only the world was slow pace enough to do that. I don’t get enough time to make cards, so embroidery is out. I do miss those slower pace times.
Hi Becca, I never lived on a farm, but I experienced all those things when I went to camp int he mountains of Virginia at the age of 12. You can never tell maybe your kids will venture into the wild on their own someday. My fondest memories are of gathering around the piano with the family and singing all the popular songs of the day.
Thanks for the memories, PattyC.
Ahh, the good ole days :)
As a child, we spent summers at my maternal grandparent’s place in Nova Scotia. As they lived in a winterized cottage my grandad built, we still had all the fun stuff you mentioned above. Having a well meant shorter showers, shallower baths and daytime (while you’re out playing and dirty) outhouse visits. We saved the rainwater to rinse our hair, burned whatever garbage we could and still had to ring the operator (and talk for a bit-lol) whenever we used the phone. She grew all her own veggies, had a compost pile (natch) and even eel traps (the very thought of eels kept us from swimming out too far-lol!)They lived on a hill overlooking the harbour and, to this day, I miss those times terribly. The good ole days were a lot of work way back then, but they have the sweetest memories – not to mention the best schooling for the recycling of today! – that today’s children will never know. I truly feel sorry for them.
I remember being at gramma’s house and all the cousins playing “mother may I” in the back yard.
Wow – many shared memories of growing up. I am the middle of three girls but we all played together with all the kids in the neighborhood. During the summer months we were always outside playing. If it was raining we would gather on someone’s front porch and play monopoly or parcheezie (spelling??). We all knew each mother’s whistle or yell to come home. My favorite memory is playing hide-and-seek at night with all the neighborhood kids while the parents visited on another neighbors front porch; we all knew each other and it was safe. That’s a sad loss for our children and grandchilren now. My mother’s parents lived in a real log cabin on a farm and I was so lucky to spend many weeks there with my sisters and cousins. My grandfather was the cook and he made wonderful breakfasts on a wood buring stove. He told me that eating bread crusts would help tame my curly red hair (!) and he told me if I could eat my over easy eggs without getting any of the yolks on the plate, then I could be excused from the dishes! Grampa made the best cakes and cookies on the woodburner stove. I was born in 1945 and I feel that I have been blessed with good memories of a simpler time…more later. Thanks, Becca!
Playing kick the can with the neighbor kids, or any other game we could play outside. Life was so different then. We could play for hours after dark and no one had to worry about us. Now I can’t let my grandson out of my sight for one second in broad daylight. Makes me sad that he will miss all those fun times I had growing up.
I have loved reading all these wonderful memories! I grew up in a big city and played kick the can under the street lights in the evening and softball in an empty lot during the day with my brothers. My older brother and I would walk to the library and come back with a grocery sack of books to read. For 2 weeks in the summer the 8 cousins would go to my grandmother’s house in a small town. We drove to the train station in the evening and watch the men unload the loads off the trains. Then we would come back to grandmother’s home (which was about 100 years old at that time) and she fixed what she called “orange sodies” (orange sodas = vanilla ice cream and orange pop). I would love to go back there again.
ive got so many wonderful memories of the “good ol’ days”…growing up in a small town..everyone knew everyone..we went outside to play in the morning..and were out all day…no tech toys..computers..texting..cell phones..etc…just lots of fun “playing” with friends…riding bikes..building clubhouses.. doing backyard plays..playing stickball…hopscotch on the sidewalk…
….all are such cherished memories of days gone by
I lived in Milwaukee when I was a child. I remember there were no fears. Used to play with all the kids in the neighborhood from morning til night, just going home for lunch and back out again. Seems like no matter where I was I could hear my mom or dad’s voice calling me to come home. Fond memories of childhood. :)
Thanks Becca.
It’s funny, I see in the post right before mine that the comment is about playing kick the can. That’s the memory that I was going to talk about. We used to play until it got dark. I remember one time when I was the last one out – my big brother was “it” and he had caught everyone else. I stayed hidden until I saw my chance and started running. My brother was chasing me, everyone was screaming and I made it to the can before he caught me! Everybody went free and he had to start all over again. My brother was an athlete so it was a thrill to beat him that one time. I can still see it now.
Becca,
You mentioned a wringer washing machine. My Gramma lived with us and I remember her using one of those. Best of all was hanging the clothes out on the line to dry. I still love to hang clothes out and watch them blowing in the wind. They smell soooo good when you bring them into the house, especially sheets!
carol b.
My memory today is only 25 years old, my husband had a heart transplant when we were 28. He was in the hospital for 6 months and when the doctors allowed me to take him out we were walking on the hospital grounds talking, he stopped and told me to watch and be still. He saw a squirrel playing in the brush under a tree. He was in such awe at the little things in life and throughout these past 25 years he still remembers the little things. We discussed this just today, he has been in the same hospital for cancer surgery and we talked about the past 25 years and what a blessing God has given to us and our family.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOh Becca,
This has been sooooooooo much fun – reading everyone’s memories of the “good old days”.
I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois -the very far south side, so south that I remember a salesman trying to sell something to my Dad and when my Dad told him we lived in Chicago the salesman argued with him (he almost lost the sale).
Childhood memories are the same as many of the others: staying out till dark playing with all the neighborhood kids. Red Rover, hide and seek, freeze. tag. jump rope/double dutch. baseball. Catching lightening bugs and making rings with them. Watching the clouds and seeing the images in them (I still do that :-)))) ).
Thanks to everyone and especially you, Becca, for sharing your memories.
Jean
When I was growing up I spent every school holiday with my Grandparents, all the Aunts and Uncles and Cousins would drop by, so I’d get to see them all eventually. At Christmas time everyone would gather at Grandma and Grandad’s. We would play ‘Christmas Cricket’ in the vacant allotment next door and eat too much of Grandma’s infamous Rum and Raisin ice cream….. I don’t think it got any better than that.
We were a close knit family and didn’t have a car so we walked everywhere together, girlscouts, boyscouts and church activities .Today, the closeness remains. We are still good friends, which is rare in families.
One of my favorite memories from growing up was wheat harvest. Of course, at the time, I had no idea what an important part harvest would be in my memories. Besides helping with harvest which mainly just consisted of getting to be in the field with my dad, moving the truck so he could dump the freshly cut wheat, and getting hot and dirty. There is nothing more beautiful at sunset than to see a combine moving slowly along as it stirs up a cloud of dust behind it. Also, we always had lunch in the wheat field on father’s day. My grandparents would come out and we would make homemade ice cream and take dinner to the field for my dad and the hired hands. Great memories….
I remember having a milkman come to the door, staying out all day playing and having a ton of freedom.
I love your blog! All of your art! I can’t believe you give away the best ever blog candy!
What first came to mind, was when I use to sit under a tree in the front yard and read my books. I was in elementary school and I remember the tree being huge! I recently did a google search of my first home and the tree is actually medium size, and that was 35 or so years ago. Thanks
oh” yea the old days……..
My old memory is the big family dinners that the women would bring their speciality. My mom would bring the potato salad and the baked beans and Aunt Jan was the Jello thing. Then there might be a call and 2/3’s of the menfolk would get up from the table and take off-they all worked for the county road system. There would be my dad-the farmer/tool and die guy with all the women and children. I thought he was the one to hold down the fort.
Going to the little corner store when I was a kid and buying “penny candy”. Now I don’t really recall if it was actually one penny, but that is what it was called. My favorite was “HATS” which were gummy hat-shaped candies. Whoever thought there would be a much later version in the shape of worms???
DeniseB
The good ol’ days….. playing outside with the neighborhood kids until the street lights came on and knowing that was the signal to go home. No Nintendo, Wii, etc – just fun games like hide and go seek, ghost in the grave yard and freeze tag.
lots of work on the farm, but fun times riding my bicyle everywhere. naming all the newborns and a chance to be with my dad.
I have a lot of fun memories from many places as we moved a lot!!!!
This one is from a time we loved next door to my aunt and cousins. We tended to get in to a lot of mischief. I was an only child but not when I was with my cousins.
One day we found a pile of grass clumps that had dirt firmly attached to the roots. Put that together with my cousins and me against the neighbor kids and you have one gigantic dirt fight. Dirty but FUN! and boy did those clumps fly a long way.
I remember the good old days here in the Uk, the summers were always long and warm. We would set out (a group of about 6/8 neighbourhood kids) on our bikes and ride a few miles into the countyside.
We would leave our bikes piled up at the bottom of a rather steep hill and go off to have our adventures – pirates, highwaymen (most of the group were boys as you might be able to tell from the activities listed. In fact there were only two girls myself and my best friend Anne Marie) climb trees and swim in the reservoir.
We would be out all day and arrive home dirty and exhausted but happily looking forward to our next adventure.
I remember going to the corner store with a nichel and getting lots of candy. The five and ten cent store, now it’s a dollar or more. I didn’t know I had is so good then. Thanks ofr reminding me of the good old days.
The good ole days… catching fireflies on a warm summer night and putting them in a Mason jar…. listening to crickets and tree frogs sign their sweet melodies and watching my folks milk dairy cows… I still live in the country but don’t “work” a farm like my folks did. What a wonderful life. It’s a shame I didn’t appreciate it then! :-)
I have a lot of memories but the best was waiting for the Christmas package from grandma. It would be full of wonderful goodies and every year she would make us flannel night gowns. Grandma is gone now but I still have so many fond memories of those times and the wonderful woman that sent those boxes.
I love that you had a chance to live on a farm as a child. I grew up on a farm and it gives children a view of life that is just not possible in the ‘burbs.
This time of year when we are starting to get ready to plant gardens makes me think of being a child and enjoying the soil as Dad would till it and make rows using the old Ford tractor. The richness of the earth was intoxicating. We actually have a lot of iron in the soil here so it was a rich reddish brown and cool to the touch. The thing I still remember is the smell. Ahhhhhhh….!!!!!! I think I should go get a shovel!
Thanks for sharing! :o)
Wow Becca, you and I had similar growing up memories! My Grandparents also had a farm, no running water, wood buring stove, wringer washing machine with big steel tubs for blueing and rinsing, all of that stuff and we LOVED spending our summers there. Fishing pond was just a few yard through the woods and we would dig some worms, grab a cane pole and go for it. We would sit out in the front yard in the afternoons, shelling peas, or shucking corn for canning and neighbors would just stop in as they passed by, grab a bowl and help out. I really miss the easy going friendliness of the country. And the food! My goodness, fresh vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs butter, I am drooling just thinking about it. :-)
We were the country kids far removed from the city and we didn’t think we were poor because everyone else seemed to be in the same standard. We had our outhouse, outdoors bathtub heated with fire wood, ice box, hand cranked washer/ringer, kerosene stove, outdoor brick oven, vegetable garden, chickens & ducks, fruit trees……everything needed to self sustain. Once a week a peddler truck came selling can goods, candy, small household goods. Candy was a luxury and having 5 cents to buy a small handful of candy was great. When the sugar cane fields outside of our camp were being burned to prepare for harvest, us kids would sit and watch the fire until the last embers were put out. Then when the plantation men workers started to chop the canes to ready for loading, they’d give us a foot long cane to eat. They’d hack the hard skin off the stalk and we’d have a hot juicy fibrous sugar cane stalk to chew on. Primitive candy but oh so yummy memories.
I remember spending summer vacations with my Aunt and Uncle who owned a grocery store, would have lots of comic books to read and my cousin would come to our farm in exchange. We both had a ball . Love the blog candy.
my mom would kick us out early and we be outside all day! mostly staying outta of trouble;)
You’re blog is absolutely amazing–what beautiful creations!
As for those good ole days–I remember playing outside in the grass, building stick houses, digging, collecting–I miss that.
Wow Becca! This is great blog candy! I remember the days as a child when I got to sleep on my grandmother’s screened in porch and hear the sound of the rain on the tin porch roof. Those were the good old days!
I am an Army brat and remember going to the commissary for people I didn’t even know and getting a .25 tip or shoveling snow for them. For fun, kickball and hide and seek ’til it was dark. The same for sledding down hills until we couldn’t see anymore, never a care in the world or a thought of ‘strangers, drugs and such.’ I have 6 yr old twins and I wouldn’t dare let them do any of the things I did in my good ‘old days time back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Time and social issues surely changes things. We took them to Bethpage restoration village, gals dressed in colonial dress, butter being churned, a one room school house, a gentleman making hats, a blacksmith, and dare I say it–an outhouse. I told them when I went camping with the Girl Scouts, one of your chores was latrine duty–throwing a bucket of pine water in the outhouse to drench everything to get it clean. They are still experiencing the looks of horror. I always enjoyed arts and crafts as a young girl, but now my big girl crafts involve paper and stamps and punches and ….. I hope my children will look back on this time with me crafting as their good ‘ole days a LOOONNNNGGGG time from now. Thanks for sharing everyone.
Stay well,
AnnMarie
Oh Becca, your post brought back memories for me also of going to Grandpa and Grandma’s farm where there was no air conditioning, the ceilings of the house were wainescoting and painted white, the floor were crooked, there was a rain barrel to catch water by the back door, which is the door we passed if we needed to go to the out house. Us kids often held it until we left and then when we got down the road a few miles we would say “Dad, I have to go to the bathroom.” He’d wait until the traffic was okay to pull over and down in the ditch we’d run to go potty. Sometimes we would have to say it more than once because we really had to go and the traffic was too busy on the highway and we didn’t understand that part. He never yelled at us, what a saint he was. I so loved being able to pump the well water and get a drink out of the old tin cup that was hung permanently out there for all to use. I remember following my Grandmother to the woods to pick gooseberries, having her teach me how to cross stitch on an apron that I could take to the fair, and also her wonderful homemade waffles. Us kids also loved to chase the chickens so they would fly over the fence.
I’m old…but I remember dressing my dog up in a doll dress and bonnet, putting him in the doll carriage and walking around the block!
The dog didn’t even move and everyone I saw thought it was sooo cute. Thanks.
I remember playing kick the can after dark at my cousins house. They had a huge yard and we could run and hide anywhere. Those were
the days when it was safe to be out after dark.
I remember having to be home when the street lights came on. And I had to stay within ‘hearing distance’. Since it was before cell phones were even thought of, I had to be close enough to my house so that I could hear my mom call me.
When I was little I remember my sister and I fighting over who got what clothing made out the new pretty flour sacks. And now when I see flowers printed on muslin I think of the pretty flour sacks form old.
Tricia
Hi Becca,
I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s memory of the ‘Good old days’ My memory of when I was young wasn’t like any I’ve read, as I grew up in the heart of Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the time of ‘the troubles’ Life was indeed tough, but I remember during the school holidays, a couple of us packing some fruit and crisps and heading off to the cave hill to climb and do some ‘exploring’ I used to love this and I would forget about all that was going on in Belfast and escape into my imaginary world. Those days were rare, but precious.
Many hugs,
Trish
I go back a long way, best of all were the memories of the freedom that we had. We played on the street after supper and like Cathy had to go
in when the street lights came on. No one ever complained. My friends from the “old” days often say how much fun it was at that time, the best times ever.
I missed your post almost! I remember the olden days were more innocent than they are now, but I am not really that old–born in 1965. Thanks for a chance to win some goodies!
My friends Heather, Al, Gary, Bob and myself decked out in rain slickers walking around in the pouring rain splashing in puddles and chasing rainbows like we were little kids…..I think about this every time I see a heavy rainfall followed by sunshine and rainbows.
Cathy
We lived in the country but spent a lot of time at my Aunt’s house further out in the country and up a small canyon. We spent of lot of time in the creek and taking walks learning about different wild plants, helping with the garden, swinging on the swing during the summer! During the entire year I spent A LOT time reading!
Well I remember the home made ice cream my dad and uncle would make. The old crank freezer. My cousin and I always needed to sit on it to help it get done faster. We really believed them. Oh the memories. They are great
the freedom we had because we lived in a village…. And not so many people had a TV in the house…. we didn’t had it, so every noon we went to a neighbor to watch the soap opera… was really nice.
It is so much fun thinking about things we did that my grandchildren can’t begin to understand. Before television, we had a big radio that stood on the floor. My brother, my younger sister and I would turn off the lights and gather around the radio like you would a tv and listen to “Inner Sanctum”, “The Squeaking Door” and numerous other scarey radio programs. One night in particular the three of us were gathered around the radio. My brother needed a drink of water and we always had a jar of water in the refrigerator. He closed the refrigerator door and started a collapse of soda bottles stacked next to the refrigerator. The noise scared him so bad, he fell to his knees and crawled as fast as he could back to the living room. We have had a lot of laughs about that night.
I grew up on my Grandparents and my Great-Grandparents farm. I still do live on a farm, but my best memories are that of being a a child of five and my Grandfather and my Great Uncle putting me on the Oliver 77 tractor, teaching me how to steer and turning me loose in low gear as they told me to keep it between the hay bales as they put up hay for the cows in the hot summer heat. The sweet smell of clover hay and the hum of the tractor, those are wonderful memories.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to spend another day soaking up all the things that the two of them taught me.
I love the smell of cow manure. It brings back memories of growing up in the middle of dairy farm country….. so glad I wasn’t a farmers kid though because of all the hard work and chores all my friends had! Country life is the best I agree!
I grew up in Arizona. In the summer, we weren’t allowed to wear shoes for play, we ran around in the 100+ degree temps barefoot. We played outside from sun up to sun down. Only being allowed in for meals and restroom breaks.
One of my fondest memories of the “good ole days” is summer Sundays. On Sunday afternoons after church, we would all gather out in the backyard and watch my dad crank up a big ole batch of homemade ice cream! I don’t live in the country anymore, either, although my husband and I were lucky enough to find a 150 year old house which now sits inside the city limits on a main thoroughfare. I’m getting off task here. That memory of homemade ice cream stayed in my mind my whole life, and now I have a “paying hobby” in the summer. My husband and I travel to fairs and festivals on the weekends, dragging our old fashioned churns, ice, rock salt, freezers, fresh fruit, milk, on and on and on. I whip up my homemade recipes for 7 or 8 different flavors of that good old fashioned goodness. So many people love to watch and everyone loves to eat! (Sorry for the length – I didn’t mean to write a book!)
What wonderful days! We shelled those butter beans and, then, froze them, too! Played kickball in the biggest yard of the neighborhood, stayed out until we couldn’t see, caught lightening bugs and put them in a jar for a night-light. Vacation Bible School and lazy Sunday afternoons with a drive to visit friends of my parents. Such a special time in our lives! Thank you for the little trip down memory lane!
Debra
I grew up in a small town in southern Minnesota where no one locked their doors and children were safe. When I was not yet in school, I would walk the two blocks to the center of town with my dog. My grandfather (the mayor of the town) had a hatchery. I would visit him and see the newly hatched chicks and ducks or climb on the stacks of feed sacks. Before I went back home my grandfather would always give me money for a treat at the local grocery store. Most of the time the owner of the store would give me an extra ice cream treat for my dog. Everyone on the street knew us and talked to us. Life was good.
Thank you for sharing your memories and for offering wonderful blog candy again.
One of my favorite memories is of playing outside till dark. We always knew when it was time to come home, because my Dad would whistle for us. He had the shrillest, loudest whistle I have ever heard. Everyone around knew his whistle. How I wish I could hear that again!
So many wonderful memories to read here. It brings back so many of mine. The best part of that old time in the 50’s was the fact that there was no worry of someone kidnapping or molesting us when we played outdoors at all hours.
My grandparents owned an entire city block on the edge of a very big city. Their house faced one street and ours and two others faced the opposite street. The house was the one my grandfather and mother both were born in. It was a long walk across the field to their house but I loved going there. I was the first grandchild and treated royally.
We had horses, chickens, ducks and rabbits.
We collected glass beer and soda bottles for the 2 or 3 cent deposit we got. That was our candy and swimming pool fund.
Most Saturdays we went to the movie theater where they had “Fun Club”. For 30 cents we got into the movie and had a nickle left over for candy, drink or popcorn. It lasted most of the day because there were cartoons, news reels, western serials and after a 20 min. break the actual movie started. During the break they gave away gifts and free tickets. Loved those days.
My daddy had 8 brothers and sisters. Some of my first cousins lived in Greensboro with a family of 5 kids. Their mom had rheumatoid arthritis and grandmother had all the kids come to her house to stay during the summer so their mom could rest. We lived nearby. We would all spend the night at grandmothers house and all the kids were in the bedrooms upstairs. All the girls on one side and all the boys on the other. We had so much fun. All my aunts and uncles and other family would come on Sunday for lunch and grandmother made banana pudding in a dishpan. We played outside the guys played ball and rode bikes and climbed in the barn and the girls played house and ball and climbed in the barn. It was so much fun. Grandmother had a big old bell she would ring when we needed to come home!
Thanks for the blog candy.
The good ole days- gee my kids hate it when I start talking about them – they say “back when the earth was cooling”-so rude- but they are now starting to remember things that they did as “kids”- the eldest is only 30- so they will be saying it soon. I live in what used to be a small town in Victoria Australia- it is now very large- I have lived here all of my life and when I got married bought a house here because it was the cheapest area to live at the time. I was born in the late 50’s and my family owned the local fuel merchant business and therefore had a large area for storing stock- firewood, gas (not the stuff you put in cars the other type) and briquettes and coke. We had a cow and I used to be allowed to help milk her sometimetimes, we had chickens and dogs and cats- to keep the vermin under control. Mum used to wash the clothes in the wash house-outside in a small cold shed and put them through the wringer then had to carry them to the clothes line to dry-fine in summer-no so in winter. We also had an outside toilet that the “can” was collected each week and you had to be carfeul not to get caught when it was being collected(very embarrassing if you did). We grew our own vegies and alot of fruit – mum always cooked cakes etc. every Friday in a wood oven and made the most delicious food -although I never ate very much, we all used to play outside making up games of our own or drawing hopscotch squares in the dirt and using a stone as a tore.there are so many things that I remember its a good thing you are giving us a week to add them.
i remember having to be home by the time the street lights came on. I remember reading ALL the nancy drew mysteries. I remember real home made icecream. I remember snow being over my head. I remember LOVING Little House on the Prairie on television and the Waltons too….
I really and truly do believe that we could learn so much from years gone bye. Coming from a family of 11, meal times were always so much chatter and comotion. I loved us all sitting together telling about our day and especially praying together. With life being so busy and everyone running in different directions, make no wonder kids seem to be running elsewhere for exceptance and love. I think we could all learn a good lesson from days gone bye, starting with everyone sitting and visiting with each other around a good home cooked meal. Thanks for helping me remember Becca.
I have so many good great memories. One of the best were the summer family vacations. Every summer, no matter where we lived, we got in the car and drove to visit family. We had so much fun in the car playing games and then visiting cousins that I often only got to see on these trips. Oh what great memories!
Oh well where do I start! I remember the great Christmases when all the family & friends would party with the instruments and not cd’s til wee hours of the morning. We would sing and dance with the young and the old. Mom’s great baking and cooking! Yummy,I can taste her cinnamon rolls right now!
Tell me ’bout the good old days!!!!
Ahh…the good old days. Having school shoes and Sunday shoes – putting cardboard in them when you wore a hole in the soles. Wearing the worn out shoes to play in when they were good for nothing else. Running bare foot in the Summer and squishing Georgia red clay between my toes in the creek, especially after a good rain and the creek water was high. Ahh…the good old days!
Loosing my front teeth, falling off the big swing in the old oak tree. Our swings we’re always made with a tree branch whether it was on old tire folded inside out as a seat or the whole tire itself to go around and around. So much fun back then, always playing outside.
Thanks for the memories and the chance to win.
Good ole’ days was being able to play outside all day and catch the evening breeze with nothin to worry about except hearing your mamma call you for lunch and supper. Riding your bike and roller skating (key around your neck) on the sidewalks, blowing bubbles and catching them, what fun we had.
Good ole’ days I miss. I grew up on a farm. I had very few toys but always were outside playing and invented our own fun. Times have certainly changed and not always for the best.
When SAHM was an honorable profession and you didn’t get criticized for it!
I grew up in a very small town in Ohio where we rode our bikes or walked everywhere, all 8 blocks of the town. Everyone knew everyone, and at times that proved to be a problem, as often Mom knew what I had done before I got home. But the great memories are still there and I am so grateful for them.
Thanks for the blog candy.
Candy Meyers
I enjoyed your walk down memory lane! Everything you said were my memories too. My special memory was waiting for my favorite aunt to come home for the summer months. I loved her so much and having her around for the summer was magical for me.
Mary
Playing outside, being safe to roam within a three block radius of the house. Catching fireflies. No one had air conditioning, so in the summer the parents would sit out in the yards in lawn chairs while we kids played. Wow….
~Linda
Becca,
Even though I don’t know you the more I read your blog the more I see so many similarities between you and I. I am not sure how old you are but I would venture to say we are probably pretty close in age. I was however born and raised in California, but I am from a very large old country old fashion Italian family. My grandparents came over from Italy in their 30’s and raised eight children. It has always been a very loving close knit family with wonderful values and hard working members. My favorite memories are always of our numerous visits to the ranch. As kids we were taught the value of family, hard work, honesty and always love. We worked hard, played hard and have such wonderful memories that when we get together we rehash all the old stories for the newer generations to enjoy. I remember the ranch when meals were cooked on the old woodburning stove. After the last meal of the day we gathered in the living room and listened to the old radio shows (no TV). I learned to sew on the old singer tredle sewing machine where I made all of my clothes for my Barbie and Ken dolls. As children we all had chores to do and they were done in the early morning hours so that the afternoons were free to play, and play we did. All three meals came from what you raised and grew. Everything was hand made from scratch and took hours of preperation to feed such a large family. Grammo & Grammpo had underground cellars where all the canned fruits and vegitables were stored and they were so spooky to go into. Wine was served with all meals and we even had home made vinegar. But my favorite time was dusk when we would all relax outside under the big trees and all you could hear was nature. It was so quite and peaceful. And the smell of the land was so wonderful. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have had such a wonderful family with great family values. Something that is very lacking in todays families.
Marcie
The good ole days… here’s one for you. I hope no one is offended by this but it’s a true story.
I grew up on a farm and thoroughly enjoyed it. So naturally I was thrilled when my Mom and Dad agreed to baby sit for us when our children were young. I don’t think I would have been able to leave them with anyone else.
Our son was in grade 1 or 2 when he went to the barn with my Dad while he was breeding the horses. So as we’re driving home Tristan says to me, “Mom, Grandpa was breeding the horses today.” Oh really? …. he’s quiet for awhile…..”Do you know why that they do Mom?… “Why” I say? “Well…so that Shelley can have a baby” Ok.. He’s quiet again. “Do you know how they do that??” he wonders. This time I’m quiet. “Yes I do.” Again he’s quiet….”Mom”…. “Yes Tristan”… “If that’s what happens with horses….. how do people have babies?” Hmmmm he’s in Grade 1 and I can only imagine the phone call that I’m going to get from his teacher tomorrow!! How much information is too much information??? So I’m quickly thinking… where is his father???…. “Well”, I say, “sort of a similar kind of way.” “WHAT???” comes from my dear son.. His eyes are big as saucers!!! The poor boy was traumatized! That day I wasn’t so thankful for “farm life”. A few months ago he turned 18 years old and I often think about those good old days! Wonderful times indeed! Pure innocence and wonder. So much fun!
Playing hide and go seek. Riding the horses on the farm. Always having fun on the farm.
Out behind the outhouse was a dump of sorts with cracked dishes, interesting weeds, old leaning trashy type trees, bits of flotsum from previous owners, colored bits of this and that. A perfect place to play for little girls. No wonder I like to make greeting cards out of this and that!
The good old days was living in a relatively large town and having the freedom to ride our bikes wherever we wanted to go and not be afraid of anything or anyone. Kids don’t have that opportunity these days. You have to watch them like a hawk these days or someone will harm them. Such a pity.
As a daughter of a Navy officer, we moved all the time. Some of my earliest memories are of Mother reading to us each night. All of us snuggled up on the sofa to hear the latest chapter of Little Women or Jo’s Boys!
With moving all the time and always being the new kid, books really did become “friends that you can open again and again.” Now, as an adult, I have thousands and I still re-read favorites all the time! And I adore audiobooks – that love of being read to, just like when I was little and Mom was alive.
:-)
What a great idea! I’m having fun reading the responses, too! I remember being out in the alfalfa field with my brother on a windy day and trying to run away from the dirt devils – we pretended they were tornados! :)
I remember the old roller skates where you needed a skate key to tighten them up and playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. You had to come in for the night when the street lights went on too!!! Oh to be young again!!!
I remember riding my bike until dark. I would be gone for hours, all over town, riding, and Mom never worried. Things were simpler then. Not so many crazies, I guess. I always came home by dark, and supper would be about ready. Eating dinner as a family. Good times.
My grandfather came to live with us when I was in my early teens. Grandpa was very quiet, hardworking, and honestly, I was almost scared of him when I was little. But when he lived with us, he and I really began to bond – – – over popcorn and baseball! I’d make a BIG bowl of popcorn, then take it back to Grandpa’s room and we’d munch popcorn while watching Detroit Tiger baseball games. We didn’t say much, but didn’t need to – it was just fun sharing that time together.
Ou,’ t whole neighborhood would play Ghost in the Graveyard as soon as it got dark during the summer. It was hide and seek in the dark. I loved it! My kids play it now but, they call it Manhunt!
Hi Becca
I too remember outhouses and when on a trip to it after dark my brother jumping out from behind the wood pile and scaring the daylights out of me. I also rember having to bring water into the house from the well before we had running water in the house and mom heating the water for bath (in the galvanized bath tub) night on Sundays.
As a child, I loved going out at night to count the stars and listen to the frogs. I loved being out at night and not being afraid. Times were sure different back then. Thanks for the chance to win some blog candy.
Peanuts in a coke- a real glass bottle coke with a metal top from the “ice box” with the sliding rails in my parents country store
I grew up on a farm with 6+ siblings (+ because in spite of having 7 of their own my parents took in foster children or any other kids that needed a home). We loved to play Cowboys and Bad Guys and we did it using real horses. We would make two teams (we also had 5 boys living in another small house on our farm plus 5 boys next door) so we always had lots of playmates. One team would be the good guys and one the bad. We let the bad guys leave and they could go anywhere on the farm to hide and then the good cowboys would go find them. The rules changed each time I think but did we ever have fun.
I remember going with my parents and siblings to visit my dad’s mother, usually on Sunday afternoons. She had no running water, but she had a spring house where very cold spring water ran through a trough and chilled her butter and milk. Grape vines grew along the path to the spring house. Granny cooked on a wood-burning stove and always had a pound cake or some creamy fudge waiting for us.
One of my favorite “good old days” memories happened in the dead of winter. I grew up on a farm in southwestern Michigan and the winters were fierce. One Christmas, my two brothers, both younger than myself, received bows and arrows. The arrows had the rubber suction cup tips on them, remember? Well, it was too cold to go outside and Dad wouldnt let us go out in the barn with the bows and arrows, so we went upstairs to my brother’s room. We tried like crazy to get those rubber cup arrows to stick to the cardboard target, but alas, it was no use. I can’t remember which one of us came up with the bright idea, but we pulled the rubber suction caps off, took our pencil sharpener out and sharpened those babies. I should tell you that we lived in a very old farmhouse that had thick plaster walls. We would take turns holding the target and run back and forth the width of the bedroom wall. Arrows would be flying everywhere, mainly off of the wall. It was a pure miracle that we didnt get hurt doing this. We had a great time doing this for weeks, until Spring cleaning time rolled around. I can remember being downstairs in the front parlor and all at once hearing Deborah Kay, Delbert Steven and Carl Bradford, you get up here right now. WE looked at each other and thought oh no….we knew we were in trouble cause mom never used our full names unless it was bad. So up the stairs we went, into the boy’s room. There was mom, with an angry scowl on her face, pointing at the wall. Where did all of these holes come from she wanted to know. My heart stood still, as there must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of holes in the wall. We told her what we had done with the arrows and why and we were scared to death. Needless to say, my mom had a jar of patching plaster already made up and she sat there and watched the three of us patch every hole in that wall. To be honest, we didnt have a clue we had done anything wrong until we filled those holes in. Then came the real punishement. First came the lecture, as mom didnt believe in whippings (she had been beaten as a child), and then she confiscated the bows and arrows. Then the following Saturday we had to paint the wall before we could watch cartoons. Mom never told dad about the little episode as we would not have gotten off as easily as we did. To this day, we still get a hearty laugh out of the story.
I grew up on a farm in extreme poveity, but we didn’t know it at the time. I was 35 years old before I really knew how poor we were back then. The only food purchased was sugar, cocoa, vanilla flavoring, coffee and tea. Everything else was raised on the farm and preparations were made for the winter food supply during the summer.
Beens I plan to leave a committ every day—-I’ll start with climbing high in the old elm tree in the front yard—–liking there to be a real good breeze—was like an exciting new world. Yes , I was a tom-boy.
What a great childhood. And now at 64 I get dizzy on the step stool.LOL
Thanks, Tomi Jo
Amen to all the above and then some. I remember riding my bike all over town – a lavender & mint green Schwinn! Those were the days!
My first thought was of playing hide and seek with the whole neighborhood. I remember one time when my sister and I had to do the dinner dishes before we could go out and play! Everyone else was playing already and we could see them out the kitchen window-it was so hard to not be with our friends.
Becca, thanks for the trip down memory lane. I am like a lot of people, poor but didn’t realize it! Praise the Lord. Great parents and lots of love! God is Good! Looking for the blog Candy
Connie
This weekend our neighbors invited us over to watch AVATAR on and outdoor screen they had made out of sheets. It brought back childhood memories of trips to the Drive-In Movie Theater. Mom would always have food packed, but our big treat was to go to the snack bar for the best dill pickles in plastic pouches. I can remember being frightened of King Kong and my dad wrapping me in his arms and telling me it wasn’t a real gorilla. I can’t believe that was over 50 years ago!
What a wonderful memory of your childhood! Maybe some day your kids WILL get to experience that same feeling. What fun to share the memories…I felt like I was there just reading about it! My memory is when I lived with my grandpa and grandma…they told me not to go into the pool one warm (I thought it was hot) summer day. I did it and got stuck in my summer sun dress. At 5 years old, a wet dress is a very hard thing to get out of…I cried because I was STUCK in wet clothes and didn’t want to get in trouble for not listening!
The “good old days” always remind me of my Grandma and her sister–a great aunt. My Grandpa died very young, so she lived alone in town while we lived on the family farm. Just down the road lived her sister and husband on another farm. Anyway in the good old days we had the party line system for the phones. Grandma would call her sister every day at 10:00am. I was such a snoop and listened in whenever I could. I got to hear all the juicy family gossip and then I would go tell Mom. I can’t believe they never could tell I was listening.
During the summers we would load up the old pick up truck w/the largest tire innertube we could find & head to the lake. For lunch we would take oreos, Cheetos & bologna sandwiches w/fresh tomatoes! Good times!!
Didn’t have a bathroom in our house in Arkansas – so Dad hooked up a shower head on a hose off our back porch. Down the path was the outhouse. Thank the Lord, Dad didn’t stay at that church long as the preacher.
The good ole days were spent enjoying family picnics near the Mojave River where friends and family would spend lazy summer week ends eating
cold watermelon and homemade sandwiches. Chasing after lizards and never worrying about rattlesnakes! It was tupperware parties my mom
would give and enjoying her lemon pies! There were the days that it
rained and the sun was shining all at the same time. Baseball games in
the empty lot next door and we never had to worry about strangers!
It was playing the game called “colors” and chasing each other until
we got caught and laughing from deep inside our hearts! It was winning the hula hoop contest when the Wiener Mobile came to town. And best of all
knowing a TV star, when Carl won the contest on TV and got to meet
Captain Kangaroo and went to Hollywood because he guessed what was in
his pockets! Oh great memories! Thanks for letting me share now that
the Mohave river has disappeared and now goes underground and our picnic area is bare and dry. And my mom went home to Jesus on 4/2/2010.
Thanks for the opportunity to go down memory lane. I have many fond memories of growing up. I’ll share a couple about my mom who is the best! When I was little, I remember sitting on the floor in the dining room- I’d hide there on purpose. I loved listening to my mom hum and sing when she was at the kitchen sink or cooking in the kitchen. I really thought the sound I heard was what Angel voices must sound like. I had to hide in the dining room to listen because she didn’t like her singing voice and if she thought I was listening on purpose, she’d get embarrassed and wouldn’t sing anymore. My other memory to share is that my mother was a seamstress by trade and was always sewing at home. She’d always let me have as many fabric scraps as I’d like and she taught me how to sew that way. I’d make ‘designer’ clothes for my barbie dolls. It didn’t matter to me if I had made anything at all, I just loved spending time with my mom and being able to do something with her that she loved to do.
Good Old days…hmmmm lets see where girls were not allow to wear “slacks” to school. We had to wear dresses until I got into Jr. High school. It was no fun walking to school in the snow. My legs would be beet red by the time I got there. Our big thrill of the week was getting coke, chip dip and chips. We didn’t have computers we had typewriters. Our kids will never believe it will they!I am not THAT old either. LOL
~Pam L.
I grew up in western New York and I fondly remember being outside during the summer from the time we got up and dressed in the morning until the street lights came on, only coming home to check in with mom and dad so they knew we were ok. We played kick the can, hide and seek, hopscotch, rode our bikes, played with all the kids in the neighborhood, younger and older. Now I’m afraid to let my 8 year old outside by himself, because things just aren’t the way they used to be. I never played video games or even watched much tv…if it was nice out, my mom made us play outside. I miss those times…
Love your blog, my mom linked it to me last year and I check it out every day. You are so creative and I love seeing your creations every day!
Tha!nks
Holy cow what a divine prize pack! Loved reading your tale of the good ole days. What you said about playing outside and entertaining yourself as a kid really struck a cord with me…so true! We lived at the beach and would be on the beach, swimming and playing til we heard my Dad whistle…usually just on dark… then we would run for our lives to get home before he got cross. Living by the beach as a kid was the absolute BEST! Wish we still did:)))
I, too, remember spending time with my grandparents in rural Mississippi with no running water, and baths in number 9 wash tubs in the kitchen, and screen doors and Mama hollering “no slamming that screen door” and family reunions under the oak tree in the front yard and my “Mama Howe’s” coconut cake. Playing hide n go seek in the rows of cotton.
I remember my grandmother in TN who taught me to play rummy, watch Gunsmoke and Candid Camera. A grandmother who made brownies with 10 cent a box Jiffy mix and added nuts and chocolate chips and whatever was in the pantry to them.
But I remember too when I first my in-laws who as late as 1988 in AR still had no inside running water, who still shared cropped and fished commercially until he was 86. They raise 10 kids ( 9 boys and a daughter) that way. Who taught me to make fresh preserves, homemade veggie soup mix in canning jars, and to quilt. My Christmas presents from them each yr consisted of 5 lbs of shelled pecans ( the little ones not paper shells) and a “mess” of slab crappe . In 2004, I lost my wonderful husband, 2 yrs later his mom and last yr his dad but I will have the memories for the rest of my life. I hope my grandson whom I am raising in the country has wonderful memories too to carry him thru. thanks Becca
Wow,great thanks for sharing your memories. Makes me think about it being So dark outside that you could see a billion stars, learning to sew on the tredle machine, hurrying to finish the chores so you could go out to play, riding our bikes for hours,and building forts, A simple and quiet life that our children and grandchildren will never know. That sure stirred a trip down memory lane! Grand blog candy you are giving away!!
Becca, you sure know how to stir up memories. I’ve enjoyed reading the responses from your fans. My growing up sounds a lot like yours too. summers seemed to be so long when I was a child. Now, they seem to speed by so quickly. Warm summer evenings catching lightening bugs and laying in the grass watching for shooting stars with my brothers and sister, bring back sweet memories for me. Oh, that was such a peaceful time. Thank you for a chance to win your delicious candy. Blessings!
Running out the back door and my mother saying “don’t slam the door”…to late we would always be in a hurry to go outside……to ride our bikes, to catch lighten bugs……play high and seek……or lay in the new cut grass and watch the stars…..the only way our mother could get us in was ….hollower our full names out….we always ran back in to eat and then back out until she would call us again and then it would be for bath and bed……Thank you for the chance to win these awesome candy……..and memories…….
Where would we be without our memories! To draw on when we need to bolster our inner-self and to impart treasures to our children and family. I grew up on a farm and remember every school holidays my “city” cousins visiting and sharing my world with me. They would have a wonderful time, simply doing what I would call “everyday life”. It was a constant reminder that what I call normal and to be honest, sometimes a chore (i.e. feeding the chooks, collecting eggs, bringing animals in – those of you who live on a farm know the drill), to my cousins it was the most wonderful place to be and it was great to be reminded of how lucky I was to grow up on a farm. 30 years later, they still reminisce about the wonderful holidays they had with us. I now live on the outskirts of a city called Melbourne (Aust) and from time to time, miss just going for a walk in the beautiful forests where the only sounds you hear are the animals calling to each other, and the trickle of mountain streams. Thanks Becca for a chance to win your blog candy. You are very generous with you continual opportunites!
The good old days……..the great forest, searching for “the old evidence” with my best friend, playing softball in the field behind our house, trick or treating and being made to sing for our treats.
They really were good old days…….Love you Joan
Irene
and thank you Becca for the opportunity to win some goodies……
Awesome topic! The first thing that came to mind was playing traditional Filipino games on the busy city street where I grew up in the Philippines. We would play tag, hide and seek, hopskotch, volleyball, etc. There are a lot of other games but I don’t know how they are called in English. The funny thing is, the game pauses everytime a vehicle or jeepney passes through. And as soon as the street is clear, all kids go back to the middle of the street and the game resumes. Back then, we didn’t need tv, computer or handheld games to be entertained. We kids would meet outside after we go home from school and just play til about 6 pm. Then we come home with sweaty shirts and dirty feet. Our Moms were not happy everytime that happens. Those were the days…
Memories from childhood are always sentimental…
Every summer I spent at my Granny’s farm… The very first memories are sensorial. Sleazy dress, cookie flavor in placket, wind in hair, cakes with bird cherry, feeling the freedom when swinging…
Good Ole Days – When I could go downtown KC by myself when I was 13 yrs old and not be afraid someone would abduct me. Visiting all the major department stores bargain basement sales and the old Kresge’s store. My grandkids will never be able to do that. The blog candy looks great. Thank you.
So many of my best memories involve the sense of freedom and safety. Walking through a wooded park by myself to buy candy at the store on the other side… spending all day on my bike with no cell phone to call home… being able to hug a non related adult like a teacher without eyebrows raising…
On the flip side it is a fun challenge to recreate some of those emotions for my kids which make the new memories all the more special.
That’s so funny that you asked for memories since I was just going through old pictures of my teen years and posting them to my facebook page. Old friends have been enjoying the memories. One of my funnest times was in college when I and several dorm friends decided to teepee a guy’s car late one night. Not so fun was when he and his roommates, one of them my brother, later kidnapped my roommate and me (took them awhile to figure out who it was, but that story is for tomorrow) and took us out to the freezing cold lake, threw us in it, sprayed us with whipped cream so we’d have to rinse off, and then left us to walk back to campus. I think we ended up getting the upper hand, though, when we hitched a ride back to campus with a family who lived in a nearby home (we were out in the country), showered and showed up at dinner just as they were walking out shortly before it closed. The shocked looks on their faces made it all worth it.
When I was a little I was a little girl (4-5) I would get to spend time with our housekeeper Mary Alice on her farm on the weekends. I had a pet yellow tiger cat named Tom. An outhouse for a toilet, and a white w/ a red rim pee pot for night time needs. In the summer I got to help in the huge flower/vegetable garden, swing on a wooden swing that Mary Alice’s husband Duane made for me. I remember Mary Alice making my favorite pie…cherry. What a treat…the pie, the outhouse (probably why port-ta-potties make me shiver), yellow daffodils and so many other memories. I am now almost 56 (April 27th) and this memory is precious to me! Thanks for letting me walk down Memory Lane!!
I remember when I started dating my fiancee, so three years ago today. We had been together for about six months and he gave me a beautiful origami rose. He is a math major at the university of washington and origami is his hobby. Anyway, attached to the rose was a very sweet four line poem. Origami roses kinda became a tradition for us and he gave me one on special occasions like my birthday or valentines day. There was always a poem attached and they were always very sweet. I thought it was simply a romantic gesture until last Saturday, when he gave me the twelfth rose while we were standing in a beautiful white gazebo at sunset. He then put together the first word of each poem into this phrase: “I have something of supreme importance I have been waiting to ask”……”will you marry me?” I then twisted the stem of the rose and the center opened to reveal a beautiful ring! I couldn’t believe he had been planning it for 2 and a half years….he is amazing. We are getting married next summer!
One of my favorite “good ol’ days” memories was when my dad and his brothers took all the “boys” out fishing. When they got back we would have a great fish fry with all the works. Eating hush puppies and being mindful of the bones, lol. What I would give to have a day like that again.
Since I was a “city” kid I wasn’t afforded the quietness of the night in the country, but my parents sent me, my sister and 4 brothers to a relatives dairy farm every summer. There we played baseball in the fields using cow “pies” for bases, swam in the creek in our underwear (avoiding the nettles), playing in the hay barn (getting flea bites), helping in the milking parlor and carrying in buckets of milk for the table. I learned a great deal about work ethic, getting along with each other, and just plain having a great time.
Thanks for an opp for the blog candy.
The ‘good ol’ days’… one thing I will NOT miss about those days is getting my bangs trimmed by the neighbor lady. She NEVER, and I do mean NEVER got them straight. I have pictures to prove it – lol! See ya tomorrow : )
Love and hugs ~
Lori
The “good old days” – we did not have cell phones and computers and all these gadgets. We coped well, we weren’t late for appointments, we had more family time. My kids don’t know how we ever lived without it.
Desert hugs from United Arab Emirates
Lizette
The best thing I can remember is that it wasn’t so dangerous! Now that I’m a mom I can hardly believe some of the things we did – but then it was just how we lived!
Like my grandpa towing the sled (with my cousin & I) down the street once the snow was packed.
Ha! If I caught DH doing that with DS I’d have a heart attack! :)
Already at 29 years old I feel ancient. How the world has changed!! How the kids have changed. I remember the everyday things, riding bikes without helmets, swimming in the irrigation channel, playing night-time hide ‘n seek with a torch (Spotlight) in the neighbourhood gardens, all these now illegal!! Our selfish, arrogant kids of today truly are missing out on the simple things.
As a child I remember playing “kick the can” on wonderful summer nights with the neighborhood kids.
Where should I start (yep, I’m a day late as I didn’t open my emails last night!). I’m a 60s teenager from the UK so memories are many. Buying my first Beatles single and all those that followed. Going to the movies for an evening out and socialising in coffee bars, not on street corners.
A week of nostalgia … superb!
I spent my earliest childhood with my grandparents in WV, so I have many fond memories of exploring with my brothers and visiting the tiny country store down the street for cheap candy.
And one story that sticks out, though it thankfully didn’t involve ME – My grandparents’ house sat on a mountain side across the road from a creek. One of my cousins sneaked into my grandfather’s station wagon and accidentally let out the emergency brake, and the car just rolled down that hill and took a swim in the creek.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories with us, many of which I can relate to also. One of my favorite memories is playing cowgirl & ‘riding’ on an old handmade stool that was my faithful steed through many an hour of imaginary fun. Oh, how I wish children today could experience the same type of fun…using your imagination, no video games, movies, TV, DVDs, etc.
When I think of “good ole days” I can only think of my grandma. I spent most of my childhood practically living with her and it was so much fun! One of the best bits was cooking with her. I had my own special chair to stand on so I could reach the top of the oven/work surface and she taught me my love of food and cooking and baking!
Love, Alex
Penny candy, nickle Coke in a bottle pulled out of a cooler of ice water….being able to send a child to town and not having to worry about if they would be ok…not having to lock your doors…..ever…..I know I’m dating myself, but I remember these things! Roy Rogers, Dale Evans….Howdy Doody, Lassie…..Oh my! I have not thought of these things for years! Thanks so much for letting me remember with you! I’m sitting here with a huge grin on my face!
The good old days – I live en Denmark, and when i was a child my parents had a summer house. Every summer we went there for month. I remember my parents friends and children being there. Alot of dinning outside. I remember that the weather seamed to be much better. Eating a lot of strawberries. The house was nearby the see and my farther catched alot of fish. Including eel – i felt disgusted about eel’s :o) But i loved the see – bathing and running in the sand.
It is good memories – and then so many years ago. I wonder if i can find pictures to scrap from then. That would be nice.
All the best whishes from Denmark
I was born in 1947. Despite being on the other side of the Atlantic to most of you I share many of your memories of playing with all the other neighbourhood children from early morning until bedtime! Of course the sun always shone, there were no dangers, no quarrels (!)… but one of my happiest memories is going with my mother and elder sister to pick wild blackberries by the disused canal, then coming home to watch mother make blackberry and apple jelly and eating it, still warm, on thick slices of bread and butter for tea. I have continued to pick blackberries and make jelly all my married life.
When I was 12 or 13 my dad constructed a great chookhouse and an avairy. We had so much fun buying chooks and finches and naming all those chooks. Then catching them and cuddling them as well as collecting the eggs. There was a bantam rooster and he had to go in a little cupboard at night with two of his Rhode island Red bantam hens (the cupboard had air holes and a stick to roost on) to keep his noise down (we lived in suburbia)
So many memories – most of my summers were spent just playing outside with whatever we could find. Spent lots of time in a “hut” underneath a mimosa tree and playing with those “fluffy” flowers and the “bean” seeds. Cooked up many “meals” with those beans!!! Also spent time at my grandma’s house in the country. One of those memories was playing with a June Bug on a string – – -yes, I really did that! My brother would catch the bug and tie a string on the leg of the bug. It was awesome!! – – then there were the doodle bugs and the way we softly stirred the dirt and sang “doodle bug, doodle bug – – come out to play!” I live in the country today and still sometimes see those “doodle bug holes” and may stop just to stir in the dirt just to see him dig a little deeper!
Thanks for the chance to win some blog candy! I LOVE your posts!!!
The good old days were fun raising my family, but OHHHHHHHH if only I could have done all these crafts way back then. Have boxes of photos and trying to catch up on all the scrapbooking! LOL
As a young’n I remember playing ‘red light, green light’ and ‘hop scotch’ besides fighting with my 3 brothers. Had to learn at young age to stick up for myself.
ColleenB.
My cousins lived on a farm and we had such wonderful fun times there playing out in the fields, the old barn was set up like a pretend school and since there were 6 kids in their family there was always someone to play with and explore with. Eating too many green apples with salt is a funny story too.
thanks so much for the chance to win.
Soda shops–remember twirling around on those silver stools with red padded seats? And eating LOTS of ice cream in pretty glass sundae dishes. Plus we got to watch the “soda jerk” actually make it in front of our eyes. I remember when a single scoop ice cream cone cost 7 cents. How do I know? I was a soda jerk in the 60’s. The most interesting thing was when someone ordered a banana split. We didn’t keep bananas at the shop because they ripened too quickly, so I needed to excuse myself and run 2 stores down the block and buy a couple bananas before making their special ordered banana split. What a hoot!
I remember when you had to write the note the night before and stick it in the insullated milkbox on the stoop, to tell the milkman what to leave for you. That milk was so yummy! Oh, and you didn’t forget to rinse and put the empty glass bottles back out! Wonderful question, Becca.
Hi Becca
Hope your knee is improving.
Thanks for another chance to win blog candy!
I’m in the UK, so some memories will be different from yours in the US, but the sense of freedom, to play, ride bikes, pond dip with a net and a jam jar, have picnics with home-made ginger beer or lemonade are probably common to us all.
Ahhhh! Those were the days!
Anne (UK)
I remember putting the watermelon in the well house so it would be good and cold for lunch. When we were at the lake there was an ice cream truck that would come by. One person would run inside to get the change jar and the other would dash up the hill to the road. What wonderful days, now it would take me 10 minutes to get up that hill. Thanks for the memories.
Hey Becca:
I lived in the city and there was an empty lot down the street from where we lived. That lot became a baseball field for all of the neighborhood kids. Boy, did we have fun! We had about 30 kids within a 2 block radius, so we never lacked for players. We didn’t appreciate it at the time, but we played without the fear of being abducted or harmed in any way. Such sadness today that the young children do not have that freedom!
The good ole days!!! I remember having a HUGE garden in the back yard when we lived in an old farmhouse in Missouri. I was quite young and I remember thinking how my parents loved to garden and can. Years later I was told it wasn’t a love of gardening they had but no money for food, so they grew their own. LOL! I remember winters in that old house. We would cover the stairway to the upstairs and in the morning when you woke up you ran downstairs b/c it was warm down there from the potbelly wood stove that we had in the kitchen. That was they way we heated the house.
I wouldn’t trade those days for anything, poor or not!!!
I recall playing outside until my parents MADE me come in. We rode our bikes, played hide & seek, played down @ the local lake (dangerous?), caught June bugs, & our parents tied a string around a leg- more fun than a kite. At night we caught “lightening bugs” in jars. My dad would poke holes in the lid, we’d put grass inside, & truly believed they would live forever in our makeshift homes. Aah…good memories of a much simpler life!
The good ole days when times were simplier and life was slower. I so enjoyed staying with my grandparents who spoiled me rotten. Oh how I miss them terribly. Playing outside all day and the bubble bath at night. I hope my children have fond memories of their own.
My best memories are all from summer it seems…
Chasing fireflies around in the dusk to see that cool green light…
On hot summer days, my mother would take a blanket out under a big ol’ shade tree and we would lay for hours finding shapes in the clouds. I still do that with my grandkids!
When I was growing up, from 3rd grade through the 7th grade, the majority of families that lived on my street had children about the same ages as my sister and myself. A group of us would spend most every day together, and it was almost always outdoors doing something that involved using up a lot of our energy. One day a bunch of us packed up some food, hopped on our bikes and pedaled probably 6-8 miles to a camping area. Across from the camping area we picked up some matches so that we could start a fire in one the campfires so that we could cook our hotdogs that we had packed. After lunch we got back on our bikes and traveled a little further until we came to a great swimming hole. Our parents didn’t care where we went, as long as we were home for supper. It’s hard to believe that parents were so lenient back then because as a parent myself, I rarely let my children out of my sight.
I remember as a child taking a broom and sweeping the front yard, no one wanted grass to grow in their front yard. My duty was to make sure I kept the yard clean or grass and that the dirt was always smooth. I have never figured this out.
I can remember those day also Becca, I remember 12 feet of snow in my back yard and building tunnels in it and cave, the field across from my house would flood and we would go shaking and play hockey on it, I can reember the smell of homemade bread made on the wood stove, I remember the first VCR and it was beta and how amazing it was to watch a movie at home. Memories are a wonderful gift.
Becca,
I so remember the old days. We lived on 1 acre of my Grandparents 80 acre farm ( which is small now for a farm). But back in the day it was alot of work with the small tractors. I loved spending the nights there. Grandma on Saturday night always made popcorn and we watched black & white TV. I went to bed upstairs where there was no heat. She put hot bricks in the bed and piled on top of me several comforters. I always told Grandpa to wake me to hekp milk the cows ( by hand by the way). But he never would. By the time I got up, went down stairs and dressed behind the wood stove in the living room, he was almost finished milking the cows. He always saved a little milk in Bessie for me to feed the cats.
I’m one of 7 – 5 girls & 2 boys – funny how I still refer to us as girls and boys (we’re well past that age!) Our childhood memories are a constant ongoing story telling “contest” who remembers which vacation from what point of view. And, thankfully my father was great for taking slides & photos – thousands of them – we can (and do) sit for hours looking at them when we get together. The memories are being past down to our children and they too remind us “we’ve heard that before!”
I’m from the country and I remember playing ‘Kick the Can’ after it turned dark with all the kids on the road (and the roads can run pretty long and far in the country!). It’s a shame our kids can’t experience some of the things we did as kids because of the way the world is today. BTW, were you referring to the song by Wynonna Judd – Grandpa, tell me bout the good ole days? Or is there another one?
Blessings,
Anita
One of my favorite memories of childhood was catching lightening bugs. Mom would give us a jar to put them in. We’d sit and watch them light up and when Mom called us in we’d have to let them go. Such a fun relaxing time. As summer approaches I should think about doing that again!
One of my favorite things to do as a child was to play with my Barbies (of course you had to have more than 1)….my neighborhood pal and I would spend hours setting up the Barbies and all their clothes, their house, etc..by the time everything was just so we were too tired to actually play with them..HA!
Becca,
A lot of your memories triggered the same childhood memories of mine. I walked one and a half mines to school each way everyday. Children back then got lots of exercise.
Mary
Wow what a wonderful giveaway….
Well to start off I missed seeing your gorgeous art all last week my good old days were with my grandma as she was declining in health all week remembering all the special moments I had with her growing up as she raised me. I will never forget the memories I had with her I am the person I am today because of her.
She finally went to be with the Lord as I held her hand on Saturday 4/24/2010 and the memories of her and grandpa dancing I will never forget I know they are dancing away once again at the gates of heaven.
Hopefully I can get back on track this week and thank you for thinking of this wonderful idea of memories you always seem to think of something and that’s why I enjoy visiting your site everyday!
HUGS from Ohio
Jen
One of my favorite childhood memories is that of playing Annie, Annie Over with my friends in a our nice, quiet, suburban neighborhood, where we kids could walk to where ever we wanted to go and feel safe.
My mother died the year I was a senior in high school. One of my fondest memories of the “good ol’ days” is the time we spent between Thanksgiving and Christmas making breads and cookies for our Christmas celebration and gifts to others! She was not only my mother, but my best friend. As a young child, she would sing “I love you a bushel and a peck” to me every night before I went to bed. Awww, what I wouldn’t do to return to those “good ol’ days!” Thanks for sharing your memories with us!
I wish my son could experience going to a small school, where everyone knows everyone. Teachers that taught parents, teach their kids, too. Nothing to worry about. No drugs, no big discipline problems, no worries about guns or things like that. I hope he keeps his childhood innocence for as long as possilbe. Actually, I wish all kids would have that gift.
Yes Becca, what you said does make you sound old but I too had to use and outhouse for a whole summer. We had moved to the country to build a dream house in 1976. We had no electricity or running water. We lived out of our tent trailer with my uncle and family living in their larger trailer. It was great playing all summer along with my cousins, getting to know the 25 acres our new home was being built on.
I love the memory of Christmas Eve at Gramma’s where the menu always included home-made soup and dumplins, and a home-made gift from Gramma.
My Dad taking Mum and me and my two sisters to see the film “The sound of music” when it first came out.I was 9 years old and it was the first time I’d been to the cinema.
The good old days were having fun at the beach in France during the summer. More about it tomorrow!
So many memories, but one I remember is after getting my chores done on a Saturday morning and a group of my friends and I would get on our bikes and just ride all over the place all day – we just had to be home before dark. We’d all take sack lunches and off we’d go. What adventures we had.
Memories…they are what make us who we are! Thanks for sharing some of yours.
Gee Beca, hope you have as much fun reading everything that has been posted as I have this morning.
I lived on a dead end street and at the end of the street was a wooded area with a creek. About 3 or 4 of us kids would go down to the woods, and using a rope that hung over one of the old big trees, would swing over the creek to the other side. It always seemed cooler in the woods and we would sit there and talk and have all kinds of fun.
Sometimes we would roller skate, that is until they came along and put new tar and gravel rock down on the street. We’d sit on one of the kids front porch and play with our dolls, or paper dolls, or color, or read a book.
We also had a milk man who delivered milk and we would get big pieces of ice from him and sit and suck on the ice to cool us off. Those were good, carefree days.
Don’t we all wish times were more like the ole’ days. My memories seem like yesterday and I am 52 years old. Me and my sister used to play under this big tree in our front yard. We took all our dolls and their belonging out there and set up a little house. In the fall we actually made rooms out of the leaves. At night we sat with Mr. and Mrs. Burton who lived next door in their front yard. The adults would converse while us kids caught lightening bugs. As I got older me and my cousin would ride our bikes out to the McFerren Park swimming pool….the hot place to go as a teen and still is as far as I know. The pool was on this island that had a lagoon around it and you had to cross this bridge to get in. I remember this big tree by the bridge that went down toward the lagoon and you could climb down there and sit close to the water but it was tricky to get down there without falling in the water. Then we would ride our bikes back just before it got dark for supper. I loved those days! Carefree, the town was quiet and fearless. We never had to worry about strangers because we knew everyone. My mother was one of two nurses who treated the whole town so everyone knew us. We too played alot of tag at night on Washington Street. that was the street where all the popular kids lived and my cousins. You know I am sure my parents worried when I was out running around but not because they were concerned about drinking, drugs or getting killed. Sometimes I wish I could move back there but as we all know those times are long gone. Gosh I am such a downer!!! None of that……..those are the good ole’ days. Who sang that song….Carly Simon I believe. And I believe we use to hear that song as we waited in line to get into the pool. Ahhh…..thanks for making all of us go back to those wonderful memories Becca. I bet you are having fun reading all these entries. God Bless!
Oh and I forgot one of the most important things….Mr. Softee!!! He came around the whole town everyday and we bought ice cream off him. You could hear the bell ringing a mile away!
Becca, I just love your website, your work is beautiful.
Growing up every summer for as long as I can remember, I went with my grandmother to her family farm where her three brothers lived all their lives. At the time I did not think it was too great getting up before dawn to collect eggs but that was my job before breakfast. Helping plant the garden(s), more than than one, getting the milk out of the cold house, where a spring ran thru to keep things cold, no refrigerator until later years, churning butter, I learned to can at a young age, and have continued to do it even now. My son’s were raised on home canned foods, which I still share with them even though they are married and have families of their own. But one of my most favoriate things was playing in the creek during the middle of the day when it was so hot.
Oh Becca, here’s another city girl pining for the rural life. My aunt and uncle had a big tobacco farm in southern Maryland where tobacco is king. They also had horses and cows, pigs, chickens, etc. I loved to go there. One fond memory was my aunt’s meals: fresh churned butter over homemade biscuits, fried chicken that hasn’t been processed to death, and the freshest tomatoes and veggies ever. Only thing I didn’t like was their milk which was not pasteurized. Yuck! More farm memories to come.
Mary
Another good ole memory stems from being at my grandparents farm. The kitchen had an old wood burning stove and my grandmother was so excited that she now had a pump by her kitchen sink. I loved to grab that handle and pull and push it to get water in the sink. There was a pump outside too, and I remember them pumping water into a great big galvanized tub so I could take a bath. Yep, right there outside! Grandma would come out with hot water to just take the chill of that pumped water. (I can’t believe all of these memories that have come rushing forward!)
I loved the safety of my neighborhood. We played outside way after dark on summer nights with no fears. Still live to be outside looking up at the heavens….
My memories from days gone by include riding my bike for miles and miles, popping the tar bubbles on the hot road with my bike tires and just exploring the roads near my house. Fishing in the pond nearby and picking wild strawberries and carrying them home in my red stained shirt front so Mom could make some jelly with them (of course there wasn’t enough for jelly).
My mom preserved a lot of food during the summer. As I smaller child I don’t remember that it was fun. In my teen years, though, I remember that mom and I made some wonderful memories putting up peaches. One year she scalded so many peaches (and dipped her thumb too many times !) that her thumbnail fell off! My mom is gone now – oh, how I wish I could have just one day with her again.
All my mom’s brothers had dairy farms. We would go visit and have such a great time with our cousins. Hugs, Nellie.
Sometimes, early in my marriage, I was quite onery with my husband. My husband had a disability where he could not read. We had gone fishing to Canada at a resort at Lake of the Woods. On that trip, I was catching more fish than my husband. My husband kept saying he was going to claim all the fish as being caught my him. Unknown my him there was a bench on the porch of the resort that said “Liar’s Bench”. So I had him sit on it so I could have that picture to post next to the pictures of “his” fish.
The good ol’ days? First thing that comes to mind is the freedom to play outside. My friends and I would be gone a.l.l. day until it was too dark to play anymore. We had the run of the neighborhood and had a blast. We live in a nice neighborhood but I don’t let me kids just vanish until dark and don’t know anyone who does today, things are just different now. :-( We had so much fun…riding bikes, building bike ramps, freeze tag, kickball, stickball, four square, cloud watching, just hanging out together getting tan. Yep, the good ol’ days.
My childhood memories consist of running around with our abandoned pet goose named cana,trying to get her to fly, flapping our arms and running the length of the lawn..summers were carefree and fun!!!
thanks for the chacnce at the blog candy!!
When I was little and the grandkids would get rambunctious in the house, Grandma would tell us to “go out and get the stink blowed off.” Then we’d all go outside and spend hours playing in the creek, climbing in the hayloft, making dolls out of weeds, and have a great time — no computers, no Wii, no iPods — just hours of old-fashioned fun.
Being a city gal I remember sitting on the fire escape watching all the older kids at night ride their bikes on the sidewalks. Or getting a bit older walking 2 miles home alone at 9pm from Fullerton Beach after swooning over the lifeguards. Those were the days in Chicago!
I loved eating popsicles on our front stoop in the summertime :) Thanks for a chance at this generous blog candy!
I can remember the ice man coming around, it was such a joy when he would take his ice pick to a block of ice and give us some shavings. Oh the good ole days. Love your blog, thanks for the chance to win. Have a blessed day.
I remember summer days, popping the cap off of a glass Dr. Pepper bottle and taking a big, long drink – those were the best tasting sodas ever!
My favorite memory is making doughnuts with my grandma. She was such a woman – she was an electrician along with my grandpa in the 50’s – anyway we would make doughnuts and we would put in a pinch of salt and enough flour til it feels right. In the 80’s when my kids were small she would come over and make doughnuts – one time I tried to write down the recipe but never did – to many pinches and feels – my grandma died in 1990 and we have never made doughnuts since. Last Tuesday she would of been 99. She was the greatest and I think of her often and always with a smile on my face! Thanks for a chance to win and for letting me share my wonderful memories!
The good Old days. Racing around everywhere on my roller skates.Being sent out of the house in the morning with a bottle of water and not coming home until we were all hungry. Being chsed by geese if we dared to try and pinch rhubarb out of the gardens.
Playing football with the lads and the neighbours complaining about me keep swinging on the lamp posts.I’d come home absolutely black whilst my two sisters returned home with their white dresses still pure white.
(But guess who had the most fun?)
[…] the Good Ole Days" Blog Candy that goes until Friday evening – you can read about it HERE and be sure to leave your comment on THIS post. I hope you had a fabulous […]
I remember getting up at 5:30 am when I was a kid visiting my maternal grandparents. It was so quite, just the crickets, and my Grandmamma puttering around in the kitchen getting coffee on to boil. She grew up in a logging camp and had been getting up early all her life.
This was some of the best time I had as a kid – time spent at my grandparents’.
Smiles~
Marilyn
Wow I remember the good old days too! We lived close to town so we could walk downtown anytime, it was a small town, no malls, when I was a teen we finally got a K-mart and a McDonalds. We went out to play every chance we could get, it was a bummer to have to stay inside and play, we were so creative and had big imaginations. We knew all our neighbors, and played in all the yards, everyone watched over each others kids. I feel so sorry for kids today, they missed out on so much, now they barely talk to each other they just text, it’s funny how each generation has changed over the years.
I remember going camping with my family as that was the only summer vacation we could afford. My brother and I both played guitar and walked the camp grounds at nite to find other kids that would like to sit by our family bonfire and sing along with us. It was so relaxing and so much fun! We looked forward to those trips every year and still talk about them today:)
Love your blog, Becca! Thanks for the chance to win some blog candy…
Great stories here today. I can relate to so many of them. How about playing kick the can, spud, simon says, freeze tag, jacks, melting crayons on the sidewalk with our magnifying glasses, frying ants with those same mag glasses, riding our bikes to the pool, hating having to wear those bathing caps, going to the park and using stilts, making lace necklaces, going perch fishing with my Grandpa, stealing the neighbors concord grapes, taking the other neighbors cherries, helping Mom can everything, outdoor movies, penny candy, hopscotch, catching tadpoles, helping the nuns make flash cards, stamping at an early age by doing that, making a tent under our builtin desk, playing school, Saturday morning cartoons, spending Saturday mornings with all my craft stuff and trying to decide what to make and ending up making nothing. Gee I could go on and on but will stop now.
stamp on…
The Good Ole Days! When your a kid they are all good. There were 6 of us kids. We were a year to a year and a half apart. We lived in up state NY. Going into town was a treat for us because we lived so far away.
Rolling hills, apple trees to climb, barns to play in and creeks to swim in. Ma would kick us out the door in the morning and we weren’t seen again till after dark. Our only neighbor lived at the bottom of the hill. They had 4 or 5 kids our ages.
In the summer it was swimming in the same creek where the neighbors dairy cows crossed to get to the milking barn, we played in our hay loft and spead down our dirt road on our bikes. We’d catch lightning bugs and put them in a jar and play shadow tag with flashlights. If the weather was bad us 4 girls would sit on the kitchen floor and play “jacks”. And the best, jumping on the beds. Boy did we get in trouble a lot for that.
In the winter we would spend days riding our sleds down the same dirt road hoping we could drag our feet long enough to make us stop before we hit the barb wire fence. Once, My sister was not so lucky.
We laugh about it now. On cardbord boxes or an old refrigerator door we would slide down a hill behind the house. We made snow caves in the driveway after our dad would spend hours shoveling it.
When your a kid they are all good.
I love viewing your site. I get so many ideas.
Oh my goodness Becca – you have a lot of blogs to read! This subject of memories has opened up many of them for a lot of us! Walking to the Milk Bar down around the corner with pocket money in my hot little hand (maybe 20cents) and buying a bag of mixed lollies. Gazing through the glass counter and picking out “1 of those, 3 of those, 2 of the red ones etc. etc. Gone are those days!
Thanks for opening up the memory banks and also for the opportunity to perhaps win the blog candy.
Learning to drive the stick on the column of my dad’s comet car. I learned in the chuch parking lot. Every time I jerked the car changing gears, dad thumbed my head and made me stop and start over again. But I can drive a stick!
The good olde days!!! Wow… Becca your comments on the good olde days brought back so many of the same memories. One of my favorite memories is the nights my Dad would come home late and we would sit in the backyard and just visit. My Dad was of few words so I enjoyed the times just he and I spent together.
Thanks for helping us remember those wonderful times of our childhood. My grandpa had a clubhouse on a river in Missouri. We went there every weekend. One time it rained a lot while we were there. My dad and uncles moved the cars up on a hill about a half-mile away in case we were surrounded by water. On Sunday morning we woke up to water all around the club house. I remember all of us leaving–grandma, mom, dad, brother, parakeet and luggage–in the john boat with submerged corn all around. What a memory.
Oh sure Becca I remember the good ole days, when food was really food, non of this instant this and instant that! Swinging in the tire swing, playing hopscotch, running through the fileds, wasn’t allowed to chop cause I cut down everything but the grass! LOL, sure wasn’t funny to mommy! Fishing in the pond all day long only to catch one brim. Swinging across the stream on a tree vine. I remember the only light we had at night was the moonlight. I remember not being afraid to inhale cause the air was clean and pure, ah yes, the good ole days, can someone bring them back.
Just love your work Becca! Thanks for offering the awesome blog candy!
Memories of the innocence of childhood where you believed in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, etc. Great Memories!!!
Becca, it’s been so much fun remembering the good ole days. Lots of family outings, playing our musical instruments, building things with cardboard boxes, making a large garden, enjoying the clean air, not locking out door are just a few things that bring back those sweet times. Thanks for all the goodies.
Shirley L.
Roseville, CA
#2 In the “good ole days” we used to play outside all the time. There were no home video games to keep us inside. Blessings.
Memories of visiting my grandfather in northern Wisconsin. Playing in his garden – plants so tall we could play hide and seek in them. His dog, Brownie, could always find us though.
I love your newest card; those colors are just stunning!!
Bummer – it won’t let me enter a comment….
Ahhh, the good ol’ days! It always included a 2 mile walk every Saturday with girl friends to a local shopping center where we would go from store to store window shopping and then have lunch at the counter of a restaurant there before we walked home. What fun!!!!!
I remember the Good Ole Day. Just remember today will be the Good Ole Days for our children. I believe that’s in a old Gladys Knight song.
The good ole days for me consist of spending time with special family members and friends, rather than relating technologically like we do today! Picnics are high on my list of favorite memories – lots of good food and conversation and laughter.
#2 Walking to your neighborhood store……without fear…….I also walk from school……mom would always take us to school but we got to walk home….to us it was a treat……now if I had to walk to the store they would have to call 911 on me……lol…….
#2 – Biking everywhere, without an adult, even the 7+ miles to your best friends house through the back roads in the middle of nowhere!
Smiles~
Marilyn
Becca,
I grew up partly in the country and partly in the city and both hold wonderful memories. We lived in the city during WWII because my mother had to work and that’s where her job was. We played outside all the time and helped with the “Victory Garden” which was the source of most of our fresh vegetables and even some fruits because there were berry bushes and lots of the neighbors had fruit trees and everyone got together and traded produce all the time. It was the best and worst of times during the war. People looked out for one another and were there to help when the telegrams came, which they did, all to often. But for us little kids, it was a time of good memories
I remember my Dad telling me and my three brothers to go fill up our cars with gas, there was a gas war on and it was down to .249 a gallon…can you imagine and the same gas station sold cigarettes in a machine for 23 cents….you put a quarter in the machine and two pennies were scotch taped to your pack of cigarettes.
Wow…the good old days!
In the good ole’ days, we used to go out for breakfast at the beach on the Oregon Coast. Mom would pack all the fixings in the picnic basket and dad would pack some fire wood. There were electric burners at the state park so Mom would cook with an electric skillet which is pretty funny when you think about it. We’d have an old fashioned country breakfast with hash browns, bacon, eggs, toast and jam … then we’d go walking for several miles down the beach. The kids would stay for the rest of the day as things warmed up (I had elder sibs who could drive) and Mom and Dad would go home. We’d all get home about 4 or 5, sunburned, tired, covered in sand! It was great fun!
Living at the top of hill in the mountains near Yosemite meant sledding in the winter and skateboarding in the summer. Of course, this being the early 60s our skateboards were literally, that: a board with the two halfs of a roller skate nailed to the bottom. It was great fun until my sister fell and broke her collar bone. After that, Dad wouldn’t allow us to go from the top of the hill. Bummer!
Camping out in the backyard. Walking to the swimming hole to spend a lovely, lazy day swimming.
Back in the good ole days, my friends and I could play outside, anywhere in the neighborhood, until the streetlights came on. All the parents had different signals to let their children know it was time to come home – whistles, turning the porch light on and off or, in one case, the parent would bang on a drum – we all thought that was so cool. All of the neighborhood adults would take care of anybody who was ‘wounded’ near their house. We all knew that if we misbehaved we would be in trouble by the time we got home because after we got fussed at by the closest neighborhood adult, they would call and ‘tattle’ to our families and heaven help anyone who was disrespectful. I think we need some more neighborhoods like that.
I love all of your cards, how do you make your bows?
You don’t look old enough to share some of the same memories that I have. I have plenty from childhood and teen years, such happy times. One I often share is sleeping with my Granny at her farm. I was the oldest grandchild so I was allowed to stay weekends in the winter and lots of days in the summer. We lived in town about 30 miles away. Winters were cold and the only heat in the house was in the living room from a pot belly wood stove. The fire was put out at night and it was very cold in the bedrooms, but I was snuggled down in the feather bed with quilts piled on top, so that I could hardly move. I have no idea where my grandpa slept when I was there but I sure treasured the time with Granny and her stories.
One of the things that I think about a lot lately was my love for writing. When I was in elementary school and even high school I always loved to make up stories. I loved Literature class and always loved to be in Drama class acting out a story. I realize after reading a book by Max Lucado about finding your sweet spot. I realized through this book, along with the test that is provided within this book that writing was something that I always loved. With prayer and trusting in God I started to write again. It is been a difficult process due to illness in the past year. I have felt defeated bye it all but have come to realize that this time of illness, has been really my time to have a much needed rest and to reflect on my time with Christ and to grow in Him. Living in a fishing town, there was always days that you could set on the beach and watch the fishing boats leave the shore and go out to sea for their catch. Those days were great days for writing. No tv, no computer, no disturbances but just the sun shining on your face, the wind blowing in your hair and the feel of sand between your toes. I really need to get back to that place again and today you help remind once again how much I miss this. Thanks Becca for all of these prompts that you give us in these blog candy giveways. Hugs!
Playing with friends in the creek during the hot summertime. splashing, catching crayfish, just being kids. Going into my friend’s grandmother’s house and she had a summer kitchen and she would be baking cookies or gingerbread or have some kind of cool snack for us.
Love the blog candy!
Jean
We lived in a small town in West Texas. Where we lived it was a block from the city park and a lake. Me and my two brothers would spend all day there fishing and playing. We would go home to eat lunch and go back and stay until supper time. We didn’t have to worry about predators and we knew we could run home if we needed to. We spent many a summer day at the park.
Thanks for another opportunity to win fabulous blog candy!
Hi Becca,
Thanks for giving multiple opportunities to win the blog candy! I love the card you made today. Your creations always inspire me to go beyond my comfort zone in stamping.
Thanks for all you do!
Shawn K.
Hi Becca –
I miss the days when everybody knew everybody else, and kids were safe on the streets. I miss playing hot beans and bacon, Olly olly oxen free, red rover – does anybody play those games anymore or are they lost to video games? I miss when penny candy was really just a penny (what a concept) and you got more than one piece! I remember a quart of milk costing 15 cents and being able to get a slice of NY pizza and a soda for 25 cents. Tutti fruiti sundays, Egg creams, Cherry Lime Rickeys. I miss sitting in the movie theatre and eating a whole big bag of sunflower seeds throught the movie. I remember my little brothers being fascinated that I could put the sunflower seed in my mouth, shell and all, and without using my fingers, extract the seed from the shell, they thought their big sister was cool – LOL!
I miss my Mom’s potatoe salad, my Dad’s mini hotdogs with cheese in biscuits. I just miss my Mom and Dad who died way too young and have been gone 10 years.
Elaine Allen
Wow,, Talk about a walk down memory lane.
It wasn’t nothing for us to get our chores done and then go out for the rest of the day, until the streetlights come on.
Or to stop and talk to Mr. and Mrs. Jennings, an elderly couple that lived up the street.
We live a few doors up from the swimming pool and park.
That is where we spent most of our time.
We would swing so high we would touch out toes to the leaves on the trees.
Then there was Saturday gym, oh I loved Saturday gym.
The gym teacher came in on Saturdays and taught us the things we wanted to learn.
We would stop on the way and get us some snack because the time we got out of there we would be hungry.
For a quarter we could get a pop for 12 cents, a 3 cent Hershey bar, a 5 cent bag of chips and 5 cent bag of peanuts.
Ahhh, the good old days, you could sleep in front of the screen door and feel that summer breeze blow in on you because it was so hot to sleep in the bed.
I remember getting dressed up to go to the movies.
Playing family games and swimming in the lake. Then grilling and roasting marshallows over a fire. That’s good old days.
I still have a couple of “GREAT’ aunts and uncles alive, and listening to some of their stories is always fun. As old as I am now (in my 50s) I still sometimes don’t quite believe all those “I had to walk 3 miles one way to our one room schoolhouse” but since I’ve seen those places, I know they are real.
Playing kickball, tag, cops and robbers and then hearing your mom call you in for supper. No worries, just fun.
Day two for thoughts of “the good old days”… hmmm… so many possibilities. But, I have to say that one of the things that made my good old days so good was the fact that my mom was a professional seamstress. I always had wonderful clothes even though we didn’t have much money to spare since she was able to make anything… and YES I mean ANYTHING. She was so super talented. So anyway, my school/college years and beyond were always filled with beautiful clothes and when needed, special costumes. One of my favorite costumes was when I was teaching first grade and we had to dress up (yes the teachers, too! LOL!) as our favorite storybook characters. My mother made a Snow White dress for me that looked exactly like the one in the Disney storybook… with the stand-up white collar and all. The people at my school were totally amazed even though they had seen her talent in the past. Unfortunately I didn’t inherit all of her talent. I did learn to sew and made my own clothes off and on at times during my life, but now that I am losing my eyesight to a retinal disease, it’s not easy to sew, thus I keep it pretty simple if I make anything. Oh… to go back to the good old days!
So many great memories are flooding back – all thanks to you, Becca!
I remember the Fiesta truck. This was a fellow whole drove around and delivered (!) chips and ‘pop’ as we call it. Can you imagine that now? I mean, I would be in heaven if someone were to deliver chips to me! Everyone knows not to leave me alone with a bag of chips ;)
I also recall my old Singer sewing machine. It is either from 1911 or 1913. It has a bullet shaped bobbin and goes forward and backward. In those days, having your machine stitch backwards meant one thing: turn your project around-lol!! I still have this lug in the locker, but the darn thing weighs more than I do-lol, so there it shall stay. I wonder what it would fetch if I decide to sell it? Hmmm.
Thanks for the chance to win!
I remember the telephone with the dial. And phone booths and real operators when you called someplace!
I think I just loved how simple things were (I’m not that old -42), but things have changed so much since I was little. We could go outside and play all day, and our parents didn’t have to worry about us. The whole neighborhood watched out for everyone’s kids.
hugs,
Gini
I remember the man in the donut bus. He had a bus that had been converted into a donut making shop. My mother used to stop and buy a dozen donuts whenever we passed by the bus because you could smell them a mile away. The donuts he made were fresh and the best ever!! I can smell them now!
Memories of family nights at the drive-in movie theater… hooking the speaker over the front window so we could all hear the sound… looking forward to the intermission so that we could have all of yummy goodies that we had packed in the car….. such wonderful memories of a time gone by.
Your card for today is amazing Becca, I absolutely love the colors! GOD (Good Old Days) is church, Sunday dinners, & family time~~not running to the mall.
Hi Becca, Beautiful Card!! Well the good ole days…my sisters and our kids sit around talking to my grandmother, she is 93 years old and she will tell us stories of being Rosie the Riveter. She was one of the women that worked in the factories when all the men when off to war. She amazes us with her stories. Just love her!! Thanks, Teresa E.
As I think of the “good ole days” I too recall so many of the things others have commented on in their comments so I tried to think of something a bit different. How many of you remember the local grocery stores, bakeries, and five and dime stores in your neighborhood? I loved being able to run to the grocery to get that ingredient Mom needed for the recipe she was preparing for supper. Or those yummy freshly baked goodies from the bakery right around the corner. And, how about going to the five and dime for penny candy, small toys like “jacks” and bubbles in the summer or buying that cheap little bottle of perfume for Mom’s birthday. It was most likely yuk-smelling but she would rave about how wonderful it was! One thing about the present time is to remember that these will be the times our children and grandchildren remember so it is important for us to create memories for them through establishing family tradititions – BD celebrations, holiday menus, family gatherings, etc.
Thanks for your blog – I enjoy it!
Hi I have only recently found and subscribed to your site. Oh cards to aspire to. If only my dear ol mum could have tied bows just as you do when she insisted that I wear one in my hair on a bonnet etc. How I used to protest. I would also love to tie a bow as yourself. Please find time to do a tutorial at sometime. Hope I am not showing my age to much with the bonnet. kindest regards Demi
I grew up in the shadow of Yosemite National Park, actually it was thgateway to the park, but we spent a lot of time there. I was fortunate to see the Fire Falls, the bears eating from the garbage cans, and walking wherever we wanted in the park before they got wise and starting preserving the beauty.
I remember catching grasshoppers for my dad for fishing and digging up worms. I remember hand me downs and buying one dollar’s worth of candy that would last a whole week (if I wasn’t too piggy.) I remember watching black and white tv and being so excited to be the first family on the block to see “The Wizard of Oz” in color. We invited all our friends over to join us.
I love the era I grew up in; I only wish I had known to enjoy it more when I was doing it.
Thanks for letting me share. The more I read about your life the more I see the commonalities we share–maybe not where we grew up, but the ideals.
Love your cards,
rachel
One of the games I remember playing was “kick the can”…I don’t know if the kids play it anymore.
Am I showing my age if I say I remember how excited I was when we got a car with an 8-track tape player in it?!!!
When my family talks about the good old days, we always bring up what my grandfather used to say: “I remember when I could get a hamburger and a cup of coffee for a nickel.”
And when I was in high school, if I had a $10 bill, I could fill up my gas tank and still have money left over for lunch at McDonald’s.
Those were the days! :)
Hi Becca. I too loved to hear about the good old days when my father and uncle would get together a remember their childhood days.
I could listen for hours.
I remember when I was about 12 my father and I went to the store to get soup greens so my grandmother could make chicken soup. I showed my father the bag of soup greens that mom always bought. He said NOOOOO lets get each thing by it self it’s better that way.
Well be came home with the bag, and what my falher thought was parsnip turned out to be horseradish root.
So there was my grandmother outside on the back porch grating horshradish.
Oh the good old days……
Oh My! I have been reading all the comments above and it has been so much fun! I cannot believe all the memories that are coming back to me because of what everyone else has written. Living in Wisconsin, when the weather was bad outside, we would go down in our basement with all the neighborhood kids and play Fruit Basket Upside Down and other games. We had a dart board down there and played darts or we would roller skate in the basement. We would go to the park in town to ice skate in the winter. One day when my Mom took us to school in the little old Crosley (no longer being made) we had about nine kids, two mothers and a big bird dog in the car. They always watched as we all got out and thought it was fantastic that we piled so many in that little car (about the size of a volkswagon). One day, while Mom was in talking with the teachers, the kids picked that little car up and put it on the sidewalk. Then in Iowa, all the cousins would get together at Grandma’s house and she always had a fudge cake waiting for us. We always loved watching her make homemade dinner rolls! Or catching those fantastical fascinating lighning bugs! In Philadelphia, during the war, we would have to hurry home when the air raid sirens went off. Mom ran around closing all the curtains, thowing a sweater over the front of the radio so the light wouldn’t show. Oh the memories! I could go on and on. And probably will tomorrow! I am enjoying everyones memories. Thanks for the chance to win the blog candy Becca.
My father loved getting a deal and somehow he got an old milk wagon and it was moved to our backyard. It became the neighborhood gathering place for every kid around, it was everything from a club house, a stagecoach, a jail, a store and anything else kids could imagine. I am 8 years older that my youngest brother so it remained in our back yard for many years. I don’t remember what my dad did with it after we had outgrown it and I hope it went to someone elses kids to have wonderful adventures in.
Love your website and your cards give so much inspiration. Thanks
oh my gosh.. I know what you are talking about !
How about playing…Mother may I ? Red light, Green light? Simon Says.
Tv show tag, cartoon tag etc. wow!
When I was a youngster, my sisters and the neighborhood kids would gather in back yards at dusk and catch lightening bugs and put them in glass jars. We always put some grass and leaves in the jars for the bugs to eat. It was so much fun, catching the bugs and then watching them light up in the jars! Thanks for bringing back the memories!
Oh, I remember summer break from school. My mom and dad worked all day. So my sister and I were left to fend for ourselves. We usually ran around with our friends all day long riding bikes, going to the creek, going to the pool. Then about an hour before my mom got home we would run home to do our chores before she would get home. The good ole days. Thanks Mari
Good Ole Days…..will always be spending time outside playing all day with my mom having to call us for lunch and supper and spending time with the family in the evenings. Nowadays everyone is so busy with everything, no one seems to have time for the family anymore.
Becca, I remember playing hide and seek outside with all the neighborhood kids after dark on summer nights…it was fun!!
Day 2: This is so much fun :D Nothing better than reliving some fabulous memories. My next wonderful memory is all the great weekends we had skiing together as a family up at Whistler. We had a cabin there at the time (oh why oh why did mom and dad sell it!!) and spend 3 weekends a month plus 2 weeks at Christmas and Spring Break skiing up there. The scenery up there always touched, healed and filled my soul, not to mention the fabulous skiing! We skied in EVERY type of weather from -40, to rain, to sunshine, to blizzards, fresh powder, icy slopes, you name it, we have skied it – helps when you have a ski pass as you dont’ feel obligated to ski the whole day and can bow out any time. No TV, VCR etc. in the cabin either so lots of wonderful family time playing games, reading and simply enjoying each other’s company. Thanks for the walk down memory lane :D
Wow what wonderful memories and each of us in one way or other seem to share in those good ole day’ memories! Weather it is just remembering the same game or lived the same way of life or smiled over a simular / familar memory from another member’s comment. My favorite ‘good ole day’ memories would be from our family reunions on my dad’s side. We always met at my aunt Ruby’s house in mid summer [Ks.] the ladies would gather in the kitchen and the men would gather out back by the garage, we kids just ran free playing many of the games already mentioned – til the dinner bell rang! The ladies would serve up the meals in cafe’ style, most my aunts were restraunt cooks [they were not called chefs back then] others were waitress’ so it was neat to see the compation of who could carry the most plates or the most glasses of water to the tables. I even got my waitress training here early in life. I remember the yr my aunt Tammy won with carrying 7 plates n 5 glasses of water without spilling the water or getting any of the mashpotatoes n gravey on the bottom of the plate above it or next to it! Now that was a trick in itself. She didn’t deliver the plates n the water at sametime but still placed each on table on her own with any help! I still miss those who are not with us anymore and the reunions are almost non existant.:{ miss the lonnnngggg Adult table as the kids ate on sheets laid out all over the living room and on the parlor floors. I did get to sit at the adult table for only 1yr b4 we moved the dinners to the local K.ofC. building. :}Thanks for reminding me of my family fondly once more!
I remember playing ‘forts’ in the empty lot next to us. The weeds were up to our necks. We used to tie them together with other weeds and make rooms and hallways, removing them from the ‘floor’. We’d also put extra ones on top of the fort for a roof. Amazing we never ran into snakes—which reminds of another time I heard baby kittens inside the culvert drain pipe that was under the driveway out by the road. I shimmied my body right through the entire length and pulled out the kittens. It gives me shivers now–what are the odds that there wasn’t a snake nest in there???!!! EEEWWW!!!
The good old days…..playing till it was dark, going for walks in the pasture on the farm without my mom or dad because things were so safe than. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity for the lovely prizes. Hope I win.
Elaine
Hi Becca!
I love to visit your blog! Matter a fact, I ordered JustRite stamps because of your work! Your work is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Course, had to get some Spellbinders too! :) I enjoy seeing all your talent! Keep up the GORGEOUS work!!!
When I was about 3 or 4 years old sitting on the counter in Marsdens Stores. A real old fashioned grocery store with wooden shelves holding tins and all manner of goods. The sugar was sold in blue ‘sugar paper’ bags. The butter came in huge barrels and was freshly weighed up using butter pats (wooden paddle like tools).
I was a city kid but that didn’t stop me from playing outside. I would come home and smell fresh cookies baking or my Mom’s spaghetti and meatballs cooking filling the whole house with wonderful smells. I would go outside and ride my skate board with all the other kids. We would play hide and seek but we didn’t go in until our Mom’s called us. Thanks for the opportunity to bring all these memories to the front of my mind.
I remember I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup in school. But I would always borrow my friend’s makeup and wear it anyway. I was the last one off the bus after school so I always had time to wipe it off. Blue eyeliner, blue mascara, and blue eyeshadow were the rage at that time. One day when I got home from school I was leaning against the stereo record player telling my mom about my day when she asked me why my eyes were blue. I got in SO much trouble–but I’ll never forget it…and we still laugh about it to this day. However, these days I tend to stick with brown/black mascara.
I remember the good ol’ days when we rode our bikes without helmets shin guards,etc. Yes we got scrapes and we survived. We rode our bikes on sidewalks, getting off our bikes and standing to the side when we met a pedestrian. We learned common sense and good manners and respect then. Thanks for getting us to dig deep!
Well, I guess I goofed and forgot to add an old time memory! :) I don’t remember alot of the things you mentioned Becca, but I do remember going to the “Dime Store!” Getting just a few pennies…. And heading over to a Dime Store on the corner. All the fun little candies! I don’t even know if I could remember all the names! Candy buttons, little wax bottles with some kind of sweet sugary liquid in them, taffy, there were SO many!!!! Walking to the park to play, just myself and my siblings. (Can’t do that now!) Or just riding my bike around the block and stopping at a girlfriends home. Oh yes, and spending the night at my friends on Friday night, eating popcorn and staying up late to watch “Chiller!” :) Those were the carefree days of childhood for me!
Mes plus beaux souvenirs : les Noëls en famille. Les yeux de chacun pétillants de joie, de bonheur.
bonne soirée
You must have lived down the road from me, I remember doing all those things as well. My favorite pastime was climbing up in a chinaberry tree and reading a book. We had a bookmobile that came every two weeks. We lived WA A A Y out in the country. That piece of property now has a fourlane bypass through it. Thanks for the opportunity to win! You are very giving.
Some fun childhood memories…singing around the campfires with the Girl Scouts and making somemores…searching for our “jungle breakfast” that were tied in baggies and hidden in the trees…hiking and camping trips…etc.
Ah, the good ole days…I think my fondest memory was when my best friend and I would have treasure hunts as children. We always had to make a craft first and that was the prize or treasure for the end of the hunt. So much fun, although, now years later, my friend finally fessed up that she loved to do the treasure hunts, but hated making the crafts! I was the older one, so I guess I used to peer pressure her into crafting! Imagine, I guess my addiction for crafting started at a young age and apparently I was a craft-pusher!!! lol :)
Thanks for your generosity and for the chance to play along in the fun!
Julie
Some of the best memories of the good ole days for me was spending so much time at Oma’s (grandma) house while my Mom worked. You know how Mom won’t let you play out in the rain because you’ll get wet? Well, Oma had golashes and rain gear for me and we would purposely go out when it rained. She would walk on the sidewalk with her umbrella while she let me walk on the street (next to the sidewalk) where I could jump and splash in all the water that ran there. Everytime I think of that, it makes me smile. I cannot wait to have my own grandchildren to let them jump and play in the rain.
Hi Becca,
I love your cards and look forward to reading your posts.
What a coincidence. I am attending a college reunion at the end of May. Those of us who attended Ohio University (Athens, Ohio), in the 60’s, thought it would be a good idea to write about our memories of OU. Since I went in 1964, I guess this qualifies for the “good ole days.” I have so many fond memories of the time I spent, the friends I made, the things I learned and the beautiful campus. While many people who will attend this reunion have never retuned, until now, I returned every year, several times, from 1991-2001. You see, both my daughter and son attended OU and received their degrees. We had nine straight years between the two. While I never suggested to either child that they should attend my favorite place on earth, I’m so glad they decided to study there. Ironically, my own degree was completed in 1990, at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, not my beloved OU.
.
I just laughed out loud when I read Debby’s story about her brothers and her and the arrows and holes in the wall!! And Beth’s story about how her little one learned about ‘how babies are made’!! I’m so glad to read of others lives growing up!
As the middle child, I learned quickly to get along with the ‘boss’ and the ‘baby’. However, I always believed that I was my father’s favorite and I believed that until after he died and my sisters and I were telling stories. My older sister said she always felt that she was Dad’s favorite – and my younger sister jumped right in and said, no, she was! We all had tears and laughter to share – what a blessing it was to know that our father had so much love to give us and we never felt slighted. A wonderful example to follow.
I must have been like 6 or 7 that year my mother and grandmother decided to finish off some of our chickens for some gathering we were having with family. My grandmother would swing a chicken by its head then chop it off on a tree trunk & my mom would pluck the feathers & clean them. Well 1 chicken in particular ran after me all the way from the chicken coop to the kitchen door BEHEADED! Boy that was a real scare for me then now its hysterically funny. I also remember we never locked our doors back then or worried about playing in the streets & a car speeding by. And its true, all of us neighborhood kids (ages 6 to 18) would play TOGETHER hide-n-seek, red-over-red-over, tag, every imaginable game there was including playing together with a parachute where we’d lift it up and bring it about us & see how long it would take to deflate on us. Fond memories and it sure is sad my children never experienced that.
To go back to the good ol’ days! I’d love to step back in time for awhile. I was a city girl, but had a family who traveled almost every weekend to the country state parks to spend the day with extended family. We’d start a huge grill going and spend the day just relaxing and playing games and eating. I remember the glorious smells of the wood fire and bringing it home with us on our clothes, falling asleep in the car, none of us children in seatbelts, (Imagine that!) not even the baby, who was in our mother’s arms in the front passenger seat!
I remember the good ole’ days when we’d go to bed with the door to the house unlocked. Everybody knew AND TRUSTED everybody. No need to fear robbery or harm.
I remember the summer nights playing kick the can!!! We could spend hours and hours playing that game,we didn’t even want to come in when it was dark.
Tell me ’bout the good ole days!!!
We lived in Oregon for a while, and at some times of year it just rains all the time. You know it’s bad when there are a million different words to decribe all the different types of rain! Mist, drizzle, mizzle (between mist and drizzle, LOL).
We had bright red slickers and rain boots and we played outside just the same. We used to make little twig and leaf boats and sail them down the gutters! Simple fun!
Oh how I remember getting up really early in the morning and driving from Bucks County, PA to the Jersey shore to go crabbing. As a child, I remember sitting in the boat with my line in the water and waiting w/ great anticipation to pull up and find really HUGE crabs in the basket. We would go home with a bushel basket just filled to the brim with Blue Point Crabs.
Afterward, we would go to my grandmother’s home for a family crab feast. My uncles, aunts, and cousins would also gather if available, and join us in the cooking and eating of our harvest! What fun!
Living in the desert now, I so appreciate that memory as any Blue Points I see in a market are soooo tiny! And so my love for seafood had begun at such an early age!
The good ole days. When you used to be able to eat whatever you wanted without worrying if it was going to kill you before you got up from the table. Eggs, coffee, soda, bacon, cheese. In the good ole’ days, as long as it came from the 4 food groups you were good. Now nothing is good for you. Especially that stuff that tastes so good.
Now pardon me while I step off of my soap box, to go have a piece of chocolate cake! :)
My good ‘ol days included the huge family get togethers and regular 5 day family reunions at the lake. Those don’t happen anymore, and I’m sad that my children don’t get to experience that and know the majority of their extended families.
Here is another fond memory of my childhood… I was blessed until I was in High School to have my grandmother (my dad’s mom). She only spoke Sicilian, I could understand every stitch of what she said, only, I could really only speak in English. I could speak few words she understood. She was my favorite person on the planet and the most wonderful thing was that even with our large language barrier, we never missed a beat. We always understood each other. No one ever needed to interpret for her what I or any of her other grandchildren wanted to convey to her. She loved us so much, she just always understood. It took me years to realize that she never understood English, that’s how beautiful her love was to us. I still miss her and she passed away 26 years ago.
Day 2 for me. I just spent over two hours reading memories since my last entry. F U N ! !! !
More memories for me: running through the sprinkler and on nice rainy days running in the rain with my swimsuit on. Having a bottle of bubbles and blowing some of the prettiest bubbles. Black Jack gum (one of my older grandsons found a store in our area that still sells it and so he surprised me this past Christmas with a pack). Y U MMMMM!
Now, I need to get back to my washing.
Jean
what i miss most about the good ole days is the way kids could go outside from sun up til sun down and play. no one was worried about being kidnapped or worse. back then, everyone was your parent. if an adult told you to stop you either did or moved on. if you did something really bad you got yelled at then when you got home you got yelled at again. it still takes a village.
The good old days remind me of a time when my health was not such a constant concern, it was just always “good” and not worried about. I would love to have that feeling again.
I remember a cross country vacation when I was six years old. We stayed in a motel in Albuquerque, NM. They had bath mats with Albuquerque written on them and I learned to spell Albuquerque while getting ready to take a shower.
As a little girl my parents had a small dairy farm and I remember hearing the frogs from the pond out back and skating on the same pond in the winter time. As a city girl I now I miss those sounds and those times of pulling on my skates when I came home from school and getting out on the ice just because it was there.
When I was a little girl (probably about 8 or 9 years old), I had a pet squirrel named Cookie. He would walk on the back of the sofa and if you were eating vanilla wafers he would take it right out of your hand!
I grew up in Flushing, New York. My fond memories centered around playing stick ball in the street with all the boys in the neighborhood. What a gangly, skinned-kneed tomboy was I, lol!
I kept thinking about the good ole days yesterday, long after I posted. A picture came into my mind that I couldn’t shake and made me sad and longing. I thought of my 3 children kneeling beside their bed before bedtime saying their prayes…..I wonder how many do that today……Yes, those were the good old days. I wonder what today’s kids will remember.
Once my daughter asked me how we cooked hot dogs in the good ole days–you know before we had microwaves? That just so made me laugh. This is my Monday entry–thanks for all the goodies in the pot!
Making maple syrup in early spring. Drinking the sap out of the buckets that hang on the tree. Cooking Marshmallows and hot dogs on the fire the cooks the sap into syrup. Smelling the sweet smell of the syrup as it cooks. Spending time as a family in the woods.
Donna Polley
ah, the good old days…i remember raking and piling up the fallen leaves outdoors and jumping into them and also forming outlines with the leaves, like a blueprint for a house, with various rooms etc. FUN!
I wouldn’t trade my age for something younger and have to give up all those “old” memories either. When I was a kid, it was still safe for kids to be outside (even on Halloween night) . We would run the neighborhood and the rule was to be home by dark. Walking a mile and a half to school was no big deal because there was a little old lady who was stationed at the “busy highway” to walk us across. Didn’t have a computer until long after I was married and never missed it. We were always outdoors playing and lots of times oour toys were found objects like sticks. I vaguely remember an outhouse for a short time until my folks got the bathroom added on to the house they bought. A favorite memory is watching it start to snow HARD on a Sunday evening and knowing there was no way we would have school the next day!
The good ole days. I wish we still lived in them! Things were so much simpler then. I collect antiques because I love that time so much.
I love your cards also – you certainly have a God given gift.
My memories are probably different from a lot of folks, as I grew up in India, the daughter of missionary parents. I remember going to school in the Himalayan Mountains, anywhere from 500 to 1000 miles away from where my parents lived, as that was the only English-speaking school that would be accepted by the educational systems in America. I had just barely turned 10, and it was a frightening thing to be away from mom and dad at that age, but I had two older sisters who took real good care of me. As missionaries, my parents moved around a lot, and us kids would joke that they were trying to “lose” us because when we left home for school one year we might have lived in Calcutta, but when we went home after the close of the school year, my folks might have been moved to Karmater or some other place!! The experiences I learned were unforgettable, amidst all the poverty and heartache of a third-world country where what we take for granted in this country is not not even known about over there. At the time we were over there, there was no such thing as going to the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread or even a cake mix or chocholate chips!! Everything was made by scratch. My mom had a toy sewing machine (her “real” one got lost on the boat trip from Kansas to India) on which she sewed our clothes, as there were no department stores, either, though we were able to buy fabric by the yard. On furloughs to America every 5 or 6 years, she would buy patterns that were very basic, and we would get J.C. Penny’s, Montgomery Wards, and Sears catalogs to take back to India with us. We would look through the catalogs and find dresses that we liked, and my mom would use the sleeve pieces from one of the patterns, the collar from another pattern, and the bodice or skirt from another pattern, having to adjust sizes for all 4 of us (my mom and us 3 girls). Somehow, she would come up with some beautiful dresses, which was amazing. We had no such thing as a Christmas tree or Christmas decorations, let alone wrapping paper. Our wrapping paper was in the form of pillowcases in which we would put each individual family member’s gifts which we would then hide somewhere in the house, and on Christmas Eve we would all go in search of our own pillowcases. Once everyone’s pillowcase was found, we would sit down and open our gifts. The gifts usually consisted of a couple of things that my grandmother had sent to us in a package from Kansas, and us kids would be so ecstatic to see what she had picked out for us! Funny thing, though, we NEVER felt like we were poor or missed out on anything. In fact, I think I gained a whole lot more than what some would think I might have lost out on, and I wouldn’t exchange my life experiences for anything!! I know this is long, and I promise I won’t post any other comment for this blog!! I’ve taking up enough space!! Thanx, Becca, for all you do for us, and for this blog candy!! Have a good one!
We used to spend hours playing baseball with the neighbor kids every summer. There was a pasture near our house and Frank the farmer would mow part of it, just for us, to create a baseball diamond. My brothers used to practice hitting with me so that I “wouldn’t hit like a girl”. I got my only black eye playing baseball in that pasture – I was catching behind the plate without a catcher’s mask (mask? who wore a mask?) and caught a foul tick right above the eye. I had a shiner for 6 weeks!
Aah! for the good old days…. These days I often remember those days before wedding that I spent with MY mom….. I loved those moments of laughter, those strolls, those outing to a movie or lunch or simple breakfast outside….. It was so lovely then…. I miss all of them now… My brother is married..now she has a daughter in-law…. in my place…. I feel bad…. It seems she has totally forgotten me…. I miss her…. I love her & forever will….. MY GOOD OLD DAYS!!!! Just memories now…..
Ash…
All the kids in my neighbourhood had bikes but my parents couldn’t afford to buy me one. Soooooo, my dad built me a wooden scooter and I was the talk of the neighbourhood!! Everyone had to try it out. Me not having a bike — didn’t mean so much anymore! :-)
Wow, the “good old days” My boys ask what computer games I played when I was a little girl, they can’t understand that we didn’t have computers and TV was 3 or 4 channels and cartoons only on Sat/Sun mornings, but we sure did have lots of fun outside making up our own games. Grew up in a little town that not all of the streets were even paved and everyone knew everyone.. so you couldn’t get away with anything, it was like having the whole town of parents but no worries about gangs, drugs, etc. What a great time to grow up.
Awe, those great memories from my younger days!
Getting out of the house after supper to go play soft ball with a boy I had a crush on with one of my girlfriends and some of his friends to make up our teams…its was so much fun!
Listening to the “ROCK & ROLL” music, that was back in the hay days of the Beatles, Ed Sullivan, Herman’s Hermits…and the “ROLLING STONES!”….OMG…and parent then thought our music was strange….imagine what most would think now if they heard some today’s music?
Thanks for helping me to relieve those great days Becca, and as always your such a great source of inspiration!
The good ‘ole days where summers were golden. A truly wonderful summer night included a walk to the DQ. Remember those nights with hundreds of lightening bugs blinking their summer messages to us!
For years since we haven’t had alot of lightening bugs but it seems like they are starting to come back. It sure will be a while until they number like they use to.
thinking back to the good o’l days when i was so athletic and played hockey, ran long distance, race walking, gymnastics and played tennis,,, now i’m all cranky with osteo-arthritis and only have the good memories of those days. My sister was a drum majorette, something that dont exist anymore in our country. Oh and making fire in the old wood stove, heating the iron on the stove to iron our clothes, sitting in the sun to dry our long hair, there were no hair dryers,, playing outside in the yard till dark and time to eat, not a worry in the world, no stress at all. wish my grandkids could have all these,,,, Greetings from South Africa.
I got so involved yesterday reading the stories (only got to the first 50) that I forgot to enter my own! Such fun. I go back a lot farther than most of them…I was in high school in the 50s. My family lived on acreage in the country since 1920s but their time of farming had about finished by the time I remember. We did have baby pigs for a time, though, and they could wriggle out of the pen no matter what. It was fun chasing them down. We had about 8 varieties of apple trees surrounding the yard, some of which were used to make cider. We’d occasionally hear the pop of a bottle from the cellar as the cider ‘hardened.’ My brothers tried brewing their own beer from potatoes with the same result (exploding bottles). I don’t remember if any of it was ever drinkable, I was too young to taste it. Chicken and dumplings every Sunday for a mid-day meal and popcorn and (about once a month) fudge for the evening ‘meal.’ mmmm-mmm!
Thanks for jogging the memory and offering such wonderful ‘candy.’
Ah memeories. Let me brush out the cobwebs to recollect a thing or two! My bike was my horse and I wore a cowboy hat and had braids or ponytails and I packed a six-shooter. Afterall, I lived in the West, Phoenix, AZ to be exact. I loved to watch “Flicka”.
We used to kill 10 to 12 hogs in the winter each year. The meat was packed in salt boxes to cure. Home made sausges were 6 to 8 feet long and hung on poles dry. When I was about 17, we killed hogs on Friday after Thanksgiving. One of my jobs that day was to wash chittlins. My boyfriend came over that night and we sat in the parlor. My hands smelled so BAD, I had to sit with my arms folded and a fist under each arm to try to hide the smell. The moral of this story is don’t date on hog killing day.
Hi Becca,
During the second world war in Britain, our weekly rashion of butter was a 4″x4″ square for a family of six….instead of doling it out in scrapes we blew it all the first morning on fresh bread rolls that Mum had made and I always remember it, I was seven at the time and am now 67…isn’t it strange what sticks in your mind over the years.
Thanks for the chance to win.
Rene from ZO xo
The “Good Ole Days” were the days when you didn’t have to lock your windows and doors. You didn’t need security bolts and alarm systems and the keys were always under the door mat! You didn’t bolt down lawn furniture or Holiday decorations, you didn’t need to fence in your yard and you could go to any neighbor’s house, let out a holler at the door and walk right in. We didn’t have to make prior arrangements to visit family or friends, we just went and they welcomed us with open arms. If we borrowed money from any one we always paid it back, if some one co-signed for another they always paid the bill, never defaulted leaving the co-signer with the debt.
Dad didn’t have a car until the mid ’50’s, he was about 43 then. Mom didn’t drive, she didn’t need to, Dad was never too busy to take her. We didn’t lock the car, didn’t have to, the keys were always under the floor mat! We didn’t have to look around our car in a parking lot to be sure no one was waiting to jump in, kidnap or carjack us and we lived in the suburbs. Was life easy then???? Absolutely easier than today.
If we missed the school bus another bus would stop and pick us up, not a problem. We had “party line” telephone with as many as six families sharing one line. We didn’t listen in on the other families conversations. The telephone didn’t have a dial on it, an operator would come on and say “what number please!!!”. Please and thank you WERE ALWAYS USED. If we received some one else’s mail in error we didn’t open it, Mom would tell us to run down the street to so and so’s house and give them their mail and tell them that the mail man left it at our house. And run we did, we didn’t have to worry about a car hitting us.
We didn’t have swing sets and play toys permanently mounted in the front yards, they were always in the back yard, out of public view because keeping our neighborhood nice and clean was the PROPER WAY to live. We never used our front lawns as a parking lot, that’s what a driveway and street were for and if we didn’t have a driveway we had a designated parking area for cars only – it was always safer for use kids that way because we didn’t play in the “parking area” of the property. We didn’t have old junk cars sitting around with weeds growing under and around them, we were glad to get them out of there because it made our property neat and clean.
We helped any one and every one even if they called us during the night or on a work night, we’d get up, get dressed and go and didn’t complain about it and we didn’t expect to be paid for it either. We held the door open for others no matter where it was. We made sure the elderly were ok even if it were a neighbor or stranger struggling to walk and carry packages, we offered to help. And little old ladies were never jumped for their purses either.
If a family member a friend or even just a neighbor were sick or injured we gladly offered our assistance and helped in any way we could. We’d bring meals, go to the market and when we had extra money we’d pay for their groceries. Our mom’s would clean their house and do laundry, and our dad’s would mow the lawns and in other words just help them in any possible way to show them that we know how tough it is when one family member is so sick or injured that they can’t do things for themselves and need their spouses help. Our mom’s keep their kids for a few hours after school so their mom’s could get some much needed rest or attend doctor appointments and even take them to an appointment when we could and not expect to be paid for it, not even for our gas. It didn’t matter if we knew they had more money than we did we just did it to ease their pain – and yes it sure does ease their pain. Sadly those days of caring for others have long gone.
Oh if only we could bring back those Good Ole’ Days…. THE REALLY GOOD OLE DAYS because life would be much more satisfying today if we only could…. Try it some time, even just one time. Help a sick or injured person, devote time to them and you will find some really good satisfaction. Believe me, you will see. It can surely make you and your day much better and the only cost to you would be just a little bit of your time, nothing more, no money at all, trust me, try it you’ll see.
Sadly the “Good Ole Days” are now just memories for the older folks and tales to tell the younger folks. As Andy Rooney once said the best teacher is at the foot of an elderly person.
The smell of my grama’s (who lived next door to us) kitchen. She was always baking something special that she shared with us. She had apple trees in her yard and would make the best apple pies.
Beautiful card today!!
I remember in some hot summer nights slepping outside in the backyard Mom, Dad and all us kids … we never used to lock the doors.
Becca, Thanks for the chance to win some wonderful candy! You are so thoughtful. Good ole days! So many wonderful memories. But mostly I cannot believe all the fun we had as kids not having any of what the kids have today. O
I remember us kids would go build a play fort on my grandmothers empty lot and get water from the spring. I too remember the out houses and wringer washer my mom used. I also remember when every winter the lake would freeze over and my dad would drive out on the ice with the rest of the guys for the ice fishing jamborie and of course my favorite part was the food. Grilled brats. My sister still lives in the area and she said the lake hasn’t frozen that thick in years.Thanks for the memories.
Ah, the good ole days! I just laugh thinking that these are the good ole days for my children. I remember being able to walk the streets at any hour and not being afraid, of spending two weeks every summer at the beach with my family, and of the beauty of church camp. It is fun to look back and causes me to smile on the inside.
Blessings, Kim.
Hi Becca
I love to remember Carrying my son home from school and singing funny songs for him!
He is a man now…..but I cherish those moments!
Hugs
Marcia
i remember crossing the street to the park by our house. We had to hold hands and be real careful to watch for cars. But once we were on the otherside, it was a free for all! Swings and slides and monkey bars! again, we didn’t get home until late.. well untill we looked towards home and mom waving to us to come in for dinner!
One of my favorites thimgs to was go to the penny candy store and buy Chum Gum Bubble gum and red licorice strings. I use to braid them up and then eat them. They were made in Sweden and they taste nothing like the licorice the children eat today. My sister’s and my brother and i would visit the penny candy sotre everyday. Nothing like the good ole days!!!!!!!!
Well, the thing I love about the good ole days is the phone with the dial on it. We still have one hooked up at our house and it is truly fun when someone asks how to use it (friends of the children) or we “oldies” who just love talking about it..and even the old stories of RA was for Randolph…and JA was for Jackson…MA for Market as you dialed rather than a number when you used letters for the first two digits. Too fun! Although it is a pain when I use it and it tells me to press a number and there is no on line message to hold and then I need to get a different phone in the house. sUSAn
Thanks for the wonderful blog candy offer. I went to the Akron, OH Stamp Convention and saw a number of your Our Daily Bread Designs cards in person. They are wonderful.
When I was 9 years old, I could ride my bike across town to meet friends at the movies in the summers. I would never send my child out alone at that age now.
I never had the farm experience, but I recall playing outside until it was dark. Walking to the corner store for “penny candy.” Having 25 cents made you appear rich, because you could finance the “neighborhood penny candy party” with all your friends. I recall the milk man delivering milk in glass bottles. How about “Knee Hi” sodas. All sodas came in glass bottles and the kids looked forward to redeeming them. Oh, what about the red ball that came in a box of Tide Detergent. Growing up in Los Angeles had the unique advantage of the “Helm’s Bakery Wagon.” It would come into our neighborhood early Saturday mornings with”fresh” donuts. The driver would be in a white uniform, driving a wood paneled wagon, that would open up in the rear and it would be filled with trays of all kinds of donuts. Oh, the good ole days!
I remember going to visit with my Grandparents in Indiana in the summers. Man oh man was it hot! All the bedrooms were on the second floor, and of course they didn’t have AC. But I also remember going out in the early mornings with Grandma and picking fresh vegetables from the garden. Then sitting in the shade of the porch drinking ice tea and shelling peas and snapping beans. Oh those tasted soooo good! Grandpa had gotten me an old bike from someplace and I could ride all over town. No one ever worried that something bad would happen to me. It was a little tiny town, everyone knew everyone else. Even if I didn’t know them, they knew who I was and where I belonged. Everything was so much more innocent back then. When I was really little they still had a party telephone! Not to mention the operator placed all your calls, and of course, knew every-bodies business in town!
R/
When I was young, I lived on a farm. We all had our chores to do each day, but there was time in the summer for lots of play. I remember spending many afternoons playing with my siblings by the creek that ran through our cow pasture. When we’d leave the house, we’d take a mason jar of water, a few cookies, and my mother wouldn’t see us again ’til it was “chores” time. Hours would be spent making mud pies, making “pottery” with the clay soil along the creek, and wading in the cool clear water of the creek. Sometimes, that mason jar came home with tadpoles in it!
i was just telling my father on the weekend how i remembered how he took me when he went golfing…i used to scour high and low for errant golf balls and inevitable he always went home with more golf balls than he brought…i used to love those times, lots of laughs and i’m sure there was someone out there who could have sworn “their ball landed right there”…lol
I asked my children what comes to mind when they hear “good old days” This is what they said, (16 year old)before algebra and chemistry and (11 year old)summer time when we could play all day.Ha Ha.Kids are funny.
We practically lived at the swimming pool during summers. We’d walk thru our neighborhood, across a field, thru the woods, and around the back of the pool property to get to it. We took lessons every year too. I usually went with my sisters.
Looking forward to going thru the blog candy!!!
I remember Grandpa Bill had a rooster and he let me and my sister name him Big Red. One day Pa Bill found him dead. We wanted to have a funeral for him and Pa Bill said okay and that we should sing a song so, we sang Jingle Bells. We had good times back then with our Grandparents
Flying from Auckland to Christchurch (NZ) every school holidays on the Air Force planes to spend the holidays with my grandparents, it wasn’t first class but flying in a cargo plane was WAAAAAAAAY better when you were 10 :)
Another story from the Ozarks. When we went to visit my grandparents just a little south of Springfield Mo. We always looked foreward to the day we would pile in the back of a couple of pick up trucks and head to the creek for a day of water play. We had sooo much fun. My cousins,( a couple of years older than me) always brought inner tubes and rafts. We played in the water until we were exhausted and starving. My aunts would always bring hot dogs to grill and the best cold fried chicken ever!!! I’m pretty sure that my girls would never step foot in a creek and if they knew about the crawdads and leeches they wouldn’t even get out of the truck! To the good ole days……. I would love some blog candy
The good old days included no A/C, and a breeze so cool in the summer you had to have blankets. It also meant picking dandelions and Mom making a dish with bacon from the greens.
This has really set my mind to thinking about the changes I’ve seen in my lifetime. Imagine what all my Mother-in-law has seen in the 91 years she has been alive.
Candy Meyers
Hmmm… I don’t think I’m old enough to talk about the Good Ole Days. That’s my parents and grandmother’s job! :)
But I remember playing as a kid in my grandmother’s attic with a cousin. There were so many old things up there. We had fun tunneling around it all!
Now I’m really interested in researching and scrapbooking my family history. So I’m hearing lots of stories from older family members about the Good Ole Days.
What I remember about the good ol’ days were the days off in the winter time because of snow storms. I couldn’t wait to get out in those big banks that swirled about and that they became my soda fountain. I dug holes in the banks, made snowballs that became my ice cream and just had a grand time. I imagination ran away with me. I don’t ever remember getting cold and it seemed like I was out there most of the day. You just don’t see many kids out playing in the winter time any more.
I’m way older than you but I remember many of the same things…playing Draw a Magic Circle………..Red Rover….. Statues….riding out bikes all over town. Loved those days.
How about those ice cream trucks that came through the neighborhood? All the kids would run out with their money and line up.
carol b.
I LOVE remember ‘when’. My favorite times were spent with my Grandma (who lived just across the shelter belt). Growing up in the country with 2 older brothers who didn’t really care to spend time with little sis, I frequently escaped to Grandma’s. She passed along her love of crafting and music to me. We’d spend hours listening to her old records and recycling every day items into fabulous creations. My favorite project was paper dolls and chains.
The good ol’ days when my parents were alive, they always entertained on Sunday afternoon, my Mom always had a roast going or a couple of chickens in the oven and when we came home from Church we always had company, my Mom was a wonderful cook. It would be a fun filled Sunday afternoon.
This remembering is such fun! I loved watching Lassie and the Ed Sullivan Show on our black & white tv as a child! I’m so glad I was around for those days! Thanks for the “remembering”!
Debra
Going to Grandma and Grandpas on Sundays for dinner. Families just don’t seem to get together now like they used to. You made me start singing one of my favorite songs….Grandpa, by the Judds
Lol, the good old days!!! My grandson was over last week with me and we were sitting around and Making a Birthday card for his mom.
(my daughter). Micky is 6 yrs old lol, and this is what he said” Nan, I sure do miss the good ole days when we would hang in the kitchen and bake apple pies and chocolate chip cookies “. I remember i was so small you would sit me on the counter and i would play with the cookie dough. Lol, Well what can I say, I miss the good ole days too!!.
My family owns a farm, now just planted in timber, but we used to go fishing at the pond which was on it. I loved to catch little fish with my cane pole and red and white cork, and then my dad would throw them right back in. Most were too little to keep anyway.
I remember the time when I was a kid, we would play in the yard with clay pots and cook rice and eat it too. my friends mom would come out and give us a slice each of very yummy cake to go with it. Isn’t that an interesting combination rice and cake…but I loved those days…
Ah! Yes! Summer gatherings of family and friends! Loads of food and softball games for us children!
One of my fondest memories was punching holes into the lid of a pickle jar with a screw driver & a hammer to catch fireflies. Our neighborhood had woods and gardens and we’d run aroud the neighborhood until my mom called us in. Then I’d sleep with the fireflies next to my bed. They seemed magical! JIL
I remember being able to play in the street…baseball and football with us girls being cheerleaders. And we all knew enough to move to the sidewalk when a car came down the street!
I remember riding backwards in the rear seat of our station wagon. And the tomato smell going past the Hunts Tomato factory building on the way to pick up my Dad from work. We only had one car so my folks shared it between them
DeniseB
Bonfires in the back field with all the relatives and neighbours gathered around roasting hot dogs and marshmellows – especially on May 24 which is a big holiday here in Canada….used to be called Victoria Day to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday. Outdoor parties were always hosted at our farm for some strange reason. Such fun!
I remember LOTS of camping trips! We didn’t have electricity or running water at the campsite but we had lots of fun swimming in the Lake, hiking, boating, and riding bikes! Oh to be back in the older, slower days!
Thanks for the chance to win! I love your website.
Watching “As The World Turns” with my grandmother while eating fresh, homegrown tomatoes by the bushel!! LOL
Ice skating and sleigh riding with my family when I was a child was so much fun!!
Sweet and delicious memories of this country girl visiting grandparents in New York City, and the most amazing thing: a truck would visit the neighborhoods with ICE CREAM!!! lol Ah, a wonderful childhood!
I come from a family of 12 kids and holidays were always hectic but I miss those days. On holidays my aunts and uncles would also come for dinner so we had chairs and tables placed everywhere. There was always room for one more whoever showed up unexpectedly they were always welcome. Holidays were never the same after I married and moved out of state. My siblings are spread out now and we don’t get together but those large family gatherings are still in my memory and missed.
Birthday parties were generally just with family members, unless there was a special one. Mom made the cake. Never had a store bought birthday cake until I was well into adulthood.
Thanks for jogging all our memories with thoughts of a wonderful life.
When I was a little girl my Dad use to make homemade root beer. He
saved “Dad’s” root beer bottles to put it in so we thought that was pretty
cool and certainly yummy! Along with homemade ice cream we were
in heaven. Thanks so much for the chance to win this wonderful blog
candy. Blessings for a great week!
I remember ice skating down the road and pushing the cars that were going to work out to the main roads, here in Michigan. Helping granny pick strawberries and canning the pickles. Granny made it fun. Going to my great Aunt and uncles farm and milking the cows.
And all the family gatherings. They just don’t do that now like when we were kids. I loved the family gatherings and especially the pot lucks yum. Hard to believe I was a skinny kid with all the food I would eat at the gatherings. Being able to visit the neighbors and nobody worrying about where we were.
We’d help the neighbor with her leaves and sometimes she’d treat us with a pancake rolled up with jelly inside. Or maybe a cookie. Or just a thank you.
Carolyn
Remember when they used to pump your gas and check you oil Wash the windshield too. Boy – wasn’t that a great service!!!
Barbara
One of my fondest memories is hearing the bell of the “Good Humor” (ice cream) man. My two sisters, my brother and I would run into the house to ask my mother for money to buy ice cream. Then, we would run like crazy to catch him. Oh what fun we had together.
The good ole days #2… We used to go to Disneyland every few years. We’d get new clothes for the trip – it was such a big deal. My sister and I would stay up late (in bed) because we were so excited. We’d talk about what we thought it was going to be like. Then came the looooooonnnnggg drive. But it was probably only around 2 or 3 hours before we’d stop at the first motel. We’d spend a day or two and then drive another 2 or 3 hours to the next motel….until we finally arrived to see the BIG mountain. We knew we were very close then. The rest is a blur… It’s funny that I remember before more than during or after our vacations! See ya tomorrow :)
Love and hugs ~
Lori
Enjoying my Siamese cat and horse. I had such fun with them.
We are fortunate to have 10 grandchildren and a great granddaughter due in July. I wonder how many out there remember having your baby in the hospital and stay in the hospital for 5 days of pampering including a back rub at night. That time gave us the luxury of recuperating after having a baby. These days you might get to stay a day if you have had a c-section.
Good old Days…
I remember sitting around the dinner table and getting so silly with mom, my sis, and bro that we would laugh until we cried and then we would start laughing again.
Diane
I remember living on a farm in New Zealand when we were little. we had a goat called Sally and she would eat the plums from the plum tree and spit the stones out of the side of her mouth. A very funny sight. We used to walk 3 miles to school and in the winter we would see the little Maori children with bare feet smashing the ice on the puddles. Brrrrrrr! They were tough little kids.
All our cows had names. Mum’s special cow was called Clare and we used to ride her. Those were the days.
Hugs Marion
This is really fun remembering all the fun I had, especially since I had a great childhood in the country. I really loved playing kick the can, late at night, in the street, under the street lights. It felt so fun to be out in the dark, I think it added a little scariness to the game that was exciting. I loved being able to ride our bikes to explore nearby towns without any worries about being kidnapped or hurt. Where we could afford to go to the movies or bowling because it did not cost very much. Halloween was especially fun, making our own costumes, it was just as fun getting ready as it was getting the candy. Stay tuned for more………
Being 63 years old I have my version of the “good ole’ days”, but my children have their version of the “good ole’ days”, too. It is so interesting to see those good ole’ days change every year. I think the goold ole’ days is just a mood, a feeling. It is a time when we felt good and didn’t feel the burden of the world on them like stress, bills, schedules, etc. I remember a time of innocence when I could play outside and not worry about bad people. I grew up in a small town and we could walk to town with a friend and get a coke at the drug store. We could walk to town and go to a movie. I didn’t worry about bad things because I was innocent and living in a worry free time. It was all good!!!!
Gayle Taylor
Becca,
I seem to remember life being a little more simple ‘back then’. I miss that. Once again you have made a card that is fantastic. I am looking at the card for today, Monday, April 26. God is still in the miracle working business and I’m so thankful He’s in control and not me.
Connie
I used to love summers growing up. We lived in the country with no neighbors for miles. My brother and I would play outside from dawn to dusk. I loved the smell of fresh hay being cut, seeing all the stars at night, catching fireflies, swimming in the lake, etc. Thanks for the chance to win!
swimming in the ocean with my cousins.
i remember going to the movies at a the now restored and well known art deco Warner Theatre of my hometown. I vividly remember seeing gone with the wind. it cost 25 cents and we would get a pencil box or something as a free gift.
Becca,
Sounds as tho you and I grew up the same way. I remember my Dad milking the cows and we make our own butter in a little wooden mold that my Dad made. We grew nearly all of our food, gathered chesnuts, gooseberries, grapes, went to the fields to pick blackberries in the summer., not so many bugs then. Also the phone Party Line, where everyone along our road used the same line, had to pick up the phone to see if someone else was talking. Wouldn’t the kids today like that! We did not have TV, so I played the piano, played checkers with my Dad, worked many puzzles. Oh, the good old days. This has been a joy to think back to those days., when life was so simple and not so much stress and worry.We had a little family cemetery close to our house, the daffodils would bloom there each spring, and I would just wait for those flowers, watching, and then would sneak in and pick them. I figured that those people could not see them, and I would just enjoy them instead.
Another beautiful card as always, Blessings to you, Darlene
The good old days, when you did not have to lock your doors, when called home it was one bell ring for me and two bell rings for my brother and three bell rings for both of us to get home right now. (we had a bell mounted outside the door back door), when you could sleep out side under the stars and the only thing you was scared of was the stories told. There are so many great memories.
Many great memories growing up. We lived in a rural area and most everyone went to the same church. My dad believed in going Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday evening prayer meeting and all revivals that were held. My dad led the singing at times and everyone was the choir! I think my love of singing was from all those great old hymns!
I remember Sunday nights were bath night and then it was The Wonderful World of Disney, after that it was bed time
Ahhh… life was a lot simpler then, and we didn’t have so much stuff to get stressed over! I spent most of my free time reading as a kid or playing with the neighbor kids.
I have many wonderful memories of time spent with my grandparents. Some mornings I was awakened by the sound of my grandmother’s electric churn. I watched her pack the soft butter into a wooden mold and then carefully push it out to reveal the floral design on top of the butter. Now I enjoy displaying that butter mold in my home and telling my granddaughter about how it was used!
I remember making our own games and toys. Cans for tying onto our feet and making “stilts”. Bottle caps for checkers – up for one color and down for the other color. Mud and china berries for baking mud pies. Cutting paper dolls out of the newspapers or magazines. Ah, the good old days!
I remeber playing outside from sun up till sundown. We weren’t worried about the sun and the sun screen we used was SPF 2, and the coppertone baby had a tan.
the good old days was when I lived at home and thought money grew on trees and didn’t have to worry about making the house payment or buying groceries. But I need to keep my focus on the future! God will never leave me nor forsake us and He LOVES me!
Hmmmm…good ol’ (summer) days…
…getting up early and meeting the neighborhood kids every day and staying out all day long with them,
various clubs,
picnics,
going to the little convenience store 4,5,6 times a day for popsicles, sugar powder, caramel, chocolate and the like,
biking,
roller skating both outside and sometimes at the local rink with the flashing lights and funky music,
skipping,
swimming at the nearby recreation centre a couple of times a day for 2-3 hours at a time,
running though sprinklers,
writing letters to friends in the summer sun,
making dance routines to our favourite songs on our little ghetto blasters,
Michael Jackson, Madonna and Lionel Ritchie,
taping songs off of the radio,
board games,
atari and pac man,
chatting until dark on our porches,
playing “school”,
hide and seek…
my oh my, we were always so active…what a time, what a childhood, what fun!
So many great memories from “the good ol’ days”…..I was fortunate enough to have the best of both worlds….I lived on a farm part of my childhood & I also lived in town a part of that time. I have many wonderful memories from both.
WOW Becca
Thanks for bringing back memories of the GOOD old days. I spent my summers in a small country town with my great aunt. And it was oh so much fun, I got to draw water from the well daily and it was ice cold. I had to pick up chips to get the fire started in the stove, (yes, to some of you it was wooden stove) LOL It would smell so good in that old kitchen didn’t matter which meal was being prepared. My aunt and I would walk down the old rocky red dirt road to visit another great aunt. Oh my and the little country store where we would stop to get me a treat ‘Jack Cookies or Moon cookies to some). And the BLUE Bell creamy was only about 12-15 miles away. We went to town on Saturdays twice a month. Now talking about back in the days!!
thanks for reminding me of the good old days
Wow Becca,
My childhood was pretty much like yours except that my parents, my sister and I lived in the same house as our grandmother. My daddy promised his father that he would live there as long as my grandmother lived and take care of her. My granddad deeded dad the property and the old house. Granddad died before I was born.
I can remember wash day when my mother and grandmother would boil water in the big black wash pots and boil the white clothes. We didn’t have a wranger washer it was all done by hand until I was about 12 years old.
I have other memories but I will save them for later.
What s beautiful card Becca, TYFS! It’s simple, yet so elegant. Oh, I would really like to know how you tied that bow too. I hope you and your Honey are still doing better. It’s fun to read all the memories of the good old days from your followers. I can remember catching the school bus home, (I grew up in the country) and hurrying into the house. I threw down my books. A quick “Hi” to my Mom, and I turned on the TV set. American Bandstand was my FAVORITE show! There were couples on the show that my friends and I followed and talked about. They were so cool. They set the trends for clothes and we all wanted to dance like them. What fun. I still love those old songs when I hear them. Thanks for stirring up the memories Becca. Blessings!
Day 2 of the good ole days ~ weekly family bbq. Almost every Thursday we had a bbq at Vet’s Park. A large portion of my dad’s family and extended (2nd, 3rd, 4th cousins) went. We had steak, the best beans ever, garlic bread, (I don’t remember salads, though I’m sure they were there). The adults would sit around and talk, guys playing horseshoes, and us kids just had the entire run of the park. It was so nice. I can’t imagine, with everything going on today, that we could even plan to do something like that on a quarterly basis. But back then, it seemed like it just happened, no lengthy coordination; you just knew to be there.
One of my favorite memories is when we first moved out in the country were the many summer days of playing in the field of wild flowers and my girlfriend and I would get our “dress up” dresses, hats, gloves and purses and have tea parties and make salads out of the wildflowers and grasses. We only pretended to eat them but were they ever colorful. There were always wild blackberries and a crab apple tree that we did eat our fill of, enjoying every mouth full.
So yesterday I told a story of teepeeing someone’s car at college and what happened to my roommate & I because of it. I had not known at the time that a friend of mine (& sister of one of the guys) had been taken to the lake and left there to walk back to campus at midnight all alone, because they thought she had been the one that teepeed the car. Poor girl, and I never found out until we were both over forty. I felt so bad, but after that long we had quite a laugh about it. Reconnecting with those old friends has been fun and brought back so many good memories of all the crazy stuff we did and how much fun we had during our teen years.
Going to my grandparents in the country and playing with my dog and feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs. Such a carefree life.
the good old days ae when i was 4 y/o and started riding horse at my neighboors that lasted until i was 18 and went to college, very nice time and i would spend most of my free time there.
thanks becca, your blessed
colleen
I remember when I was little, my sister and I used to go down to the closest drainage pond and play around in the mud and cattails catching frogs. In the summer, the grassy field near by would be filled with tiny, tiny little bright green tree frogs. The sound at night was terrific!….sigh….good times
Oh joy! Viisiting my gran on a Saturday. She’d take me to the local bakery where she’d buy some lovely little cottage loaf type rolls and we’d eat them, laden in butter, while watching the Saturday afternoon wrestling on the TV. My Nan got very vocal while watching the wrestling – lol!
Aaah the good ole days…growing up on the beach at Bribie and swimming home from school on a hot day….pure bliss!! :-)) Thanks for the opportunity to win this awesome candy Becca. Cheers!
I associate childhood summers with walking barefoot alot. The hot hayfields and the prickly stubble that your feet toughened up to, the cool soft green grass of the lawn under the elm trees, the cold water when we went down to the river. When you are barefoot, your feet are so sensitive to and tell you so much about your environment. The only reason I wanted to put shoes on to go back to school was because my feet would grow and I would need new ones.
BECCA BECCA YOU ASKED FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS. I REMEMBER
MY FATHER RENTING A TRAILER AND WE WOULD PUT EVERYTHING BUT
THE KITCHEN SINK AND DRIVE TO THE COTTAGE. THIS WOULD BE THE DAY AFTER SCHOOL WAS DONE. WE STAYED THERE ALL SUMMER AND
THE DAY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED MY FATHER WOULD RENT ANOTHER
TRAILER AND FILL IT BAC K UP FOR THE TRIP HOME. WE WOULD BUY
ALL OUR SCHOOL CLOTHES IN THE LITTLE TOWN NEAR THE COTTAGE.
ABOUT ONE MILE FROM THE COTTAGE I WOULD SIT ON MY FATHERS LAP
AND HOLD THE STEERING WHEEL BUT HE WOULD DO THE BRAKE AND GAS.\ MY LEGS WERE NOT LONG ENOUGH. I WAS ABOUT 9 YRS OLD.
I THOUGHT I WAS REALLY SOMETHING DRIVING. WHILE AT THE COTTAGE. THE BOY SCOUTS WOULD COME CAMPING AND ON SAT EVE.
THEY WOULD INVITE MOTHERS FATHERS AND OF COURSE ALL THE GIRLS
TO A FIRE WITH HOT DOGS ETC. WHEN WE SAT THEM MARCHING TO
THE BEACH WE WOULD HURRY AND SWIM TO THE RAFT AT THE PUBLIC
BEACH AND BE THERE BEFORE THEY WOULD. SUCH GREAT MEMORIES.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING US PUT THEM DOWN ……… PLEASE ADD ME
TO THE LIST FOR THE BLOG CANDY.
CYNTHIA
Wow, you have gotten alot of responses!!! Let see, my next installment of the memory of me is……I remember camping with my parents. We inherited the camper from my dad’s parents and on the weekends we would pack it up with food from the house and our clothes and just get in and drive untill we found someplace to stay for the weekend.
In California you could pull off the highway next to the beach and stay the night, or sometimes we would go to a campground. Ilove those times. Nothing extravagant, just simple good times with my mom and dad and every once in awhile a friend that I brought along.
Family is the best, I only wish mine lived closer!!!!
In the good old days we would skate for miles on the frozen fields in winter. We don’t seem to have the same winters as we did 40 years ago. Hugs, Nellie.
the “good old days time” for me would be learning about Nature…. insects, mushrooms, vegetables in the garden with my grand-father and how important it is to respect it. I wish more people learn that to their kids.
thanks for this candy :)
Before my parents divorced, I remember all (6) of us going downtown and parking on main street, getting an ice cream and watching people ride by or walk up and down the street. I love doing this today, just sitting and watching people and imagining what their lives are like.
The good ole days for me was…..getting up in the morning washing the concrete steps for my grandma, helping her with laundry and then going outside where the rest of the children who were finished their chores by 12:00 in the afternoon shared their bikes , ran around playing freeze tag and catching berries and rocks to make our mud stew before the late comers came……….WOW!!! What ever happend to the fun of imagination. I’m glad I didn’t have the internet then.
Another beautiful card, Becca. Wonder if you mail your layered cards, do you need extra postage?
Having grown up on a farm, most of my childhood”good old days” memories involve the outdoors and what seemed to be lots of hard work!! Responsibility starts young on a farm and I had my share…..chickens to feed, calves to take care of, haying, milking , gardening to help with ,etc…but along with the work was the fun…horses to ride in the fields, streams to splash in to cool off, hills to sled in the winter…gardens to find fresh vegetable “treats’ in, long bike rides ( on roads that we didn’t worry about strangers or danger!!), berry picking with some for the bucket and some for me……
What I always felt was a hard childhood was such a good foundation for my ‘real life’!!…something I worked very hard to instill in my own two boys when I grew up and moved away from the farm!!
Ahhhh…the good old days!!
My fondest memories are of Sundays after church all my cousins would gather at our grandparents for dinner. We would play outside and ride horses. I was the youngest so I was last to do everything. I miss those big family dinners.
I remember helping my grandmother wash windows (some of them 3 stories up and sitting out the window) and lace curtains and then pinning and stretching the curtains to a large frame with nails sticking out. Then we would clean the 2 inch wide slatted metal window blinds. We would then iron the large table linens on a mangle which was very hot. Between the curtains nails and the metal blinds I did a lot of bleeding and the mangle provided many a burn, but I wouldn’t change a thing. My grandparents spent a lot of time with me and helped me grow up straight and narrow and now I am trying to be the same help to my granddaughters.
I loved the times as a child when my family did a jigsaw puzzle together,
I remember money was not sewed up much when stockings we them were torn and greased with nail polish, and socks dressed on a bulb and darned….
We were small – I and the brother went to wood to tear mushrooms – one, without parents and nobody was afraid
Thanks Becca!
does anyone go blueberry picking in the woods anymore? I loved doing that as a kid and my mom would make blueberry muffins.
Life was different back then. My mother would make our clothes when we were little on her Singer with the manual pedal. Yes, Becca we had one too. I later made my own clothes on that same machine. We also had one of those wringer washing machines and rinsed our clothes in the stationary tubs in the basement, then hung them out on the clothline to dry. Boy do we have it good now!!!!
My grandpa, who lived a couple of houses away from us, would give me a nickel. This was to use at the “little store” that was a block over. I would use it to buy a Hershey bar or 5 pieces of penny candy. Can you imagine a nickel buying anything anymore?
Reminiscing is fun!! We have only been off the farm for 2 years now. Sure miss the peace and quiet. I especially liked the night times when it was pitch black outside and the northern lights would start to dance across the sky. I would even wake up the kids to go and watch. We don’t see this in the city any more!!
Thanks for a chance to win!!
One sad difference from when I was a child and my kids childhood is the freedom to roam your community. I don’t feel I told my mother every move I took. If I wanted to bike down to the local mini mall to buy some candy or go to the park, I did it. I always knew to be home well before a meal time. Then, I lived in a suburb of Toronto. Now I live in a fairly save settlement farther north but require to know where my kids are at all times. If they went to a park, one of us went with them (per-teen age). I wish they too could have enjoyed the same freedom I once had.
Oh yes! The good old days…. I keep cribbing to anyone who’d listen that I feel bad my son won’t experience the joys of childhood that I did. I stayed in a small town.. in fact. away from the town in a colony of 18 families…. we had our own play space; we plucked fruits from the trees and had them…filled our frocks with fruits in fact!; made little summer houses to play in…. cut fresh flowers every day for the home … spent every waking hour cherishing the sweet sound of tropical birds! Nothing is the same in cities!!!
Hugs from India,
Smita
my good ole days are of playing in the streets, about 20 of us, and all different ages, football, rounders, gutterball campionships, hide’n’seek, skipping, even the boys would join in!!!
It was great, i dont see anything like this at all. Shame really.
Great Candy thanks
margaret
uk
I remember when I was a little girl we had a box on our porch and the milk man came a couple times a week to leave milk & other dairy items. In the summer, my mom would order freezer pops from him too.
All the neighborhood kids would get together to play “kick the can” and would use a discarded oil can from the gas station on the corner as the can.
I love the card from today. Kind of a departure from your signature style, but you pegged it!! Memories…I miss having the time to do NOTHING all day. And it was okay. I’d color, play dolls, ride my bike, dig in the dirt, whatever…
I loved double dutch! We always played in front of our building. Sometimes we would go out back and make mud pies. I could talk to my best friend from our window, cause our buildings were so close, lol I’d forgotten about that! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
I remember when I was in elementary school (a public school) that all the girls had to where dresses or skirts – no slacks or jeans. Snow pants under your dress in the winter. At the time I wished I was a boy – now I wish all the little girls wore more dresses. Isn’t that funny!
Good morning. Here is another cute story from my youth.
It was closed to Christmas. My Mother took me to the toy store to help her pick out a doll for my cousin. I picked out a pretty doll with a pink satin dress. I LOVED IT. I remember feeling sad that it was for my cousin and not me.
Well Christmas eve I put up my stocking, even though we are Jewish we put up stockings for Santa.
And there on Christmas day, Santa had left that beautiful doll for me.
Arlene S
My second “good old days” memory would be of going fishing with the family. We had a canoe and would lug that thing to the local pond and fish and swim and relax on the shore and just have a wonderful lazy afternoon with family.
In the good old days, we knew what to do when we went outside. We built forts, we made homemade rootbeer and pulled it around in a wagon to sell it. The mailman was our best customer. We could walk to the corner store or just sit under a tree. Ahhhh……
I remember riding in the back of a pick-up truck. There were always so many of us that we could never fit in the cab. Oh the good ‘ole days, such wonderful memories.
I came into my love of recycled crafting through my Mom. I remember coming home from school one day with an assignment that we had to make dollhouse furniture from things around the home. I was so worried that we couldn’t do it. But Mom and I went around the house gathering thread spools with cotton & fabric for chairs, tissue box for the couch, and loads of other goodies to dress up the place. I was so amazed by what we were able to use, that as I grew up I was able to look at throw away items in a whole new light. I thank my Mom for my creative abilities!
I LOVED wading through the mud puddles barefoot after a nice warm rain.
In the good ole days, I loved to jump rope and hula hoop for hours! Not sure I could do it for an hour now! Thanks for the memories!
Amazingly our minds reflect back to only good memories and is able to
push aside the very sad. Eating the pears, plums and peaches that fell to the ground in our yard as an afternoon snack while playing in my blow-up swimming pool!!
I remember tying logs together with twine so we could float around the pond and catch crayfish and frogs.
I remember flying kites in our back field, fishing with my dad, and ending a family hike with a wiener roast in the woods.
I remember making dandelion necklaces (now everyone just sprays chemicals on them), and picking buttercup bouquets for my mother.
I loved looking for 4-leaf clovers and playing “he-loves-me, he-loves-me-not” with daisies.
Thanks for reminding me of some good times and the chance for some great blog candy.
I remember many many hours spent crafting with my mom – often until the wee hours of the morning. She did various crafts over the years (whatever the ‘rage’ was at the time) & I was always working with her. Many laughs! Those are the best memories I have of mom. She would have LOVED stamping!!
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!!
The Good Ol’ Days………every weekend all the kids on the street (there were about 10-15 of us) and by BFF dad would play either Kick Ball or touch football. I can still remember how MAD the boys would get when the girls got the ball and run in for a touchdown!
Your “good ole days” recollections sound a lot like mine except for me it was shelling soup beans. I love it, and getting out and catching lightening bugs in a canning jar and just the idea of running barefoot through the grass and how the stars were always SO bright and just laying in the yard and seeing how many you could count! And the best one – fresh out of the garden corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans – and just taking the salt shaker to the garden with me and wiping off a tomato right off the vine and eating it, yum. We lived on a farm and the baby calves were so sweet and their little noses were so soft and warm.
We lived 2 blocks from a lake and on hot summer days we would spend the day swimming and having fun.
Becca,
Thanks for this nudge to stroll down memory lane… it’s always fun.
Someone further back mentioned her granma’s tin of buttons. Well, my Mom had one too, and I have sweet memories of sorting thru them, seemed like for hours. I can still see some of them in my mind’s eye!
Paper dolls, hula hoops, barbie dolls, kool-aid stands, swinging forever out on the swing, trying to reach the sky!
Jump rope endlessly…& hopscotch! Oh, how we loved hopscotch!
Hide & Seek, Red-light-Green-light, Red Rover…fun, fun, fun!
Trick-or-treating and never having to worry about a thing, just dump out all the candy, and eat it without a thought.
Happy days, outside with all the neighborhood kids. Catching fireflies…sigh.
Lots of love & hugs, and again, thank you, because you made me stop and remember the sweet, simple things.
Grandma hung sheets on the line to dry, and instead of hanging underwear in the middle she left it open. This was a great place to “play.” I can my cousin, the little boy across the street, and myself playing inbetween these sheets. We had just been to the THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, and we were playing with our swords (sticks). We played the Ten Commandments all summer long. Yes, we “rescued” the slaves, an d the sheets were the sides of the water as we walked thru the Red Sea!
Becca,
What sweet blog candy!!!! One favorite memory of my early days is just how uncomplicated life was and how happy I was with next to nothing. Things have not added to happiness but I guess they do make life easier. I remember that all neighbors were in the same situation and we had wonderful relationships with the neighbors. Now we might not even know someone who lives next door except to say hi.
Mary
When I was young we had a wood furnace to heat our house. Several Saturday mornings my Dad would call my brother and I out of bed at 7:30 am to pack the wood that he had split into the shed. On weekends when my cousin would sleepover, it was no different. Of course she would be laughing her head off about it, while I was pissed to have to get up at such an ungodly hour on my day off from school. Looking back now, I always have a good chuckle about it. :)
I was raised on a farm. Life was so much simpler then. Aren’t memories great companions?
I remember Mom coming home one day and showing off a pair of high heel shoes…”I love this color she said, it is burnt red” I still remember that … I think that was the moment I fell in love with high heel shoes….I was around 6 years old …she used to love wearing high heels but she will wear them only for special occasions (woow! where the time went).
I remember playing all day and night outside. I loved being with everyone on the block. We had a family that lived down the street and they had 10 kids. 5 girls and 5 boys. When we first moved into the neighborhood they brought up a chocolate cake for us. It was so nice of them to do that. They had a big house and it was busy all the time. I remember one day, when it came lunchtime they were fixing grill cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. I was shocked at how much bread they used for one meal. It was amazing being part of that family. I would spend the night all the time. I loved it there. For Christmas they baked and baked, cookies for everyone. I don’t know how many they ever give away because one by one, everyone would come in and grab handfuls and walk away. Ahhh the simple days of life. I miss that!
We had several tree houses over the years – they got more sophisticated as we got older. We made them ourselves from scraps of wood, with no adult intervention in those days. Our last one was a covered two-level affair. It was so cool. I remember sitting up on the second level platform amidst the branches and leaves with the sun filtering down. So peaceful. As I look back, I’m amazed that our parents let us climb to those heights using a ladder made of slats of wood nailed to the side of a tree!
I remember when playgrounds were totally dangerous and WONDERFUL. You could play all day on the teeter totters (wooden ones full of splinters), spin to you hearts content on the merry go round (falling off when the vectors got too overpowering) and climb on top of the jungle gym (hoping to fall off from slippery fingers)
BUT…I learned a lot about balance (we would teeter totter without using our feet, just leaning back and forth to learn about balance), centrifical force and hey, gravity. So maybe it was not so bad after all…
Have a lovely day…eli
Another good old day memory: Spending the weekend with my Aunt Evelyn. We’d take the bus or sometimes a cab to downtown Columbus and shop at Lazarus and eat in the Chintz room. Aunt Evelyn always made me feel so grown up and special. As child #5 out of 7, it was hard to get attention at home :)
I’ve done a lot of thinking about this topic this week. How about penny candy? My mom would give my brother and I five cents, and we would go to the local store and spend a lot of time pouring over the candy. Would it be wax bottles, licorice, dots on paper, candy on a string, bubble gumor what? It was such a wonderful treat to pick out our favorites.
Shirley L.
Roseville, CA
Hi Becca,
This has been sooooooo much fun – reading the memories of others and nodding my head – yes, I remember that tooooo.
I remember the day my dad brought home our first tv WHOA! ! ! ! Then watching Howdy Doody time and laughing when one of the puppets would try and hold the phone after Fran had used it (she always had hand lotion on). Hopalong Cassidy (my boyfriend in my dreams), Gene Autry, Roy and Dale Rogers, the Lone Ranger and Tonto. There also was a space program, I can’t remember the name of it, but it was what we would call a serial that was on every Sat. AM. It kept you glued to your seat and even holding your breath.
American Bandstand, ooooooooooooooooo that was fun to watch and mimic/copy – learned a lot of dance steps that way. And of course Ed Sullivan – I saw Elvis Presley the first time he was on Ed’s shooow.
Ralph Cramden – to the mooooonnnn.
Oh my, those were the days. Now I don’t even own a TV. See it every once and awhile and I cannot believe the junk that is on it. Its called the dummmming down of America. Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddd.
Jean
Becca, some of my favorite things from the old days involve spending much of the summer on my grandparent’s farm. We would go play in the orchard or in the woods behind the cow pasture. We’d get very hot and sweaty climbing and running and chasing, then come back to the spring house and get a big dipper full of ice cold water for our cups. We each had a tin cup with our names carefully painted on the sides. I remember the thicket of rambler roses that covered the spring house and helped keep it insulated and cool. There was no air conditioning and electricity wasn’t brought out that far into the country unitl the mid 1950’s, so no fans, either. There were no stores close by, so all the food -meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits – came from the gardens and barn and the orchard. We had to work for our food. But what glorious days those were. We were free to explore and learn and appreciate all the bounty of nature and a well-kept farm and learn that food was EARNED.
Linda in SC
Well, growing up we spent our summer at a cottage we had in Southern Wisconsin (we lived in Illinois). I remember building tree forts in the woods, taking off in our little fishing boat with a 7.5 horsepower motor, rescueing tadpoles from a pond that the water was evaporting – I could go on and on, but it was the most marvelous time of my life. That was when a kid could be a kid, we had no computers, Wii games, etc. and we actually made our own fun outside.
Oh my, your newest pocket scriptures wallet is just amazing; you are so creative!!!
Day 3: I’d have to say some of the most wonderful Christmas’s I have spent where up at our cabin at Whistler with our family. If you owned a cabin there, you were allowed to cut down a Christmas tree from under the power lines. Each year as we drove to and from skiing for the day, we would scope our potential trees that would become our Christmas tree that year. One year we had one picked out and much to our horror when we went to get it that afternoon we saw a wide trail left by someone who had decided to cut down “our” tree! The next day we stopped after skiing, with our full ski gear on and scaled up the slope to see if there was another tree like the one we had lost. We found one, not as nice of course LOL, cut it down, put it on the car and drove it to the cabin.
Now one thing one must remember when cutting down Christmas trees outdoors is that one’s sense of size tends to go off a bit, okay a lot LOL! When we got our tree to the front door, we couldn’t get it in! The tree had branches that were incredibly wide and the tree was much taller than it seemed out on the hill under the power lines. We had to cut off about three more feet of tree and bow the branches to get the thing into the house! Then, when we tried to set it up in the “corner” of the family room, if the branches were allowed expand to their full glory, the tree would have been in the middle of the room LOL! So, we shoved it as close to the corner as we could and the branches were bowed up the walls. Made for an interesting decorating challenge LOL! To top things off, it snowed Christmas Eve (when we celebrate Christmas so we turned off all the lights except the outside deck light and just sat in silence watching the snow fall. A truly golden moment in time.
In those good old days, while I was still young, the high school in our district has six weeks of day camping, called Camp Viking. I would go every year and we would make crafts, swim, and I can’t remember it all but I do remember how fun it was.
Across the street from the school was a cementary and I remember we use to go over with our sack lunches, sit up against the headstones, eat our lunch, and tell silly stories. That was so much fun. We would joke about worms, and ghosts, etc.
Oh, to be that age again, although I don’t really want to go back in time age wise. Again, memories that bring a smile and so many carefree thoughts.
Carole
I remember lying on the end of the bed in the hot summer trying to catch a breeze from the window. Then I would complain about the heat and sleep sound all night. Now I live in airconditioning and long for those sleep filled nights. ; )
The good ole days were when kids could wander in the neighborhood with no fear of danger. All the neighbors knew each other and would invite us kids in for milk and cookies. Nowadays it’s sad to see how fearful people are for their kids.
I spent most of my summers and weekends with my grandparents. ..they didn’t watch much tv and we weren’t allowed to either! We spent our time working in the garden ! Or cooking. They had 25 acres and we had to haul water clear out to the back of the property. We filled gallon glass jars with the hose and loaded them up on the tractor and away we went! If we did a real good job , Granmps would buy us a sundae from Kmart’s cafe!
i remember going to our local arena to roller skate…what a blast!!!…it was THE place to go on a saturday night…
Okay, time for another good ol’ days memory! What about sitting in front of the “RADIO” (not the TV) and “listening” to the great radio shows, like Amos and Andy, Inner Sanctom, The Shadow, Jack Benny (and Rochester) and, oh, so many more. Those were wonderful times. You could picture what they were talking about. Then there were the family get-togethers at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The women and children sitting around the HUGH kitchen table, chatting and helping Grandma with the dinner preparations, while the men were just outside the kitchen window playing Horseshoes! Or going to Dairy Queen with our little Pomeranian laying in the back window. We would buy our ice creams and Dad would buy a malt. He would drink it down almost to the bottom and then hold it over the seat back for Buddy to finish! One time Dad forgot and had to go back to Dairy Queen and buy an ice cream cone just for Buddy, before he would have anything to do with Dad! Oh, what great times we had.
Living in the mountains we didn’t get very good TV reception. My dad had an idea. He put a very tall antenna on top of the roof with long ropes hanging down all the way to the ground. When we wanted to change stations, we would go outside, pull the ropes and turn the antenna while watching the TV through the window to see when our staion came in.! We thought he was ingenious!
I grew up in a small town. I remember going down the block or across the street to play with the neighborhood kids almost every evening after supper. In this day and age, I would never send a child off by themselves to play; but back then, we never thought anything of it.
I loved to roller skate. Remeber having to have saddle shoes so that the skates could connect well? Heaven be if you lost your skate key!!! Of course there where no knee or elbow pads or helmets then. I’m sure I broke something from falling on my bum and the scraps on knees and hands caused many a tear! But, undaunted, I was out there again, racing down the street.
Well, in the first two submissions, I shared going to the circus and going crabbing. Today, I thought I’d share an inside memory.
It was about 1952 and we had our first television set. I remember the screen being really tiny and almost oval. The black and white was more of a dark olive grey and lighter olive grey!
One show I always had to watch was Winky Dink. Winky Dink was a talking star. The stores sold a Winky Dink kit which went along with the TV show. It consisted of a clear, heavy plastic sheet that would stick to the TV screen. The kit came with crayons and some sort of eraser. From time to time, during the show, Winky Dink would tell the viewers to get out their Winky Dink crayons and come do what he did. I remember connecting dots, LOL, drawing on that plastic sheet. I think he was teaching us things like basic letter and number recognition.
Week after week, I would dutifully do as Winky Dink directed. After some time, my plastic sheet wore out. It would no longer come clean. My mom, seeing the love I had for the show, would stick Saran Wrap (or something like it back then) to the screen for me so that I could still participate and not draw directly on the TV screen!
I wish I had that Winky Dink Kit just to pass on, but like most old, well-used toys, they became part of the Forgotten Toys.
The good old days for me was definitely the summertime! When we were kids we could go outside and play games until my mom called us in – we weren’t fearful of anything!!! There were lots of kids in the neighborhood and we would have a grand old time for ourselves! We didn’t have cell phones or computers or wii but we had lots of fun. Definitely simpler times!!!
I remember as a little girl, as our family was Italian, we grew up in a bi-lingual church. The adult service was totally in Italian, but our Sunday School and Children’s church was in English. We had to drive to the Italian neighborhood to go to church, and every Sunday afterwards my parents stopped in at the authentic Italian Bakery in town and I always remember my mom coming back to the car with warm loaves of the best bread on the planet. She’d always have a small loaf that she passed back to us three kids in the back seat to share on the way home. It was our weekly treat and we always looked forward to that wonderful bread. I can still smell it.
Salt water taffy, days at the beach, & crabbing – those are more good old days!
Smiles~
Marilyn
Day three for the good old days! One of my best childhood memories was a road trip/vacation that we took. We left Ohio and drove across the country headed west… stopping along the way in so many wonderful places like Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, etc. We were headed to Texas for a convention that my dad had to attend so after Yellowstone we dropped south to Las Vegas and then on to the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest and then on to NM to the White Sands Nat. Park and then the Carlsbad Caverns. We took longer in some places than expected so didn’t quite make it to California as originally planned! LOL!! But, it was a wonderful trip that I will always remember.
Playing in the pond at my grandparent’s farm. Oh my! We used to gather up tadpoles in glass jars and watch them grow. Grandpa had to sneak behind us to let them go because we would forget about them, jars would be everywhere otherwise.
The good ole’ days, why that’s right now. Just having dinner with my family, sitting around playing games, going to worship together. I’m not looking back, only forward.
Thanks for your inspiration, you put a smile on my face.
I love going to the lake. We boat, swim, tube and play all day then go grill out some dogs. Too tired for much else because we gotta get up and do it all over again the next day.
When I was 12 or 13 my cousin Laura and I would go downtown to “The Bay” in downtown Vancouver. We would go on the bus and stay all day shopping. Our Aunty Pat worked at The Bay and we would meet her to have lunch in the employees cafeteria. We thought we were so grown up. We could talk to her about anything, usually boys, clothes and other young girls fancies. The Bay is a wonderful store, about 6 floors, and still looks very much how I remember it as a youg girl. Our parents never worried about us going on the bus by ourselves and being gone all day, something I would never do today with my grandchildren.
Thanks, Wendy
The good ol’ days included lazy afternoons on a hot summer day spent under our cherry tree out back. And ice cold lemonade!
It is the time of the year….Go Canucks Go!!!! Our street was the “ice rink of choice” each winter….sometimes someone, and I am not saying who, accidentally would let water run onto the road. Made for great hockey but not so good for cars that would drive by.
Cathy
I used to shine shoes at the railroad station. The dirtier my face and feet were the better my tips. My mom hated that we did this, but she worked all day and we did what we wanted until she got home. The business men in the suits, carrying the briefcases were the hardest to please. Some nights I would go home with as much as $5.00. It was a small fortune to a dirty faced street kid.
I always DREAM of winning one of your blog candies. They are the absolute best
as i was coming home from lunch with the girls today. i remember when you use to get 2 hamburgers, fries and a drink at mc donalds and get change back. how’s that for the good ole days.
I love the magazine called Reminescence because it shows photos and stories about the “Old Days”. I think if we didn’t have the New Days we wouldn’t have the Old Days! I just love hearing about how things used to be, glad I have the conveniences of today though. I love the Card for today(Tues.) My daughter is a teacher and I want to make her cards for the kids with alphabets on them. Thanks
So many of my good ol’ days memories revolve around my childhood. Life was much simpler — less hectic! I have fond memories of playing kick ball out on the street with friends, taking walks with friends along the creek all the way down to the local golf course, and taking off during the summer with my mom and dad to spend two weeks with aunts, uncles and cousins in rural Kentucky. What fun!!
This will certainly date me, but I remember shopping at the “5 and 10” or Woolworths, then sitting down at their lunch counter for a sandwich or a mini can of Cambell’s soup. Such fond memories – thanks Becca!
We had an ideal location when I was growing up…2 miles from town and with the Canisteo River flowing nearby. The river wasn’t large in this location but was a great place for chasing crabs, catching minnows, fishing and swimming. In the Spring, Dad would take the tractor into the river and plow the debris brought downstream throughout the winter in this one spot dubbed, naturally, the swimming hole. You can imagine the water couldn’t have been very deep for the tractor to operate within it. But it was ideal for us kids. We could touch bottom but it was deep enough for jumping into and it had a slate bottom, smooth as could be (and slippery!) once Dad had cleared it. Better yet, at the swimming hole location one side of the river was layers of slate before rising to a steep hill (it seemed like a cliff to us and was unclimbable) and the approach side was flat and pebbly. So we would wade in from the flat side and jump off from the other side. It was like a private swimming pool in our younger years. Later the spot became known to ‘outsiders’ as “the Evergreens” and some of the enjoyment was taken away when it no longer was our private domain. But tomorrow I’ll tell you what Dad did to give us a new and improved truly private domain.
Well, today I am going to share about a very special time I had
with my Mother. She was a talented lady and did various crafts
throughout her life. One I remember well was when she was
into ceramics. I was probably 8 or 9 years old when she took
to the shop where I was able to pick out an item to paint and
fire. I picked out a special little deer that sat on a small stand
for presentation. I love that deer and still have him today. I am
sure however it was because of the one on one time I was able
to share with Mom!!
I remember when our local Dairy Queen had no place to sit. You went inside, placed your order, then took it with you! ( We now have a nice dining area!)
Good ole’ days~~when my kids actually thought I was intelligent and listened! (That stopped around 10 years of age) Good new days~~my kids are now intelligent, and I listen to them!
Good ol’ days again, taking trips as a youngster. All of the family in the car, driving several hundred miles to see grandparents. But the trip was the greatest memory! Yes, my sister, brother and I foughtabout who what on whose side of the car, but it was a time to STAR GAZE and sing songs as a family, play games like the alphabet game, or try to find different states car tags. My kids load my grandkids in their SUV, plug in their earphones, play w/their own DS or watch videos….bless their hearts, they will grow up not knowing songs like the wheels on the bus go round and round!
The good old days:
I grew up on a grass seed farm near a tiny little town in Oregon. Most of my “good old days” memories come from summers on the farm. Here are a few of them…the smell of ripened grass, making mud pies, playing “around the house” with my siblings, wriggling my toes in slimy seaweed ditches, catching tadpoles, swimming in the fish pond, sleeping under the stars on soft hay bales, snitching fresh peas from our garden, playing catch with my dad…
Oh I remember when… one winter it showed so much we couldn’t get out. Back in the 50’s they didn’t cancel school everytime they though the weather might be bad. The main roads were cleared off so people could get out and we lived about a 1/4 mile from the main road (lived on a ranch) and the snow was so deep that our dad walked a head of the older kids and they followed in his foot steps. Since I was the smallest at the time he carried me so that we could catch the bus to school.
I remember when Grandpa grew glads in the garden. Acres of them in every color. Rare ones that you don’t see around here any more. He sold them to the stores…Plums and a several others. If he had some left he would bring them to our house so my 5 siblings and I could try to sell them. We made up a song and stood by the road singing our flower song…”Stop and buy some flowers…stop and buy some flowers”. Laughing and playing,while waiting for the cars to stop to buy the flowers. Once they were sold we split the money up between us. We would walk to the store and buy what we could with the money. It was a fun time with my siblings and a special memory of my Grandpa. He was a kind man and always thought of us kids.
Tuesday’s entry–the “good ole days” brings me back to my Grandma once again. She used to make the most unusual sugar cookies. I just loved them. They were really a more flour type cookie and were very soft. It is a shame that no one in the family has that recipe. I am sure she probably never wrote it down–I would so love to have one of those cookies today from the good ole days!
Hey Becca,
Boy! Can I ever relate to your memories on the farm. My grandmother and grandfather, also, had a farm. Not so much a working one as rented fields and an old farm house to live in.
My grandmother made the most delicious merangues on her old wood stove. Said she never could make them on an electric one. Mmmmm, I can even still remember the taste. :O)
But the most vivid memory that I have is the darkness. At night, without street lights, it is REALLY dark. My little sister woke up, in the night, and had to touch her eyes to see if they were open. We all laugh at that, still. :OD
Anyway, you helped me to remember some delightful scents, tastes and feelings. Thank you.
Lovingly, Sue
The good ol’ days……taking a Sunday drive after lunch….to get an ice cream cone! There were 4 of us kiddies at that time, and this was a real treat! LOL
~Beth
The good ole days were when my sister and I were small, you could walk a few blocks to the store in the dark and not worry about getting robbed; we had a neighborhood mom and pop store that sold the greatest blue popcicles that WE just loved!!! The snow was sometimes deep, but we always walked the 5 blocks to get to church on Sunday’s.
We had to walk the 5 blocks to grade school, then
took public transportation to high school, and we never had to worry about crime. Our town was good size (just over 100,000) but living in the suburbs, seemed to make us feel safe and secure. It was a fun time growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
I remember feeling so safe and loved. My three sisters and I would roam the neighborhood all day….only returning so mom could feed us. My fondest memories are those moments with my sisters and being so close to them. Now we all live in different states, but the bond is still there. And I’ll never forget my dad’s bedtime stories and tucking us in at night. It’s all about family!!
One of my favorite memories bout the “good Ole Days” is when my brothers and I were small we made homemade fudge and pull toffee and homemade snowball candies at Christmas time. It was so much fun when we all pitched in and helped one another and we had so many laughs!
Saturday evenings we often got to do our own “soap carvings” before our baths! We were artists in our own right and we loved being given a big bar of bath soap to carve! Of course we had to be very very careful not to hurt ourselves at the same time….thankfully I never ever remember anyone hurting themselves!
Thanks for giving us a chance to share these special memories Becca!
One of my best summer memories is getting on a bus with my grandmother and going to north west Kentucky to visit my aunt, uncle, and counsins. We would stay for a month, go swimming in the Ohio River, visit the zoo in Evansville, eating my first chocolate covered banana (frozen nothing better on a hot summer day), the summer they walked on the moon, very special. And my first visit to Mammoth Cave, I still visit when we are in Kentucky, it still amazes the size of the caves.
I remember when we used to go blueberry picking as a family outting!
We’d pack a lunch and spend the whole afternoon picking so Mom could make us fresh pies!!!! I still go with my hubby,but it’s not the same.
Tell me ’bout the good ole days!!!!
The Good ole days for me were summer spent playing on a cul-de-sac, riding bikes, playing four square, hopscotch and kickball.
A favorite memory is making home-made ice cream. Mother would mix up the richest ingredients and pack it in the freezer. Daddy would carry it out beside the porch and place an old rug on top. The kids would take turns sitting on top to hold the freezer down while daddy cranked and cranked and cranked. You have not lived until you have a “frozen ice cream butt”- giggle. When it was frozen solid and had sat a while, mother would open up the treasure and pull out the paddle covered with ice cream – this was placed on a large platter and given to daddy. He would give it the taste test and declare it very good — whoops and hollars and giggles erupted from us kids and mother served up wonderful bowls of the best ice cream the world has ever known.
We would have neighborhood hide and seek games. We would play after dinner until the streetlights came on, the universal ‘time to go home’ signal.
Popee would buy fields of water melon (yellow gold and they were seedless) and canteloupe (sweet as sugar). I would go with him and pick enough to load up the back of his pick up truck. We would sit on the side of the road and sell them for $1 and $.25. Such fond memories of spending time with my grandfather.
We didn’t have running water when I was preteen. My sister and I had to take turns pumping water from the well through a hose, through a basement window, into the rinse tubs on Sunday night for my Mother to do the wash on Mondays. I’d just like to say that in the winter it was darn cold standing outside.
This is so much fun! I had such wonderful “good old days” that I’ve tried to give my family the same memories. We’d have time at the beach every summer and nothing seemed more wonderful than a day on the beach and in the ocean. The hot days of summer would become so special when we headed off to the DQ for a frozen treat at the end of a day. Finishing a day that way couldn’t help but lead to a child’s sweet dreams!
Debra
What fun and great comments. The good ole days – getting up Saturday morning and going to the local farmer’s market with my friend. Because we lived beside a bakery, when the trucks would return from a day at market we would sample some of the goodies. The wonderful aroma from the bakery ovens was always a treat. What fun to think back. thank you. Today’s emergency kits are so cute. What a great idea!
Every summer around July 4th relatives would gather at my aunt’s house to harvest field corn. My cousin and I would sit under the big shade tree and chop the ends off the ears then husk and silk them before they were taken inside to the women to either can or get ready for the freezer. Corn from the store just doesn’t taste the same!!
Edna
When I was in the 5th grade, I had my first boyfriend and we put our notes to each other on a walkpath under a rock. That’s when parents could let thei kids roam the neighborhood.
Love your art!
When I was younger my family always had these huge Sunday dinners. My Mom would make the gravy from the early a. m. You woke up to the smell the garlic & basil sauteing. The aroma had your mouth watering all day. I would go to church & stop at the bakery on the way home. Then I would take the Italian bread & dip in the sauce. Mmmm, I could almost taste it now
When I was in the 5th grade, I had my first boyfriend. We would exchange notes, leaving them under a rock on a pathway. That’s when parents could let kids roam the neighborhood.
When I was in 1st – 5th grade, I loved walking to school. I would always be ready to go. I would like to look at all the flowers in everyones garden on the way to school.
I still live on the same hill across the street from the house I was raised in and even tho the houses are in the same place this hill is not the same place at all. It is still a nice small town and I love living here but no where is the same as the good ole days. We never locked our doors at night. I remember in the summer my dad would leave the door open and lock the screen with a fan in front of the door.
As a child we could play until dark, running up and down the streets. I had 3 brothers and they were about 6 other children in the neighborhood. We would have so much fun playing tag, hide-and -seek, red light green light and sometimes ball or riding our bikes. But we wanted to be outside and my mother would have to make us come in. We didn’t need any high tech toys, we used our imagination to play. I even made a play house using sticks to mark off my rooms and leaves or pine straw to make my babies a bed
I really love to listen to my mother tell about her good ole days. It is amazing how much things have changed with each generation. I will continue more on some stories of the good ole days.
Hi Becca
Me again LOL!!!
One of the most precious memories I have is about my mom……how she loved making new clothes for us….usually new dresses……..then she spent a lot of time making us look like dolls…..she spent a lot of time combing our long hairs too!
I miss her so much!
Love
Marcia
Another good memory of the good old days when we were children – In the summer, my sisters and I would make “tents” over the wash line using old sheets and blankets. We would then get our dolls and have a great time pretending we were camping or pretending that the “tents” were our houses. Of course we didn’t have modern technology to distract us and our Mother was wise to limit our TV watching. Our imaginations filled hours of our days!
Hi Becca,
Leaving Britain after the second world war and coming to this vast land of ours Australia and plonked in the middle of the bush in the middle of nowhere, running around in bare feet, going out after breakfast exploring not coming home for hours, catching tadpoles, fishing in the creek, how safe it was back then, Mum never had to be worried not like today’s world.
Rene from OZ xo
The summers were forever and the neighborhood endless! We made our own entertainment. It was great to spend the night at grandmas.
Here’s another one:
Back in the day in the Philippines, during the Christmas Season, we kids would do some carolling at each and every neighbor so we can make some extra money. We would use a milk can and a stick for our drum, and a wire fed through flattened bottle caps as our tambourine. When I grew up, I still enjoyed listening to the carollers every night. It adds to the Christmas spirit. That’s one of the things I miss during Christmas time, because they don’t do that here in the States.
Going to Gram and Grandpa’s house in Santa Barbara, a huge 3-story, old Victorian. My Gram would sometimes make a Cornish pasty for dinner. Other big celebrations there were to attend the annual Fiesta parade and eat tamales from La Tolteca restaurant….
My cousin and my sister and I would go up to the top story of the house and tell ghost stories. I was the youngest. We would all get so scared that we would run down the flights of stairs as fast as we could go to get to the bottom floor, where our parents and grandparents would be. Surprised that one of us never took a serious fall tearing down the stairs the way we did…..
DeniseB
#3 My Grandparents told the story about how they got married in the ditch on the side of the rode. My how things have changed since when they were born. They are both gone now but they left me with great stories & wonderful memories. God bless!
Hi Becca, I remember a summer that my sisters and I spent with my parents in Nebraska on my uncle’s pig farm. My uncle and my dad took us fishing in my uncle’s pond that he had stocked with fish about 5 years earlier. He had not fished it because he did not have time. My sisters and I were 8, 10, & 11, we took our fishing poles and a little bit of bait and headed down to the pond. We barely would throw the hook in the water and one of us would caught a fish…my dad and uncle were running to each of us girls and unhook the fish, each of us caught a huge catfish with long whiskers, it was so much fun! My dad passed away from cancer about 10 years ago, boy do I miss him. He loved spending time with his family. THanks, Teresa
Go-go boots! Do you remember go-go boots? I was a little girl when they were popular. We thought we were SO super cool with our skinny little legs and knobby knees showcased between our hot pink and orange mini skirts and our gleaming white boots!
Of course in the sixties you could still walk to elementary school in all your fashionista glory, LOL!
I can’t tell you why go-go boots popped into my head, but there you go – a memory of the good ole days! :-)
I did not get to check in yesterday as my husband had hand surgery for the 4th time(hopefully the last).
I remember Christmases in Southern California where the sun was shining and the world was bright. One year someone gave me one of those photo kits that uses sunlight to develop the picture. It was so cool and we had such fun doing it that by the end of the day we had used up all the special paper in the package.
Those were the good old times.
Running around for all hours, just with my cousins, off on adventures on all of the days of the school holidays. Often my Grandparents would see us in the morning for breakfast and then no hair nor hide of us until dinner time.
I just can’t let my kids do that, it isn’t safe enough anymore. It just felt like more innocent times then.
A childhood memory of hot summer nights where everyone on the block would sit out on the front steps of their homes. Kids would wait for the Good Humor truck to come by and purchase items for 10¢. We’d play games of hide and seek, catch fireflies and just wait for the cooler temps to come before heading to bed. No air conditioning or fans.
I used to tie a string to a cardboard box and pull it around, pretending to have a dog. Used to do a lot of imaginative type things instead of being in front of a TV, etc. or on-line when I was a kid.
Love these stories!!! I remember going to my aunt’s house when we lived in CT, and sleeping over. Aunt Olga always made me feel so loved. I miss her so much!!!
Some fun memories of yester-years, my brother would save the funny papers for several weeks and then would make kites, we had about five acres and all the neighborhood kids – which where guys, would convene in our field and they would fly these kites on afternoon after school. the wind had to be just right, I think they had some kind of material that they had on a stick on the barn to gauge the wind. But having everybody gather on a given day was special (we are talking about 45 years ago)
Going with my dad to the flea market/auction. We would get a hotdog or hamburger there, and then on the way home he would stop and get me a soft serve ice cream. Those were the days. My dad is gone now and I really miss him.
i remember the good old days when Sundays were treat days! $0.25 got so much more candy than nowadays.. hahaha… gummy worms, chewy gum and some taffy candy! yum.
My father loved to go to the mountains and pick huckleberries, blackberries etc. whatever you could find. Sometimes we would go
as a family. Those were the days when you were out like that you didn’t have to worry about drinking the water in the mountain streams. Never any problems from the water. We would go home with gallons of berries and freeze them and my mom would have berries for all winter long to make pies with.
One of my funniest memories was baling hay as a kid. We would beg, plead, whatever to go to the lake and waterski, but dad would not let us. It was always the hottest day of the summer. I just thought he liked to torture us by making us do such a thing on such a hot day. Years later, when I was about 30 or so, my husband told me there was a reason we baled on the hottest day, so the hay would be dry. I thought, geez, I wish I would have known that all those years. It might of made the job a little easier…..NOT!
In the Spring in rural Quebec my sisters and I would go on a horse-drawn sleigh ride to help our neighbours collect the sap from their maple bush. Our reward was to visit the sugar shanty where the sap was reduced in woodfire heated vats until thick. Then we’d find some clean snow to pour the hot syrup onto. Result maple taffy. Yum. Now, I believe the sap is collected by tubings all connected. No need for horses.
I recall my mom being quite “crafty.” She did it all. Her interests were varied and as of today so are mine. She taught me to sew, crochet, embroider, paper mache, needlepoint, make candles, cook, decorate cakes, you name it she did it! The memory of always being allowed to do something new and different amazed me. I was the most creative of all my friends thanks to her. And now some 45 years later I still at it.
I forgot to post yesterday, oh well.
I lived in a suburb, growing up. which was all I knew for many years. My sister and brother had memories of living in the city (Jersey City) which is where my Dad’s family was from ( and Pennsylvania dutch country also).
Anyway, behind our house was all woods, when they first moved there, and I was a baby. When I was a toddler, they tore down most of the woods and put in a new elementary school (I ended up going there…school #26, Iselin, NJ)
What woods were not disturbed had a brook and a bridge that let over it to another area in Iselin and different development. Up that end was also the Jr. high and the HS. We had to walk there, about a mile.
anyway back to my story…I LOVED those woods that lay on both sides of the brook, and there was a well worn trail on each side. These trails led to a park, a BIG park(Merrill Park) that had formal Ice skating on it’s pond in the winter (the cops checked it for safety every year, when we saw the RED BALL on the sign we knew it was ok to skate.
This park also had a petting zoo, and several different picnic areas, recreation areas, ball fields, playgrounds etc. We were always to be found on these trails, my friends and I- especially on the weekends.
I was always coming home with poly-wogs, frogs, salamanders etc. when we got older…11 or so we realized the trail on the back side of the brook (the one we took most often) went beyond the pond, and we followed it and discovered it took us up to one of the busy roads (not a hwy) and there was this little triangle of land in the middle with a bunch of memorials on it, WE called it “triangle park” (I never did find out what it was really called if anything) but I did find out we were now in the town of Colonia, no longer in Iselin (NJ) anyway, one day we got Brave, and crossed over to the other side of “triangle park” and walked straight up the street that lay in front of us. It was a DEAD END, on the one side there was this HUGE OLD HOUSE/MANSION, whatever…it looked like something from another country or out of a horror comic. We SOOO wanted to know what this place was, but we were also afraid. Finally one Saturday after going there several weeks in a row and just standing in the street, I got BRAVE and walked up it’s winding driveway, (after a bit my other 2 friends were following-but at a distance, I kept asking them to move it along) I walked under a large arbor//trellis and then saw I was now standing on cobblestone, the area opened up to a small “parking” area and walkway that led to this HUGE wooden door with a small window in it, and a little ornate cage over the window, and there was a HUGE ornate knocker on the door!! OH HOW EXCITING (and scary) this was becoming, my 2 friends were closer now then they were but still not right next to me. I reached for the knocker, and they were like NO, NO don’t etc!! but…curiosity was killing me, so I knocked the knocker… not real loud at first, then did it a second time louder! (my friends took a couple of steps back–cowards) and the door opened to a creepy looking old lady (I kid you not) and asked me what I wanted. At first I just stood there with my mouth open. Finally I asked, is this a mansion? Is it haunted? Is she the only one living there? She was MEAN and said “NOOOOOOO, this is not a mansion and it is CERTAINLY NOT HAUNTED, it is a small convent…PLEASE LEAVE and tell your parents to keep a better eye on you, ALL 3 of you!!” and she slammed the door, well we sure did run our butts down that driveway as fast as we could.
Our fascination with the building still lasted a while, and we went there from time to time hoping to catch sight of a Nun!! We never did.
I had many many good days on these trails, and in Merrill Park. When we moved ( I was 13) to southern-mid NJ, I was lost, no friends, no park ( at least not like I knew) we moved again further south in NJ and things got a little better but nothing would ever measure up to those days.
Even when I had my own children there was nothing like this around for them, except woods, as we live in the woods on 5 acres.
Susan
Going to the lake with all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and making ice cream in an old crank style ice cream freezer.
Runniong through the neighborhood with girlfriends singing I hope your (my) mom says yes about sleeping over the girlfriends house (or them sleeping over mine)
One of my favorite childhood memories was going to the drive-in in the summer. We would pop a big batch of popcorn and fill the cooler with drinks. I always got to invite my best friend,we would wear our PJ’s, take a blanket and pillows and sit on the ground next to my parents car. We had 3 drive-ins where we lived and my favorite had a playground up by the movie screen. We would go swing and when the previews started we would run back to the car and get all comfy and watch the movie. I was fortunate enough to be able to provide the same memories for my daughter, sadly my granddaughter won’t be able to experience the magic of the drive-in as they tore the last one down before she was born.
Every summer when we were kids the park and rec department had activities and contests for us. We had jax contests, singing contests, potholder making contests – yes it was a simpler time
Reading the previous blog I too remembered the days of Drive-Ins. What a wonderful Sat. night that would be – under the stars, watching a movie, with a car load of friends. Of course, popcorn and coke had to be consumed in large quantities! Sadly there are very few Drive-ins left in Melbourne, Aust. They have all been pulled down and the land sold off for housing.
Christmas Eve at Grandma’s and Grampa’s house! My father had 7 siblings, all married with children – lots of cousins! Every Christmas Eve was spent with the grandparents and the only time we were all together. Such fun. It was magical for me!
Soo many good memories come flooding back :)
I recall visiting an aunt and uncle who lived at the base of a mountain. It was apple season, and we were permitted to walk to the orchard and pick as we wanted. To this day, I recall that those apples were the sweetest ever!
Making ice cream with an old fashioned crank ice cream maker in the backyard in the summer. I was to little to crank, so I was the weight! Mom would fold up an old towel and put it on top of the ice cream maker and I’d sit on it while my parents and granddad would crank and crank. Then you had to be so very careful to get all the ice and salt off the container before you could open it. I don’t think that ice cream has ever tasted so good. Thanks for bringing that memory back!
R/
I remember my birthdays I shared with my cousin, exactly one year older than me. We would get Easter bunny cakes, and have Easter Egg hunts since our birthdays were in mid-April. I look at my mom’s old slides of those days and it was always sunny; we wore cute little dresses and had little party hats on. My cousin and I used to call each other every year on our birthdays, but I haven’t seen or talked with her for many years…
I remember walking the equivalent of 10 blocks in a tiny town in Ohio to kindergarten, happy as a lark that I was on my own and going to school! I fondly recall sitting in the front yard with a bouquet of flowers from my aunt’s garden, waiting for my Mom to pick me up. A sweet elderly lady stopped her car, and asked me if the flowers were for sale. Being a young girl, and knowing the flowers were picked especially for my Mom, I politely told her “No, thank you!”
I remember the good old days when there was no need to lock the doors.
Sharing and caring about people; it seemed easier in those days?!
Does anyone remember getting Weekly Reader in grade school? It had stories, “news” articles, and activities in it, and our teacher would use it as part of the teaching curriculum. In summer we could subscribe to Summer Weekly Reader, and the little newspaper would be delivered to us in the mail. I so looked forward to my issue coming each week, and I’d read it cover to cover. My mom loved it because it was a fun way for us to keep our minds learning over the summer.
“The Good Ole Days”…. well I lived in the suburbs and I remember in the summer, playing kick the can and hide n seek after dark, camping out in the woods behind the house. In the fall roasting potatoes outside. Winter brought ice skating on the pond on the other side of the woods and spring brought a welcome relief from all the snow we had when I was a kid. And we got a lot of snow in Ky in those days.
I remember the family gatherings with all the aunts and uncles and friends and the great home cooked dinners my mom made, her cooking was the best. There are too many memories and not enought room here on this post.
Woa those memories are flooding back, what a welcome catch up on the past.
Thanks Becca
Ah the good old days, I remember the fun of childhood, playing with our dolls, playing dressup, riding our bikes all day, making our own fun when there were only 12 channels on the TV and it didn’t matter because Mom was watching her soaps. LOL
Oh my gosh Becca…are you still with us?? You will be exhausted after reading all these:) How fun to hear about everyone’s “good ole days though”. Another memory I have from childhood is eating Jelly Crystals straight out of the box when I was starving and supposedly waiting for dinner LOL. How sickly sweet they must have been…couldn’t handle it now of course and would die if my children tried the same :-))
More sweet memories…. spending a Saturday at my best friend’s house… drawing on the sidewalk with colored chalk and playing hopscotch….. jumping rope…. playing hide and seek ….. buying popsicles from the icecream van when it came around….
I remember many a night playing cards with my parents. I learned to play Canasta, Pinochle, Bridge, Whirlpool Rummy and a number of other games. One of the girls in our neighborhood used to come over and play also.
They were simple pleasures, but they bring back fond memories.
These days, it seems hard to get very much face to face time without a lot of distractions (kids texting, etc.).
Becca – I love that you have us remembering the good ole days. So many wonderful memories…and of course most of them are friend or family related. Naturally, they are the specia people in our lives. One of my dad’s cousins lived at the edge of town, they had orchards, trees, ponies, all kinds of great stuff. I remember tomato season was always fun. At first, when we (kids) were tasked to “go get some tomatos, it seemed like work. But over the years it was definitely fun. We would run all through those fields, and play, stopping here and there to eat a fresh tomato just picked (we’d eat them like apples – absolutely delicious). Of course, we also partook in quite a few tomato fights. What a mess we were. But we had great fun. And here it is again, exercise, which we didn’t even think about in those days. Of course I did get in trouble (once); it’s definitely not a good idea to have a tomato fight when you’re wearing your brand new white shorts. Mom was not too happy with me….but I had had fun, and at that time, that’s what it was all about.
One winter while at the cabin which was on a deadend road we took our sleds out on a moonlite night. The road was a sheet of ice and the moon was enough lighting for us to “play” until midnight sledding up and down the road. What fun! The air was crisp and we knew there was a heated pot belly stove to warm us when we got back inside. That was such fun and seemed like we were the only people alive in the world that night.
Becca,
Another day. I have been looking through some old pictures and oh, the good ole days. Our children sure did grow up fast and now our grandbabies are doing the same thing. The thing about ‘back then’ is I was their mother then. Now, I am a friend. What a joy! Once again, God is SOOO Good!
Connie
I remember summer days playing outside under the apricot tree with my sister. We would play with our high-heel dolls (Mom wouldn’t let us have Barbie dolls). We made housed out of cardboard boxes, chairs out of Dixie cups and other furniture with more cardboard. It was fun to create these things ourselves rather than having the Barbie house and furniture like my DGD’s do now. Life was good.
In the good ole days, during the summer we would sit outside at night during the summer in TX & sing, or listen to the owls down the creek. Catch lightning bugs, then lay on the bed we had set up in the yard & watch falling stars and satelites pass over. If we stayed up late enough, we swore we saw the same satelites pass again!
My dad’s company had an employee party every summer at Muskego Beach. It was an amusement park at a lake. We had such a great time and I remember many of those parties.
Thanks for the opportunity to win some candy!
This one is very near and dear to my heart. Every year, as a child, we would drive to another Province (Alberta) for our summer vacation, to visit relatives, who lived on farms.
I never liked milk from the farm, as it was always warm and straight from the cow. One day, my aunt said she had some “bull’s milk” for me. I tasted it and absolutely loved it. It almost tasted like the pasteurized milk from home. I told some kids that lived at a neighbouring farm that I had bull’s milk. They absolutely howled because there’s no such thing. My aunt had tricked me!!! lol lol
Well some of my favorite memories are of all the neighborhood kids playing hide and seek, red light-green light, crack the whip, king on the mountain, and Simon says in the evenings before we had to come in for the night. What fun times we had together!
Not having to worry about money, work, etc. Going to bed and knowing that everything was perfect as it can be when you are a child :)
Oh those Good Ole Days Becca, the things we did… Dad always worked nights and we 4 kids did just about anything to stay out of mom’s hair when school was not in session and dad was trying to sleep, he was always on the night shift at Republic Aviation in Farmingdale on Long Island, NY. There were a lot of lay off’s so dad being the wood worker that he was, was constantly taking on remodeling and fixing jobs and always took me (his favorite daughter) with him.
One Easter Vacation we went to a nice custom built “big” house in Bellmore on Bell Court, just two blocks from the house we lived in before we moved to West Babylon. It was dad’s job to make the custom kitchen cabinets for it. I tried my best to stay out of dad’s way but it wasn’t easy and I always wanted something to drink or go to the bathroom so he’d send me out to play but there was no one to play with so I met the “little old lady” that lived next door.
I went “to work with dad” again and anxiously went to visit that “little old lady”. Her name was Mrs. Daisy Pyne. In those days we didn’t dare call an adult by their first name so was Mrs. Pyne to me the 25 years that I knew her.
Soon after she took me on the “tour” around her yard and told me the names of all the flowers and shrubs and trees she had, showed me her amazing fish pond and those huge gold fish, 5 of them about a foot long and let me feed them. Then I’d visit her frequently and I’d be right next to her, almost on top of her on my hands and knees following all her moves, with the butt up in the air, while we pulled weeds, transplanted little seedlings that came up from the prior years seeds and cleaned up from the winter.
Before long I couldn’t wait for her to come outside so I could go see her and feed the fish only to find that the new neighbor had a cat and the cat was eating her fish that she had for so many years! I could see she was so sad and said she was not going to get any more because cats run loose and they eat fish and it wasn’t fair to the fish and I some how understood that at 12 years old, so I ran to tell dad. After that I was always anxious to go with dad so I could see Mrs. Pyne and help her in her many flower beds because she made me feel really important.
Then dad’s job was finished and eventually Republic Aviation called him back to work and before long I was in junior high and dad still took me to see Mrs. Pyne. Then it was 1957 and I was in the 9th grade, dad was laid off again and in August of 1958 we moved to Southern California and I wrote Mrs. Pyne all the time. I got married in 1961 and she embroidered two pillow cases for my wedding gift and by then times had changed and another tenant at the large apartment complex took my package from my mail box and that seemed the end of the world for me as Mrs. Pyne was older and told me she couldn’t see that well any more to make me another set. Suddenly I realized that Mrs. Pyne was old now but she wasn’t old when I met her, she just had grey hair at an early age! Then in the late 60’s I received that dreaded letter from her son Fred telling me that Mrs. Pyne had passed away.
In May of 2000 I got to take my FIRST trip back to Long Island after 42 years and went to Mrs. Pyne’s house and found her daughter-in-law Rennie living there. She was elderly, in her 80’s and didn’t remember me but as her generation was, she invited my girlfriend and I in. We toured the house, the yard and nothing had changed, all the planters were exactly the same as when Mrs. Pyne lived there! We talked a lot about “Daisy” (Mrs. Pyne) and how I met her and how she taught me to garden which I still do today with my 145 patented tea roses of many colors, fruit trees, flowers and a vegetable garden. She asked us to stay for lunch so we did and we talked more and more about my visits to Mrs. Pyne, the things she taught me and how grateful I was to have had her to teach me. Then came the shocker….. She said “Oh, Daisy wasn’t teaching you, that was her way of getting her weeds pulled”!!! WOW, was that a let down….
But I will always remember Mrs. Daisy Pyne and her many African Violets on the old style 1940’s kitchen table in her closed in front porch, the vines growing on the side wall of the house and chimney, the tulips, daffodils and violets as they popped their heads out of the snow, the huge gold fish that the new neighbor’s cat ate and most importantly how she taught me to garden.
Like Andy Rooney once said “The best teacher is at the feet of an elderly person”. God bless Mrs. Daisy Pyne for caring about me, loving me and teaching me and I know she is in heaven tending to her many flowers and gold fish..…
GOD BLESS YOU Becca for allowing us to bring back to life our childhood memories. As you can tell this was and will always be my most important one.
Picking blackberries, playing hide and seek after dark, sheets hanging on the clothesline, walking a couple of miles to the “city” library and checking out Nancy Drew mystery books, buying 45 records at the music store are a few things I remember about the “good old days!
Hi Rebecca
Wow such generous candy, your blog always rocks full of inspiration and goodness…
Hugs
Dawn
Remembering the best of the old days usually includes the reunions and times when our bigggg, big family was together. Cousins and Grandparents, moms and dads, aunts and uncles, everyone in the family was there. We played all day. Basketball, horseshoes, lawndarts (remember them?). Croquet, tennis and sometimes we went swimming. There was so much to do. The day went by sooo quickly. What fun we had and were we tired that night. I still love and miss so many of my family. We don’t get together like we did back then. We are scattered all over the country and life is so hectic now. I think that’s what I miss most about those days. Family is what it’s about. Blessings!
Good ole’ days~~when you could go out to dinner, or drive a car and not have someone beside you either talking on their cell phone or texting! My pet peeve when I worked, was waiting on a cusomer, and having them rudely speak on the phone while you were trying to see what they needed. I actually had customers hold up a line while they had a conversation on the phone! EEEEK
Hi Becca. I am afraid I will be a little sad. Today is my birthday and I remember when I still had my dear husband. He is gone 4 years now.
He always made my birthday (and every other occasion) special. I would wake up on my birthday and find cards and balloons in all the spots he knew I would go. On top of the toilet. That was always the first one. Then the shower or the bathroom sink.
Then on to my kitchen chair. He would even plant a balloon in my car.
I sure do miss him. I have not been the same.
I have enjoyed reading many wonderful memories of days long past. I grew up on a farm in Iowa where neighbors traded help with whatever needed to be done. As a young mother I would take my sons back for a summer vacation where they could have freedom, help their grandfather and play in the pond, mud puddles, lightening storms, and helping with the animals. The farm is now an Ethinol plant. The company pushed all the buildings together and set fire to them. They even built a railroad to the new plant. In my mind I remember it like it was and treasure the times my children had with their grandparents learning about hard work, respect for the animals, and loving their grandmothers orange rolls, popcorn balls, homemade ice cream, fudge, watermelon, and fried chicken. I am so thankful that I had the chance to become a caring, loving, and grateful mother and grandmother. Thanks to a simple life well lived in a community that believed in God.
Ahhhhhh the good ole days where you played hard OUTSIDE until the street lights came home – and both parents tucked you into bed with good-night prayers.
Let’s see… Good ole Days #3… Every Christmas we would have our relatives at our house. We had the most kids, so it was a practical decision. The tree was purchased and decorated ‘just so’ – including my mom making us put ONE strand of that icicle stuff at a time on each branch! The presents stacked up pretty fast and filled the whole room as more and more people arrived. My mom was always the one to distribute the gifts. At that time, we usually received one or two gifts from mom and dad and then one from each relative. What fun it was opening the presents! One year I decided to sneak into my parents’ room to see what they had bought for us. It was the worst Christmas ever since I wasn’t surprised at anything (boo!!!!). I never did that again – lol! Thanks for the chat, Becca!
Love and hugs ~
Lori
Another good ol’ days memory is ~ growing up where Sat. night was “hamburger” night at our house. We didn’t get coca colas everyday and it was a real treat for me to get my very own bottle (remember the small ones?) of coke!
This is such fun!
Dad used to be a firefighter (or plain old fireman) when I was a child and, when he wasn’t on duty and had to go collect his wage he used to take me with him. Now this was before klaxon’s or sirens and the fire engines (weren’t called appliances then) used to have hand bells on that a fireman used to ring when they were on their way to an incident. If there was no emergency I used to be allowed to go ring the bells on the vehicles. Don’t think I was the only child that found it a huge treat. I so loved going with Dad to collect his pay!
Memories —-walking down the dirt road next to my Grandparent’s log cabin and eating wild raspberries and blackberries from the side of the road; riding my bike or riding the bus to town’s Library; walking to school with others and during the winter, wearing pants under our skirts to keep our legs warm (girls were not allowed to wear pants at school); one summer learning how to shuffle cards the grown-up way and mom teaching us how to play euchre.
Thanks, Becca!
I remember going to my maternal grandparent’s house where they had a large walk in pantry with a sloping ceiling. My grandmother could never throw anything away and this place was a child’s paradise. Tins of beads, jars of buttons, odd knitting needles and crochet hooks tied together with lengths of wool, old fashioned balance scales with weights, onions tied together to dry, apples wrapped in brown paper in boxes, colouring pencils and crayons, paintbrushes – the list goes on! Everything children needed to play shops and while away the holidays.
Thanks Becca for stirring some really happy memories and giving us the chance to play along!
Hugs
Anne (UK)
Wow, have you ever started something. The memories are flooding back and I’ve got a serious case of nostalgia!
There was a wonderful general store about a mile from our house. Mr. Hank was the owner and he kept a great selection of penny candy. My favorite was the jar of molasses taffy. Once a week we were allowed to walk to the store with our nickel and splurge on some treats.
In summer, we always had a big garden. The weeding was the job of us kids. Our reward was being allowed to pick the lovely ripe tomatoes or melons or whatever else was available and eat it right there in the garden.
We loved summer nights when we could sleep out in the back yard and watch the stars through the trees. Mama would cook our breakfast over an open fire and it was SOooooo good!
Linda in SC
It is so much fun reading all the comments, thanks everyone. I was reading about someone’s swing set and it reminded me of how we used to move ours all around. I even remember putting it in the lake during the summer. What fun that was. Thanks for the memories.
Catching catfish in the twenty mile creek and then frying over an open fire. Yum, yum. Hugs, Nellie.
Hi Becca,
I LOVE today’s project! It is so amazing! Thanks for inspiring me daily and for the chance to win some blog candy!
Shawn K.
Becca
I remember summers at my aunt’s house and I even learned how to plant a garden, and in her garden was a few plum tress (I ate a lot of green plum with salt) I loved to see the fruit of my labor, since I was there most of the summer I got see some of what I helped planted. Fresh fruits and veggies are the best.
today we use bleach to make whites really white , back in my childhood my aunt would start a fire under a big cast iron pot filled with water from the well and pour some BLUING in the water and if I tell thhose sheets would be so white hanging on the clothes line drying. she didn’t have a washer with the hand wringer, she a a number 2 tube a washboard and me, I thought I was doing something scrubbing those clothes on the washboard. Back then I didn’t realizr that was really work, it was fun for me because we didn’t do that at home. My Aunt made coutry life fun for me as a kid and she alot of time with and on me. Sweet memories for me.
Mom used to have a Sprite bottle (yes, a GREEN GLASS BOTTLE) with this cork attachment stuck in the top. It had holes for sprinkling water on clothes while you ironed them. Mom “let” me iron…I learned on bath towels!!! LOL!
Memories of fishing with my Dad. I so miss him and my mother how I would love to just be able to see them one more time.
Memories – knowing that Sunday night we had popcorn (popped in a pan – not a microwave) and watched the Wonderful World of Disney! Four little girls and mom and dad – fun back then – the memory is even more special now.
one of my fondest memories was playing at my paternal grandmothers house with my cousin, Karen and I would take leaves off of a chinaberry tree and weave the stems in the leaves and make skirts.We would sit for hours and hours and pretend. How I miss those days with her.
Becca,
Your blog candy is so generous! One of my favorite childhood memories is waiting for my aunt to come home for the summer from the USA. She always brought me new clothes and I was beyond excited but even better was that my favorite aunt was home for the whole summer. I loved her so much!
Mary
I find it interesting as I read through “our memories” that they mostly involve “the simple things in life”! Is it old age or was life better back before all the technology and fast paced life? I think we all need to slow down and live our life and savor the days instead of letting life pass us by so quickly.
I remember my childhood days…the swimming hole, the bike rides, helping in the garden, canning food,picking berries ( and eating as many as went into the bucket….),sharing secrets with my best friend, the special occasional treat of soda and perhaps candy or chips once in a while…..Life was special… thanks for reminding me of that !!
Reading some of these comments is fun…….how each of us is so different but the same….loving this…..
Another story would be……my parents house was pretty big and still is…..we had a big front porch with black rod-iron around it….I would pretend that a small part of it was my kitchen….I would bring my easy-bake oven out and make cakes and cookies…….and of course what is a kitchen without my table and chairs……two of my brothers would ride their bikes by and grab a cookies or cake……didn’t know then because we didn’t have ……drive thur……..
Gloria
As a kid I remember being able to walk or bike anywhere by myself! I really enjoyed that freedom and wish kids today had more of it.
Well, many ideas – but as I read a few of these already left responses, I thought of the “grapette”, a bottled drink that was shaped with the middle of the bottle, much smaller, so my tiny little hands would be able to hold it to drink it. I loved these Grapette sodas (all artificial colorings and flavors, which I can not have now that I’m older), and had looked and looked for them, which they no longer make. But last year, my sister and I went to the mountains to get some “mineral water” and eat at Shatley Springs which is a “family style” restaurant. We stopped at the top of the mountain, as we were coming back home, and what did I find at this antique place – but a full Grapette bottle, still filled with the grape drink inside – never opened. At this moment, I can’t find the year on it – but I know we did find it on there when I bought it. But it’s licensed by The Grapette Company – Camden, Arkansas and was bottled by Grapette Bottling Company, Florence, SC. What a childhood memory this brought back, so I loved drinking these, and loved that my hands could hold the bottle.
My dad has always been deathly allergic to cats. When I was young, I would always find stray cats & bring them home. I guess I didn’t really understand my dad’s affliction because I would always ask to bring them in. I never could, but I always fed them until they went elsewhere (or I found them a new home). I remember one day I found a neighbor trying to drown her kitten in our pool. I was so upset, I rescued it and immediately brought it in the house. My dad said I could have it in the house to get it warm but then I would have to find it another home as soon as it was out of the woods. He explained to me how the air ducts worked to take the cat dander thru the house — and I finally understood. I found the kitten a great home, and that ended up being the last cat I brought home. But it was so memorable, in that my dad put aside his own comfort & health to help save this cat. My dad has since passed on, but this is one of those memories I’ll never forget!
Pajama parties were the highlight of my summers. A friend had a little guest house out behind her house. Her mother would let us use that for pajama parties several times each summer.
What fun.
I long for the days when we didn’t have all these gagets in our lives and things were so much simpler. Computers and cell phones are nice but I don’t think people are as happy as they were years ago. Everyone is in a hurry and all to themselves. It’s so sad. The world is changing so quickly and our kids today don’t know what it’s like to entertain themselves. So much is lost to keep up with a changing world….
I remember walking to school with my two sisters. We always took the same route. Down the street several blocks. Turn right into an alley. Walk thru a walkway on someones property. Continue down the street and there was the school! Sometimes in the fall and spring we would ride our bikes. I haven’t given much thought to that in years.
Thanks for encouraging the memories! Love you!
I remember walking to the neighborhood store. Paulson’s Market. It had the best candy case in the world! The gum was on top but the good stuff was on the bottom shelves. Sometimes my mom would give me a quarter and let me go to Paulson’s. Oh boy, was that fun. I would stand for what seemed like hours trying to decide how to spend my quarter. Then I would take my sack, sit outside the store on the bench, open it up and behold the treasures inside! Thanks for reminding me to think about Paulson’s. I hadn’t thought of this in years.
In the “good ole days” we lived in peace without this much violance and crime. My kids can’t do that anymore, in South Africa, we are now living in UAE and that at least is crime free! Love it here, almost feels like the “good ole days”!
Any time you would see a semi truck pass you, you give them the old toot too with your arm and they toot back at you !
When I was a small child, each day the Good Humor man came in a truck with ice cream delights of all kinds. We had 7 children in our family but most days, Mom would give us each a nickel to get ice cream. You could get a pop sickle, cream sickle, dreamsickle etc with a nickel. Then other days if we got a dime we could get a Good Humor, vanilla covered with chocolate, a Nutty Buddy, etc. Especially in hot weather, we would sit on the curb at the street and watch for the truck coming down our hill. What great memories!
Mary
Family get togethers. Besides Christmas and Easter, our families (Aunts, Uncles and cousins) would spent 1 or 2 weeks together camping or travelling each summer. It started small with just my family of 5 (before # 6 came) and an uncle’s family. Then our last big trip ended up with my parents and grandparents, 7 Aunts and Uncles and 14 1/2 cousins. When we landed in a camp ground, we had power. My children hardly know their cousins. We still get together every boxing day (about 40-60 each year) but the younger generation don’t enjoy the events like they used to.
Wow! I remember so much about the “Good Ole Days”, but what I especially remember is the corner store we would all go to after receiving our allowance! Mrs. Mosely ran and owned the candy store and she had every kind of candy back then known to mankind! This store had real “penny candy”! I also remember waking up on Saturday, doing my chores so that I could go out and roller skate with my friends. I had a pair of those silver metal shoe skates that had a key to loosen and tighten them and a real leather strap that buckled on the side. Wow,what ever happened to those days and if I could bring them back… would I really want to?
Wow! The Good Ole Days! I can vividly remember the corner store that we all ran to after our allowance was given out by my father. Mrs. Mosely owned and operated the store and she must have had every kind of candy known to mankind! This is where I first had swedish fish and lemon heads (love them to this day)! I also remember doing my chores early on Saturday morning so I could go out and roller skate with my friends. I had a pair of those silver metal shoe skates that had a key for loosening and tightening, they also had a real leather strap that buckled on the side and boy did I love those skates! Aaaah the Good Ole Days… having to be in the house by the time the street lights came on. LOL!
When I was in first grade, (ca. 1964), I played the lead role in Cinderella. My ‘boyfriend’ was the prince. He gave me a little pink heart-shaped ring. We performed on a stage for our parents and the school. My family moved away about 4 years later, but going back in 1976 for graduation, he remembered me! I haven’t seen him since… but he sure grew up to be a hottie! :)
Hi Becca, Well the best memory of the good ole days is everynight sitting down to dinner with the whole family and eating, laughing and then helping Mommy clean up. We would sit at the table for hours! And when the family gets together now we still do it, hours at the dinner table. Have a great day.
Growing up in a small town (and by small I mean 250 people), everyone knew everything about everybody! When I first got my license I remember coming home one night and Dad was waiting for me. He asked, “were you driving fast around the bottom?” (that’s the road that connected our town to the main highway). Of course, I answered “no”. He says, “well mrs. so and so called me and said she seen you driving way over the speed limit!” I couldn’t get away with anything! Good memories though. :)
Another memory from the good ol’ days is my friends and I riding bikes up and down the street (a dead end)! Look, Ma, no hands!!!!
Thank you for this jogging of our memories. It’s good to look back and remember carefree, really happy times. Do any of you remember when getting a chocolate bar was a really big deal? During World War 2, chocolate was scarce and a Hershey Bar was a real treat. We had to have food stamps (rations) for everyday items like sugar, etc. Made you really appreciate little things. Orange Crush, Grapette and RC Cola with peanuts in the bottle all were wonderful summer treats. Today we have so much we take it all for granted, that’s a shame.
My sister has been posting pictures from our childhood on Facebook and it is bring back a lot of memories, like the time at the age of 5 when my parents were painting the inside of their newly built home, and I wanted to paint, too. So they gave me some paint, a brush, and set me outside to do a decorative fence that was in the front of the house. I ended up with more paint on me than on the fence. That was a sign of things to come, as I still get a lot of paint on me whenever I do any painting project, no matter how big or small.
Candy
The Good Ole Days, were when you went to the mail box at the end of the drive way and there was always a handwritten letter from someone. How I treasured those, I could hardly wait for my Mom & Dad to finish reading, so I could sit down and read them myself. I still get excited when there is a handwritten envelope that comes in the mail. I make a special effort to write notes to my nieces and nephews along with a homemade card…. and birthday greetings to my friends..
One of my fave memories is waiting for a letter from my Grandparents. We moved from England when I was 7 and letter writing was the only way of communicating. Remember there were no computers or internet back in the 1960s so getting a written letter was treasure itself.
Looks like a lot of great goodies! Thanks for the chance!
My last installment was about summer memories…this time…spring: The good old days growing up on a grass seed farm in Oregon – digging up daffodils from the field and replanting them around the house and along the fence rows, walking around the fields trying to get as close to the new baby lambs as we could, watching bald eagles in the grove of trees behind our house, curling up with a good book and glancing up to look out the window every few minutes to watch the rain steadily falling, and of course, spending hours a day making new clothing designs for my paper dolls…
My siblings and my mom were talking about growing up on a farm and how it’s a miracle that we all lived through it! I remember falling off of a wagon of hay bales – along with the hay bales! We climbed up in our OLD barn (that was falling down) and walking across a board to get to where there was an actual floor to stand on. Oh the memories!!
Yes, the good o’days!!!
Remember having just ONE tv and it being black and white. I remember having family night on Sundays. We would pop popcorn seeds in a kettle and melt butter to pour over that. No microwaves back then. We would enjoy the night watching Ponderosa and Lawrence Welk. What fond memories.
Playing outside until dark, hanging clothes on the line to dry, the breeze of an attic fan, looking for four leaf clovers, playing in the water sprinkler, catching fire flies in Mason jars, building club houses in the woods and the list goes on and on…wish kids could experience such memories these days!
I remember spending hours outside in the winter, sledding. We had a fairly steep slope at the edge of our lot, so we’d start there. Our run would continue down across the empty lot next door, through our neighbor’s backyard (he didn’t mind) and into the woods, until deep snow slowed us down. It was great fun! When we were really little, my dad used to tape (masking tape) up the tops of our boots to our snow pants so that we wouldn’t get snow down our boots. It took ages to get bundled up to go outside.
Getting up in the middle of the night with my sister – who’s 15 months older than me – sneaking into the bathroom and eating crackers with butter. We must’ve been hungry:) But it is a good memory.
The good old days when we would walk the old streetcar tracks to and from school, and pick flowers that grew along those tracke in the Spring for our teacher. Those old tracks are now a busy street. If we didn’t walk the tracks to school, we would ride our bikes. We didn’t have to lock them up either because everybody had a bike and who would want to steal someone elses bike. Sometimes we would ride up to the corner soda shop and slurp ice cream floats. That was so much fun.
Carole
I have all of the same memories that you do along with a few others. We lived on a farm and went “pig fishing” . We tied a piece of twine string to an ear of corn and threw it in with the pigs and saw which one of us could get the biggest or most pig(s) to follow it in. We also went sledding a lot in the summer on cardboard boxes down the hill by our house – the grass was always worn away there. Then there was the time my sister was following “chicken” tracks and ended up finding a skunk at the end and getting sprayed by it. There are so many things running through my head right now! Wonderful to hear everyone else’s memories – they also bring up a lot of my own.
the “good old days time” for me would be learning about Nature…. insects, mushrooms, vegetables in the garden with my grand-father and how important it is to respect it. I wish more people learn that to their kids.
thanks for this candy :)
Your scripture book is fabulous. Your creativity never ends.
When I was a kid, summer lasted forever! One of the best things was having the ice cream truck come thru the neighborhood. At the time I lived on Long Island and we had a variety of ice cream trucks such as Bungalow Bar and Mr. Softie, to name a few. I remeber this one really hot day when my Grandpa was visiting and every time an ice cream truck came by, he bought us some. Don’t remember if I ate dinner but had a great time having ice cream a couple of times that day with Grandpa!
Waking up on a winters morning with ‘Jack Frost’ on the INSIDE of the window – no central heating in those days! Then rushing downstairs to get dressed infront of the fire. Mum had got up before everyone else to get the fire started in the grate. Happy days & wonderful memories!!
Hi Becca…My son loves the story of when I was little and the neighbors had the first color television on the block. It was so exciting when we all gathered to watch the original Batman TV Series IN COLOR!!! For many weeks my brothers and I would look forward to seeing Batman & Robin and all the fun words that would pop up on the screen…POW…ZOOM…YIKES! My husband is much older than me and he can remember when his Uncle had the first TV in the town they lived in near Portland, OR…now thats old!
First day of school! I was so excited but I was a short scrawny 6 yr old and the teacher patted me on the head and told me I would have to wait a couple of years before I could go to school with my siblings. They tried to tell him I was 6 but he didn’t believe them. This was a country school in the 50’s so pre-registration was not part of the process. Luckily my mother who drove us, was still out front talking to another parent and I went balling my eyes out to her. She convinced him I was 6 and I stayed. I still remember his name, Mr. Good.
Hi Becca, It sure has been fun to spend time think about my childhood.
It has been a blessing to read some of the others post as well. I was
blessed to be able to visit three of my Dad’s sisters during the summer.
One had a shoe store, one a wonderful plot of land at the river, and
one a dairy farm. They were awesome Christian woman who shared
God’s love in a way that proved to truly impact my life. I think these experiences were my first tangible awareness I had of God’s love. Not to mention what incredible men of God my uncles were. These were rare and precious times!!
The good ole days for me were living in Memphis and Atlanta and making the trip to my grandparents’ house. My grandfather had a country store across the railroad tracks and we’d walk over there. I loved getting the bologna and having my grandfather cut me a big thick piece to take home for lunch to eat on the front porch. They had a front porch swing and huge trees in the front yard. The pastures were great fun to run through as well. They had a big huge bell that my grandmother rang for supper. And at night when you were lying in your bed, at 9:30pm, the train would run right in front of the front yard. It was really neat! My two oldest sons were fortunate enough to get to spend a week there before my grandfather passed away and we sold it all. Memories of days when life wasn’t so fast and it just seemed simpler.
Wow. I remember living in the country in a place with no name. It was 13 miles from a real town. We used to pick peas, greens, berries, etc. I hated it. I always wished I lived in a place without those things. Now I have two little girls who long for dirt to play in and grow things in but I live in a place that doesn’t allow space for that. Now I want to go back to that place and show it to them before they are too old. My nostalgic moment.
Thank you Becca for this time of refreshment going up one of my fun time, was walking to the store around the corner and buy some stage plant cookie they were like gingerbread cookie with pink iceing on top and the cinanmon roll they use to sell with the white iceing on top man they were the best roll my uncle would give us a nickle to walk to the store back in the days we got change from a nickle. Which bring a smile to my face thinking about them those were fun times.
Becca, this has been fun reading about everyone’s memories of the Good Old Days!!! We lived out in the country and had so many wild blackberries. They were so tasty, large, juicy, warmed by the sun blackberries. I can taste them now. We could eat to our hearts content. Some of them even made it home for Mom to make homemade berry cobbler and jam.
One thing we wouldn’t have had in the “good ole days” is you, Becca. We would have never had access to your inspiration and creativity. I look to your blog literally every day. Most days you amaze me. some days you just plain take my breath away.
Then you give away prizes just for playing along. This is better than the good ole days!
Another fun time was going to Riverview in Chicago, IL. Who could forget the “Bobs” or the Tunnel of Love. Spent many days after school just walking around, eating cotton candy, and of course rode the Bobs and tried to throw pennies in the fish bowl. Was never very good at that though. At that age everying was so innocent and wonderous. Where have the years gone. Thank God for memories. It’s fun Becca walking down memory lane – Thanks for letting us share this with you!
The good ole days for me was as a kid being able to ride my bike to the local lake to go swimming on those HOT HOT MI summer days. My parents were brave! It had to be at least five miles!
Ah, the good ole days. Penny candy that actually cost a penny, saving our money and going to the local 5 and 10 cent store to spend it, roller skating at the local skate rink, end of the summer celebration and fireworks at the local lake, and my first kiss under the pine trees at the lake. What fun to remember. thank you.
To go horseback riding in the rain, hunting for coons. Bring my cow horn that I carved out to blow for the dogs to come back. Never shot any coons, but love to listen to the hounds bay in the distance. Some nights were really spooky, but most were very memorable. Thanks for letting me take you down my memory lane. Have a blessed day.
Stopping on the side of the road and buying watermelons from a farmer for five for a dollar. And they were GOOD! When I taste a really, really good watermelon, it takes me back to those days, back in the 1950’s.
Another summer memory for me was our annual trip to Kenton, Ohio to visit my mother’s parents and her married sister and family. They both had farms that we had soooooooooo much fun on – except when we had to use the outhouse or at night use the “pot” next to grandma’s bed. Y U K ! ! ! Pure torture and scary. Our trip was on the Grayhound Bus. We would also go to Bluffton, Ohio to visit my mom.s brother and family and also my dad’s brother who owned the only dry cleaners in town. They would let me help them in the shop which made me feel sooo grown up.
Jean
Getting dreamsacles (?sp) from the Good humour man
i remember when my sisters and i lived in scotland and we used to go to our nana and papa’s house and have a picnic in the backyard…when we moved to canada we kept going on family picnics to some of the most wonderful beaches in ontario…
Staying out after dark and catching fireflies!
Our summer vacation spot was always the farm in Nebraska. If we were later in the summer, we got sweet corn to eat. The little country church was always stiffling in the humidity and heat and our dresses stuck to the pews when we stood during the service. It was fun to go get the eggs and feed the chickens or watch as Uncle Leslie herded the cows in for milking.
Unfortunately, the old farm house had to be sold and then a few years later it burnt to the ground. In my minds eye I can still see it and smell the mustiness of the place.
It has been so much fun going down Memory Lane this week. I remember how my father used to play the organ after dinner. Sometimes we would sit and listen. At other times, it was background music for whatever else was going on in the house.
I remember our local drive-ins. Too bad kids of today have no clue how fun they were. Although the make-out sessions were strong even back then (ahem!) the thought of watching a movie – in a car! – in my pj’s!- and get food! were almost more than I could bear. I sure wish we could turn back time on a few of these fun oldies :)
Canoeing with friends and family is always fun!!
Just a few houses down the street was our local Carry-Out. We’d save our pennies, and walk to “Cliff’s” one day a week, to see what special flavor of Popsicle had been delivered that week! What fun! Thanks for a chance at the awesome blog candy, and encouraging us to reminisce……the good ol’ days WERE wonderful!
My grandmother raised six children in Omaha, Nebraska and part of that was during the depression and then the rationing of WWII. Milk and butter were rationed, so mashed pototoes were rarely served. Instead, she would put the boiled potatoes in a “ricer” and when you mashed the handle down, little rice potato pellets came out of the perforated sides. Then you would put gravy on top – delicious!
Well, when I was four or five years old, we went to visit and I thought the potato ricer was pure magic. My grandmother would have me stand up on a wooden chair pulled up to the kitchen counter and let me squeeze the ricer. Of course now I realize that her hands, on the handle behind my little hand “just to hold it steady” were actually doing most of the squeezing, but at the time I thought I was doing it all! I made my Mom come watch to see what a big girl I was, ricing the potatoes!!
When my grandmother died while I was in high school, we were living overseas, and just my Mom went back for the funeral. Each of the six kids selected a few items for the memories and do you know my Mom brought me back that ricer? I was instantly transported back to standing on that wooden chair with my Grandma right behind me! It sits on my kitchen windowsill where I can see it every day and think of Mom and Grandma, both gone but never forgotten. Good times!
Last day of school each semester was always exciting. not much compares to that in adult life…
Oh another day of memories… I’m loving this. There are so many memories from my childhood that I will always beleive were the good ole days. I remember one halloween when my little brother and I decided we were going trick or treat (we lived on a ranch) and of course that was something you just didn’t do where we lived. I was about 7 and my brother was 5. We left about 5 in the evening and didn’t get home until after 10 and walked and ran couldn’t tell you how many miles we went. When we would see a car coming would lay down in the ditch so know one would see us. Boy were we in trouble when we got home.
in the summer, one day a week, we would get to do arts and crafts across the street at the elementary school playground…lanyards, woven pot holders, popsicle stick baskets, etc! i guess that was the beginning of my love of crafts!
also loved taking off on bikes and riding for hours. no worries except had to check in with mom when it got dark. then we played in the backyard catching fireflies! oh, what fun!
sandyh
Who can forget taking vacations in the family station wagon? In our family there were three of us kids. That meant taking turns in the ‘dreaded’ middle. Not only did you have to ‘endure’ the hump in the floor, but heavens if you ‘touched’ your brother or sister! But we survived the long trip from Chicago to Alexandria, Minnesota! (11/12 hours all in one day!) And we did it without electronic games or TV’s in the vehicle too. There were always games to play by watching out the window or singing. Those were the ‘good old days’.
One of my favorite things I remember eating when I was little was fresh picked watermelon on a hot summer afternoon.
Tricia
Hi Becca, I am going crossed eyed trying to read all of these comments…I love all of them!!! I remember crusing Van Nuys Blvd. (in the San Fernando Valley of California)in my Blue Firebird Trans Am with the T tops off with my 3 girl friends and boys trying to jump in to cruise with us. Or just parking on the Boulevard and watching all the other cars going by and just hanging out. Thanks Teresa
Hi Becca : ) Good ole Days #4…
When I was 3, I began taking tap dancing lessons. I remember my mom telling me how good I was because I would follow the teacher as he danced! I don’t remember how many recitals I participated in, but I remember a couple of things that really stand out (unfortunately – lol!). I remember crying before the recital and my mascara (can you believe I had to wear mascara? my mom didn’t even use it!) was running… ugh! Another time I pushed one of the girls who was going the wrong way (not hard, of course!) and when my dad played it back on the old movie film, he kept teasing me that he was gonna show it backwards and make me fall down. Strange, but true! You know as a child you believe what your parents tell you. It hard to believe what a long way we’ve come with technology since those days! My mom still has the adorable tutus we wore and the scuffed up tap shoes : ) I really did have a lot of fun practicing on the patio in the backyard… those were the good ole days for sure!
Hoping you are having a fabulous day!
Love and hugs ~
Lori
Wow! Another day of memories of the Good Ol’ Days! When we lived in New Jersey (I was probably about 7 – 9) For about half a year I attended a One Room Schoolhouse. We lived in a hugh house on about five acres of land that we rented because Dad was in the Army. It was definitely out in the “country” and I loved it. My “best” friends at that time lived ‘down the road’, ‘up the next road’, past the peach packing plant and ‘about the same distance to the right’. A very long walk for a young girl. I could walk there by myself whenever I wanted! What a wonderful time that was! Oh, how I wish I had appreciated it more. Anyway, along the way, near the peach packing plant (where my parents packed peaches by the way, when extra help was needed), you would find lots and lots of wild tomato plants growing and as you walked you could just pick a tomato to enjoy, fresh from the plant!! Oh how delicious those tomatos were!!! No worries about someone ‘stealing’ me, or being in danger. Mom and I also helped the guy next door (who eventually married my Mom’s sister and became my Unce) to plant potatoes and strawberries in the plot on the other side of our house. My dad came home one day and brought a puppy out of his coat pocket. It was a shetland collie and oh so much fun. Another time I came home carrying a hugh box, with a very ‘wild’ cat. My parents were able to make it such a sweet little creature. When we moved away we gave it to my Aunt and she told of how it would always return to ‘our’ house, until it almost died. Then she was able to take it home, feed it and love it back to good health and life. From that moment on, it was her best frend. When she wrote letters to us it would be curled around her neck and bat at the pen and make marks on her letters. Oh, what fun were those day.
BIG family get-togethers, mostly at our house. Oh, the laughter! We had such a great time. We had a little farm and a lot of room to roam and there was never a dull moment. One specific memory is of the long path lined with lilac bushes that led out to the main road and it was always my job in the afternoons after school to skip down that beautiful path and fetch the mail. I will never, ever forget the intoxicating smell of all those lilacs blooming in spring.
Oh how I wish I had time to read all of these. Some that I’ve read bring back memories that I’ve long forgotten…like during family get togethers when, after dinner, everyone would gather around the piano and either my mother or my aunt would play, while everyone else sang. One of my uncles sang opera and most had really good voices. I was very young when most of these get-togethers occured and couldn’t carry a tune in a basket (still can’t), besides not knowing all the words to the songs. Now that I know the words, all of the pianos and people are long gone. How sad, but how wonderful to remember those times.
We were so free to come and go on our own. We would walk to the stables and rent a horse and ride along the Los Angeles River. These days I can’t imagine any business allowing children to do this on their own! I do not think mothers would let their children to do this, either.
Times have really changed.
Treadling on my Mum’s (unattached) treadle sewing machine; running my fingers through hundreds of buttons in the button box; standing still getting pricked by pins as Mum fitted the dress she was making for me; watching the corn (wheat) turn brown/gold on the other side of the valley and sway in the summer breeze; feeling the house battered by such high winds, the poplar trees at the bottom of the garden would clash together; licking the jam from the jam tarts on baking day (my mother’s pastry was so hard, it could be used as building material!); making dens in the woods; riding my scooter up and down over the slag heap of the disused coal mine in the field; seeing the miners going home on the tram or the bus “in their black,” before the days of pit-head showers and the small of hard work – a mix of sweat and coal dust; the excitement of going into the city centre and seeing foreign newspapers for the first time when the city hosted the semi finals of the World Cup; seeing the city transformed from post war bomb site to new concrete and glass; seeing black soot hang in the air in the city before the Clean Air Act (everyone had coal fires in those days); everyone’s surprise at the beautiful carvings on a city centre bridge, only revealed when it was cleaned for the first time in a century; using the home made toasting fork to make toast over the fire on cold winter mornings; getting dressed by the fire downstairs in the winter.
Oh, the good ole days–summers were for playing outside -all over the neigborhood with all the kids – until dark. catching fire flies in jars- waiting for the call – or the bell to come inside. Days of riding our bikes miles away to swim in the lake and never having to worry about not getting home safely. Wonderful times !!
Oh Becca I have a lot of memories of the good old days I spent alot of time at my grandparents house as I was the first grandchild and had aunts and uncles my age and a few years older you see they had 16 kids
no running water no bathroom and the only heat I remember was from the wood cook stove in the kitchen we played in the yard were never bored love track through the woods swinging on grapevines and picking blackberries we played games like Hot Potato, Red Rover Red Rover, Mother may I and Ring Around the Rosey. Oh the good ole days.
I remember going with my Dad to the Father/ Daughter Dinner and dance at my school. All the girls got really dressed up for the event. My Mom made over a prom dress for me to wear. Not sure where it came from. I was maybe 8 years old at the time. Had a great “date” with my Dad.
DeniseB
One of my favorite memories was the year my 5 year old son gave me a “skeleton key” for Mothers day because I was always losing my key.
For those too young to remember there were locks that the “same key” fit every lock and we could go to the hardware store and buy one off the rack if we lost ours.
We lived in a poor neighborhood and had a skeleton lock on the door. In those day a poor neighborhood was not unsafe and people rarely locked their doors either because there was no need to lock it or like me they couldn’t find the key LOL The homes were older and the people had little money, but we trusted each other.
I remember many times picking up hitch hikers at night when I was coming home from work and never giving it a second thought. For me the good old day were ones of safety and trust in other people. We didn’t have much money, but we had so much more. I am sorry young people today don’t know the feeling of not needing to lock a door or being able to pick up a stranger who needed a ride and have no fear.
The good old days were that because things were simplier then. No TV, no computers, and lots of time to play outside til you were called in for dinner. Lots of chances to use your imagination and ingenuity to come up with new games, and ideas that often got us in trouble but it was fun while we were doing it. We got plenty of exercise, running around chasing each other, playing hide & go seek, and other such games. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those times but time does move on and I have become attached to the internet which I never thought of back then. I remember when WWII ended and the celebration we had at school. Those were the good OLD days.
I’d have to say last winter was a memory maker for me. That is the winter the West Coast of BC got 2 feet of snow around Christmas – most we have ever had! Victoria BC actually had more snow than the North Pole for a while LOL!
It was simply amazing watching he snow accumulate! Down side is everyone in the family got sick but me so I was the lone snow shoveler — bonus being I lost two pounds LOL! The city shut down (we aren’t used to snow like that here and don’t have the snow removal equipment) so life came to a grinding halt and I LOVED it!! The silence the snow brings is amazing, not to mention the simply breathtaking beauty of it on the trees etc. Got to do LOTS of puzzles and read the entire Twilight series over the break. Definitely a Christmas to remember :D
It’s been tons of fun reading these. And it has also caused me to really look back and recall many of my own memories. Another one occured to me today. Growing up, my best friend’s parents had a Jeep pickup truck. Every December, they would bundle us kids up and we would ride up in the back of that truck to the mountains of Arizona to find a Christmas tree. We had thermos bottles of hot cocoa and we would sing carols up and back. Riding back, we would literally be under the tree! LOL
But we were having such fun, we didn’t mind a bit that it was crowded, cold and scratchy! To this day, when we put up our own tree, I remember those trips and what that time together meant to us and it makes me smile.
I loved spending rainy days in the house playing every board game we had with my brothers.
I remember my dad planting all these rose bushes…he could plant but he couldn’t pull the weeds…that was always MY JOB! I hated it!!! But I loved to smell the roses…
Oh my so many things have come to mind reading these comments! The things I remember loving as a kid…playing outside until dark; visiting with my elderly neighbors, and them giving me treats; taking a shower after playing all day, then going to bed and feeling so CLEAN; the feeling of still “floating” after a day at the pool; having friends to play with in the neighborhood (at least until my best friend moved away!); and having the energy to do it all! :)
Catching fireflies in mason jars.
Smiles~
Marilyn
Having so many brothers and sisters made life interesting. Our backyard was the city park and we had all kinds of fun there from building forts with the fallen trees and hunting crayfish in the creek to gathering the hickory nuts to make muffins with. We all played until the street light came on and then we had to go to bed. Life was certainly different those days.
I remember driving down our main drag in town and occasionally “egging” other cars…but that didn’t last long…once we were found out. And before I knew the damage an egg can cause on cars!! Then going to our hangout at McDonald’s and eating french fries and drinking cokes!
On a nice sunny day, I would fill up a peanut butter jar with kool-aid, make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My older sister had bought a used bike we all had to share. I would load up the bike with my goodies and ride to the nearest park just to enjoy the beautiful. Unfortunately, today I wouldn’t go near that park.
I remember being able to go outside to play for hours and hours and my parents not having to worry about someone snatching me up. When I was young we moved about every 4 years between the U.S. and Germany because my dad was in the Army. It’s funny that we never got stationed anywhere but Germany.
Anyways, when I live in Germany, a bunch of us kids on base would play hide and go seek for hours. I was usually the winner, but I have to confess that I would hide in our basement storage room which had a window that faced the backyard playground. I could watch people getting caught and see when I was the last person left. Then I would mysteriously appear and everyone would wonder where my hiding place was, LOL! I know, I know…not really fair, but hey, they never stipulated we couldn’t hide in the basements, haha!
To this day when I see the Iris bloom I think of my mother’s garden with a long row of Iris along the fence. Interspersed were bachelor buttons of pink, white and purple. She loved her one and only peony the best.
I remember playing hide and seek! We use to play at night time. It was cool weather and tons of fun with all the neigbor kids. Thanks again fro a chance to win great blog candy.
My favorite memory of the Good Ole Days is spending time with my mother’s family. They lived in a large plantation home that had been in the family for years. There were many areas of that home I found scarry. LOL My grandfather was a farmer. Had many pigs, cows, horses, goats and chickens. I loved to play in the barn and tried to catch the baby piglets. We rode the horses and collected the eggs. In the summer, after he would pick crops in the garden, we would sit out on the screened porch and shell beans or shuck corn. To this day, I love to sit in a chair and shell beans. My grandfater died when I was 9 yr old. I am in my 50’s and can’t believe how clear these memories are to me today.
Hi…..thanks very much for a chance to win the blog candy. One of many good old day memories is skating outside, on the rink, and using a boy’s skates, I had a crush on him. I remember that really well.
Elaine
It’s sad that the world is not as safe a place, especially for children, as it was in our “olden” days. Like so many have said, we would/could be gone from the house all day. We would pack a lunch and take it down to the creek (pronounced “crick”) which ran on the back of our property. We’d build dams, dig holes, catch lizards and even trout, swim and read our Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew novels. We’d head home when we finally got hungry for dinner. My folks lived in the same place when my kids were little and they got to experience some of that. But times have changed, haven’t they?
I loved going to the little brooks that were close to our home but far enough across the field they felt like a real adventure to go to. The closest one slowed down to a mere trickle in the summer but the other one was next to the edge of the woods and it was so nice to sit and paddle around in the cold water. I know the alders have grown up so thick around them now that it is impossible to get close but in my mind they are still as perfect as they were back then.
I remember working on the gardens with my mom in the spring, I used to be so tired of cleaning and planting that I swore I would never have gardens when I was older. I thought of this today as I was cleaning out my huge back garden getting ready to plant some more flowers. My gardens are much bigger than what I had growing up, funny how you end up like your parents even though you say you won’t.
I loved to hear the ice cream man coming. We would run out to his truck and get the ice cream. I wish he still came around.
I’ve thought of a couple, so I’ll have to remember to write another tomorrow! One great memory involved as well my grandparent’s “cottage”, an old home close to where they both grew up in the country. I can remember picking vegetables out of the garden, washing them with the outdoor hose, and taking a freshly washed carrot and putting a bit of salt on it, then eating it up. We did that with all kinds of vegetables, including tomatoes, one of my favorite vegetables. Nothing tastes better than fresh vegetables right out of the garden! Yum!
Thanks for this opportunity to have a chance to win this blog candy!
Blessings,
Joanne
We lived 2 houses from a canal and we would make us a pole with a stick and string and tie bacon to the end and get a bucket and go crawfishing! We didn’t understand that a 1/2 bucket of crawfish was not enough for a crawfish boil.
My grandparents had retired, and moved from the farm into town when their children married, and my dad and uncle both had their own farms . Grampa would still come out to the farm to help with farm work. Gramma would come too, and help with whatever household work, or garden work my mother would happen to be doing that day. Most times, she would bake not one, but two different batches of cookies. I can still remember getting off the bus, and coming into the house that smelled gloriously of cookies. The cookies would be all nestled together in rows on the cooling rack. Of course, we got to have fresh-baked cookies for our after school snack. The remarkable thing about this, is that Gramma repeated this routine at each of her three children’s houses, when Grampa went to help with the outside work. She could mix up a batch of chocolate chip cookies without using a recipe. I suppose I’d have the recipe committed to memory too, if I was having “baking day” three times a week like she did!
Gee I was thinking all day today about the good ol days…and today my memory wandered back to when we would go over to my grandparents home and my grandma would have all her sisters come visit along with my mom and her sister and my grandma would play the piano for us all to sing along to the wonderful old hymns! It was heavenly! It definitely lent meaning to singing “HOW GREAT THOU ART!”
I remember when I didn’t want to take naps…now it’s my daughter who doesn’t. Now I GET to take naps and I love it. There are some good things about being an adult…Eli
I grew up in an Italian home. How I fondly remember my mother and grandmother in the kitchen. There would be pasta making days with racks of freshly made pasta hanging everywhere! Those two women were human pasta making machines!. What they used to dry the pasta were those old wooden towel/laundry racks. The wooden dowels formed a diamond pattern on the sides. It folded for storage.
Next came the summer canning. We had a huge garden. My father’s tomatoes were the biggest I have ever seen! The flavor was divine! Together, my mom and grandmother would make quarts and quarts of pasta sauce and then can it. Again, the house would smell so good you wished you could taste the scent in the air. They went through the garden canning as each variety was picked. There were pickles, green beans, pickled green beans, beets, tomatoes, and a special thing that my grandmother made with eggplant. Oh, how I wish I could make that eggplant today!
I don’t can as my mom did. I would, except DH is afraid I’ll kill him w/ canned food, LOL. Believe me, I’ve tried to convert him over the 35 years we’ve been married! I sure miss it, though. For some reason, it was one of the traditions of my childhood.
My father always put out a huge garden which fed most of our town. He was born and raised on a farm and he loved to work in the soil. My brothers and I were his labor force. At the time it seemed like we worked all of the time in the garden and I would guess now it was only 15 minutes at the most each day. In May our first task would be to pick the strawberries. We would go each day and only pick the ripe ones unless a rain was forcasted as farmer dad was pretty good at knowing with it was going to rain. : )
Seems like in the good ole days I walked everywhere I needed to go. Sometimes it was several miles. I walked to school, the library (quite a distance), Girl Scout meetings, softball practices and games, the community pool, the corner store (way down the end of the street) or the fruit stand to get items for my mother. This gave me a lot of independence. I reflect on how different it was for my kids because I drove them everywhere. When I think back on it, a lot of the places I walked to when I was a kid are a lot further than I I have driven my kids to their myriad activities over the years.
Oh wow… day 4 and so many more memories… which one to choose! LOL!! I guess it would have to be another road trip/vacation… this time we headed east from Ohio. My dad tried to make sure we saw as many highlights of the area as time would permit and we visited Washington D.C., Gettysburg, Boston, Plymouth Rock, Cape Cod, New York City, Mt. Vernon, Monticello and more. We drove through all the New England states, even up into Maine just so I could say I had been to Maine! LOL!!! It was another wonderful trip. I’m sure the two vacations I’ve mentioned yesterday and today were the beginnings of my love of traveling and wanting to see all the places I’ve read about!
There was a drug store with a soda fountain six blocks away from our house. Periodically when I would save up my money, I would go there and get a vanilla cone with chocolate jimmies (spinkles). That was my favorite treat WAY BACK THEN!!!
Thanks for the opportunity to share some fun memories.
The good ole days were when kids had fun playing outside together, rather than using technology like they do today!
I so enjoyed reading some of the comments about the good ole days, and remember some of mine. It was so nice to be able to play outside and not have any cares. I used to be a tomboy and loved climbing trees, playing tag and other kid’s games.
Thanks for the opportunity to win this awesome blog candy.
the good old days,when we had time to go sit by the stream with a book.
I remember when we had to walk up 106 stairs to get to our school. It was much easier coming home when we came down the stairs, alot faster too.
Thanks for bringing back great memories and the chance to win.
When I was growing up, we didn’t have computers. I remember typing my essays and projects on my trusty manual typewriter (which is now sitting in my garage). It was always a hassle whenever I made a mistake as I either had to type the page over again or use “white-out”. Thanks for the chance to win.
So many great memories, Becca.
A not so good memory is the song Surfin’ Bird by the Trashmen:
It was scary to me then, but I understand now why it was…
Thank goodness there were few not-so-good memories!
XOXO… Ree
Ok more on the good old days, we–my mom, dad, brother and me we always ate meals at the table and talked about the days happinings, no tv or radio going never let a phone call interupt meals, that person would just have to call back as there was no answering machine, and on sunday we always got to eat in the front room on one of those metal tv trays and watch Bonanza and Ed Sullivan. Meals were home cooked, no fast foods and it was the only time we could eat with the tv on. It was always such a special time.
Okay you will think this strange at first. One favorite memory is placing American flags on all the tombstones when we were little. My father was the superintendent of the National Cemetery and we were allowed to help since we lived there on the grounds.
Thanks for another giveaway.
Mary R.
I remember doing all the things that you’d never let your kids do these days ~ drinking from the garden hose, walking and riding my bike all over the place, being gone (and out of touch of course) all day long. Bike helmets? No one had ever heard of them! One of my best friends didn’t have an indoor bathroom, she had an outhouse. I remember how spooky it was to have to go out there at night when we had a sleep over. Sharing a drink with no worries about “catching” something. Eating raw cookie dough, licking the bowl when Mom mixed up a cake, eating fruit right off the tree or veggies right out of the garden. If you fell you didn’t run screaming to Mom, you got up and went back to playing. If you did go to Mom, unless there were bones sticking out, or you were bleeding to death, she stuck a band-aid on it and back out you went! It was certainly a different time.
R/
I remember on hot summer nights going with my parents to eat cold watermelon at a fruit stand. The people owned an orchard and sold peaches and watermelons and at night sold cold melon by the slice. Of course there was no AC in our house, just an attic fan to cool things off once the sun went down, so the watermelon was a real treat!
Before we moved out to the farm, we lived in the upstairs apartment of my grandmother’s house. I can remember mom and dad had a tiny little rooom just as you entered the doorway from the stairwell, walked right into the kitchen with the little half bath in it (you closed it with a curtain) and then into the living room which also had a double bed which my brothers shared. Then there was my little room just off of the living room. The little black and white telelvision was in the front corner of the livingroom, and I can remember tying my bathrobe belt onto the footboard of my brothers’ bed and riding my “horse” (the footboard) along with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and singing Happy Trails to You at the top of my lungs. I was in the first grade and horse crazy even then.
Becca,
Thanks again for the opportunity to win some wonderful gifts. The good ole days were fun on birthdays. We always let the children pick out what birthday cake they wanted and also what they wanted for supper. It was always great. By the way, we still do.
Connie
How silly I am… For the last two days, I have left my memories of the good old days in the comments from that specific day. I should have read the directions more carefully. I have plenty of memories that I can still share on this post. I remember one particular winter when we had lots of snow. I had attended a birthday party at a friend’s home who lived on a farm. A storm came up during the party and I could not get back into town. The other girls at the party all lived in the country and they were picked up in tractors and trucks, but I stayed the night. School was closed the next day, so I enjoyed being a farm girl. We baked bread, helped with the chores, and played in the snow. The next day, I borrowed my friend’s mother’s boots and we walked to the bus stop. My books were at home so I had to go to school without them. I did, however, carry some home baked bread for my teacher.
All these memories need to be compiled into a book for all the future generations! :) How blessed I am to be able to relate to sooo many of these! I sincerely wouldn’t trade all the modern conveniences of today, or this new world of technology, for the simple childhood I had for anything in the world! Ohhh, those WERE the good ole days!
One of my favorite memories has to be going to the drive-in movie every Fri night with my family! My sister and I would always be dressed in our pajamas because we rarely made it through the entire movie without falling asleep! The movies were different back then too! Parents didn’t have to worry about something unexpected popping up on the screen…why they didn’t really kiss on the screen back then! Oh how times have changed! LOL! No, I’ll take the days of yesteryear any day!
Thank you, Becca, for bringing up these precious memories! They have been set aside far too long! :)
Hugs~
Growing up my mother was a professional seamstress. I loved watching and learning from her. One year, she was making the most beautiful emerald green taffeta dress for a little girl that would turn out to be a Christmas gift from her parents. It was the dress for a princess and I secretly hoped she would make one for me one day. To make matters worse, my mom used me as a model as she altered the dress since the dress was to be a surprise for the little girl, she couldn’t fit it on her for sizing. Finally, one day, the dress was gone. Delivered to the parents to wrap in time for Christmas. I wondered after it left my mother’s sewing room if the little girl would appreciate all the love and care my mom had put into her beautiful new dress, I hoped she would. As if you can’t tell where this story is going… it turned out that I was the lucky little girl to get that new dress. To think, my mom was so clever in tricking me! I treasured that dress so very much-not only was it breathtakingly beautiful, but my mom made it just for me.
I think you are so sweet for thinking of us! My grandma still had a hand pump in the kitchen and a toilet in the hallway when I visited as a little girl! And she lived in the city…I thought it was so strange and I still wonder about it. It was the house my mother grew up in. But mom had real plumbing and a dishwasher. I, however, have a microwave and a glass topped stove. I wonder what my kids will have? maybe a robot. Ha!
We all had horses…..and there was a horse show arena close to our house…..we would ride our horse over there and enter some of the classes…..we won some and lost some…….then we would ride them back home……my Grandmother sent me my own riding suit……I have the pants, vest, shirt (with ruffles )and coat……..man that was a long time ago…….my horse’s name was Beauty…..and she was…….man did I love that horse…….
I blew my first entry tonight and have seconds to get posted. Will continue for tomorrow’s post.
My grandmother rented a beach house in Kemah. TX every summer when I was a child. Weeks were spent swimming, fishing, crabbing and just being kids. Most of my favorite memories have to do with my grandmother one way or another.
There was a swampy area in the lot next to where we lived and we loved to go get some guppies out and put in a fish bowl. It was fun watching them swim around in the bowl until we had to put them back where they belonged! Sigh!
AH! Girl, well I live in the country now…between the bull thinking he can “play” with me like a dog, and the 6 large dogs outside and 4 poodles, inside…not to mention the donkey’s, chickens it’s really a zoo here…even today! HA!
However, one of my favorite memories is we lived in a house at the lake when I was just a little bitty girl (3-5), always coming down the lake road, when you first turned they had a natural gas light that burned a blue flame. Everyday, I would say to my Grandparents (they raised me) look, look they have the light on for me tonight, :-) and that was the lighthouse road all my life :-) ha Never would you see such today, natural gas is way to costly and precious!
Camping – another wonderful memory (though as I got older I always tried to get out of it – you know, wanting to stay home, hang out with friends). But I remember we used to leave our little trailer up near Markleville and go up there. My sister caught her first fish there – I still have a picture of that. I never caught any fish, not for lack of trying. But we always had fun. It smelled so good; the air was so fresh and clean that is had a sweet smell to it. At first it was strange, but I cam to enjoy it. There were regulars that we met up with and the adults would hang out and the kids would all play together. Once there was a flash flood and we actually saw the side of the mountain coming down in all that water. The campground flooded, we were all wading in muddy water up to our knees, but all the adults got out once it was over and walked around checking on everyone. Those were the days when neighbors and strangers checked on people to make sure they were ok whenever there was anything that might have affected them. The good ole days…
I went back to read some entries after quickly rushing to get my entry in before midnight. I soon noticed the times of the postings were 9ish and knew I hadn’t gone 3 hours back! When I checked my entry I see it was only 9:59 p.m., not the midnight it is here in Florida! So decided to tell my story after all. My other entry was 863 should you need to know for any reason…I don’t mean to be ‘stuffing’ the ballot box, LOL!
I wanted to tell how fortunate we were to have our father who knew how to do just about anything! About the time us kids were getting too old to be really happy with our swimming hole in the creek nearby, my Dad developed a partnership with 3 other friends and bought acreage that had natural springs on it. It was about 15 miles from home and was just kind of a rolling hills area with trees, brush, and grasses throughout. I have no idea how these guys knew of the possibilities that property held. Well, the 4 families worked one summer clearing a goodly share of the property and building a dam and doing what ever else was necessary to build a ‘pond.’ I must have been 12-13 years old with 3 younger siblings and 6 older ones, 4 of them married with families. I don’t remember it taking more than a year before we had this wonderful body of water big enough for waterskiing! It was somewhat horseshoe shaped and our family developed/refined one end and the other 3 partners (relatives of one another) built a lodge and developed/refined the larger end. The refinement process took some time but Dad built a cottage with inside plumbing and a great deck, two docks, a big outside fireplace, and a paddle boat that was so much fun. We enjoyed swimming, fishing, boating, iceskating and PRIVACY.
BECCA BECCA MEMORIES. DO I HAVE THEM. MY MOTHER CAME FROM
A FAMILY OF 7 BROTHERS AND SISTERS. EVERT HOLIDAY ONE OF THE AUNTS OR UNCLES WOULD START VISITING. MY AUNT ALWAYS LIVED
NEXT DOOR TO US. MY AUNT JO AND FAMILY WOULD COME OVER TO OUR
HOUSE AND THEN THE TWO FAMILIES WOULD GO TO THE THIRD HOUSE AND ALL OF US WOULD END UP AT SOMEONES HOUSE. WE DID THIS FOR
CHRISTMAS AND EASTER. AT EASTER WE WOULD HAVE A FAMILY WALK,
EVERYONE GOT IN LINE ACCORDING TO SIZE.. THE HOUSE WHERE WE ENDED UP AT WOULD SERVE HAM SANDWICHES, POTATO SALAD ETC.
WHEN ALL THE CHILDREN STARTED GETTING OLDER, WE HAD OUR OWN
PARADE AT EASTER AND AT CHRISTMAS WOULD GO FROM HOUSE TO
HOUSE ON OUR OWN AND THEN GO ON THE PARENTS NIGHT. THEN
SOME OF THE COUSINS FROM TO OTHER STATES AND SLOWLY THE
VISITING AT CHRISTMAS AND EASTER STOPPED. THEN WE STARTED LOSING FAMILY. BUT IT SURE WAS FUN FOR MANY YEARS.
CYNTHIA BEYNON
When my grandma would bake me a cherry pie as that was my favorite one. There’s nothing to replace the time spent with her.
Old memories……….When we moved there, we found that near our house on the farm was a creek about 14-20 feet wide in places. We kids, (I was about 12. My brothers 10 and 8) had more fun in the pools that formed there. In the early spring there were bright colored little fish in it. We tried so hard to catch them with nets. They were so illusive and fast we’d only catch a few. We usually ended up wet. but there were lots of squeals and giggles. In the hot days of summer, we swam when the water was deeper. When summer was hot and dry, we wadded and splashed and played. Tall trees on the banks shaded the water and made it a cool retreat. And then when winter came the creek froze over and it was a perfect place to ice skate. It was just a country creek, but we had so much fun there as kids growing up. My family and I were just talking about this recently, and we all recalled “the creek” was one of the things about growing up on a farm that made it fun. Becca, Thanks for raising a thought provoking subject. Obviously it’s brought back some great memories. I’ve enjoyed reading them. Blessings!
Oh those “Good Ole Days”…. The wonderful memories… It was the late 1940’s and Dad got an idea to raise some chickens for fresh eggs. When it was time to collect the eggs my brother and I would follow him around, inside the chicken coop, and as typical kids, we weren’t afraid of anything at that age – that is until the chicken would flop it’s wings and squawk at dad and we’d run and scare the rest of them.
Some how knew when mom was going to bake a cake and she would crack those fresh eggs so we’d drag a chair up to the kitchen counter and hang around her just to see if any of those eggs was a double yolker and when there was one we’d yell at the top of our lungs for the rest of the kids to come see the double yolks and scare the life out of mom!
Shortly before the snow was to arrive I remember dad being laid off from Republic Aviation, again. Aviation always had so many lay offs and it was pretty hard on the family so we had many a chicken dinner and of course my brother and I had to watch even though dad told us to go in the house we kept saying we wanted to see not realizing what it really meant to behead a chicken for dinner. And cry, oh my did we cry and I tried to convince dad it was still alive even though it didn’t have a head any more. Note: We never raised chickens again.
After the snow melted, the ground thawed and I had long forgotten about that chicken and dad was taking down the chicken coop he told me I could plant flowers there if I wanted to and they would grow well because it was already fertilized from the chickens so he helped me dig it up, turn the soil several times and rake it smooth and I planted a lot of different flowers, especially Iris. A few days after I had my garden all planted I found a nice little tree in the back part of our property and asked dad if I could plant it in my garden. As good as dad was he even dug it up for me with me and my shovel constantly getting in his way!
The following spring dad said that my “little” tree was going to get too big to be next to the garage (2 ½ feet away) so he needed to move it. I thought he was going to just move it out and he was going to move it of there and that was going to be the end of my “little” tree so I cried and dad tried to convince me that all he was going to do was to move it to another spot then he told me to go pick a nice sunny spot in the yard and he would plant it there for me. I picked in front of the garage!!! It wasn’t long and that little tree was a big tree and full of pretty flowers only to find out it was a wild cherry tree!!! So that year mom and dad cut all those clusters of tiny cherries off the tree and mom made some good home made wild cherry jelly thanks to my scavenging for a tree to put in the middle of my little garden – was I proud, you bet I was. Do I still garden today at 68 and disabled? You bet I do, I just can’t dig holes any more so plant in tubs that I can sit next to to take care of them.
Dad came to America from Holland in 1923 at just 16 years old, all alone and couldn’t even speak English. He never had a garden in Holland, they never had to, he came from a very wealthy (but unhappy) family with maids and cooks and there was never a need for home grown vegetables. But he was always willing to help me with in my garden with my “little” tree. Shortly before he passed away he asked me if I still grew a garden – how much he still remembered at 94 1/2…. But I was blessed, VERY BLESSED to have a father like him even though we were always really poor he taught me how to handle life with out money and now that I am disabled AND POOR, but by the Grace Of God I am surviving thanks to MY DAD. Like Andy Rooney once said, “The best teacher is at the feet of an elderly person”.
May God Bless YOU Becca and thank you for allowing us to share our lifetime memories, memories are such a very important part of life.
Some of my warm memories are of spending time with my Grandma. She lived with us for some time while I was growing up, and we spent many hours together. She taught me to knit, crochet, macrame, do hairpin lace, and sew. Whenever I had a problem with a project, she worked it out for me. She used to sew many of my dresses when I was young. She & my dad used to play yatzee all the time in the evenings, and many times I joined in. She loved to play solataire and, also, taught me many different games. My mom was a working mom and didn’t get to spend the time with us that she would’ve liked, but my Grandma was always there to pick up the slack.
today i’m going on the new highway which can be a nightmare,, so today i’ll just say,,,, wish we could have the good old days back where the traffic wasnt that bad, no holdups, no hi jacking, no speed, no drink and drive, no toll roads,, those were the really good old days when you got into your car and could drive safely and without worries on the road, now you dont know if you’ll reach your destination due to all the roadworks/traffic and speeders. its sooo great to join in the fun like this,, you’re a star!!!!
Love all your creations, they are fabulous. What I miss about the “good ole days” is being able to walk anywhere at any time without my parents being worried. It was a fun, safe time.
Not sure if I qualify for the give-away as I live in England, but I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s stories and I thought I’d share a few memories of my childood in the 1950’s.
I grew up in a small village in south west England, I would run out with a jug to fetch our milk every day, later it came in glass bottles. We had logs for the fire delivered on horse and cart by a man called ‘Sparks’ who was so wrinkled I used to think he must be hundreds of years old. We kids would take off with a bag of sandwiches and a bottle of fruit squash and be gone for the whole day, into the woods to build a camp or to the fields to play ball games. I remember I took a bag of rags to school and the rag man gave me a goldfish in a bag of water; an old man who lived just above our school would sit out on his wall and play his little concertina. For our school’s Christmas party we had to take our own cup and spoon. I was born in 1949 so don’t have any recollections of the war though I still have my ID card and family ration books. My father was a lorry driver and we kept warm in bed because of the big heavy coats that US soldiers gave my dad when they left England, and our washing line was the wire was used to tow gliders, that line was still in use in the 80’s. Some great memories, but also some things I wouldn’t want to see again, the laundry took all day with a gas ‘copper’.
Hi
That’s when i was a kid (30 years ago), we go sleep with grandma on the farm. It was special for us because we lived in the city. The farmhouse was old and there was not a toilett, only outside was the toilet. And in the winter there was ice on your blanket when you wake up. In the summer you can play in the field with the sheeps and cows.
Another good ole days memory I have is when we used to go pick tomatoes with my Grandmother to can. It seems we would always wind up in a tomato fight and come home covered in tomatoes. What fun that was. Nothing tasted so good as that home canned tomatoes. I miss that kind of fun and I miss knowing what exactly is in my food.
Oh what a trip back memorylane here. I´m from Denmark a very small country, and I was born just on the edge of our biggest forrest as the only girl among 8 boys in our close neighbourhood. So all my childhood I spent in that forrest climbing trees and playing out there as soon as we could get away from our chores, cause we all had chores then. My dad was employed on a huge farm and all we kids had to help too in the times forhavest and clening the turnips and times like that, and as there was only boys, I think, I got a bit rough back then too, so they wouldn´t push me out he he he, but it sure was good times, and I too think, it´s a bit saad, that our kids don´t get to expirience these real joyful things in life, but times sure has changed a lot since then.
Thanks Becca for this memorytrip here.
Biiig hugs Maryann
Memories are wonderful things! I grew up on a farm with cows, sheep etc. and our neighbours on one side had a cherry orchard. Over the December school holidays I use to go cherry picking with a girl friend as a part time job. At the end of the first day I came home to find my Mum laughing at the sight of us. When I asked her what was so funny she told me how during the morning, the cows had all lined up along the neighbours fence (near where we had been cherry picking) calling (mooing) because they could here my voice and wondered where I was!!!! I confess that most of our animals were pets and even the cows got a daily scratch behind the ears or under the chin!!! I had forgotten about this story until I was reading some of the other blogs. It’s good to remember things like that! Thanks Becca for prompting us to remember them.
One of my fav. memories of the good ole days is when the snow got so deep, we couldn’t get out anywhere. My grandpa would get out his ice cream maker and grandma would mix up vanilla ice cream mix. Grandpa would pour it into the canister and we would all take turns turnig the crank. Grandpa would always make sure the ice cream got hard enough on my weak little turns. If it got hard on your turns, you got to lick the beater. I would always win! I loved grandpa and he loved me! I love remembering things like that.
the good old days – i too grew up on a farm, getting up at 4.30am to feed the animals, breakfast was ready when gran rang the bell. then wash and get ready for school, then walk a mile to catch the school bus. on way home anither mile walk then mucking out horses, homework wash, supper and bed. then start all over again the next day. playing in the hay barn, chickens laying their eggs in an old car, hard but fun.
i agree my kids have never known that but do i really want them to have had as hard a childhood as i did …. maybe not.
tracie x
How about a bit of frivolity? The twist, the stomp, the mashed potato too ….
Yep, child – well teenager, of the 60s so it was a time of fun and laughter. I went to my first ‘disco’ mid 60s and started dating. I also lost all but one of my grandparents in a space of around 5 years so that bit wasn’t fun. Guess it was really a time for growing up and dealing with emotions as an adult and not a child but it formed the basis of my life since as I met the father of my children during that time. We married early 70s and divorced early 80s – never to see one another (and he the children, from choice) again!
Looking at your little girl card from yesterday reminded me of picking flowers back in the day. I would wander down along the edge of the front field and along where there was a fence. After climbing under the fence….I was much more nimble then…I would be in a little strip of the cow’s pasture that bordered along a bit of woods. It was a little swampy and grass didn’t grow very well, but that made it perfect for wild flowers to grow. I would make my way in under the canopy of the trees and there would be violets by the thousands and other beautiful flowers waiting for me. The dainty little white violets and the taller, prouder purple ones all smelled so sweet and delicate. It must be some natural instinct since I don’t think I have ever known a child who wasn’t attracted to flowers and wanted to pick them and smell them.
Sunny weeks at my paternal grandparents’ home, a Victorian former Schoolhouse in Norfolk, England (near the Norfolk Broads). Playing croquet on the lawn then drinking homemade lemonade from ancient glasses. Buckets of milk covered with muslin cloths and my grandmother skimming the cream off the top to pour over cereal and fruit. Laying on an old-fashioned high bed and staring at even higher ceilings. Tiny diamond pane leaded light casement windows and an oak front door more than 6″ thick. The silence broken by the cry of peacocks roaming wild.
Oh my, Becca! Thanks for stirring these wonderful memories. They have set me up for the day :o)
Hugs
Anne (UK)
Swinging in the old oak tree. Skating on the pond. Listening to the frogs and crickets in the evening. I could go on and on…. Hugs, Nellie.
I remember large vegetable gardens at my grandparents and summer days spent gathering them- shucking corn, shelling peas… MMM so good when it was cooked later.
When I was very young (4 or 5), my parents would go to their friends’ house (a 30 minute drive away) once a month on a Saturday to play cards. I would amuse myself in an adjoining room, playing with a toy that I was allowed to bring with me. When I got tired I would lay down on the sofa against the wall and listen to the trains running on the tracks down the hill from the house. Ultimately, I would fall asleep. Today when I lay in bed at night I can hear trains in the distance and the sound always takes me back to those Saturday nights when I layed on the sofa in the Wicks’ house.
I missed a day posting but I just wanted to say that the good old days were when you decided to change jobs and there were actually jobs to change to! But it was also when people had jobs and knew they had to work when they got them. Today, you hire youth and explain what their job will be and on their second day of employment, they say ” I have to do that?”. Yup, last I heard you have to actually do something to earn money!
What a sweet card! I love your work, it ‘s so soft and sweet!
Shawn K.
Catching tadpoles in a jar and watching them grow.
Playing with friends all day and mum wasn’t worried about where we were.
Respecting teachers and everyone older.
Going to Nan’s for lunch and smelling delicious smells as we pulled up in her driveway.
Pam
Making ice cream in the old wooden ice cream maker. We would take turns cranking the handle. Oh that was the best ice cream ever.
Memories of the family going to my Grandmothers’ on Sundays after Church in winter.
We’d grab our skates and snow shovels then hike off to the woods for a low spot where the water gathered. Clear the snow, skate for hours and then hike back home to Grandmas’ for dinner.
We always took old cardboard boxes along in case there were no good places to skate, we used the boxes for sleds and had a blast sledding.
Nothing like being cold and walking into a home filled with smells of fresh baked break, pie and chicken noodle soup.
Lori m
Playing jumprope on the street with a whole neighborhood of friends!
I remember riding my bike home from work on Saturday just in time to meet dad for our trek to the track. We would load up the car fill everything with fuel and get sub sandwiches. Don’t think we spent $20, what good old days.
Wow this one really brought out the memories. Is this a record setter??
I remember going to the neighbors and yelling the name of the person I wanted to play with. It was great only the person you wanted came to the door.
Mom would just yell our names when she wanted us to come home cause we were never far usually within a house or two away.
And we lived a couple blocks from the lake and would go to the beach from 10 am to 4 pm. I had to be home at 4 to get supper started. Just us kids at the beach, no parents and no life guards amazing.
We played all kinds of games outside with the neighbor kids most of the time at our house or the next door neighbors. Everybody knew everybody and knew who to avoid. Penny candy at the store across the street. Walking several blocks to school and when winter came getting to go sliding at the beach fun times!! The kids now don’t know what their missing.
Carolyn
My parents, aunts and uncles all worked in the cotton mill. I can still hear the whistle blowing and know that my Papa was getting off work and would be walking home. My cousin Karen and I would go to the end of the yard and watch for him. He always carried big sticks of chalk in his overall’s that he used to mark cloth at work. He would allow us to use his chalk. My Papa Hunter was such a gentle sweet man, I miss him so much.
Oh my gosh, I just thought of the funniest thing we used to do when we were kids. There were a few kids in our neighborhood who weren’t very nice kids. They were rude and occasionally mean. When they would do something that the rest of us didn’t like, we would turn our back to them, bend over (like we were touching our toes) look through our legs at them and yell ‘buttinski’. They were always a distance away from us so that the yelling was necessary (also so that they wouldn’t be near enough to hit us!) I don’t know where the word came from. There was a really funny girl in the neighborhood. I don’t know if she made it up or if someone in her family did (they were all funny) or if they heard it somewhere. But instead of flipping someone off (which we would have been grounded for the rest of our lives for doing) we would just do buttinski. I wonder what would happen if I did that now. Considering I’m 49+, I probably would get dizzy and fall over!!! LOL
I miss trips to Grandma’s in the summer…seeing and playing with cousins I didn’t get to see often enough…lots of “FAMILY REUNION FOOD”…it has a special taste of its own…made with love. I still remember making myself sick on all the sweets. Red velvet cake, lemon meringue pie, fudge brownies, not to mention the fried chicken, barbecue, potato salad, hush puppies and fried crappie. My uncles would fish all season and put their catch in the deep freeze just for our big fish frys. The food would literally take up all the picnic tables under the pavilion. We had to bring lawn chairs to sit on.
Oh, yeah. We had to cross a little ferry to get to the park. THAT was a big deal!!!
Good ole” daze~~~when I could walk into a room and not forget why I had come there in the first place!
When I was little, we were frequently running short of time to get to church. So mom would often do my hair in the car (pre-car seat & seat belt era). I remember one time she even dressed me in the car. I remember she almost always was putting on her own hand lotion and such before pulling on her gloves in the car.
On long trips, I would climb up in the back window to sleep. Back then, cars had large shelves between the back seat & back window. Perfect spot for a little girl to nap.
How about the great icy pops and fizzies! Wasn’t that such a great part of those wonderful summers.
More memories from the Good Ole Days….making mud pies, Lemonade Stands, Circus with our pets, skatboarding until dark, camping in a tent…Drive-In Movies…..so many wonderful memories!
I loved playing outside all day with my neighbors. We had the run of the block…boy was I tired at night after all that exercise. Fun times..
Another childhood memory: Because there were 7 children in my family we didn’t get money to spend very often. But occasionally my mom would go to a neighborhood grocer and next door was a liquor store, of all things, that had a penny candy counter. Mr. Goetze owned it and we would go in and go up and down the roads and then give him our order: “5 cents worth of gummy hats, 3 cents worth of spearmint sticks, 2 cents worth of Mary Janes,….” or whatever it was we wanted. It all went in a small paper bag and I always left feeling like the world was right!
Mary
ahhh… the good ‘ole days when you woke up and checked the temperature outside to see if it was warm enough for swim lessons today. it was june and july in the upstate of NY when you never knew what you would be doing that day as long as it was outside. some days were filled with excitement others were lazy days of summer. if we were really lucky in aug. if we had a quarter in our pocket we could take the bus from our town to a local revolutionary battle feild where the green hills rolled on forever in our minds. where they just beckoned to be played on as only a child can.
As a kid, I remember playing outside until ten p.m. on a Saturday nite, lying on the grass staring up at the stars. I would dream about all the fun I’d have all summer long with my friends:) What memories!
We would get our allowance on Saturday morning and then in the afternoon we would go to the theatre and have enough money for popcorn, pop and a chocolate bar.
This has been fun, I’ve enjoyed remembering the good ‘ole days. Thanks Becca.
Another memory is that of going to the corner store. If I was at home, it was at the end of the 2nd block. I would get a loaf of bread almost every day for my mother, and for a nickle, would go into the big pickle jar for a pickle. I’d wrap a piece of bread around the pickle and eat that on my way home.
If I was in the city at my grandparents home, the corner store was at the end of the street. My grandmother would give me anywhere from 10 cents to a quarter, and I’d go to the store and pick out candy and gum and whatever else I wanted. My grandmother made me give her all my goodies and she would give stuff to me when she thought it was okay to have something. Guess she didn’t trust me to partake of the goodies wisely.
I think it’s a good thing to remember dayz gone by — there’s something to be said for nostalgia in a modern society. =)
Our house was always full of kids. I am the oldest of six kids, plus two older half brothers. In addition to all of us, my mom used to babysit to help bring in extra money. So at our house, on an average day, there would be a minimum of 10 kids in the house. But adding summertime into that mix, our house became the local hangout with as many as 20 kids running around at any given time. And our house was not a large house by any stretch of the imagination, but we were always happy kids…and a lively bunch to boot.
With the six of us kids piling out of the car whenever we’d go anywhere, Dad would always say we were “cheaper by the half dozen”! Oh how I miss my Dad.
The good ole days were riding our bikes all over the neighborhood, catching snakes and crawdads and just plain using our imaginations. Our neighborhood is too busy to ever think of allowing my son to just galavant around…hmmm, maybe we need to move to the country!
How about everyone piling into the station wagon WITHOUT seatbelts and going for a drive!
I remember making homemade ice cream. Yummy! We’d get a crowd of friends together, get all the ingredients, and hand churn the ice cream. Hard work but well worth it in the end!
The beach. As a child I could swim for hours in the very cold water of Cape Cod Bay with scarcely a goosebump.
Hello Becca,
I am sending early today, Surprise, surprise! I hope you and your family have a wonderful day! I never cease to be amazed at how Good God is and He certainly has given you the ability to make people smile when we see His handywork in You. Thank you for sharing with us! Christmas was another good ole day in our home. One of the things that makes Christmas a little sad now that they are grown is that they move away sometimes. But when they come home it’s Christmas all over! Praise the Lord!
Connie
My oldest brother had a paper route and over the years it was basically handed down from him to my brother and then to me. We used to walk the route in those days, with a big bag over our shoulder, rubber banding each paper as we went along. Every house had a special place for their paper……inside the front screen door, the side door, the milk box, the mailbox hooks. Now our paper is just tossed at the end of the driveway! On Sunday mornings, especially in the winter when it was dark, my dad used to drive us up to the route, because the papers were so big and heavy. It was always a little spooky delivering in the snowy darkness.
Fairs and Fireworks.
At the end of my street, we had a huge park. It housed a few baseball spots in the summer and 4 hockey rinks (one for kiddies) in the winter. But come Canada Day, we had all the works with a fair and fireworks. Although we didn’t really have to leave our front porch to watch, we packed up our chairs and blankets and headed down the street to huddle with everyone else and watch the show. I miss the intimate settings we had then. It’s all huge for the masses now, but I take joy where I can get it, too.
Becca,
What sweet blog candy! How I would like to win it!!!!! One favorite memory of years gone by is getting to go fishing with my older brother. I felt so important being with him. I was sad for the fish though.
Mary
Hey Becca,
Here’s another one of my favorite good ol days memories. When I was a kid during the summer we would buy frozen cups or zips as we called them then. They were simply small cups of frozen Kool Aid that sold for a nickel or dime depending upon the size. They were sold by little old ladies in the neighborhood outside their kitchen doors. The day just wasn’t a good day if you didn’t have a zip! But what was even worse was if they were out of red (strawberry) and you had to settle for grape!!!
Memories continued:
I’ve shared my summer and spring memories from growing up on a grass seed farm in the Willamette Valley. Now, on to the good old days of winter…driving 30+ miles to school in fog so thick we could barely see, boot skating on ice puddles in the fields, laying in the snow for what seemed like hours so I could watch the chickadees playing, trying to push as much snow together in a pile as possible so that it would last longer, watching our coats, gloves and hats steaming by the wood stove as the snow melted away, and driving my mother crazy when all four of us kids had chicken pox at once :) …
Our family tradition was to have popcorn for our Sunday evening meal after a main meal of chicken (and dumplings, usually) in early afternoon but only once a year did we have caramel popcorn ‘balls’ and that was at Christmas time. The sticky caramel was too hot to manipulate into balls, so we just spread the gooey mess into cake pans and broke it up when cooled. Tasted just as good, believe me! I was the 7th of 10 children and had many nieces and nephews and loved the excitement of the season. Christmas Eve was when all the married kids came back home with their families to exchange gifts (we drew names so everyone received one gift). They then had Christmas Day at their own home and/or their in-laws and those of us still at home had our stockings and more Christmas :-) The memories of those times are wonderful!
Looking at Pat’s (920)comments, We had popcorn everynight, we would fight who had to make it – more like a heated disccusion or who got to make it. We usually made it on top of the stove, with butter and oil, oh my what a taste. Mom would save the old popcorn and grind it in an old coffee grinder and put miilk, salt & pepper, no I didn’t do that, one taste and that was it.
Halloween, my mother made popcorn balls, and the local kids would be standing in line to get one. She usually made a couple of batches during the day and then a couple more as the evening would go on. I asked one day why she just didn’t make them all at once, she said it’s the aroma…. when the kids at the open door could smell that sweetness. My Brother still makes popcorn balls for Halloween – 30 some years after my Mom’s death.
My Aunt from Minnesota introduced us to carmel corn, with a simple receipe – that is what I make for the Adult neighbors for Halloween.
What memories come from a cornel of corn.
how about the days before tv? when Daddy would throw a sheet over the front door to watch a reel of Woody Woodpecker? those black and white reels were such good memories, pop the popcorn, sit on the floor and have family time together. every Friday night, because we didn’t have to be in bed by 8 pm, no school the next day. enjoy the walk down memory lane. TFS
Hi
In the good old days there were no television or computers, we kept ourselfs busy doing sports and we were much healthier then. I’m NOT giving up my computer or my t.v. LOL!
I think today I’ll mention my parents first brand new car. It was such a great car and lasted well pass the normal years. It got to the point where us kids knew where to step so we wouldn’t go through the floor in the back seat. Then on some bad wet days, your pants would get wet from the water that sprayed from the road and soaked through the floor carpeting. I was about 4 when we got it but I had a chance to drive it about 12 years later. It wasn’t an expensive car, but my parents felt God picked that car out just for them.
The Good Ole Days!!
We were talking about that today at work and drive in movies was brought up. I remember going to the drive in with friends and having a great time.
Today’s memories take me back to summers we spent on my Grandmother’s farm in Ontario. We were living in Costa Rica and mom would bring us up to Canada for a month or so in the summer to stay with her mom. They lived on a farm in Ontario and my brother and I just loved being able to roam free in the barn building straw and hay forts in the hay lofts, jumping in the grain bins, feeding the wild cats/kittens in the barn every morning with our aunt, cutting down grass and feeding the rabbits, picking fruit from the orchards, walking to the river to swim, fishing in the pond and keeping the fish as “pets” as long as we stayed there and then letting them go just before we left, sliding down her banister, helping her back, watching cartoons in the mornings, riding up the long driveway to get the mail from the mailbox, riding on the tractor as my uncle plowed the fields for seeding, helping cut asparagus for the market. SO many fabulous memories. We even came up one winter and it was the first time we had seen snow. We spent Hours out in it and ended up building an igloo right in the middle of my aunts strawberry patch! “Skating” on the frozen pond in our boots and playing hockey with a piece of frozen ice and some sticks – also experiencing our first numbing of our toes and the pain once they warm up. Oh that more kids these days could experience such simple joys and freedoms.
Going to Grandma’s house in Oklahoma. The sweet smell of her honeysuckel bushes. We got to go along the chain link fence and collect all the locus shells!
Remember yard sheep? They were a wood cutout of a sheep covered in wool. Back in the late 70’s everyone had them in their yard. One night a few kids, carefully removed and tagged the address of every sheep they could find. They then placed the sheep in the soccer field at the high school. It made front page news and then every sheep was returned to it’s rightful shepard.
Hello!
Tervehdys taas täältä Suomesta. Vierailen blogissasi säännöllisesti, kun olen aivan ihastunut sinun tuotteisiisi.
Kiitos myös hyvistä ohjeistuksista.
More memories: the Good Humor man and dreamcicles. Reading, reading, and more reading. One summer I had nose bleeds almost everyday and they lasted a lllllloooooonnnnnng time. Someone advised my mother to give me a small glass of Mogan David wine everyday so my blood would thicken and I would not bleed soooo much. Still don’t know if that actually worked but I did get a lot of reading done that year. Oh, I just remembered I also was told to eat a lot of Jello.
Jean
I remember the fear of polio and when the vaccine became available and we stood in line to get ours. There were two children in our neighborhood who did not survive that horrid disease and I can still feel that saddness today.
I have my small pox scar on my arm. When I was teaching about vaccines and immunizations to my high school students, they were amazed that I had first hand knowledge of polio and small pox (I had to be REALLY OLD)!
While not everything about the good ol’days was good, some good things came out of the sad things – like immunizations to save many children.
Day 5 already! I’ve always been one who loved TV and movies… probably more than I should… although I love books and reading as well. But, when it comes to the good old days I have to go back to the wonderful sitcoms I grew up with like The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, etc. I don’t watch the sitcoms of today because they are just too trashy. It is so sad that kids growing up now don’t even have a decent comedy show to watch. My mom was not much of a TV watcher, but I do remember spending time with her watching some of those good old comedy shows.
I remember when my brother and I would go to town with my Gramma and Grampa. Grampa would always ask us if we wanted to stop at the Dairy Queen. Of course we said YES! And we would all be eating ice cream cones as Grampa drove home. My brother and I would giggle at Grampa’s driving. He would put his foot on the gas and go for a bit, then released it like we were coasting. It was the funniest thing to us, being around 10 years old. Dairy Queens were abundant up north, but here in Florida (ironically) you don’t see as many. I used to love the Dilly Bars and the Buster Bars–geez, could I ever go for one now!!!
The best memory I have is waking up to the sound of the train whistle in the distance and waking up my brother to go frogging down at the river. We would start out before the sun was up to beat the heat of the day. We would do this every Saturday throught the summer. Thanks for a fun way to try for some candy!
When I was little our nearest shopping centre was either a bus ride away or about a 30 minute walk (we had no car then). One glorious summer’s day Mum and I set out to walk in summer dresses, no coat or umbrella. We got half way there when the heavens opened and rain came down like stair rods. We were soaked to the bone. There seemed little point in continuing. As we turned to go home a lady from a nearby house who had seen our plight came out to offer us shelter.
She took us into her home, helped us dry off as best we could and only when the worst of the storm was over did she allow us to continue. She gave me a pair of her daughter’s socks – mine were still soaking wet!
I can’t remember her name or what she looked like but Mum and I never forgot her kindness. That must have been about 58 years ago now. Sadly how times have changed.
We would play “my father owns a grocery store” in the car. You would say my father owns a grocery store and in it is something that begins with (the first letter of the word) or something that is (a color) and we would all have to guess what it was. It kept us occupied for hours.
When I was in 7th grade (I won’t mention how many years ago that was), I would walk home from school for lunch. I would gather up 6 kindergartners and walk them to school and then home from school. I had 3 on each side of me, and got paid 50 cents a week per child. That was big money then. I’m sure I bought a lot of penny candy at “Pops” grocery store across the street.
Going to my granparents camp during the summer, fishing, boating, playing with my cousins! Those were the days
As I look back at the good ole days, I cannot help but think of the summers spent at the beach with my family for the summer. We would rent a whole house and stay for two weeks. My brother would always get sunburnt. Dad would take us crabbing and we woould travel one day to the steel pier at Atlantic City. The diving horse was always a must see along with fresh planters peanuts. All this remembering causes me to want ot visit the beach. Thank you.
Blessings.
My parents were fairly poor when I was young, with a family of three on a junior naval officer’s salary. My grandmother sent my mom a bunch of S&H Green Stamps, remember them? Mom used them to get a popcorn popper!
We would go to the drive-in movies, all five of us. All of us kids would be packed in the backseat in a huge nest of pillows. The pillows hid all the popcorn and drinks we were sneaking into the drive in! You had to find a spot with a working speaker far enough away from the snack stand to not get caught! ;-)
They would have double features – the first show was kid-friendly and the second show was a grown up flick. The last one I remember was “Son of Flubber” followed by Hitchcock’s “Topaz”, a combo that makes sense no where else, LOL! Of course the kids were supposed to sleep through the second show, but I was the oldest and always watched both flicks! Good times!
We had an A&W drive in where you ordered your meal through a little speaker. The girls would serve you your food and glass mugs of rootbeer to your car. They would hang it on the window, and dad would pass everything out. When you were done you flipped a little switch and the girls would come get your tray. Loved it!
Hi Becca ~ Hee hee… I lost track… I think this is the Good ole Days #4! Although I just saw one last week, the Drive In movies are pretty much a thing of the past. Do you remember penny candy? We used to load up with a bag full of candy! We’d go to Ben Franklin where they had bins of the stuff : ) I liked to get things that would last longer like Sugar Daddy. How about Necco wafers? I haven’t seen those in a long time… I wouldn’t even want to eat those now – ewwww! Give me chocolate anytime : )
Love and hugs ~
Lori
the good ole days, hmmmm…riding my bike over to gramma’s house whenever i wanted to.
I got so nostalgic reading all the entries, I got out my Grandma’s old hymnal and started just thumbing through it and singing the ones I could remember. My family came upon me sitting and singing to myself for close to an hour and thought maybe I had gone a little “soft”. LOL But it was fun.
An uncle of ours had a camphouse on a lake in Louisiana and it had a screened in porch. Us kids would sleep out there on summer nights, except we didn’t do much sleeping, more like giggling, sneaking down to the water, spying on the older kids…it was the BOMB!
Becca
More fond memories involve maple sugaring season. There was a huge stand of sugar maples on the farm and Grandpa had a sugar shack. I remember the buckets of sap being gathered and emptied into tanks on the back of a farm wagon, taken to the sugar shack and run into the vats where it was heated and carefully boiled down to make syrup and maple sugar. We kids would gather pans of snow and pack it down. Grandpa would drizzle the hot syrup onto it making the most wonderful maple lace which we then ate.
The whole family had maple syrup and sugar and Grandpa had some to sell as well. It was just one of the many ways he managed to run a prosperous farm.
Linda in SC
I remember the good ole days, when we stood in the classroom when another adult entered the room and greeted them with “Good Morning or Afternoon”. I remember “volunteering” on weekends in middle school at the local convent to clean up after Retreat Weekend meals for “extra credit”.
I remember being excited to become a senior because then we didnt have to wear a solid color sweater with our uniform, we could have patterns…oh the excitement of walking into school with argyle!
Ahh, memories of growing up in Catholic School. I have really dated myself now.
I guess this is the final day to get those good ol’ days memories out in the open. I can remember going downtown on the bus with one Grandma and Grandpa to play BINGO! What fun that was. My Grandma was always really good too and she was usually a winner. I remember helping with the ‘chips’ they used to have. Just a light, colored plastic chip. They always got me a card to play, but I couldn’t keep up.
My other Grandma took me to see Bambi at the MOVIES!!! What a special treat that was. I was only about 5 and it really scared me when they had the big forest fire. But it is something I will treasure as a memory forever.
My favorite stuffed animal when I was a kid was a red and white fox that I called Lopky. He went to kindergarten with me for show and tell, and was my constant companion for many years. I was gifted with other foxes, and had quite a “family” of them, but Lopky was my favorite. Wish I’d kept him, even though he got really ratty (well-loved :) .
DeniseB
Oh, “the good ole days”!! I remember walking to the drug store and getting that red hot cinnamon stuff and toothpicks and going home and putting them in and then later, ahhh, heavenly cinnamon sticks!!! What a life! We could walk all over and be totally safe and unafraid! I miss that for my grandchildren!!! Thank you, Becca! BTW, I sure love your Maggie card today!! I finally got my first Maggie’s and can’t wait to use them!! I ordered the Spring 2010 Club stamps and what a savings and what a collection!!! I love them and thank you for introducing us to them!!!! Hugs, C:o)
Got yet another farming memory. Picking Blackberries on the neighbours farm with the “city” cousins and Aunty and noticing a very large bull coming over the hill. When I yelled at the cityslickers to start moving over to the fence and get through, they were so excited about the huge patch of big black juicy blackberries they had just found that they didn’t pay attention to my warning. You guessed it – minutes later found us racing for the fence, being chased by a big black bull who wasn’t impressed with the “invaders”. Unfortunately, my Aunty is not exactly a fast lady and we only just got her through the fence in time! Sitting around the table later that evening, enjoying blackberry pie, we had a good laugh about it.
I’m going o squeeze in one more entry. I used to play in my mother’s pink high heels. My mother called to remind me of this fact after watching the opening credits of the NBC show Parenthood which shows a little girl walking around in her mother’s shoes.
In the good olde days, on the 4th of July every year my father was the most popular guy on the street! He went out and got fire works and we watched the show in the sky. It was so much fun. I can still smell the sparklers sulpher smell and it brings me back to the olde days!
Dont know if you had them where you lived but for some reaosn the old DIALTOne lounges popped into my head. These were night clubs that had phones every foot or so around the large sqaure bar . We would engage in conversations with all sorts or people
The best thing about the good ole days is all the time we spent hanging out with other people. There was time for good old-fashioned conversation, games, and laughter back in the good old days before technology took off and people got so BUSY.
I got to thinking today about my amazing childhood and those good old days once more…and all I can say is that I was truly blessed with an amazing family where love was always present and as I look back I appreciate that love and support that was always there for my and my brothers when we were growing up! My parents taught us to love and respect people from all walks of lfe and to believe in ourselves. We were also taught love and respect for all of God’s creatures and for these gifts I am truly GRATEFUL.
Thank you Becca for making me aware once again how much those things MEAN to me.
I remember when I was small… about an hour after supper it was ‘bath-time’. This meant bed-time was right around the corner, but in the summer time when we didn’t have school the next day we got to put on our pj’s (my favorites were my Strawberry Shortcake ones) and play on the front lawn while my mom and dad sat in lawn chairs and watched the sun set. Those were the most perfect nights to me. My mom never complained that we were doing summer salts on the grass after our baths and I’d suspect it was because she was enjoying time with my dad, all while the crickets were chirping.
WOW! I made it one more time before you got home…but the last person more than likely will not be drawn! hehehe….thanks for another chance!
The good old days were the best. Playing outside till dark. Mom calling us in and we didn’t want to stop…….these are also the good old days…
Hi Becca –
Your cards are always so great! I guess my grandma was ahead of the times, because she loved to do crafts and recycle 50++ years ago! I remember as a little girl, she taught us how to make wall picture plaques out of plaster of paris. We’d take a metal pie tin with fluted edges, lay a card (we’d gotten in the mail) face down on the bottom and pour the liquid plaster over the card, attaching a wire to hang it. We’d wait for it to dry, pop it out of the tin, and hang our cute little plaque on the wall for all to admire! I hadn’t thought of this in years — thanks for sparking the memory!
Another memory!! Riding bike with my sister! After supper in the summer, we would go for a bike ride. We lived in a small town and we would ride from one end of town to the other and then head home again. It doesn’t sound very memorable or special, but looking back, we spent alot of time talking as we rode – that’s what made it memorable.
Sometimes on Sunday afternoon mom would take us riding and let us pick the route to go. We could tell her to turn left, go straight, turn right at light, etc. and she would do it. We actually learned alot of roads that way. It was alot of fun.
Good ole’ days….catch fireflys way after dark! Go smelt fishing with my dad. Sewing with my mom. Playing hide & go-seek with family and neighbors. Red rover call me over!! To be young again and play…wow!!
My memories of the Good Ole Days were of my Foster Mother. The love that she always showed me and the confidence that she instilled in me was unbelievable. She made my clothes to match hers and always fixed my hair so pretty. Her cooking was out of this world!!! She made me who I’m today.
Lots of time outside in all kinds of weather. You just dressed for it and made fun.
Thanks for the chance.
Oh!! Your post made ME want to be there with you in those good ole days ;o) For me, it would be when I was around 5 years old. My mom decided to go back to school and my dad was working, so they my Grandma Sally would babysit me. I remember spending my days cookng food from scratch (because of this I am now embarking on my life long dream of opening a bakery!!), having her read me books, painting, eating ice cream and then the best treasure of all!!! Gazing in the special dresser drawer of hers~~full of the rainbow colors of nailpolish she owned!!! Everyday she let me pick a new beautiful color to wear! She was patient, kind and always made me feel special. She passed away last year and I miss her dearly every day! :*)
on long hot days in the summer one of my neighbors and i would get on our bikes and ride all over town. our favorite game to play was guess when the garbage truck would scoop up the next batch of trash. we called it the a-uuu-ga truck. we never got to close for obvious reasons but we loved to watch the truck work.
I remember, as a kid, we had a “secret” spot down on the river. It was known only to the locals. You drove (if you had an old car you didn’t really care about!) down a dirt path for a couple of miles, parked in a wide spot and walked another 1/2 mile or so and there was a marvelous swimming hole. Along with a rock slide right into the hole. My Mom would throw my brother and I (along with 1/2 the neighborhood kids) into the well (trunk!) of her VW Bug and off we’d go. (Another absolute NO, NO in today’s world of car seats and seat belts!!) We always had an absolute blast. We’d take a picnic and spend the entire day.
Then about 25 years ago the state decided to put the place on the map ~ literally! On some sort of recreation map. Now you have to park out on the state road and walk the entire distance. I’ve only been back twice. Once to show it to my husband, the second time in the hope that he could actually see the place! Both times it was so crowded that you honestly couldn’t see the water for the bodies. It was only a small swimming hole, 10 people would be more than enough. I guess, at least, in this instance it’s true ~ you can’t go back again. At least I’ve got the marvelous memories.
R/
The good ole days, playing with marbles and steelies.
Hop Scotch
Climbing trees. Riding bikes for hours at a time on all the country roads.
Entering crafts in the local fair.
Asking my grandfather for 25 cents to go to “the picture show”, he would always ask how much it cost to get in..I would say 15 cents, he would ask why do you need 25 cents, my reply was popcorn cost 10 cents. The routine never changed, he always gave me the money.
Jumping rope.
Double Dutch
All the kids in the neighborhood playing together.
FUN. Roller skating and having to stop to tighten my skates with the skate key. TALK ABOUT OLD!
We would take our camper somewhere, my brothers would get sunburned, my mom would fuss about having to cook over a Coleman stove and I, being the only girl and youngest, had to sleep on a chaise lounge chair. But looking back, what memories.
Ah, the good ole days…a hike in the woods, a picnic lunch, a nap!
Going for a Sunday ride with my father. That was usually after he had torn apart the Modal A Ford, or was it a Chevy & put it all back together again. He would drive along the old unpaved back roads & we never knew just where we would end up. At least once it turned out to be someones farm, not anyone we knew. It was almost as much fun finding our way out of the situations he got us into.
Them Thar were the days. ml.
Thank you for the chance to win this incredible blog candy!! Your
posts have been especially creative lately. I appreciate the tips
and videos. As I look back on the last year that I have been following
your blog I am amazed at all the treasures I have been able to
put in my card making pocket! Lastly I will share one last memory
from my childhood. We went to visit my Aunt and cousins every
year either at Christmas or during the summer. My Aunt Yvonne
made us feel so welcome and was the best cook! She knew how
much I loved to ascorbic acid (type of vitamin C) and always had a
bottle for me on the window sill when I came to visit. The little things
we can do to make people feel special is the best way to share
God’s love!!!
I remember swimming in a bar pit – that was our “swimming hole”. Only problem was the snakes liked it too. Nothing like having your father kill snakes as you’re walking to it and then surface from swimming to be face to face with one. Honest! That actually happened.
Smiles~
Marilyn
mcgoo4(at)gmail.com
My mom grew up in the depression era–and some of her stories were not so good for her maybe–but they were very interesting and to me made me so thankful for the way I was raised–waste not-want not. Compared to my mom’s bobby pins and an orange for Christmas compared to the clothes, games and books we received, while maybe not much to many kids, seemed like lots to me. Not sure I would have liked to have lived in the good ole days–but having Mom share the memories has been priceless.
Lots of good old days in elementary school playing jump rope, double dutch, and chinese jump rope. What fun it was back then…
Wow! Another one! How about remembering being a child without a worry in the world with two loving parents who loved you dearly and taught you the love of the Lord.
I loved sitting at the ball park watching my kids play t-ball. They were so cute when they were really little and it used to make me feel warm all over to see them try so hard to work with the team.
My husband and I have been married 43 years. He was my drivers-training teacher in high school. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. Our first date was to see Alfred Hitchcock’s – The Birds. He gave me his class ring on our first date…wow that was a long time ago!!! But fun to remember!!!
I remember, as a child, being attached to my daddy’s hip. I had to go everywhere w/ him. As an example, we lived in an old house that had a back alley. My dad would be working on his car in the front and then drive it around to the back alley, to the garage. I had to hop in the car w/ him and drive just around half a block. Can you say:- “daddy’s girl”?? lol I miss him sooooooo much. (he passed away in 1985) :-(
The good ole days…I remember as a little girl playing hide and seek with my brothers and sisters. We would climb in and out of the windows to get away from each other. Obviously my parents weren’t home :) – I wonder if they knew? If not, they had to wonder why the screens were always cock-eyed!
I grew up with 3 brothers and 3 sisters so we had a lot of fun.
One of my warmest memories of the Good Ole Days is that my family all lived close by, my grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins. We were all there for support and friendship for each other. I used to go to my grandmother’s place every Saturday morning and help her to bake cakes and pies for the whole family, then we used to deliver them. Mmmmm they were the best apple pies I have ever tasted.
Love you cards always!
I remember catching tadpoles at a pond out the front of our shopping centre. We did that often. Tadpoles don’t seem so common now as they were when I was little.
I remember going to farm sales with my dad and getting blackberry pie from the concessions trailer. :)
Another fun place I enjoyed was going to Temple to visit with my grandparents and it was fun sitting on the front porch in the glider (swing) listening to my grandfathers stories about the RR that he used to work for. He would tell me stories about people that would hop trains. and the different people he would me. The we would go for an afternoon stroll and to me he was so smart and knew all kinds of stuff. he was funny and lots of fun he showed me games he played as a child. The would wittle stuff out of wood. WOW my grandpa!!!
I remember listening to songs over and over with my girl friend on the old record players trying to write down all the words for the songs.
love all your beautiful work………
Our little mountain town was not big enough for a high school, so there was one high school for all the little towns in an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. We rode the bus for an hour and 45 minutes EACH way! (No, it wasn’t uphill both ways. . . . ) During the winter months it was dark when we left home and dark when we got home. Ugh! Then we had to walk home from the bus stop. . .about half a mile. That was the part that was uphill both ways! :o)
Loved this idea! I can remember that we as kids [the whole nieghborhood 16 or so kids 8-11yrs would sleepout in the summer, on the weekends sometime. Through out the night so we moved from one backyard to another person’s backyard. It was a more innocent time where if you liked someone holding hands was okay but if you kissed everyone made fun of you. Our parents always left the back doors unlocked in case it rained or someone got scared so we could go in. We would start out at one kid’s house then move down though blocks. In the morning it was the parents who would call around to let the other parent know who was asleep n where. We played games hidenseek-redlight /greenlight or we danced, swam if the weather was really hot sat around and told ghost stories. We just got to be kids for more time then the next generation did growing up in time fear didn’t rule the youth and innocense is lost way to soon…
A special memory for me is when cotton was picked on my grandparent’s farm, they would pile some on the front porch for us to play in. My cousins and I would play in the cotton building tunnels, bouncing and jumping . I can close my eyes now and smell the cotton.
I remember visiting my Grandmother and we would put sail boats in the creek by her house and pretend we were sailing to some far away exciting place. Grandmother made the boats for us out of a little piece of wood or bark and the sail was made out of a scrap of cloth. Grandmother was very poor but she always made something simple and fun for us to play with and some of my best memories are when I was visiting her. In the winter her house was so cold at night and she would warm the old irons on the heater and wrap them in flannel and put in the bed with us to keep our feet warm, she made me dresses out of flour sacks, and she always made teacakes for me. She had beautiful flower beds and she caught rain water in a barrel to water the flowers. I watched her make soap in a black wash pot over the fire when it was so cold, played in the barn, hid in the smoke house and watched her can vegetables from her garden.
I treasure all of the memories from my childhood.
Linda
okay one more on Saturdays we got up did our house work, got our allowance then walked 2miles to the woolworth store to spend part of it. then we hit the drug store for an ice cold strwaberry or grape soda for .25 yes I am that old and glad I got to grow up in a time respect was taught and fear came from knowing if you misbehaved dad was the one you answered to. [I always heard about “the belt” but never did have it used on me, I did get a spankn once being home late after school and for not being where I WAS SUPPOSE TO be my fault and another loss taught responce, accepting when you did wrong and yes I survived the spanking and never disobeyed like that again.
I remember when the downtown department stores had a soda bar where you could order food and drinks. We would sit there and eat fries while our mom shopped.
I wanted to also be the 1000 blog so We used to have a limonade sale in our front yard to earn money to but art supplies like crazy fur and yarn to make ball animals. I miss those simple crafts too guess I will pull them out for my grandkids!
When I was growing up in a small town, I remember locking our doors only before bed and if we were away. During the day, my siblings and I (along with our friends) would come in and out as we pleased. I live in the city now, and always keep my doors locked. Sad how some things change.
Thanks Becca for another chance to win!
Our extended family gets together on Christmas at my Mom’s house. In years past I remember listening to the adults playing this card game, Pit, that got so loud you couldn’t hear anything else! Then there was the year that my Dad and I played Christmas songs on a duck call and everyone else had to guess what the song was. That was soooo funny! Getting together with family seemed to happen much more easily in years past.
The good old days remind me of my dad who was in the Navy. He was an engineman on a Nuclear Submarine. When he was in port, he used to take my brothers and I on the submarine. We used to have ice cream in the galley while he did small things on the sub. We would run up and down the aisle which were very narrow. The other sailors were always nice to us, we were never bad just curious. The men would show us all types of things on the sub. This was during the 70’s. I loved growing up in thoses days. I’m sure that sailors probably are not quite so free to do those things like they were then. It was probably the first days of take your kids to work day!
BECCA BECCA WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND LIVED AT THE COTTAGE ALL SUMMER, WE HAD TO BE VERY INVENTIVE IN GETTING SPENDING
MONEY. AROUND THE BEND AT THE LAKE THERE WAS A PUBLIC PICNIC
GROUND AND SWIMMING AREA. THE PARKING AREA WAS HUGE. AND
EVERY WEEKEND IT WAS CROWDED. SO ON MONDAY MORNING EARLY,
ALL THE KIDS WOULD GO AROUND THE PARKING AREA AND PICK UP ALL
THE BOTTLES. THOSE DAYS BOTTLES WERE WORTH 2 CENTS. THE LADY
NEXT DOOR WOULD LOAN US HER DAUGHTERS BUGGY AND WE WOULD
PUT COME PLASTIC IN IT TO KEEP IT CLEAN. WE WOULD MAKE 10 TO 15
TRIPS TO MY DADS CAR AND PUT ALL THE BOTTLES IN IT. HE WOULD TAKE THEM TO THE STORE FOR US AND WE WOULD ALL TAKE OUR SHARE
OF THE MONEY. SOME MONDAYS WE WOULD GET 20 DOLLARS EACH.
BUT THAT WAS AFTER A HOLIDAY WEEKEND ONLY. AND THERE WERE 7 OR
8 OF US DOING THIS. IT WAS AN EASY WAY TO EARN SOME MONEY AND
WE CLEANED UP THE GROUNDS OF BOTTLES FOR THE MAN THAT OWNED
THE PARK.
THOSE WERE THE DAYS.
CYNTHIA BEYNON
Christmas morning! Never being able to tell which package belonged to who. Mom was crafty. She knew if she put names on the packages the receiver would shake and rattle the gift until it came unwrapped. She wanted them to last. But how did she know who got what on Christmas morning? She labeled them with numbers in a discrete spot, from 1 (me as the oldest) to 7 for my youngest sister. I was probably in high school before I figured it out.
love checking out your blog, always fabulous stuff on here! great blog candy as well!
Another special memory I have is playing softball or kickball at the grass field that belonged to the church that was on our block. The boys and girls played together and we were all different ages.
We had a great time.
When I think about my age, I think about it in simple terms – I’m older than my teeth and this entry will surely be a perfect example of my age. Does anyone remember seeing hucksters? I bet the answer is, “No, what’s that?”
When I was very little, and my grandmother was watching me during the day, I remember the call of the huckster as his horse drawn wagon slowly clomped down the street. The huckster would call out things like, “I’ve got corn, I’ve got tomatoes, Fresh peaches today, etc.” His wagon was brimming with fresh produce of all sorts which he was selling as he walked slowly down the street. When my grandmother heard his call, she’d grab her little black change purse and head outside to see what he had.
That is such a special memory that I had tucked away somewhere until Becca asked us about the good ole days!
Thanks, Becca, for this wonderful week of reflection! I’ve recalled precious memories that I should journal.
Chris
I can remember being very little and going over to visit my great grandmother Millie during the Christmas holidays. I can remember her snow white hair, her little delicate hands that trembled ever so slightly and the smell of something wonderful throughout her house. Just before leaving Grandmother Minnie gave us each a gingerbread man and I can remember the pink outlining she did on those cookies and the little pink ribbon she had tied through the head of the cookie. My brothers gobbled theirs up immediately but I can remember sitting in the back seat of the car and just admiring that cookie. I cannot remember eating it, but I can remember the awe I felt. I had been given a hundred million dollars, not a cookie. To this day, everytime I smell gingerbread, those memories of Great grandmother Millie come rushing back like it was yesterday. Sighhhhh
another good ol’ day memory, is walking to the local gas station/post office/store with 25 cents and being able to buy a coke, a candy bar and a fist full of penny candy! (I think the penny candy is now at least 25 cents/pc!)And to think that I could turn that empty coke bottle back in for a couple more pieces of candy!
this will be my last entry dreaming about the good old days,,, i wish i could see all my old school friends,, wouldnt that be fun,,,, remembering all your things you did as a kid together. wish the blog candy coming to South Africa for a change. take care, LOVE your blog.
Now that we have come to the last of the Good Ole Days I’d like to end mine with my final thoughts of the good part of my not so good life growing up, truly not a good childhood so I hardly have any memories to cherish except for “My Dad” and “Mrs. Daisy Pyne” whom I spoke about previously.
In 1963 for my son’s first birthday dad built him a fine, sturdy, 3′ x 3′ square table with two chairs. I still have that set in my house today! But now that dad is gone, I still have those wonderful memories and can see his creative woodwork that he made with love.
Dad taught me how to work with wood also. I built my own 14′ x 24′ patio, laid a nice redwood floor, sanded it well then Marine varnished it till you could see your face in it then I decided it should be closed in so now it is closed in and has an old fashioned Dutch door! It has been up 24 years and now that the kids are gone it has become a regular house plant nursery with house plants, summer and winter here in Southern California and at times you can find a tomato or peppers growing!
As dad got up into his 90’s I knew I probably wouldn’t have much more time to spend with him so I’d visit him every other weekend. He always wanted me to take him to Walmart or Cost Co and that I did. On our last trip to Walmart I noticed a fast decline in him as he was having a hard time walking and wanted to use an electric cart but I didn’t dare let him, his eye sight wasn’t that good any more and I didn’t want him to run into any customers. It was difficult for him but we made it in the store and he was completely out of breath so I had him sit down while I got what he wanted – 3 bottles of Real Lemon lemon juice!!! He liked to make his own lemonade! As we were leaving the store I notice he was having more of a difficult time walking and a couple of young men gave up their seat for him then when I got there with the car they were so kind and helped him in the car for me. I took dad home and he headed for his room and his breathing machine. After he got to breathing well again he stood up, got out a hanger and asked me to hang his jacket in the closet for him. He stood right next me and I noticed how short he really was, how much he had shrunk – age! And how much weight he had really did loose. Those things we really don’t see or don’t want to see came to reality that day. So I said dad, you’d better start eating better you are loosing so much weight. He said why and I said I want you to live to be a hundred! He looked up at me right to my face and our eyes connected and he said well, it won’t be long now and some how I knew that he knew it wasn’t going be long and he knew that I would be devastated. I gave him a hug and a kiss and it turned out to be the last hug and kiss that I would ever get to give him as he passed away just 5 days later, peacefully and at home just as he wanted.
Dad and I both belonged to American Legion Post #790 so I arranged for the Honor Guard to attend his funeral (all 13) and they gave him the best salute that any one could have ever asked for and it brought tears to many an eye. I ordered a huge flower arrangement on a stand with a banner across it that said “MY DAD”. I will always miss you dad and some day I will see you again when the doors to heaven open and let me in then I will find you and I will take care of you once again. I will always remember how much you loved me and as you said “how you always had to stick up for me” thru my childhood.
As others read this I hope you will always remember to let the elderly tell those stories of their life, even if you have heard them many times before and don’t hesitate to include them in your life and your children’s lives and even your friends. Make time for them even if it is just a short shopping trip, a hamburger, a visit, and take the time to fix things for them, remember their mind knows how to do things their body won’t let them. Give them money from time to time even if it just $5, for them $5 is a lot of money because they may not be able to go out and work any more and we can. If nothing else, remember that they raised us the best way they knew how and with what they had just like you are raising your children the best way you know how and with what you have. They didn’t hesitate to stop what they were doing when we needed help. They stayed up all night when we were sick, they gave up many things that we don’t even know about, but they did it because they loved us. They kept us safe, they made sure we got our education an education that they may not have gotten, and some of them had to walk to school in the rain and snow where we took busses or parents drove us and some of them never got to finish their education yet some how they made it and THEY made us the good people we are today.
Remember Andy Rooney once said the best teacher is at the feet of an elderly person. We too will be that elderly person one day.
May God Bless all of you.
We were 2 blocks away from the railroad tracks, where they cut through the middle of our town. this is a short memory, but one that many I am sure shared in one form or another.
I remember our entire family dressed darkly one day and my Dad got out our American flag and we walked up to the railroad tracks. There were many other people all along that back road by the tracks, and we all stood and waited. We waited for the train carrying Bobby Kennedy’s flag draped coffin to go by on it’s trip home to Mass.
Apparently we did the same for JFK, but as I was only 3 I really have no memory of that.
That is RESPECT, something I sorely miss…you just do not see it anymore like that.
and for Today (thursday…the other was for yesterday)
I remember having a black n white TV, and I remember watching Ed Sullivan the Night the BEATLES were on…my sister (Older than I by 9 years was taping it with a tape recorder)…She and I were laying on the floor on our bellies and elbows and she’d elbow me every time I made a sound. LOL
Did not get a color TV til I was about 11.
The good old days was when we just went out in the garden and pulled a carrot up of the ground and dryed it in our jeans and ate it right away without thinking of all ilnesses we could get from it, by the way I remember it as we were never ever sick like kids are today, and we could just run out in the forrest and play all together without fear. We helped dad milk the cows and had a mug outthere where we got a cup of fresh milk when we were done. That was the good old days. Now kids believe milk comes from a machine, Sad really.
Biiiig hugs Maryann
I am playing catch up:
We too enjoyed the drive-in movies in our PJs and had pillows and blankets in the back of the station wagon.
wading through the gutters after a big rain storm in the summer.
no air conditioning so we we would sleep downstairs on a big thick quilt on the floor, and, a lot of nights in the middle of the night we would go in our above ground pool, (which was always cold) and mom would have either a burger for each of us or a BLT waiting for when we got out of the pool!
lightening bugs, flashlight tag, bike riding, playing board games or “barbies”on a blanket under the tree
Like many have said…no boredom…we entertained ourselves…and everyone was average size because we moved around, got our exercise. I think technical progress really ruined this for our kids…coach potatoes!!
My husband is 19 yrs older than me, so one of his biggest memories is listening to the radio shows…they had one set of head phones so he and his brother would have the set stretched over both their heads and they each had an ear piece. he also remembers his grandma always carrying a small hatchet in her large apron pockets…in order to “cack” a chicken for dinner. (My mom also had to do this growing up on the farm)
Now,we raise chickens…just for the eggs, and let them live out their lives. We were going to try to kill and scald them once, but we couldn’t do it.
I have very much enjoyed this Becca! I noticed a handful posted without commenting/sharing…sad. i also noticed there are 2 Susan G’s LOL!! I am going to save this page for a while for all the good reading!
Thanks again for the opportunity!
hugs,
Susan (g) in NJ
Well, it’s Friday… last chance to enter for your blog candy! Thanks so much for the opportunity!! So many memories left like catching lightning bugs with my cousin on summer evenings… making mud pies in the back yard as a kid growing up back in Ohio… playing “house” on the big front porch of that house with my dolls, etc. But, I have to go further along in my life and not leave out my wonderful college years. Those were definitely the good old days for me. I went away to college to a small Christian school and I still look back on those years as some of the most wonderful times in my entire life. I grew up a lot during those 4 years and realized that I could stand on my own two feet and make my own decisions. It was a time of meeting people from all over the U.S. and even the world and beginning to learn what life is really all about. I made friends that I’m so happy to say are still my best friends in all the world even though we live far, far from each other. Too much to tell in a comment like this, but 4 years FULL of so many memories… happiness, sadness, excitement… things I would have never expected but am so glad that I had the opportunity to experience.
One memory that has me thinking of the good old days was when I was little, I was the only granddaughter for my paternal grandmother. She had had only sons, four to be exact. So it suffices to say that I was the apple of her eye. Well one of my fondest memories was when I would spend the weekend with her. All day Saturday she would sew me a new dress the wear to church on Sunday. Then Saturday night she would curl my hair in rag curls. For those that don’t know, that’s what they used before there were other curlers. When my own daughter was little and wanted her hair curled I would rag curl her hair. She loved it just as I had when I was young.
Going on holiday and leaving at 4.00 am. Soooooo exciting for us as it seemed very grown up to be up when everyone else was still fast asleep. New clothes to take with us and the treat of a comic and a tube of Polo Mints to keep us occupied for the journey. Counting out the pocket money saved for the holiday and dreaming of all the exciting things I might be able to buy!
This has been such fun Becca! Thanks for the opportunity to have a trip down memory lane.
Hugs
Anne (UK)
Becca,
What great blog candy. How I would love to win it! A favorite memory for me of days gone by is when my Mom would tell me stories about her childhood. Mom died when I was 11 years old so those memories are precious.
Mary
The thing that sticks in my mind about the good ol’ days is how simple life was then. Now I feel that all I do is rush here and there trying to get this and that done. I have decided that I will attempt to incorporate more of the simplicity of the good ol’ days into the way I live my life today!
Thanks Becca for bringing me down memory lane for the week. It was good to remember simplier times and many past loved ones.
When I was a little girl, my Mom’s Mom lived with us for a bit. I swear that all she did was sit in a chair and crochet. The best part of it was that on my birthday and christmas, she gave me big boxes of crochet doll clothing. I never had real Barbie clothing, mine was all made with thread!
I have enjoyed this post greatly, Thanks! It has recalled many memories from long ago, and people I haven’t seen in many years. It’s sad to say but I haven’t slowed down to think of my grandparents, now gone, in a long time. The memories of visiting and seeing what craft projects they have made have come flooding back. Thanks to everyone who has submitted their thoughts.
I just came across your site and love it! Thanks for the inspiration!!! The good ol’ days – being a kid and not worrying about all the junk we have to worry about with our kids now. We’d walk to and from school, the park, the convenience store, and all around the neighborhood without thinking twice.
Great times were had by all on our family reunions. Our grandparents had 68 grandchildren, so you can imagine the large crowd when we came together in the park or sometimes on my uncles farm. Hugs, Nellie.
We stayed outside playing all day ! And sometimes most of the night! Collecting fireflies in a jar, playing hide n seek or flashlight tag.
My favorite part of childhood was just getting to BE a child, with no worries and no big problems to drag you down.
One of my favorite places to go as a child was the local public library. They had story hour and you got to play games with the other kids there. And of course I got to go home with lots of books.
I remember my dad getting down on the floor and playing with us. We climb all over him and he would tickle us. At that time there was the 3 kids. My dad always stopped as soon as I would call out “I’m going to wet myself”. My brothers didn’t seem to have any problems. Maybe that’s one of the differences between girls and boys. I also liked it when I was young and he would sit with his leg crossed and swing me on his foot. My dad is 76 now and is pretty frail, but these childhood events help me remember that loving, godly man he is.
The kids in my neighborhood loved catching lightning bugs on summer nights when we were really little. It was lots of fun to watch them light up. Then we always release them before we headed inside for bed.
Maybe I can get one last memory in! I will always remember the big family gatherings out at my cousin’s farm. There would be hugh tables full of good, fresh food. We would always get my Uncle to do his “pig” calling. It never failed to amuse us. Then we would watch them milking the cows and squirting the milk into the farm cats mouths. It was so much fun to pet the calves and see their hugh tongues as they attempted to lick us. But most of all was just the fun of being with family, enjoying their company and eating that fantastic food. Watermelon, corn on the cob, fresh salads right from the crops, fresh strawberries, etc., etc., etc.
The store’s weren’t open on Sundays – everyone went to church and then to Grandma’s house. We had great times with all the cousins, aunts and uncles. Miss that
Picnics. I know, we can still have picnics today, but the areas are soo saturated with crowds of people that our sweet little intimate hide-aways are all gone. I loved finding little out of the way secret spots and taking our bikes there with a basket of food was always fun. It takes more effort to find them now, but the search continues :)
I know this one doesn’t count, but I had to make a couple of comments. Becca, I am willing to bet that you have gotten more responses than any other blog has received. No matter what the blog candy, the opportunity to share memories of the good ol’ days has been one of my most precious moments in a long, long time. Thank you so very, very much for thinking of doing this. It has given me such pleasure to read others memories and to be able to recall all the wonderful times from my childhood. You are without a doubt the most special person I have ever had the pleasure of “knowing”! Thank you!
Cinnamon Rolls, my Mom would make the best dinner rolls, and then for a special treat would make a pan of cinnamon rolls. My Brothers would know by instinct to drop by to get their rolls for breakfast – I’m sure that sometimes they didn’t make it home.
I have learned how to make her rolls, but I have not tried the cinnamon rolls. It was an art form, as she didn’t measure any of the ingredients for the gooey bottom.
The smell of cinnamon invokes alot of memories….
OK, so I get one more chance I guess! hehe! I remember playing “flashlight” at night in the dark with all the neighborhood kids. It was a blast! We would run when cars would come down the road and back then it wasn’t many, so the person who was IT would have a flashlight, count to 100 and everyone would run then too. Who ever was spotted by the light/car first was IT next. Not many video games back then…we always played outside till dark! :-) :/ AH, remember when!
I remember playing hide and seek, which wasn’t always fun or remembered as the “good old days.” I was the youngest in the family and often, when we played this, they would let me hide and then wouldn’t come and find me.
Now that I’ve shared this, maybe my “deep-seated feelings of rejection” will resolve. Thanks Becca for the therapy – and the chance to win your gret blog candy!
Today, I am the good ole days for my children…
I remember in the good ole days we used to play outside with the neighborhood kids till after dark and my mom would have to call and call to get us to come in the house. We would play hide and seek in the dark with our friends. what fun we had, and we did think of staying inside to play Nintendo, Computer gamed or anything like that. Of course we didnt have them either, but we were still happier outside in the sun! Oh the good ole days! Thanks for the time to reminise!
It has been fun to think back to the good ole days. My best friend had a mina bird that was quite a talker. We lived around the corner and down the block a bit. In the summer when the windows were open we would hear what we thought was my friend’s mother calling her. It turns out it was the bird who sounded just like the mother. He had quite a vocabulary and just loved to sing the popeye song.
Love the shoes. Blessings,
I remember wearing gloves & a hat to church on Sundays. Sometimes I skipped the hat but I wore gloves all the time.
I remember the excitement when we got our first clothes dryer and excitement was even higher when we got the first window air conditioning units for our house (we lived in FL).
Another day, another memory. In the 50’s we walked everywhere. Parents did not cart us from place to place. I know it was safer then, but I feel sorry for teens today that don’t get that opportunity. It started off in the morning with our walk to school, probably about 2 miles. It was a fun social time as we walked in groups, same thing in the afternoon on the way home. If it was raining we did ride the city bus, but that was the only time and we had to walk several blocks to catch it and several more after we got off. School did not close for snow, we had a ball walking home in that. We walked a long way to the Boys Club in the summer for swimming, and I mean everyday. A large group of girls who were at a bunking party would walk several miles across the river bridge to the movies and then walk home again. Honestly, we never ever considered this a hardship, just a fun time with friends. Good, good memories.
Woot! Time for one more comment about the good ole days. I remember practicing my alphabet and numbers on the headboard of my bed when I was in kindergarten. My Mom put me down for a nap and I wasn’t sleepy. So I took a pen and wrote the alphabet and numbers on my head board. I thought me Mom would be so pleased… NOT! I was good at the alphabet but I needed to remember that you only wrote them on paper. Maybe that’s why I am so attached to paper crafts now. LOL! Have a wonderful weekend!
Another wonderful childhood memory was playing on our street with all the neighbourhood kids. We played hide and seek, tag, played in the tree house my parents built for us and on the swing set and jungle gym in our back yard. My dad used to set up obstacle courses on the street and we would divide up into teams and then drive through on our bikes and if you knocked one of the bottles over you would get points deducted etc. There was also a huge grass field we used to play in and when our neighbour up the street got some cacao beans delivered, he would spread it on the driveway over a plastic sheet to dry out and we would take our shoes and socks off and slide through them (probably not the best thing for the beans!). He would also bring in rubber from rubber trees in bags and we would bounce around on the bags. Great time when kids could just be kids :D
Ahh, one last chance to tell you another great memory of the good ol days!
That memory has to be of my mome reading bedtime stories to me and with me as I got older…I have wonderful memories of Beatrix Potter books…and other wonderful poems by Robert Louis Stevenson….Oh those are great memories that will always be with me…and wonderful things to leave in a child’s heart.
when i think of the good ole days i think of all the time spent at the swimming pool with my sister.
Remember the times with my Mother’s Mother, we called her Another Moma. Never did find out how that name came about. Loved crawling up in her feather mattress and old iron bedstead, the chenille bedspread had a big rose in the middle, she had one pillow that reached from one side of the bed to the other, always thought it was neat the way the feathers would come out of the pillow and mattress, there was a sheet between the springs and the mattress so the springs wouldn’t rust on it. She had a wooden swing on the front porch that I would spend hours swinging in and her rocking chair I could fall to sleep in. Those afternoons when it would rain on the tin roof and the sweet smell of roses and honeysuckle would fill the house. Her tiny house was what we call down south – a shot gun house. If you opened the front door and shot a shot gun it would go straight out the back door. No indoor facilities, loved looking at the Sears catalog. Lots of love between those walls. On wash day I would take one of her aprons, load up her clothes and linens and bring home to wash on the ringer washing machine. Remember the blueing and starch that were put into clothes, the old wooden ironing board-I still have my Mom’s. Thanks for the memories Becca-your the Bomb! Hugs
Okay, time for one more memory. I remember getting my dog (a German Shepherd) when I was about three-years-old. At first I was so afraid of her because I thought she would grow up to be bigger than me. LOL!
I remember playing for hours with my paper dolls and with my only baby doll. I ssssooooo wanted them to be real.
Jean
The good old days was also when we had to help mum one daay a week with the whole laundry, and it was not with any fancy washinmachine like today, no it was in the old fashion way, with the board and just our hands scrubbing the clothes on the board with some soap and all in cold water, and when it has been scrubbed, we rinsed it in 2 or 3 set of water next, alaso cold ofcause, and finally we hang it all on the line to dry in the end, but it sure tought us to apreciate all we have today, that´s for sure, and even it was hard, I would love to have these days back again sometimes.
Biiig hugs Maryann
I have read some of the stories here and wish I had time to read them all. Such wonderful memories and times. Someone should write a book filled with memories like these. I’d buy it.
Sharing a 3 bedroom 1 bath house with 9 people. A full dinner table with lots of mom’s home cooking. Playing in my best friends playhouse with the toy wood stove my grandmother bought us. We actually cooked eggs and potatoes slices in it by stuffing it with newspapers until the food was done. Now that I think about that food I realize it was not very tasty but to us it was a feast.
Spending all day at the neighborhood pool and spending the entire summer tanned as brown as could be.
The only doll I can remember with any clarity was a big walking, talking one I had. She had lovely curly hair and I can remember her being nearly as big as me, although I’m sure she wasn’t that big at all.
A favorite family memory from the good old days is time spent with my Mamma, my aunts and Grandmama doing fancy work and learning to knit, crochet, quilt and all those other neat things that ladies did ‘back then. After the dishes were done, the prep done for supper and the other chores finished, we could take our work out to the porch and sit in the shade and talk and do all those wonderful things. There was no TV, no movie theater nearby… Our entertainment was each other and our handiwork. I still have a potholder I embroidered and quilted with my Grandmother’s help, to give to my mother for Christmas when i was four. She used it and it is stained with stuff from many meals she made with love and skill. I treasure it
Linda in SC
last day to win the blog candy. Ok another memory from the good old days. Well since today is pay my bills day. I don’t remember having any resposibilities. so it is nice to think I only had to play, play and play in the good old days!
Wow, another memory!! I remember when I was around 14 or 15 years old, staying overnite at my Grandparents home so that I could help my Grandmother clean and wash windows the next day. She taught me to use newpaper to clean windows. It certainly was NOT hard work and of course I was young and had to clean at home too, so this was something very easy for me to do. It was just so different helping my Grandma. I remember it as being a very special time! I had a new understanding and appreciation for my Grandma!
Last day for memory lane… today I think back to when my kids were young—3 and 5. I was recently divorced and transfered to Florida with my job. It was a nice, clean start for my kids and I. They were so excited as was I. Before the move, we danced in the living room to Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration”, laughing and going round and round in a circle until we fell down. Although it was tough being a single mom, I cherished every moment with my kids, knowing that some day they would be grown up and on their own. I never took them for granted, as I knew God could take them from me at any time–after all, they were not truely mine. I was blessed to carry them into this world, and loved all the time I had with them before they flew off on their own. I miss those times–they’ve moved back up north, and are in their twenties now. But often I have dreams of when they were young and under my wings. I am very proud of them now–they each are productive, successful adults, and I smile, knowing that I helped shaped them into the wonderful people they are today…
I’m thinking of the sound of my father’s old Ford tractor in the distance and the smell of a fresh rain. Those were the good ole days for sure!
Just thinking about when I was younger brings back a lot! I remember as a kid spending many hours up in a tree! Used to love climbing a tree that was at the top of our hill. I could see the rest of the neighborhood from there! I also remember many days just laying at the top of that hill with my eyes closed listening to my favorite music. Ah…to be a kid again!
Happy Friday Becca,
The good ole’ days to me were the family vacations we took when I was a kid. It was so nice when my Dad could take us on long camping trips to see his family in Minnesota.
Okay, I figured I’d get one last entry in before the contest ended. When we lived in Kansas during my elementary school days, we would go outside and play for hours on end…usually roller skating around the neighborhood or riding our bikes. My dad was in the Army and sometimes on the weekend he would take us to the Armory and they had a huge, open floor area and we would rollerskate around it for hours. I have to say, I was a pretty good rollerskater back in the day!
It was also a time when neighbors could be trusted. I’ll never forget one of our neighbors had a snowmobile. When winter came around he would take each of the kids in the area on a ride (only one child could fit at a time). We would all line up and patiently wait our turn. It was awesome!
BTW, thanks for having this post! It was nice to stroll down memory lane and also read what others had to write! Have a great weekend! Rosemary
Dear Becca
Thank you for asking us to share such wonderful memories. It really has been a trip down memory lane containing stories which I am sure will be of interest to our children and to their children. For myself there were also sad and unhappy times but now I look back I can say that I had a very happy childhood. Let us all spare a kind thought for those who were not so lucky.
I remember Mom giving me a quarter many times to buy bread at the local liquor store.
Grandma and Grandpa came over to visit and took my sister and I home to spend the night. On the way to their house (about 4 or 5 miles from our house) Grandma wanted to stop at the market to get a new shower cap and a couple other items. We stayed in the car with Grandpa. Grandpa was so fun to be with we had a great time while we waited and waited for Grandma. Eventually the store closed and still no Grandma. When she finally came out she had a ton of groceries but no shower cap!
Laying on the hood of my parents’ car, looking up at the stars. Really good ol’ days.
Smiles~
Marilyn
I have a 16 month old gs and can’t wait till he asks me about the good ole days–I can tell me what we did w/o computers, watching the first moon landing and the introduction to Walmarts!
I am so happy that I grew up when I did. Those “good ole days” are long gone. Everyone has shared wonderful ideas. One common thought was the safety we had back then. We could play outside until dark. We could ride our bikes nice distances with threat. We could walk places. Now, I fear for the children of today.
Another aspect is how simple things were back then – banking, bills (without all the options we have today), INVESTING, paying our Federal Taxes, insurance, operation manuals, etc. Today, things are much more complex and subject to issues like identity theft, etc.
Becca, thank you so very, very much for the theme for this week. I sure did enjoy reflection. You’re the best!
Chris
Thinking about the good ol’ dayz reminds me of my Mother’s Sun Porch Tea. Mom had this huge glass jar that she filled with water & tea bags and then she’d set it on the porch, which was a very small area we called a deck porch because it was made of wood and had stairs coming down each side. In fact the porch was so small we couldn’t fit any chairs on it to sit, so generally we just sat on the steps. Anyway, we always looked forward to the tea being done, but with six kids plus kids that were visiting our house, plus kids Mom babysat, plus our parents…that tea sure didn’t go very far on most days, but we all thought Mom was a genius because she “made it up”. ha ha…
I remember playing Barbie’s all day long. We took forever to set everything up just right, then we would dress and redress them dozens of times. (If I changed my clothes in one day as often as we changed theirs, I’d run through my whole wardrobe in 2 days) Then we would put everything away before we ate dinner.
I remember visiting (maiden) Aunt Tessie. She was a hard worker and she was very practical and frugal. She used to can her vegetables. We used to play with her dollhouse and would use the plastic tomato crates for Barbie beds. We used to sit and have breakfast in her old fashioned kitchen nook. She had a farmhouse sink befroe it became fashionble again. Her brother used to make rosaries using large wooden beads (I’m not sure how he made the crosses).
I remember walking to the old cornerstore to buy goodies. Chips, drink and candy…all for $1. Not so now!!!
Becca,
What a great idea it was to have people tell you about their good ole days. What a special feeling remembering those times.
The boy next door and I ran a string across from my bedroom window to his bedroom window with cans attached to the string. We really could hear each other talk. :)
Thanks for the memories!!
Thanks for the great projects you have been sharing.
My grandmother lived on a farm. She was a great cook. When my children were little we would sometimes go to the farm on a Sunday afternoon…my grandmother made them homemade rolls. They would try to see who could eat the most. Soooo much fun!
Next door to the house I grew up in was a swampy area. In the winter it would freeze over and we were able to ice skate on it. There were 12 of us kids so we never had new skates but used what was on hand. The skates I used were 5 times too big for me but I skated anyway. I would go from one side of the pond to the other only thing is I couldn’t stop. So at each side I fell down in the snow to stop. I would get up and skate to the other side and down I went. We made do with what we had and made the best of it. I doubt kids nowadays would wear skates 5 times too big! :)
Some thing I miss about the good old days is being able to sleep with the windows open. Becca, thank you for your generosity and all the inspiration you give us daily.
~Bonnie in SC
I didn’t realize we were to keep posting here. I have been posting on your daily posts like always! Oh well, Just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful week of amazing quality projects as always! Love the one you made that your daughter tooK. That is my favorite…. and it only took one hour!
The water in our mountain creek was pure snow run-off. We used to swim in it for hours. The last time I put my feet in it, it was so cold it made my feet hurt! In the good old days, things like icy cold water or 100 degree days without air conditioning didn’t bother us. It was all fun!!
When I was 9 years old my family closed up our farm house and we moved to Bisbee, Arizona (from Western New York State) for a year for my sister’s health. There were a lot of firsts on this adventure: the first time we ate in a restaurant and that was for breakfasts on the trip. Otherwise, Mom bought bread and whatever else for roadside lunches and dinners. (I still enjoy breakfast out.) The first time crossing the Mississippi and was I ever disappointed…it looked like just a big, muddy river to me! The bridge length to river width ratio seemed extreme to me…so much bridge for such a little river. Once in Arizona, it was the first time I ever walked to school…5th grade; the first time I ever rode a donkey, a wild one at that which the neighbor kids had caught…it didn’t go smoothly! The first time I’d ever seen a horned toad. And the first time us kids went to the movies. Westerns and cartoons were shown every Saturday for a nickel or dime – don’t remember which. We left to go back to New York a few days before the last of a Roy Rogers’ serial was shown so I never knew how it ended….how traumatic! LOL ! I have so enjoyed thinking of stories to tell, Becca, and of reading many of the entries. I’d love to take the time to read them all but….
Love the shoes that you featured today! To bad you can’t actually wear them! Well for my last good ‘ole days, I think I’ll tell you about Sunday’s as a kid. We would go to church, a very small little church. When we came home we kids could go out and play. But instead of having a regular dinner we would have a buffet type meal. Mom would make Sweet and Sour meatballs, beef dip, cheese plates, veggie plates, sometimes soup and always a marvelous desert. We lived in an old, old, old farmhouse. At some point the summer kitchen had been converted into what we used as the family room. That’s where we always ate on Sunday’s. Now I realize that it was a lot of work for Mom! Then it was just something special that only happened on Sunday’s. I can still remember how much fun it was.
Thanks for the chance at your candy, Becca. I’ve had a great time reading some of the responses that you’ve gotten.
R/
woo hoo, one more good old days memory. We used to play outside all day and late into the evening. Coming in when the street lamps came on. Riding bikes, playing red rover, red light, green light, hide and seek. It was great fun.
I remember visiting my grandparents in the hot humid summers of Kansas City. In August the air would be so thick you could cut it with a knife. There was no air conditioning upstairs, only window fans. My bedroom didn’t have a window fan, but I was lucky enough to have my bed by a window. I literally slept with my head in the window, just so I could breath. I remember sweating buckets everyday, but I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything. Thanks for asking.
On Saturday’s a group of us would walk downtime to the movie theatre, which is unheard of these days. We bought a ticket, coke, popcorn and candy for about a dollar and stayed all afternoon, usually the movie was a western. Then we walked home, which was more than a mile and we always felt perfectly safe.
In the good old days, we went pop-up camper camping at Fort Robinson, NE and went to the plays they put on in the summer!
When it was time to repaint the inside of the house, which seemed like a regular occurence, the children were allowed to paint the inside of the closets, since, unless you were family. most people wouldn’t be looking in there!
I remember walking to the creamery about 1/4 mile away . i would go with my mom and dad and we would order maple walnut icream!
One more memory……. going to the drive – in movie in a pick up truck and parking it backwards and laying in the back to watch the movie. Nowadays it’s hard to find a place with a drive – in, if you can find one at all.
Thanks for the chance to win and for getting everyone to share their memories.
Thanks for the opportunity to look back on my childhood, one thing that I was just thinking about was birthday cakes. I remember that my mother always made us a cake and I have never made one for my children. This year I will make the kids a cake instead of ordering it from the bakery.
Becca,
Today is the last day and I sure am excited about my new blog candy?? lol. Thanks again for the opportunity. There are so many wonderful things to remember about the good ole days, it’s fun to look back. But I’ll tell you what, this has been such a beautiful week. Our daughter, her husband and one of our grandchildren live next door and about 4 days this week we have just sat out in the back yard and watched our little two year old girl play on the swings. How much better can it get. Even with the economy and things going on in our communities there are still such special times and things to be thankful for! Praise the Lord!
Connie
I grew up on a dairy farm and one of my fond memories was when the milk man would come to pick up our milk my older brother and I would run out to the barn because he would always have Juicy Fruit gum for us!
I remember visitng my grandparents every Sunday and getting together with all my cousins and started playing hide and go seek just 15 minutes before going home, LOL. My mom and aunts always laughed about that.
I am almost 38 and my childhood had up and downs, until I was 13 everything was fine, at 13 my mom died after long months of sickness, I think I was not old enough to understand so many things, but at the same time made me a strong woman now.
Thanks for the chance to win Becca.
God bless.
Giovana
I remember my Mom playing records for me and my siblings when we were growing up. When I got a bit older, we had what I think was called an “8 track player”.
Thanks Becca for the chance to win!
Woo Hoo – over 1,000 responses, Becca! You rock, girl!!
It’s 11:00 PM here in Indiana now so it’s 8:00 in CA??? Since you said we could post until late tonight (on your incredible shoe post!), I’m taking advantage of that.
I remember the smoothest peanut butter fudge that my father would make. I have tried to duplicate it and am learning that the smoothness had to do with my Dad’s incredible arm muscles (he was a master Brickmason) and his ability to vigorously stir the fudge until smooth enough for his satisfaction. I remember popcorn, apples, cheese slices, and everyonce in awhile, a coke for Sunday nights suppers.
I remember dances at the YMCA every Friday night after all the games or even if we didn’t have a game. The stroll, the twist, sock hops, crusing, angora wrapped around your guy’s class ring (if you were “lucky” enough to have a boyfriend). Peddle pushers, penny loafers, pleated skirts, and those little collars we wore under our crew neck sweaters, and the guys wore suits and ties for their senior pictures.
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane this week, Becca!
How fun! Just finished watching “Bridges of Madison County” w/Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Geeze Peeze! How I miss the good old movies? It was fun looking at all the 50ish stuff. I think that is when the movie was supposed to take place. At any rate, they don’t make movies like they used to. Thanks so much for asking about the good ole days and offering such neat goodies. It’s great. (Can you believe how many responses?!?)
Hi Becca. All I can say is … thank you for stirring up all the sweet “good old days”. It was great to read the memories of everyone who commented. You know though, what we experience today will soon be a memory too. So I’m sooo grateful for the gift of today and will do my best to make it a happy memory! Blessings!
Becca, This set of posts has been wonderful. So many great memories to relive and smile over. All extra special since we’re so close to Mother’s day and most of the ones I’m bringing up are family related. I really miss my mom, and this month is a bit hard at times as her birthday fell on Mother’s Day every few years so it’s always been a special month. My nephew was born on her birthday, so it continues to be a special day with him and in memory of my mom. Another good ole days – just family time in general – whether we were playing games, cards, or board games, or putting on records and dancing ~ my mom, dad, sister and I. I remember laughing at how mom and dad danced, but we all had a great time, swinging around and just having a good time. We seemed to have more time for “family time” back then, and looking back on it makes me remember how special those times were.
When all the neighborhood kids would play in our backyard without any dangers.
Remembering my mom made me a blue gingham dress that I could drop off my shoulders. I use to sing and move my shoulders to Downtown by Petulia Clarke. Thinking I was as good as the crountry treward
I have good memories of when I was a teen and active with the youth group at my church. We had Bible studies one night a week, usually a get together on Friday night, basketball games and practive nights couple times a week, and events on the weekends. It sometimes seemed I was with the teen group nearly every night of the week. We had some fun times and played stupid games and pranks at many parties. All good clean fun, and those were the good ole days.
the good ole days…a fond memory would be Christmas at gramma’s house with EVERYBODY there…so much fun.
In the good old days, we had family all around. Now it seems that everyone moves away and there are only a few family members within 100 miles.
oh, the good ole days…playing hide ‘n seek with the kids in the neighbourhood ’till the sun went down.
In the good old days, my family didn’t have air conditioning, we had a swamp cooler. I remember having to take the hose and fill it up, watering down the sides. It was heavenly to go into mom and dad’s room and smell that cool wet air coming in.
Way back when, we didn’t have TV and an old car, but we did have lots of love… my grandpa owned the only grocery store plus he was the mayor of our little town…. so my grandmother worked at the store while we went to school, she would pick us up at school and bring us home… I was upstairs in my room and looked out and saw a big fire way far away and called my grandmother up… we didn’t have phones either, so she got into the car and drove to the store and got my grandfather who rang the alarm and all the men came and we watched for hours as the winds swept the fire closer… the beach had loads of undergrowth of brush which swept the fire fast. Next door they had beautiful horses and we all were over there getting the horses out of there and my grandmother (who was a true southern lady) was on a horse without a saddle racing one horse down to the ocean… it was kind of funny… anyway for some reason the horrible fire skipped my grandfather’s house and the house next door and went south… gosh we were so happy… all our water hoses must have helped or it must have been my grandmother’s prayers and her riding the horse bare backed!!! never know…
In the good old days, we had 3 channels, sometimes only 2. I remember coming home from school to watch Highway to Heaven.
Every Saturday night, my mom and I would sit down with chips (mom always put them in a bowl so she would only eat so many) and coke to watch Lawrence Welk.
listening to peoples comment do enccourage me alot,becouse as it is said experience is the best teacher. am form west-africa. Thank u very much…….