OT: To the Kids who Survived the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s

[Old No7]

A friend of my wife's from her work sent this via e-mail... I figured you'd all get a kick out of this one.

Enjoy!

Old No7

To the Kids who Survived the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, or 70's

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts, or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pickup on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, and real butter and drank Kool-Aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes. No video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms...

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives “for our own good”. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

(Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!?!?)

[rjohns94]

[Lastmohecken]

Yep, by the time I was six, I was driving my dad's tractor, feeding bucket calves, fixing fence, etc. I remember he was worried about me falling off of the tractor, so he actually put a seat belt on it, and made me wear it, for a little while. It was probably the only 8N Ford with a seatbelt in the state. I remember, there was one flaw in his thinking, I couldn't stop the tractor, without standing on the clutch, so I had to unbuckle the seatbelt, to stop the tractor. Of course I remember him telling me if I ever got in trouble, to just turn the key off.

I survived.

[Mike D.]

That's me, in Spades! I made it through all but the '30s. We still don't have streetlights in this old neighborhood, but we do have long unused streetcar tracks on some streets and avenues. Maybe just a little bit behind the times, I imagine.

[Gun Runner]

I made it thru the 40's and on. One house couple doors up had a small tree growing next to the neb's. fence We climbed the tree and tied a rope to the top so we could pull the top almost to the ground. Got my kid brother to climb the tree, then we pulled the tree back and let go. He went over the fence into the neb's. garden. This caused another time I had to stand up to eat supper. . My KID brother will be 65 in a couple months and still remembers us launching him over the fence.

Gun Runner

[GEOFF]

That is GREAT!

I grew up in 70's which is a bit later than some of you guys, but we had to think on our own. And you learned to be polite cuz you could still get beat up and the teachers and parents kinda let it happen.

Geoff

[homefront]

Describes my '60s upbringing to a "T".
Out the door on a Saturday morning in cut-offs and not much else. Made frog spears, went fishing, had "wars" with the other neighborhood kids, built forts, trapped muskrats, went sledding and "Snurfing" (snow boarding), played kickball, softball, street hocky, Pop Warner football, and endless days of frisbee throwing.

The first video game was "Pong" and we got bored with it pretty quick. Not as much fun as dirtbikes, duck hunting or... girls.

[Meeteetse]

Yup, made it through the 40's, 50's and beyond. We had imagination and we used it. We made up games; army, cowboys and indians. We had BB guns and bows and arrows and we shot at each other once in a while, it hurt sometimes, but we survived and learned not to do it again. We camped out in the yard with a blanket and a pillow under the stars and watched the shooting stars. We snuck around and tried cigarettes and ate too much candy. We collected pop bottles and turned them in for return fees (5 cents) and made more money than we knew what to do with. We learned to hunt and fish with parents and grandparents, something most kids today never experience.

We had prayer in school and the Pledge of Allegiance and we celebrated Christmas and Lincoln and Washington's birthdays and we took off our hats and placed them over our hearts when the National Anthem was played. Never saw a TV until I was nearly 14 (1958) and then it was as the neighbors house. Dad and I got the see the Gillette Friday Night Fights.

I guess we have all grown up clinging to our guns and our religion.

[piller]

I was born in 1965 and remember most of the good times mentioned above. Sadly, those days are gone and our world is worse off for it.

[Bogie35]

I was born in 1965 also.

We used to play "Manhunt". It's like hide-n-seek, except you have two teams. One is "it" and the other hides. When someone is caught, they are put on a "base" and can be freed by a team member. It was awesome!

The entire neighborhood was "in play". We hid in neighbors' yards, sheds, laundry rooms, trees, under their cars, in the beds of their trucks, etc. You name it!

Not one of us ever got arrested, fined, shot, or sued. Although one mom nearly had a heart attack when she opened her shed and a crazed kid came running out!

And remember when every backyard had a clothes line?

I can remember being in a hurry to call someone and trying to force the rotary dial on the phone to return faster!

Those were the days!

bogie

[Ysabel Kid]

Whenever my siblings and I get to swapping stories about growing up, when we are at family gatherings, my Mom usually starts asking "how come I never knew about that?". Well, probably because we wouldn't have been allowed to do it if she had!

[kimwcook]

Yep, sounds like someone was running around behind me writing that. But then again, some folk think I'm a bit strange.

[Boreman]

AMEN, Survived them all starting in the early 40's.I lived in a small town in southern Ohio. Only had 3 over head street lghts. One our favorite games was Kick the Can,only we played the game on bicycles at night. Put the can in the middle of the street under the street light at the corner of my Grandparents house and off we went.There were alot of nasty crash's under that light. We survived those and I can't even count the number of other crazy stunts we made it through and had a blast doing it. Sadly, those days are gone.................

[Gobblerforge]

Born in 60. So far, so good. I gotta tell ya Homefront,if it weren't for pong, I wouldn't have been so deadly when BlasterBall came out. Nobody touches the old guy. Old No.7, thanks.
Gobbler

[alnitak]

Yep...brings back memories. I was born in '54. Played outside all day long, rode my bike for miles to friends houses; sword fought with sticks, threw apples and crab apples at each other for war games (just one crab apple in the eye); tied rope to trees and jumped off buildings; went all day in the woods, drank from the stream; made our own skate boards and go carts -- no brakes either --- and went tearing down hills that looked like mountains back then; went to the movie theater all day for less than $0.50 -- snuck in the back door when I didn't have it; was gone from morning 'til dark with just a general "going out to play" ... as long as I was back home by the time the streetlights came on; went into the trash bins in back of the bakery and ate all the day-old cakes and doughnuts that were thrown out -- never got sick. Boy, those were the days!!

[Noah Zark]

Dunno how I made it to halfway to 108 . . .

Noah

[Bogie35]

Remember when looking up and seeing an airplane was a big deal?!

How about the old chain gangs that would repair potholes in the streets......with the old gentleman watching over them with a double barrel shotgun?

How about when sign posts were actually made out of wood?

Man, those were good times!

bogie

[Paladin]

And look what it did to me.

[JustaJeepGuy]

Not exactly on topic, but does anyone else remember when STOP signs were yellow and not red?

[Gun Runner]

Remember when traffic signals had a green flag for go and red for stop? Also when the turn signals on old trucks was an metal arm that was controled by a chain pull inside of the truck. Was born in 1940 and lived in San Francisco during the early 40's and remember the Black Outs during WW-2, and going down to meet the troop ships comming back in 1945 to pick up my uncle. I'am teaching my 8 year old grand-daughter and 5 year old grand-son a lot of neat things that my daughter and wife are about to have a fit over.

Gun Runner

[gamekeeper]

Born in 48 so I missed the WW2 black outs but I can remember every kid in the street wearing black Zorro capes made from the old black out curtains.

As we grew up Air Guns were a must for every boy and we all aspired to one day owning a real S/B "Cooey" 12 Gauge.

[DBW]

Born in '64 here. Survived rock fights, shooting at each other in the house with BB guns, falling out of tree forts, swimming after eating, driving the car my brother was given when he was 12 and I was 8, working on a dairy farm, wracking my balls on my bicycle too many times... etc.

Those were wonderful days. Then I grew up and found myself living in the United SOCIALIST States of America where government knows what is best and is willing to take care of all of us with only us giving up Liberty for the priviledge. And fun?... you can't have fun anymore. You might hurt yourself and taxpayer funded socialized medicine doesn't cover fun.

[KCSO]

One room school house with a water bucket and a dipper for 18 kids.
Outdoor facilities with genuine SEARS brand paper.
Saturday bath night and share the bath water.

[OJ]

I was born in 1926 and got my first rifle for my 6th birthday in 1932 - was allowed to hunt with only my dog's company the following year - we lived WAY out in the country -



Shot .22 shorts because they cost two bits (depression money) and long rifle ammo was four bits for a box of 50. Required head shots but that made me a better shooter.

[Borregos]

Survived it all despite being born in the 40's.
Had a great time growing up, we made our own amusement without all today's things available to kids.
Had no money but one thing we did have was a great respect for our parents and also the law.
I must say I was never bored as a kid