To Those of Us Born 1925 – 1970

[dieselhp]

TO

ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s!

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.*

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 we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos 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 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, 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 50 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

1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS!

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

[lil' troller]

well i'm 27 so i missed those years, but i know what you are talking about. I spend my time fishing, hunting, and trapping. I work hard, and have worked up to 32, 12 hour days strait, no days off. I am married, own a house, and a decent paying job(although the hours and schedule make it hard to plan anything with the wife). A guy (maybe i should say kid) i work with who is older than myself and still lives with his parents called into work the other day because he was too tired, he only got three hours of sleep!!!! If i can get out of work go fishing and come back home long enough to get three hours of sleep before i go back to work I call that a good day. Did it saturday actually. He proceeded to back his story up by saying he couldn't stay awake after his buddy came over to play video games on the day he called in. My generation frustrates me. You hardly ever see kids into the outdoors anymore, and for those who are i hope you stick to it and protect what we have and share. Soo many people are missing out on things that are just off thier back porch. If you are against hunting, trapping, or fishing that is fine with me. Everyone has a right to thier own opinion, but get out there and enjoy what we have while we have it. I'm glad i was raised to work hard and enjoy the little things in life. Thing have changed a lot since the years you grew up in, it makes you wonder how far it will go. Anyway, I liked the post.

tight lines

[jobena]

Welllllllllllllllllllllll, I'm 65 and I "DO" remember those days well and we as a society are virtually doomed if we don't get back to living that way. I can remember fishing with a can of worms, a stick, string, and a bent up safety pin. Now that was simple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kingslamon22]

those days are gone and my generation doesnt meet my critera either. im 24 years old and everybody that i MIGHT be able to get to fsh with me are in their upper 30s and older. i never had a nintendo and i grew up in the tug region splitting firewood and felling trees, riding banshees and dirtbikes, with no helmet on a highway with two people half cocked, difference with us is we got busted for these things. i should have been in your genration. i missed out. granted we are few and far between but we exist out here and were plugging away raising our children in a harder world than you grew up in. have a bit of respect. just a teensey bit.

[rshubuck]

Yes this new generation sucks and video games are a big factor but I believe the problem is more or less the government! I'm 26 and I have been active in the outdoors all my life between school, working on the farm, work and whatever else. You can't stop me from hunting and fishing. What gets under my skin is our state gov't. NY has all these laws and restrictions such as you can't big game hunt until you are 14 with a bow. You can't even hunt small game until your 12. Other states out there leave it up to your parents when you are responsible enough. If anyone knows anything about children and all the different growth stages that they go through you would know it is critical to get them involved in the outdoors early. I feel that through my life it was not till I turned 16 that I was able to really do anything with the outdoors. We need more programs out there that give children this outdoor exposure but with this state and all the liability issues it is next to impossible to orchestrate. The road we are heading down now is just going to get worse.

[A-TOM-MIK]

Agree Agree Agree Dieselhp

Had me shaking my head in an affirmative action about 10 times.

I recall shooting a window out of a moving vehicle with my pellet-gun, I was about 12, the driver stopped, got out, grabbed me by my shirt-cuff and said, "Boy, your going to pay for that window !!!" My parents were notified and I had to split chunks of Piss-Elm by hand with a sledge and a mall, all summer long at .10 a log. Until I made the $50 it cost to pay for the window. (Later in life my mom said some insurance policy actually covered the cost of the window) but lesson learned, I never did it again.

Was throwing rocks over a cliff one day, my buddy was in front of me, he stood up and took one in the head, blood splattered all over the place. After leaving the hospital that night I asked if we could keep it a secret from "Jerry's" mom. Instead I had to apologize to his mom and back to splitting Piss-Elm logs. Never did that again either.

Worked on the muck for below minimum wage, 60+ hours a week, brought home about $140/week

Never failed a grade from Elementary through High School

A new 10/22 at 16

Got my dads 1978 Chevy Scottsdale at age of 17 (I was on top of the earth)

Had Curfew's

Getting spanked sucked

Always remember the stories of how my dad had to get his own switch and had .05 candy bars

Fished a lot

Camped a lot

Cut down our own Christmas Trees and dragged em home behind the snowmobile

Feared the law

Did not swear in the house, drugs were bad, ALWAYS picked up after myself and most of all always loved my parents even till this day and had all the respect in the world and wanted to grow up just like them !!!

My kids now days even though we love them to death, give us a cross look if we ask them to pick up their empty glass, but we still cut down our own Christmas Tree every year !!!! (:

lol, life

Tom

[ray koziatek]

well tom 1 outa 20 ant bad (still cutting own tree),,

wow i could make a list bout 4 pages long.

tapping on my best friends window every april 1 st (early) to skip school and fish.

getting chased by the RR dicks.

hopping trains till the got up to speed and running when you got off and watching the new guy jump off and rolling in the stones

buying beer at 16 and answering" its for my dad "(hedidnt drink ).

skipping out at lunch at school to jeep in the woods.

getting cought behind school smoken well not ciggerats ,by the asst. principal and he called your mom not the SWAT team.

having partys down back and the only people who showed up were more party'ers not the cops.

driving dirtbikes for hours on back roads and trails and not 1 POSTED sign,and if the sherriff stoped ya it was yes SIR ill slow down and head right home..

shooting bb guns at black faced hornets nest (when you had slower guys with you) i lernt to run fast after my brother showed me this trick..

hunting deer when their was herds of them ,no coyotes,and even if it was a spike it was a braggin rights deer.

bowhunting with a handme down recurve wood arrows "BEAR Steel" broadheads you ha to sharpen yourself..

do you know they used to ship beer in trains (so ive been told)

the good oll "Genny scream ale"

SHLITZ or sh#$$ beer

warm PBR mmmmmmmm

[Sharky]

Amen brother!

[A-TOM-MIK]

Ray you reminded me of one, hunters use to shoot clay pigeons down behind the house

One occasion we went down like we always would to collect the empty shells

One day we found one that wasn't empty

About 50 times my buddy and I took turns throwing it at point blank range as hard as we could at a big rock, trying to get it to go off

(Thank god it didn't)

So after repeated failed attempts I loaded up my favorite 22 ca. pellet gun, set it between 2 rocks (I guess we weren't too afraid of a ricochet) my buddy and I anxiously anticipated a big blast, we even put one of my moms favorite 1/2 gal glass canning jars about 24 inches in front of where we thought it was going off. After about 2 or 3 misses we got it right................SUCCESS !!! EXPLOSION !!!! We were picking little pieces of lead out of our arms, and face for the rest of the day, we didn't share that story with too many. Sure am glad my mom talked to the good Lord daily back then.

Tom

[Stinky Finger]

Ray I think maybe I was at some of your parties

These days I tell my kids when I was their age (early 70's) I could go to the store with a quarter and get a Charleston Chew candy bar about 18" long, a handful of foot long pretzel sticks, half a dozen fire balls AND a Coke in a glass bottle - ALL FOR 25 CENTS- and they just look mesmerized.

I started collecting beer cans when I was ten in '77 which was real big back then. Me & my buddies thought nothing of getting on the school bus with a big bag of cans and having a trading session on the bus all the way to school.

If a kid did that today the parents would be hauled into family court and the kid would be in the custody of child protective services.

Sometimes I would ride my dirt bike to school ('75 YZ 125) and just park it by the bike rack in front of the school. Never a problem so long as I walked it to the edge of the schoolyard before kickstarting it and taking off down the side of the road.

Video games did not exist.

We had one T.V. in the house and it was a black & white until I was 12 or so, even after we got a color T.V. there was still only 4 channels (not counting the Canadian ones) and there still wasn't any cable anyway, it didn't exist yet.

Me & my buddies could walk down the street with our .22's and shotguns and head into the woods and nobody ever called the cops.

Miss those days...

[McDragon]

It's a wonder we got here guys with some of the shenanigans we did. The story about the go carts bring back the memories of Doll and baby carriages sitting on their axles if left unattended for to long. By the way what are brakes? My mother was always asking why there wasn't any sole left on my Keds.

We would jump on our 3 speed bikes on Saturday mornings during trout season, pedal our bikes up to 7 miles to get to a good trout stream with our rods tied to the cross bar, and then return by dark. Parents never worried and always knew we would get home.

One spring in late March there was still snow on the ground and it was warm out. We were throwing snow balls at the side of big trucks as they went by the house. I tossed one a little early and it went in the open passenger window smacking the driver upside the head. Luckily it didn't cause him to lose control and crash but he sure locked it up and came boiling out of the cab. Good thing I had the neighborhood map in the back of my head, or he would have kicked my butt if he had caught up to me. Funny now to think back on it, but it wasn't then.

And I can relate to you Tom with the shot gun shell. Had a buddy who shoplifted a box of 22's. He gets the bright idea to throw them against a brick wall to see what would happen. The first few did nothing, but he finally had them going bang on a regular basis. That is until one of the slugs grazed his cheek. To this day he still carries the scar.

We did stupid stuff and got away with it.

Frank

[chowder]

Just finished another 3 days of putting in another 4000 bales w/ the wife & kids on top of all the other chores associated w/ our 300 cows and quite frankly I'd have to say that old fashioned hard work and an old fashioned hard life is a little 'over rated'. I'd much rather be planning a labor day weekend that revolved around leisure activities than worrying about covering all the work that needs to be done. Moving back to a simpler era will not solve our problems b/c it certainly hasn't solved mine. Let's just remember our folks felt the same way about T.V. and the movies that we feel about video games, but they raised us the best they could. Not trying to be a fly in the ointment but constant change is here to stay and we can be great parents and citizens but neither one happens by standing around complaining, remember the sign in the weight room; no pain = no gain. -Andy

P.S. don't be afraid to unplug the wireless and lock up the router - they'll get used to it but it will mean you may need to actually do something w/ your kids that they want to do!

[ray koziatek]

come on andy no tipping cows?

cow pie fights?

green apple fights?

jumpin in bales of hay well the accedentaly broken ones?

sitting in the loft with a 22 waiting for the rats to come to the feed trougth?

picking up snapping turtles that coulda took your finger off in one wrong move?

remember when black snakes were common?

running through the corn and slicing the lense of your eye and it stung for a week ?

utter balm was and probly still is the first aid cream for everything.

picking 4000 bales without the auto loader

outrunning a 800 lb bull to the fence and diving under the barbed wire at a full run.

getting treed by the same 800 lber and waiting him out..

the "outdoor channel" was fliping stones or rollin dead logs to see what was under them..

i can still putter a stone after 6 skips...

chasing flying grasshoppers for fish bait and tossin your shirt on em to "get it"..

zebco 33 was the top of the line reel.

[B8buket]

Man, FOND MEMORIES! was great to be a kid then , not a care in the world.

but I'm not going to confess to anything

I do remember always wanting to be like my dad , I owe him for taking the time to teach me how to fish and hunt. Our trips afield inspired my art (see avatar). Wish

I still had time to pursue it , but I'm too busy passing along what I learned from my dad to my son a.k.a. Eskimo Joe

[Ray]

Wow...had me in stitches remembering all the things I did...nobody mentioned firecrackers.

Thanks for making me laugh this morning.

Ray

[Shade]

Being born in '51, I can appreciate they way it was back then. But I think you will find this very funny.

I found out Friday that I have Diabetis and when I went to get my prescriptions filled the cost of the accu-check machine, the pinch needles and the tabes was over $100 plus the medication ($3/pill). My insurance covered most of it but here is the funny part. Last night I get a call from some American Group to see if I qualified for free diabetis tools and medication.

I was told that I qualified for a tester, supplies and medication for for an added bonus I get A FREE ERECTION INHANCEMENT TOOL which guarentees and erection in 3 minutes. .

I can not wait to see what this thing is but what a country...I could not get pills or equipment that could help me live with this condition but if ya need some help with erections freeeeeeeeeeeee.

Shade

[ray koziatek]

dude can i borrow the erection thing if it works?

[emtystringer]

If you know any a--- hole layers i'm ready to sue some body.

[LongLine]

Yep – When our parents read the newspaper there was some good news in it someplace. Not the people getting hurt or disaster headlines and liquor ads that they are full of today. Comics were funny and the sports page reported heroics not criminal activity.

Yep – They listened to weather reports that didn’t have a “heat indexâ€, ozone alert or UV index, all of which are meant to keep you inside. The weather man didn’t achieve orgasims forecasting bad weather.

Yep – They watched the good old Black & White occasionally and every 3rd commercial wasn’t about some “wonder pill†guaranteed to cure something yet give you 15 other things. Every 2nd commercial wasn’t by some schlep lawyer begging you to sue someone.

Yep – They drove on highways that didn’t have light-up signs issuing Megan’s Law warnings.

Yep – They talked to the neighbors rather than shake their heads trying to figure out what language they spoke. They never had to “press 1 for English.â€

Yep – Money wasn’t the greatest but they knew they could count on a paycheck next week.

Yep – They knew the deterrence to Identity Theft was to put your wallet in different pocket.

Yep – Dad could change a flat on the old puddle-jumper in 5 minutes rather than needing that much time figuring out where the dam jack was.

Yep – They knew taking the family for a Big Mac was a treat, not a health hazard.

Yep – They knew a Sunday drive was fun & they wouldn’t be accused of wasting gas and contributing to air pollution.

Yep – They knew the cops wouldn’t haul them downtown if your brother told the teacher he got spanked.

Yep – They knew they didn’t have to lock the car in their own driveway or double bolt the doors & windows when everyone went to bed at night.

Yep - They knew the best medicine was laughter, some sleep and a warm bowl of chicken soup.

Yep – times have changed.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

I always chuckled at this ad-

If you have an errection lasting more than 4 hours, seek professional help

because I never knew if they meant go see a doctor or find a hooker

orgasims not organisms

[woody 184]

Well I was born in April of 1971 and I can remember alot of those memories... Probably the best I can remember is a picture of me and my mommy at age 13 or 14 months old im sitting on her lap will she is puffing on a camel with no muffler and I am sipping a monster mug of Genny..... Imagine if a photo like that hit the D & C nowadays people would be calling child protective services... Another quick story my dad used to have his own 100 gallon gasoline tank at home, he told me and my sister to paint the tank.. Sis and I were prolly 6 or 7 years old... When we got done we were both Silver from head to toe... I can guarantee that that paint was lead based... I think I also ate the paint chips which now seems to make a ton of sense.... Im gonna need some therapy after all this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dale

[PolarBear]

Ray ....you sure I am not your brother .....as I have the same memories as you except , my first boat was a blow up orange raft that we took to the river in March , floated for a few minutes , then we swam for shore , i remember walking home through the cow pasture too cold to run from the bull with our pants frozen stiff , never as much as got the sniffles that year ....oh those were the days