I miss this..

[Sigarms]

I am trying to instil this in my kids - respect and being helpful.

I have no doubt that every responsible parent tries to teach that to their children, no matter what year it is.

I also have no doubt that society wasn't always as "perfect" as those who would like to remember it to be at that time, as well as people in the 1970's making comments that the 1950's were much better lifestyle/morality wise.

(I'm 42)

I'm a couple years older than you, and honestly, to me, this century is better than the 1970's.

I learned the importance of saying yes sir/ma'am and thank you almost at birth.

Yesterday I had a co-worker call me sir. I told him I work for a living, and to never call me sir again. I also learned a long time ago working as a waiter, you NEVER call a woman "ma'am". The word "ma'am" denotes age. For myself, I always call a woman "Miss", unless she tells me otherwise.

I would like to think that responsible parents teach their children to say "thank you" no matter what year it is.

We would camp out and play army in the woods and shoot our 22's and daisy BB guns at tin cans(And never at each other 'cause our daddy's would tan our hides!)

That is where we differ growing. Had many a BB gun battles growing up. I would however get my a** kicked in if I shot an animal and didn't plan to eat it.

Connecting a hockey card to your front forks of your bicycle to get that motor sound - the spokes made it click as the wheel turned.

Connecting that card with a clothes hanger pin. Forgot all about that, thanks

I"m 63 and I think I remember a Pepsi being 5 or 6 cents

For myself, gas was .56 a gallon

Yes, there were some hard/sad times and it wasn't always a rose garden, but it was a simple,safe and pure life that most people of this day and age will never know... Cherish the memories, cherish the memories.

You're right, it always wasn't a rose garden, and for some reason, people seem to forget the bad with the good.

For myself, Billy Joel put it best when he wrote "Cause the good ole days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems"

 

[Duffster]

We still have a tradition somewhat like that. We break in to the newlyweds houses and take the labels off all the can goods, put corn flakes in the beds, etc. My BIL came up to me at his reception and told me not to bother trying because I would never get in the house. I said want to bet, leave a C note on the kitchen table.

That was fun spending that $100. :laughing:

 

[kidr]

Yeah , I can remember when women wore clothes. Wow was that a turn on.

 

[sweettractors]

I remember in the later sixties a group of several 100 Hippies came thru our area and a local farmer gave them permission to camp on his farm for a few days. Cars were lined up for miles, just to get a glimpse of what these people looked like. We had seen them on TV and that was the extent of our exposure. In the seventies, they started moving into our county and by now have assimilated into our way of life as teachers, lawyers,farmers and merchants. Ken sweet

 

[LostInTheWoods]

I remember sleeping with the windows open and the doors unlocked. 1 policeman in our town of 2500 and he went off duty around nightfall. The frosty root beer from the A & W. Me and my cousins seining farm ponds with 100 ft seines. Strip(white) bass fishing at night on Dale Hollow and Cumberland Lake. Drive 100 miles to surprise family newlyweds on the first night of their honeymoon with rocks on the roof, banging on buckets, blowing whistles, dragging the young man out and dunking him in the spring or creek. Ken Sweet

Ken,

I grew up a couple of counties East of where you're at. I can remember driving to town with the folks and leaving the house wide open the whole time. And when you got to town, there was no reason to bother locking the car doors. Plenty of people just left their keys in the ignition.

You also had 20 mothers in your neighborhood, not just the one at home. They all treated you like one of their own (and disciplined you the same way). If you happened to be at one of their houses at lunch or dinner, you just stayed and ate, and the same applied if they were at your house.

Now a'days, you often don't even know who half your neighbors are. And you have to think long and hard about who you can let your kids hang around and wonder about any times you plan on leaving them with someone else.

As I was going through late middle school and high school is when things started to change...break-ins, stolen cars, drug crimes, child molesters became almost common news.

 

[sweettractors]

Ken,

I grew up a couple of counties East of where you're at. I can remember driving to town with the folks and leaving the house wide open the whole time. And when you got to town, there was no reason to bother locking the car doors. Plenty of people just left their keys in the ignition.

You also had 20 mothers in your neighborhood, not just the one at home. They all treated you like one of their own (and disciplined you the same way). If you happened to be at one of their houses at lunch or dinner, you just stayed and ate, and the same applied if they were at your house.

Now a'days, you often don't even know who half your neighbors are. And you have to think long and hard about who you can let your kids hang around and wonder about any times you plan on leaving them with someone else.

As I was going through late middle school and high school is when things started to change...break-ins, stolen cars, drug crimes, child molesters became almost common news.

Same here. A big Saturday night was parking on main street of the county seat and watch the traffic go by. Before the Interstate system was built, we were on the main passage way from Louisville to Nashville. The Greyhound busstop was at the Rexall drugstore, so we got to see who was going out and coming into town. Mr Jefferson nailed it right on the head over 200 years ago. Ken Sweet

 

[77transam]

Thanks guys for all the posts! Some of you said that alot of the past wasn't as rosy as people like to think, but in my case I beg to differ.(Least where I was raised)

Now I know that some people may think "hitting" a child is wrong and in the strictest sense of the phrase I would agree, but let me clarify something in that respect; my father and mother(or anyone else)never "hit" me w/an open or closed hand/fist. Punishment was always delivered w/a belt or hickory switch across the "gluttious maxximous" and never anywhere else.

Like I said in my post, punishment was delivered w/a firm yet controlled hand. And I don't have anything but LOVE for all my family and relatives. I don't wake up shaking from nightmares about some whipping I got 'cause I threw a rock through the window of a car in the church parking lot when I was 5. The difference for me is the punishment was always delivered for a REASON, and the reason was explained verbally. I can remember most every whipping I got and WHY I got it and I also remember NEVER doing it again as a result.

Now I'm not tryin' to open a can o' worms here about how anyone should or shouldn't raise young'uns nor am I advocating beating a child, I'm just relating my personal experience and how it shaped my childhood.

Having said this I'll relate a little episode I witnessed in a Wal-mart just a couple of weeks ago...
A woman was in the checkout line when her young boy (I'm guessin' he was around 5 or 6) started pestering her for a candy bar...
The young mother said no several times until finally the child began to literally SCREAM at her at the top of his lungs(!) Then the little bugger started trying to hit her(!) The poor woman tried to calm him down by trying to hold his arms to no avail at which point the boy began to SPIT at her!!! The young woman finally gave in to the "fit" and bought the boy the candy bar at which point he abruptly ended his tantrum.:confused2:

Now I don't know 'bout any of you guys, but when I was a kid if I tried to pull a stunt like that, my mom would have made sure it was the last time.
People can say what they want about "Time-outs" and "negotiating" w/kids to get the behavior you want from them, but just a look from my parents was usually enough to curb any "rebellious" attitude in a public place. And I'd bet my bottom dollar that the only lesson that little boy learned that day was: "If I scream and hit and spit enough, I'll get what I want!"

To each his own...

 

[Sigarms]

A woman was in the checkout line when her young boy (I'm guessin' he was around 5 or 6) started pestering her for a candy bar...
The young mother said no several times until finally the child began to literally SCREAM at her at the top of his lungs(!) Then the little bugger started trying to hit her(!) The poor woman tried to calm him down by trying to hold his arms to no avail at which point the boy began to SPIT at her!!! The young woman finally gave in to the "fit" and bought the boy the candy bar at which point he abruptly ended his tantrum.:confused2:

People can say what they want about "Time-outs" and "negotiating" w/kids to get the behavior you want from them, but just a look from my parents was usually enough to curb any "rebellious" attitude in a public place. And I'd bet my bottom dollar that the only lesson that little boy learned that day was: "If I scream and hit and spit enough, I'll get what I want!"

My father had two sayings when I was going to be "punished".

"You can stand there like a man and take it, or you can run around like a chicken with your head cut off, but either way, you're going to get it"

"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of this world"

Yes, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Standing rule with my parents was than ANY adult could punish me if I got too far out of hand, and I knew it. I never considered myself abused by any means, and I only remember a couple of times where I was physically punished (and knowing what I did, I can honestly say they could of been worse, but were not, because I deserved what I got).

Out with the shotgun with my father and uncle for one of the first times as a child, and I made a big boo boo in gun handling. I'll never forget that kick in the butt from my uncle. When I went crying to my father, he told me I was lucky because he would of kicked me harder if he was closer.

Yes, I love my family dearly (he still drives over 500 miles to visit me frequently), and I NEVER forgot about what they (dad and uncle) instructed me about with firearms.

Couple months ago went to a wedding. During the wedding service, a couple had an infant with them crying at the top of his/her lungs. For myself, the proper thing to do would to have one parent leave the service with the infant because the crying was beyond distracting. The parents and baby stayed at the service the entire time. Go figure.

Some of you said that alot of the past wasn't as rosy as people like to think, but in my case I beg to differ.(Least where I was raised)

I'd like to think that the present is what you make of it.

Each generation always seems to have something to say about the past and future generations

 

[clemsonfor]

Ah the days with out airconditioning on the farm. Sounds so great here in SC. Seems though that you never noticed it though back when u were younger. Of course im only 28 so we had window air in my house but summers at the grandparents farm did not, windows and doors open. Went to my cousins down the road who did not have it either, they just had fans and windows. Matter of fact they did not have AC till my aunt built her new house in 1996.

I would play real Nintendo for a day or two at the time when we got a new game, but i did ride my bike several miles to play with friends and would stay out all day before coming inside. I would roam outside even in my small yard or at the granparents farm would roam the fields and edges of the woods.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

I would play real Nintendo for a day or two at the time when we got a new game.

For us, it was the Atari 2600 for years, then Nintendo. (grew up in the 80's). We did plenty of the riding bikes, playing sports, and building forts in the woods, too. But I can remember playing a new game on Atari for days on end...