Sunday, November 13, 2011

MEMORY and MEMORIES



Recently, Sandie of Where are the Dixons wrote about her Aunt Happy (isn't that a delightful name?) that, "Not only does she remember her more distant past, but she remembers her yesterday and her morning. " That got me thinking about memory and memories. As I started babbling, Suzy joined in, and began remembering also. Do you remember these things too?


Mucilage and library paste when you were a kid.

Scripto ink in a bottle with a well at the top for filling your ink pens. And the little metal lever on the side of the pen that squeezed the tube then released it to suck in the ink

The dark spot on your shirt pocket when the pen leaked.

Bubble lights on Christmas trees.

(If you went to Catholic school) Sister Superior tapping with her ring on the second floor window -- and the entire playground came to a screeching but silent halt.

Valencia oranges that actually had seeds. And navel oranges were a novelty.

Grapefruit that were so tart you had to heap sugar on them to eat them.

When frozen foods were just coming on the market. You could buy peas, orange juiice, strawberries, then not much later, TV dinners.

Margarine that came uncolored, but with a little capsule of coloring that your Mom mashed into it with a fork. That was because the butter industry was afraid of competition.

Nabisco Shredded Wheat, the large biscuits packed in layers inside a box with Niagara Falls on the front.

Adding machines and manual typewriters. Slide rules.

Metal skates with skatekeys. You tied a loop of string to the skatekey and wore it around your neck.

Peechee folders, decorated with pictures of sports figures, but most importantly by your own doodling during class. Blue Books for final exams; you wrote your essay answers and tried to peek at your neighbor's answers.

Writing by hand! Penmanship classes. Multiplication tables. Long division. Diagramming sentences. 

War Bonds. Three-cent postage stamps. The March of Dimes, when you brought your dimes and marched around the classroom, one dime at a time, until the richest kid in class was the only one still marching, around and around at least two times after everyone else sat down; you were always embarrassed if you had to sit down after only two rounds.

Lifebuoy soap -- that was my favorite soap. It was red, and it had s strong smell, and I loved it.


Bendix brakes on bikes; you pedaled backwards to stop.


Saddle shoes. Pedal pushers.


Saturday matinees: two features, a cartoon, and a newsreel. And a five-cent candy bar.

If you remember all those things, you are as old as I am. 

That's all for today in ... Our Life on Wheels. But before we leave, I want to thank you all for the wonderful positive response to out last post, "The Times, They are a Changin'."  So many people responded that they too are feeling some conflict between trying to be faithful to blogging and trying to live life full-time. Some folks can do it and do it well. Right now we can't, but we'll be here now and then, and we'll be pleased if you still ride with us!




12 comments:

  1. I still have 2 sets of bubble lights in my Christmas decoration box. I don't use them anymore, always found they were hard to get to stand upright and they got HOT. And the rest, well I have to admit, yes, I remember them..just colour me getting older.

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  2. I use to love using those ink pens but my hands paid the price.
    YUCK...blue books.
    I remember my mom and her Green Stamps. She did get some pretty nice table settings with them.
    Thanks for the memories.

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  3. Those ink pens were definitely hard for a left hander! I remember turquoise ink.

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  4. There is one of those I don't remember and that's the uncolored margarine. But the rest bring back lots of good and fun times.

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  5. I'm with Sandie, I've heard about uncolored margarine but I don't remember it. I also didn't use the ink pens. I DO remember five cent candy bars and BIG five cent ice cream cones. I definitely remember pedal pushes--when did they turn into capris? I also remember thongs--the rubber sandals, not the underwear. And boy, do I ever remember slide rules. Today's students just don't know what they are missing by not having to use a slide rule! ;)

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  6. What a great list! The topic might be a fun thing to discuss at an RV rally - make it into a game.

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  7. Great blog, Jerry. I happen to remember all of those things. At the time, I thought we were very advanced by being able to actually refill a fountain pen even though it was a messy process. Great memories!

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  8. Remember everything except the margarine. I grew up having our own cow so it was real butter which I remember churning.

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  9. I remember most of those things and here's an add on to the margarine memory. It came in a clear plastic type bag with a patch of coloring that was kind of reddish orange and by kneading the bag continously with ones hands the coloring gradually worked itself into the white looking substance gradually turning it to a yellow color. I think the warmth of the hands had something to do with the mixing process too. I remember people passing that bag around as everybody took a turn at smooshing the bag contents,

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  10. I remember all those things except the margarine too. I remember hearing about it but we had cows and real butter. I had many happy hours with those metal roller skates. Can't imagine how they would compare with today's hi-tech, ball bearing wheels on the inline skates. They were sure fun though.

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  11. Haha,,,Yep I remember a lot of that stuff and more...Remember I'm older than you!! Hope you tow are well!

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  12. I personally remember everything except the
    margarine which my mother told me about but we
    usually got butter from my grandmother's churning. Living in a small town my mother gave my sister and I 25 cents each and we went to the movies every Saturday...15 cents to get in and a nickle each for candy and soft drink. For the 15 cents we saw a double feature (westerns), a movietones about world events and a cartoon

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