The Way It Was.....................

would love to re-live just one or two weeks back in the 50's.




A POEM THAT WAS US


A little house with three bedrooms,
One bathroom and one car on the street
A mower that you had to push
To make the grass look neat.


In the kitchen on the wall
We only had one phone,
And no need for recording things,
Someone was always home.


We only had a living room
Where we would congregate,
Unless it was at mealtime
In the kitchen where we ate.


We had no need for family rooms
Or extra rooms to dine.
When meeting as a family
Those two rooms would work out fine.


We only had one TV set
And channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them
With something worth the view


For snacks we had potato chips
That tasted like a chip.
And if you wanted flavor
There was Lipton's onion dip.


Store-bought snacks were rare because
My mother liked to cook
And nothing can compare to snacks
In Betty Crocker's book


Weekends were for family trips
Or staying home to play
We all did things together -
Even go to church to pray.


When we did our weekend trips
Depending on the weather,
No one stayed at home because
We liked to be together


Sometimes we would separate
To do things on our own,
But we knew where the others were
Without our own cell phone


Then there were the movies
With your favorite movie star,
And nothing can compare
To watching movies in your car


Then there were the picnics
at the peak of summer season,
Pack a lunch and find some trees
And never need a reason.


Get a baseball game together
With all the friends you know,
Have real action playing ball -
And no game video.


Remember when the doctor
Used to be the family friend,
And didn't need insurance
Or a lawyer to defend


The way that he took care of you
Or what he had to do,
Because he took an oath and strived
To do the best for you


Remember going to the store
And shopping casually,
And when you went to pay for it
You used your own money?


Nothing that you had to swipe
Or punch in some amount,
And remember when the cashier person
Had to really count?


The milkman used to go
From door to door,
And it was just a few cents more
Than going to the store.


There was a time when mailed letters
Came right to your door,
Without a lot of junk mail ads
Sent out by every store .


The mailman knew each house by name
And knew where it was sent;
There were not loads of mail addressed
To "present occupant"


There was a time when just one glance
Was all that it would take,
And you would know the kind of car,
The model and the make


They didn't look like turtles
Trying to squeeze out every mile;
They were streamlined, white walls, fins
And really had some style


One time the music that you played
Whenever you would jive,
Was from a vinyl, big-holed record
Called a forty-five


The record player had a post
To keep them all in line
And then the records would drop down
And play one at a time.


Oh sure, we had our problems then,
Just like we do today
And always we were striving,
Trying for a better way.


Oh, the simple life we lived
Still seems like so much fun,
How can you explain a game,
Just kick the can and run?


And why would boys put baseball cards
Between bicycle spokes
And for a nickel, red machines
Had little bottled Cokes?


This life seemed so much easier
Slower in some ways
I love the new technology
But I sure do miss those days.


So time moves on and so do we
And nothing stays the same,
But I sure love to reminisce
And walk down memory lane.


With all today's technology
We grant that it's a plus!
But it's fun to look way back and say,
HEY LOOK, GUYS, THAT WAS US!

 

So true

 

That is exactly how I grew up.
One of my favorites: Saturday, long after lunch was over, Mom would
hard boil some eggs. I immediately knew what was up.
She would make some egg salad sandwiches and brew a pot of tea.
Soon, my Dad would announce that we were going to the movies....the drive in movies.
Playing on the swings and monkey bars as the sun was going down.
We never got the stuff from the snack bar because we were having those
sandwiches, cheez-it crackers and ice tea, out of a thermos.
Those were really good times.

 

Enjoyed that.
Remember when only rich people had two cars? And using that (one) phone was a privilege? I had forgotten how we didn't get "junk mail"; now I fill my recycle bin to the top with it!

 

Amen! And hard work keeps people out of trouble.

 

Only read through a few stanzas of it. Thats all I needed to know it was a good one!

 

Don't cheat yourself--read the whole thing, it is worth it!

 

We had to reel mowers. One was a large one, and the other smaller, as I and my brother could not push the big one, it was too heavy. That smaller one became mine when I got married, and I used it for many years, until we moved to a place that had gum trees with all those "picker" balls, and we decided to get a gas mower. Nowadays I use a self-propelled along with a riding mower!

 

Yup. Count me in there, too. I just don't use it!

 

Yeah, but that’s ‘cause you guys never clean out the barn...

 

I will collect (hoard) stuff just because it's old and in good shape. And, apparently, so does 99 lbs! (Well, so far anyway!)

 

Back spasms must be over according to the above statement.....................

 

I was a kid through the seventies and early eighties and can relate to a lot of that “stuff”. We were very fortunate to have the parents, relatives, and neighbors we had! If I could choose what era I would want my kids to grow up in, then or now, I have to admit it would be a tough decision. As Stinny woild probably say, both are gooder.