Reminiscing the Good Old Days

Mr. Hardcastle Remembers the Good Old Days
(Source: ©everett225/Depositphotos.com)

Do you enjoy reminiscing the Good Old Days when they weren't all that — Ahem — old? If you're anything like me, you're probably wondering how the years could have passed by so fast. It's almost a blur!

"I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine," says Mr. Hardcastle in Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. I am sure that Hardcastle speaks for many of us. It's fun to remember!

Reminiscing the Good Old Days

You Spun 45 RPM Records with Huge Center Holes
(Source: ©123rf.com/bruce-riccitelli)

• When milk came in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers with a layer of cream on top of the milk.
  
  
• When powdered laundry detergent came with free towels, dishes, or glasses hid inside the box.
  
  
• When calories were never counted in desserts, and cream and butter were considered healthy ingredients.
  
  
• Tinkertoys®, hectograph copies, ringer washing machines, peashooters, Sunday drives with the family, and soft drink cartons.
  
  
• When you got an Orange Crush® in a brown-glass bottle out of a large cooler filled with water and floating blocks of ice.
  
  
• When a family picnic meant spreading a blanket at the side of a country road and enjoying homemade sandwiches, icicle pickles, and thick slices of fresh-baked apple pie.
  
  
• When you could buy double-scoop ice cream cones for 10 cents with real cream and three flavors to choose from: vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate.
  
  
• And who could ever forget the classic toy commercials? Sit back, watch the YouTube video below, and enjoy some timeless memories.
  
  

I especially remember watching the Slinky commercial. I could hardly wait to get one and watch it walk down the stairs! Afterwards, Mom and Dad were sorry that they gave it to me. Such a racket!

A Visitor Remembers

When It Was Hip to Hang Out in the Record Store
(PD Source: Calling All Girls Magazine - Oct. 1945)

I enjoy reminiscing the good old days when we collected pop bottles for money and visited our neighborhood candy store. You could get so much candy for a few bottles. I can remember yummy root beer Popsicles® and scooped ice cream in a cone.

Do you remember when we could walk anywhere in our neighborhood without feeling afraid; everyone knew everyone, and we all looked out for each other. The kids all played outside and yes, we drank from the hose if we were thirsty. We played cowboys and Indians, hide and seek, and frozen statue.

Do you remember when we listened to radio programs as a family and if you were lucky you had a small screen black and white TV that you could watch I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, and The Red Skelton Show. No one sat in front of the TV all day; we had no video games or computers.

The family ate dinner as a family, ours was usually at 5:00 pm. Once a week my mother would go to the butcher shop to get the little bit of meat we could afford for the week, and the butcher always gave me a hot dog as a treat. It tasted so good, nothing like the hot dogs these days.

They were hard times but much better times than today. People had manners, cared for one another and talked to each other with respect. If someone were in front of you when you got to the door, they would hold the door open for you.

These are just a few of the many fond memories that I miss.

—Sandy, Cincinnati, OH

Reminiscing the Good Old Days

Costumed Victoria Cristiani of the Cristiani Brothers Circus
(PD Source: State Archives of Florida/Steinmetz)

Enjoy reminiscing the good old days when times seemed simpler and more fun. Whether it's the 70s, 60s, or 50s, or earlier still, you'll find lots of fun nostalgia here.

Read "When the Circus Came to Town" (below), and the visitor comments by Victoria B. Cristiani Rossi (above) whose family owned and performed in the world-famous Cristiani Circus.

Watch and marvel at the skill and daring displayed by the Cristiani Circus family members in the YouTube video below.

Are You a Part-Time Writer?

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Would you write for us? Do you have fun reminiscing the good old days? Share your own childhood memories and nostalgia with others who visit this page. Maybe you could tell us about your first car, or a special event in your life, while including with an interesting photo or two.

We would love to hear from you.

For instance, I recall growing up in the 1950s. The older girls at school wore saddle shoes, and the boys wore Ivy League pants with thin black and grey stripes. And remember those white buck shoes that were so hard to keep clean.

What do you remember?

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Memories Shared by Others

Click on the links below to read the fond memories in articles submitted, and the comments received from other visitors who loved reminiscing the good old days.

Old Fashioned Candy Store 
Do you have fond remembrances of glass candy jars and nostalgic candy from childhood? I know I do. Whenever I see or taste old fashioned candies, it takes …

Shopping At The 5 & 10 - When Sheets Had Hems 
I remember buying bed sheets at the G. C. Murphy (5 & 10) store. We could buy various colors, but they were all "flat," not "fitted." They all had wide …

The Simplex Typewriter 
Does anyone remember the Simplex Typewriter? It was around 1956 that I relentlessly badgered my parents to give me one for Christmas. It is mostly made …

Orange Drinking Spouts 
I remember when I was a kid (I'm 42) you could take an orange and roll it and mush it around and put this drinking spout into the orange and drink fresh …

When the Circus Came to Town 
While rummaging around in my basement the other day, I came across my old "King Bros. - Cristiani Circus Magazine" containing the official program for …

Click here to write your own.

1950s Doll House Furniture - How Styles Have Changed
(PD Source: Dell Comics 1953)

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