Those Born 1920-1979....

MacGyver

Charter Member
Cut and Paste from an email I received.


TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

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

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs 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, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

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

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

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, 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 OK.

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. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chatrooms.......

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.

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

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

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

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 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!

If 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 so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
 
We literally played with little pools of liquid mercury on the garage floor.

Could explain some things, I suppose. :)
 
We literally played with little pools of liquid mercury on the garage floor.

Could explain some things, I suppose. :)

Yep, and roller hockey on concrete with 4 metal wheel skates, and fuzzball, indian ball and wiffle ball. The fake rope trick turned into lighting the street on fire with gasoline when a car was coming. Pool and trampoline hopping at night. Lighting cardboard election signs on fire and ringing the doorbell. Putting liquid soap in the mall fountains...
 
Yep, and roller hockey on concrete with 4 metal wheel skates, and fuzzball, indian ball and wiffle ball. The fake rope trick turned into lighting the street on fire with gasoline when a car was coming. Pool and trampoline hopping at night. Lighting cardboard election signs on fire and ringing the doorbell. Putting liquid soap in the mall fountains...

Damn...guess I wasn't the only teenage delinquent:biggrinjester:
 
Yep, and roller hockey on concrete with 4 metal wheel skates, and fuzzball, indian ball and wiffle ball. The fake rope trick turned into lighting the street on fire with gasoline when a car was coming. Pool and trampoline hopping at night. Lighting cardboard election signs on fire and ringing the doorbell. Putting liquid soap in the mall fountains...

One thing I learned from childhood: most stuff burns. :D

Heck, I remember the metal wheel skateboards.

Plus, we would jump anything, with anything.
"The creek with Danny's big wheel? Ok."
"The dumpster with Jeff's 5 speed? Sure."
"11 kids lined up in the street end to end with a tricycle? Ok, but can I use the downhill to get some speed?"
"Troy's Mom's garage with a suzuki RM80? You bet!!"
 
Yep, and roller hockey on concrete with 4 metal wheel skates, and fuzzball, indian ball and wiffle ball. The fake rope trick turned into lighting the street on fire with gasoline when a car was coming. Pool and trampoline hopping at night. Lighting cardboard election signs on fire and ringing the doorbell. Putting liquid soap in the mall fountains...

HELL YEA!! . . . and all without some wussy helmet! I was informed this morning that the problem nowadays is that the dumb ones with the helmets that are the ones gett'in through . . . . pain and scars are a very important part of the learning process. . . . . we did stupid chit because we wanted to . . . not for the camera like these wacky kids these days. :sifone:



I remember the hours and hours of meticulous work i would put into a plastic model car only to set it on fire in the garage :D
 
Last edited:
One thing I learned from childhood: most stuff burns. :D

Heck, I remember the metal wheel skateboards.

Plus, we would jump anything, with anything.
"The creek with Danny's big wheel? Ok."
"The dumpster with Jeff's 5 speed? Sure."
"11 kids lined up in the street end to end with a tricycle? Ok, but can I use the downhill to get some speed?"
"Troy's Mom's garage with a suzuki RM80? You bet!!"

There was a road outside Portland where I grew up that was a windy, steep, downhill for almost 5 miles. Old Germantown Road. We used to take our skateboards and broom handles. Down the road race, anything goes.....

You go flying when someone sticks their broomhandle between your wheels at about 20 mph.....

Paybacks are hell....:sifone:
 
HELL YEA!! . . . and all without some wussy helmet! I was informed this morning that the problem nowadays is that the dumb ones with the helmets that are the ones gett'in through . . . . pain and scars are a very important part of the learning process. . . . . we did stupid chit because we wanted to . . . not for the camera like these wacky kids these days. :sifone:



I remember the hours and hours of meticulous work i would put into a plastic model car only to set it on fire in the garage :D

I blew up my entire fleet of warship models with M80's in our pond. Probably 20 to 25 ships. A direct hit is sweet....
 
Ah the good ole days! I love shooting stuff and playing with fire. I rode my bike everywhere and jumped anything I could find. I grew up in a great neighborhood, probably 15 kids in my age group!
 
LMAO:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5: I have done and or particepated in just about all the above and a whole lot worse:rofl:
And I'm still here, I think? At least I think I must be. I think?:26:
 
anybody else wedge model rocket motors in the back of model dragsters and send them down the road??

the one big rule when I was a kid...mom said..if your going to due stupid chit...don't come crying to me with skinned knees.. there were a few concussions in there where I probably should have said something......

Though..I do remember my mom asking what happened to my eyebrows...that was right after the first sucessfull gunpowder making experiment..
 
we did stupid chit because we wanted to . . . not for the camera like these wacky kids these days. :sifone:

Thank God that there were very few cameras and "instant" was finishing the roll of film, taking it out of the camera without exposing it, and then driving to the one hour photo place, twice. :D

On those rare occasions that somebody actually caught something on film... they had to decide if it was something that they really wanted the people at the processing place to see. ;)
 
Back
Top