Remember when?

[marv2]

I remember our basement before people had TVs in their houses. We had a top-loader, circle-spinning clothes washing machine, a large meat freezer and a coal furnace and large coal bin. I spent a lot of time down there during winter, shoveling coal into the furnace. We had a coal chute on the wall, where the coal truck would send coal down.

No families had clothes dryers in those days. In Spring and Summer, and early fall, we'd hang our clothes on our clotheslines in our side yard. They ran on wire lines suspended between two poles. The backyards of our house and our neighbours' [[my uncle's and aunts') formed a large hockey rink, so those permanent iron, cement-anchored poles couldn't sit in the back. In Winter, we had to dry our clothes on portable wood-framed clothes drying lattices, sitting in our attic. The forced heat from the furnace would rise that far, and be warmer up there than down lower, in the house. We usually kept our house at about 55 degrees Fahrenheit [[we didn't use Celsius back then, in Canada), because it was too much of a change to come inside from 50 below zero to 70 degrees above. That's 120 degrees difference. When we moved to Chicago and saw that people kept their houses at 75 and even up to 80 and 85 degrees in Winter, I was sent into shock from surprise, and knocked unconscious from heat prostration. I couldn't spend more than about 5 minutes at a time inside my Black friends homes in Winter, without almost passing out. I'd get soaked in sweat, and then go outside and almost freeze to death. I wasn't surprised to see so many people in Chicago sick in Winter from having their bodies constantly needing to adjust to 75-90 degree temperature changes. It just wasn't like that in Canada back in the day.

The heat in Summer was much worse and much more humid in Chicago than in Winnipeg [[although Winnipeg's mosquitoes were much worse). Back in the '50s and '60s, no one had air conditioning in their homes. Even most stores didn't have it. The only place to escape the stifling heat was movie houses. At night, I'd lie in a pool of sweat, and have a hard time sleeping. So, I would stick my pillow in the big freezer, and it would be cool for me for a few minutes.

Later, like many people, we put in a tile floor, and a ping-pong and pool table. We also had a stationary bicycle and free weights and a weights bench. That's where I did my weight-training for youth hockey. But, we never had a bar, nor TV, nor the family entertainment centers nor recreation centers people have today. My cousins, next door, had a large, commercial-sized pinball machine, like they had in bars and arcades, back in the day.

Robb, your description makes it sounds like you guys had it so rough. It's like when I tell kids now that we only had 3 major television channels that went off of the air by midnight growing up.

[robb_k]

Robb, your description makes it sounds like you guys had it so rough. It's like when I tell kids now that we only had 3 major television channels that went off of the air by midnight growing up.

We didn't have it all that rough. Think about how Tina Turner grew up in St. Louis, with no toilet inside the house, and having to go out to an out-house in the backyard, in the middle of Winter! I can't imagine doing that in Winnipeg in 140 degrees below zero windchill, and having to sit bareassed on that cold wood seat! I count my blessings. One set of my grandparents grew up in a forest village in Lithuania, whose houses had no plumbing or running water. Their transportation was horses and wagons. There were no cars, trucks or airplanes. They had to take baths in metal washbasins, with hot water poured onto them [[after being heated in a large kettle on a pot-bellied stove). They had to carry water into the house in buckets. They also had an outhouse. They lived not far away from Finland and St. Petersburg, near 56 degrees north latitude. The climate there us similar to northern Quebec. They only went to school to the 8th grade, then had to work to help the family. Their marriage was arranged by their parents! The modern world hasn't been around very long at all! - only a few generations.

[marv2]

We didn't have it all that rough. Think about how Tina Turner grew up in St. Louis, with no toilet inside the house, and having to go out to an out-house in the backyard, in the middle of Winter! I can't imagine doing that in Winnipeg in 140 degrees below zero windchill, and having to sit bareassed on that cold wood seat! I count my blessings. One set of my grandparents grew up in a forest village in Lithuania, whose houses had no plumbing or running water. Their transportation was horses and wagons. There were no cars, trucks or airplanes. They had to take baths in metal washbasins, with hot water poured onto them [[after being heated in a large kettle on a pot-bellied stove). They had to carry water into the house in buckets. They also had an outhouse. They lived not far away from Finland and St. Petersburg, near 56 degrees north latitude. The climate there us similar to northern Quebec. They only went to school to the 8th grade, then had to work to help the family. Their marriage was arranged by their parents! The modern world hasn't been around very long at all! - only a few generations.

I understand and know exactly what you mean. I've seen those things traveling to the South of this country as kid in the 1960s with my parents. I even used an outhouse before.....Peee Uww! I think the conditions some people lived through made them stronger, more resourceful than people today. As a very young man, I walked, biked and took the bus everywhere. I did not have a car of my own until my early 20s. Kids in my family in the younger generation all have cars in high school. We walked to school from Kindergarten until I graduated from high school.

[robb_k]

Robb, your description makes it sounds like you guys had it so rough. It's like when I tell kids now that we only had 3 major television channels that went off of the air by midnight growing up.

I wouldn't have traded not having had TV when I was young for having it. We played board games, cards, read comic books, and when really small, we were told stories and had comic book and book stories told to us, mainly by our grandparents, who lived with us. As immigrants, we had lots of extended family around. We had about 30 people at our dinner tables on weekday evenings, and about 50 on weekends. I got to listen to stories about the old days and old countries from all 4 of my grandparents and a lot of great uncles and great aunts. I had bedtime stories told me, and my sisters and brother and first cousins [[we had 14 kids living basically together) by my grandparents. They told us all about their lives, and had a lot of fun telling us entertaining stories and Dutch, Lithuanian and Hungarian folk tales, and reading comic books to us, until we could read to them. I learned to speak and understand Dutch and Yiddish from them. As a result, we became very close to them. We each had the equivalence of 6 parents. When my grandparents died [[luckily, I was over 40 when all of them went, and almost 50 for both my father's parents), I felt like I had lost parents.

Also, I learned to really enjoy reading. And that first early love of comic books and comic art, led, eventually, to my enjoying a fun career and my life after 40, much more than I would have with an ordinary career.

And during days, we were outside playing sports, almost all the time, except when there was heavy rain or blizzards. Or we were exploring in the woods, or chasing animals. If there had been electronic games, computers, TV, videos, etc., I don't think I could have had the life I did, and I would be a very different person. I wouldn't know as much about history, geography, different cultures, nature, the easy-going life, and a lot of old fashion things. I'd have access to more information, but I wouldn't have had as personal an introduction to each thing, and learn it through the "context" of reading about it and looking at photos of it from a box's screen, instead of hearing about it from people I know well, who lived through it, seeing old photos of it, with people I knew in the photos, and even living through some things from past times that would have been history had I grown up 30-40 years later.

Maybe our own time is best for each of us. We like it because we know it best. We can't imagine ourselves being very different.

[marv2]

The basement was my favorite part of the house growing up. You had full control of the TV. All your stuff like comic books ,games and sports cards were down there. There was a refrigerator in one room that I kept Kool Aid in all the time. LOL!

[arr&bee]

the basement was my favorite part of the house growing up. You had full control of the tv. All your stuff like comic books ,games and sports cards were down there. There was a refrigerator in one room that i kept kool aid in all the time. Lol!

yeah moms once put[kool-aid]in the basement fridge,of course that's where pops and me kemp the hooch chillin,well pops mixed the two by mistake[wink wink]and after moms church sisters stopped dancing,me an pops had to move to another part of the city for a while.

[robb_k]

yeah moms once put[kool-aid]in the basement fridge,of course that's where pops and me kemp the hooch chillin,well pops mixed the two by mistake[wink wink]and after moms church sisters stopped dancing,me an pops had to move to another part of the city for a while.

Luckily, I was raised before Koolaid [[ughh! coloured sugarwater! Yeccccch!), and we could afford real fruit juice and V-8. I was one of those weird kids that liked vegetables and fruit. Actually, I had a ridiculously high metabolism, and ate about as much as 10 adult football linemen. I ate everything in sight, like a locust in a frenzy. Although I brought a large sack lunch to school, I also would sneek a tray and silverware from the cafeteria, and eat all the vegetables for the kids who didn't like them, so they would qualify to get their cookies.

On days when there was no hockey practise right after school, I'd sprint home, dash into the house and grab a quick snack, eating like a ravenous wolf, and then conveniently join a neighbour friend just as he was arriving home, and his mother would invite me in to join him in his snacking. I'd alternate neighbour friends each available day.

To this day, my metabolism is still working well, although, I only eat about 4 times the average 30-year old adult male, now. But, somehow, I still burn it off. Maybe it's fear of being audited?

Our basement was no "love palace". Not only did we have no carpeting down there, we had no TV, no games, no bar, no sofa, and no other furniture other than stored folding chairs and tables. We only had a coal bin, furnace, extra refrigerator, large freezer and a washing machine. We did store a lot of food down there. We did get the ice cream for "The Great Ice Cream Eating Championship" from the big freezer, on a day after school, when no adults were home. But, we took it into the kitchen to eat it, in comfort, rather than in that cold, drab, dusty cellar.

Right after WWII, no one in our neighbourhood had the money to make their cellar into a luxurious family room. When I became a late teenager, after we moved to the Chicago suburbs, most of our neighbours had them, but we never did. We had a big house [[actually a duplex, with big houses above each other, and we made it into one, by putting an inside stairway to the upstairs house). My grandparents and an uncle and aunt and cousins were downstairs, and my parents and siblings and a few cousins were upstairs. My grandparents ran a restaurant, so they also had an elaborate bar and professional kitchen, at home. There was a gaming room, downstairs, with a pool table, large pinball machine, large TV [[after they came into being), radio console/record player and film screen for showing 8MM home movies. So, we didn't need all that in our cellar. We didn't get TVs in homes on The Canadian Plains until 1955. We were one of the first on our street to get one.

[marv2]

Luckily, I was raised before Koolaid [[ughh! coloured sugarwater! Yeccccch!), and we could afford real fruit juice and V-8. I was one of those weird kids that liked vegetables and fruit. Actually, I had a ridiculously high metabolism, and ate about as much as 10 adult football linemen. I ate everything in sight, like a locust in a frenzy. Although I brought a large sack lunch to school, I also would sneek a tray and silverware from the cafeteria, and eat all the vegetables for the kids who didn't like them, so they would qualify to get their cookies.

On days when there was no hockey practise right after school, I'd sprint home, dash into the house and grab a quick snack, eating like a ravenous wolf, and then conveniently join a neighbour friend just as he was arriving home, and his mother would invite me in to join him in his snacking. I'd alternate neighbour friends each available day.

To this day, my metabolism is still working well, although, I only eat about 4 times the average 30-year old adult male, now. But, somehow, I still burn it off. Maybe it's fear of being audited?

Our basement was no "love palace". Not only did we have no carpeting down there, we had no TV, no games, no bar, no sofa, and no other furniture other than stored folding chairs and tables. We only had a coal bin, furnace, extra refrigerator, large freezer and a washing machine. We did store a lot of food down there. We did get the ice cream for "The Great Ice Cream Eating Championship" from the big freezer, on a day after school, when no adults were home. But, we took it into the kitchen to eat it, in comfort, rather than in that cold, drab, dusty cellar.

Right after WWII, no one in our neighbourhood had the money to make their cellar into a luxurious family room. When I became a late teenager, after we moved to the Chicago suburbs, most of our neighbours had them, but we never did. We had a big house [[actually a duplex, with big houses above each other, and we made it into one, by putting an inside stairway to the upstairs house). My grandparents and an uncle and aunt and cousins were downstairs, and my parents and siblings and a few cousins were upstairs. My grandparents ran a restaurant, so they also had an elaborate bar and professional kitchen, at home. There was a gaming room, downstairs, with a pool table, large pinball machine, large TV [[after they came into being), radio console/record player and film screen for showing 8MM home movies. So, we didn't need all that in our cellar. We didn't get TVs in homes on The Canadian Plains until 1955. We were one of the first on our street to get one.

Robb, you liked vegetables as a kid? Are you sure you were from Earth? LOL! I can remember the standoffs I use to have with my mother in the kitchen because I would not touch green peas or lima beans! She would not let me go outside until I ate them. It would get dark and I'd still be sitting there looking at them after she'd tried everything from eating some herself to show me that they were good and would not kill me! LOL!!!!

[robb_k]

Robb, you liked vegetables as a kid? Are you sure you were from Earth? LOL! I can remember the standoffs I use to have with my mother in the kitchen because I would not touch green peas or lima beans! She would not let me go outside until I ate them. It would get dark and I'd still be sitting there looking at them after she'd tried everything from eating some herself to show me that they were good and would not kill me! LOL!!!!

I didn't particularly like vegetables better than meat or starch. I like all food. I was like a locust - constantly eating everything in sight. People said that I had a tapeworm. When I was sighted in the street, doors and windows slammed. People yelled, "Hide the women and children!" They thought I would eat them!

I was always skinny, and had to lift weights constantly to finally reach 185 lb. to play midget and junior hockey. I had a ridiculous metabolism. I was banned from all the "all you can eat buffets". At holiday parties, when most people went back for 3 full dinner plates, I would go back 10-15 times [[literally). I needed to eat all the kids' vegetables just to get enough calories for the day, and to help keep my parents from going broke, buying food to feed me. When I was 14-18 or so, I would guess that I ate about as much as 10 average adult males [[literally). My metabolism has slowed now that I'm over 70. But, I'm still active, and I'd guess that I still eat about 4 times as much as the average 25-30 year old man. I'm 6 ft 1 and weigh about 160. I've lost muscle weight, and still lift free weights 4 days a week just to retard the muscle mass loss.

I was lucky that we weren't poor, and I grew up [[in a family complex 6 houses within 2 blocks) as one of 14 grandchildren who ate most meals together, and most of them DIDN'T like vegetables when they were young. My siblings and cousins were glad I was around. They didn't have to feed their veggies to the dog under the table, or toss them out the window or into the plant pots, when the adults weren't looking.

[ms_m]

And I never knew how many friends I had until I started driving to school in the 11th grade.

I started in the 10th grade and kept a cup in the glove compartment for gas donations. LOL

[arr&bee]

i started in the 10th grade and kept a cup in the glove compartment for gas donations. Lol

i kept a cup in the glove compartment too...but not for gas donations,hehehhehehe!!!

[Jerry Oz]

Here's one that Marv and arr&bee will remember:

Remember when the album you spent weeks waiting for finally was in stock at the record store and you snatched it up, drove home [[running every stop sign and red light on the way), ran inside, ripped off the plastic, blew off the paper lint, put it on your turntable and noticed a warp the size of the Grand Canyon making the tone arm dip [[or worse yet, bounce)?

Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!

[marv2]

Here's one that Marv and arr&bee will remember:

Remember when the album you spent weeks waiting for finally was in stock at the record store and you snatched it up, drove home [[running every stop sign and red light on the way), ran inside, ripped off the plastic, blew off the paper lint, put it on your turntable and noticed a warp the size of the Grand Canyon making the tone arm dip [[or worse yet, bounce)?

Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!

Yep! I remember exactly what album it was when that happened to me. It was Brenda Russell's 1979 album "So Good, So Right". Bought it at my neighborhood store and it was warped LOL!

[arr&bee]

Yeah,me an pops knew something was amiss when them church sisters stopped singing[nearer my lord to thee]and formed a soul train line and started doing the[can can]and when mom got that crazed look in her eyes and headed for the gun closet, me an pops knew it was time to move...fast!!!!

[Jerry Oz]

I used to think I ruled the basement on Saturday afternoons. I'd be down there watching a weekend monster flick and having a grand time, all by myself. Then, my dad and older brother would come down and change the TV to an NBA game without so much as an "excuse us". I'd complain but Dad would say "you can watch this movie the next time it comes on but this game is only going to be played once."

I'd have to go outside and find something childlike to do. Today? I would probably find a friend to text and complain to.

[arr&bee]

My basement is the spot,everything i need at my fingertips-remote-music-movies-hooch-hooch-hooch!!!!!

[Jerry Oz]

Make sure it stays in that order. If the hooch comes first, you won't need the remote, music, or movies.

[arr&bee]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...jerry you know me,sometimes the hooch is first..many times,hehe!!!

[arr&bee]

I remember our first house[i loved that place]we had a cellar which had a room filled with dirt and when i think back fondly to that time i would have loved to convert that old cellar into a mancave.

[destruction]

That was great Robb....veggies....so that's your secret.

Christmas Remember When:

Fave toy.
Fave Board Game.
Fave Christmas Memory

All before age 16.

My other family and I used to love board games for Christmas. We'd start playing Christmas mornings and continued through the whole Christmas vacation at night. During the day we were outside playing football in the snow and ice and other sundry outdoor games. The games were very competitive because you could lose and not get back into a game for a day.
We played most of the traditional games: Candyland [[one of the first) Monopoly, Sorry, Stratego, Battleship and later a few of the more complicated strategy games.

My fave board game then and now is Risk.
My fave toy was a tie between a really decent telescope and chemistry set.
Memory later.

[lakeside]

That was great Robb....veggies....so that's your secret.

Christmas Remember When:

Fave toy.
Fave Board Game.
Fave Christmas Memory

All before age 16.

My other family and I used to love board games for Christmas. We'd start playing Christmas mornings and continued through the whole Christmas vacation at night. During the day we were outside playing football in the snow and ice and other sundry outdoor games. The games were very competitive because you could lose and not get back into a game for a day.
We played most of the traditional games: Candyland [[one of the first) Monopoly, Sorry, Stratego, Battleship and later a few of the more complicated strategy games.

My fave board game then and now is Risk.
My fave toy was a tie between a really decent telescope and chemistry set.
Memory later.

A chemistry set! OMG....I got one for Christmas one year and was really pissed. I threw a fit and made them take it back! I ended up taking inorganic, organic and biochemistry in college. By the looks of my grades....shoulda kept that damn set!

[destruction]

A chemistry set! OMG....I got one for Christmas one year and was really pissed. I threw a fit and made them take it back! I ended up taking inorganic, organic and biochemistry in college. By the looks of my grades....shoulda kept that damn set!

I loved it and used to go through all the experiments in the book. But over time, I went off book. One particular experiment went horribly south. While trying to extract Hydrogen into a test tube.....over the kitchen stove....I made a little too much and it exploded all over our fiberglass ceiling tiles. My mother made me scrub them for weeks until I most of that brown crap off of our white tiles.

Fast forward to 11th grade. I was out for Winter midterms with a strep throat. The best part was that I didn't have wrestle anymore....track guys told me it would keep in shape between cross country [[also much hated) and summer track [[my true love). I was 3-2 and one win came from a cheat.

After 3/4 of the 11th grade failed the chem midterm, the teacher informed them that his best student had yet to take the test and that he would give everyone a curve based on my scores. I got dozens of calls and visits during that week to blow the exam......all for naught. I got a 102 because I aced the extra credit 5 pointer, but missed one of the regular questions. Geek that I am, I still remember the question I missed. I confused molar weight with molal. Of course he didn't keep his promise and gave everyone a curve anyway. Just one of several near death experiences I escaped.

[destruction]

Guys used to bring their players to my house because I had the EF biggest set. But my mom was a bit strict so we moved the later games to KK's house. I love the commissioner and schedule deal. I think one guy used to paint his teams.....the rest of us were not so skilled.

I remember switching the bases and adjusting the bottoms depending on the type of action we wanted......and all the near fights from the controversial passing plays with the tiny felt football. Instead of a commissioner, the guys that weren't active players often served as informal referees.

[destruction]

And best musical gift.....at any age.

[arr&bee]

Ahhhh yes those wonderful days of christmas past when i would sit mesmorized as i watched my uncles drink themselves into a stupor...of course the way my uncles drank it took a couple weeks for a winner to be declared!!!

[Jerry Oz]

I remember my brother and I discovered the electric football board under Mom and Dad's bed well before it was wrapped or put under the tree. We had to contain our excitement and keep it a secret for nearly a week. It dawned on me much later that without anyone having to have told me, I knew there was no such thing as Santa Claus and probably had for quite a while back then. I think I was maybe eight or nine and I'm grateful the news didn't hit me hard like it hits some stoopid kids. It kills me that parents work their butts off and then want to give the credit for their kids' blessing to Santa Claus.

[marv2]

I remember my brother and I discovered the electric football board under Mom and Dad's bed well before it was wrapped or put under the tree. We had to contain our excitement and keep it a secret for nearly a week. It dawned on me much later that without anyone having to have told me, I knew there was no such thing as Santa Claus and probably had for quite a while back then. I think I was maybe eight or nine and I'm grateful the news didn't hit me hard like it hits some stoopid kids. It kills me that parents work their butts off and then want to give the credit for their kids' blessing to Santa Claus.

I remember getting one of those along with a chess set for Christmas 1973. Chess was very popular at that time because of Boris Spasky etc.

[arr&bee]

Yes i too remember that sad day when mom sat me down and revealed to my dim mind that there was no santa...i was crushed...i was twenty two..sigh!!!

[marv2]

Yes i too remember that sad day when mom sat me down and revealed to my dim mind that there was no santa...i was crushed...i was twenty two..sigh!!!

It was brother Danny [[who is a kindred spirit of Pugsley Addams.....) who took me down into the basement and showed me this secret space behind a piece sheet metal behind the furnace where they kept all the toys for Christmas. I was crushed too, I mean just destroyed for about a week! I think from that point on, I did not trust adults very much. LOL!

[robb_k]

Yes i too remember that sad day when mom sat me down and revealed to my dim mind that there was no santa...i was crushed...i was twenty two..sigh!!!

But Santa Claus really did exist. Saint Nicolas was a man who lived in the 300s, who gave gifts of food and clothing to the poor families, prostitutes, cripples, and bums in the Greek part of what is now northwest Turkey, and for being such a good guy [[like Mother Theresa) they made him a saint. It is true that he died in the late 300s, so he can't come to your houses on Christmas Eve.

In The Netherlands, we say he [[Sankt Niklaas - Sinterklaas) comes with his helper, Swaarte Piet [[Black Peter) by ship from Spain, into Amsterdam Harbour every December 6th, and rides off on his horse, with bags of gifts for the kids, and rides up to their rooftops, and he and Piet go down the chimneys to bring the gifts. But Swaarte Piet gives the kids who have behaved badly all year a thrashing on their rear ends, with a switch. Some modern, non-traditional families [[who must be greedy) say that The Kerstman [[Christmas Man [[Father Christmas)[[Santa Claus)) comes on Christmas Eve. So, they have 2 gift-giving times!

[Jerry Oz]

Yes i too remember that sad day when mom sat me down and revealed to my dim mind that there was no santa...i was crushed...i was twenty two..sigh!!!

What?! You found out about Santa this year? That's gotta suck.

[Jerry Oz]

I remember getting one of those along with a chess set for Christmas 1973. Chess was very popular at that time because of Boris Spasky etc.

Yeah. We had electric football leagues in my neighborhood. My brother was the commissioner and set the schedules. He and I would catch the city bus to a hobby shop on the east side where we bought the little players and their bases along with tiny little jars of paint so we could have whichever teams we wanted.

I never thought about it, but I suppose we established different identities when I was buying electric race cars from the hobby shop instead of electric football players. He never cared to race cars so my cousin Guy became my constant companion then [[about the 6th grade). Did any of you race with AFX or Tyco race tracks?

[marv2]

Jerry we use to paint our teams different colors too! My younger brother Matt even made his own electric football field and use some of our old players to make up his own game! He is a big IT guy now in Columbus.

I remember AFX and Tyco race tracks. We had a Tyco track, but I was stuck on my Hot Wheels cars and tracks from the sixties.

[robb_k]

Yeah. We had electric football leagues in my neighborhood.

I never thought about it, but I suppose we established different identities when I was buying electric race cars from the hobby shop instead of electric football players. He never cared to race cars so my cousin Guy became my constant companion then [[about the 6th grade). Did any of you race with AFX or Tyco race tracks?

The only electric toys that existed when I was small were electric trains. They were very expensive. But we had 14 kids, so with all 4 sets of parents, and our grandparents chipping in, we had a pretty elaborate set for the 5 oldest boys. Any trucks that moved were wind up toys. I had a Radio Flyer Red Wagon, and a Flexie Flyer sled. We were Jewish, so I don't have any Christmas stories. And, during the '40s and '50s Chanukkah wasn't so commercial. We didn't really get big, expensive presents like kids got for Christmas. we got Gelt [[money-coins) and little gifts. Birthdays were where we got elaborate presents.
I did get a chemistry set, BB gun, Davy Crockett coon skin cap, rifle, lunch box. I got new hockey sticks and other equipment. Bicycles. Street hockey equipment, baseball gloves and bats and balls, football, basketball, board games. Monopoly was big.

[Jerry Oz]

Hot Wheels were great. I used to love die cast cars and trucks. I never had Tonka trucks or cars but never passed on a chance to play with those belonging to my friends. Especially concrete mixers and dump trucks.

They were probably next to my favorite toy, second only to this:

[marv2]

Hot Wheels were great. I used to love die cast cars and trucks. I never had Tonka trucks or cars but never passed on a chance to play with those belonging to my friends. Especially concrete mixers and dump trucks.

They were probably next to my favorite toy, second only to this:

One of the earliest toys I remember [[from Christmas pictures mind you) is a cement mixer and my brother got a milk truck. These toys from the early 60s were made from real metal and could cause some real damage if you should hit your brother with it because he didn't share some of his toys.........hehehehehehehehehe!


Yep had the red wagon too.

[destruction]

One of the earliest toys I remember [[from Christmas pictures mind you) is a cement mixer and my brother got a milk truck. These toys from the early 60s were made from real metal and could cause some real damage if you should hit your brother with it because he didn't share some of his toys.........hehehehehehehehehe!


Yep had the red wagon too.

MARV.....that's all I gotta say.

[arr&bee]

hot wheels were great. I used to love die cast cars and trucks. I never had tonka trucks or cars but never passed on a chance to play with those belonging to my friends. Especially concrete mixers and dump trucks.

They were probably next to my favorite toy, second only to this:

now you've done it jerry,this wonderful picture of this classic little wagon has taken me back to those golden days,now i'm gonna get in the car drive into d.c. Back to the old hood[what's left of it]and park in front of the old safeway where me and my trusty[radio flyer]carried many orders for a quarter a trip[of course the old safeway is long gone]along with not only my radio flyer,but my youth...sigh!!!!

[Jerry Oz]

That's how brotherly bonds are forged. Mine was forged with a big brother who wanted to toughen up his small younger brother by creating all sorts of sports that he could dominate. The most brutal game we played was one-on-one tackle football in the back yard [[a game he called "Old Winter"). He's two years older and was never less than three inches taller than me and he used to plow over me like a snow truck threw slush.

Then, there were the neighborhood games that were played as well. We played a brutal form of rugby called "smear the queer" that had up to ten people tackling one lone player, who had no teammates or blockers to protect him. Brutal. We also played "bebogies", where any person stupid or forgetful enough to use a word beginning with letter B was pounded by his friends' fists on his back and chest with force until he could escape, whistle, and shout "bebogies". Crazy. Of course we played Hot hands and also whacked the back of our knuckles with pencils until they bled or somebody quit. Oh, and don't forget about Indian burns. SMH.

The non-torturous games that we played were paper football, penny hockey, and quarter [[or nickel if you were broke that day) basketball. Screw a video game. Kids back then just needed a piece of paper, a pocketful of change, or friends dear enough to beat the crap out of them and they could have a whole day's full of fun.

[destruction]

That's how brotherly bonds are forged. Mine was forged with a big brother who wanted to toughen up his small younger brother by creating all sorts of sports that he could dominate. The most brutal game we played was one-on-one tackle football in the back yard [[a game he called "Old Winter"). He's two years older and was never less than three inches taller than me and he used to plow over me like a snow truck threw slush.

Then, there were the neighborhood games that were played as well. We played a brutal form of rugby called "smear the queer" that had up to ten people tackling one lone player, who had no teammates or blockers to protect him. Brutal. We also played "bebogies", where any person stupid or forgetful enough to use a word beginning with letter B was pounded by his friends' fists on his back and chest with force until he could escape, whistle, and shout "bebogies". Crazy. Of course we played Hot hands and also whacked the back of our knuckles with pencils until they bled or somebody quit. Oh, and don't forget about Indian burns. SMH.

The non-torturous games that we played were paper football, penny hockey, and quarter [[or nickel if you were broke that day) basketball. Screw a video game. Kids back then just needed a piece of paper, a pocketful of change, or friends dear enough to beat the crap out of them and they could have a whole day's full of fun.

Amen.......yall taking me back.

We did the one on one thing in the back of KK's basement until somebody got a busted nose and got blood everywhere.

I only had a sister, but we used to mess with KK's older brother in the top bunk when I stayed over, especially after those marathon board game nights. All went well until one night he timed his punch well and caught me square.....that punch was henceforth referred to as The Truck .....based on my description.

Out B game was simply called, "Letter B" which you had to say after saying a B word for the punches to stop. A similar game was Chest K. You had to cross your fingers around certain people to avoid getting pounded in the chest. You were supposed to invite players into this by the little finger twist.....and everyone the both of you were linked to were not active players.

In addition to the other games we played one with 3 pennies, where you had to pluck 1 penny between the other two.....until you scored.

[destruction]

Recently at a celebration of my mom's 80th, I included two stories that revolved around the foods my sister and I didn't like. I was cool with most veggies except stewed tomatoes and the dreaded Brussel sprouts. My biggest problem was with liver. To this day I eat most meats except organs [[liver, kidneys, stomach, chitlins, etc.) and extremities [[snout, pig feet, ears, chicken feet, and so on).

LIke most moms, mine used to tell us things to get us to eat. One day, while I was staring at my liver for about 30 minutes, she hit me with the "You know there's kids starving in Africa". This time I was ready, I pulled out a stamp [[the green ones) licked it, stuck it on the plate and said....."Here, why don't you mail it to em." She knew what a wisenheimer I was and was laughing too hard to give a decent whack.

I taught my sister, the skill of putting a napkin in my lap, dropping the food in and taking it upstairs and dumping it in the toilet. She followed my lead to a T.....until I hear this voice from the bathroom...."What idiot dropped food in the tub!" One of several times that I thought she was going to be replaced.

[Jerry Oz]

Electric trains were fun, too. I had two of them although I don't recall what happened to either. I suppose I moved on from them and Mom and Dad sold them or gave them away to somebody else's kid who would get more use out of them.

[Jerry Oz]

I'll never understand how the second most significant day for the third largest religion in the world has been co-opted by commercial interests. Does anybody think that the Magi brought baby Jesus a PlayStation 3 in the manger?

[destruction]

Jerry O,

My discovery was a baseball game that I saw in the closet in my father's music room in the basement at my grandmother's house. The next time I saw it was under tree.

Speaking of more games, that was one our faves. It was the baseball game with the round templates that you placed over a spinner. The numbers represented various baseball actions. Ones were homers, threes triple, fly outs, ground outs and so on......all based on the players lifetime stats. We leaned a lot about baseball strategy and also about the stats of players who played before out time.

[destruction]

"Hot Wheels were great"

Yeah.......until you got a whipping with a piece of track.

[Jerry Oz]

My brother made a deal to sell his best team, the Denver Broncos, to my friend Kip for ten dollars. That team dominated the league. When Kip went to get the loot, my brother quickly switched the bases to other of his teams so Kip wouldn't have the best team. I'll never forget how fast his grin fled when Kip came down the street on his bike and rode straight past our house without so much as slowing down or looking at him. Suffice it to say, there was no deal and the Broncos were no longer the best team in the league.

[robb_k]

There was one vegetable I absolutely HATED. That was okra. I hated it because it was slimy. Nobody I knew that cooked it could get the sliminess out of it. Did any of you like it? I had a lot of friends whose parents cooked Soul Food. When they served okra, I had to just take a little bit, and sneakily spread it around with what I'd leave on the plate when finished. I'd leave most of it. Normally I never would leave ANY food on a plate. Our elders always would say: "Eat everything you put on your plate! People are starving in China! [[or sometimes they'd say India, or Africa).

Not a vegetable, but I also hated being offered the goat's eye in the Mensef feast meal after breaking the fast of Ramadan. I couldn't eat something that stared back at me and was so gooey. Anyone who knows me well doesn't serve me okra or goat's eyes.

[Jerry Oz]

Recently at a celebration of my mom's 80th, I included two stories that revolved around the foods my sister and I didn't like. I was cool with most veggies except stewed tomatoes and the dreaded Brussel sprouts. My biggest problem was with liver. To this day I eat most meats except organs [[liver, kidneys, stomach, chitlins, etc.) and extremities [[snout, pig feet, ears, chicken feet, and so on).

LIke most moms, mine used to tell us things to get us to eat. One day, while I was staring at my liver for about 30 minutes, she hit me with the "You know there's kids starving in Africa". This time I was ready, I pulled out a stamp [[the green ones) licked it, stuck it on the plate and said....."Here, why don't you mail it to em." She knew what a wisenheimer I was and was laughing too hard to give a decent whack.

I taught my sister, the skill of putting a napkin in my lap, dropping the food in and taking it upstairs and dumping it in the toilet. She followed my lead to a T.....until I hear this voice from the bathroom...."What idiot dropped food in the tub!" One of several times that I thought she was going to be replaced.

Man, you're on a roll. Like robb_k, my mom mentioned all of the hungry kids in China. I used to love chittlins until I stopped eating meat. As if they aren't already a heart attack in a bowl, I used to dip some in pancake batter and deep fry them. I'm surprised I made it as far as I have.

I'll never forget the holiday night when all of my mom's brothers and sisters got together for a party at my Uncle Lloyd's house. The boys thought it to be a good idea to stand someone with his back to the wall and his arms and legs splayed so we could outline his body by throwing darts as close to it as possible. Well, you can guess how well that played out. The first volunteer got a dart stuck inch deep into his shin. We all freaked out but managed to agree that since it didn't bleed that much, it would be our secret.

My cousin Lloyd, who must have been about six at the time couldn't handle holding to the conspiracy and tearfully ratted us out. The night did not end well. In hindsight, I shudder to think what would have happened if the errant toss managed to find an eye instead of a leg. Man, kids are stupid! Especially boys.

[Jerry Oz]

No sense putting yourself in danger. I'm sure if kids want to play with a radio flyer wagon, there has to be a video game out there that allows them to do it. Or roll hoops with a stick. Or play kick ball. Or curve ball. Or have actual fun without risking getting sores on their butts from not getting off the couch for days.

** Sigh **

[arr&bee]

Hey jerry,when was the last time you saw a[skinned knee]?????