Considering the popularity of the Sears Catalog, I have always been surprised that Sears did not jump on the internet when it became available. It would have been as big as Amazon became. I also miss telephone books especially the Yellow Pages.
Rand McNally maps and street guides used to be in every car, home and gas station. The upper management couldn't and wouldn't accept the internet. "Everyone wants the map in their hands." I worked there and heard these sentiments often. The rapid changes in technology were beyond their understanding.
The funniest episode of Lucy was when she and Ethel worked at the chocolate candy factory, LMAO!!! I still life my head off at that episode no matter how many times I've watched it.
The National Anthem would always sign off the two stations we had, NBC and CBS until 1964 when the ABC affiliate began broadcasting in our area. Then in 1965 the local PBS station came on the air, but for only a few hours a day.
Thank you. 😊Regarding typewriters, one of my fondest memories as a child was getting to visit my grandmother, (a journalist/reporter for our local newspaper), in the newsroom. The collective rhythm of many journalists typing was just a special memory for me then.❤
I was 12 years old during the oil embargo. There was a gas station on the corner down the street. Every day I would wake up at 4:30 so I would be ready when the station opened at 5:00. I went up and down the street with my Radio Flyer wagon selling coffee, tea, hot chocolate, newspapers, bowls of cereal or hot instant oatmeal and other things. My family was poor, so I had to go to the bank and ask for a small loan to buy a couple large coffee makers. The bank manager just loaned me two the bank had. When it was all over, I returned the coffee makers. I had another $4000.00 in my bank account. A huge sum for me back then. I don't think I charged more than a quarter for anything. Got my picture on the front page of two newspapers and an award from our town Chamber of Commerce. The bank manager helped me invest the money and I was able to use it to be the first in my family to get a college education, a degree in Agricultural Engineering. I think I may be the only person that looks on those few months with happiness.
You sold me with that comment right there! Got any iced tea or lemonade? I'll take a root beer if you got one too! Can you deliver to Maine? I got the correct change so you won't need to bring any. I'm a decent tipper, by the way!
@@BeeFunKnee I forgot about the tips. Many people tipped me more than what I charged. They often said they can't spend their money on gas so they may as well give it to me.
@@dougtripp2431 I wager you had some decent conversations with those people waiting in line. I loved talking with older people at age 12, and earlier. They'll try to say helpful, thoughtful things. They'll warn a child about mistakes they themselves made, too.
Growing up, there were only three TV channels. But it seemed there was more quality programming than we have now with unlimited options. The "big" TV set only had a 19-inch screen. Getting up to change channels didn't seem inconvenient. My dad always yelled if he felt I was turning the knob TOO FAST, saying it would break the set, although I never knew anyone who had that happen. Having control of the channel selection, if my parents went out, felt like winning the lottery!
We were fortunate to receive 11 of the 13 TV channels on our TV set, back in the 1960s. Dad installed a great aerial antenna and we lived in a great area (northern San Diego county) that picked up all those LA, SD and TJ channels. Oh and we also had a variety of remotes, me and my siblings standing by the set while Dad search the TV Guide for a good show! 😁
Oh, I forgot about turning the knob too fast. Dad...I think that he thought it would round out the parts too fast, or make things blow up with sparks! Don't sit too close, and let the set warm up!
Thank you for the fond memories, I am a boomer born in 1956, one year my Mom ordered a new coat for my Pop, didn’t come in time, so she cut the picture out and wrapped it up, so he’d have it to open!?!! How much fun?!!?!
I got my license when I was 16 in 1969. The cheap gas was 23 cents a gallon. When I was 19 in 1972 I went to Dallas for a weekend and it was 17 cents as a gas war was going on.
Remember when "public" and "independent" TV stations were allowed to broadcast their shows? You could watch almost anything, and you often did, especially in large cities with dozens of new stations and new shows. Remember when there were only 2 or 3 TV stations? Maybe 5 if you lived in or near a large city. No nudity, sex, violence or gore, that would wait for the internet and home computers.
Loved the Sear catalog all year round!!!I loved how you could just plug a tv in and presto.............you have tv!!!!I remember my principal had a weekly schedule for the teachers to get gas..........mine was 10am and the sub would go to my room until i returned.Fortunately the lines during the day were much smaller then what you show.I was a trunk operator at The Whittier daily news when i was in college!
There were two payphones in our high school lunchroom.... I still remember using one to call my best friend at lunch whenever she was home sick-she would do the same for me. We had to catch each other up on the latest happenings at school -you couldn't miss out on the day's gossip just because you were sick-(or pretending to be sick!)
The 1973 gas shortage was something that I was lucky to have never suffered through. My parents owned a large chain of grocery stores with gas pumps, and he was partners with our gasoline supplier and refinery, plus we had private company only pumps at our central offices for family and employees. There were only a handful of times that an individual store would be out of fuel for a day at most. We were blessed, with parents who had foresight and excellent planning for the future of our business.
Those TV sets are classics themselves. I think we owned one of those models at least. One can still obtain typing ribbons, although typewriters which work are more difficult it seems.👍
Analog living was much more human scale than digital. What we gained in convenience, we lost in human interaction. Most Americans today are lonely. We have our iphones and text messages but they relate useless info, not heart felt caring. I miss those days and most of the people I knew then who are no longer with us. It was the best of times, best music, best prosperity for America when we had national pride. Glad to be a Baby Boomer.
Oh, I like your comment about the scale of living. I don't know HOW MANY times I look around and feel that the world is on a larger-than-human scale these days. "Larger-than-life" is how I feel about so many elements in today's world. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed.
I remember using a rotary dial phone years before push buttons came along. And calling the operator to make your connection. And when I built my first home on our ranch, I had to have a three way party line that I shared with two different old busy bodies, who would sit and listen in on conversations, until I would make an embarrassing remark then click. Thank goodness it only lasted a couple of months before AT&T put in my private lines.
Kids today have no clue what it was like to dog ear the pages and circle the items you were hoping to get for Christmas from the Sears Wish Book. Yeah computer screens can do similar things, but they’re cold and with the Wish Book, we could go back day after day, wishing, and anticipating what might come for Christmas.
The most important skill that I learned was from the old fashioned typewriter. I make do data entry as a living and learning this skill was a life saver.
Being a kid from the 50s/60s, the Christmas catalogs were always a fight over who was going to get their hands on it first. As for all the catalogs, the ladies lingerie sections were popular, a friend once told me.🤫
Typewriters - In the 78-79 school year I was in 10th grade. A women in office hated me (ling story) She put me in typing class, which was all girl class.. Computers were just about to come out and has keyboard like typewriters. So, I was lucky.
