Remember When
very true. What I love is the searching for satellite message. Makes we want to throw gps out window if it takes to longQuote: SOOPOOQuote: JimRockfordAnyone remember AAA TripTik? A custom made spiral bound flip book of maps for your road trip.
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I loved going to AAA to get them! I used to save them in the car until it was self evident it was a trip I wasn’t repeating.
Map story…. Ex and I are on the Island of Malta. Street signs not in English. I’m driving, she’s the co pilot with the map. We are trying to go from one main road to another when I don’t exit the circle at the proper place. We re-enter the circle with a second failure. I probably said something not so nice to ex, who throws map at me. I duck, and it flies out the window never to be seen again. We pull over, and laugh our balls off! When you f… up with modern GPS, there is nothing to throw!
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Quote: rxwineDoes anyone still see "This road patrolled from the air." signs or whatever they used to say? I haven't done much intrastate travel lately so don't really know if they still are out there. Even at the time, I suspected they weren't flying overhead that much. But they had me looking up in my younger days like paranoid Henry Hill in Goodfellas.
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Ohio Turnpike still has "bears in the air", and signs like "speed enforced by aircraft". (Pretty sure I got buzzed last week.)
That sort of sign can be seen intermittently elsewhere, but the exact locales elude my memory at the moment.
Quote: Ace2Can some one please explain what a “turnpike” is ?
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The name comes from the original style of gate used on the original private toll roads.
Now, "turnpike" is one of the names used for certain toll roads.
In some locales, non-toll roads are also called turnpikes, because they used to be private toll roads a long time ago.
as a liitle kid it was indeed a special day when I got to ride on a Streetcar. I had to sit up front and watch every move the Conductor made. he was THE MAN - able to control that gigantic thing.
Moms from the burbs used Streetcars to get to the much better (at that time) downtown DC shopping
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Quote: Ace2Can some one please explain what a “turnpike” is ?
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Toll road.
passbook savings accounts_________
Traditionally, a passbook was used for accounts with a low transaction volume, such as savings accounts. A bank teller would write the date, amount of the transaction and the updated balance and enter his or her initials by hand.
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Quote: lilredrooster__________
as a liitle kid it was indeed a special day when I got to ride on a Streetcar. I had to sit up front and watch every move the Conductor made. he was THE MAN - able to control that gigantic thing.
Moms from the burbs used Streetcars to get to the much better (at that time) downtown DC shopping
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My dad was part of a crew that rebuilt many, many of these type of trolleys. When the local transit authority took over the six independent local transit companies in the 1960s they found they bought a junkyard, probably why it was done. All these people say how those St Louis cars "held up for decades." Not really true. They wer3e rusted out and restored like an antique car. He got a few calls from the local trolley museum to volunteer to work there.
Which brings me to "what do you call them?" We use "streetcars" and "trolleys" pretty interchangeable here. But I remember the conversation in Phoenix when they were test running the light rail. I told a co-worker about it.
"Looks like the light rail is getting close. they were test running the trolleys."
"The what?"
"The trolleys"
"The WHAT?"
"TROLLEYS"
"BOY, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
"Trolleys. The cars that run on the light rail!"
"What are you? From Germany??"
At the least I thought anyone who had ever seen "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" had heard the term. BTW: That may be because he was from the same city as I was.
the gigantic multi-level department stores from the past - this is Hechts in DC - needed elevator operators
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Quote: lilredrooster__________
the gigantic multi-level department stores from the past - this is Hechts in DC - needed elevator operators
It was actually a skill. I was on one old one with no buttons that somehow survived to the 1980s. In an office building and not really for the public. Hard to believe how they once worked.
the VW bus was a legend
most dudes who owned one would put a bed in the back
it was a rolling love shack for the free spirits of the era
if they happened to open the big door when you walked by you would get a contact high
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Sure, you get used to it, but summer in NJ is hot and humid.
I recall one evening when I was a kid it was hell: big fan on in the window, no sheets over me, wearing only my underwear, motionless, yet sweating continuously.
Now I know why so many of us fled to the lakes of New Hampshire in the summer for a few weeks of cooler weather.
Air conditioning: the unsung hero of modern civilization.
Lake Mead, the largest human-made reservoir in the U.S.,
there weren't a lot of scammers back in the day - they didn't have digital means
but there was one guy I knew of who had a pretty effective nickel and dime con
he stood in front of Georgetown bars collecting a $3.00 cover charge
except those bars didn't have a cover charge__________________________________(~:/
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Quote: lilredrooster_____________
there weren't a lot of scammers back in the day - they didn't have digital means
but there was one guy I knew of who had a pretty effective con
he stood in front of Georgetown bars collecting a $3.00 cover charge
except those bars didn't have a cover charge__________________________________(~:/
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Speaking of scammers, I think Frank Abagnale's (real person for the movie "Catch Me if you Can" with DiCaprio) best story on Johnny Carson clip is at the 7:50 mark) I don't think it was in the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIYtKR24LQs
Quote: rxwineQuote: lilredrooster_____________
there weren't a lot of scammers back in the day - they didn't have digital means
but there was one guy I knew of who had a pretty effective con
he stood in front of Georgetown bars collecting a $3.00 cover charge
except those bars didn't have a cover charge__________________________________(~:/
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Speaking of scammers, I think Frank Abagnale's (real person for the movie "Catch Me if you Can" with DiCaprio) best story on Johnny Carson clip is at the 7:50 mark) I don't think it was in the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIYtKR24LQs
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If you haven't read the book, you should. The best book I have ever read. One of the few where the movie was good, but the book is incredible.
Quote: rxwineSpeaking of scammers, I think Frank Abagnale's (real person for the movie "Catch Me if you Can" with DiCaprio) best story on Johnny Carson clip is at the 7:50 mark) I don't think it was in the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIYtKR24LQs
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I remember the scene. If it wasn’t in the movie, then it may have been a deleted scene…
I enjoyed his description and Carson’s interaction.
I didn't really know this actress - she was before my time - I happened to see her in an old movie I was watching last night
she was incredibly beautiful - absolutely stunning - she retired from acting at age 26 to become the Princess of Monaco
Grace Kelly
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Quote: lilredrooster____________
I didn't really know this actress - she was before my time - I happened to see her in an old movie I was watching last night
she was incredibly beautiful - absolutely stunning - she retired from acting at age 26 to become the Princess of Monaco
Grace Kelly
Yeah, super hot lady. Died tragically in a car accident. I remember when I was a kid thinking it was dumb of her to quit acting just to get married....lol.... now that I'm older I realize it's probably a way better gig being a princess.
duckpin bowling - lots of fun - I liked it better than 10 pins - it's almost completely gone now
only 41 duckpin alleys left in the entire U.S.
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Quote: lilredrooster_____________
duckpin bowling - lots of fun - I liked it better than 10 pins - it's almost completely gone now
only 41 duckpin alleys left in the entire U.S.
Only tried it once. Even when I was a kid there were something like 100 places left. Somehow two of them were within a block or two of each other near where I grew up.
Auto pinsetters helped kill it. My dad said when they had pinboys you could play either, just said what you wanted when you got an alley. But the auto-pin setter while it led to a bowling boom also eliminated the choice.
Quote: lilredrooster_____________
duckpin bowling - lots of fun - I liked it better than 10 pins - it's almost completely gone now
only 41 duckpin alleys left in the entire U.S.
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Both guys look like they’re posing, but the gal looks like she’s really concentrating… “I’ll show those boys how to roll!”
I rolled a few games. It was fun, but basically a novelty. It never really caught on. Unfortunately, the bowling alley closed a few years later. Now, it is a strip mall.
I was always amused by the fact that in duckpin, you can hit the headpin and only knock down 2 pins total!
Quote: lilredrooster_____________
duckpin bowling - lots of fun - I liked it better than 10 pins - it's almost completely gone now
only 41 duckpin alleys left in the entire U.S.
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Nowadays, things need to explode when you hit them to keep the interest of the youthful crowd
Quote: lilredrooster
I grew up in the 1950s and I remember elevator operators very well. It was often a job for a handicap man because they could sit down on a stool and only needed one arm to do the job effectively. Some of them did it for decades because that's the only kind of job they could get. When self-serve elevators came along put a lot of people out of work. I say handicapped man because you very seldom to never saw a woman elevator operator and certainly not a handicap one. Women mostly didn't work in the 50s, my mother did but she was the exception. All my friends mothers we're stay at home June Cleavers There was also lots of shoeshine guys downtown in the 1950s and they were always busy. They mostly disappeared in the 1960s.link to original post
great pic EB - thanks for that
this is students in high school 1930s learning the latest high technology
at first glance I thought it was dudeless - but I looked again and there are some dudes there - they're wearing ties
teach looks intense - careful with your spelling - don't get her riled
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Quote: lilredrooster___________
great pic EB - thanks for that
this is students in high school 1930s learning the latest high technology
at first glance I thought it was dudeless - but I looked again and there are some dudes there - they're wearing ties
teach looks intense - careful with your spelling - don't get her riled
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Typing was a serious skill in the 20th century and who knew it would carry over to computers. We all look at keyboards everyday. I have a mint condition 1965 Olympia typewriter made in Germany and on eBay they are going for a couple hundred dollars. Vintage typewriters are very collectible now
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on the girl on the left front's typewriter you can see the name L.C. Smith
they later became Smith Corona which iirc was the best name brand for this product 50s and 60s
I know shoeshine guys were around in DC - but not in the burbs - even in the late 70s - I got a couple of shines from them - but I always felt kinna uncomfortable about it
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Quote: lilredrooster_____________
on the girl on the left front's typewriter you can see the name L.C. Smith
they later became Smith Corona which iirc was the best name brand for this product 50s and 60s
I know shoeshine guys were around in DC - but not in the burbs - even in the late 70s - I got a couple of shines from them - but I always felt kinna uncomfortable about it
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I am probably a little younger than you, I only remember shoe shine stands at airports and I still occasionally see them. That was the only place I have ever had my shoes shined.
For a while in the early 90’s when I worked on Wall Street at One Chase Plaza there was a shoeshine guy who would come around to certain floors and give shines at your desk. Tom Wolf had written a few passages in Bonfire of the Vanities about just such a character, Felix, who did the same thing for the Masters of the Universe (whose office was modeled after One Chase Plaza). I think the shoeshine guy eventually retired. Anyway he definitely was gone by the late 90s. Last of a dying breed.Quote: DRichQuote: lilredrooster...
I know shoeshine guys were around in DC - but not in the burbs - even in the late 70s - I got a couple of shines from them - but I always felt kinna uncomfortable about it
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I am probably a little younger than you, I only remember shoe shine stands at airports and I still occasionally see them. That was the only place I have ever had my shoes shined.
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Uptown, until I think around the mid 2000s, there used to be a large bank of shoeshine chairs on 42nd Street, just outside of Grand Central Terminal.
Quote: TigerWuI always thought shoeshines were an odd thing to pay for since you can so easily do it yourself.
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You have obviously never shined shoes before because it's not easy at all to do it correctly. And it's a messy pain in the butt. It was also started in the days when absolutely everybody wore leather shoes which gradually phased out after the 1950s. These days almost nobody wears leather shoes anymore comparatively.
Exactly!Quote: rxwineVideo Killed the Radio Star Business Casual Killed the Shoeshine Man.
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Quote: EvenBob
You have obviously never shined shoes before because it's not easy at all to do it correctly.
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I did quite a bit of shining in the Army so I do know what it takes, thanks.
off the subject of shoeshines - but just one more comment - a big part of it was when they snapped that rag and it made a loud noise - wow - you then knew you were getting sevice from a true pro
the early very soft softcore mens magazines didn't actually show all of the goodies - they just got close to them
age 12 I used to scope them out at the magazine rack at the local drugstore - except the Manager chased me away - but I kept coming back - and eventually she gave up
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Quote: rxwineVideo Killed the Radio Star Business Casual Killed the Shoeshine Man.
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I wore a pair of shoes for the first time in 9 months last week. i wear sandals 99% of the time.
Quote: DRichQuote: rxwineVideo Killed the Radio Star Business Casual Killed the Shoeshine Man.
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I wore a pair of shoes for the first time in 9 months last week. i wear sandals 99% of the time.
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Feet too swollen to fit into regular shoes, huh. My brother had that problem too much salt in his diet. My brother is like you he's racked up $300,000 in hospital bills in the last 2 years. He's there right now getting out tomorrow going to cost $70,000. All because he did not take care of himself he drank and ate anything he felt like, he would not know a fresh vegetable if you hit him in the face with one. I'm seven years older than him and have not been in the hospital since I was born.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: DRichQuote: rxwineVideo Killed the Radio Star Business Casual Killed the Shoeshine Man.
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I wore a pair of shoes for the first time in 9 months last week. i wear sandals 99% of the time.
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Feet too swollen to fit into regular shoes, huh. My brother had that problem too much salt in his diet. My brother is like you he's racked up $300,000 in hospital bills in the last 2 years. He's there right now getting out tomorrow going to cost $70,000. All because he did not take care of himself he drank and ate anything he felt like, he would not know a fresh vegetable if you hit him in the face with one. I'm seven years older than him and have not been in the hospital since I was born.
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No, my feet are not swollen. My back surgery alone was close to $300,000. I have no idea the total for my 25 surgeries. thankfully I have always had health insurance.
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I have to say, a good leather shoe is really comfortable unless you have bad GOUT!
Although I haven't worn good ones in years, but not because I have GOUT!
Quote: rxwine`
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I have to say, a good leather shoe is really comfortable unless you have bad GOUT!
Although I haven't worn good ones in years, but not because I have GOUT!
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I was always too cheap to buy good expensive shoes. I found a brand I liked, Steve Madden, and they were usually less than $100. Not great shoes but pretty good for $100.
Charles Atlas was a major influencer of young dudes (including me) who wanted to get ripped to shreds
Jack Lallane was a secondary figure - more about fitness then big muscles
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Shining shoes is very easy. Not messy. The only time I’ve paid for a shine was when I was traveling for an extended periodQuote: EvenBobYou have obviously never shined shoes before because it's not easy at all to do it correctly. And it's a messy pain in the butt. It was also started in the days when absolutely everybody wore leather shoes which gradually phased out after the 1950s. These days almost nobody wears leather shoes anymore comparatively.
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Are you sure nobody wears leather shoes anymore? On the Ferragamo site, almost 90% (180 of 202) of the men’s shoes listed are leather.
https://www.ferragamo.com/shop/us/en/men/shoes-1?filter=true
Quote: Ace2Shining shoes is very easy. Not messy. The only time I’ve paid for a shine was when I was traveling for an extended periodQuote: EvenBobYou have obviously never shined shoes before because it's not easy at all to do it correctly. And it's a messy pain in the butt. It was also started in the days when absolutely everybody wore leather shoes which gradually phased out after the 1950s. These days almost nobody wears leather shoes anymore comparatively.
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Are you sure nobody wears leather shoes anymore? On the Ferragamo site, almost 90% (180 of 202) of the men’s shoes listed are leather.
https://www.ferragamo.com/shop/us/en/men/shoes-1?filter=true
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If you do it correctly it's not easy at all. I was in the ROTC in high school for a while and we had to spit shine our shoes so you can see yourself in them there is nothing easy about it. You don't actually use spit but it's a long messy process.
these were the sneaks you had to have in my day - if you played any kind of ball where you didn't wear cleats
Pro-Keds were the only serious competitor and I don't believe they were really even close
Chuck Taylor's Converse All Stars - we called 'em Chucks
I was all about the white high tops
the star over the ankle was so very, very cool_________you didn't get that star if you bought the low tops - so I was like - no way
they were nowhere even remotely close to the quality of today's sneaks
but - NBA players wore these same sneaks for a very, very long time
Tree Rollins is believed to be the last player wearing these shoes in the NBA - which he did during the '79 - '80 season
the back in the day Boston Celtics (see pic) wore them in black - they were the only NBA team I ever recall doing that
you can see that their shoes had stripes on the sides - I never noticed that before - I don't think that was sold to the general public
probably some special deal that Red Auerbach got from Converse
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Quote: lilredrooster___________
these were the sneaks you had to have in my day - if you played any kind of ball where you didn't wear cleats
Pro-Keds were the only serious competitor and I don't believe they were really even close
Chuck Taylor's Converse All Stars - we called 'em Chucks
Growing up in the 1970's and 1980's I don't ever remember people ever discussing their shoes or brands. I grew up wearing those Converse you call "Chuck's" but to me and my friends they were just shoes. I don't ever remember any difference of the cheap shoes versus the more expensive shoes. People just wore shoes. We did wear different cleats for organized baseball, football, and wrestling.
Quote: DRichQuote: lilredrooster___________
these were the sneaks you had to have in my day - if you played any kind of ball where you didn't wear cleats
Pro-Keds were the only serious competitor and I don't believe they were really even close
Chuck Taylor's Converse All Stars - we called 'em Chucks
Growing up in the 1970's and 1980's I don't ever remember people ever discussing their shoes or brands. I grew up wearing those Converse you call "Chuck's" but to me and my friends they were just shoes. I don't ever remember any difference of the cheap shoes versus the more expensive shoes. People just wore shoes. We did wear different cleats for organized baseball, football, and wrestling.
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I don't know if you played playground hoops
but if I a guy showed up at the hoops playground - and he wasn't wearing Chucks - 95% chance he wasn't tough - at least in the DC area
I'm talking about serious hoops - on courts where one or two Division 1 NCAA players that averaged about 18 per game were likely to show up
and players like that would sometimes get beat and beat bad by playground nobodies
almost everybody who saw himself as being a player wore them - maybe your area of the country was different
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Are basketball shoes still called high tops?
What was the name of the foot measuring device? That was for hard sole shoes. I didn’t look it up, just wondering if anyone knows from memory.
I think AL Bundy was the only regular character on sitcoms who sold shoes.
