Our town was so small that the A & P would send the boy over to our place with the groceries my parents had paid for and had other errands to do before heading home! That was back when we kept our doors unlocked of course.

our town was so small, and so far away, that we never locked out doors, much less hooked the screen door.

The family cars were left unlocked, too.

in fact, at times, mom and dad just left the keys to the cars on the floor boards of the big truck or family car.

BUT. ... the gate to the corral, and especially the field gates, were never left unlocked. Ever.... :giggle: ;) :balloon:

It's funny how now they don't want kids riding bikes without helmets, drinking out of garden hoses, riding in the back of a truck, etc, but we did all that as kids and my sister and I survived just fine!

When I was young you could do all of the above. Also, the neighbor would come in to shut your windows if it rained. Your dog made the rounds and most people had a treat for her and all knew her name. You signed for your neighbor's UPS package and sent the kids over with then when you noticed their car sitting in their driveway. It was safe for an 8 year old kid to take the bus downtown alone.

All this and more that I can't think of in the close suburbs of Indianapolis.

In some ways, I miss the "good old days."

Remember when no one had an answering machine for the landline telephone? If you weren't home to answer your phone, it would just ring and ring (the telephone).

Yup, and I remember the anticipation of who might be on the other end of that call, of course this was also WAY before caller I.D. ........

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I Love my landline ~ I never ask can u hear me now ~ my calls never get dropped ~ and when I'm not home I don't get bothered.

We have a landline as well and would NEVER consider giving it up!

I remember receiving an allowance on my dad's payday.

As I recall most paydays back in the day were on a Friday......:hangloose:

I remember when the father was the primary breadwinner in the family.

Remember when households had one automobile and the family 'shared' it?

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I remember when having self respect was admirable and not insulted.

Dad always had the most current model of Mercury. Kids tried to be the first to wash his car, that Saturday chore was numeuro uno. We would do extra duties in order to win that. Also, it was a special time to be asked to ride in that car.

That car was dingless, rubber smudgeless, and always perfect. The inside was clean, no mud, no toys or even bits of gum wrappers.

Now mom's station wagon is where the groceries were picked up, kids taken to school, trips to drop kids at skating. There were surface scuffs in and out. It was obviously the kidmobile, but each Saturday was cleaned in and out. Dog prints to wipe up, crayon marks to wipe off. The outside was worse with all the mud and twigs. Washing it was a much bigger deal.

Detailing was simply cleaning well :|. Both were waxed and shined.
then.......on to next chore (no skating until finished).

WOW impressive you had two cars! :hangloose:

I remember the long late summer evenings of watering the yard, by irrigation canals we had in our property, and sitting on the swing set we had in the yard, swishing my feet through the water and watching the sun go down and the quiet evenings, when all you could hear were the crickets' chirping late in the evening, after a really warm day.

I remember, even tho it may be hard for younger folks to believe, when the whole family shared 1 phone and 1 television set..........

I remember when playing outdoors as a kid you were left to roam and do as you pleased just as long as you were home by dark..........


Actually in our small town, the fire dept checked/blew their whistle every night at 9 and we'd best be home or close to it by then or we were in big trouble!

I remember nickle bags of potato chips and nickle candy bars!

I remember a HUGE box of popcorn at the Delft Theater in my hometown costing only a dime! For a nickle you'd get a good size bag of popcorn and for a quarter you'd get a container of buttered popcorn WITH REAL BUTTER!