Seventy Five Years +

Submitted by
Fred McCaleb


What A Difference 75 Years Can Make!

A sure sign that you're getting "up there" is that you can remember back
when things were different . . . A LOT Different!

Consider some of the changes that we have witnessed!!!
We were born before the PILL and the population explosion.

We were born before TV, penicillin, polio shots, antibiotics, frisbees,
frozen food, nylon, dacron, Xerox and contact lenses.

We were before radar, flourescent lights, credit cards, split atoms,
laser beams, and ball-point pens.

For us, time-sharing meant togetherness ... not computers or condominiums.
A "chip" meant a piece of wood, hardware meant hardware, and software
wasn't even a word!

In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of," and being
gay meant you were happy and carefree.
In those days, bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagons.

We were before Batman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Snoopy.

We were before DDT, vitamin pills, disposable diapers, Jeeps, and the Jefferson
nickel.

We preceded Scotch Tape, the Grand Coulee Dam, M&M's, automatic
transmissions, and Lincoln Continentals.

When we were in school ... pizzas, Cheerios, frozen orange juice, instant
coffee and McDonald's were unheard of. We thought fast food was what you
ate during Lent and Outer Space was the back of the Riviera Theater.

We never heard of FM radio, tape recorders, electric typewriters, word
processors, electronic music, digital clocks, artificial hearts and guys
wearing earrings.

We were before pantyhose and drip-dry clothes, ice makers, dishwashers,
clothes dryers, freezers, electric blankets, air conditioners and before
Hawaii and Alaska became states.

We were before yogurt, Ann Landers, plastics, hair spray, the forty-hour
week and the minimum wage and before man walked on the moon.

We got married first ...and then lived together afterward. How quaint
can you be?

In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, "grass" was mowed, "coke"
was something you drank, "pot" was something you cooked in, "rock music" was
a grandmother's lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the Principal's office.

We were before coin-operated vending machines, jet planes, helicopters,
and interstate highways. "Made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making
out" referred to how you did on your exam.

We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers,
and computer marriages. We were also before day-care centers, group therapy
and nursing homes.

We had fountain pens with bottles of real ink. We had stockings made of
real silk with seams up the back that were never straight. We had saddle
shoes and cars with rumble seats. We had corner ice-cream parlors with
little tables and wire-back chairs where we had a choice of three flavors.
We hit the scene when there were 5-cent and 10-cent stores where you
bought things for five and ten cents. You could buy ice cream cones for a
nickel or a dime.
For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone
call,buy a Pepsi, or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 ... but who could afford one? A
pity, too, because gas was only 11-cents a gallon.

We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes was
discovered, but we were surely before the sex change ... we made do with what
we had.

And we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a
husband to have a baby! Can you imagine that?