To those of us born 1925-1965

[Jack B]

The best years to be born in the history of Earth & we got to experience it all.  Thank God for all the times, the adventures, wars won, technology developed.  Generations after future generations will never experience what we did.  What a generation we turned out to be.
  Interesting: born 1925-1965

NO MATTER WHAT OUR KIDS AND THE NEW GENERATION THINK ABOUT U S
WE ARE AWESOME !!!
Our Lives are LIVING PROOF !!!   

To Those of Us Born
1925 - 1965:     
~~~~~~   
TO ALL THE
KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE   
1930’s, 40’s, 50’s and60’s !!   
 
First, we survived being born to mothers who may have 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, locks on doors or cabinets,   
And, when we rode our bikes,   
We had baseball caps,   
Not helmets, on our heads. 

We had to go to school, no matter what the weather.   
 
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.. 
   
Riding in the back of a pick- up truck 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, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And we weren't overweight. 
WHY?     
Because we were always outside playing...that's why! 
   
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 OKAY. 
   
We would spend hours building   
Our go-carts out of scraps and
then ride them down the hill,

Only to find out that we forgot about brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned  To Solve the problem. 
   
We did not
Have Play Stations, Nintendo   
and X-boxes. There were   
No video games,
No 150 channels on cable,   
No video movies
Or DVDs,   
No surround-sound or CDs,     
No cell phones,   
No personal computers,   
No Internet and
No chat rooms.   
   
WE HAD FRIENDS   
And we went
Outside and found them!   
 
We fell out of
trees, got cut,   
Broke bones and
Lost teeth,   
And there were
No lawsuits   
From those accidents.
 
      We would get
Spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand,
And no one would call child services to report abuse. 
   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, 
22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses,
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 60 to 85 years 
Have seen 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 those born   
Between 1925-1965, 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

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

[Hooter]

"Ain't" it the truth! When you got in a fight, it was done when it was done. Mommy didn't call the law.

[9Ball]

Love this...it was my young life to a “T”.

Kinda glad I won’t be around to see what this generation does to kill our country, our traditions, and our history.

[Rams]

Some of you had street lights?

My closest neighbor was a half mile away and there were no kids at that home.   Rode my horse three miles to visit with my best friend until I was old enough to drive.    My girlfriend then was about fifteen miles away so my horse wasn't a good option though I did "visit" on a few occasions it was always under the watchful eyes of her parents during overnight stays.    Her dad kept a loaded shotgun handy.  He cleaned and showed it to me every visit.      

Rams

[hubcapsc]

WE ARE AWESOME !!!

 
   
They took aspirin

Heck, I took aspirin (maybe that's why I am like I am)...
   
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles

I got into them and they had to make me throw up, I think it was just flintstones vitamins though...

And, when we rode our bikes,   
We had baseball caps,   
Not helmets, on our heads. 

I had scabs on my head sometimes...

We had to go to school, no matter what the weather.

I could walk to all three of my small public schools... they used city buses when I was in
elementary school, I rode that some since I wasn't allowed to cross 291 by myself most of that time.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.     

Especially if Sean Day and Lance Hendrix and our three 100cc motorcycles were back there with us.


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

Benji Robinson would put backwash on purpose in his while we were looking at him, I think you would have
died if you drank that.

We fell out of  trees

We made tree houses in trees filled with thick poison ivy vines, and picked
muscadines out of trees that had yellow jacket nests in the roots.
 
We would get Spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand,
And no one would call child services to report abuse.

My father wouldn't spank me hard enough for it to hurt, so he gave up on that. They really
smacked them around next door, though... you could hear it at my house...

We ate worms,

Bleghhh... Sean Day dissected dead rats we found down in the woods, though...

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

Meh...



-Mike

[old2soon]

    Pick up baseball game in the summer with friends scattered over a 4 block area. Had enough bodies that someone stead of playin ball had to be the umpire. NO ONE wanted to be the umpire. My friend Bill's house had an apple tree in the back yard that was worn smooth on the outside from all of us climbing it and-YES-fallin outa the cursed thing.  Tree houses were rebuilt several times during the summer and Most Important-No girls Allowed! Every time I shower I am reminded of my childhood by the amount of childhood scars I have accumulated. For awhile there we were drinking raw milk from a local farmer. We skated on the ice of Round Lake Il. and it's channels. Far as I know when I was a kid no one went thru the ice and drowned. Had to dust the stairs do dishes and help Mom with the laundry. As we-Ross and I-got older-prior to being a teenager-we helped prepare the meals. This post Has brought back some fond memories of growin up that Sadly some of todays young uns will Never Know! Ever play Cowboys and Indians?  Ever play War?  RIDE SAFE.

[Bigwolf]

Probably preaching to the choir here but making and repairing my own toys is a large part of what made me the gear head I am today.  It also gave me the ability to make or repair furniture, plumbing, etc.  Then came “Sputnik” and suddenly a whole new area of interest and adventure opened up.

Good post!

[Jess from VA]

One of my earliest life recollections is riding in the backseat of our first new car, a '59 Ford, with no seat belts (or kiddie seats) with my younger brother and sister, from Indiana to WVa in cold Thanksgiving weather, with the windows up, and mom and dad chain smoking unfiltered Pall Malls in the front seat.  At grandma's house, grandad chain smoked stinky Marsh Wheeling cigars.  

If I wasn't breathing tobacco smoke, I would have thought I'd been kidnapped by strangers.

Who remembers skinning their knee and being told to rub some dirt in it?  It actually did slow down the bleeding.

I remember wearing no shoes at all during entire summers between elementary school.  Our feet toughened up and we ran in the woods, and on gravel, glass and rusty nails with no adverse effect.  We were called wild Indians, and proud of it.

We wore old threadbare, stretched out hand me down clothes and no one was disadvantaged.

After being taken to see the amazing Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, I was found laying on the floor beneath the basement clothesline which I had tried to tight rope walk.  It was fortunate that I landed on my head on the concrete floor, otherwise I might have been hurt.

My little brother fell down those same basement stairs and broke his leg.  He learned to walk with the assistance of the cast.

I got spanked with the hand most of the time, but when I was extra bad, mom used her penny loafer with enthusiasm.  Don't tell me there was no deterrent effect, that's bullsh!t.  

[Jack B]

Probably preaching to the choir here but making and repairing my own toys is a large part of what made me the gear head I am today.  It also gave me the ability to make or repair furniture, plumbing, etc.  Then came “Sputnik” and suddenly a whole new area of interest and adventure opened up.

Good post!

Hey Buddy
Back in about 1962 a chunk of sputnik landed on the Main Street of Manitowoc in my hometown in front of our museum and on the street they have a brass marker where was it found and a replica of it in the museum. 
If I remember right they sent the Sputnik piece back to Russia.

[9Ball]

I remember seeing the Sputnik plaque in Man-eh-twoc.

I also remember the warm welcome to WI from you and your advice when I took the job at Kewaunee.  Unfortunately, they shut down one of the best power plants in the country and put a lot of top notch professionals out of a job.

[RP#62]

We used to play smear the queer.  Probably not in vogue now.

-RP

[Hooter]

Jess: being told to rub some dirt on it was every day. The other from my mother was: that's a long way from your heart, get back outside!

We had a few street lights and we to were told to not come home until they came on as well. We could hear my mother whistle for blocks, come home. Got my ass whipped with the belt, bare hand and whatever was available. I learned to like the taste of Ivory soap.


My brother and I would get in a fight. My mother would throw us out of the house and say: I don't want to see you two until your both bloody. She got calls from the neighbors telling her we were fighting. Yup, I just threw them out of the house. What OP posted, most of us did!

I was a jock in school. If you lost, you didn't get a trophy! You learned to suck the loss up and get better. Your grades had to be C or above to play ball. If not you were ineligible and sat the game out. Coach would chew your ass if you screwed up. Practices were tough but you practiced like you wanted to play.  Most of us liked school. That's where our friends were.

Played outside after dark, smoked grape vines, knocked on Windows, cooned watermelons, I grew up poor, worked my way through school, wanted money..worked to get it, wasn't handed out just because, my folks didn't have it anyway.. Most kids did! Climbed trees and had a jack knife. Hunted to eat! Had my shotgun in the trunk of my car at high school so I could hunt after school or, skip school to go. Opened doors for people and knew what "thank you" meant! Treasured what I worked for! Treated people with respect.

[0leman]

Grew up in town sort of, lots were 10  acres in size, nearest street light was 3 blocks away.  We raised a calf every year along with pigs and a few rabbits.   Had to take care of the critters no matter what the weather was.   Our road to our home was gravel, learned to ride a bicycle on the gravel, lots of crashes and some blood loss.  Never stopped me.  Nearest tree to climb was over a half mile away, climbed up high (now have problems with heights) in the branches.  Got in trouble a lot as a kid, got whipped more than once.   took a number of them before I quit getting in trouble.

Competed in high school athletics (swimming). Lost a lot the first two years, learned how to win by losing.  Got scholarship for college for my troubles.

Did a lot of the items on the first list, not sure how we survived.   

[Wizzard]

I experienced all of that and more. Even hot kicked out of school for 3 days and I deserved it. Changed my life.
Grew up on a rural farm in Iowa with no TV. We made our own fun in between hard work. Very hard work.
Would not change a thing. It has made me what I am.

[Skinhead]

We used to play smear the queer.  Probably not in vogue now.

-RP

I remember that.

[Wizzard]

We used to play smear the queer.  Probably not in vogue now.

-RP

I remember that.

Yep played that many times. No one thought anything of it. 

[The emperor has no clothes]

We used to play smear the queer.  Probably not in vogue now.

-RP

probably not   

[Rams]

One of my jobs (during the summer) was to drive our cattle out onto the winter wheat and let them graze there.  There was no fence so I was to be on my horse to keep them away from the highway.   I vividly remember how this event took place. 

 My favorite television show was on and the cattle were on the winter wheat.    Being the smart young man that I thought I was, I decided I could still watch Star Trek and monitor the cattle if, I turned the tv up loud and opened the window.    I could watch my favorite show through that window and monitor those silly calves at the same time.

It was a very good installment of Star Trek that particular day.  I was totally engrossed in the show.   Surely those silly yearlings would stay out on the wheat. 

One thing I failed to remember was that my dad was damn good with a bull whip.   He could snap a fly off of a horse's ass and never touch the animal.     I was so engrossed in the tv show, I never heard my dad drive up.  Well guess what, the first thing I heard was the snap off that whip on my butt.   Felt the pain of it and immediately realized I had screwed up.  The cattle were out on the highway.   Cars were  avoiding them.    With the horse's reins in my hand, the horse couldn't keep as I raced toward the cattle with my dad right behind me cracking that whip.     

Some lessons are well earned, that was one I have never forgotten.   Oh yeah, there wasn't a mark on my ass but, the point was made. 

[Bigwolf]

Probably preaching to the choir here but making and repairing my own toys is a large part of what made me the gear head I am today.  It also gave me the ability to make or repair furniture, plumbing, etc.  Then came “Sputnik” and suddenly a whole new area of interest and adventure opened up.

Good post!

Hey Buddy
Back in about 1962 a chunk of sputnik landed on the Main Street of Manitowoc in my hometown in front of our museum and on the street they have a brass marker where was it found and a replica of it in the museum. 
If I remember right they sent the Sputnik piece back to Russia.

Remember, after Sputnik, all the hype and push to get into rocketry and get into space ahead of the Russians?
There was a boy from down the road a ways that got really interested and started building rockets.  He was about 5 years older than me but when he went to fire a rocket, I was all eyes and ears.  I remember him test firing a rocket with a new solid fuel blend he had put together.  That chunk of pipe was a bit over 2 feet long with nose cone and fins.  About 7 of us hunkered down behind some big cast iron pipe when he punched the button for the igniter, but of course we all had to get our heads up enough to see what was happening.  It seems that “new” fuel was a bit faster burning than it should have been.  We didn’t see the rocket leave, just heard a big bang and there was a puff of smoke.  Two weeks later we discovered that rocket stuck deep in the side of a tree across the creek from the launch site........just about head height.  Made me kinda thankful that it did not come our way when it left the launch pad.  I skipped his launches after that.

[da prez]

  Been there did most(?). Cops in our town would call our parents. They did not bother to chase us.
 If you got caught mis-behaving , a neighbor would whip our ass. Bullies eventully got payback. There were all kinds of dirty tricks to attack them with. We got our ass whipped as needed. Pappy would say "lie all you want, just do not let me catch you lying". He did, we got. The offspring today are mostly  . We all grew older , but some of us have yet to grow up.

                     I  LIKE  IT.

                                                da prez

[The emperor has no clothes]

I skipped his launches after that.

[cookiedough]

oh well, not born in the greatest era missed it by 5 years, but we did a lot of what was said even in the 70's:

Ride in back bed of trucks going down the hwy. even our little league coach had a small chevy LUV truck and got near whole team in that bed some 30 miles away on hwy. to play another team.  He told us to duck low if see a cop.  

little leage we had tryouts but everyone played making about 4 teams to compete with each other during the summer.  The best of the best was on the ALL STAR team playing other teams from other small towns nearby.  Nowadays lucky to get 9 players for one team during summer league.

yah, we did have though Atari 2600 in mid to late 70s though spent way, way too many hours playing those games becoming a pro at most of them, something the generation born in the 60s missed out on.

yep,  did get into fights even with my best friend after playing him in tennis he threw his racket at me hitting me thus jumping over the net beating him to a pulp, he lived to see another day, although my dad got a call from his dad and my dad stood up for me for he deserved it telling him to control his sons temper since he started it while I finished it.  

Although I never ate a worm,  I paid my uncle born in the 50's a whole 25 cents to eat a nightcrawler since we had one left after fishing the local river.  never thought he would do it, but a quarter is a quarter I guess???  

did get my mouth washed out with a bar of soap after my grandma visited and she heard me say the F word as a kid.  Never swore in front of her again, once was enough.  

almost forgot about the Kook-Aid we use to drink down daily making a new batch every few days.  I think we lived off of that growing up and have not had kool-aid since the 80s. 

Simpler times for sure,  nowadays my kids as well as most kids under age 25 or so never leave their rooms and either play video games or use their cell phones way, way too much.  I swear 99% of that generation if you took their cell phones and video games away from them,  they would literally die and am serious on that.  

[Bighead]

We used to play smear the queer.  Probably not in vogue now.

-RP

probably not   

It might but it would have a whole other meaning now



Did all the things in the OP. But we had no street lights and I got my first gun at 7 and still have it

[Robert]

In addition to all of the above

We had greasers and preps

NY in Christmas lit up and chestnuts at most of the street vendors

Merry Christmas was ok to say and even caroling was ok and welcomed

No zombies or Kardashians on tv and even ads were less in your face

TV had real cartoons like Road Runner

Red Skeleton saying God Bless and Goodnight was OK

It was ok to ride your bicycle miles from home and have an adventure.

It was ok to shoot and talk about guns.

Our government and most in it had some moral codes.

You actually looked up to most in government and respected them.

Police were looked up to.

Regular skills were taught and used everyday like sawing, building, home repair, plumbing.

It was ok to build a tree house and cut lawns.

Bob Hope, Bing Crosby comedy and fun.

30k was a really high salary and homes at 25k were pretty expensive.

[old2soon]

In addition to all of the above

We had greasers and preps

NY in Christmas lit up and chestnuts at most of the street vendors

Merry Christmas was ok to say and even caroling was ok and welcomed

No zombies or Kardashians on tv and even ads were less in your face

TV had real cartoons like Road Runner

Red Skeleton saying God Bless and Goodnight was OK

It was ok to ride your bicycle miles from home and have an adventure.

It was ok to shoot and talk about guns.

Our government and most in it had some moral codes.

You actually looked up to most in government and respected them.

Police were looked up to.

Regular skills were taught and used everyday like sawing, building, home repair, plumbing.

It was ok to build a tree house and cut lawns.

Bob Hope, Bing Crosby comedy and fun.

30k was a really high salary and homes at 25k were pretty expensive.

            Gas at two bits a gallon and they pumped it and cleaned the windshield.   Grocery store would put your purchases in the trunk or back seat.  On a car trip Dad said shut up and you SHUT UP.  da prez-Ross my Brother-mentioned a neighbor whipping yer ass if ya needed it. What he fergitted wuz-when Mom and Dad found out you had Another ass whippin comin.  We were Expected to be polite-Yes Mam Yes Sir No Mam No Sir.  While Mom and Dad did Not go with us Dad dropped us off at Church most Sundays weather permitting.  We had chores year round at our house-grass cutting lawn rakin snow shovelin window washin repainting-constantly rebuilding-gravel-our driveway.  Dad taught Ross and I a Lot of needed skills we found out as we grew older we needed in Military and Adult life. Found out I like working with my hands-Thanks DAD!  Tween Mom and Dad they turned out some Honest and Productive People. Thanks MOM and DAD.  RIDE SAFE.

[RDAbull]

I never run with scissors anymore.


Oh those last three words were SO unnecessary.

[Ramie]

Ran around town playing war with toy guns and sticks and no one ever called the cops. 

Spent summers on  the farm cutting, raking and bailing hay, putting up silage, picking rocks out of the fields (Child Labor and no one reported it). 

Summer pee wee league,  Parents never came to games because the were working or taking care of other kids.

Girls wore skirts to school except on Fridays, even if it was -40.

Got sent to detention a few times because my hair touched my ears.

Remember Sunday nights laying on the floor watching Red Skelton or Jackie Gleason and listening to my father laugh until he cried and no one on TV was swearing or making sexual jokes..

Getting hand me downs as presents on Christmas from my brothers or sisters and loving what I got.

Roast beef and mashed potato's almost every night for supper.

Home baked bread and treats on weekends.

The milk man walking in our back door even when no one was home and putting our milk in the fridge.

So many things almost impossible to believe the world has changed so much.

 

[John Schmidt]

Yes, things were different in the 40's & 50's. The hardships of WWII are still embedded in my mind, hoping we never have to go back to those times. I also wonder how our younger generation today would fare under similar circumstances.

[RP#62]

A guy I used to work with grew up in rural Virginia.  He told me when he was in highschool, they only had one bus driver and if she was sick they'd ask one of the seniors to drive.  On one such day during deer season, the senior driver brought his deer rifle on the bus and stopped and shot a deer from the open door and then picked it up on the way home.

-RP

[cookiedough]

A guy I used to work with grew up in rural Virginia.  He told me when he was in highschool, they only had one bus driver and if she was sick they'd ask one of the seniors to drive.  On one such day during deer season, the senior driver brought his deer rifle on the bus and stopped and shot a deer from the open door and then picked it up on the way home.

-RP

should have gutted it and threw it in the bus with the kids, but then probably kids would be late for school. 

am sure some of you walked over 1 mile to school as well since some probably never even had a bicycle to ride to school.  Sort of ticks me off when my kids friends came over a few times recently and they ONLY live 2 big blocks away like 1/3rd of a mile or so is all.  They expect me to drive them back home even when I say what is wrong with your 2 legs you can walk that far can't you?  Yah, it is winter, but roads were clear and not below 15 degrees out, bundle up and walk home!   Not like it was raining or much below freezing or snowing out.   I can see if close to 1 mile away, but anything less than 1/2 a mile a high schooler should be able to walk that far, right?????????????  Kids are fricking lazy nowadays NONE would survive in the 1970's and prior years.  I did not even have a car to drive in high school as some richer kids did in the 80s, but nowadays most kids think it is their right in high school to get a car paid for by mommy and daddy....

[flsix]

RP, the layers would have a field day with that one today. Guaranteed national news coverage.

[Firefighter]

I live in the past, remember the days and wish I could go back ( except when its time to go to the dentist). Played kick the can, army, frisbee, tennis, all in the street. Built forts, caught tadpoles, collected frogs, spent nights in the woods, ate carrots out of the fields, box kites flew all night in July, banana seats, took lunch to school, save red ants in the rain executed bombing missions on ants the next day, learned the hard way not to lie or disrespect. Learned at early age how to use a lawn mower, shovel, wrenches, hammers, clean fish, spread dirt, paint the house, deliver newspapers, and eat what was placed in front of me. Those were the days my friends!

[shortleg]

   I remember moving out of Navy Temp housing in VA and moving
into a new house in MD.
   The area was a new housing area and in fact the only phones were on the
telephone poles.
   The only way you got a phone in your home was if you were a doctor
or a wife of service man over seas.
    Well after moving in my Dad was sent to Korea in 1950.
 Mom said government took your Dad  and gave me this damn phone.
     Only good thing during those years was getting calls from him at all hours of the day.
  Neither he or Mom ever knew what day or time it was where the other one was.

[Jess from VA]

I live in the past, remember the days and wish I could go back (except when its time to go to the dentist)

Heck Texas, in my youth my teeth were pretty good, and the work done pretty easy (and was unconscious for the wisdoms).  Half a century later, all the lifetime root canals and caps and big work is failing (despite my best efforts; and yeah I was always told it wouldn't last forever), and my dentist wants to redo some and pull some and do implants.  And those big jobs are hours in the chair with four hands in my mouth and painful and stressful and expensive and I don't want to do it.  I've already lost two molars I spent big money fixing years ago.  Oatmeal, bananas, yogurt and applesauce are not real food.  

How about we just cut off a couple toes and call it even?    

My dentist is a nice fellow but I'd rather go out and play with a couple rabid dogs than go see him.

[old2soon]

I live in the past, remember the days and wish I could go back (except when its time to go to the dentist)

Heck Texas, in my youth my teeth were pretty good, and the work done pretty easy (and was unconscious for the wisdoms).  Half a century later, all the lifetime root canals and caps and big work is failing (despite my best efforts; and yeah I was always told it wouldn't last forever), and my dentist wants to redo some and pull some and do implants.  And those big jobs are hours in the chair with four hands in my mouth and painful and stressful and expensive and I don't want to do it.  I've already lost two molars I spent big money fixing years ago.  Oatmeal, bananas, yogurt and applesauce are not real food.  

How about we just cut off a couple toes and call it even?    

My dentist is a nice fellow but I'd rather go out and play with a couple rabid dogs than go see him.

                     Full dentures and done! Ax me How I KNOW!  RIDE SAFE.