Congratulations...

[Nathan Dodge]

But the point of the first post was that there were "no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Nandos" when those generations were growing up...[huh] Your post verifies that they did exist when you were a kid.

If you came of age in the sixties or seventies, KFC and McDonald's were around and in number, too. Never heard of Nandos, though.

Once again, the initial post is Brit-centric and as mentioned since, rural in mindset.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to walk uphill to and from school...

 

[Viola]

It strikes me as being awfully middle-class, too. In working-class families, it was often taken for granted that Grandma would have to work in one way or another, above and beyond her household chores -- if she didn't have a job in a factory, she'd take in sewing or laundry, or do cleaning for middle-class folks.

I think the class issue applies even today: when there were a lot of kids in my neighborhood here, five or ten years back, they weren't living the playdate/videogame/highly supervised way of life, because they didn't have obsessive yuppie parents. They played in the street, pretty much the same way I did.

I do agree with the basic sentiments, though -- I don't think I could stand to be a kid today.

True that about the class issue, I think. When I was a kid Nintendos and Segas and Gameboys were definitely around, but I certainly wasn't going to be getting one. We played outside and down by the train tracks (sorry Mom, I know I told you I never ever played on the tracks) and in the creek instead.

Ahh, those delightful games of outdoor play: Kick that boy who pulled your hair! Try not to get beat up by those kids from that other school! Find that kid who's been hassling your little brother!

Is there ANYTHING more delightful than children at play?

 

[Ethan Bentley]

I was born in 1971 and everything but the "Fish and chips" reference applied to my experiences growing up. There were McDonald's everywhere. This was more Brit-centric.

Curse the yuppie scourge for the total wimpification/nannyization of the world....

I remember when I was growing up (80's) McDonald's & CocaCola were really a treat, I'm not sure that's the case so much anymore.
I also remember that they never used to have a toy in the Happy Meal every week, nowadays you just have to walk in a Mcdonalds to see all the discarded trinkets from the meals. Obviously not that attractive to children any more.

 

[Chas]

I was lucky, to be born where I was, when I was and to whom. My Mum and Dad (both gone, now), of the Depression/WW2 generation were folk of a high degree of intelligence and common sense. The pull of the consumerist society was so strong, however, that it took me until my mid 40's to truly understand what they taught me, that hard work, frugality and practicality will serve me well. I am pleased to say that, "I have arrived...."

These virtues will never be out of style.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

I remember when I was growing up (80's) McDonald's & CocaCola were really a treat, I'm not sure that's the case so much anymore.
I also remember that they never used to have a toy in the Happy Meal every week, nowadays you just have to walk in a Mcdonalds to see all the discarded trinkets from the meals. Obviously not that attractive to children any more.

That's true. It was an "event" when we went for McDonald's. I was raised by my grandparents (Great Depression-WWII generation) and not a day goes by that I say or do something with that "sensible" and "thrifty" mindset that evidently rubbed off on me!

Their mantra? "We have [ice cream/candy/soda/whatever I was asking for] at home!" I eventually learned not to ask!

 

[FinalVestige79]

I was born in the nineties and I was outside all the time. WE rode our bikes and played in our backyards, we had trampolines and we used our imagination... sure we had video games, but they were never as fun as outdoors. If it got too hot outside (It gets up into the 100s here) we'd run around inside one of our houses. Then when it got dark we'd go back outside. We were all very skinny and fit....

And then we all moved away. lol
(My backyard can't fit a trampoline now)

Same here, I was always outside. I have pictures of me playing civil war sniper in my grandparents olive tree at age 8, my aunt got me a Union Army Cap, and I found rucksack to hold all my special secret weapons, toys and special rocks. And my Gramps gave me an old musket he found in the garage. Us neighborhood kids would band together and play war all day with whatever guns we had..nerf launchers, air guns, pop guns and we would wage war from the block over and hunt eachother and do little mini patrols through our backyards and take prisoners and plant boobytraps and that tree was always the big climax of the battle...and then everyone moved away. I miss those days very much. I miss that tree.

 

[Talbot]

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Nandos.

I noticed my first Golden Arches in Melbourne around 73'. Before then it was strictly the local fish shop for chips, burgers, or chiko rolls. What ever happened to pickled onions?

Meat pies and pasties were a very popular lunchtime fast food. Still today, nothing beats a meat pie from a hot bread bakery.

Its funny how we can bang on about how different things were, but kids today inherited their world from us.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Until the early '70s, we only had one McDonalds in the entire *state*, one of the old-style Golden Arch drive-ins in Bangor. It was considered a major event to go there -- we were a forty-minute drive away -- and sit in the parking lot and throw french fries to the pigeons. Back home it was strictly local diners, lunch rooms, and drive-ins.

Didn't get our first local McDonalds until 1973, the next town over from where I lived, and until a Wendys opened five years ago, it was still the only fast-food joint in that town.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ahh, those delightful games of outdoor play: Kick that boy who pulled your hair! Try not to get beat up by those kids from that other school! Find that kid who's been hassling your little brother!

Is there ANYTHING more delightful than children at play?

Yes indeed. Fond memories here of the time I got locked in the trunk of an abandoned car while playing a very ill-advised game of hide and seek. Two older boys convinced me NOBODY would find me there -- and they were almost right. One of their dads finally got me out -- and I can still hear the sound of him thrashing his son as I ran home. I date my enduring skepticism about just about everything to that event.

 

[Foofoogal]

fftopic:

Daniel Jones. Did you know today is your avatars Birthday.

Johnny Depp. Swoon.

 

[Widebrim]

Until the early '70s, we only had one McDonalds in the entire *state*, one of the old-style Golden Arch drive-ins in Bangor. It was considered a major event to go there -- we were a forty-minute drive away -- and sit in the parking lot and throw french fries to the pigeons. Back home it was strictly local diners, lunch rooms, and drive-ins.

Didn't get our first local McDonalds until 1973, the next town over from where I lived, and until a Wendys opened five years ago, it was still the only fast-food joint in that town.

Boy, were you fortunate! Los Angeles has had its share of fast-food joints since the early '70s...