Are you this old?

[beowulf]

Canada phased out the penny in 2013.

I visited the US Mint in Denver a couple of years ago. They pointed out how it cost about two cents to make a penny and more than a nickel to make a nickel (in 2021: 2.06 cents to make a penny and 7.53 cents to make a nickel). I told the guide that I had an idea that would save them a lot of money, and help out with the 'change' shortages: Pay $1.25 or so for every 100 pennies turned in (at banks or elsewhere) then they would not have to make more pennies that would just disappear anyway and would not have to make any more at a loss. He agreed it was a good idea and would think about it. He also pointed out that they more than made up for the losses on pennies from the dimes and quarters - I think he said that dimes cost about 4 cents to make and quarters cost about 9 cents to make.

 

[Jstpssng]

I visited the US Mint in Denver a couple of years ago. They pointed out how it cost about two cents to make a penny and more than a nickel to make a nickel (in 2021: 2.06 cents to make a penny and 7.53 cents to make a nickel). I told the guide that I had an idea that would save them a lot of money, and help out with the 'change' shortages: Pay $1.25 or so for every 100 pennies turned in (at banks or elsewhere) then they would not have to make more pennies that would just disappear anyway and would not have to make any more at a loss. He agreed it was a good idea and would think about it. He also pointed out that they more than made up for the losses on pennies from the dimes and quarters - I think he said that dimes cost about 4 cents to make and quarters cost about 9 cents to make.

I recall that they did that once many years ago... banks were paying 10% extra for pennies. Perhaps around 1982, when they stopped using copper? A lot of people don't even want their change, even leaving quarters in the "take a penny, leave a penny" tray.
I'm too cheap; I have $100 in rolled coins waiting to go to the bank. I do that about 4 times per year.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

View attachment 727522

As I recall, minimum wage at that time was 85 cents per hour; I paid 75 cents for a hair cut...that is when My Dad didn't cut my hair. I preferred my Dad's haircuts because he could cut my curly hair and it didn't look like it had been cut with Pinking shears.

 

[Pixguy]

As I recall, minimum wage at that time was 85 cents per hour; I paid 75 cents for a hair cut...that is when My Dad didn't cut my hair. I preferred my Dad's haircuts because he could cut my curly hair and it didn't look like it had been cut with Pinking shears.

What happened to all those curls 2Lane?

 

[Molalla1]

What happened to all those curls 2Lane?

I believe he still has them . . . 2Lane I also liked my dad's haircuts better (we couldn't afford a store bought one anyway).

 

[Jstpssng]

I stopped letting my mother cut my hair the day she caught me with the scissors just millimeters from the corner of my eye.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

A few more pictures to bring back memories

View attachment 727519

1972. What a year!

 

[Oaktree]

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.

That began to change here in N.H. in the 70s, at first on a town-by-town basis (ie-it was up to the city/town as to whether to allow Sunday openings). When I was a kid grocery stores could be open, but they could only sell food. If you needed soap, a mop, etc. you had to wait. The aisles with that stuff were roped off.
I do remember one store called Rockdale that was open Sundays (may have been in Vt.). Apparently there was a loophole in the law that required businesses to be closed one day a week, didn't have to be Sunday. They closed Mondays instead. The place was usually mobbed Sundays.

We had an odd law here in N.H. that chain stores could not sell beer or wine in more than 2 (later updated to 5) stores. This continued into the early 90s. The theory was that it gave an advantage to mom & pop stores.

 

[Oaktree]

1972. What a year!
View attachment 727607

My brother had one of those, they were tiny. He was not. Don't know how he drove it. Michelle, Tammy & Allison could not have all fit in it.
As I recall, the track on those was so narrow they didn't fit very well on garage lifts. Gas mileage was about the only good thing about it, couldn't get out of its own way going downhill with a tailwind.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
75 mph according to the ad. That would get run over like a bug on the interstate today.

 

[lman]

1972. What a year!
View attachment 727607

I bet all those girls fit in the car.

 

[GeneV]

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.

I agree. Nostalgia is great and all, and I roll with it like the best of em, but I sure do love living today! I remember going to the library to research something...books with already outdated info. Yeh, I prefer the modern age, reach into my pocket and pull out my cell. I don't even have to type it in, just mumble some words into the phone, and I get a bunch of info in all sorts of formats: website, pdf, video, whatever.

Remember something like TBN 50 years ago? Yeh, me neither. We're over here chatting at each other, from all over the US, some dudes from Australia and New Zealand, Europe, etc, sharing info, sharing pix of how we live, helping each other out with projects and repairs. It's amazing, how cool is that!

I mean the list goes on forever how life is so much better today. People are too hung up on societal ills. Just do your own thing, be what you want others to be, set a good example for your family and those who surround you. And also remember that local elections have consequences.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

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

Mom and pop shops closed so the owners could have a day off, but the bars stayed open. Stores stayed open Friday nights until 9 so people could collect their pay (in cash in those days) and go shopping. It was pretty common to get paid on Friday and be broke by Monday. I guess that part hasn't changed...

Oregon has never been big on churchies; only about 1/3 of the population bothers. The blue laws were an East Coast thing. The biggest morality law I remember was having to have a liquor license to buy hard liquor.

 

[CADplans]

My brother had one of those, they were tiny. He was not. Don't know how he drove it.

I purchased a '74 Toyota Corolla,, new at a dealer.
When I went to purchase it, I told the salesman that I did not fit,, (I am 6'7" tall)

He said, "No PROBLEM!! There are seat rail extensions to move the seat back."

So, for a $20 option, my car fit me just fine!!
IIRC, the extensions moved the seat back about 4 inches,,

That was about half the leg room of the back seat, I did not care, I did not ride in the back,,,,,,,,,

 

[Molalla1]

Mom and pop shops closed so the owners could have a day off, but the bars stayed open. Stores stayed open Friday nights until 9 so people could collect their pay (in cash in those days) and go shopping. It was pretty common to get paid on Friday and be broke by Monday. I guess that part hasn't changed...

Oregon has never been big on churchies; only about 1/3 of the population bothers. The blue laws were an East Coast thing. The biggest morality law I remember was having to have a liquor license to buy hard liquor.

OLCC card . . . (until 26)

 

[Oaktree]

75 mph according to the ad. That would get run over like a bug on the interstate today.

Maybe, if you waited long enough. ISTR the 0:60 time on my brother's was measured in minutes.

Mom and pop shops closed so the owners could have a day off, but the bars stayed open. Stores stayed open Friday nights until 9 so people could collect their pay (in cash in those days) and go shopping. It was pretty common to get paid on Friday and be broke by Monday. I guess that part hasn't changed...

Oregon has never been big on churchies; only about 1/3 of the population bothers. The blue laws were an East Coast thing. The biggest morality law I remember was having to have a liquor license to buy hard liquor.

I remember stores staying open late one night, but for whatever reason around here it was Thursdays, but I think that's when people got paid.

Liquor laws are a whole topic into themselves, seemed every state had some oddball law regarding it, and not much consistency from one state to another.
Most of the so called blue laws had ceased being enforced by the late 50s/early 60s, at least where I grew up.

 

[JethroB]

My dad owned the drug store in our little town from 1950 to 1990 when he retired. My grandfather owned it before him. 9-7 on weekdays, 8-8 on Saturdays. Closed for lunch. NO Sundays ever. Saturday was the day people shopped or paid the charges they made during the week. Trusted farmers paid their tab in the Fall. He was the pharmacist so he pretty much had to always be there. He closed for Thanksgiving and Christmas and every other New Years to take inventory. We four kids grew up working there, worst punishment he could come up with. “Oh brier fox, please don’t throw me in that briar patch” always comes to mind.

 

[Molalla1]

Maybe, if you waited long enough. ISTR the 0:60 time on my brother's was measured in minutes.

I remember stores staying open late one night, but for whatever reason around here it was Thursdays, but I think that's when people got paid.

Liquor laws are a whole topic into themselves, seemed every state had some oddball law regarding it, and not much consistency from one state to another.
Most of the so called blue laws had ceased being enforced by the late 50s/early 60s, at least where I grew up.

Oaktree . . . it all emanated from the time when liquor was illegal.

 

[Jstpssng]

There are still towns in Maine which are dry on Sunday.

 

[JethroB]

There are still towns in Maine which are dry on Sunday.

Our little town was totally dry until about five years ago. Only one beer seller now, the other wannabe is too close to the church.