Default Style Register
Daycare.com Forum
1 2
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Remember When....
e.j. 08:00 PM 09-11-2013
Originally Posted by Laurel:
I remember when a girl wouldn't be admitted into the movie theatre with slacks. She had to wear a dress or skirt.
I remember having to wear a dress or skirt to church. We were not allowed to wear pants and definitely not jeans or shorts like you sometimes see today. We weren't allowed to enter our church without a hat or a mantilla (lace veil) on our head. If we forgot the hat or mantilla, we had to wear either a handkerchief or Kleenex. I'm cracking up just thinking about it!

Originally Posted by Laurel:
Oh and boxes of laundry detergent used to have things in them. You could collect a whole set of glasses (one by one) or bath towels. My mom sewed the striped bath towels into swim cover ups for my sister and I.
My husband still insists on using his set of ugly bright yellow plates and cups that he got free in the large bags of dog food his parents used to buy. No matter how hard I try, I just can't break them!
Reply
e.j. 08:17 PM 09-11-2013
Originally Posted by Laurel:
Did anybody have a full set of Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedias?
We did! We used them all the time to do school reports.

Originally Posted by Size18:
Remember dunking diapers up and down in the toilet to rinse?
Yes! I have three younger brothers so I did a lot of dunking! My great aunt used to tell us it would give us "soft, lily-white hands"

Originally Posted by Size18:
Don't know if the plumbing pipes were bigger (round) back in the day, but I know several moms who accidentally flushed diapers down their toilets while rinsing. I guess it was your lucky day when the diaper went straight down without plugging!
TMI warning! Sometimes, my mother would leave the diapers in the toilet to soak a little. I remember way too many times when I noticed them only after I had flushed and then having to play tug-of-war with the toilet to keep the diaper from going down and clogging it. Aaaah, memories!!!
Looking back, there are a lot of things I did in my youth that I would never do now!
Reply
Size18 11:26 PM 09-11-2013
Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by e.j.
My great aunt used to tell us it would give us "soft, lily-white hands"
LOL! That's the best one I've ever heard!!!

Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by e.j.
Sometimes, my mother would leave the diapers in the toilet to soak a little.
One of my aunts used to do that. Reminds me of a rebel babysitter I once hired... a twenty-something college student. Her first stint babysitting for us was an early evening session. I'm gathering diaper rinsing wasn't her forte, because when I arrived home at the end of the night, I was greeted by several bundles of dirty diapers that had been plopped/dumped into the BATHTUB, rubber pants still worn over. I promptly replaced her.
Reply
Familycare71 06:08 AM 09-12-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
LOL! That's the best one I've ever heard!!!

One of my aunts used to do that. Reminds me of a rebel babysitter I once hired... a twenty-something college student. Her first stint babysitting for us was an early evening session. I'm gathering diaper rinsing wasn't her forte, because when I arrived home at the end of the night, I was greeted by several bundles of dirty diapers that had been plopped/dumped into the BATHTUB, rubber pants still worn over. I promptly replaced her.
I still have flashbacks to a family (who I still love and keep in touch with!) who's kids used cloth diapers- she used to put the poopy ones in the toilet and leave it to soak and I assume until she could get to it... She babysat me after school and I remember always having to check and see if the toilet was ok to use... Then I babysat her kids- I STILL hate cloth diapers because of it! So gross-
Reply
Size18 08:04 AM 09-12-2013
Originally Posted by Familycare71:
I still have flashbacks to a family (who I still love and keep in touch with!) who's kids used cloth diapers- she used to put the poopy ones in the toilet and leave it to soak and I assume until she could get to it... She babysat me after school and I remember always having to check and see if the toilet was ok to use... Then I babysat her kids- I STILL hate cloth diapers because of it! So gross-
One thing I've learned about cloth diapering... specifically old-fashioned cloth diapering, is there runs a strong divide. There's two camps.. one that hates them... and one that loves them... no middle ground.
Reply
DCMom 11:46 AM 09-12-2013
Originally Posted by Laurel:
Did anybody have a full set of Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedias? You would buy them at the grocery store. Each week they had a new one. We collected the whole set.

Laurel
OMG, yes!

When my parents passed away, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. Maybe they will be worth something to Antique Roadshow or something someday

We actually had two sets; we had the Encyclopedia Brittanica that we bought from a door to door salesman. We also bought the ElectroLux I still use from a door to door salesman. Remember those? We had a milkman, too. Glass bottles with paper tops...it was WHOLE milk! What would the food police say...oh, wait there wasn't food police
Reply
Blackcat31 11:49 AM 09-12-2013
Originally Posted by DCMom:
OMG, yes!

When my parents passed away, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. Maybe they will be worth something to Antique Roadshow or something someday

We actually had two sets; we had the Encyclopedia Brittanica that we bought from a door to door salesman. We also bought the ElectroLux I still use from a door to door salesman. Remember those? We had a milkman, too. Glass bottles with paper tops...it was WHOLE milk! What would the food police say...oh, wait there wasn't food police
We have milk delivery services here still. glass bottles and all. My mom still uses the service...she gets eggs and butter from him too.

When I was a kid, we drove to the farm with whatever containers we had available and filled those with milk that came straight from the cow.
Each morning before having cereal, we had to shake the milk to mix the cream in that had come to the surface.
Reply
DCMom 11:53 AM 09-12-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
Remember wringer washing machines?
Yep! And I knew how to use it at a young age...every Monday if it didn't rain because the clothesline was the the dryer. Tuesday was ironing day, I stood on a kitchen chair until we got one of those newfangled adjustable height ironing boards, lol!

Lord, I'm feeling old but it is kinda fun to stroll down memory lane.
Reply
DCMom 11:56 AM 09-12-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
We have milk delivery services here still. glass bottles and all. My mom still uses the service...she gets eggs and butter from him too.

When I was a kid, we drove to the farm with whatever containers we had available and filled those with milk that came straight from the cow.
Each morning before having cereal, we had to shake the milk to mix the cream in that had come to the surface.
I still have a milkman, but he brings Kemps brand

I used to love to spend summers with my aunt and uncle on the dairy farm. Fresh everything, every day. Huge garden, cows, pigs, chickens. Its was fun for us 'city kids' to become 'country kids' for the summer.
Reply
Size18 12:30 PM 09-12-2013
Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by DCMom
it is kinda fun to stroll down memory lane.
Is it ever! I'm really enjoying this thread.
Reply
Size18 03:04 PM 09-13-2013
Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by DCMom
Yep! And I knew how to use it at a young age...every Monday if it didn't rain because the clothesline was the the dryer.
Me, too! We had a wringer washing machine (until the early 70's) and an outdoor clothesline. If only I got a dollar for every load of diapers and rubber pants I laundered and hung!
Reply
Luna 06:00 PM 09-13-2013
I thought of this thread today while watching my dcks drink their smoothies...remember PAPER drinking straws??? They were terrible!
Reply
Size18 11:03 AM 09-15-2013
Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by Luna
remember PAPER drinking straws??? They were terrible!
Were they ever. Yes, I do remember them.
Reply
Size18 11:07 AM 09-15-2013
Remember when people used to roll their own cigarettes with those cool machines? You slipped an empty cigarette tube over a hollow rod, added tobacco, then swiped the deck of the machine across the lower plate/platform, and out came a homemade cigarette. I remember always seeing cigarette machines in the homes of people who smoked.
Reply
lovemylife 11:14 AM 09-15-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
... every household had a sewing machine to it's credit, and the woman of the house knew how to use it? Unlike today, where tailor shops have become (more or less) the solution.
I have a seeing machine in my kitchen, in the storage cabinet. I use it all the time. Why waste money?
Reply
Unregistered 11:19 AM 09-15-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
Remember when people used to roll their own cigarettes with those cool machines? You slipped an empty cigarette tube over a hollow rod, added tobacco, then swiped the deck of the machine across the lower plate/platform, and out came a homemade cigarette. I remember always seeing cigarette machines in the homes of people who smoked.

We use a machine to roll our cigarettes. Saves a ton of money
Reply
Size18 12:02 PM 09-15-2013
Originally Posted by lovemylife:
I have a seeing machine in my kitchen, in the storage cabinet. I use it all the time. Why waste money?
I know few people (today) who still actively sew. Those I do know are older and of the more mature crowd. Such a frugal hobby/pastime.
Reply
Size18 12:03 PM 09-15-2013
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
We use a machine to roll our cigarettes. Saves a ton of money
That it does.
Reply
Luna 03:44 PM 09-15-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
I know few people (today) who still actively sew. Those I do know are older and of the more mature crowd. Such a frugal hobby/pastime.
I do a fair bit of sewing, and it isn't necessarily inexpensive. I buy fabric at yard sales and thrift shops or I reclaim fabric. If you're buying new fabric plus thread, zippers, buttons, elastic etc. it ain't cheap. Not to mention it is VERY time-consuming, at least it is when I do it .
Reply
Cradle2crayons 03:57 PM 09-15-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
Remember when people used to roll their own cigarettes with those cool machines? You slipped an empty cigarette tube over a hollow rod, added tobacco, then swiped the deck of the machine across the lower plate/platform, and out came a homemade cigarette. I remember always seeing cigarette machines in the homes of people who smoked.
The rare time my husband and I will smoke, we roll our own as well we have an electric machine and a manual thingie
Reply
Sunchimes 07:08 PM 09-15-2013
Before daycare, I sewed and sold things in an Etsy shop. It's one of the things I miss most. (I am one of the "older" ones.)

We had a milkman named Fred. On milk day, he would come into our kitchen, get the empty jugs and the check for the previous delivery off of the top of the fridge and put the fresh things in the fridge. If we weren't home, he just went in because we never locked doors. We also had bread delivery and diaper service. We weren't wealthy-we were low middle class, but it seemed like everyone on the street got milk and bread.
Reply
Size18 08:26 AM 09-16-2013
Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by Luna
I buy fabric at yard sales and thrift shops or I reclaim fabric.
I think that's the clincher. Having a keen eye for deals, sales, used fabric and remnants, etc.
Reply
Size18 08:42 AM 09-16-2013
Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by Sunchimes
We also had bread delivery and diaper service.
I have always loved the idea of diaper service, but thoroughly enjoyed doing diapers in my own home. Wind-down time for me was seeing the little ones off to bed early in the evening, then sitting down on the living room floor and folding diapers. So therapeutic and relaxing.
Reply
Nebula 02:02 AM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
Remember being given full-permission to spank when you babysat? I applied a few spankings as a sitter.
I do remember that lol. Heck, I still private "babysit" an have explicit permission from several of my clients to swat as needed, though it is rarely needed.
Reply
Laurel 04:24 AM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by DCMom:
OMG, yes!

When my parents passed away, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. Maybe they will be worth something to Antique Roadshow or something someday

We actually had two sets; we had the Encyclopedia Brittanica that we bought from a door to door salesman. We also bought the ElectroLux I still use from a door to door salesman. Remember those? We had a milkman, too. Glass bottles with paper tops...it was WHOLE milk! What would the food police say...oh, wait there wasn't food police
I remember the milk man. First we had the glass bottles and then I remember buying them at the store and they were amber colored bottles. Something about light getting to the milk doing something to it??? Not sure what.

When I was very young I lived in one of the apartments of an apartment house my grandma owned. It just looked like a huge house and had 3 floors and 6 apartments. That was the 50's. I remember a paneled truck would come up into the backyard and sell things. Mostly bread and bakery goods I think. I remember my mom saying she had to go get a loaf of bread from the Neilen man. I guess that was the company name.

Then when we moved to the burbs and our own place we had the ice cream man. My mom and dad were cool and we got one every evening so the man would just park in front of our house. I still remember my favorite. It was like an Eskimo pie but instead of chocolate it was butterscotch. Yum....

Laurel
Reply
Size18 01:47 PM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by Nebula:
I do remember that lol. Heck, I still private "babysit" an have explicit permission from several of my clients to swat as needed, though it is rarely needed.
Whenever I think back to my teen days/years (1970's), I see a teen who was beyond her years... more mature than her modern day counterpart. Could be I'm reading (and seeing) more into it than actually exists/exited, but somehow I don't think so... hence why so many of us babysitters were granted permission to discipline/punish at our own discretion. Mind you, spanking, was the way back then. Everyone practiced it.
Reply
Size18 01:49 PM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by Laurel:
I remember the milk man. First we had the glass bottles and then I remember buying them at the store and they were amber colored bottles. Something about light getting to the milk doing something to it??? Not sure what.

When I was very young I lived in one of the apartments of an apartment house my grandma owned. It just looked like a huge house and had 3 floors and 6 apartments. That was the 50's. I remember a paneled truck would come up into the backyard and sell things. Mostly bread and bakery goods I think. I remember my mom saying she had to go get a loaf of bread from the Neilen man. I guess that was the company name.

Then when we moved to the burbs and our own place we had the ice cream man. My mom and dad were cool and we got one every evening so the man would just park in front of our house. I still remember my favorite. It was like an Eskimo pie but instead of chocolate it was butterscotch. Yum....

Laurel
Memory Lane memories trump all!
Reply
Nebula 03:38 PM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
Whenever I think back to my teen days/years (1970's), I see a teen who was beyond her years... more mature than her modern day counterpart. Could be I'm reading (and seeing) more into it than actually exists/exited, but somehow I don't think so... hence why so many of us babysitters were granted permission to discipline/punish at our own discretion. Mind you, spanking, was the way back then. Everyone practiced it.
I remember administering the paint stick to a number of kids hineys as a teenager lol. I don't know,well- I have occasionally popped a hand when touching something dangerous.
Reply
Size18 04:05 PM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by Nebula:
I remember administering the paint stick to a number of kids hineys as a teenager lol. I don't know,well- I have occasionally popped a hand when touching something dangerous.
One of my biggest pet-peeves when I used to babysit, was babysitting kids who's parents never warmed bottoms. Typically, I never babysat long or took on babysitting jobs in homes where discipline/punishment was devoid, and in the homes where the wooden spoon/paint stick were the order of the day, I made good use of both when needed.
Reply
Size18 04:35 PM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by Nebula
I remember administering the paint stick to a number of kids hineys as a teenager
And the sound it made when it made contact with the seat of a plastic disposable diaper or pair of rubber pants. LOL!
Reply
Nebula 04:37 PM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by Size18:
And the sound it made when it made contact with the seat of a plastic disposable diaper or pair of rubber pants. LOL!
Heck no, those things came on. I got da bare hiney lol
Reply
Size18 04:47 PM 09-17-2013
Originally Posted by nebula:
heck no, those things came on. I got da bare hiney lol
lol!!!
Reply
Size18 12:33 PM 09-28-2013
snap on rubber pants 008.jpg snap on rubber pants 010.jpg snap on rubber pants 011.jpg

... when rubber pants not only came in old-fashioned pull-on style, but snap-on style, too?

Bring back memories older granola moms/past babysitters?
Attached:
Reply
LK5kids 03:12 AM 09-29-2013
Originally Posted by care giver:
Any of you remember in grade school having to go home for lunch. We had to walk home for lunch and lunch was 1 hour. those were the days when many of the Mom's were home and not working. Remember the flag patrols in grade school. You had to be a sixth grader to be a flag patrol, and yes, those were the days when grade school was k-6th grade.
Oh gosh, all my friends and al the neighbor kids walked home for lunch (1960's). My mom worked as a nurse because my dad was self-employed and she worked for the insurance.

I took my lunch to school. We didn't even have a hot lunch program. Probably most the kids that stayed for lunch at school were children who lived on farms.

I remember walking about 7 blocks to the pharmacy that had a soda/sundae counter and we would get a coke and a rod pretzel for 11 cents and then take our other dime and go ponder the penny candy isle and walk home eating our ten pieces of candy. We were probably 7-8 yrs old no adult came with us and who knows how long we were gone.

I remember drive in movies.

I loved those aluminum multi-colored cups someone mentioned.

Parents wouldn't let kids come inside to play and some parents even locked the door so their kids stayed outside! We did play Barbies on the front porch.

We played in the street gutters after a big rainstorm and damned up the water with sticks and leaves. Our self-made Montessori or Waldorf schooling!

I remember when phones were on party lines! We had a private line but neighbors shared phone lines.

I remember having to wear dresses to school until about Nov./Dec. of 7th grade. For some reason they changed the rule part way through the year.

By the time I was in 8th grade I had a pair of purple hip hugger (now called low-rise) bell bottoms. We would take them in so the legs we're really tight.

I also remember couples would stand with their locker door open and make out???? Strange! This was 7th grade. We were 12 yrs old! While I didn't do that we did sit on the sidelines at school dances and make out all night except when we got up to dance. Now who in their right mind would let 12 yr olds do that? This was the early 70's. The chaperones were probably smoking pot out back! Sheeeesh!
Reply
Sunshine75 08:54 PM 09-29-2013
We still have a drive in here in MN and we go every summer. Remember playing with super balls, kick the can and red rover until dark. Remember when mom rang a bell or yelled for you to come home and otherwise she didn't see you all day. Remember when you could go to A&W drive in restaurants. Remember when you exchanged pictures with friends in school and that was the big thing because you didn't have a smart phone. Remember pen pals, "yes and no" love notes and and those paper squares with different questions / answers that you'd move back and forth with your hands.
Reply
Size18 08:01 PM 09-30-2013
Great entries! Keep 'em coming! I'm enjoying the walk!!!
Reply
Tags:funny, life experiences
1 2
Reply Up