I grew up in the 1950's where everything was bigger then life. At the age of ten I saw my first colored TV. Wow, and no one was outside turning the antenna! I remember eating out of the first bucket of chicken. Ice cream cones seemed three stories tall and the value of one thin dime made you a millionaire. We had a little ice cream store in our neighborhood and if a dime ever came into your possession if came with quite a dilemma. You see one thin dime could buy you a small coke and a small ice cream or one of the biggest ice cream cones you could ever want to tackle. I always went for the soda and cone. That way I had something in each hand. I can remember standing at the window of the ice cream shop and my sister Patti and I each had a nickel. "Two vanilla cones please", my sister asked politely. Standing there anticipating that lovely cone my eyes dropped to the ground. Staring back at me was a crisp one dollar bill! A whole dollar! I was actually looking at a whole years supply of ice cream cones!!!! Ever so slightly I bent down and picked up the small fortune as my stupid sister catches sight of what I now have clasped tightly in my little hand. "Give it to me and I'll hold it", she whispers to me under her breath. "No!", I hiss back. "It's mine". During this time our cones appear and ice cream begins melting over both our hands as we shuffle for the dollar (the whole time hoping the ice cream lady doesn't see what we have). Finally I believe Patti regained control of the dollar and we ran home to show it to Momma. Poor Momma, another massive problem to solve!
I will never forget the smell of my elementary school. The smell of chalk and floor wax were overwhelming that I can smell it to this day. Not to mention how high the school ceiling was. Or the way our classroom smelled when it rained and you played jacks on the cement floor. At the end of summer Dad would take us to Napier's shoe and clothing store where everyone got new shoes. New shoes was a big deal in our house! With a new pair of PF Fliers I could run faster then anyone in my class!
On weekends and through the summer we got to go to the theatre with it's bright red carpeting and red velvet hand rails. This was when a large pop corn and a jumbo coke was around seventy five cents. If you missed some of the movie you just stayed for the next one, no charge. If you loved the movie you could watch it two or three times, no charge. There was a thing called intermission where you could go to the bathroom or visit the concession stand and every feature began with a cartoon. Those were the days. After school everyone met at the Richardson Rexall Drug Store where there were small jukeboxes on every table and french fries came in a basket. You could buy everything from candy bars to punch bowls at Richardson Rexall Drug store. We got our groceries from Mallow's and Jim's Markets where you could actually pull right up to the store windows not like now where you park a mile away and then walk a mile through the store. The clerks knew you by your first name and even knew which car was yours. Every Saturday night when my brother got off work we went to the "Devils Elbow" market to get Boston baked bean candy and hurried home to watch the horror movie about a giant black spider that terrorized a small town. I can remember sitting with our poor father as he tried to watch Gun Smoke with Matt Dillon while all of us kids crunched nosily on Kitty Clover Potato Chips. He could only stand so much and would yell at us so we quickly learned to soak the chips in our mouth so we wouldn't get banned from the living room.
When you got sick it was off to "Doc Nickols" office where Nurse Helen would take your temperature and wait for Doc to walk in. My little sisters Beverly and Debbie would hold their breath waiting for that door to open and "Doc" to appear. When he did that deep voice of his would say the dreaded words "two CC's nurse", causing Bev's bottom lip to quiver uncontrollably and the start of Deb's footrace with poor Nurse Helen.
On weekends if we had the money we loaded up the car and headed to the Drive In. My brother Mike would get the biggest pot he could find and pop massive amounts of pop corn and filled a large paper bag to the top. Getting there before dusk gave us kids plenty of time to play on the playground underneath the big screen. There was even outside seating if you wanted to watch the movie underneath the stars. I can still remember how the speaker cracked and echoed inside our car and how in the world we all curled up comfortably in the back seat still amazes me.
At the end of the month my mother and father would get very glammed up for a night of dining and dancing. They would go out to Leo's Supper Club on a Saturday night. In the 50's dining was a social event. Momma would wear her fake pearl necklace and dangling earrings. We thought she was beautiful and elegant. Dad wore his double breasted suit. The first thing we did on the following Sunday morning was raid the cold kitchen oven for inside was a treasure of food from Saturday night's feast. There would be huge onion rings, jumbo shrimp and the best dinner rolls you ever tasted.
Back then you bought your soda from a gas station of all places and they came in glass bottles not cans. The milk man came to your door and all most every one's Mom stayed home. We wore pinafores, dresses and skirts to school and the gym clothes were horrible. I can remember our next door neighbor embroidering my name on the front of it. We honored our school and our teachers and we called all our friends parents by Mr and Mrs. It was called respect. Something our parents made sure we had plenty of. These are just a few of the memories I have of growing up. To me if was the best of times. Till next time keep your children towards the simple life and may you make your own special memories... Aunt Onie
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