How true is this?

[marg]

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO
SURVIVED the

1930's 40's, 50's, 60's , 70's & 80's !!


First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our cots were covered with bright colored
lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our pushbikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a ute on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drink with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.. No one was able to reach us all day And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the
bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given slingshots for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Under 12 footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!


And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good, and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?!!.

I can relate to all that - how many of you can? :oops: :lol: .

All up, considering all the pitfalls out there for our children and their children, we had a pretty good life didn't we, us Oldies!! Kinda makes me wish I could go back there for a day or two.

Regards,

Marg.

[goldenpigeon]

lol i was almost from the 80's . . . . dint quite make it.... 90's werent to bad.

i can relate to most of this stuff! i still have never had a playstation!!!! dont want one anymore thoagh, now its surfing, body boarding, riding (BMX/ Mountain bikes) and cycling (road bikes).

althoagh i dont mind the occasional blood bath on the playstation (friends one) i recon they were one of the worst creations of man right beside the nuke etc.

good points there marg! ;)

[marg]

Correction

[marg]

I'm from the early 50's G.P., so have pretty well experienced it all.

My grandaughter says to me "Tell me about the Olden Days, Nan", and I truly can!!.

I had a fantastic Childhood. I was a real Horse fanatic and would leave home early of a morning and return just on tea time and Mum and Dad never worried. The "Bad Men" were Few and Far between, and Hot nights were spent on the back lawn under the stars on a Li Lo.

If it got really hot inside Mum turned on the Electric Fan but to tell you the truth we really didn't feel the heat all that much. Sunbaking was the norm - the darker you were the better ( in all honesty that was a real fallacy - but at that time Skin Cancer was unheard of). If you got burnt, Metho or a raw Tomato smothered on your back was supposed to ease the problem.

Food came from our Garden and the bush and the river (I remember huge Lobsters and Murray Cod) and Dad killed a beast once a fortnight for meat. Ice Cream was home made (delicious - store bought Ice Cream doesn't go anywhere near it!!). Fish and Chips was maybe once every three months (so it was a real treat). Chinese Food - unheard of - let alone italian, Indian etc.

Reading was my favourite pastime (and still is) my favourite books being the Silver Brumby series, and Games were Hop Scotch, Jacks (made with Sheeps "knuckles", Marbles, Chasey, Hidey, Late Night Cricket and Football with the neighbourhood kids.

Dad didn't have a Car until I was 12 years old (time payment wasn't an option then) so we rode Bikes everywhere when we didn't walk, and the simple things in life were unreal (like Tadpole catching in the Lagoon - what a buzz when we watched the Tadpoles turn into Frogs - something you rarely see nowadays).

As I got older, Spotlighting was exciting (although I got most upset when someone killed a Rabbit), and Stock Car Racing was a real buzz.

Drugs - well if someone put an Aspro into a bottle of Coke you were a real Druggie, although some of the local Muso's had started to smoke a bit of green stuff called "Weed" - Mum warned us to stay away from them - they weren't going to live long!!.

Anyone who had a baby out of Wedlock was a Scarlet Woman and you should stay away from her - it might "rub off on you".

Pocket Money - no such thing - you collected bottles and sold them to the "Bottle-O", and that paid for a necessities like Paddle Pops, a bottle of Big Boy Orange or the occasional trip to the Pictures.

One of the most favoured perfumes of the time was "Apple Blossom" - I can still smell it now - my Mum wore it on special occasions - or 4711, and for the men it was "Old Spice". The most favoured Moisturizer was "Oil of Ulan" - still used nowadays but sold as "Oil of Ulay". Cough Mixtures were Honey and Lemon or the dreaded "Waterburys Compound (Yuck), and everyone had a tablespoon of Castor Oil to keep their insides working ( equally Yuck!!!).

Guns were not a problem - most of the local kids had an Airgun that they used for shooting the Old Bloke down the Roads Pigeons, and nearly every kid owned a Bantam -their Mum and Dad kept Chooks - and it was not unusual to keep a pet Sheep to keep the huge Backyards neat and tidy. Every second kid had a Budgie Cage (made out of an old Box with fine Chicken Wire stretched across the front of it), and Fish were the occasional Goldfish in a hole in the backyard. Exotic Pets were White Mice and if you were really lucky, Brown and White or Black and White Mice. Nearly every second house had a Pink and Grey Galah or a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. We were lucky - we had a short beaked Corella (and booy could he swear - words like "Bugger" or "Damn"!!!.

I could go on forever - as I said, I had a really great Childhood, and wouldn't have missed it for Quids. ( I can still remember when Pennies and Quids changed to Dollars and Cents), and I truly think we had the best childhood ever.

In many ways I feel sorry for the Younger generation, as life is so complicated nowadays.

So c'mon all of you older Members, what are your memories of your Childhood? i can still remember my Grandma telling me of when the first Automobiles came to town - the Peacocks ran away!!


Regards,

Marg.

[marg]

Sorry, I posted that twice and don't know how to get rid of it!!

Fixed it now :oops: :oops:

Regards,

Marg.

[Littlefish]

Oh dear! Just the thought of Waterbury's Compound brings tears to my eyes.

Also, I remember one night when my father had gone off to Puckapunyal on the first leg of his journey to do his bit in Vietnam. My mother decided she had to phone him while he was still reachable.

Mum, myself and my little sister walked to the local phone box. We walked because we didn't own a car, and we went to the phone box because we didn't know anyone who had a phone. Seems unbelievable now.

We completed the complicated process of making a trunk call all the way to Victoria a minute too late - my father had just gone up to the mess for his tea. So we had to settle for correspondence by letter until he came home on R & R a year or so later.

In the 1970s we finally had the phone connected and decided to call a relative in England. I'll never forget the excitement of booking the call with the operator and waiting for the call to be connected.

It took just over an hour to get a line (I called to enquire and was told there was a delay in Bombay) and when the operator finally called back and we heard a voice talking to us from the other side of the world we were so in awe that we could scarcely think what to say.

The phone was handed around to each of us in order of seniority, and we kids were only allowed a few words as this was a very expensive excercise!

I am now contactable by landline, mobile, fax and email, but it's all dead boring somehow.

Fred

[marg]

Got to laugh with you Littlefish. yes, Waterbury's Compound was woeful - i only have to hear the word and I can taste it!- UURRKKHH!!.

I can also remember when we got our Telephone - what a thrill when it rang. My Dad died in 1994, and I was just starting to teach him how to use a Mobile Phone!! Very confusing for him. Faxes, Emails and SMS were foreign language as far as he was concerned.

You just made me think of T.V. - the people up the road got Tele long before we did - after school we usede to hotfoot it to their place to watch the Monkees - we got it about 1967 - prior to that, the hilight of our week was listening to Homicide of a Friday night on the radio. Acxtually I can still remember when Radio began to run 24hrs. My favourite songs at that time were "Sky Pilot, A Whiter Shade of Pale and The Letter". What a scream. All of 14 years of me was madly in Love and I remember writing the soapiest of letters to him - this real pimply faced specimen - but I adored him!! (bet he's laughing now :oops: :oops: ).


C'mon Ladyred, Rohan, etc., join in - comments please !!!!

Regards,

Marg (ole '52)!!!.

[Littlefish]

Does 'ole 52' mean you were born in 1952 as I was?

That was the year that Princess Elizabeth became 'Queen and Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith' so 1952 babies were touted as 'The new Elizabethans'.

I remember my girlfriend's father used to laugh as loud as he could at the slightest hint of humour on TV, just to make sure all the neighbours knew he had one.

And World Championship Wrestling (which, oddly, seemed to be confined to Australian 'wrestlers'). Skull Murphy, Brute Bernard, King Curtis, Mario Milano, Tiger Singh, et al. All deadly enemies, except that I saw them at Brisbane Airport helping each other with their luggage.

BTW Brisbane Airport in those days consisted of corrugated iron 'igloos' and didn't cater for international flights. On the up side, you could roll up anytime and park right outside the terminal entrance.

Fred

[marg]

Yep Littlefish, ole '52, that was me, and what a good year it was!!.

Strangely I don't feel "old" - perhaps it is my grandaughter and my Fish that keep me feeling young.

I used to believe that I was called Margaret Ann after the Princesses ' Margaret and Princess Ann - I now know that isn't so, but it made me feel really important at the time!!!.

I can also recall Dad saying at about a quarter to 6 - "sorry but I have to go now - got to watch the Local News on Tele" so that everyone would know that he had a Tele.

What about when Tele went from Black and White to Colour - what a huge Buzz!!!.

C'mon Ladyred, Proteus, etc., where are your comments? What do you recall?. Don't be scared - you are only as old as you feel!!.,

Regards.,

Marg.

[marg]

No bites?

C'mon everyone, speak up :lol: :lol: .,

Regards,

Marg.

[dcarmau]

I'm a bit of a whippersnapper at 21 I'm afraid, but loving the read! keep it up guys, teach us life in the "olden days".

[marg]

dcarmau,

You sound like my 7 year old grandaughter - when it's time for bed and she want's to stay up she says "Nan, when you were a kid ....." or "tell me about the olden days Nan" - really makes me feel my age - mainly because I remember doing it to my Nan :lol: :lol: (and she was an old Nan (not like me - I call myself a young Nan - you're only as old as you feel !!,

Marg.

[dcarmau]

:lol: that's me, 7 years old sometimes, and occasionally I turn into a 60yo and dispense some pearls of wisdom! :lol:

I think, unlike lots of people my age, that people of all generations have great stories to tell and valuable advice to give. Hence I sit and listen/read/talk with/to (stuff by) everyone! -That's- how I drag things back from the start of last year in the forums:D be you 7 or 70, you have hugely valuable advice and experiences.

[sammigold]

Marg, I was a 1970 baby and I remember a childhood spent outdoors in a rural suburban estate.. we would fish down the creek and catch eels using peeled snails for bait when we ran out of worms...uugh!..

we built cubby houses and played "little house on the prairie" in the paddocks (I was alway Laura Ingels)....

I loved reading (still do) and I remember my mum buying me the "Silver Brumby" series for "being very good" (wasnt I always?!! LOL) I made the mistake of lending a couple of the books out and never got them back and now I only have 1. the silver brumbies of the south.... out of 5.. I still get upset when I think about it as I would love for my little girl to read them when she gets old enough... I used to get so engrossed in the story..

my other favourite books were the Trixie Beldon Mysteries I saved up my $1 a week pocket money and bought one every 2 weeks...(wasnt I wrapt when my mum, dad, nan & grandad bought me books 24-36 for christmas. how much pocket money that saved me!)

Never had computer games or anything like that... used to groom and ride a friends horse for them (was horse mad like you)

Hated drinking "Irish Moss" cough mixture that my mum would make me have... or benedryl...

spent alot of time with mercurochrome or gentian violet painted all over my cuts where I had fallen off my bike or whatever my latest mishap was...

anyway that gives you an idea of what childhood was for me... I hope that my little 2 year old gets to have as much fun as I did as a child!!!

cheers

[marg]

Sammi,

Angus & Robinson stock The Silver Brumby series - if they haven't got it in the kids section at the store they will order it in for you - my Granddaughter is 7 and is reading books on her own now (she's going to be a bookaholic like me) and seeing as I read the whole Silver Brumby series when I was young I have decided to give her the set this Xmas. It was a good series wasn't it - I used do a lot of riding before I had my kids (started riding when I was 5 years old), so The Silver Brumby was right up my alley.

Do you still read, and if so, what type of books? I never go anywhere in the Car without a good Book - never know when you might need it!! i am an Insomniac so when I can't find anyone Online to talk to about my Fish I go and bury my nose in a book.

I had to laugh about you catching Eels with peeled Snails - my Mum told me I used eat Snails (Yukkkkk). We used catch Tadpoles in the Lagoon and then plant jam jars of them around the house waiting for them to turn into Frogs. Pretty fascinating thing for a kid to watch.

I laughed about the Mercurochrome - we were always covered in it. Dad didn't believe in Band aids - he used to tell us to "Let the Fresh Air into it" whenever we had a cut. His remedy for sunburn was a cloth dipped in Methylated Spirits sponged over the burnt area - felt good as it went on it cooled it for a minute but then the burn came back and boy did it pong!!.

I think back about all the fun things we did (could bore you for ages) and I feel sorry for this next generation - life is so much different now.

Marg.

[sammigold]

Marg, I do still read... I recently told the lady at the library that if they were looking for a serial killer or murderer in my area and were relying on people borrowing records that I would be number one suspect!! I love murder mysteries, and I love vampire/lycanthrope mysteries, and detective stories etc...

We used to have a big "hole" in our backyard that was meant to be dads garage for about 3 years and we used to catch taddies and watch them grow into frogs... we also had an empty block next door and I remember going around and around in circles from the middle outwards collecting Caterpillars and putting them in my dolls pram... I remember bringing the pram inside about half full of caterpillars (probably hundreds of them!!) and my mum having a spac attack and telling me I had to put them back where I found them.... I of course took her literally and got very upset because I didnt know which one came from what blade of grass!!! LOL The things we do... If I saw a caterpillar now the last thing I would want to do is Touch it!!! Yuk!!!

[marg]

Sammi,

Join the Club - creepy crawly things!!.

On a lighter note, if you are ever passing through Wagga Wagga, please contact me. I am a True Crime addict and would be only too pleased to give you some good books. I have shelves of them - usually let them build up then take them to the Sunday Markets but you don't get much for them - I would prefer to pass them on to a friend.

Regards,

Marg.

[sammigold]

Thanks Marg, I might just take you up on that if I ever get to go anywhere... My man and I are loathe to go anywhere because of our menagarie... we have a dog, two cats, a budgie, and 6 fish tanks that would require maintenance....LOL
There's only so much you can ask friends to do....

[marg]

Sammi,

Join the Club :

3 dogs
2 cats
1 cockatiel
9 Fish tanks

and 1 grandaughter who goes cuckoo if Nan goes away!!

Marg.

[sammigold]

LOL

[DiscusMad]

marg have you been hannging around email cash????

[marg]

Hi Discusmad,

I am a Dumb Blonde, so at the risk of sounding dumb, what do you mean? (I bet Sammi asks the same question - she's a self confessed Dumb Blonde too!!),

Marg.

[sammigold]

I know that email cash is some sort of site where you can make money reading emails (I think) but I dont know what Discusmad is getting at..... Joke or serious query? LOL

[marg]

Goodonya Sammi,

I had a feeling you would join up on me with this one!!! (us both being Dumb Blondes, let 'em think that anyway, snicker snicker!!)

Wonder what he means?

C'mon DiscusMad, GIVE !!!

Marg.

[DiscusMad]

seen this joke heaps on that site

[marg]

Tell us Dumb Blondes what you mean DiscusMad!!

Marg.