Back in the day

Althulas said:
When your parents said be back at so and so time you were. My dad used to say have fun and don’t bring the police knocking on the door with that look that you understood your boundaries.
Click to expand...
I was late for dinner on 3 consecutive nights after being told to stay close to home at dinner time so I could hear my mother calling me. On the third night, my father hit me right between the eyes splitting my glasses in half at the bridge of my nose. The blow had flattened me out against the kitdhen wall and it took everything I had not to slide down it. It was the only time I ever remember my father hitting me. Needless to say, I was near the house and on time for dinner after that. Dad almost always preferred to speak to me. Since he was 6' 1" and 240 pounds, I thought it would be best to listen. Mom, on the other hand, being of Germanic-Hungarian extraction and an ex-sergeant in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during WWll, used other tactics until I was strong enough to hold her wrists..........Frankie
 
You can't let children do the things we did as children. It's no longer safe. When I was in second grade, I was 6 years old. I started school early at 5 and was the youngest in my class. I went to school in center city Philadelphia at a school located on Rittenhouse Square. This square intersected South 19th Street which picked up again on the southern part of the square. My school was located near that corner. At that time, a trolley used to run down 19th Street. My parents taught me to take the trolley at the corner of Rittenhouse Square and 19th Street. The trolley made a straight run down 19th Street and I got off it in front of our house in South Philadelphia at 19th and Shunk Streets. Normally I wouldn't remember doing this at such a young age except for one distinct memory I had of an event. I had gotten out of school and was waiting for the trolley for what seemed an extraordinarily long period of time. I waited and waited and waited and no trolley. Finally, it came to me that before leaving for school, my parents told me that there was no longer going to be a trollley any more because the city was now using busses. The next bus got me safely home. I know this time frame to be true as during that school year, we moved to Northeast Philly where I entered a new school. It was the middle of the school year and I was still in second grade. The year was 1957. I was not 7 years old until May of 1958.
In today's world, no one would think of letting their child take public transportation at that age. Back then, the driver or conductor always made sure children got to their destination safely. Now days, a parent would be arrested for doing that. It was a different world. It seems kids today wouldn't be allowed to do that until well into their teens. It's a different world.............................Frankie

This is the best map I can find. It's really a straight run down 19th Street to the corner of my block, no turns.......

upload_2018-10-24_2-53-37.webp


Philadelphia Trolley....


upload_2018-10-24_2-30-23.webp
 
Last edited:
We used to do most of the things you guys did, bike riding, fishing, bird nesting, build "trolleys" using scaffold planks and wheels from old prams. Had years of fun playing on building sites when the council was building new housing estates. We used to drive the dumpers once we found where they hid the starting handle. We'd go out for the day with our airifles and fishing rods.
Can't think of a time I wasn't in before my curfew, as I didn't want to risk it and preferred to keep the peace.
We never had any bother with the police as I don't think we were bad lads. Our local copper was Jack Fuller and nobody messed with him anyway. My grandad said "he's 2ft taller than John Wayne and hits harder than Sonny Liston, and if you don't want any trouble from Jack, it's best you don't give him any"
 
Last edited:
A Raleigh chrome burner and a pair of quasar lineker golds, you can't beat the mid eighties! anyone remember quasar football boots?
 
Yeah fully agree with all the comments, but what about kids not now developing their immunities due to their "operating theatre" clean homes and not doing all the things we did. So many allergies nowadays. Parents think that they arenta doing their jobs unless everythingse been wiped down with Dettol
 
Yup, same as. Out 'till dark in summer, usually miles away. Tactical relocation of paper shop pop bottles to take them back in for a refund to buy some sweets, whilst stuffing out pockets with 'free' sweets. Saturday and Sunday we enjoyed the milk and orange juice that the milkman left on peeps doorsteps :D Stupid place to leave it ;)

Chicken across the A1, one of the lads got hit head on, by his teacher :sorry:

Home made go-karts going down hills at a million mph, no hi-viz or safety pads/helmet.

Swimming in rivers and filled quarries

There but the grace of God go I :nailbiting:
 
Yeah, it was a 'Trolley' made from old bits of wood and some pram wheels when I was a kid. Decorated mine by nailing beer bottle tops along it.Always coming off , I had permanent scabs on my knees and elbows, but great fun picking them when they got really hard. When they were really dry you could pull off a great big scab.Simple pleasures !!!
 
Yep, did most of those things,enjoyed collecting birds eggs,
Remember putting them in shoe boxes on a bed of flour in
Neat lines . I had hundreds of eggs:whistle::whistle: well quite a few .
We also used to put a short board on a skate,sit on it ,and down
The hill we went stearing them by pushing down either side fo the skate
(If you understand me)
Thinking about it ,If was an early skate board.
Never stayed in unless raining,out all hours with a bottle of water,
Oh memories ,sweet memories!
 
We were lucky living on the farm it’s a playground but we were so lucky we didn’t get hurt badly some of the things we did doesn’t bear thinking about .we had to work first lol Saturday morning we had to do the jobs my dad couldn’t do himself easily it seemed to take hours and school holidays were always harvest time but I liked driving the tractor until I was strong enough to lift a bale onto the trailer.But my dad got me an Austin A60 pickup that was off the road when I was about 9 or 10with a 3 speed column change man I ragged that truck but I had to buy my own petrol so I’d save pennies and ride my bike to the Petrol station 4 miles away with a tin but it made it all the more sweeter ,he got me a 175bsa bantam when I was about 12 it was an interment runner I think he had it for next to nothing I spent more time fixing it than riding it .i think he wanted me to learn to be a mechanic but it just started a motorcycle habit lol
 
I've really enjoyed reading this thread, I'm so glad I grew up in the seventies, and eighties.

Everywhere you look today most people are staring into their phones.
 
we built sleds for the snowriding out of car hoods. and when school was out for the summer, we would set up our tents on someones farm, and only go home for chores and to eat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top