November 15, 2013

  • Nostalgia

    Earlier this week I scanned some photos from a vacation my family took to California in 1968. There are some dear faces in the photos; family members who have passed away, or whom I haven't seen in many years. There are some cool places in the photos; the Great Salt Lake, a ghost town, a towering church. But what evoked an overwhelming sense of nostalgia was not the people or the places, but things in the background - sometimes very small things - that were such an everyday part of my childhood. How many of you remember these things?

    Fullscreen capture 11132013 34732 PM

    Curlers. Hey, I didn't say all nostalgia was feel-good nostalgia! We used to wash our hair on Saturday night under the tap at the kitchen sink and Mom would roll it up in bristly curlers and stab plastic pins into the middle of each curler (and our scalps) so we would look presentable on Sunday morning, whether we went to church or not. Sleeping on those things was pure torture.

    Fullscreen capture 11132013 34806 PM

    Cereal that was almost pure sugar. And it wasn't just for breakfast, either. Need a quick party snack? Just dump that box of Super Sugar Crisp in a bowl and let the kids eat it like popcorn!

    Fullscreen capture 11132013 34815 PM

    Games that didn't need batteries. Or TVs. Or phones. We only played Hands Down at friends' houses, probably because there were five of us and only four could play that particular game. My hand isn't looking very promising, is it? At our house, we had games like Life and Clue and Monopoly that five kids could play.

    Fullscreen capture 11132013 34820 PM

    Litter barrels. The interstate system was still in its infancy in 1968. Our road trips took place mostly on two-lane state highways. There were no rest areas; we pulled over to eat at roadside picnic tables, used gas station bathrooms, and tossed our apple cores and banana peels in the litter barrels that could be found at little pullouts in the middle of nowhere.

    Fullscreen capture 11132013 34704 PM

    Ford's Country Squire station wagon. Riding in the back of the station wagon. Folding down the backseat, putting a mattress in the back and sleeping in the station wagon. Hiding two kids under the folded down jump seats and sneaking them into the drive-in theater in the station wagon. Hooking up a pop-up trailer and hitting the road in the station wagon.

    Fullscreen capture 11132013 34649 PM

    Jewel colored aluminum tumblers. They made every drink taste metallic, but they were so pretty and stylish, nobody cared that the kool-ade tasted funny. Well, maybe Mom cared because we didn't have aluminum tumblers at our house. But we loved drinking from them at Grandma's house in Arizona and Aunt Vivian's house in California.

    Fullscreen capture 11132013 34605 PM

    The peace sign. Even Great-Grandma Hargrove threw the peace sign. Mom, however, apparently wanted nothing to do with all that hippie peace nonsense.

    Are you old enough to remember these things? What are some things that make you nostalgic?

Comments (6)

  • Oh, my what memories! We weren't allowed those sugary cereals, but all the other things bring back lots of memories for me!

  • Gosh yes! I remember the aluminum tumblers and drinking Mr. Fizz out of them! I think every girl had to endure those curlers with the bristles in them. It was such a blessing when we finally got the foam ones but they didn't last long - the Dippity-Do would soak into them and glue them to your hair. Almost worse than the bristles! And we had a white Ford station wagon too! That back fold down was the spot for drive-in movies and vacations too. I remember sitting in the bacl and with every corner sliding from one side of the car to the other!

  • What a great series of pictures! Good grief, I remember those days, too.

  • I sure miss loading all the kids into the station wagon and going to the drive-in. We packed food for the night, but would let the kids buy one thing for a treat.

  • even though there is an age gap between us, I remember a lot of those things, too. there was only one jewel tone aluminum glass left by the time I came around... a purple one I still have. my gran used to use those curlers all the time. she had been trained as a stylist. and the first picture could have been taken in my kitchen... knotty pine! the car we had growing up was a 4x4 rendition of the station wagon... a full size jeep wagonneer.

  • I agree so much with you . I have in my mind forever dear people and familiar little things from my childhood . And this becomes more and more intense when we age like me !:-)
    I have already shared a post of this topic on Xanga ,titled " waves of memories "
    Love
    Michel

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment