Eating in the 50's

[Looking4new]

I recall that most of Mom's tableware was stuff we got at the gas station, or in a box of Mother's Oats, or Army Surplus and our drinking glasses once held jelly. We didn't know stuff was supposed to match!

Matching tableware? I didn't know what it was but my Grandparents sure did.
My Grandmother had a full 12 places of Wedgewood china and real silverware, not the plated stuff. But then I thought they were rich. In a way they were. My Grandad sold his drug store at 1954 Bloor St. West (you guys in Toronto know where that is) and put the downstroke on Dads house in Pickering (which he had to pay back) and moved to Miami, Fla only to work in a drug store (he was a pharmacist )down there. I guess he made good money for the times. He went into the Packard dealer on Collins Ave and paid cash for a brand spanking new 55 Panama Clipper Super. Traded in a 1953 Packard Mayfair for it. They had money, but they didn't throw it around either. He drove that Packard for 10 years and finally got a brand new 1965 Ford Mustang.

 

[TomSeller]

I like the NECCO wafers, family usually gets me a couple for Christmas or birthday..

Who gets the rest of the roll?

 

[Wagtail]

Matching tableware... my kitchen still doesn't have it. :laughing:

Utensils, mugs, glasses, wine glasses, plates; you name it = nothing matches more than twice.

 

[Looking4new]

Matching tableware... my kitchen still doesn't have it. :laughing:

Utensils, mugs, glasses, wine glasses, plates; you name it = nothing matches more than twice.

As long as they are clean and serviceable, who really cares?

 

[dmccarty]

I like the NECCO wafers, family usually gets me a couple for Christmas or birthday..

I LOVE NECCO wafers and if I see them I will buy em. :licking::licking::licking: What I find funny is that some people HATE NECCOs! :confused3::shocked:

What is wrong with the world! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Matching tableware? I didn't know what it was but my Grandparents sure did.
My Grandmother had a full 12 places of Wedgewood china and real silverware, not the plated stuff. But then I thought they were rich. In a way they were. My Grandad sold his drug store at 1954 Bloor St. West (you guys in Toronto know where that is) and put the downstroke on Dads house in Pickering (which he had to pay back) and moved to Miami, Fla only to work in a drug store (he was a pharmacist )down there. I guess he made good money for the times. He went into the Packard dealer on Collins Ave and paid cash for a brand spanking new 55 Panama Clipper Super. Traded in a 1953 Packard Mayfair for it. They had money, but they didn't throw it around either. He drove that Packard for 10 years and finally got a brand new 1965 Ford Mustang.

Funny you should mention the drug store. I went to grade school in SW Missouri; most were country folks who were poor, including us. I know I had to wear overalls because bluejeans were too expensive; my first baseball glove my Mom made out of cotton and pillow ticking. The guy whose Dad owned the drug store was rich! He had a new Wilson leather baseball glove ( I think they were about $25 then), wore new blue jeans and had a Captain Marvel sweatshirt (the badge of the club of the elite). My first baseball bat was a sledge hammer handle that Dad cut the end off...but we had fun any way.

We were better off than some though; one poor little boy that rode our bus lived in an old converted chicken house. We called him "Hen House Harry". He carried his lunch in a Karo Syrup can just like I did...only Dad took a nail and punched holes in the top in the shape of a star...man, that was classy! Oh, I about forgot. My Dad bought a '49 Packard in about 1951, that I learned to drive on.

 

[kevin37b]

I rode the school bus in the sixties . My dad farmed and mom worked at school , but I rode the bus .I will never forget one kid getting sick and then the whole bus puking ! Then the bags of puke dry , which the driver carried . What a ******* mess ! There were some very poor families in our area .We were not rich by any means but had food , clothes , and heat . I always felt for the kids with no lunch and not a bath .I used to share lunch with a poor friend , or mom would pay for his in the cafeteria. I was very lucky compared to others . Our school lunch was the best in the world . Just thinking back .

 

[sixdogs]

I remember the lunch lady picking up the tab for a poor kid. Just a wink and a nod so the kid maintained his dignity. What a good soul she was and we all liked her.

 

[Looking4new]

In public school (gr. 1-8) I lived close enough to the school (3/4 mile) that I went home for lunch. High school was a bus ride away, until I got kicked off the bus and then I hitch hiked.

 

[Bird]

I rode the school bus in the sixties .

I rode a school bus in the late '40s/early '50s. I drove a school bus in '61/62 when I worked nights in the Post Office, got off at 6 a.m., drove the morning route, went home to bed, got up that afternoon to drive the evening route.:laughing:

Our school lunch was the best in the world .

I've never been a very finicky eater, and never had any complaints with the school lunches, with one exception that I never forgot. One day a week, in Healdton, OK, the school lunch was a peculiar reddish colored meatloaf, and I had to bury it in catsup to be able to eat it. Horrible taste, and probably the only meat loaf that I've not liked in my life.

 

[sixdogs]

Remember when fish sticks first showed up? It was somewhere in the 1950's and no one had ever seen such a thing.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

We had a hot lunch program when I started to Jr. High and High school. This was early 50's, and a substantial amount of our lunches were concocted from surplus WWII canned beef...we called it mystery meat. We would eat that stuff, and about 2:00 all the classrooms would be empty and the restrooms were full. We finally caught on and wouldn't eat it any more, so we got wieners and beans. At least it was reasonable; we paid 20 cents per day for our lunches, and a lot of the time my folks didn't have the money to pay for my brother and me...but they always got caught up somehow.

 

[Bird]

Remember when fish sticks first showed up? It was somewhere in the 1950's and no one had ever seen such a thing.

I didn't remember when they first came out, but I know it was the late '50s the first time I bought any. And I bought them because they were cheap. However, they're not bad for a quick easy snack

 

[/pine]

Some of the best days as a kid growing up in the 50's...ended up at the A&W drive in with a root beer float in a frozen glass mug...

 

[Bird]

Some of the best days as a kid growing up in the 50's...ended up at the A&W drive in with a root beer float in a frozen glass mug...

How wide spread were those A&W root beer drive ins? The only one I remember visiting in the '50s was in Ardmore, OK. And yep, I still like A&W root beer floats.

 

[flyerdan]

A&W was pretty prevalent here in the west, growing up in north Idaho it was the only franchise place in town. Most places were privately owned one-offs that followed a pretty standard road food theme, with names like Scotty's Drive In or, the unfortunate monikered Whizz-Inn south of town. Those places have faded into Americana, along with Route 66. A&W still has a strong presence in Oregon, check your area here.

 

[Looking4new]

How wide spread were those A&W root beer drive ins? The only one I remember visiting in the '50s was in Ardmore, OK. And yep, I still like A&W root beer floats.

In the 50s there were 3 I went to up here in Ontario.
Now there are two, one in North Bay and one in Richmond Hill, ON

 

[/pine]

How wide spread were those A&W root beer drive ins? The only one I remember visiting in the '50s was in Ardmore, OK. And yep, I still like A&W root beer floats.

A&W Restaurants - Wikipedia

Root beer floats are quite satisfying....

 

[TomSeller]

Remember when fish sticks first showed up? It was somewhere in the 1950's and no one had ever seen such a thing.

And I bet no one ever catches one of those.

 

[sixdogs]

And chocolate malts? Cherry coke and cherry phosphate?

My first chocolate Ovaltine malted came via a coupon in my membership packet I think for the Roy Rogers Club. We got our paperwork (to be completed and sworn to) plus the rules of conduct, badge and a few coupons for things.