I grew up in South Jersey (with 4 distinct seasons) in the 60’s
[ul]
[li]Feeling absolute joy on the first warm sunshiny spring day when the flora began to green and flower, and the woodland fauna began to appear[/li][li]Pulling the stamen out of honeysuckles and licking that delicious, miniscule drop of nectar[/li][li]Looking for the biggest earthworms on the sidewalks on the way to school after a rainy night[/li][li]Looking longingly out the classroom window at the inviting sunshine and having those last 15 minutes before 3pm seem like eternity[/li][li]Gathering with your popcorn club buddies late Saturday night to watch Dr. Shock’s Mad Theater and old B&W 50’s horror flicks on Chiller Theater. [/li][li]Play acting Lost in Space with your friends, but hating it when you got stuck being Dr. Smith. [/li][li]Sledding down the biggest hill (not very) in your neighborhood with your Flexible Flyer (mine didn’t go too fast because it was a rusty old 50’s hand-me-down from my brother.[/li][li]Skating on the creek when it froze in your Sears Skates (mine didn’t go too fast because they were rusty old 50’s hand-me-downs from my brother…plus they were too big so I twisted my ankles a lot).[/li][li]Getting a Wham-O SuperBall when they first came out in ’64, then on first try, bouncing it right through one of the panes of my parent’s bay window[/li][li]Going to the creek to stalk big bullfrogs[/li][li]Going to the pond to stalk big turtles (anecdote: I used to go turtling with my gang often. Red eared sliders were most sought; musk (stinkpot) turtles were most avoided. But, one day I was the hero of the gang when we approached a very large turtle head popping out of the water. Without hesitation I dove right into the shallow water and wrestled the mighty beast into submission and pulled him out onto the bank. We then realized that it was a big snapping turtle. My friends marveled at how brave I was to wrestle a snapping turtle (I didn’t tell them I wouldn’t have gotten near that thing if I knew it was a snapping turtle). So, I carried the turtle home by his tail and put him in our garage. I caught hell from my dad when he came home, opened the garage door (by hand; no remotes in those days) and was assaulted by a large reptile snapping at him ferociously. [/li][li]Going to the woods to stalk small snakes (anecdote: I used to catch garter snakes in the woods, bring them home and put them in whatever container I could find…usually something in the garage or basement. But one day I put 2 garter snakes in a pretzel tin that somehow ended up on the kitchen table. A couple hours later, I heard the most blood curdling screams from my mother and sister (uh oh, time to skedaddle). Our cat, Tibby 2nd (a tough, orange Manx) used to torment my mother and sis, too. He liked to bring home live snakes in his mouth and plop them in the house. [/li][li]Trading Archie comic books with your friends. [/li][li]Trading monster magazines with your friends[/li][li]Trading Mad Magazines with your friends[/li][li]Trading National Lampoon magazines with your friends[/li][li]Trading your fathers Playboy magazines with your friends[/li][li]Trading Hot Sluts with Big B…uh, never mind I would never do that[/li][/ul]
Dad’s birthday is toward the end of August so every year he’d drive the family to one of the beaches on Lake Michigan to celebrate. Usually Indiana Dunes Central Avenue.
Around the time Marriott’s Great America opened, we started making annual trips for my birthday instead. I know we were there the day after I turned 9.
Playing the video game displays in Sears, Montgomery Ward’s, Radio Shack, etc. Sears, of course, had their brand of the 2600. Some store, maybe Ward’s, had a fun video game which was like a cross between breakout and pinball. Always looked forward to that one.
Learning to swim at the YMCA.
Taking the old Flexible Flyers down the big hill in our backyard and trying to avoid the blackberry bush/trees/Mom’s plants. Hit a tree once and bent the steering. I think that was the day when a layer of ice made the sled really fast.
All my siblings were in the school band at one time or another. I made forts out of the big sheets of cardboard which the instruments came in.
That’s how I kept cool in summer. No AC until I turned 15.
“It might be! It could be! It is!”
Got ours in '79. My brother, the pain in the ass, pretty much immediately figured out how to cheat at the tank game.
We did this one year when the county plow really packed the snow against the hill in front of the house.
Are you expressing shock that I would have such magazines as a child, or that I would trade them away?
In any case, I was just kidding. No skin mags for me growing up. When my young pals and I wanted to look at naked breasts, we’d just page through issues of my father’s National Geographics. Dad had a complete set of Geo’s from 1891 (and a couple of loose issues before that, back to 1888) till the day he died a couple years ago. They were beautifully leather bound and indexed, by half year (which actually decreased their collection value—all the ads and covers are removed by the binder). My brother inherited the Geos (and continues the collection started by our grandfather in the 19th century). I inherited dad’s complete series of American Heritage (they started off with hardback covers and high-quality paper, before going magazine-style), but there are no boobs in those. :mad:
We didn’t have a great deal of money growing up, but my father saved every penny and built up a very impressive library and woodshop in our house. They were the envy of the neighborhood.
Dating myself: around four or five years old, throw a blanket over myself and crawl around on the floor pretending to be a Horta. Pretend to “eat” things on the floor like shoes, toys, etc.
Also had a rural childhood. Would spend hours playing in the small pasture surrounded by horses and cattle. We’d challenge each other to walk under a horse. Loved the feel of bare feet in the flooded pasture. We would even swim in the irrigation ditch that ran along the side of the it.
At a certain age, after toddler but before pre-teen, I remember that I could run and leap into the air while running and get a couple of steps in mid-air before hitting the ground. I could go pretty far before touching the ground again. It felt like flying. I dreamed about it occasionally over the years.
Saturday morning cartoons in Black and White
Saturday morning Drama Sky King and Fury
RC Cola movie day: six bottle caps got you in for a stage show and a movie
My first ever job: One afternoon I was walking home from the playground. The guy at the barber shop knocked on his window and motioned me into the shop. He gave me an envelope and told me that if I took it to Tony at the pool hall down the street he would give me a quarter. That was an enormous amount of money when I was ten. I was a runner for a bookie…
Damn, I was the one watching CollegeHumor, not my non existing daughter. What you saw there is a twelve-year-old with no life. And I’m pretty sure Sonic didn’t air on PBS. It aired on ABC. I was trying to delude myself to make whatever I wanted go the way I wanted. Fuck. To quote Tibby or Not Tibby, now, I gotta get up early on Sunday and go to confession.