Are you this old?

[turnkey4099]

$1.10 an hour, evening custodian at the Target . Overtime after 40. and I could work all I wanted.

Burned a lot of cardboard on Sunday evenings ;-)

First paying job a 16. $6 day and found working summer fallow. The day was a farmers day, Daybreak breakfast and hit the fields, quit about 6 or 7

 

[turnkey4099]

And wash your windshield . . .

And short stick the oil.

 

[Cougsfan]

It is funny how we remember the past as being better. In truth, aspects of it were definitely better, but overall when you get down to it, life is better now. For every positive there is a negative.
I remember how changing plugs and points in a car every 15,000 miles was a must, flat tires were a way of life, and 100K miles was major milestone. My everyday truck now has 220K miles, no plugs or points and never had a flat tire.
I remember the nice kids in my class, but not so much the bullies. I'd prefer to forget how the black kids in my town were treated.
I could come up with a bunch more but would rather not. It is much easier on the mind to remember the pleasant things. And I suppose that is not all bad.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Washington state back in the day had tokens to pay the tax so in addition to some change one also had carry some tokens. I don't rcall where one bought those tax tokens. Perhaps jusst got them in change with purchases? I think those tokens were still in use for bit after the War.

I remember mill tokens (0.1 cent) when I was a kid, but haven't even heard of them for decades. Inflation eliminated the need, since our dollar is now worth 10 cents, our dime is worth a penny, and the penny is worth a mill.

 

[Jstpssng]

Canada phased out the penny in 2013.

 

[Oaktree]

View attachment 727459

To be sure people dressed a lot better in the past, often IMHO over-dressing (such as the picture you posted). I don't think my father ever went out in public wearing either shorts or a T-shirt when I was growing up...always a collared shirt and long pants.
Then again, I'm guilty of kind of looking like a slob if I'm just running to the store.

 

[Bird]

Fancy bread. I remember my mom complaining about inflation, when it got to be impossible to find a 10 cent loaf of bread.

In 1951-53 I used to buy "day old" bread for 3 cents a loaf at the local bakery to feed my hogs; always bought 100 loaves at a time and it was still fresh enough we ate a lot of it. In fact it was 3 cents per loaf OR PACKAGE so I nearly always bought some cinammon rolls or cakes that the hogs sure didn't get.

 

[Jstpssng]

In 1951-53 I used to buy "day old" bread for 3 cents a loaf at the local bakery to feed my hogs; always bought 100 loaves at a time and it was still fresh enough we ate a lot of it. In fact it was 3 cents per loaf OR PACKAGE so I nearly always bought some cinammon rolls or cakes that the hogs sure didn't get.

15 seconds in the microwave and those cinnamon rolls were as good as fresh.

No doubt you had a microwave back in 1953.

 

[Bird]

To be sure people dressed a lot better in the past, often IMHO over-dressing (such as the picture you posted). I don't think my father ever went out in public wearing either shorts or a T-shirt when I was growing up...always a collared shirt and long pants.
Then again, I'm guilty of kind of looking like a slob if I'm just running to the store.

I NEVER saw my Dad or his Dad without a long sleeved shirt and long pants on.

 

[ponytug]

Funny; as a kid, I learned from some old timers how to keep cool in the heat by wearing loose fitting heavy cotton clothing. As a result, I almost never wear short sleeves, except to dress for parties. Shorts, never. I have countless unworn t-shirts given to me by others.

Ties are a different story. Never while doing outdoor work.

All the best,

Peter

 

[tree farmer]

When I was a kid, all gas stations, most stores and businesses here were closed for the day on Sundays and holidays. If you needed gas or anything besides a quart of milk or a loaf of bread, you waited 'til Monday morning or you borrowed it from a neighbor. Most of the residents here were of Scandinavian ancestry, and wouldn't consider going downtown or anywhere but work without a suit and tie. A new wooden commercial fishing boat used to cost about a thousand dollars a foot to build. Now they are all steel and 'Tupperware' costing upward of a million dollars. My first brand new pickup was a 1968 F-250 camper special with nearly all options. Cost was $3255....Dan

 

[Hay Dude]

When I was a kid, all gas stations, most stores and businesses here were closed for the day on Sundays and holidays. If you needed gas or anything besides a quart of milk or a loaf of bread, you waited 'til Monday morning or you borrowed it from a neighbor. Most of the residents here were of Scandinavian ancestry, and wouldn't consider going downtown or anywhere but work without a suit and tie. A new wooden commercial fishing boat used to cost about a thousand dollars a foot to build. Now they are all steel and 'Tupperware' costing upward of a million dollars. My first brand new pickup was a 1968 F-250 camper special with nearly all options. Cost was $3255....Dan

Heck it was that way in PA up until the 90’s. We had a thing called the “Blue Laws”. Everything but bare essentials was closed on Sundays. Malls, stores, etc. closed.
Thankfully that is gone. I understood where the heart was-take a day off for religious and family time. The Amish and Mennonites still practice this and work circles around us. I couldnt be in business if I didnt have Sundays to repair, refuel and reload to get ready for Monday.

 

[Bird]

15 seconds in the microwave and those cinnamon rolls were as good as fresh.

No doubt you had a microwave back in 1953.

Wonder how many of you, like me, remember the first time you ever even saw a microwave. In 1967-68 I had a moonlighting nighttime job at the Marriott Motel in Dallas. I guess it was about the biggest one in Dallas at the time and had a nice dining facility in the daytime that became a short order restaurant at night. The daytime chef always left a hugh pan of cold biscuits when he left, and at night, we could pop one of those old cold, hard biscuits into their "Radar Range" and they came out as if they had just been baked.

And we bought our own first microwave oven in 1973.

 

[Pixguy]

A few more pictures to bring back memories

 

[Pixguy]

 

[Pixguy]

 

[Oaktree]

And short stick the oil.

Or any one of the other sneaky little tricks service station attendants used to pull, especially on women or cars with out of state plates. Squirt oil on some part (alternator, shock absorber, etc.) and make it sound like it's something serious that needs attention NOW.

 

[Oaktree]

Funny; as a kid, I learned from some old timers how to keep cool in the heat by wearing loose fitting heavy cotton clothing. As a result, I almost never wear short sleeves, except to dress for parties. Shorts, never. I have countless unworn t-shirts given to me by others.

Ties are a different story. Never while doing outdoor work.

Just the opposite here, from May to October I live in a T-shirt and shorts (and barefoot when possible).
I have not worn a tie in probably 40 years, have no intention to start now.

 

[k0ua]

Just the opposite here, from May to October I live in a T-shirt and shorts (and barefoot when possible).
I have not worn a tie in probably 40 years, have no intention to start now.

I had to wear a tie sometimes at Windstream even as an Engineer, depending who my boss was at the time. When I finished up in the Sales Department, I had to wear one every day. Hated every minute of it.

 

[the old grind]

I enjoyed singing in the choir since Jr high but always hated wearing a hat to church until HS & I was teaching Sunday School. Dad was old-school, graduated in '29 & came from radio announcing at WJR to opening/running the first TV station in Flint. He wore hats to church after Presidents no longer did.

I btw, in HS we saw Corvettes selling for ~$6k, but for that you could buy an XKE, or order a Cobra from Graff Ford.

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