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[Deborah-Leigh]

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

 

1920's, 30's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

 

We survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they

carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.

 

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested

for diabetes or cervical cancer.

 

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored

lead-based paints.

 

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we

rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we

took hitchhiking.

 

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

 

Riding in the back of a Ute on a warm day was always a special treat.

 

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

 

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds,

KFC, Subway or Red Rooster.

 

 Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends,

somehow we didn't starve to death!

 

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE

actually died from this.

 

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and

buy fruit tingles and some crackers to blow up frogs with.

 

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with

sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

 

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

 

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back

when the streetlights came on.

 

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

 

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down

the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and

cubby houses and played in creek beds with matchbox cars.

 

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no

99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile

phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat

rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

 

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no

 

Lawsuits from these accidents.

 

Only girls had pierced ears!

 

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us

forever.


 

We were given BB guns and sling shots for our 10th birthdays,

 

We drank milk laced with Strontium 90 from cows that had eaten grass covered

in nuclear fallout from the atomic testing at Maralinga in 1956.

 

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang

the bell, or just yelled for them!

 

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

 

Footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to

learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

 

Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather staps and bully's

always ruled the playground at school.

 

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They

actually sided with the law!

 

Our parents got married before they had children and didn't invent stupid

names for their kids like "Kiora" and "Blade"

 

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers

and inventors ever!

 

The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

 

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

 

HOW TO

 

DEAL WITH IT ALL!

 

And YOU are one of them!

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

 

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as

kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own

good.

 

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave

their parents were.

 

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

 

PS -The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age!

 

 

Makes you think....doesn't it!

 

[rk12201960]

You got that right Arc.

    

 Randy

[iris]

Takes you back to another time!!!








Iris

[gmik]

Ha.  So true.

Another "print-worthy".  thanks.

Actually, a couple days ago, I went into Babies R Us and asked for a stuffed doll bottle holder.  Oh we don't make those anymore!  Said, shouldn't just give a child a bottle like that w/o holding him!

I couldn't believe my ears and I really said to this poor over-worked clerk," Well, millions of us were raised w/ 'em! and it didn't hurt us!!"

[hillsbororiver]

Hi Arcturus,

It is incredible to look back at my old reality, being 53 y/o I can relate to so much of this.

Thanks for the bit of nostalgia!

The following is what my Grandfather (at about age 20) experienced in America after arriving here from Sicily;

 What Life Was Like 100 Years Ago (thanks to Craig Scheib)

Here are some surprising statistics for the Year 1906 :

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in 1906 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year,
a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .
Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.
Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,
regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." ( Shocking, huh? )

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE (!) U.S.A. !

This was forwarded to me from someone else without typing
it himself, and sent it to me and others all over the United States, Canada, and
possibly the world, in a matter of seconds!

Try to imagine what life may be like in another 100 years. (If we even have a world!)

[jER]

Things sure have change in this last half-century!
If, you happen to be that young? 

- jER

[gmik]

I got to thinking all that has happened in the last 100 years.

Now think of the 100 years before that!!  1806.

Is there an equal amount of incredible awesome things between 1806 & 1906??  Or between 1706-1806??

Or is time really speeding up??

[Bradigans]

I was born December 1970 and although I can't relate to everything, I can relate to enough to say, those truly were the days. Things were so simple. Now everything has to be so complicated, or what they call sophisticated. This is indeed a different world we're living in.

[Sorin]

Pffft! I wasn't even born yet. 

[Deborah-Leigh]

LOL Sorin