For those who long for the good old days and the 3 things we never had at our tables, near the end. Pasta had not been invented. It was macaroni or spaghetti Curry was a surname. Taco? Never saw one till I was 15. All chips were plain. Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking. Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green. Cubed sugar was regarded as posh. Chickens didn't have fingers in those days. None of us had ever heard of yogurt. Healthy food consisted of anything edible! Cooking outside was called camping. Seaweed was not a recognized food. 'Kebab' was not even a word, never mind a food. Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold. Prunes were medicinal and stewed. Surprisingly Muesli was readily available. It was called cattle feed. Pineapples came in chunks or were round with a hole in the middle, in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one. Water came out of the tap. If someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than gasoline for it, they would have become a laughing stock. There were three things that we never ever had on/at our table in the fifties .. elbows, hats and cell phones! ......and there were always two choices for each meal.. "Take it" or "Leave it"
A quarter would buy one candy bar, one bottle of soda, one bag of chips and one ice cream treat! (popsicle, ice cream bar, fudgesicle, etc) Songs on the juke box were 5 cents each; 3 for a dime; 8 for a quarter! (Then they went up to 10 cents for each song or 3 for a quarter!)
pretty sure we had shish kebabs, but all outdoor grills were charcoal. Oh yeah, prune whip. Vegetables were local fresh and seasonal or came in cans. You didn't throw the cans away, you had a huge pile in the woods because you might need them some day.
I remember those days well. As a pre-teen, I could ride my bike 3 miles to the movie theater and for a quarter admission to the movie, buy a large Coke and a box of milk duds and have a nickle left over!
Don't remember hearing of pizza until I was around 12 (that was a couple minutes ago). I'm a fool for it now.
There is a series on TV that I have been watching on CBC. It is called Back in time for Dinner? This family go back for a week and live and eat in the 1940s and I just watched a week of 1950s. They are middle class city dwellers so for me the 50s weren't quite accurate. I am curious to see the 60s and 70s. I don't know if any of you can see this link CBC Life - Back in Time for Dinner
I'll not forget the first time I was able to go to a movie theater. Wow! That was something for this farm kid. And it cost .08 to get in too!
Jello with stuff in it was a salad. Beer came in quart bottles. But ice cream was made with real cream!
Sounds like my house in the 1970s! Pizza was an exotic luxury, we had spaghetti on Sunday nights, and I was at college before I saw Mexican food, any kind of pasta besides spaghetti, and any seafood besides fish sticks! Steak-Mom would buy a 2 lb chuck steak and divide it 5 ways.
I remember 40+ years ago when my mom and dad fried chicken wings on saturday night... because they were FREE when you bought the chicken breasts...They had to give them away because no one would buy them! And this was way before we ever heard of Buffalo wings... I also remember 30 years ago going out to a restaurant and getting 10 cent wings on Sunday night. Now we see them for $8-10 dozen?!?
Growing up we ate Cubed steak, it was like chewing on leather. The cream of mushroom soup on it gave it some taste.
Ha! Thanks for the great memory! We used to ALWAYS have Watergate Salad at my grandparents house when I was growing up. Not Jello though. I miss that stuff, haven't had it in probably 14 years. I need to make some!
Great post. Been a trying day. Tired of trying to correct my screwed up post. Will try later when in a different frame of mind.
It was orange Jello with shredded carrots served with mayo. Good stuff. That was usually served at a church potluck meal.
I still have a BIL who likes jello salads with shredded cabbage, shredded carrots and diced celery in it.
