The Romance of the '50s

Even when I was older money went far.  I recall that in high school I would ear the sometimes bland or insufficient meals at dinner with my family and then drive my Vespa out to a tiny steahouse on the edge of town, where I'd do homework while eating a prime rib, loaded baked potato and salad for $1.39.  A couple of years later, I could fill up my Camaro on $4 of gas in '68 - an entire evening of cruising.  The Camaro, with a 327 V8, AC, etc, cost only $2350, as I recall.

You were buying Hy-test, because I was selling Sunoco 190 for 19.9 cents a gallon in 1962.

I was an AV squad geek in Jr. High.  Usually I ran the projector from the teacher's desk at the front of a classroom to a pull-down screen in the back.  One afternoon while I was running a movie called "Hemo The Magnificent," a pretty cool flick about blood and the circulatory system, a kid came in and said to the teacher, "Hey teach!  What do you do for a knife in the side?"  I turned to look, and in the dim light saw a switchblade handle sticking out from between the fingers of the poor guy's hand gripping his side.  Talk about your good times!  My Jr. High was so tough the school paper had an obituary column.

The story is true, the joke is swiped from Rodney Dangerfield.

Pete

Yes, exactly, Casey! Hi-test, always did and always have, to this day.

Frank

As late as 1959 the N&W used 0-8-0 switchers in Norfolk's Union station to move passenger cars around and to switch cars on the dock area. My father had just got his 57 Chrysler repainted and my mother would drive it to work at the Union Station and he would complain about it becomming all sooty. When Lionel came out with the 746 in 57 I wanted one in the worst way. But had to wait until 1981 when MPC came out with the 8100 - the 746 remake.

So true, Joe! I often told my kids that we would go outside to cool off as it was often more hot in the house than it was in the playground.

Yeah, my dad would tell stories about summer in the city (not the 1950's, mind you, I would be talking about the 30's), that it would be so hot people couldn't sleep in their apartments, people would either try to sleep on the fire escapes on a mattress, or would give up and people would be in the local park (this was in the Bronx, I assume it would be Bronx Park) at night till all hours, simply not to be in their steaming apartments.

Hey, wait a minute, what the heck..a Catholic school nun without a ruler, what gives...or is this the publicity shot? *lol*

In the picture above--That's when you could have 3 or 4 people sit on a car and not have to worry about the metal getting dented!!

After reading all of the many wonderful replys I've come to realize that my childhood in the '70s wasn't all that different from the guys who grew up in the '50s. The Vietnam war was winding down. My Uncle came home from Vietnam in '70 and we had a big party. The turbulence of the '60s seemed to be over. The short time between the early '70s and the disco era I believe (at least for me) that there was an innocence similar to the '50s.

First of all we weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination but not poor either. Until the late '70s we had one TV. It was black and white and about 19" and it sat on a metal wire cart. Still had rabbit ears too. All of my trains were postwar Lionel. They were hand-me-downs from my Uncle. I never found out why my grandfather bought 3 bottom of the line sets but yet opted for the top of the line transformer. Some other toys I had were slot cars, Rock'em Sock'em robots, matchbox cars, and I remember these other cars I had where when you crashed them into something the hoods and doors flew off and then you had to snap them back on. I also had the six shooter hand gun for playing cops and robbers only I would run out ammo quickly and usually didn't have the money to buy more.

The games we would play were baseball/wiffle ball in the summer and football in the winter. We also played Hide-and-Seek, Catskip, Skully, Off-the-Wall, Punch ball (like baseball but you punched the ball instead of hitting it) and I Declare War. Some people called this SPUD. If you used your ball you had to call "chips on the ball" which meant that if someone else lost it they owed you a new one. We also made up games and played with fireworks. I really loved fireworks. A couple times firecrackers went off in my hand and it hurt like **** but I was never seriously injured. The few times I played with the bigger stuff M80s and M100s (blockbusters) I was extra careful.

I remember at least one season where I watched Annette and Bobby on the B/W TV (re-runs) after school and my mom making me frozen dinners. Star Trek was on at dinner time in the mid '70s and in the late 70s I remember watching "The Odd Couple" at 11pm and "The Honeymooners" at 11:30pm. My mother got us all hooked on "I Love Lucy". We watched that whenever it was on.

In the early part of the '70s we also got our milk from a milk delivery guy who would put it in an insulated container that was on our porch. I remember a guy who come around with a truck where he sharpened your knives or scissors and another guy who came around selling soda. I forget the brand name but my friends bought some and it was great. Then there was the Good Humor ice cream man. I never had much money but sometimes he had a lemon ice pop that was only 10 cents. Those were so good. The GH ice cream man that went down my grandmothers block drove that old early '50s Chevy ice cram truck. You know the one where the guy had to get out and then go to back to get the ice cream out of the freezer. I've attached a pic of a model of the truck that used to come down my grandmothers block.

My first bicycle was a 20" Schwinn. I still remember walking down to the Schwinn Store and getting that bike. What a great day that was. Freedom to ride! But I had to be home by the time the street lights went on.

The '70s also had most of the same negatives the '50s had with one big extra. All the new drugs that were being used. Still overall it was a great time for me.

Reading this thread reminded me of something that happened to me when I was 7.  We were living in Sault Ste Marie, MI - way up North, and the Detroit Red Wings hockey team had a training camp at the ice arena just down the street from our house.  My Dad took me over and soon I found myself sitting on the Wings bench...next to Gordie Howe.  Never thought to ask for an autograph.  But that's the way things were.  Pretty exciting for this kid.

John

Joe:

Our "A/C" at home was my Mom closing the downstairs windows and upstairs bedroom doors, opening up the door to the cellar and turning on a big fan that sat in a window at the end of the hallway upstairs.  The fan theoretically pulled cooler air up from the basement into the downstairs of the house.  In retrospect, I'll certainly give her an "A" for trying but, as a number of other posts have pointed out, it was still probably cooler outside than inside.

Curt

John...

One "DiNozzo" ...!...for that missed opportunity!!

KD 

I guess you paid a premium for the salad. My buddies and I would go to Tad's Steak House in NYC and get steak, potato, and garlic bread for $1.25.

Ah, Lee...you blew the dust off another memory!!  Newspaper delivery.

Mom had encouraged me to 'apply' myself  (a.k.a....get a job) at the ripe old age of 11!!  'Get a paper route!', was her answer to a kid's need for money.  This was in Washington, D.C., and there were two papers at the time...The Evening Star (evening paper) and the Washington Post (morning paper).  Well, duh, getting out of bed every day early enough to deliver the Post was out of the question.  But an evening (afternoon, actually) job?  Why not?

I started out substituting for a friend.  He was about 17 at that time, as I recall.  He'd give me $2.00 to deliver about 100 papers through the neighborhood.  I guess he found my eagerness too enticing...and girls/cars more interesting...because about two months later the route was mine.   

One of the less pleasant tasks of the job, however, was the monthly collection of monies from the subscribers.  In order to 'catch' subscribers at home you'd have to find all sorts of odd times of the day/weekend to repeatedly knock on the door.  Most folks were pleasant, but some were curmudgeons-to-grumps...you could do NOTHING right in the proper placement of their precious paper on the doorstep...or BEHIND the storm door ('...And I expect you to ring the doorbell, young man, after the paper has been placed correctly behind this door to let me know of its arrival!!  Do you understand??!!)

Well, Mr. Quinn, my district supervisor and the guy who drove the delivery truck dropping the paper bundles off on the corner, would stop by our house once a month to settle up...count the money collected, deduct his take, and give me the balance.

And that's when I nearly fainted!

The first time he did that he presented me with the kingly sum of $52!!  I will NEVER forget that amount...my first 'paycheck' from a non-parental employer!  Holy moly!  My head reeled with the things I could now obtain that had only been a dream before!!

Much to my parents' credit they insisted that I immediately open my own savings account at Columbia Federal Savings & Loan and make monthly deposits as I received compensation.  What a blessing to have learned that in my life.  In fact, several years later I was able to finance my Dad's purchase of a second family car...a used 1956 Buick Special 2-door coupe in two-tone yellow/white with a GREEN interior!!!  Beautiful, to a dumb kid!!

Lessons, values, priorities, parental involvement, prices, work ethic, personal responsibility, etc., etc., blah, blah....say...and 'spin'...what you will about today, it was, indeed, different for kids back then.  

Better, too.

But, that's just MHO, always...

KD

BTW, you realize why so many of us are having fun with this, don't you?  The demographics of this segment of this great hobby is made up of so many of us 'old pharts'!!

Great story dkdkrd! And you have brought back memories, because I had nearly the same experience.  I also delivered papers, also hated monthly collections, also felt so good when I got that first check, and also had parents who insisted I save. But I recall I spent some of it on a small N-gauge RTR set - warbonnet F3 and some cars.  I kept it under my bed and liked it more than the Lionel set in my brother's room - I think just because it was different. 

I started out like you, too, substituting on a friend's route, then taking it over on a probationary basis - it was small, only about 65 papers.  But I worked hard and tried to be a good employee.  My district supervisor was Mr. Price - my first boss - isn't it amazing how we remember so much?  He was a nice guy but absolutely no nonsense at all.  I worked hard to please him and i was so proud when he not only kept me after the probationary period, but when a second route came available he didn't even look for anyone else but merged it with mine.   He did that several other times and within two years I had a big route, and a Vespa to deliver it with, and it was all I could handle.  I ended up working for him as his assistant until I landed a helper position with utility line crews while in college . . .

This is a great thread.

When I was third grader age, my allowance was 50 cents a week.  It went a long way.  When I was in high school, my allowance was $5 a week.  You could take a girl out to the movies, to a malt shop after for burgers, fries, and drink,and still have half your allowance left over.  I was 15 when I got my driver's license and a bucks worth of gas would last all evening for cruising.  It was 22-25 cents a gallon.  The "premium" gas wasn't called that back then.  It was called "Ethyl".  The gas station attendents were driven nuts by us teenagers who would pull in and say: "give me a dollar's worth".

.....

Dennis

tHE 1950S WERE THE the start of the slide for the railroads. I remember Hudsons on the New York Central Belt Line though Buffalo , New York without siderods being towed by a diesel to be scrapped.In 1952 when I was stationed in New York and got off watch at 8AM I would just go to Grand Central and shortly catch a train for Buffalo Sometimes it was the Empire State Express which was a pretty classy train.I attwmpted to use he train whenever possible instead of flying but by 1957 the service was almost non exsistent.A co worker came back form New York on the Central and at breakfast offerd bread as the toaster didn't work in the dining car. I came home on an evening train from Poughkipsie (excuse spelling) and asked porter to wake me between Rochester and Batavia.I awoke looked out the window and saw we were 5 minutes out of Central Terminal in Buffalo.Threw my clothes on ,grabbed my bag and looked for a way to get off , no sign of the porter or open steps went through a few cars and finally found a way to get off ,Otherwise would have ended up in Cleveland.This would have been unthinkable in eary part of thee 50s and before.This was the last time I used a train  for distance travel until until the 1980s.

  The interstate highway system had a role in the decline In Buffalo the Lehigh Valley right of way was taken over from the downtown station to East Buffalo for a limited accesss highway.

  In 1951 was recalled and in its infinite wisdom even though I had a carrier number and carrier crews were being asembled at Flushing Ave barracks they sent me to serve on an Attack Transport in San Diego. I think the train we took out of Chicago was celled the California Limited and still stopped at Harvey Houses for dining. 

Seeing how some of you made "spending money" (as we called it)...When I was 12, I started "baby sitting" for a family down the road. They had 4 small boys, who were H*** on wheels. I had to give them supper, then baths, and put them to bed for 50 cents an hour (before that, I "sat" my younger sisters for free). At age 16 I got a job in a flower shop and was trained to do flower arrangements. For this "skilled" work I was paid 75 cents an hour. Had it not been a part-time job, they would have had to pay me the minimum wage of $1./hr. I worked part-time and Summers all through my school years at various jobs, with 95% of it going toward my "college fund". We were not rich, but my parents could have put me through school without it. It was part of my "life's education". My best friend worked as a "grease monkey" during the summer, and his father was the Chairman of Johnson and Johnson.

Getting just a buck's worth was considered being "cheap"in my area, so we'd get $2 worth (   LOL.) The local vernacular for premium gas was "Hi-test" which I still catch myself saying occasionally.

Oh, and we used to LOVE shoving our gas peddles to the absolute floor (called "flooring it" by us guys in my end of Pittsburgh ) so we could get the "rush" of those huge-n-heavy land-yachts rearing back on their hind-ends, front-ends slightly elevated, and we'd take off down the street (whether there were girls around or not) for a few mouth-dropping moments - never for very long because you felt you could actually sense the gas draining away (!)

Even into the 70's, I'd still do that as a "test" (or was it a right-of-passage, of a sort?) for a new car (like my brandnew '72 Pontiac Gran Prix) I had bought, having let a break-in period of 2000mi. become accomplished first.)

Frank M.

Great thread.  I grew up in the 1950s and for me it was a time of contradictory experiences.  It was a great time to experience the railroads but many were dying or sliding toward bankruptcy.  I lived in Philadelphia which had two great suburban or commuter train systems (operated by the Pennsy and the Reading) and a wonderful network of trolley car lines but the seeds of their demise or government takeover were already being sowed.  Having said that, it is the era I prefer to model because, among other things, it just looked a lot better to me.  The pre-merger railroad names and logos were a lot classier than most of the modern stuff.  The diesel-electric carbody designs were actually very handsome (E and F units, the PA's and FA's, even the switchers and road switchers) and much more attractive IMHO than the current batch of utilitarian carbody designs.  And graffiti was virtually non-existent on the railroads - sure, there might have been a few hobo markings but they were inconspicuous and few and far between.

There is a great article by Bruce Greenberg in the January 2013 issue of the Train Collectors Quarterly (the TCA magazine) titled "The Fall of Lionel." Dr. Greenberg discusses a number of factors but one factor seems appropriate to mention here: He did research into the correlation between participation in various hobbies and the rise of television.  He presents evidence that television was a primary factor in fewer kids taking up hobbies like electric trains.  So even though the 50s were considered a "golden age" for Lionel, its undoing was underway at the same time.  This mirrors what was happening to the prototype railroads.

Even though what was going on below the surface was troubling and the trends were heading in the wrong direction for both the electric train hobby and the railroad industry, it was great to see and experience the "last great decade." 

"The Last Great Decade" hasn't happened yet!  Sadly, we fifties grower uppers and even our great great grandchildren won't live to see it.

Pete

Texas Pete:  that is why I put "last great decade" in quotes.  No, of course, literally it was not, but in many rail-related ways it was: the last decade for steam, the last decade during which the railroads carried more intercity passengers than any other mode, the last decade during which Lionel was a dominant force, etc.   

Well, it is often called the last of the Golden Age of Railroads, so I see your point.  I do wish we had more and better trains and so I yearn in that way for some osrt of return to that era. 

Sure wouldn't want to deal with Polio outbreaks and Soviet ICBMs again, though.

In 1962 at Bob's Sunoco on Stratford Ave in Stratford, Connecticut The Blend-O-Matic pumps at my station did label the 240 blend as Premium, 260 was labeled Super premium, Regular was our 200 blend.

Yes it did drive me nuts when I would have to drop whatever I was working on to go pump a Dollars worth, check the oil, clean the windshield, sometimes have to check the tires, but always hand out the S & H Green Stamps.( But I did survive).

 By the way Dennis, if my parents would have ever given me a $5.00 a week allowance, I would still be at home. You were one lucky guy. Regards, Casey

Sometimes my best friend and I would pull our coins together and buy 50 or 75 cents worth. I never ever remember my Mom say "fill her up". It was always three or four dollars worth please. We cruised 4th street in San Rafael, California, endlessly. Never, ever picked up a girl. It was the same street they filmed part of "American Graffiti" years later. The town didn't change much. In the early 50's my Dad always bought Mom used but good cars for $25 to $50. When a water pump or something else went out they would sell it to the junk man for $10 and buy another. This is when you could buy a new 55 Chevy for a little under $2000. Don

My friends call me a "nostalgia freak", because I have all this interest in the past...

old electric trains, old cars, ghost towns, old mines, old water mills, covered bridges, castles, abandoned railroads, and even build models of some of them (one of them was just in here taking pictures to show their friends), and I can recite some tales like those above, but those tales above, in this 6 page! (so far) blog,  indicate I ain't alone!

Ah ... the romance, that peaceful, slower, & more genteel 1950's era. When an adult man of the 1950's could expect to live to the ripe old age of 65! The innocence of growing up in the McCarthy era, and the real hostile & discriminatory practices against many ethnic & racial groups. Coal fired steam, not only for railroads, but also for industry & heating in all the major cities. The associated carbon & coal ash that could be found everywhere: in lungs, on air dried laundry & everything that stood still. The weather everything style in model railroading is actually quite correct, but hardly attractive or appealing to many of us that actually grew up in that environment.

I too have watched those promotional railroad movies. They were propaganda and  as slanted as the redefinition of the Woodstock era as being about "sex, drugs, & rock & roll." Which is not to say that the 1950's, 60's & 70's were not important eras in American cultural, economic, & political history. They were, but often now remembered for the wrong reasons.

Frankly I'll take current times ... but then again I'm not a 'young blood' trying to make my place in this current world, just a 65 y.o. guy trying to get to 80.

I believe the "Romance of the 1950's" discussed here is seen through the eyes of ten and fifteen year old boys. I suppose fifty years from now todays kids will long for the days of Nintendo, Play Station, rap music (oy), reality tv show and other elements of today's culture (such as it is). And somebody will then try to bust their bubbles by bringing up the reality of a decrepit culture, finanical collapse, morals in the terlet (sic), the destruction of the very "minority" families we claimed to be freeing, and a national goverment that refuses to identify our enemies for what and who they are. (And let's not forget that McCarthy, excesses and all, was proved to be largly correct about Commies in our midst).

I join those who have fully enjoyed this six-page (so far) trip down memory lane.

Chuck, why do you say terlet is misspelled? Next you'll be telling us that lern of pork is really loin of pork.

Growing up in the 50's and 60's in Kansas City was great.  We weren't rich, but Dad and Mom worked hard and taught us (my older Sis and me) to do the same.  The America that existed then was a totally different America than exists now.  VERY few things are "better" now in America.  The losses far outweigh the few minimal gains.

I will always treasure my childhood memories and perceptions of an America that could build anything and accomplish the most far-fetched goals.  I played with friends with last names such as DelAriso, Wininski, Eulich, Smith, etc, etc.  Different ethnic ancestries with one commonality: We were ALL Americans to the core.  Their ancestors came to America because they wanted to BE AMERICANS and left their flags and crap back in country they left.  All the families I knew had parent(s) that worked for a living and the "Gimmedat's" didn't exist yet.  It was a great time to be a kid.

As to those that always feel compelled to come in and crap on a thread such as this, well... all I can say is that it must suck to be you.

Andre

Steve Tapper:

" I can remember playing cowboys and indians with the cap pistols and holsters. Cowboys on TV were popular back then. Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassity, The Cisco Kid and the Lone Ranger. Shows like Daniel Boone had everyone wearing coon skin hats. It's amazing how we could play all day just using our imagination."

Amazing fun, wasn't it. In our neighborhood, the same was done. Don't you wonder why the kids today are not so inclined? I walk/ride my neighborhood, and see literally nothing like above these days. Not to say  that is good or bad, but just an observation. 

I started my grandson (8 yrs old now) watching some of these shows, and we started playing cowboys when he was 4 or 5....he loved it, still does. But I imagine it will wear off, he found Apple products and video games.

And: ".....and Winky Dink where you put a plastic sheet over your TV screen and drew pictures on it."

Man, you must be as old as I am. ( I see you were also born in 47...welcome to Medicare!)  Very few people I talk to, when discussing the old days, remember/did Winky Dink. How about Pick Temple's Giant Ranch on the Pick Temple show? Can you pass that test?

Many people on here were probably like me: Until I was 7, my parents and my sister lived in my grandparent's house with them, before moving out. The move was the first bathroom I ever had....a real toilet and not an "outhouse" or bucket...and we moved in 1954! Prior to moving, all of us took a "bath" in the kitchen sink as kids, or a sponge bath as adults, and heated the water on the stove for bathing.

When I taught school, right up until 2000, if I told that to kids, they looked at you like you were from Mars...and making up stories. Many on here know the truth, they lived it. Still, I never knew we were "poor" - just a little different.

As for me, ditto on all the good things mentioned. And I also "financed" my two sister's and my lunch money with a paper route (110 tossed out from my bike each afternoon, 6 days a week) starting from age 9 until I went off to college. Then my sister took it for  few more years. Early earnings was about $6 a week I think, working up to about $18 when I quit. Kept me in gas!

No sense beating all these dead horses. We will just say, that most of us, in spite of the bad and the problems, look back on our childhood from that era as a very lucky, and good one. But a large percent of people today probably feel that way about their childhood.

This thread is kind of like going to a "class reunion" but not for school, but for life!

Thanks, to all who contribute. Greg "Class of 1947-life that is."

"By the way Dennis, if my parents would have ever given me a $5.00 a week allowance, I would still be at home. You were one lucky guy. Regards, Casey"

I had duties and had to earn that allowance.  And I doubt you would be satisfied with $5 a week as you said. On the other hand, I have often said that if I didn't have to get a job to make a living, I would still be in college.

.....

Dennis

Slightly off-topic, but I was in a local supermarket today, and they had a special on, selling cowboy outfits complete with hat, vest, chaps, gun-belt & holster, 6-gun and a sheriff's badge. I hadn't seen these in shops for many years now.

I bet you wore "penny loafers" and no socks Dennis. $5 a week, c'mon did you have a money lending business for your buddies?

$5.00!!!? We'd go to the theater for a Saturday Double Feature with two cartoons. Sometimes, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans along with The Lone Ranger or The Cisco Kid and two cartoons. All this for $.25 Don't forget the popcorn, candy bar and a soda for another $.25 Then everyone would go to each others home to run trains if we could.

 That was pretty good Dewey, I think we have money bags Dennis pegged pretty good.

 (5 bucks a week) WOW. Back then 5 bucks would buy you a train.

Nicole, The Linex camera was doomed from the start. It came out at the tail-end of the 3-D craze...plus all the other stereo cameras used regular 35mm film. The Linex needed special film (I think 16mm). The dealers got to the point of not being able to give the camera away.

anyone remember THE PINKY LEE SHOW from the 50's and the BANANA MAN who came out with a long coat and filled a train with bananas he kept pulling out of his coat?

i got bto see dale robertson from the wells fargo tv show and guy madison from wild bill hickcock show at a fair one summer-dale robertson sang GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.PRETTY GOOD TOO.LIKE I SAID the 50's were great cause we were young and we had hero's to look up too.especially our parents

Hi Joe, yes I was aware of that sad episode in Lionel's history. That's why I posted just a picture of it with a sad face ().