What was it like, when you were a kid?

[JetBlack]

When I was about 10, I began complaining about the drive up to New Jersey, to see my grandparents and great grandparents. Mom began with the guilt trip that "they won't be alive much longer".

They lived until I was well into college. My previous ex-girlfriend's great grandparents are both still alive, in France. The ex-gf is 39 years old! If she'd have had kids when she was 20, they'd be about ready to have kids of their own, adding two more "greats" to the list

When my great grandma would say "back in my day..." there was always some odd way of doing things, that took forever and cost a fortune in bartered eggs or peas or firstborns. Like you had to knit your own Kleenex, if you wanted to blow your nose ("We called them doilies!") or something.

I'd ask her if you could ride the dinosaurs, if you knit them a doilie-saddle, first. "And we respected our elders!" Yeah well, there's a new sheriff in town.

Uphill! Both ways!

[ia1727]

Coke was a nickle and candy was 2 for a penny. A family treat for us , about 3 times a year, was a bag of regular potato chips and a six pack of pop for 2 adults and 4 kids. We had a neighborhood corner grocery store.

Steve

[moofy07]

The good old days? I seem to remember them being simpler times. Yeah, they were good though.
I was born in a country town in 1950 (that's the second half of the last century, NOT the first half of the last century, like I tell my best mate who was born in 1947). It was near the town of Bathurst in New South Wales, in Oz. We (well dad did) had a 15,000 acre sheep station and my first rifle was a Lithgow .22 I was about 5 at the time. My dad had his Lee Enfield .303 he had brought back from the war. My brother was given a Gevarm .22 auto (do you know or remember those?). School was about 12 miles away and we had a grand number of 15 kids in grades from 1 through to 6. We rode horses to school and the rich kids had push bikes. My nana used to give me some boxes of ammo when she visited and they were about a shilling (10 cents US) a box. TV, no did not have one. Radio, we had two, wow. My dad had a Austin A30 that had been smashed, it was fixed up somewhat and I was allowed to drive that. It was not hard to drive because the brakes were shot and that was one less thing to worry about whilst driving? The braking comprised of using the bushes to slow down, it worked a treat. Of course my parents did not know about that bit, other wise my mum would have skinned us alive. They would not let a drive the landrover though.
I used to shoot rabbits from the back veranda (porch in US currency), there were so many in thise days, they were in plague proportions, my dad had to poison them as they were competing with the sheep for the grass. It was drought time then. He used a poison called mixomatosis, ugly stuff. He would later use 1080 poison as it was more selective than the mixo.
In the state forrests that backed onto the property there were herds of deer (mostly Chital and Red Deer) and when I was big enough (age didn't matter as much as size) to handle the .303, I was allowed to go and shoot some deer. There was no problem shooting in the state forrests in those days.
I can relate to those who mentioned that there was little history in school, because we were around when Noah, was playing half back (quarter back for our US friends) for Jerusalem. In those days lots of possessions (stuff) were not that important, the air was fresher. money seemed to go further, petrol was about 4 pence a gallon, your neighbour would help you out, and the butcher and doctor would take sheep and wool for payment.
I remember going into town on a saturday and going to the movies (we called them pictures then) cost about 2 pence and we got an icecream and a drink for a halfpenny (pronounced hapeny).
I also miss those days. Before I grew up I did not have a care in the world.
I could go on for ever but I have probably bored you out of your brain, that is if you have read this far.
Moofy

[JetBlack]

If you find a family-owned business, here in the states, you can still barter. I trade eggs for donuts, sometimes, at the corner donut shop. I think that gal trades them to the Kroc center (local, donated fitness center, for low income people) and they get put in the food bank, for the destitute. She gets a month membership at the gym for $10 and 2 dozen eggs. Sometimes I get the egg cartons or flats back and it all starts over.

My brown eggs end up everywhere!

Bartering has almost gone by the wayside. Our pretend money system is all there is. Soon it will all be on plastic. Really magic money. You never even see it. Now I have direct deposit and pay my bills mostly online, except for the mortgage, which gets it's own check.

[Golfbuddy45]

Our pretend money system is all there is. Soon it will all be on plastic. Really magic money. You never even see it. Now I have direct deposit and pay my bills mostly online, except for the mortgage, which gets it's own check.

To me this is the most scary part about our current government. We all boast about our Constitution but how much strength will it have if THEY JUST TURN OFF THE SWITCH? This oversimplified way to put it but without all the MAGIC MONEY what do we really have that is truly all ours?

When we had the GOLD STANDARD it meant something when you had money in the bank.

GB45