Regi Posted September 15, 2014 #76 Share Posted September 15, 2014 For anyone interested, TCM will play Lauren Bacall movies for 24 hours on September 15th. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willowdreams Posted September 15, 2014 #77 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I've decided to start a thread for us old geezers and geezettes, to talk 'bout things from our perspective and possibly to educate the young whippersnappers that might read it as to the way things were (and should be again)... And of course, to provide a place for us to sit on the stoop of the UM home, feebly shake our canes at the passing kiddo's and shout out "Hey kid! Get offa my lawn!" So the young'uns will understand where we are coming from I'll start by telling them "how it was" You young'uns have all these fancy mobile phones, with the face book, and tweets... You ain't so hot... We had those decades ago! Our mobile phones had extra long cords so we could walk around - some as long as 15 feet! For face book - we put our faces in a book.... and read... And tweets could easily be found in trees - from the birds that sang all the time... But seriously, I thought it might be fun to post some of the things we 50+ year olds grew up with and around... So you younger posters could see how far we've come in just 1 lifetime... My family use to be on a party line... Eight families sharing the same phone line... You had to listen to the pattern of the rings to know if the call was for you or someone else... And of course anyone could pick up their phone and hear you talking... (People were really nosy back then!) And you had to wait for a time when no one was using the phone before you could dial out... My neighbors hated our family... I had 5 sisters who lived on the phone... Telephones came in two colors - Black... and Tan... few houses had more than one as it cost more than my dad made a month to get a second line... I remember our first color TV... I was 12, and the national networks (ABC, CBS and NBC - thats all there was in the US) each had 1 or 2 shows that were in color (everything else was grainy, staticy Black and white) My dad saved up for several months and paid close to half a months salary for a large, console TV that had an AM/FM/shortwave radio receiver and phonograph player in it... And it had a massive 14 inch Color TV screen... We were the envy of the block... Prior to that there were people selling "color converter kits" for B&W TVs... It was a sheet of cellophane that you taped over the screen... The top third was light blue (to simulate sky) the bottom was light green and the middle was yellow... It sucked.... Computers were semi-magical things only seen in bad sci-fi movies, and cost millions of dollars... If you have a pocket calculator today - it has more capabilites than they did back then... Speaking of calculators... The first "pocket calculators" came out while I was in my first year of high school... They cost almost a months salary, and had limited functions - with a red LED display... The "Brainy kids" had Slide-Rules - which we called "Slip-sticks"... Any other Old timers care to share ? Oh and BTW "Get offa my lawn!" our first phone I remember was black and clunky.... but then we got the new fangled on the wall princess phone with 20' cord.. in *gasp* AVACADO GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It matched our fridge! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willowdreams Posted September 15, 2014 #78 Share Posted September 15, 2014 you all remember the 'tv light'? We had one on top of our big clunky console tv... back when i was young they thought watching tv in the dark would hurt your eyesight.. so they had tv lights that rested to the back of the tv on top of the tv. Ours looked like a hula girl (grandaddy chose it). They also believed if you sat to close to the tv you would get to much radiation! (go figure!) Also tv had times for family.. like from 7pm to 9 pm we watched shows like adam 12, emergency, quincy md... kojac.. columbo.. then at 9.. the 'adult' movies came on.. today they would be rated pg 17 *snickers*... saturday nights were 'chiller' nights where we could get scared with movies like the blob and frankensteins monster... on sat morn it was cartoons like fat albert... oooh conjunction conjuction what's your function... for after school hours there was micky mouse club, bob cummings, many loves of dobie gillis.. gilligan island.. brady bunch.. i like the week night shows of donny and marie, and carol burnette.. anyone here remember burns and allen? George was funny, but his wife was funnier!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonardo Posted September 15, 2014 #79 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I remember going to the cinema when a whippersnapper and there were actual curtains in front of the screen which lifted when the feature was about to start! "God Save the Queen" would play before every film, and all the people in the cinema would actually stand for it - some would even sing along! Ah, a different world... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedarcarver1 Posted September 15, 2014 #80 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Well, personally, I was never fond of Tom Cruise or anything I ever saw he ever did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedarcarver1 Posted September 15, 2014 #81 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I agree. I should have clarified that. The only positive thing Tom Cruise ever personally did for me was make me aware of my snoring. Woke myself up. I was an unwilling viewer all three times of the movie. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted September 15, 2014 Author #82 Share Posted September 15, 2014 (edited) you all remember the 'tv light'? We had one on top of our big clunky console tv... back when i was young they thought watching tv in the dark would hurt your eyesight.. so they had tv lights that rested to the back of the tv on top of the tv. Ours looked like a hula girl (grandaddy chose it). They also believed if you sat to close to the tv you would get to much radiation! (go figure!) Also tv had times for family.. like from 7pm to 9 pm we watched shows like adam 12, emergency, quincy md... kojac.. columbo.. then at 9.. the 'adult' movies came on.. today they would be rated pg 17 *snickers*... saturday nights were 'chiller' nights where we could get scared with movies like the blob and frankensteins monster... on sat morn it was cartoons like fat albert... oooh conjunction conjuction what's your function... for after school hours there was micky mouse club, bob cummings, many loves of dobie gillis.. gilligan island.. brady bunch.. i like the week night shows of donny and marie, and carol burnette.. anyone here remember burns and allen? George was funny, but his wife was funnier!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Burns and Allen were very funny - loved Gracie... George always said he had the easiest job in Hollywood... All he did was say "Hows your Uncle?" and Gracie talked for 40 years... Our TV light was a pair of lamps on the end tables of the couch... We were never allowed to watch TV without at least 1 one... But my two older sisters and I always liked to stay up late on Friday's and watch "Friday Night at the Frights" - a local station ran monster movies until about 3 am... We would lay on our bellies, chins propped up on our hands, about 2 feet from the screen... Everytime a monster would appear my sisters would scream and bury their faces in a pillow until I told them the critter was gone... I wasn't always truthfull ... The only time one of those movies actually scared me, was one night while our parents were out, we were watching one about a Demon/Bear/bat thing that was eatting London (or some-such) and just as the demon-thing was reaching for the hero's girl friend... My dad (who had snuck up to the window) scratched heavily on the screen with his fingers... I swear I was clinging to the ceiling by my fingernails! I remember going to the cinema when a whippersnapper and there were actual curtains in front of the screen which lifted when the feature was about to start! "God Save the Queen" would play before every film, and all the people in the cinema would actually stand for it - some would even sing along! Ah, a different world... I grew up on Army bases and served until fairly recently, so most theaters I went to were actually run by the base... In them just as the lights dimmed they would show a clip of the flag flying and the National Anthem would play... It was expected that everyone would stand and salute (if in uniform) or stand at attention - a BIG disgrace if you did not (even as a kid)... To this day when the lights dim, I have to resist the urge to stand and salute... I agree. I should have clarified that. The only positive thing Tom Cruise ever personally did for me was make me aware of my snoring. Woke myself up. I was an unwilling viewer all three times of the movie. The best part of his "War of the Worlds" was that he wasn't trying to save the world... He was just trying to get his kids to safety.... I still think his best role ever was the brief cameo he played in the last Austin Powers movie... I don't care much for his acting either... Edited September 15, 2014 by Taun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyomotor Posted September 16, 2014 #83 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Is this a movie thread or a thread for us old folks? (grumble, grumble) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted September 16, 2014 Author #84 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Is this a movie thread or a thread for us old folks? (grumble, grumble) It's a thread for us old folks to grumble! So ... Well done! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regi Posted September 16, 2014 #85 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) oooh conjunction conjuction what's your function... No, no, it was Conjuction Junction what's your function. (I used to love to sing along with that! (I thought it was clever and I felt clever singing it. ) [media=] [/media] The only positive thing Tom Cruise ever personally did for me was make me aware of my snoring. Woke myself up. I was an unwilling viewer all three times of the movie. Well, what he did for me personally was ruin the song, Old Time Rock And Roll. You know, you were talking about scary movies...anything with Vincent Price always scared the dickens out me! Edited September 16, 2014 by regi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyomotor Posted September 16, 2014 #86 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Too loud, too loud, and ya can't understand what they're saying. Now Bing Crosby, that's the way to go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted September 17, 2014 Author #87 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Crosby was smooth.. But I always preferred Julie London.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted September 17, 2014 Author #88 Share Posted September 17, 2014 No, no, it was Conjuction Junction what's your function. (I used to love to sing along with that! (I thought it was clever and I felt clever singing it. ) [media=] [/media] Well, what he did for me personally was ruin the song, Old Time Rock And Roll. You know, you were talking about scary movies...anything with Vincent Price always scared the dickens out me! Loved the old Vincent Price movies... Dr. Phibes was creepy!... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilly Posted September 17, 2014 #89 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Wow, you guys really are 'old coots' (Bing Crosby was my parents generation!). I like my music loud: Led Zep, Beatles, Eagles, Cream, Queen, Santana.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightly Posted September 17, 2014 #90 Share Posted September 17, 2014 (edited) I remember lurking around listening when my older sisters played their records ... all 50's stuff on 45 RPMs . I thought it was the most wonderful music i'd ever heard .. Not to take anything away from my Ma's Singing & Piano Playing ... that was Wonderful too! i had sort of a Wild child hood. Grew up on a Beautiful Lake in the middle of Nowhere ... almost. Kids around there were the happiest critters you could imagine. Grumpiness came muuuuuuuch later .. but i'm quite good at it now. *oh and Taun? you got 5$ for mowing? LUXURY! i had to pull the mower about 2 miles out to this Old Lady's house ..to mow her 3000 acre ... well maybe 3 acre lawn. Which took me hours ... ( i was like 8?) I got 1 $ and an archway apple filled cookie. 1 i think i may have first experienced grumpiness pulling the mower back home that day the dollar was sort of OK .. but the 1 cookie kind of steamed my socks! i think i'm gonna like this thread! Edited September 17, 2014 by lightly 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyomotor Posted September 17, 2014 #91 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Lightly, you got paid to mow her lawn. I had to walk for miles to help our land lady get her cattle in for milking, help carry the buckets of milk to her house and help while she separated the milk from the cream, and occasionally I got a billy can of fresh milk to take home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regi Posted September 17, 2014 #92 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Loved the old Vincent Price movies... Dr. Phibes was creepy!... Who's Dr. Phibes? I specifically remember a movie called The Tingler... it scared the daylights out of me for a long time to come. To this day, I remember at the end where he said something like if you ever feel frightened, then you have a tingler. (Yikes!) Too loud, too loud, and ya can't understand what they're saying. Now Bing Crosby, that's the way to go. Well, I grew up during the Disco era and yes, I liked a lot of that stuff, but I usually liked most of whatever was on the charts at the time. As for Crosby, I know he was a singer, but that's about it. Do you have a favorite? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyomotor Posted September 17, 2014 #93 Share Posted September 17, 2014 White Christmas was good-we don't have them in Aus. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regi Posted September 17, 2014 #94 Share Posted September 17, 2014 White Christmas was good-we don't have them in Aus. Yeah, I knew that one and quite frankly, I'm not crazy about it, not the way he sings it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted September 17, 2014 Author #95 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Wow, you guys really are 'old coots' (Bing Crosby was my parents generation!). I like my music loud: Led Zep, Beatles, Eagles, Cream, Queen, Santana.... I like them too... But I also like some of the older stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regi Posted September 17, 2014 #96 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I still like most of the music, but I think it's that I've outgrown the lyrics to most of the songs I liked in my teens and twenties... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted September 17, 2014 Author #97 Share Posted September 17, 2014 While we're on the subject of old music... Here's a couple songs that I liked when I was a young'un.... This song askes a very serious question.... (1959 - I was 6- ish) (1958) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyomotor Posted September 18, 2014 #98 Share Posted September 18, 2014 That's a very deep question, and deserving of an answer. Maybe we could consult the Purple People Eater-oo, ee- oo, ah ah, ting tang walla walla bing bang. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regi Posted September 18, 2014 #99 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I'd say it could have or if it did, it didn't matter , but I was lucky if it made it to the bedpost and not stuck in my hair. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedarcarver1 Posted October 8, 2014 #100 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Speaking of 45 rpms, I remember my younger sister having some of her girlfriends over and they would watch American Bandstand, play their records, and practice the newest dance moves. I though they looked goofy, until, after a year or so later, that I found reasons to pass them by, noticing that my sister's friends were moving more than their feet, Up and down, you know? And about televisions, I was talking to an online friend about antique televisions. He has a couple and then he went on about their value to collectors. I saw one in a Tulsa, OK, pawnshop a few weeks ago. It was gold-colored, had a small screen with slightly curved left and right side edges. It sat upon a wooden veneered console. Rabbit-ear antennas came out the top with a little dial for fine tuning reception. Of course, it had a tag that read NFS. Some of the younger people looked at it with curiosity, wondering (I'll bet) how it functioned. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now