Favorite things from the fifties

I wanted to join the bandwagon and list some of my favorite things, but I'm having trouble remembering what they are. Anyone want to help?

Wait a minute -- it's coming back. paper dolls, pick-up sticks, dot candy on paper strips, Dick and Jane. Hey, this is fun. Anyone have something to add?

I was born in 54 so I was young in the 50's but do remember wooden pickup sticks, Mr Potato head when you used a real potato and he didn't have high heels or sunglasses, roller skates that you needed a key for (God, I loved them), 60's was probably more "my time", the innocence that children now will never experience, summers with nothing to do but boy were we busy!

Bessie July 3, 2008 11:17 pm | Link

Our lst TV - black and white.

Copygirl July 3, 2008 11:43 pm | Link

what was the name of the toy that we would put a ring around out ankle and then swing it under our other foot and it had a small plastic ball with a bell in it???? Driving me nuts!!!! We did that for days on end...wore straight thru 2 of the balls with bells that summer of '65!!!!

Making beaded necklaces, potholders (on a metal loom), paper dolls, Barbie "cities" on the patio, wow...this is really some taking back time...

jurziegurly July 3, 2008 11:45 pm | Link

I wasnt bornin the 50's but I remember alot on your list Bessie. Specially the roller skates and potatoe head. How about easybake oven that was metal? What about marble? Ohhh the memories!

Christine July 4, 2008 12:08 am | Link

My dear and charming wife!

John C July 4, 2008 12:26 am | Link

I was born at the end of the 50's, but I remember Colorforms, Mister Machine toy, Ed Sullivan, Jack LaLane in the mornings in his skintight suit, Captain Kangaroo, Soupy Sales, Ed Winchell with Jerry Mahoney, Shari Lewis, when everyone was smoking on TV shows, (ew), our doctor made house calls in Brooklyn, and so much more. I guess this was going into the early 60's with the memories.

INeedMoreCowBell July 4, 2008 8:44 am | Link

how about cootie bugs - I remember the originals, however they still make them

plus some great old tv: soupy sales, bowery boys and course: three stooges

Chiman July 4, 2008 11:56 am | Link

Anyone remember Ding Dong School with Miss Frances? (Boy, am I dating myself! lol)

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 11:57 am | Link

I was a bit off: 1949: http://cgi.ebay.com/1949-COOTIE-BU...807021838r28242

I spent hours with this game and my old German baby sitter :)

Chiman July 4, 2008 11:59 am | Link

I recall...

Wonderama
Winchell & Mahoney Time
Lost in Space
Sandy Becker
Bozo the Clown

(I may be closer to the early 60's than the 50's..)

INMCB -

You recall doctors making house calls in Brooklyn???
Where in Brooklyn??? Boro Park, maybe????

cuz.... my dad did that!!!! His office, the apartment where we lived upstairs from his office is still there, with his name plaque still in the brick!!

He was a physician in Boro Park, corner of 56th and 13th and made house calls and got paid with lasagnas and pots of chicken soup!!!

Miss Frances, ringing her Ding Dong Bell to call the kids. Remember when you would go out to play with not much more than a pink rubber ball, or jacks, or a jumprope? If you had chalk, you had hopscotch. No chalk? Then you had "1-2-3 Red Light".
No one home on your street to play with? You walked a mile or two to a friend's house. What wonderfully simple times.

Aaaaah - you remember Miss Frances! Along with hopscotch and 1-2-3 Red Light - how about Stone Teacher? Gosh, we played that for hours on the front porch!

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 12:43 pm | Link

Oh - and how about twice a day mail delivery? Anyone remember that? I can remember my mother telling me to go downstairs to get the "morning mail", or the "afternoon mail". Or how about going down to the basement to "shake the coals" or "close the damper" on the coal furnace! Waiting for the coal delivery where it went down a shute to the bin in the basement - now that was excitement! LOL

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 12:47 pm | Link

omgosh.... just read the headline...

Larry Harmon, aka Bozo the Clown died today!!!!

Sorry - I meant "chute". Darn fingers.

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 12:48 pm | Link

OhYea, here ya go.... Doctors who did visits to the house with their little black bags and cold stethascopes

Chiman July 4, 2008 12:53 pm | Link

Our doctor charged $4 for a house call, but we hardly ever called him. It was too expensive. Can you believe it?

Dr.Steven J Stanowicz...a good memory from Hackettstown...

amx July 4, 2008 1:17 pm | Link

I have no idea what our dr. charged for a house call, but you're right - $4 was a lot of money in those days!

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 1:23 pm | Link

What was the point of that Cootie Bug game anyway? I always remember having one, but don't know that we ever played a real game with it.

Bessie July 4, 2008 3:28 pm | Link

In Hoboken, we played bottle caps, hopscotch with the heel of a shoe from the shoemaker around the corner, jump rope and of course, anygame we could make up with a hi-bouncer (pink ball). It really was a different time, wasn't it? No one entertained us but ourselves, and most things were without batteries. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Bessie July 4, 2008 3:31 pm | Link

How about pogo sticks? I could never master those, but my cousins and my brother were great at it.

Bessie - I agree with you. I wouldn't trade it either. And we were always outside - not plopped in front of a TV or computer screen. In those days, sunshine was GOOD for you!

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 5:32 pm | Link

Just Me - unless your dad was Dr. Penzarella...Yeah, it was nice when docs did that!

Makes me remember John's Bargain Store in NYC.

Glad someone brought up Sandy Becker and Wonderama! Rotary phones! Vinyl records (read something recently that they are trying to make a comeback..) Remember ONLY having a few channels on TV and everyone watched together (more like in the 60's for me...) and TV was FREEEEEEE.

Bonomo Turkish Taffy
The Chock Full of Nuts lady and the song.
Chiclets or is it Chicklets? Anyway, loved the fruit ones.
The smell of Evening in Paris perfume that my mom wore.

INeedMoreCowBell July 4, 2008 5:43 pm | Link

INMCB---we had a John's Bargain Store in Hoboken. I can picture the woman that worked in there. And I loved rotary phones, the sound they made when it was turning...and what about having to get up and change the channel, no remote. How did we ever mangage, LOL? My favorite Bonomo was the vanilla.

Bessie July 4, 2008 8:47 pm | Link

INMC - My mom wore Evening in Paris too! Bessie - Vanilla was my favorite Bonomo, too! And how about Fizzies? Yum - Root beer Fizzies and we'd make popsicles out of them in the summer!

Remember the test pattern on the TV when the channel went off the air for the nite?

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 9:53 pm | Link

Bessie, yes, how DID we manage when we had to schlepp over to the TV and change the station all by ourselves? Not only that, but only the main stations were clear and then channels 9 and 11, well you had to adjust the 'rabbit ears'. I loved how my parents tried to talk us into thinking we had a color TV when they just bought this colored screen with 3 colors that fit over the front of the set. Those things are hysterical to me now.

I like remembering that shows like Christmas specials and such were shown ONCE a year and boy, if you missed it! (waaaaahhhh)

Beany and Cecil.
TV dinners with foil on! Those were the best! Nothing like dried up peas and nasty meatloaf, but it was so much fun you didn't care!
Art Linkletter! Oh come on! How fun was he and the kids part of the show?

Bessie, love that you love rotary phones. Remember how it clicked clicked and took forever to dial and how you dread people who had anything over a 5 in their number? (and oh, crap, a busy single to boot??) Now, we are standing by the microwave yellin C'MON!! if the popcorn takes more than 2 mins and can't remember people's telephone numbers because they're preset in our cells.
We are so spoiled today! (I like when I was a kid of the 60's)

INeedMoreCowBell July 4, 2008 10:08 pm | Link

OMG, I saw Fizzies the other day, I think in Cracker Barrel. Don't know if they taste the same but I loved the root beer too!
PS Karen--I'm recovering from gallbladder surgery here, keep thinking good thoughts for me.

Bessie July 4, 2008 10:56 pm | Link

Bessie - I'm so sorry about your surgery! You poor thing! I had no idea. Good thoughts coming your way! I hope you have a speedy recovery. I had that done a while back - not fun!

INMCB - Speaking of rotary phones....do you remember party lines? You had a special ring if it was for you, and you had to wait until your neighbor got off the phone before you could use it!

Karen in LV July 4, 2008 11:30 pm | Link

My favorite thing is my dad's black and white '55 Chevy Belair convertible. It was his first car - he brought it new - and he still has it!

Jill Cornelison July 5, 2008 8:27 am | Link

cbel! how about Bonomos Turkish Taffy?slapping it down hard and it breaks into a million pieces! Anybody remember these tv shows: December Bride? Playhouse 90,,Cleo the talking bassett hound starring Jackie Cooper,My Little Margie w/Gale Storm? How about Salvo?? probably the first laundry detergent in tablet form!

ginger July 15, 2008 7:10 pm | Link

I remember Bonomos, vanilla (and didn't they have strawberry?) I remember our first 10 inch tv. We pretty much only had cartoons and westerns (I'm talking 1950).
Crinolines, and (EGAD!) girdles (Playtex, rubberized no less--ICH!).

I miss cocktail waitering in my poodle skirt.

Ginger, loved My Little Margie, and Cleo the bassett hound. Was Cleo on another show? I'm thinking Topper but I don't think that's right.

Bessie July 15, 2008 9:18 pm | Link

These are from the 60's I guess but thanks for the memories.
Popping tar bubbles in the road.
Playing Capture the Flag.
Not being able to wear pants to school.
The Wondergul World Of Disney
Lawerence Welk Show
Party Lines (Telephone)
Playing Outside in the Summer ( we were not allowed in the house) LOL
Everyone using the same bathwater. The cleanest went first.
Penny Candy
Snow Cones

Firefly July 15, 2008 9:36 pm | Link

Jurziegurly... Lemon Twist?

http://www.timewarptoys.com/lemon.jpg

OK, so I was born in the late 70s, but as a doll collector, I thought I'd bring up some dolls you might remember:

Ginny
Tiny Tears
Dye-Dee baby
Miss Revlon
Terri Lee
Betsy McCall
Madame Alexander

Ginny is my favorite. They are still making them! (I actually do some freelance design for them!) :) Actually all of these dolls have been brought back (Miss Revlon is the only one I'm not sure of), so you can get one and relive a little piece of your childhood!

My parents

What a great trip down Memory Lane! How about Betsy Wetsy dolls? And what was that show with Jim Backus and Joan Davis? Was it "I Married Joan"? Cleo the dog - I think that was "The People's Choice" with Jackie Cooper. Then there was "Our Miss Brooks" with Eve Arden.

Karen in LV July 16, 2008 11:23 am | Link

Tammy Movies!
Henry Aldridge Movies
East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys
Creature Feature

playing cards clothes pinned to our bike spokes

firefly July 16, 2008 11:39 am | Link

My mom. born 1954

Hard to believe so many of you remember "Bonomo's Turkish Taffy"
One of my favorites, thought I would be the only one lol

How about
The Little Rascals
Abbot and Costello

Million dollar Movie on Wed nights and everyone in town watched because there wasn't anything else on lol
5-10 Cent Comic books

And of course as long as one of us had a "Spalding" (pink ball) a game of some sort was on!

Of course forgetting to lock your door was never anything to worry about, or walking home.

Days todays kids will never know and that is sad.

News with John Cameron Swayze, sponsored by Timex (It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.)

Mr. Bluster and Princess Summerfallwinterspring.

Karen, I still have my Betsy Wetsy and i'm 53 years old. My daughter played with her for years and she has a few spots on her face and I think one eye may need some eyelashes, but I can't bring myself to get rid of her. Pathetic, isn't it, LOL.

Bessie July 16, 2008 9:17 pm | Link

OMG Karen, Our Miss Brooks, loved it. I think you're right about Cleo being on The People's Choice, sounds vaguely familiar.

Bessie July 16, 2008 9:18 pm | Link

You know Jerzzy, I often think how sad it is that our children never knew the joy of penny candy. To think that your mom gave you 5c, or 10c on payday, and you could come out of the store with a little brown bag full of goodies. True you can get penny candy in some specialty shops, but it isn't the same and costs a small fortune.

Bessie July 16, 2008 9:21 pm | Link

I got one for ya. Anyone remember a cartoon called "Tom Terrific". He was a little guy who wore a funnel cap and his sidekick was Manfred the dog. Anyone???

lola July 17, 2008 9:02 am | Link

Returning bottles for the deposit and using it on penny candy.

During vacations in Maine - brother (6 years old) and I (3 yr old) would walk the 1/2 mile to the store to return the soda bottles and get penny candy for the deposit - The walk to the store was without Mom on a very untraveled country road.

Would never see that in today's world!

Coralie July 17, 2008 9:45 am | Link

Aaah - Bessie - I can't believe you still have your Betsy Wetsy Doll! I handed mine down to my younger sister and she ruined it. ugh. Our Miss Brooks was one of my favorites, too! As a kid, I loved Richard Crenna's voice. lol

Anyone remember the 5:00 movie? It started with a clock (an anniversary clock)? I was so little, I just liked watching the clock.

I remember my mom watching her "stories" while she ironed - they were only 15 minutes long.

Lola -I DO remember Tom Terrific! Was that also the one where you could also get a film to put on the tv screen and call it "color tv"?

Karen in LV July 17, 2008 10:57 am | Link

karen...
you are absoultely correct. for some reason, i remember being able to write on the film to "interact" with the cartoon.

lola July 17, 2008 7:27 pm | Link

just thought of another doll.

THUMBELINA. she had a little knob in her back, when turned, she moved her head. so cool as a kid. felt like holding a real baby.

wait...might be favorite thing of the sixties.

another show: TOPPER. the one with the crazy ghosts only Topper could see.

lola July 17, 2008 7:41 pm | Link

Lola....Oh good - I was hoping I wasn't imagining that! lol. Aaah - Thumbelina - I forgot about her! She WAS like a real baby to me! :) Topper - how I loved that show! What were the names of the ghosts? Marian and ____? Can't remember the guy's name, can you?

Karen in LV July 18, 2008 11:57 am | Link

ok all of you "50" ers....anyone graduate from HHS in 70 that is on this forum? or grew up in Hackettstown in the 50's? What about Seber's and the Sand Bar and diving or jumping off that big cement dock? Walking to Sebers through the woods and getting all muddy from the swamp puddles. Playing outside until the lightning bugs came out, then using them to make wonderful rings (can't beleive I did that one) playing red light green light, kick ball, stick ball, roller skates with keys tied around your neck, skinned knees. The albino 'wild' horse by the leather factory - the smell of the leather factory, getting scraps of leather from the - you guessed it leather factory. I have so many fond memories of growing up in Hackettstown. My family came from Newark when M&M's move here in 57 and both my parents worked there for years. Any other older Hackettstownians out there? Dr. S wasn't my dr. by Dr. Hall was with his wonderful "cure all" pink salve. We also had Dr. Miller and he made house calls smelling like rubbing alcohol and cigarettes. If you would go to his office it would be filled with smoke and he would sit in his squeaky leather chair take notes and have a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

kath - we must be the same age. I graduated from MHS (Morristown) and hubby from Whippany Pk. in '70! Doesn't seem like that long ago, does it?

Karen in LV July 18, 2008 12:22 pm | Link

Karen in LV - You are right it doesn't seem like that long ago until I try to get out of bed in the morning and then I feel like someone played a mean trick on me and changed out my bones. I used to play in cow fields and climb trees, ride a horse and was a real tomboy - now well let's say another old friend came along called "Arthur-itis" I just turned 56 in June.

I think the hardest thing for me being my age is I don't work and finding 'play' friends my age to do things with has become an issue. Most of my 'old' friends from Hackettstown are still working and if they are not they husbands become an issue because they can't do anything. I am cleaning the basement right now, how's that for fun! Perhaps, if there were more women out there, retired to do some fun things with my "get up and go" would follow me when I get up to go. Know what I mean? I thought of joining that red hat group but I am not sure if that is exactly what I am looking for. Sorry I get long winded~

kath -I see we share the same "friend", too! Although in my case, he brought a few of his buddies along. My "get up and go", got up and went. lol

Karen in LV July 18, 2008 2:02 pm | Link

Karen - why are there both a happy and sad face along side of your name. I understand it is for moderator but why both? I just clicked on the smily and it came up with thankyou but I don't get it.

Karen in LV and Kath: Wait till you're 60-ish and then see what your body parts have to say to you! I'd love to have a play date with some women my age (and, no offense to Red Hat ladies, but I don't want to be one). Anyone interested in meeting for coffee one day soon (maybe at Panera's) or anywhere else?

Kath - the smiley and sad faces are for moderating. If you like someone's comment - it's funny, informative, etc., you click on the happy face. If you don't like a comment - it's offensive, spam, a troll, etc. click on the sad face! It's totally up to you if you want to use it. (You can also click on the "Mod" link and it'll explain.)

cbel - I agree with you & kath - Red Hats aren't for me either. BTW - it was great to finally meet you last Sunday! (And you don't look like you're "60-ish")

Karen in LV July 18, 2008 7:33 pm | Link

Karen in LV: You just made my day!

No red hats for me ever! I am in for Coffee. Panera's sounds good to me!

Firefly July 18, 2008 11:06 pm | Link

Firefly: I'm just jumping in. How about Tuesday around 10am. Karen in LV? Kath? Ginger? Anyone?

Any other day, any other time? Let's make a date.

Well, I wasn't around in the 50's, but my parents were. I was raised on the 50's music of Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Bill Haley and the Comets, Fats Domino, the Platters! I LOVE this music!!! Thank goodness for satelite radio--Sirius channel 5! I listen to it so much, even my kids know the words to most of the songs!

I'd love to find a karoke cd of some of the 50's music for the kids to go around to nursing homes and sing to the residents dressed up in poodle skirts. Wouldn't that be so nice for the residents? I think they would love that.

SusieQ July 19, 2008 12:45 am | Link

Karen in Lv..........

I graduated from Whippany Park in '70 also! What is your husband's name? Did you know there is a reunion planned for October 2009 for the classes of '69 and '70? You can email me privately if you don't want the world to know your last name. :-)

Mrs. Resident July 19, 2008 9:16 am | Link

Hey all you babes from the 50's!!! i was born in 1951 myself and would love to arrange a play date sometime,,it's unfortunate that i can't be there this Tuesday but always keep me posted about future dates i'll try my best to be there! I'm only over here on Vans Dr. in town so it's a hop skip n' a jump,,well, at this stage of the game i'm not hopping skipping OR jumping like i used to,,takes me time to thaw-out in the a.m. these days, but i'm in for next time!!!

Oh Yeah,,does anybody remember Reel Camp?? It was hilarious!Edgar Kennedy,,Leon Earl! And my all time favorite was Kukla Fran n' Ollie!!

cbel - these next few weeks are a little hectic for me, but I'll be up for another time!

Mrs. Resident - you've got mail!

Karen in LV July 19, 2008 10:27 am | Link

cbel....I will be working...So I can't make daytime coffee dates during a typical work week. However I wouldn't mind a "cup of joe" after work. I am usaully home from work, fed the dog by 6pm any night. If that didn't work then maybe a weekend morning? In advance I will say I will away for vacation starting next weekend so I might have to wait a few weeks to catch up to the rest of you. I will keep checking this forum.

Firefly July 19, 2008 11:09 am | Link

Ginger, Karen in LV, Firefly: I'm glad you're all interested. I know we'll be able to find a day and time that suits everyone. I'll bring this up again in a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to this.

Sounds like a plan! :)

Karen in LV July 19, 2008 11:16 am | Link

To Karen in LV:

Pretty sure Marion's ghost husband was named George. Remember their St. Bernard dog. Was it Cleo???

lola July 19, 2008 11:42 am | Link

Karen in LV ........... You have mail!

Mrs. Resident July 19, 2008 11:45 am | Link

Just cheated and googled Topper. Dog's name was Neil. I know another series had a dog named Cleo. I think it was a basset hound.

lola July 19, 2008 11:45 am | Link

Lola - that's right - George! I couldn't think of that for the life of me. And Neil, the St. Bernard - I forgot about him! Cleo was the basset hound in Jackie Cooper's show - "The People's Choice".

Mrs. Resident - definitely a small world! :)

Karen in LV July 19, 2008 11:58 am | Link

I'm in for a coffe clutch sometime. I do tote around a 'cookie cruncher' but he is a wonderful little man, or else it would have to be evenings for me.

However we do it, we'll do it--after work, weekends, cookie cruncher, whatever. I'll open this again in a couple of weeks.

Weekday mid-to-late mornings are good for me. Weeknights and weekends are a bit crazy around here. And cookie crunchers are okay by me! :) Hope we can work something out!

Karen in LV July 19, 2008 7:29 pm | Link

We may have to split up to accommodate each other. Whatever we do, we will get ourselves off the ground. I will open a new thread in about three weeks. This will be cool!

Anybody remember Spoolies? little pink rubber 'things' we used to curl our hair? How about Ed Burns as Kookie on 77 Sunset Strip? and that cool music that accompanied the show Peter Gunn? I had 2 of those life size Patty Play Pal dolls and i wasen't much bigger than they were! One of them i washed her hair with shampoo in the sink and gave her a hair cut! Boy was my mother furious!! remember Zazu Pitts? Totey Fields? The Naked City? there are 10,000 stories in the naked city,this is just one of them,,,

Life of Riley starring William Bendix.

Now I'll have that song stuck in my head all day...."77 Sunset Strip (snap, snap)". There used to be a show starring Troy Donahue, can't remember the name, but my sister was crazy for him.

Had Patty Play Pal doll also, how about Betsy Walker...she was also almost lifesized...and Tiny Tear was also a favorite.

lola July 21, 2008 7:58 am | Link

I meant Tiny Tears. You fed her a bottle of water, and she cried real tears.

lola July 21, 2008 7:59 am | Link

Patty Playpal - I had one of those! I also had a National Velvet doll - life-sized,too. Anyone remember those? If I remember it was modeled after Lori Martin who was the star of the TV show. (Maybe that was the 60's?) My goodness - Tiny Tears - almost forgot about her!

Those were the days we actually went to bed and SLEPT with curlers in our hair! Ouch!

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 10:42 am | Link

How about the "Toni" doll. Could give her a perm with sugar water solution. 1950's

Copygirl July 21, 2008 10:50 am | Link

I don't remember the Toni doll, but sure remember the smell of those Toni perms. ICK!

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 12:10 pm | Link

My hair always was so fine and so straight (and still is) that I always needed one of those stinky perms. ICK is right! Anyone remember setting their hair by twirling it around your fingers and holding those in place with bobby pins? My hair rollers were the ones with bristly brushes inside. Now those things were torture. It sure wasn't easy to look good back in the "good old days."

cbel - same thing with me! I had curls until I was 5, then they disappeared. So my mom gave me those darn stinky perms. I do remember bobby pin curls! When my mom wanted me to wear my hair in long curls, that's what she did. And those darn bristly curlers - they WERE torture! Grey with pink pins, right? Then came the pink plastic ones with the clips. What we went thru! As we got older, some of my friends actually used orange juice cans to set their hair. Remember that for the "bouffant" look? Then it was topped off with the little velvet bow at the sides or above the bangs. We were just so darn cute. LOL

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 12:53 pm | Link

My Mom tied our hair up in rags. You got the same cork screw curl but easier to sllep on. We had hair to our waist.

firefly July 21, 2008 1:16 pm | Link

Then we went to the Five and Ten for perfume. My favorite was Heaven Scent. I bet a bottle of it never cost more than a dollar. Bouffant hair and wonderful perfume -- you could almost pretend you were Sandra Dee!

Firefly - I had the rags too! My grandmother used to do that for me. I had long curls to my waist in those days, too!

cbel - Aaaaah - Heaven Sent - that was my favorite too back then. Then there was the make-up. It was a compact - I think with the name "Angel" in it. I used to get it at Woolworth's. I was allowed to wear a "little powder" on dress-up days when I got a little older. No rouge, though - heaven forbid! lol

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 1:29 pm | Link

I love this post - you all have made me think of things I've long since forgotten. I remember those pink curler things too - my hair was long and straight so I used to use those LARGE pink rollers, like the size of soda cans, I remember spraying beer in our hair for setting lotion. It used to be real crunchy after it dried. I had a chatty cathy doll that you would put records in and pull the string. STill have it as a matter of fact, however, she is toting a shorter hair cut thanks to my middle son and a pair of schissors. My favorite tv shows (might be a little 60's) was The Patty Duke Show and The Rifle Man. I loved Corky - then there was flipper with Luke Halpin. I actually wrote to him and got his autograph (yeh like that was real!) In the 50's the biggest tv show was Howdy Doody for us. I can also remember watching tv on a small 10" maybe tv in black and white. then my father, always wanting to be the first to get something in the neighborhood, got a plastic screen that actually broke the gray scale fot he tv into colors (well if you pretended hard enough you could almost see colors). I loved the Monkees and the Cowsells. Gosh that was a trip....

Since I lived in H'town my favorite place after school was JJ Newberries (where Bach's Surgical Suply is on main street) my sister (7 years older) worked there and so I had to walk up to JJ's after school and wait for her to get out of work. I would sit at the soda fountain and have a rootbeer float or ice cream. Yum - it made the wait worth it

My first job was at a JJ Newberries (only in Springfield). Got my working papers when I was 16 and got my part-time in their curtain dept. That's where I got my Heaven Scent (in the store, of course, not in curtains!). Never had much money to spend on other things so I also babysat -- for 50 cents an hour!

I sure am loving this trip down memory lane. Kind of wish I had grown up in Morristown, so I could share in those memories, too.

My two favorite things from the fifties would have to be Mom and Dad...

This IS a great trip and you're right, Kath - things that I had long forgotten! What fun! JJ Newberries - gosh, I had forgotten about them too! We used to take a trip up to H'town, or sometimes Dover, every once in a while to shop there! I remember beer in the hair, and how about Dippity-Do? Talk about crunch!

Howdy Doody and the Peanut Gallery! Yahoo! And tv screens back then WERE really small. More cabinet than TV! Remember the tubes? I can remember the TV repairman coming to replace the tubes when they blew. The TV had to warm up back then! I remember my mom asking me to "go warm up the TV" before her "stories" came on! lol

What was the show with the frog? Froggy? And the guy with the husky voice. Andy Devine, maybe? I had a toy Froggy - gosh that thing smelled - like old rubber.

cbel - I babysat too. 50 cents/hour and 75 cents after midnite. But hardly anyone stayed out after midnite. Darn.

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 4:18 pm | Link

And.....ianimal - that is really sweet!

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 4:19 pm | Link

one of my favorite perfumes,,Tabu!!! I think for men it was British Sterling or Canoe!! My mom loved Arpe'g! How about Panstick for that spackled look!! Coty was another big makeup name back then!How about drinking a HighBall?? Those plastic pop beads that you could string together yourself,,Remember Honey West,the female private eye? Can't remember the name of the sexy blond who played her,,and my all time favorite was Eloise at the Plaza!!I have a poster of her hanging in my hallway,,anyone remember Pipi Longstocking??Bookbags for school w/the two buckles in front,,a used cigar box for your pencils,,i can still remember the smell! and then there were those ink pens that had to be filled from a bottle of India Ink! Wow!!the list goes on!!!!!

Ginger - I remember all of that! Another perfume was Tweed - remember that one? How about Tangee lipstick? Pipi Longstocking - now there's a name from the past! Loved her! Those bookbags - I had a red plaid one with black buckles. And we carried those metal lunch boxes with the thermos. Fountain pens - that's when we learned the art of penmanship! Honey West - was that Anne Francis?

cbel - thanks so much for starting this thread. So much fun! :)

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 7:16 pm | Link

I still wear Tabu sometimes, mainly in the winter. The women I work with always ask what I'm wearing and I tell them "Tabu", they look at me like I have 2 heads. I also wear Chantilly and White Shoulders, all old perfumes, LOL. I guess I show my age there.

Bessie July 21, 2008 7:21 pm | Link

Bessie - I love all those "old" perfumes. Remember Shalimar?

Karen in LV July 21, 2008 7:24 pm | Link

Shalimar will always belong to my Mom..her signature fragrence and Dad was Oldspice,
British Sterling on the boyfriend or Olde English
Bonnie Belle with the rope around it,
We used to sew wide ribbon on our jeans and take them in so they were skin tight.
Okay so now I am talking about the 70's maybe I should start a new topic.
cbel....great topic with great memories

FireFly July 21, 2008 9:24 pm | Link

How about having to wear skirts to school - no pants for us. I don't think my legs warmed up until after lunch. I was considered "out of town" We were the first house built in College View Estates down grand avenue. But of course there was no bus running so we walked to school everyday and we were not allowed to go home for lunch because it was too far. BUT it wasn't too far for us to walk to school. We always had to walk past the tannery - sometimes the smell from that place was horrible.

Yes, I remember Dippity Doo Karen in LV I remember the froggy thing too. It's funny I was just talking to someone at election board about Froggy - let me see if I can remember something like Pop your magic something or another froggy - I'll get back to you on that one.....

kath July 21, 2008 9:34 pm | Link

How about the televison commercials - a bucked tooth beever singing "Brusha, brusha, brusha, with your new Ipana" What ever happened to that catchy tune or toothpaste for that matter~!

kath July 21, 2008 9:36 pm | Link

"We are the men from Texaco -- We work from Maine to Mexico." Remember Speedy Alka Seltzer? I forgot about those popits. My friends and I could sit forever making our jewelry. saddle shoes, dungarees, stretchy cinch belts to wear with our skirts. Dinah Shore and "See the USA in your Chevrolet" signing off with a great big smoochy kiss. I just remembered: Froggy popped his magic TWANGER.

yes I do Karen, I was trying to think of the other perfume from that time and I think it was Shalimar, not sure if you can even buy that anymore.

Bessie July 21, 2008 10:14 pm | Link

I wore Shalimar on my wedding day. That was the thing *borrowed* from my maid of honor. I haven't seen that in years!

I just remembered the Froggy Show! *Andy's Gang*! Phew - pulled that one of of nowhere! lol

Remember the ugly gym uniforms? Ours were maroon. All one piece - bloomer pants? We had to have our name embroidered over the pocket. That's the only time we could wear sneakers in school, too!

Karen in LV July 22, 2008 11:34 am | Link

Our gym bloomers were fire engine red and we had to embroider our names on the back across the shoulders. My name was Kordalski. Wanna know long that took me to sew?!

LOL cbel. Holy mackeral - must've taken you hours (days?) to sew that on! Mine was only 5 letters and it seemed to take forever!

Karen in LV July 22, 2008 12:00 pm | Link

my gym bloomers were white one piece - try that one when your 'FRIEND' came to visit. Remember calling it "we have our friend" more like a friend from h-ll. They snapped up the front and god forbid you were a little more endowed the snaps would pop open. Luckily we didn't have to have our names across the back - you poor girl!

kath July 22, 2008 7:15 pm | Link

PS you can still by Shailmar perfume, my girlfriend wears it all the time. I remember Tigress, Woodhue - there were a group of the perfumes by Coty I think, very strong. I remember putting on my stationary when I mailed real letters through the post - snail mail. What a hoot how we would wait for a letter to arrive. My brother served in Viet Nam and my boyfriend now husband was in Germany - I loved getting letters over seas.

kath July 22, 2008 7:18 pm | Link

kath - WHITE? Egads! I didn't have the "endowment" problem but I sure hated those uniforms! I remember some of my uniforms having buttons, and others with snaps. Some were just bloomers, some had a sort of "shorts" look over the bloomers. UGLY! We had inspections at our school - they had to be clean and neatly pressed, with our names in the proper place and sewn neatly. If not - a big fat ZERO! Oh, and our names in permanent marker on the instep of our bright white sneakers.

I didn't realize you could still get Shalimar! I haven't looked, but interesting to know it's still around. I also remember putting perfume on our stationery! Remember "SWAK" written on the back flap of the envelope? :)

Karen in LV July 23, 2008 11:46 am | Link

Karen in LV: I'm laughing as I'm typing this -- about gym inspections. I can remember ironing a dirty gymsuit so it would pass inspection, but one of our gym teachers would actually give our suits the "sniff" test! I sure wouldn't ever assign myself the job of sniffing anyone's gymsuits!

cbel - I remember doing the same thing! Ironing a dirty uniform actually intensified the smell! Ewwwwwww.

Doing laundry in our house was a huge ordeal. Remember wringer washers? Filling the tub with water (and shaved brown soap), emptying the tub, filling it again for rinsing. Then running everything thru the wringer. What a job! Then hanging everything out on the line to dry? Laundry was once a week, not everyday like we do now! If my mom wasn't doing "colors", I was out of luck for gym inspection! haha. (I remember trying to wash it out in the sink - the water would be maroon. Those colors sure did run!) Mom definitely wouldn't let us kids use that washer, that's for sure. My little brother stuck his hands in the wringers one time - we weren't allowed anywhere near it!

Gosh, I feel like I grew up in the pioneer days! HA!

Karen in LV July 23, 2008 12:21 pm | Link

I remember helping Mom with laundry. She used to let me feed the clothes through the wringer, until she saw my fingers coming out the other side! Ouch.

Another laundry episode: anyone ever receive baby chicks and ducklings for Easter? One little chick ate a shoestring off the floor (remember throwing the white KEDS in the washer to have them gleaming white for gym inspection?) My mom pulled out the string as far as it would go, then cut it off with a scissors. Poor chick didn't make it. Very sad.

lola July 24, 2008 9:14 am | Link

In these days of "throw it out and buy a new one" it's hard to believe my mother didn't even throw out good wash water. This was with a ringer washing machine. First
load was dainties, then maybe regular clothes, then dirty work clothes. Then you released the dirty water into the cellar sink. Did anyone else's mother do this?

Remember hanging clothes on the clothesline? In the wintertime, if you left your dungarees out too long, they would freeze and could stand up all by themselves!

Oh yes - I remember it all! My mom did the same thing - re-using the wash water. Couldn't waste water - heaven forbid! Our washer was in the kitchen, everything went into a deep sink. Definitely an all-day job. Yep - I remember frozen clothes - stiff as a board!

The Keds sneaks - either you washed them, or tried polishing them with white shoe polish. What a mess! If you put too much on them, they'd crack. Lola - what a sad story about the little chick - awwwwww.

My brother fed his fingers thru the wringers too. Luckily, he was very young and his bones were still soft. No broken bones, just a very bruised hand. My grandmother did it too, by accident. Her hand was torn to shreds. Many surgeries, and she never could use that hand again. Those darn wringers were dangerous! Remember how noisy they were?

Karen in LV July 24, 2008 11:46 am | Link

My mom had the same ritual on wash day as far as re-using the water. We'd wash the basement floor (asphalt tiles) with it before it went down the drain. Then my borther and I would be in charge of waxing (on hands and knees of course). My brother and I still remember the smell of the wax, but can't remember the name. It was a blue liquid, that left your hands sticky and stiff after using it.

Our reward after finishing the job, was to take our shoes off and go "ice skating" on the newly cleaned floor. Tons of fun.

lola July 24, 2008 1:38 pm | Link

Oh my - I just realized we forgot I Love Lucy and Ted Mack's Amateur Hour! :)

Karen in LV July 25, 2008 10:30 am | Link

And Arthur Godfrey, Ooh, he was a character!

Anyone remember The Magic Cottage? -- Say the magic words: magic aroo baroo,
oora boora cigam.

Or Mr. Imagination? -- the man with the magic reputation. If you think you cannot go where you think you want to go, just ask me, Mr. Imagination.

Wish I could remember what I did yesterday as well as I remember this stuff!

How about Burma Shave signs?

Or, "You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent"!

I'm with you, cbel.....can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but can remember back to my childhood. LOL

Karen in LV July 25, 2008 11:28 am | Link

Songs stuck in our heads...that's a good one. Useless information from long ago.

N E S T L E S .... Nestles makes the very best.....chocolate. The dog puppet who sang that one and snapped his snout shut at the end. It was a standard commercial on one of those kid shows we watched.

And you're right, need to check today's calendar to make sure I don't forget any appointments made (even though I read the thing yesterday).

lola July 25, 2008 2:19 pm | Link

Lola - I used to LOVE that Nestle's jingle. Was the dog's name Farfel? (another one pulled out of the air.....lol)

Karen in LV July 25, 2008 6:28 pm | Link

Felix the Cat...the wonderful wonderful cat. You laugh so hard your side will ache, your heart will go pitter pat, watching Felic the Wonderful Cat.

FireFly July 25, 2008 8:34 pm | Link

I was brought up in NYC by children of the Depression and WWII in the fifties, Any one remember getting Dog Tags in school,practicing Take Cover Drills,
You're right no pants to school, I could'nt wait to go to College and ride the Q5A in Pants carrying my books---because then all the boys going to St John's Unv. would know if I was wearing pants Ii MUST be going to college. In NYC hopscotch was Potsy, anybody play Potsy. How about making chaines out of Teasberry Gum wrappers,because Dick Clark said so on Saturday night. Anybody remeber what was on first on channel 9 or 11"Clay Cole"and after " Zacherly" and his skits in between silly 30's movies like "Mighty Joe Young"
Remen=ber everyday school started with the pledge od allegence and then a reading from the Bible usually a Psalm. Thats something thatour children and grandchildren will Never understand.
Yoyo's Dishes in the detergent box"Golden Wheat pattern in Oxydol,movies when there were two movies playing and you could stay and watch again, iodine in baby oil when you went to the beach, and wearing your rollers covered by a scarf to the mall on saturady afternoon cause you had a date on saturday night and you had to wait for your hair to dry.
This is the best thread yet for my heart

ja fan July 26, 2008 4:56 am | Link