# Random childhood memories **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869 "2003-03-03T23:15:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/1 "2003-03-03T23:15:57Z")
\*Soda vending machines had glass bottles \*Watching _Mother Jugs & Speed_ whenever it was on TV but not quite knowing why. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/2 "2003-03-03T23:17:15Z")
Oh yeah, the same could be said for “Three’s Company” as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/3 "2003-03-04T01:41:39Z")
I actually remember being small enough to have a bath in the kitchen bowl. ---
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/4 "2003-03-04T03:23:49Z")
I remember being about 4 years old, and my _evil_ older brother telling me I could wake up Captain Kangaroo. By kicking the TV set really, really hard. So one morning, around 5:00am; I’m kicking the TV set really, really hard. I wanted Captain Kangaroo to open up the Treasure House, dammit! Bring on Mr. GreenJeans and Dancing Bear and Mr. Bunny Rabbit, _right now_! My father saw me kicking the s\*\*t outta the TV, and gave me a sound spanking (while my brother stifled his laughter). Forty-two years later, I’m still plotting my revenge on my brother. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/5 "2003-03-04T03:30:28Z")
I remember a toy plastic fishingpole with a tiny orange plastic goldfish on the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/6 "2003-03-04T04:02:24Z")
I remember a wooden F1 car, which was my favourite Toy. I remember playing with it while having my bath in the kitchen-bowl in the garden ---
**Author:** ![Willow\_fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Willow\_fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willow_fire)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/7 "2003-03-04T04:13:45Z")
I remember loosing my red balloon at Disney…I pouted the entire day because I wanted a balloon and my wise grandparents didn’t want me to lose it or have to hassel with it on the rides so they promised I could have one on the way out…I lost it by rolling down the window of the car while papa put the stuff in the trunk…oh how I cried! I remember later that summer (I assume it was the same year) being out back in the kiddie pool and seeing a red hot air balloon, and running in the house dripping wet to tell Gram that my balloon found me. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/8 "2003-03-04T04:55:10Z")
I remember a gray stuffed elephant that I carried around along with my teddy bear. I named him Chief Hink after (then) Chief of Philadelphia Fire Department. ---
**Author:** ![Grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Grasshopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grasshopper)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/9 "2003-03-04T05:29:41Z")
I remember my shoe size climbing up 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 1 - 2 - 3 etc. I remember at night whenever my sister or I got thirsty, we would yell out “Drink of water!” and my parents would come up with a cup of water. I remember how surprised I was when I found out my parents had actual names, not just Mom and Dad. And I remember how when I was a kid, I used to try to imagine how I would look once I was a teenager. It occured to me about a year ago that my old imaginings were very much influenced by the '80s. I had pictured myself with acid washed jeans and a banana clip in my hair, among other atrocities. And when I watched t.v. with my family, I used to laugh every time I heard the studio audience laugh, even when I didn’t get the jokes (which was almost never). And I remember the coffee can full of crayons my grandma kept in the closet at her house and how my sister and I never called them crayons, we always called them colors, as in “This color is broken” about a snapped crayon. And Garfield and Friends every Saturday morning 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheOtherOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@TheOtherOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOtherOne)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/10 "2003-03-04T05:35:13Z")
I remember when my Mema (mom’s mom) stole my damn lolly. I cried for…I dunno, hours I guess, about that damned pacifier(sp?)… ---
**Author:** ![TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/11 "2003-03-04T05:46:21Z")
I remember the Carter/Reagan election. I was 1 1/2. However, what I remember was Carter represented “gum.” Yes, chewing gum. Don’t ask. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/12 "2003-03-04T06:19:05Z")
I remember learning about Halley’s Comet in elementary school, and realising I could calculate how old I would be when it came back, and that I would probably be alive then. And then I calculated how old I would be in the year 2000. I can remember being given my newborn brother to hold. I had to be 2 years 2 months old at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/13 "2003-03-04T07:42:11Z")
I remember doing a report on the planets in 3rd grade. We got to choose a planet to write on, and I remember being one of the only kids to choose Pluto. I forget why, but I think it was because it was the most mysterious, or something. This made researching for my report more difficult than for other kids, since the Voyager spacecraft had visited every planet except Pluto, so everyone had hoards of information while I had next to nothing. I did manage to find some stuff and even make a neat diorama of the surface of Pluto (with the help of my mom of course), and get an A. I was reminded of this upon hearing the news that we’re finally sending a probe to Pluto. It’s about time! ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/14 "2003-03-04T10:48:28Z")
We went to see my great grandma, who only spoke Polish and a few words of English. My aunt translated for her while we visited. They fed us the biggest breakfast I ever had. Every breakfast food you can imagine was spread before us and as soon as you would set down your fork, my grandma would smile and yell, “Yeat!” telling us to have some more. I learned later that she came to the U.S. with just about nothing and had to work off her boat fare by doing housekeeping. It probably made her feel good to put on a nice spread for us. She was really sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/15 "2003-03-04T11:50:20Z")
I remember sitting on Mom’s bed reciting the Chinese phonetic “alphabet”. Couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6. I don’t remember Mom teaching me the “San Tz Jing” (3 yrs old), but I still remember most of the parts she taught me. I remember playing with the pigeons on a concrete floor, feeding them old rice and such. I was probably about 3. I remember shovelling the snow off the driveway with Dad and getting a bloody nose from the cold. Mom was really freaked out. I just thought, “Oh cool, it’s all red and warm…” ---
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/16 "2003-03-04T13:28:46Z")
Remember playing that our stairs were a ship with my sister. And woking out how old I would be for the next census, and wanting to be an astronaut. ---
**Author:** ![Copper\_moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@Copper\_moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Copper_moon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/17 "2003-03-04T13:57:20Z")
Remember candy cigarettes? I just can’t imagine walking into a store and buying my kids candy cancer sticks. Heehee And my sister loved the shredded bubble gum that came in a pouch like chewing tobacco!! I remember when I was 3 or 4 and was in ballet class. We were all sitting on the floor putting on our slippers and the daughter of the owner of the studio was sitting next to me. She was a BRAT, very snobby and no one liked her. Well she was talking out loud to herself about the other girls saying, “Her hair is brown and her hair is red.” She went through almost all the people there and then turned to me with the ugliest sneer on her face and said, “Your hair is yellow.” She said it like yellow was a dirty word so I told her that her hair was the color of sh\*t. It was one of those moments when everything gets really quiet just as you’re talking and so everyone heard. My mom was mortified and spanked me right there in front of everybody. Later, though, I heard her telling my dad about it and they were laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/18 "2003-03-04T14:21:40Z")
I remember making an abacus out of buttons, thread, and a shoebox. I got an A. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/19 "2003-03-04T14:43:48Z")
- Me on my tricycle, on the sidewalk in front of our house: “Beep! Beep!” (trying to get a pedestrian out of the way - I was going too fast to stop!) - Telling my (second grade?) teacher about the existence of Pluto. I was really disillusioned about how smart she was supposed to be. - Lying on the couch with my head wrapped in a towel after a neighbour kid had hit me with a hoe. It was just a small accident, but made _lots_ of blood. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869/20 "2003-03-04T14:46:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Copper\_moon \* > **Remember candy cigarettes? I just can’t imagine walking into a store and buying my kids candy cancer sticks.** You don’t need to, [they’re on the net now](http://www.groovycandies.com/NewCandyDetailFrFe.asp?CandyNumber=980). I believe the shredded bubblegum is sitll around, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-childhood-memories/158869.md?page=2)