I Remember...

[Flamingo Girl]

I remember red m&m's.

Then no red m&m's.

Now red m&m's, but no brown ones.

[Muffit]

I remember getting a bag of M & M's from a date -- and they were all green!!! Cleverest gift I ever got.

[Senmut]

I remember when you could buy a pack of cigarettes for under 50 cents. INCLUDING tax!

[emerita]

I remember when Cigarrettes were 5 cents a pack, gas was 3 cents a gallon and I listened to Little Orphan Annie on the radio.

[Muffit]

I remember when I could remember things.

But if you ask me how I remember that, I forget.

[martok2112]

I remember when Star Wars first came out in 1977. When the opening crawl went into the sea of stars beyond, it merely started with "It is a period of civil war...." There was absolutely no "Episode IV: A New Hope".

I remember finding myself very confused when I saw "The Empire Strikes Back" in the theater for the first time, seeing "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" crawl across the screen.

I remember the kids who claimed that they had seen Episodes I through III back in those days. Who did they think they were fooling?

I remember when it was mentioned way back that there were supposed to be 13 Star Wars movies.

I remember my mom and I vowing to catch EVERY single Star Wars movie in the theater. Granted, there are only six stories, but my mom passed away before we could fulfill our promise together. But I know she still watches them with me when I do go to catch the new movies. (I love you, Mom.)

Of course, my mom and I didn't always see eye to eye on every sci-fi film. I remember 1982 as the year when Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan exploded onto the screen. Alas, so did ET:The Extra Terrestrial. When my mom said: "Kids, we're going to the movies!" (I have a younger brother too.)
I shouted with glee: "Wrath of Khan!"

She put the kibosch on that real quick. "No, we're gonna go see ET."

"But, mom, this is Star Trek II." I pleaded. "Remember when we went to go see Star Trek the Motion Picture at the movies?"

"You don't need to see all that science-fiction." she rebuked.

At this point, I decided to exercise what I thought was very cool logic. "Mom, ET is just as much a science-fiction movie as Star Trek." (I was rather proud of myself.)

She replied: "Well, you don't need to see all that violence."

That was it. Her foot was down and we went to see "ET." It was two of the most uncomfortable hours of my life. I sat there, grating at every single frame of ET whilst quietly pining to see a great space epic like "The Wrath of Khan."


I remember those immortal words spoken on Sept.17th, 1978 as I watched the premiere movie of Battlestar Galactica on my small 10inch B/W TV. "There are those who believe that life here began out there....." With those words, I was CAPTIVATED!

I remember how my mom and I actually got to watching Star Trek together. We were hardcore Picard fans with the Next Generation. I remember jumping out of my seat when we were watching "Yesterday's Enterprise", and the Enterprise D blasted the Pogees out of a K'vort Class Bird of Prey. My mom just looked at me. :laugh:

Well, I think I've strained my brain enough for now. Will try to think up some more applicable memories later.

Respectfully, and nostalgically,
martok2112

[Senmut]

I remember when, in 1974, Space:1999 premeired here in the US. I was captivated by the idea of Moonbases, and colonizing space. Ah, far we haven't come! I still cannot look at the Moon, without thinking of Alpha.
BTW, I see a Moon up in the sky...What's wrong with this picture???

[Muffit]

I'm with you Senmut, I thought we'd have a moonbase long ago. I remember in our SRA reading programs in the 60's that they assumed we'd have one by the 70's.

And I agree with Arthur C. Clarke, our design for a space station is awful. 2001 had a much better idea and something we could truly be proud of.

[chains]

"I remember.." when just £1.00p could last me for a whole week in pocket money terms...

also i remember that i could traval from my parents to the city for just £00.5p....god i must be old....he he he

[Proximo]

There's a problem with a rotational design like that, though. THe centripedal force that keeps you pinned to the inside of the ring creates a circulatory imbalance, becuase the 'gravity' at your feet is higher than the 'gravity' at your head. Over time it would create all kinds of cardiovascular problems. It's the reason small rotators have been ruled out for interplanetary travel bnecause there, with such a huge difference between your head and your feet, you'd be pretty much incapacitated by the time you reached your destination.

However, a larger station might not suffer such a problem. You're looking at something several kilometers in diameter, though, and though we have the technological knowhow, we simply don't have the capacity to build such a thing in space yet. The ISS is a fudged compromise... actually the plans for it were drawn up in the late 70s as I recall. It hasn't changed at all since then, except to update the internals and change the name from the much more inspiring "Freedom" station. Ah well...

I remember TerraHawks.

[Muffit]

Thank you Proximo, sounds like you know alot about that kind of stuff. I didn't mean to say the space station should have to look just like 2001 or have its own gravity per se, it's just that I believe we are at that place in our advancement as a society that science and art should coexist. The space station is our first statement to the universe of ourselves. As such, IMHO I believe it should reflect the 2 facets of ourselves that make us what we are, both science and art. We can make an Escort and yes it runs, but a Ferrari awes the senses and shows we are far beyond mere functionality. We appreciate the solar system and the way it functions, but we cannot help but find our emotions stimulated by the raw beauty of the Earth from space. Our planet didn't have to be beautiful, but it is.

I think that's what Mr. Clarke was alluding to in his interview. That we do a thing is not enough; that we do it with love and pride, that is to do a thing well.

My silly 2 cents.

[ojai22]

Another person's memories ---

Two days ago I talked with a man who lied about his age so he could join the Navy when he was 17. He said if they catch you, you get discharged. It was 6 years before they learned about it so he only got a reprimand.

He was a country boy who knew what a torpedo was but had never heard of a submarine. At the end of boot camp he was told he should go to submarine school. Afterwards he was sent to the East Coast, where he finally saw what was going to be his life for the next 12 years. When he saw that large cigar-shaped object he said, "Are we going in THAT?"

He put in for a transfer as 'storekeeper.' He spent the next 25 years on a supply ship. Through WW2, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam. In 1949 they were ordered to Pescadores Island to pick up some 'typewriters.' He was the Sea Plane Crane Tender, everyone who had no business with that particular shipment was 'piped down.' A great many large crates were loaded onto the ship by the Sea Plane Crane; they went directly into the hold.

The crates were opened and people emerged. They had been comfortable in their confinement, some even sitting in chairs. Chiang Kai-shek and his party of about 120 people were taken to Keelung, where they traveled overland to Taipei.

This man was chosen as Ambassador representing the 7th Fleet four times. The best man to represent the fleet was chosen by his superiors and they said he was the best. It meant leaving your ship and traveling around the word spreading goodwill for a year. One year he met Pope John. Now he looks back and said he didn't realize at the time that millions of people would love an audience with the Pope and there he was sitting and talking to him.

He told this story without an ill word for anyone. He was part of a team and that was how he lived his life. He never mentioned any bad treatment, or talked about what had been done to his ancestors. Did I mention he is a Black man? He says he appreciates the opportunity and the honor of serving his country and the cause of freedom, and can't say enough good about it. He said. "I left a good record behind me for others to follow."

A few years ago he got a type of pneumonia that is very severe. He was rushed to the closest hospital. The Navy has to be notified because he's supposed to be transferred to a navy hospital. His doctor said he couldn't be moved. At one point that little line that does the blips went flat, with the barest little movement. The doctor said he was gone. Suddenly there was a tiny blip, then anther, each time going a little higher. When the hospital bill hit $150,000 the Navy said they weren't going to pay for it any longer. The doctor gave them a call. This man says he doesn't know what the doctor told them but they looked up his record and afterwards they paid all bills willingly.

He was married for 52 years and his wife died less than 2 years ago. Not difficult to see how lonely he is without her.

When he was finished I shook his hand and said, "John, it's an honor to know you." He got all flustered, sort of embarrassed, and started shifting papers around. A truly remarkable man with a lot of good memories.

[emerita]

I remember when there was no air-conditioning and we still had to go to school....
....when there was only one phone in the house and that was only if you could afford it. You had to go through an operator to hook up your calls, and we thought that the future was surely here when we got a rotary phone. We were on party lines and you could pick up and listen to your neighbors talk.

.....FG...Pop rocks are back. I saw them in Walmart last week.

[Flamingo Girl]

We sell Pop rocks at work. I still buy a packet every so often.

[thomas7g]

You are what you eat!

[Flamingo Girl]

I'm chocolate?

[Rowan]

ok that was a very fun trip down memory lane!!

To recap some of your memories that I share;
TV tubes, we had a black and white TV with 6 stations (no rood antena) you had to get up to change the dial! LOL!
I remember watching the first landing on the mood ( I was 5)
my allowance was 5 cents and it bought a comic book richie rich, or archie
chocolate bars were 10 cents
I walked to school, hung out in all my neighbours houses, sometimes even when they weren't home because we didn't lock doors everyone trusted and this was NDG in Montreal
I remember real glass coke bottles
45's 78's and eight track tapes
mimeographs I remember having to make copies for my teachers on them, also carbon paper for typing.
What I remember that has not been mentioned yet
I remember the invention of the first computer how it was such a big deal, it took up and entire room, floor to ceiling banks. I remember they pited a human against it who could do calculations faster, for the first few years it was the human who won, then the day came where the computer could go faster.
I remember when the first calculators came out they were sooooo expensive like in the hundreds of dollars and so big!
I remember floor wax
and having to put paste wax on the hard wood floors and waiting for it to dry ten using the floor polisher to buff it.

[shiningstar]

I remember when Candy bars were 15 cents each ...........then a year later they
were 25 cents now ............................it's 59 cents and up

[shiningstar]

I remember getting a whopping 25 cents a week for an allowance ......... and being able to
buy at least TWO 'treats' for myself with that if I didn't choose to save my money instead.

I remember my grandpa taking me to K-mart to get a new MEGO doll(they were
not action figures yet)and running back to the toys and being so excited!Now I just walk to the toy isle very quickly.

[Muffit]

Originally Posted by shiningstar

I remember when Candy bars were 15 cents each ...........then a year later they
were 25 cents now ............................it's 59 cents and up

Tish! I remember when a Hershey bar was HUGE!!! And it cost --- a nickel!!! We went on my first ever field trip in Kindergarten to the Purity supermarket (even supermarkets were fairly new in many areas). During the tour, the store owner gave us each a gigantic Hershey bar to munch on. I nibbled it all during the tour and on the entire walk home.

I couldn't finish it!!!

...Young whippersnappers...

[Senmut]

I remember when it was legal to drive without seatbelts, you didn't have to have car insurance, and police were actually respectful of the citizen's rights.

[kitty]

Originally Posted by Senmut

I remember when it was legal to drive without seatbelts, you didn't have to have car insurance, and police were actually respectful of the citizen's rights.

I remember when it was ok to drive without seatbelts. I also remember that many at that time also drank and drove. It was not frowned upon as it rightfully is now. I remember many occasions when we (as a family) would go to a function, my parents would drink, and then drive us home, with out any of us wearing seatbelts! And that was not out of the ordinary for most families. Scary!

I remember a time before microwaves, remote controls, portable colour tvs, satelite tv, mobile phones, cds and video recorders.
Food I swear tasted better. Tomatoes now seem to have a waxier , thicker skin and are more watery. This goes for most friut and veg. The best stuff is home grown now.

I remember when I was young watching BSG for the first time, getting over excited, humming aloud to the theme tune every week with my best friend, and being absolutely bowled over by the show!

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by Senmut

I remember when it was legal to drive without seatbelts, you didn't have to have car insurance, and police were actually respectful of the citizen's rights.

That was a very very long time ago indeed!!
the things I've seen police do over the years would make your toes curl!

[Muffit]

Sorrell, you are absolutely right -- food DID used to taste better. Now when you buy something, it has no calories, no salt, no MSG, no sugar, no this, no that, and most of all, NO TASTE!!!

All you gotta do is ask someone from another country,such as Central/South America. When they come here and order steak and lobster, you should see their expression -- yuck!!! $28 and zero taste!! What the HECK is this???

Our fruit, our meat, our mixes, you name it. Coke is nothing but colored water now. We have no idea what we have thrown away for the sake of marginal profit. It's just like the stars -- we have lost them forever and replaced them with ugly pitiful streetlights...

[doc834]

This was MY life!!!
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN...?

All the girls had ugly gym uniforms?

It took five minutes for the TV warm up?



?

Nobody owned a purebred dog?



When a quarter was a decent allowance?

You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?

Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?

All your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had
their hair done every day and wore high heels?




You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped,
without asking, all for free, every time?
And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?

Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?

It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner
at a real restaurant with your parents?

They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. . .and they did?



When a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise,
peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?


No one ever asked where the car keys were
because they were always in the car,
in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?


Lying on your back in the grass with your friends
and saying things like, "That cloud looks like a .."

and playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?

Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals
because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?


When being sent to the principal's office was nothing
compared to the fate that awaited the student at home?
Basically we were in fear for our lives,
but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.

Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Send this on to someone who can still remember
Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Laurel and Hardy,
Howdy Dowdy and the Peanut Gallery,
the Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows,
Nellie Bell, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk.


As well as summers filled with bike rides, baseball games,
Hula Hoops, bowling and visits to the pool,
and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.


I am sharing this with you today
because it ended with a double dog dare to pass it on.
To remember what a double dog dare is, read on.
And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between
old enough to know better and too young to care.

How many of these do you remember?

Candy cigarettes
Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside
Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
Blackjack, Clove and Teaberry chewing gum
Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
Newsreels before the movie
P.F. Fliers


Telephone numbers with a word prefix....(Raymond 4-601).
Party lines


Peashooters
Howdy Dowdy
45 RPM records
Green Stamps
Hi-Fi's

Metal ice cubes trays with levers
Mimeograph paper
Beanie and Cecil
Roller-skate keys
Cork pop guns
Drive ins
Studebakers


Washtub wringers
The Fuller Brush Man
Reel-To-Reel tape recorders
Tinkertoys
Erector Sets
The Fort Apache Play Set
Lincoln Logs
15 cent McDonald hamburgers


5 cent packs of baseball cards -
with that awful pink slab of bubble gum

Penny candy

35 cent a gallon gasoline
Jiffy Pop popcorn

Do you remember a time when...


Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures?
"Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense?
Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team?
War was a card game?
Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?
Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin?
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have lived!!!!!!!

[Muffit]

EXCELLENT DOC834!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To all, Doc's examples urge me to write my own examples, which are near and dear to me. However, please let me say, I know my examples may offend some, and for that I apologize in advance -- that is not my intent at all. I wish not to offend individuals, organizations, and certainly not government agencies and religious entities. I just want to express thru freedom of speech what I feel we have lost. Please fogive if I offend.

I remember when deceiving people thru political and other mechanisms, the manipulation of terminology, was considered lying and propaganda. Now we have "spin doctors", and cutesy actors playing them, as though it is now acceptable behaviour.

I remember when freedom of speech meant /both/ sides of an issue were allowed equality of expression across all forms of media. Cigarette ads, pro and con, appeared side by side on TV. Now only anti-cigarette campaigns (funded involuntarily by smokers) are allowed. I can not overstate the danger this implicates to the future of society. If we decide to pick and choose what is right and what is wrong, rather than giving people the choice they should be entitled to, we risk doing so across /every/ category of human freedom. Parachuting, mountain climbing, motorcycling, white water rafting, etc, etc are extremely dangerous, at least as much so as smoking. Will we ban those as well? An American schoolteacher put an anti-war bumper sticker on his car during the Persian Gulf conflict. It was towed away for that reason, and that reason alone - not for breaking the law, but for trying to exercise freedom of speech at school.

I remember when freedom of religion meant /we/ could choose what faith our children could learn about and choose from. I remember when the principal could pray over the loudspeaker in school when President Kennedy died. Now although we say we have freedom of religion, the religion of evolution is forced down our children's eyes thru every grade, and neither Christianity nor any other possible alternatives are allowed to be presented for them to choose from. It is illegal for both teachers and children to have freedom of religion in school. My older brother, who was an absolute straight A student, was flunked in science because he refused to admit evolution was "fact". My parents contested this and were laughed at and turned away by the school board.

And I remember when we prized a right our forefathers fought for, the right not to have personal property confiscated. It hurts me so much to see these values slowly disappear.

Two hundred and twenty eight years ago, a group of truly enlightened men gave birth in words to a dream that spelled hope for mankind. In those words, they mentioned two very, very important concepts; concepts which we have lost the intent of today and desperately need to recover. The first, "all men are created equal". Admittedly, this fell short of its intent, because it hinted exclusion of women, blacks, and so forth. However even today we can see its true intent. It was meant to include /all/ human beings, majority or minority, citizen or foreigner, rich or poor, "right" ideologies or "wrong". If we indeed honor these men, we will accord the same rights to alien immigrants and visitors we apply to American citizens. To children under the age of 18, to the elderly on their choice of being "committed" simply because they are old. To people whose ideas we believe are stupid or offensive. To matters of legality and illegality which should be a matter of choice in order to satisfy the "pursuit of happiness", which is not the same for you as it is for I.

And the second, "inalienable rights". Maybe you have not thought long and hard on this expression as I have, but to me it represents the culmination of hours, perhaps days or even years of soul searching for just the right word. And the result was, "inalienable". I don't know what that means to you, but to me it is an /extremely/ clear message that these are rights which /cannot/ be taken away. Not for any reason, not for any excuse, not at any time during one's lifetime. And not by God or dictate of man. Not by law and not by default. Human dignity is not a priviledge. It is an inalienable property without which we become selective bigots, prejudiced by the era's mores and vain condescension

Our forefathers envisioned a world wherein the ultimate difference between man and all other creatures, thought, was given its right to exist in each and every heart. Not conditional freedom based on whether we deem it "right" or "normal"; but the right to life be it tangible or concept. It is with utmost apprehension we approach an age when thoughts can and will be read, and people punished or persecuted for simply thinking an idea.

I remember when we looked up in Hope at a day and a world which /we all/ were allowed a part in. When democracy and freedom included my rights and your rights, my beliefs and your beliefs, my voice and your voice.

May we yet see that day, Man's willingness to create a heaven for the human heart, right here on Earth, the dream shared by a handful of men so long ago, in 1776.

[Rowan]

Doc that was Great!! I remember 85 to 90 % of what you posted! thank you! You reminded me of so many other things.

[Rowan]

WOW you sure can write! So inspirational ! but my sweet Muffit you are getting very serious and philosophical on a dreamy thread we need to start a "free speach and the slippery slope" thread. That should start a fire going under some maximus glutimus

[Muffit]

Oops! Sorry about that Rowan! Sometimes I get carried away, dumb daggit.

Back to innocent reminiscences then! I remember when plastic was so rare and expensive, anything made of it was like a work of art, full of sparkly glitter and amazing colors! Just like aluminum! (I think they made a capitol dome out of it cuz it was so highly prized and rare).

Now both are a dime a dozen!!! Funny! And how well I remember, that Made in Japan used to mean pure garbage -- now it's the highest in quality! Go figure!!!

LOL!