This may surprise some of you youngsters, but it is quite factual.



Stay with this -- the answer is at the end.

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events.

The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general..



The Grandfather replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:
' television
' penicillin
' polio shots
' frozen foods
' Xerox
' contact lenses
' Frisbees and
' the pill

There were no:
' credit cards
' laser beams or
' ball-point pens

Man had not invented :
' pantyhose
' air conditioners
' dishwashers
' clothes dryers
' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and ' space travel was only in Flash Gordon books.



· Your Grandmother and I got married first,... and then lived together..
· Every family had a father and a mother.
· Until I was 25, I called every woman older than me, "mam".
· And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."

· We were before gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
· Our lives were governed by the Bible, good judgment, and common sense.

· We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.
· Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.
· We thought fast food was eating half a biscuit while running to catch the school bus.

· Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
· Draft dodgers were those who closed front doors as the evening breeze started.
· Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.


· We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

· We listened to Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios.
· And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.

· If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk the term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.



· Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

· We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
· Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.

· And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.



· You could buy a new Ford Coupe for $600, ... but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day:
' "grass" was mowed,
' "coke" was a cold drink,
' "pot" was something your mother cooked in and
' "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.



' "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,
' "chip" meant a piece of wood,
' "hardware" was found in a hardware store and
' "software" wasn't even a word.

And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap or from the archives.
How old do you think I am?

Are you ready ?

This man would be only 70 years old today.

Thank you!

Party lines were on the telephone

draft beers were a dime

cigarette machines

telephone booths

Everyone was patriotic

Programs like the lone ranger, the shadow, and Amos and Andy.

The Polo Grounds

Ebbetts Field

Manners; ladies first, thank you

Ladies wore gloves and head covering to church.

Men did not wear baseball hats in restaurants, nor jeans to church

A lucky strike was a cigarette

Rubbering was listening in on a phone party line

the Stroll was a dance

Snow was the first TV pictures and they were in black and white

There were dorm hours for dating in college

There were separate dorms for men from the women

Panty Raids

Streaking was running down the street naked

Belling was to celebrate a new marriage

Tipping over outhouses

Chain gangs

Peppermint twist was a dance, not ice cream

Families owned one car. The father worked and the mother stayed at home and raised the children

Men did not wear wedding rings until WWII

Men did not wear earrings, necklaces, or pony tails.

The Interstates did not exist until the 60's

No motels, when you travelled you stayed in "tourist Homes"

I'm thinking this article was written a few years back.

I'm over 70 and I remember any number of things on the list - penicillin, McDonalds, frozen foods,- to name a few.

Irregardless of when it was written - it is still an interesting read.

penicillin was invented in 1928 although not widely available till 1940

Air conditioning 1902 although not much in use till much later

by the time these things were in use yes your man need only be 70

when we think about how much things have changed, my grandma is 91 where she lived horses were still widely in use when she was a girl , nearly everything came to them by steamer and yes penicillin was invented in the year of her birth but not widely available for several more years.

and she still calls the TV the Boob tube , even though she does watch it quite a bit now.

olives and oranges were a special treat at Christmas.

I don't know about 70 year old, maybe more toward 90. But still a great thread about great people in a great time of our Nation. I know I wish I would have been born a lot sooner. My Mama was raised in coal mining camps and when she got an Orange and mixed nuts in her stocking, it was a great Christmas. One year she got that and a quarter she used to go to the "picture show" in Harlan. It covered the bus fair to and fro, matinee and popcorn, she was tickled to death. How precious is that!

I recall my grandpa, who was born in 1900, telling about him buying his 40 acre farm with a four bedroom house, barn and horses for $500. I recall that house and farm. The water came from a pump outside the kitchen door and the restroom was the privy down by the chicken house. I remember it was a big deal when they got indoor plumbing and a bathroom was created in a small downstairs bedroom. It was also a big deal when the house got wired for electricity. I still remember the kerosene lamps scattered about the house.

I can remember my grandmother using a wood stove to cook with, I was very young tho.

My grandpa always talked about those things and also when liquor could be sold by the drink, was told by grandma the next day after that was implemented wasn’t a good day for working, and a neighbor used to shell corn and thrash oats with a steam engine.

My grandparents used to own a small restaurant, until grandpa got drafted in 1918.
That ended the business and Grandma went to what was called a "normal school"
back then so she could become a teacher in a rural one room school house.
She bought a rocking chair (which I have) with her very first paycheck which was $18 per week.
Grandpa got back from the war in 1919 and went to work as a carpenter building bridges for
the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Grandma had a kitchen stove she was very proud of
as it was a combination wood and gas. Monarch I believe was the name brand.
Them folks were hard as iron.
Zim

My Dad's dad was born in in Norway in 1873 and came here when he was 7. Yes a lot of that is nice nostalgia to review but we also have to remember that many men mostly rarely made it to retirement age or died shortly after and many were very physically challenged due to the hard labor tasks, and many lost limbs in farm, mining and logging accidents and many women died during or shortly after giving birth and many children died of diseases while they are young. So in many ways it is much more enjoyable to read those words than to have had to live 50-60 years in those times.

Bryce

As a teenager I worked summers on dairy farms for $ 35 a month and room and board.

Life expectancy today and yesterday
1900 - 46 for males and 48 for females
1950 - 66 for males and 71 for females
2019 - 76 for males and 81 for females

Yesterday, my uncle's were telling us adoption through family or friends was done through a handshake.
Took 4 days to travel Route 66 from California to NM.
Horse and carriage traveling was still common as very few owned a car.
If women wanted education they went to their own boarding school.

That's depressing, I only have about a year and a half left.

Lived with my grand-dad was born 1896. The stories of the first radio, tv or car to be in town was something. His uncle who I can barely remember and people say isn't gone as long as I'm around had the first outboard boat motor people ever saw. He said half the town went to the river to see him give it a go.

WW1 vet. Wish I would've seen to it I have his uniform which I remember hanging from the rafters of his woodworking shop. I don't know where it's at now.

Grandpa has a lot of rings.....

My youngest daughter once asked me on a very hot summer day, "Dad, what kind of air conditioner did you guys have when you were a kid?"

I tell her, "We didn't have air conditioners back then. I don't even think they were available to the average household."

She asked, "So, how did you keep cool on a really hot day?"

"We used fans and often slept in the basement on the floor cause it was much cooler down there. Grandpa did make an air conditioner, though. Back then, a lot of refrigerators weren't electric and there was this flat bed truck that came around selling blocks of ice for these non-electric refrigerators. Grandpa would buy a block of ice, set it in a pan, put a fan behind it and blow air over the top to make the room cooler."

She laughed. "No, really what did you do? You must have had window air conditioners, didn't you?"

It was hard for her to imagine anyone ever had to live without air conditioning because she'd never seen life without it.

Dad told about going out to the pasture in the 30 s barefoot to get the cows in for milking he said second nature to take ya big toe and flip the green cow pie to dry the other side. once dried they hauled them home in a pile to be burned for heat through the winter..

I’m right behind you Jim. It could be worse. If this was the year 1900, we would have died 25 years ago.