Quirky things that people have done 'in the day' that people would gasp at today..

[Lauren]

When I was a kid in the early 80s it was fine for us to go out and "play" until the street lamps started to come on. All the kids on the street would get together and we would roam the neighbourhood and the woods behind it.

We did the same thing, too. There were train tracks back there, too, and we'd put pennies on it then go back and find them later, and dare each other to run up and touch the freight trains. We built a raft in the pond, picked wild blackberries, built tree forts, etc, without any adults around. Would have ruined it! You'd hear parents starting to yell for kids about dusk. It makes me sad that kids now don't get as much freedom.

I also did the driving thing on my dad's lap. It was a relatively small town around here at the time, though.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think the most valuable thing about being a kid running loose was learning that actions have consequences -- you didn't always get to win, sometimes you were going to fall off the bike and get hurt, you'd get up the tree and have to figure out how to get back down again. You learned to take the good and the bad as just a part of life -- you weren't sealed in plastic and protected from all adversity the way kids seem to be today.

The best lesson I ever learned was the time playing hide-and-seek when a boy talked me into hiding in a car trunk -- which he then locked me into and ran off. I was stuck in there for quite a while before his dad heard me banging and let me out. That taught me to be very very very skeptical, a lesson which has stood me well in later life. It also taught me about "schadenfreude," when I got to hear the boy screaming as his dad whaled the tar out of him.

 

[Lady Day]

I remember I was being a noisy kid while we were out and about, and my Mother yanked my arm and slapped me on the butt, in the store. No one batted an eye.

LD

 

[Paisley]

I think the most valuable thing about being a kid running loose was learning that actions have consequences -- you didn't always get to win, sometimes you were going to fall off the bike and get hurt, you'd get up the tree and have to figure out how to get back down again. You learned to take the good and the bad as just a part of life -- you weren't sealed in plastic and protected from all adversity the way kids seem to be today.

I agree up to a point--there's a risk in not learning how to deal with life. That's why I don't see what's so great about growing up in the suburbs; for me, at least, there was nothing to do there.

Some places are better to play than others. The tiny town where my grandparents lived was great--I rode a bike all over, played with the neighbor kids and went for walks. I think my grandparents knew everyone in town. But where we lived when I was little--one house away from a busy street and across a narrow street from a grocery store, with no other kids or trusted adults around--I shouldn't have been allowed to play there, especially since we had a perfectly good back yard. One of my nieces was allowed to play unsupervised in the front yard as well, and was molested by a neighbor.

With more parental control, my brother might not have been accidentally shot and killed. Likewise, my great-grandfather might not have been shot and blinded in one eye when he was a kid: he and his sister found old black powder pistols, still with a little charge, in an abandoned house.

 

[Avalon]

One of my best playmates was the little girl who lived next door to my grandparents. She'd come over when she saw Grandpa working in the garage, and he'd give her a sip of his beer. lol

 

[goldwyn girl]

My grandmother used to hoard plastic bags, she would wash them out and hang them to dry in the laundry, I told a boy she had collected them from so far back there were some from the Titanic...........he believed me. My grandparents lived at the beach so when us kids visited my grandfather would put a rowboat in the back of his Ute/pickup and sit us kids in it to stop it from sliding out while he drove us down to the water. My mother told me her mother would wash her hair then put her on a chair outside and comb out her hair all the while pulling it so "it would grow"........ouch!! and there she sat till it was dry and she had very think hair !

 

[texasgirl]

My grandmother used to shave her legs by lighting newspapers on fire and running it along her skin. I never witnessed it, but my mother told me about it. This would have been is the 50s-60s. She was a single mom with 10 kids, so maybe she was trying to save money? I don't know, but it sounds frightening!

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Yes, to the running free and loose in the neighborhood with the admonition, "be home before the streetlights come on." Summers, I'd disappear in the morning and be gone all day, exploring alleys and old sheds, riding my bike to fields and bridges down dusty roads to make secret picnics.

On the epic road to trip from OK to visit my grandparents in PA, we went in my dad's Ford pick up with a camper shell. My brother and I spent the whole trip fussing and fighting in the camper as if we were trapped in a little bedroom.

I once did or said something to upset my mother on the way home from the grocery. Or maybe something else was eating at her that day, who knows? But I have a memory of being put out of the car on the side of the road and told to walk home! Luckily it was a tiny town and I must have known the way. Funny thing - in my memory, I'm clutching a box of Honeycomb cereal as I trudge along......

 

[Amy Jeanne]

One of my best playmates was the little girl who lived next door to my grandparents. She'd come over when she saw Grandpa working in the garage, and he'd give her a sip of his beer. lol

My dad let me have little sips of his beer when I was a kid! And he let me take little puffs of his cigar once. lol.

This whole thread reminds of this photo from square america:

Could you imagine THIS photo being printed in Wal-mart today?? No doubt, CPS would be knocking on the family's door -- even though this is obviously just a joke photo.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

No kidding. I've got a picture from the late 60s of my brother and me in the bath tub together. It'd be a pretty bold parent risking such a shot today!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

No kidding. I've got a picture from the late 60s of my brother and me in the bath tub together. It'd be a pretty bold parent risking such a shot today!

Actually, a family recently had their children taken away from them because a Wal-Mart worker deemed their children's bathtime photo as "child pornography."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...accused_of_sexual_abuse_over_kids_bathti.html

 

[C-dot]

Actually, a family recently had their children taken away from them because a Wal-Mart worker deemed their children's bathtime photo as "child pornography."

That is shocking! They're siblings, for heaven's sake. That poor family...

fftopic: Reminds me (almost) of a recent case up here: An independently owned store was being shoplifted very often and was hurting for it. The shoplifter was caught by the owner's son - The thief tried to run, but the son caught him and held him until the police arrived. Honourable, no?

Here's the kicker - the thief is not facing any charges, the storekeeper's son is, for wrongful citizen's arrest and confinement.

I'm noticing these backward situations more and more these days.

 

[*martini*time*]

fftopic: I read that article and it makes me so mad. I have a bunch of naked bathtub pictures up until i'm like 5. Most of the time its us being silly. like bubble bath beards, or shower caps. I hope those people sue the pants off that evil corporation that is wal mart!

But on the other hand, maybe the wal mart employee was just doing their job? they are bound by the law to report things that they deem questionable.fftopic:

okay, back to quirky things. there is a picture of me as a baby in one of those roll-y things that you put your baby in when they are just learning to walk...putting steak knives in the dishwasher. There is also a picture of me sliding down a metal slide into a paddling pool with a rake in it. Guess who was taking the picture...my parents!

 

[23SkidooWithYou]

Things I don't recommend...

Cleaning with gasoline.

My Gram used to clean certain messes (don't ask me what) with gasoline and kept the rags in a metal can. Enter my Uncle, the baby and only boy, and a match. Blew off his eyebrows.

Freshening your breath with anything but real mouthwash or minty gum.

As a last step in getting ready, my Gram used to splash some cologne on her finger and rub it inside her mouth to sweeten her breath. She also informed me way back in the 30's when she was a young thing, she and her sisters chewed cloves to freshen their breath. I tried both of these as a kid and let me just say...I'd rather have bad breath. lol

Kerosine is for lanterns, not lice.

My Mom contracted head lice in grammar school. My Grandmother poured kerosine in her hair to kill the critters and gave my Mom a nice chemical burn in the process. My Gram's brother-in-law was a doctor and flipped out when he realized what she had done.

Whiskey, it's not just for grown ups.

In the day, Mother's sometimes rubbed whiskey on teething babies gums to ease the pain. I don't know if it actually numbed them, but I'll bet they slept well!

Rope doggies, not children.

My Gram had a harness from the time my Uncle was a small boy. You got strapped in and hooked to the clothes line. She could do her outdoor chores and you couldn't wander off or bolt for the road. I actually think it was a great idea but can you imagine what people would say if you tied your kid to a tree or clothes line today? Um...legend has it that she also tied my Uncle's bedroom door shut at nap time because he used to sneak out. In this case, probably not such a bad idea (please refer to gas rag incident above, the "Z" burned with a cigarette lighter in the car upholstery as a sign of Zorro, the kitchen covered in cocoa powder when he tried to make chocolate pancakes and the list goes on)


In my Gram's defense, there were some things that she was oh-so-right about! Just one example...She used to make a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to keep her smile bright. This was decades before any fancy tooth whitening products!

 

[23SkidooWithYou]

Does anyone remember their Mom or Grandmother keeping damp linens rolled up in the refridgerator?

I faintly recollect this but I can't remember why it was done!

 

[PS]

This is a fun thread!
I kiss my best girlfriend on the lips and hold her hand. Never thought that other people might not do this.
I locked my youngest in his room during nap time. Our house was built in the 40's and some of the doors do not stay closed so a few have hook and eye style closures.
I was an 80's baby and I remember buying my mom her cigarettes.

 

[23SkidooWithYou]

I was an 80's baby and I remember buying my mom her cigarettes.

That reminds me!

Before beer was bottled or canned, you could only get it from the corner bar. People used to send children to the bars with covered pails to be filled and carried home for Dad after a long day of work. We come from Irish coal miners and it was believed a good libation settled the dust on the lungs.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I've seen people in 30s movies spritz perfume in their mouths. Red Headed Woman comes to mind. I always thought it was just for comedy!

 

[Hamilton_Honey]

Does anyone remember their Mom or Grandmother keeping damp linens rolled up in the refridgerator?

I faintly recollect this but I can't remember why it was done!

Yep. The point is to keep the fabric damp (and free of mildew via cooler temperature) until ready for ironing. Lot's of women also just used a sprinkling bottle if the linens were already dry. It's darn difficult to get wrinkles out of dry linens - especially pre-steam iron.

 

[Hamilton_Honey]

practically all of the above

Yes on no seat belts and riding in laps when little and later in the back of open pickups. Also to cramming extra people into a car by sitting on laps driving to church or the Dairy Queen...

Yes on wandering around outside to play until dinner (but we had to stay in earshot of Mother's "whoohoo") and lots of great memories of forts, picking berries, train tracks and pennies, falling off your bike, etc. etc. And I certainly learned some good life lessons about being careful and so on.

Yes on getting disciplined, sometimes with Dad's belt. But only when it was deserved. And we were always "loved up" afterward. I don't resent any of it.

Yes to bathtub pictures and sharing beds - my sister and I are only 2 years apart.

Yes to holding hands with family and close friends - I still do!

I remember my grandmother chewing cloves too - and I have done it before for toothache and it does help. Also lavender and anise were popular breath fresheners. My mother introduced me to lavender pastilles. As for the cologne, well, my mother often carried candies or mints in her handbag and I remember many a time they tasted like the perfume she carried in there too! lol

Overall, my parents and grandparents tried to be careful and watchful of us, but let us run around some too.