RUNNEMEDE REMEMBERED

Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey


Monday, January 26, 2009

I remember when

My daughter-in-law, Amy, who has NEVER been to Runnemede, by the way, recently wrote in her BLOG things she, who is in her 30s, remembers fondly. Things that have already changed in her short married lifetime -- that is in the last 10 years or so.

If I were to think about all the things that have changed in my lifetime the list would bore you all.
And, since I've written about many of those things, here's my most favorite short list.

. A drugstore wherein there was a soda fountain and you could get a glass of coca cola for a nickle.
. Nickle candy bars, penny candy.
. Stockings that were not attached to panties.
. TV with exterior antenna, or with rabbit ears.
. Calculators that cost $150 (yes, that's true) and didn't fit in your pocket, but were digitalized.
. Computers with a max ram of 128K!
. No microwave ovens (boy am I glad they invented them in my lifetime)
. All liquid beverages came in glass bottles. no cans.
. Hawaiian Punch -- do they still make that?
. Store bought cookies that didn't taste like cardboard (before they removed all the transfats)
. School supplies supplied by the school and not the parents
. The introduction of the polio vaccine
. Yearly TB testing in school
. Smallpox vaccinations
. Brownie box cameras that took black and white pictures -- 12 pictures per roll of film. Film? what's that?
. Mothers and doctors only in the delivery room. No dads or other family members allowed!

Technology and medical advances are too numerous to mention, and while I often wish I lived in the late 1800s, when I really think about it, I'm not one who would do well using an outhouse -- been there, done that, and it isn't comfortable. So, I'm thankful for my computer, my ability to print my own photos, BLOG, use my microwave to zap coffee or tea or frozen veggies, and one item I don't have and wish I did -- a crock pot.

ttfn

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