I Remember

A Time When

The excitement when the Good Humor man rang the bells - angelforyou.org

I remember a time when -

• The extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins) would get together for all holidays..and a few days that weren’t

• Mom’s meatloaf, chili, golabki, pierogi or lazanki, and her pecan cookie cups were the best

• Dad’s Sunday BBQs

• We had an old Maytag washer but no dryer. The sight of the clothes line stretched across the yard filled with laundry secured by clothes pins. In the winter time, there was an indoor setup in the basement

• All the broken bones and owies. Always physical then, usually my left arm

• People got along with each other instead of looking for ways to divide (and conquer)

• Tuesday and Friday nights playing Little League baseball

• Monday and Thursday nights coaching Little League baseball

• Candy bars were a dime

My favorite growing up - bbemuseum.com

• I collected baseball cards

• I liked sports. Baseball was #1…but no more

• Going to up to 20 ball games a season. Mostly Cub games…but no more

• Going to concerts and movies. It was entertainment and escape…but no more

• Saturday and/or Sundays golfing with my brother 😇

• Annual Montgomery Ward Father and Son Breakfast

• Big Macs were 30 cents

• Bus rides were a quarter…40 cents all day Sunday

Fullerton and Central Terminal

• The ice cream truck. Good Humor, Tastee Freeze, Mr Softee

• Wiffle ball games in front of the house

• Touch football games in the street

• Wally’s Jumbo Red Hots. Nothing but a trailer. Still the best of my favorite food. Gone but not forgotten

• Stopping at Wally’s when mom or dad won playing cards

• All the great neighborhood pizza joints

• Daily summer trips to the bike trail through Caldwell Woods.

• Putting the bed next to the window for the summer and sleeping under said window open.

• Listening to “Chicago Ed” Schwartz on the radio overnight

• Listening (and not chasing) to the police scanner to keep up what was going on in the neighborhood. Lots of the stuff you’d never see in a newspaper.

• Gas was 29 cents a gallon. That’s 29 cents, not 5 dollars and 29 cents, twenty nine !

2nd time I’ve seen $5 gas in my life

• High School…everything ! Football, Basketball games, trying out for baseball team, but not making it, Senior Prom. Yeah to all of it

• My first girl friend - Sophmore year. My first true love- Senior year

• 2 very unsuccessful years at University of Illinois, Chicago

• 2 better but incomplete years at Harper Junior College

• My first “real job”. Pantry Pride - a 7-11 type convenience store in the neighborhood

• Bowling Leagues. 265 for a high game. Not bad

• My first car - 1976 Ford Gran Torino, Red. Starsky-esche…no white stripe but a white vinyl top

• There was teamwork and not individuality

• When the neighbor yelled to get off the grass, you did

• Police were feared, but respected. Judges ruled on law not political beliefs

• Endless sounds of The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Genesis could be heard. Vinyl on the turntable or cassettes in the player

• The years traveling around during the travel agent years. Before getting on an airplane was a scary thing

• Pace Bus. 90% good experience. What I always wanted to do. The supervisor gig was perfect for me at the time

Just a fraction of all the things growing up into my 20s. No stress. No muss. No fuss. I think of this stuff all the time. So many people I’ve come across over the years. Some are still with us. Many are not 😇😔😢. Much mischief, many good times. There was lots of respect, sharing, learning, teaching. Too bad the culture and mentality of that time are now gone…or at least seem to be. These were the days of the phone being on the wall. Board games were the thing for indoor activities. This was before the electronic revolution. Heck, clock radios were first becoming popular in those days. Video recorders (VHS and Beta) and CD players were the status toys before everyone had one.

For the most part those were fun times. Gee I miss em !