# Whats your earliest memory? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 4, 2001, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747 "2001-12-04T01:04:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/21 "2001-12-04T06:18:36Z")
Playing with toy cars in the basement in our old house in Ohio. I have a lot of isolated memories of that house, tough to pinpoint the earliest. We moved out just after I turned 3. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/22 "2001-12-04T17:38:56Z")
I must have been not even two when this happened. I was crying one night and my mom got up and carried me out to the front room where she sat down in the chair and held me until I was calmed down (and probably back asleep again). She left all the lights off as she sat there in the dark. I remember seeing the street light shining in through the front window. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/23 "2001-12-04T18:11:48Z")
I was 2. I remember my parents telling me that I was going to have a little brother. After my brother was born, I remember him being laid across my lap and having our picture taken. I told my mom about this and she showed me the picture, from 1960. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/24 "2001-12-04T18:21:43Z")
Two memories from around the same time period 3 to 3 1/2: 1. My family moving from Jacksonville to south Florida (leaving a trailer park with crushed-shell roads in a convoy of cars and pickups–my grandparents were helping.) 2. My baby brother being born. I remember Daddy bringing me a hamburger. Two old ladies in the waiting room asked me if my mama’s baby was a boy, could they have it and I said no. Boy did I miss my chance! 😃 I’ve verified both of these memories with my mom, as I know that repeated telling of stories and viewing of pictures can convince us that we “remember” something that we don’t or couldn’t possibly. ---
**Author:** ![Koldanar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@Koldanar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koldanar)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/25 "2001-12-04T18:23:26Z")
My earliest definite memory can be dated back to when i was 2 and a half…we went out to a car dealership and got a subaru GL 🙂 I possibly remember going out with my parents and uncles to get my grandmothers dog, Gretzky the malamute (gawd i loved that dog hehe) when I was 18 months old…this could be an imagined memory, or It could be real. Heck my relatives barely remember it so no one can confirm it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/26 "2001-12-04T18:40:04Z")
I was either 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 one Fourth of July, standing in our front yard watching black snakes burn in the gutter. The next memory is from a year or so later, in a different house where it snowed one day, and I saw the pattern of the garden hose lying under the snow. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2001, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/27 "2001-12-04T20:49:14Z")
My earliest definate memory is riding in my Dad’s station wagon to the local Ford dealer, most likely to order his '71 Pinto. Which means I would have been about 2½. Other early memories are a bit fuzzy: one is possibly a stop at an Indiana convenience store during a family trip up to the Dunes. All I really remember is this “huge” door sliding open, which would have been the side door on Dad’s van. Because we made the trip in the van instead of Dad’s '70 station wagon, this must have been the summer of '69 and just after my first birthday. I also remeber watching the lift off of Apollo 11 but this might have been influenced by MTV. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/28 "2001-12-04T21:45:29Z")
Mine are all from a little older - closer to 3 1/2 or 4. One is definitely scary, the classic toddler-left-in-the-shopping-cart. For some reason I have this distinct memory that it was in Pay-N-Save (former W. Coast drugstore chain); Mom walked a couple of aisles over to find something, I got worried from waiting and started crying. I may have a recollection of my 3rd birthday party, but it’s very vague. My 4th is much clearer: Mom made me a cake in the shape of a train. I remember Mom’s dad, Pappy, letting me blow out his matches when he lit his pipe. And Mom measuring flour - she had a yellow one-cup measure, and I can see her taking a butter knife to knock off the excess. I have no idea how old I was, since these things took place pretty often. So other than my 4th birthday, the only early memory I can date easily is when I was 4 1/2. My parents traded in their Chevy Impala coupe for a Volvo sta-wag (bright orange, Mom’s favorite color). The Volvo was an unmitigated disaster and began falling apart within a couple of weeks. So Mom and I took it back to the dealer, which was giving us a loaner…and we see them drive around our old Impala. We laughed so hard. [cue violins]Mom died about eight months later, so these are just about the only memories I have of her.[/violins] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/29 "2001-12-05T01:10:32Z")
Well, believe it or not, it’s JFK’s funeral. I only remembering watching it on tv and seeing the horses pulling something and flags everywhere. I was a month short of 4. ---
**Author:** ![Oncle\_Biere\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oncle\_Biere\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oncle_Biere_1)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/30 "2001-12-05T02:43:16Z")
The summer I turned 4 we went on a trip Out West. I was heavily into cowboys and Indians, and I got a feathered headress, and went to a real log fort, and we stayed in a motel room shaped like a tepee. I was happy for a week straight that year. ---
**Author:** ![Hatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/57b2e6/32.png) [@Hatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatter)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/31 "2001-12-05T03:46:47Z")
I was four…in the backseat of the car, my mom was up front driving. She was pulled over for speeding, and I started bawling, I of course assumed she would be taken to jail. I remember the officer speaking to me, reassuring me that she would not be taken into custody. At this point my mom too began sobbing. I think she was in a hurry to get to a mall…anyway, I’m sure the officer regretted the encounter. More trouble than it was worth. ---
**Author:** ![Peregrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Peregrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peregrine)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/32 "2001-12-05T04:15:33Z")
I was three going on four when my conciousness switched on for the first time. I just woke up aware one day. I found myself alone in my parents’ bed wondering how I knew whose bed it was, since I had never seen it (or anything else) before, ever. I looked around for a few minutes and then went down the hall to get my Christmas presents. ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/33 "2001-12-05T04:59:56Z")
I remember going outside at night, being held in my dad’s arms, watching to see if we could see Apollo #whatever (hey, I was two!) returning from the first moon landing. I don’t know if we saw the re-entry, but I remember going out to look… ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/34 "2001-12-05T06:00:29Z")
I don’t know if it’s my earliest memory, but it’s from around the time I started having memories. We were living in El Paso and my mother had just gotten my coat back from the cleaners. She was upset because they’d neglected to take the plastic buttons off before cleaning it and the buttons had melted. She started to cry, and I remember feeling sorry (and guilty, since it was my coat) that she was so upset. I remember the TV being on. When I told my mother this memory, she realized that was the day that President Kennedy was shot. The show she was watching was interrupted with a news bulletin while she was looking at my coat. I also remember going to a park in El Paso with my mother and brother and being very frustrated because my brother wouldn’t go on the teeter-totter with me. But that’s not as dramatic a memory, so naturally I think of the other as my first. ---
**Author:** ![Ferggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Ferggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferggie)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/35 "2001-12-05T08:22:56Z")
My earliest memories are from when we lived in the trailer in Missouri, when I was between the ages of 2-4. I don’t know what order these random memory snippets occured in, but the one I remember most vividly was my Daddy leaving for Air Force basic training when I was 3. ☹ He came back on my 4th birthday, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/36 "2001-12-05T11:13:11Z")
I was probably about 3. I was crouched behind the big console tv eating my mothers red lipstick straight from the tube. I knew I’d be in trouble when she caught me - I have a vague recollection of anxiety associated with the memory. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/37 "2001-12-05T11:33:55Z")
I was sitting in the kitchen, in my high-chair. Mum was there. I was drinking strawberry Nesquik out of a white plastic cup. I think I would have been about 18 months old, 2 years at the absolute oldest. We moved away from that house when I was two. I remember quite a bit from the next house, which we only lived in for a year. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/38 "2001-12-06T08:42:01Z")
Don’t remember what age I was, but I was in my crib at night. My parents were having a party, and my mom came in to “check on me”. She was smelling nicely of what I came to know as Windsong. She said, “Everyone’s here!” I said, “Is the Hamburglar here?” She said, “Yes.” I drifted off to sleep, thinking of the Hamburglar in our living room. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/39 "2001-12-06T10:23:29Z")
I was just two and a half years old. Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to Australia. We sat on the right-hand side of the plane. I peed my pants. I can still remember my wet underpants. Brown and orange and white in a tortoise-shell pattern. In my mind’s eye the memory is like a picture of someone else, but that was me all those years ago. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747/40 "2001-12-07T00:41:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oncle Bière \* > The summer I turned 4 we went on a trip Out West. I was heavily into cowboys and Indians, and I got a feathered headress, and went to a real log fort, and **we stayed in a motel room shaped like a tepee.** I was happy for a week straight that year. \*\* [Wigwam Village](http://www.retroactive.com/oct98/wigwam.html)? (There’s still one open! If I’m ever in Arizona I must stay there!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-memory/96747.md?page=3)