Things you could order over 50 years ago that you can't order now !

[Larry Caldwell]

I believe our county school system had a special class in a remote-ish building for pregnant girls at the ‘big’ HS. We had three high schools, two small rural ones (1-12) and the big school in the county seat. The PG girls went to town. Rarely saw them again. Or they made a quick trip to Atlanta. Or mostly got married quick. Abstinence was the rule of the day …. with teenager, and big cars back then with real back seats. Righttttt.

I loved our '62 Rambler Classic, with the seats that folded back into a double bed. At the same time, the only place you could buy rubbers was at the drug store, and they were behind the counter where comparison shopping was impossible. I was in my 20s before I learned that there was such a thing as a French tickler.

In a small high school, with 22 girls in my class, two of them got pregnant. That's a rate of about 10%. That was two girls who had their kids. If any had an abortion, I never heard about it. Abortion was not legal in my state, and the closest state where it was legal was Montana. *** education was limited to a film on VD. Parents were supposed to teach the kids about ***, and of course they didn't. I think the pill was available in the early '60s, but not for single women or minors. Prescriptions were limited to adult married women only.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Had to be a few decades ago now, but NC passed a law preventing children from riding in the bed of a truck, though if they have a seat belt, there is an adult with them, part of a parade, farm work, or an emergency, it is legal. However, to get that law passed, a couple of counties in Eastern NC were excluded. The representatives would only vote for the law if their counties did not have to comply.

When we lived in the city, there was an idiot father that would let his kids, and neighborhood kids, ride in the bed of his truck. The problem was not that they were in the bed but that he would let them sit on the rails. Sitting in the bed is not really that dangerous, and I did it quite a bit as a kid, but sitting on the bed rails is nuts.

Later,
Dan

I knew two people who died from riding in an open pickup bed. One was a teenage cousin, who died many years ago when he fell out and hit his head. The other was a neighbor farmer who was transporting a refrigerator and standing in the bed to hold it vertical. He hit the pavement at 50 mph, and died of multiple injuries. One of my high school classmates lost her father to a tractor rollover, which is why I always use the ROPS.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Does anybody know when Velveeta quit being packaged in wooden boxes? When I was a little kid, Velveeta boxes were a common small part holder in the shop.

 

[ponytug]

Does anybody know when Velveeta quit being packaged in wooden boxes? When I was a little kid, Velveeta boxes were a common small part holder in the shop.

Wow, I never saw that packaging, neither in a store, nor in a workshop. A quick web search suggests perhaps sometime after WWII?

All the best,

Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

Piling into coaches pickup after a game was often more fun than the game... could fit the whole team!

In Scouts we had paper drives and the troup would go from neighborhood to neighborhood in the back of the truck...

A full container of newsprint netted around $20... those were the days... I would say kept us off the street but canvassing neighborhoods put us on the street!

 

[grsthegreat]

Piling into coaches pickup after a game was often more fun than the game... could fit the whole team!

In Scouts we had paper drives and the troup would go from neighborhood to neighborhood in the back of the truck...

A full container of newsprint netted around $20... those were the days... I would say kept us off the street but canvassing neighborhoods put us on the street!

When i lived in Montana in the 1980’s, the scouts had annual rattlesnake roundups. Snakes were sold for venum harvesting. Try doing that today with these wimpy kids and parents.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

When i lived in Montana in the 1980’s, the scouts had annual rattlesnake roundups. Snakes were sold for venum harvesting. Try doing that today with these wimpy kids and parents.

We still have one here; I believe Wynoka does also.

Okeene Rattlesnake Hunt

Welcome to the home of the World's Oldest Rattlesnake Hunt!

www.okeenesnakehunt.com

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Haven't seen any of this for a while; nor have I seen the old stand by, Lava soap.

Boraxo TV commercial from 50's - Search Videos

Watch videos instantly on Bing—enjoy direct playback, discover related clips, and dive into trending content all in one place.

www.bing.com

 

[SouthernSky]

In the seventies in Louisiana you could bring your guns, knives and bows to school where they had classes in weapon safety and proper handling.

 

[alexpops]

Yeah ... Ohio in 70's ... Hunter Safety Training as a HS PE class. Shot 22's for marksmanship & wound up with a State Hunter Safety cert at the end of it. Also, in second grade Cub Scouts HAD to always carry a knife.

 

[JethroB]

Riding in pickups. Into the 70’s local farmers came to town early each summer mornings to pick up us town kids to work in the fields, mostly tobacco, sometimes watermelons or cantaloupes. We would all pile in the truck bed, sit on the rails, or sit on the tailgate with feet dangling. Stop by the gas station to get ice for the water cooler and a Coke & junk food for breakfast. A quick round trip home for lunch. I had five summers of that. Some of my best memories are in those hot fields working with 8-10 of my friends.

 

[stuckmotor]

In the seventies in Louisiana you could bring your guns, knives and bows to school where they had classes in weapon safety and proper handling.

Our shop teacher used to borrow my pocket knife. Nobody ever told me not to carry it.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Haven't seen any of this for a while; nor have I seen the old stand by, Lava soap.

Boraxo TV commercial from 50's - Search Videos

Watch videos instantly on Bing—enjoy direct playback, discover related clips, and dive into trending content all in one place.

www.bing.com

I still can buy Lava and Borax powder here.
Great stuff.

 

[Oaktree]

Had to be a few decades ago now, but NC passed a law preventing children from riding in the bed of a truck, though if they have a seat belt, there is an adult with them, part of a parade, farm work, or an emergency, it is legal. However, to get that law passed, a couple of counties in Eastern NC were excluded. The representatives would only vote for the law if their counties did not have to comply.

Curiously, why were they so opposed to it?

Riding in pickups. Into the 70’s local farmers came to town early each summer mornings to pick up us town kids to work in the fields, mostly tobacco, sometimes watermelons or cantaloupes. We would all pile in the truck bed, sit on the rails, or sit on the tailgate with feet dangling. Stop by the gas station to get ice for the water cooler and a Coke & junk food for breakfast. A quick round trip home for lunch. I had five summers of that. Some of my best memories are in those hot fields working with 8-10 of my friends.

I worked for a general contractor summers when I was in school. When we'd go to jobsites, only the more senior employees rode in the cab, the rest of us rode in the back. This was in the late 60s/early 70s before crew cab trucks were common. Dunno what they did in the winter, but it was the slow season anyway. We'd either stand and hold onto the backboard or sit on the bed.

Those were good times, by the end of the summer I was in very good shape! Probably 75% of my time was working with the roofing crew because I was the only helper who wasn't afraid of heights.

I still can buy Lava and Borax powder here.
Great stuff.

We have lava here, dunno about Borax/Boraxo, though I haven't looked for it. Both were great hand cleaners, but so is the orange or purple goop they have now.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

2022, so fifty years ago was 1972. Chrysler Kit Car. A body/rolling chassis with a coat of white paint on it. You bought a kit car, and a donor car with the drive train you wanted. then stripped the engine and transmission out of the donor, and install them with just enough wiring, to make them meet the minimum required under the rules you raced under.

The Kit Car setups, could be shipped to your Dodge or Plymouth dealer, and the Chrysler performance, “Direct Connection” catalog had complete roll cages, engines, transmissions, and steering boxes with twice as fast ratio of the stock box.

I was still a kid in high school, so it was impossibly expensive. But I really really wanted a Kit Car Dart Sport

 

[SouthernSky]

I don’t recall the Chrysler kits but I do remember considering buying one of the hundred of kits that fit on a VW chassis. I also recall finding it impossible to find a chassis without rust back then. Undercoating, like A/C, was strictly optional and usually aftermarket.

 

[/pine]

Haven't seen any of this for a while; nor have I seen the old stand by, Lava soap.

Anyone remember a laundry detergent called "Action"...The end of the TV commercials always ended with a powerful arm and fist busting up through the top of a washing machine...
The running (elementary school) joke was:..."How do you get rid of hemorrhoids?....Put Action in your toilet"...!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I still can buy Lava and Borax powder here.
Great stuff.

Boraxo is blacksmith flux.

 

[elsievo]

Anyone remember 3% interest on your passbook savings account.

 

[Oaktree]

I do remember considering buying one of the hundred of kits that fit on a VW chassis. I also recall finding it impossible to find a chassis without rust back then. Undercoating, like A/C, was strictly optional and usually aftermarket.

And what undercoating there was back then was generally some sort of spray-on tar that did little more than trap moisture under it and accelerated rusting.