A Baby Boomer Life

[meirish]

Oh. Linda, you reminded me of the elevator operators...wow, and the telephones that were about 12 -14 inches tall with the "ear phone"part hanging on the side. Back in the late 40's and early 50's. When I got married and lived out on the farm a few years we had an 8 party phone line. Somebody was always listening it seemed.

In the 40's my dad had bought an "ironer" for some reason. Must have bought it used from a hotel or something. It was about 40 inches wide and a cover folded up and you would iron sheets towels, underwear, dishtowels...everything, even the shirts. It was to take the place of the old irons. Like who irons half that stuff now. It would soften the sheets and towel up when they hung to dry in the basement.

Remember the Jewel T man that came every month or so to buy mops, spices, cam mixes, jello, etc from. That was such a big deal back then. There was also the Stanley sale man that came to the house every so often with many things to sell. When I was first married my MIL would talk about the "sheeney" man and I finally asked who that was. During the early years of the 40's and during the war there was a guy who came around with a panel truck loaded to the gills with every type of thing you could think of. Toasters, food items, everything (probably lots of black market things) and this was the way he supported his family. He was very important at this time when they couldn't always find things in the shelves at the store.

Capitalism is a wonderful thing...so many ways to earn money and start a business especially when jobs are scarce. Lots of initiative back in the those days. What is so interesting is that we all have so many memories of the same things but yet every state and area in this great world had different things or ways to do things. Amazing.  It is like a piano, only so many white keys and black keys and the millions of musical pieces that have been written. meirish

[Linda196]

This thread is so much fun! It's also a great reminder that sometimes changes doesn't necessarily mean improvement, it was a much more personal time back then, wasn't it? Of course I can do without the ironing! I have one, but i refer to it as a crafting tool LOL

I think the Canadian equivalent to the Jewel T man would have been the Watkin's man, and many Watkin's products are still available here, through select commercial distributors or mail order, no more door to door.

I don't remember having peddlars coming around, but I did hear that my grandfather did that during the 30's when he could get merchandise. I do remember my grandmother waiting for "sharp" day, when a gentleman who's name may or may not have been "Mr Sharp" arrived on the block to sharpen knives and scissors, and each of the housewifes would bring him out a bit of a snack and a cold drink or a big mug of steaming hot coffee or tea, depending on the time of year. The snacks would be wrapped in wax paper, so he could take them with him, but the drinks were always in mugs or glasses, no disposables then, and he'd drink them down while doing his tasks.

We got our first television when I was about 5, and I remember the installer arriving, and spending what seemed like the whole afternoon getting it set up, adjusting rabbit ears, running out and giving direction to his assistant on the roof about the antenna (not sure why we need both), and dealing with the endless questions (from me of course). The first image that we saw was "The Lone Ranger"!

[meirish]

Eureka, I found the papers that I copied from internet....interesting facts....things that came about, invented or occurred around the time we got married in 1964. Odds and ends of info.

Panti hose appeared in the early 1960's...II know I wore a girdle and nylons when first working as a nurse, That with those darn all polyester uniforms was a killer AND there was no air in many hospitals at that time.

Typewriter standardization came in 1910 anfdd the IBM electric came in 1961. They were  great!!It seems early 60's or so Hashbro launched GI Joe

BASIC easy  high level intro pogromming language. Didn't give exact date.
Sony into first VCR
Bubble wrap and computer mourse invented.

The 1960's had the most significant changes in history.

Man on the moon.
St, Paul minnesoota got first MacDonalds...burger 15 cents.

Food stamp program was created
Royal Crown Cola made first 12 oz al. can pop and Coke came 3 years later.
Plastic milk carton introduced
Pepsi made diet pepsi
Into of Buffalo wings
First Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer aired on NBC
Acrylic paint invented
Permanent press clothes invented (and the world quit ironing lol)
Halogen lamps invented 1960
Valium in vented in 1961...I was in nurses training at Mayos and www gave valium to multiple sclerosis patients for muscle spasms. And then the world discovered that you could get stoned on it.
Non daily creamer invented 1961

Top inventions past 50 years

1955  remote control
1955  microwave
1957  birth control pills
1958 Boeing 707 first successful commercial jet
1961 cordless tools
1961  industrial robots
1962  comercial satellite
1962  LED
1955 polio vaccine
1964  music synthesizer
1969 smoke detector
1970 digital music
1971  waffle running shoes
1969  automated teller machines
1973  cell phone
1979  song walkman
1955 velcro
1972  electric ignition
1973  MRI
1978 GPS
1984  DNA finger printing
1960 first pacemaker implanted
1960  first Etch a sketch...they have been around forever
1960  the laser
1987  Prozac antidepressant invented
1960  halogen lamps
1961  Cochlear implants
1962  audio cassettes
1962 silicone breast implants
1962  fiber tipped pens
1963  touch tone phones
1963  zip codes
1963  pull tabs
1963  easy bake oven
1964  wonder bra
1964  smiley face
1964  picture phones
1965  astroturf
1965  asparatame..artificial sweetener
1966 hand calculator
1868  first 911 call made
1968  first supersonic airliner
1968 first manned lunar orbit
1969  ARPA NET precursor to internet
1969  Unix Op Sy from Bell Labs Single chip micro processor

I thought I had found more...maybe there is more in all my papers. It must have really been interesting with all these inventions but darned if it made an impact on me and I was born in 1943. When we are busy with life...life just goes on. I think that the birth control pills probably really made an impact on many people and the microwave was a big deal.

[Bucky]

Hi everyone - once again, time has gone by so fast - I can't keep the days/months straight.

I hope everyone is doing well (as well as can be under the circumstances with a pandemic going on).

I just found out yesterday that as of Oct. 31st., I will be laid-off again - this time, until Spring - people are not wanting to dine inside or hold small events, so it's not feasible for our restaurant/banquet facility to stay open. Not the way I envisioned the start of my 10th year working there.     It is what it is, there's nothing we can do about it.  Thankfully, my family is well, so we will count our blessings and roll with the punches.

Sixty - we didn't have milk chutes, but we did have an insulated box on the front porch that the milk man would put our glass milk bottles in (and we would leave the empty ones for him to take back to re-use).

Linda - ahh, yes - the phone party line.  The neighbor girl and I got in trouble several times for picking up the phone and listening in (while giggling in the background).  I am certainly glad we don't have those today!!

Irish - were we lived in Ohio, we didn't have a Jewel T man, but we did have the Fuller Brush Man (in fact, I'm told my grandfather was one). The company is still in business today.

Irish, that's an interesting fact list you posted.

Back "in the day", things like restaurants, gas stations, stores, etc., were not open on Sundays.  In fact, up until Walmart founder, Sam Walton passed away, Walmart's were NOT open on Sundays.  That all changed once Mr. Walton passed away.  Today, there are still some restaurants and businesses that choose to remain closed on Sundays so their employees can go to church.

A topic that came up this week was how much wedding receptions have changed through the years.  In years past, the couple would be married at church and then have a small reception in the social hall there at the church with punch, cake and possibly finger foods to eat.  No big elaborate sit-down dinner, bands, dancing, etc.  Because I work at a company that holds wedding receptions, I see how much people spend for their receptions.  i think the most expensive reception I've seen is $35,000!  Wow, what I could do with $35,000!!  Just the decorating of the reception room is expensive if you have custom seating, elaborate table setting and flowers, etc.  The bar tab for many weddings can really rack up the cost of the reception.  I've been to a wedding reception where at the end of the evening they had fireworks - and those are not cheap!! 

For my wedding, I only had two bridesmaids - my gt. nieces wedding, she had 12!!!  Wow!!  Today, most brides and bridesmaids go get their hair, makeup, and nails done - $$$.  Many brides-to-be have catered bridal showers, etc.  My showers ( I had two) were at someones home with finger foods to eat - which was perfect.

I can't even remember the last wedding I've been to where the bride & grooms car was decorated with streamers, a Just Married Sign, or tin cans streaming behind the car.  LOL

Well, I better stop here for today.

Let us know what you think about your "Baby Boomer Life".

Stay well,
Bucky