I thought it would be fun to talk about different things we remember from our childhood. Seems like folks that post here are all different ages and backgrounds. I'm a newby here to this forum, but enjoy all of you and would love to hear more about all of your lives. So, join in! I thought about this topic when I went into Blockbuster's recently and saw the little candies called "Kits". Those little taffy squares wrapped up in wax paper. They are now three for a dollar. I can remember when the were a penny a piece. I grew up in a small town in MD (I live in PA now) but we would all walk uptown to the movie theatre on Saturdays and pay a dime to get in. And have a nickle or another dime to get penny candy or a whole box of JuJu Bees (can't remember how it was spelled).

My husband grew up in Baltimore and he remembers street cars running and says that they had a funny odor to them, like freon and would make a funny noise as they would go by. He said he and his friends would put starting pistol blanks on the tracks and it would sound like guns going off when the streetcar ran over them!

So, what do you remember. Tell anything you like!!

I grew up in the DC suburbs, but back then it still had that small town feel. It was safe to walk 5 miles to school, the bus didn't pick us up, and we were glad not to have to ride them...it was so uncool! We would walk to the local pharmacy and get a real milk shake and a burger from the soda fountain. We walked everywhere we went, even in the snow. God forbid if mom or dad wanted to drive us!

The thing I remember most was that we were always doing something outside, like riding bikes & hiking through Rock Creek Park. We built a treehouse in my friend's back yard, using wood we found laying around when they were constructing the Morman Temple off 495...we even ran an extension cord from my friend's house so we'd have electricity in the treehouse! Horseback riding at friend's farms (of course, the farms are gone now) and being involved in the Girl Scouts. Going to the Montgomery County Fair in Gaithersburg was like a long drive out in the country! We'd enter our works of art in the fair to try to win ribbons, I think I still have some of the ribbons I won.

I remember never wanting to sit at home and watch TV, unless it was a night that the Brady Bunch, Lance Link Secret Chimp, Good Times or Chico & The Man was on!

Remember in the 70's it was actually affordable to go to a rock concert? I've seen Led Zepplin, Kiss, The Who, The Allman Bro's, Steppenwolf, Little Feat...I could go on & on. And afforded it all on an after school job salary!

I'm not all that old, but my how times have changed over the years! I hate going back to the old neighborhood because it's changed so much, and I'd never want to raise a family there now. It's kinda sad.

I've been on a nostalgia kick since I read Id's post in the singing thread....

I remember the first time the Beatles were on tv on the Ed Sullivan show. It was only black and white tv back then (hard to believe how much technology has changed in a few short years! ). Anyway, I remember just giggling through their whole performance. I was probably in the fourth grade. I thought they all looked so funny with their weird haircuts.....that was until I fell in love with them!
The next day, my dad brought "Meet the Beatles" record home and we all listened to it until we knew every word. Used to go to school and sing...."She loves you...." on the playground. I liked Paul the best and still think he is so handsome!

Yeah, Paul sure has aged well!

I remember my older sisters watching them on TV. They were into them & The Beach Boys. They took me to my first concert at Univ of MD Cole Field House, to see Chicago. I think that's where I got my first whiff of pot smoke!

I grew up in a small town in MD.
Saturdays were great, for a total of 50 cents,
you got into the movies, I think it was maybe 25 cents for
the show, then Popcorn was 15 cents and soda was 10 cents.

I didn't buy popcorn too often, as the ants would
get into the machine...and that was not...NOT fun.


AND Sunday mornings before church,
9am Tarzan,
then Shirley Temple
then the Bowery Boys, or East Side Kids, (depending on
the year the show was made)

love the Bowery Boys!!

Concerts,
I saw Aerosmith, when they played as the opening band
for Mott the Hoople.

I saw many concerts, they were $6:50, $7:50 or $8:50
depending upon where your seats were.

My first concert was the Byrds. At Shady Grove
the stage was circular.

My grandma ("Ma") lived on Alabama Avenue SE, and she frequently took us to Cedar Hill Cemetary (where "Da" was buried). We would have picnics there, feed the ducks, then decorate his grave and go home. Never once worried about our safety. 10 years ago, we went to decorate both my grandparents' and my father's grave, and had our purses stolen. People have been murdered and raped there.

Just down the road from Ma's was the Dixie Pig (Marlboro Pike), and sometimes we'd walk there. They had those little jukeboxes at every table.

When I was little, I lived in Birchwood City in Oxon Hill. We rode our bicycles everywhere, and there was a gully in the woods at least a mile from home where I spent hours playing. Little girls can't get outside of their front yard and be safe anymore. I remember them building the Beltway directly behind our house, and on Halloween, we probably covered 2 square miles, using pillowcases to collect loot. And the guy who sold Charles Chips always had a bowl with homemade popcorn balls out front.

Then in High School, we lived in Camp Springs; no real special memories there. But I went to Crossland High School, and was a junior the year they announced the busing - a couple of kids from Crossland were shot on a schoolbus just a few weeks ago.

Concerts, I've been to a bunch of them. I started hanging out with my ex in high school, and together we saw the Dead (together or separately) every time they were in town - saw them in June 1973 at RFK Stadium with the Allmans, Wet Willie, and Doug Sahm, saw the first concert at the Capitol Center (Allman Bros again), and saw Little Feat at Lisner Auditorium the night Lowell George died of an overdose. Honestly don't remember how much I paid for those tickets, but I was working in a nursing home for $1.60/hour and babysitting to make money, so it couldn't have been much!

It was OK when I was growing up, but I have no desire to be in the DC area anymore. Wish I could pry my kid away from there!

OMG_ Someone remembers Shady Grove music theater. I grew up right down the street from there (Glen Hills) and went to way to many concerts to even start thinking about. I even saw most of the shows from Peanuts to Jesus Christ- superstar. Wow- that brings back old memories. Also went to RFK and the Cap Center.
I've been back that way a few times but I'd never live there again. Boy- this really takes me back.

OMG, I was at that concert!

Yeah, that was when there was no such thing as an ATM (or at least WE weren't aware of them), and all the ex had in his wallet was a silver certificate that he really didn't want to spend, but.... The next morning when we woke up and heard that Lowell George had gone back to his hotel room and died of an overdose, we felt better about spending that silver certificate. It WAS a great show!

It was a great show! It was the year I graduated high school, 1979. I still have the t-shirt...wish it still fit!

I remember exploring woods, railroads, cornfields, cowfields , with my dogs. I'd pick up used shotgun shells like they were worth something. Look what I found! I would let my dogs chase and mutilate groundhogs. I would watch and cheer my dogs on.

The concrete around the pools would shred the bottom of my bathing suit from sitting on it. I hated that!

I was always eating raw hotdogs. I was in love with Prince and my mom rented Purple Rain for me to watch while my father wasn't there.

I drank those crappy Lil' Hugs with the tin foil seal. I would dump plain sugar in my mouth when no one was looking. I loved macaroni and cheese from the box better than the homemade kind.

My favorite Barbie was Peaches and Cream. My first Cabbage Patch Kid was Bing Donovan and my dad teased me that he was gay and I would cry. I loved watching the Smurfs and He-Man. I played MegaMania on my Atari until the score flipped back over to zeros.

Here's a new avatar for ya!

How about a raw hotdog?

Here you go.

whew! i was almost afraid to open that pic....

Me too!!

now-a-days if I eat hotdogs they make my tummy all gurgglely