50's Lifestyle

[Emily Dean]

 

who here remembers getting their little sugar cube POLIO VACCINE?

 

 

Sepiatone

I remember getting my polio shot and I believe I got the Sabin Vaccine as well.  I remember one summer, particularly one August when all the pools shut down and my parents kept us around the house.  There was a very big epidemic of polio that summer and everyone was quite worried.  I remember seeing all those pictures of kids in iron lungs and I think my parents and other parents were petrified we would catch polio...it was very hot that summer and being denied the public pool put a damper in our summer plans. When the vaccine became available there were snaps in the paper of kids lined up to get the vaccine.  In those days they didn't have plastic syringes or disposable needles so there were nurses and doctors plus technicians sterilizing syringes and needles. 

 

This topic also reminds me of childhood diseases which we were subjected too; measles, mumps and chicken pox to name the top three.  I was four years older than my brother and as he wasn't in school while I was in the first four years of my gradeschool years my mom would keep him around me hoping he would catch the disease and get it over with.  I do know it was preferable for boys to get the mumps early in their childhood as there was less risk of the disease affecting his reproductive organs.  I also had the privilege of catching scarlet fever which was really not a pleasant experience.  I was quarantined in my room for about seven days and the doctor would visit every evening on his way home.  I know at the time I ate a lot of Jewish penicillin (a cure all for most diseases) as well as mounds of My-T-Fine pudding. 

 

Happy New Year

[ElCid]

Mentioned this earlier, but got to thinking about it.

In 1960 (freshman year in HS), my hometown had a population of 12,261 and today it has one of 9,062 and has been losing every census since 1960.

It is the county seat and only "large" town in the county of the three incorporated ones.  One unicorporated area has a population of 8,000+.  In 1960, probably had a couple of hundred or so.

[LawrenceA]

Mentioned this earlier, but got to thinking about it.

In 1960 (freshman year in HS), my hometown had a population of 12,261 and today it has one of 9,062 and has been losing every census since 1960.

It is the county seat and only "large" town in the county of the three incorporated ones.  One unicorporated area has a population of 8,000+.  In 1960, probably had a couple of hundred or so.

 

My hometown has grown a great deal. 1960 population around 20,000, while 2015 estimated population is over 68, 000. It used to be 2 north-south 2-lane highways and 2 east-west 2-lane highways, with large lots around most businesses. Now we have some 6-lane highways, and large patches of the county are starting to look like urban sprawl. It would still look quaint to most big city dwellers, but it has come a long way from the quiet country town I grew up in.

[Sepiatone]

I remember getting my polio shot and I believe I got the Sabin Vaccine as well.  I remember one summer, particularly one August when all the pools shut down and my parents kept us around the house.  There was a very big epidemic of polio that summer and everyone was quite worried.  I remember seeing all those pictures of kids in iron lungs and I think my parents and other parents were petrified we would catch polio...it was very hot that summer and being denied the public pool put a damper in our summer plans. When the vaccine became available there were snaps in the paper of kids lined up to get the vaccine.  In those days they didn't have plastic syringes or disposable needles so there were nurses and doctors plus technicians sterilizing syringes and needles. 

 

This topic also reminds me of childhood diseases which we were subjected too; measles, mumps and chicken pox to name the top three.  I was four years older than my brother and as he wasn't in school while I was in the first four years of my gradeschool years my mom would keep him around me hoping he would catch the disease and get it over with.  I do know it was preferable for boys to get the mumps early in their childhood as there was less risk of the disease affecting his reproductive organs.  I also had the privilege of catching scarlet fever which was really not a pleasant experience.  I was quarantined in my room for about seven days and the doctor would visit every evening on his way home.  I know at the time I ate a lot of Jewish penicillin (a cure all for most diseases) as well as mounds of My-T-Fine pudding. 

 

Happy New Year

 

I had a friend in grade school who had polio as a tyke.   His left arm was considerably thinner and useless and he always kept the hand of it tucked into his pants pocket.  Would always see him around town a lot.  He grew not only an enviable beard, but also became an avid outdoorsman as well as  obtaining a black belt in Karate and for a time had his own school for the martial art.  His older brother was once married to the woman who lived next door to my grandmother, and she continued to live there after their divorce.  When I eventually moved into my Grandma's house, we became neighbors and she and the guy I was talking about still got along and  he'd be there often visiting her and his nieces, her two daughters.

 

Sadly, he died almost 10 years ago of early-onset Alzheimer's.

 

 

Sepiatone

[ElCid]

In the early and mid-50's most automobile and railroad advertising was artwork or illustrations.  No photographs.

One aspect was the lack of realism in the artwork.  The cars were longer, lower and wider than in reality.  Companies that made small cars, such as Studebaker and AMC, depicted the people in the cars smaller than they really would have been.  Made the cars look bigger.

For railroads, the interiors of the passenger cars looked much larger than in reality.  Also, often much nicer than in reality.

I've got some books on automobile and railroad advertising and it is interesting to contrast the difference between artwork and photographs.

There is an episode of Mad Men where the art director realizes that his work is being replaced by photographic ads.

 

We had a second-hand TV in mid-60's that had a remote.  It used a motor to move a disc to the pre-set stations - all three of them.  Father had to periodically clean the disc as it degraded reception for some reason.  Also, it used a cord about as big as a heavy duty outdoor extension cord.  Always getting in the way and hard to bend.  Father eventually just stuck it behind the set and we used the control on the cabinet.

[Emily Dean]

You know I was reading through these posts and really enjoying all the reminders they have brought to my mind.  One thing I remembered but don't see much of anymore is sleds.  When I was growing up everyone in our neighborhood had one...and they were great Christmas gifts.  I believe the fancier ones had handles that you could steer and all of them were made of my wood.

 

My mom had one that was made for infants that had a cover over part of it and she would pull my brother in it...all bundled up.  She would use this when she couldn't wheel the pram because of the snow.  I think she may have used this if she had to walk to the neighborhood market...in the days when there was one located in each of the neighborhoods.  I think this sled was wooden as well. 

 

Remember when we all had galoshes, those rubber boots you put on over your shoes and had metal clasps...they were hard to get into but harder to get off..

 

Happy New Year all....here's looking at you kids!!!

[ElCid]

You know I was reading through these posts and really enjoying all the reminders they have brought to my mind.  One thing I remembered but don't see much of anymore is sleds.  When I was growing up everyone in our neighborhood had one...and they were great Christmas gifts.  I believe the fancier ones had handles that you could steer and all of them were made of my wood.

 

 

It snows about 1/2 to 1inch every 2nd or 3rd year around here.  Here for one day and then becomes slush for two days and then temp. gets up to 50+ and it all goes away.

However, lots of stores will drag out the sleds and people will go buy them.

[Tikisoo]

However, lots of stores will drag out the sleds and people will go buy them.

 

Yup. Here in Siber-a-cuse, sleds are a big deal, as is snowboarding because the town is built on drumlins.

 

You will see Flexible Flyers (the blonde wood slats on red iron runners with the steering bar in front) for sale everywhere, occasionally toboggans- wooden, with the big curl in front. Most often you'll see modest plastic saucers and cheapie foam boards on the slopes, but many neighborhood kids employ cardboard boxes or garbage can lids to slide just as well.

 

Snowshoes & cross country ski tracks are often seen on my daily walk through the park. Free fun, good excersize to work off some of the heavy food we consume in winter.

[Sepiatone]

And sledding isn't what it used to be either.   For some reason, there was a huge mountain of dirt pled in the center of Lincoln Park's GREGORY PARK( now called Youth Center Park) that was about 3+ stories high and wound up resembling the shape of The Rock of Gibralter.

 

Most kids took their sleds and went down the gentle slope( the one the more adventurous of us called the "sissy" slope, (really the "p" word that means the same).  Me and my friends preferred going down the "steep" side.  On saucer sleds.  In summer, we'd risk going down on our bikes.

 

I won't go into the long story, but one time my brother and a few of his buddies and me went down on the hood of a '54 Buick.

 

I can't remember when they got rid of "Gregory Hill" but sometime over the years, they fenced off the top to prevent anyone from going down the "steep" side, and closed off the end of the gentle slope and only opened it for attended and regulated sledding.  And eventually started charging FEES to use it.  And NO kids under 12 allowed to sled unless accompanied by a parent!

 

The same happened to other popular sledding and tobogganing slopes in Detroit's Rouge Park and  slopes along the stretch of Hines Park Drive in Livonia.  Very little other decent sledding spots in Downriver area.

 

Kids used to go to their friend's houses and call them out to go play somewhere, or just hang out over there.  Now, their parents set up "playdates"  and organize( and IMO OVER organize) much of their other activities.

 

It's bad enough that there seems to be a "dumbing down" of much of America, but I have a problem with the  "pussifying" of the children.  Cripes, I even saw a kid pedal down the sidewalk last summer( he must have been about four years old) on a TRICYCLE wearing a helmet, elbow and knee pads!

 

 

Sepiatone

[Emily Dean]

And sledding isn't what it used to be either.   For some reason, there was a huge mountain of dirt pled in the center of Lincoln Park's GREGORY PARK( now called Youth Center Park) that was about 3+ stories high and wound up resembling the shape of The Rock of Gibralter.

 

Most kids took their sleds and went down the gentle slope( the one the more adventurous of us called the "sissy" slope, (really the "p" word that means the same).  Me and my friends preferred going down the "steep" side.  On saucer sleds.  In summer, we'd risk going down on our bikes.

 

I won't go into the long story, but one time my brother and a few of his buddies and me went down on the hood of a '54 Buick.

 

I can't remember when they got rid of "Gregory Hill" but sometime over the years, they fenced off the top to prevent anyone from going down the "steep" side, and closed off the end of the gentle slope and only opened it for attended and regulated sledding.  And eventually started charging FEES to use it.  And NO kids under 12 allowed to sled unless accompanied by a parent!

 

The same happened to other popular sledding and tobogganing slopes in Detroit's Rouge Park and  slopes along the stretch of Hines Park Drive in Livonia.  Very little other decent sledding spots in Downriver area.

 

Kids used to go to their friend's houses and call them out to go play somewhere, or just hang out over there.  Now, their parents set up "playdates"  and organize( and IMO OVER organize) much of their other activities.

 

It's bad enough that there seems to be a "dumbing down" of much of America, but I have a problem with the  "pussifying" of the children.  Cripes, I even saw a kid pedal down the sidewalk last summer( he must have been about four years old) on a TRICYCLE wearing a helmet, elbow and knee pads!

 

 

Sepiatone

I grew up in Jackson Michigan and there was a park called Cascade Falls.  In the winter the falls would ice over and the snow would build up on the corresponding hills that matched the undulation of the falls.  If the snow was good enough (fresh and powdery) dad would take us there with our sleds and we would spend the afternoon sledding...and I do remember those with ingenuity who sledded with cardboard boxes and garbage can lids.  When my brother was smaller I would sit in the back and he would sit between my legs and I would steer with the rope that went through the steering mechanism...my dad would push us off and then get to the bottom to retrieve us....we sled w/out benefit of any protective gear and were lucky enough to live...not counting all those years of riding bikes, slides and no seatbelts...I am shocked to realize we both have lived to reach our 7th decade.

 

In our neighbourhood during the summer and after school your mother actually mandated you go outside to play (only if it rained were you allowed to stay in) and the mothers all had whistles.  Each family had an assigned number of whistle blows and when you heard yours...home you would go.  Most everyone had play equipment of some kind or another in their backyard so we would move from yard to yard.  Since most kitchen windows looked out on the back yard you were usually under parent control of some kind.  If it rained in the summer you didn't go in the house you moved your kids furniture out on the back porch and played there with your friends...you know Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Chinese Checkers, Tiddly Winks or you would make stuff with your Lincoln Logs or wooden blocks...you know stuff you had to think about or use your imagination to make it work.  If you were really at a loss there were always crayons and colouring books. 

 

One of our neighbours worked for a power company and one Friday evening he and his crew arrived at his house with two telephone/electric line wood poles.  The power company truck went into his back yard and bored holes in the yard and then set the poles in the ground and settled them with concrete.  The bucket truck then went up and someone installed a cross bar with whatever and secured two large hooks.  Rope was installed and knotted and a generous sized wooden swing seat was attached to the ropes. 

 

It was the best swing I can remember and our whole goal was to swing high enough to see over the garage roof...of course when you got high enough the tension in the rope would loosen and whoosh down you went and of course we had no helmets or knee pads but we did have lots of scrapes and other assorted injuries but I don't remember that anyone suffered any major injuries. 

 

Beam me back...Mr. Scott

[Vautrin]

Rosebud. We had one steep hill that was a rather

narrow opening between two groups of trees. You

had to be careful on that one. Somebody always

got hurt during winter. Snowball and ice ball fights,

with some pebbles packed in when you felt mean.

I never wore a helmet when riding a bike and no

one else did either. I remember there was one girl

who lived down the street who had a little play

grocery store set up in her basement, and she

took that thing extremely seriously. If anyone

took one of her cardboard coins they were in a

world of hurt. 

[Tikisoo]

Emily said: In our neighborhood your mother actually mandated you go outside to play and the mothers all had whistles.  Each family had an assigned number of whistle blows and when you heard yours...home you would go. 

 

Wow. Your neighborhood was pretty genteel & well organized. Our Moms would yell our name like banshees which we found mortifying!

 

But that reminds me- anyone remember the Morse-like bell pagers in department stores? You'd be shopping and hear: "Bing-bing. (pause) Bing-bing-bing."

 

One of my first jobs was window dresser (just like Rhoda!) at a major downtown department store, my page was 5-6, the longest sequence. I'd always have to stop whatever I was doing to listen for five, then six "bonks" meaning I had to retrieve an item off a mannequin.

 

Every once in awhile I hear the pager in my dream, it's been so ingrained into my brain!

[Sepiatone]

JACKSON,MI EMILY???

 

Not COOPER STREET I hope! 

 

Anyway....in the neighborhood I grew up in we had what me and my brother called "The Network".  It seemed everybody seemed to know who's kid was whose for a large radius of blocks.  If one of those women saw one of us get into some mischief we weren't supposed to,  the phone lines would burn and as soon as we got home our BUTTS would!  It didn't help us that my Mom was the local AVON LADY and expanded that territory.

 

Then there was the "middle name limit".  We each knew one another's middle names so when we heard someone's Mom call them, and finally get to where they added the MIDDLE name, we knew  it was "go" time for them or us.   All THREE names meant certain doom.

 

I had to chuckle when they used and made that referrence in an Allstate insurance commercial.

 

Oh, yeah.  Games that didn't NEED batteries, controllers, cartridges, "tablets" or APPS.  Or how about those toy cars that you snapped together, and when you rolled them against a wall they'd spring "explode" apart to emulate a CAR WRECK?   Or TONKA TRUCKS that rolled under YOUR power and NOT a "radio control"?

 

Some of the luckier kids( like my brother) had LIONEL TRAINS that, if you may recall, would always at first go BACKWARDS when you first turned the lever on the transformer?  With those little pills you had to put in the smokestack of the locomotive to get it to smoke?

 

And those cardboard TUBS of the little green Army men.

 

 

Sepiatone

[Emily Dean]

JACKSON,MI EMILY???

 

Not COOPER STREET I hope! 

Then there was the "middle name limit".  We each knew one another's middle names so when we heard someone's Mom call them, and finally get to where they added the MIDDLE name, we knew  it was "go" time for them or us.   All THREE names meant certain doom.

 

Some of the luckier kids( like my brother) had LIONEL TRAINS that, if you may recall, would always at first go BACKWARDS when you first turned the lever on the transformer?  With those little pills you had to put in the smokestack of the locomotive to get it to smoke?

 

And those cardboard TUBS of the little green Army men.

 

 

Sepiatone

It was Christy Avenue actually...went East and West and was a short street so we pretty much knew everyone who lived on the street. 

 

Well you dredged up more memories....forgot about the middle name signal and the final one your full name..hearing that said out loud did bring fear and dread to your body.  You knew you had to go home immediately but really desired to drag your feet or run the other way.

 

One other hazardous outside play totally unprotected, roller skates.  I believe my first pair had an ankle strap and a leather collar that went over the lower portion of my foot.  Once I got bigger I had a pair that clipped on to the soles of my shoes (in the days when you wore real shoes) and you tightened them with a key that you kept around your neck.  If you really wanted to live dangerously you would get a rope and slide it around of your playmates bike seat and they would peddle along with you hanging on...water skiing on skates!!! Since the neighbourhoods all had sidewalks that was our preferred biking, skating surface.

 

Ah!! Lionel trains how wonderful they were.  My brother had one as well and each birthday/holiday gift usually included some additions to the set...villages, train stations, watertowers, farm houses, barns, animals and such to make up the countryside.  My dad built a train table....large ping pong type table attached to sawhorses which my mother then applied her artistic endeavours so that there were roads and rivers...oh yes don't forget you could buy trees to make forests.  Very entertaining and as the set was in the basement the train table served as a tornado shelter during the various spring storms that would arise. 

 

Oh you know we haven't talked about fire stations.  While we were in transition during a move we lived with my grandmother and she lived down the street from a fire station. We would have to walk past it on our way to school and I always ran when I went passed it for fear the engines would barrel out of the station and run me over.  The fireman were very nice and would let us walk around the station...they still had a fireman's pole and get treats from the kitchen.  They had wooden chairs that they would set up along the front of the station and sit on them and wave when you walked by.   They were great on Halloween as they always handed out candy as well as the other neighbors.  I don't remember if they had a dog!!!

 

Then we could walk further down the street and cross over the railway and hang over as the trains barreled under.  I remember you could get caught up in the smoke and they passed under and they were long trains as I think the line went west to east etc. and we had a round house.  My dad would take my brother and I to the round house to watch the trains turn around.  I believe there was a major repair centre in Jackson...and that was why they had a round house...it was fascinating to watch...remember when trains had cabooses and the guy would always wave at you from that little roof top observation booth.  Both the engineer and caboosemen would always wave and at times blow the horn.  Oh my goodness you have served up more memories

 

As we move into the New Year...it's nice to remember the old years.

[Sepiatone]

Only if the sidewalks were newer could you do that "rope on a bike" trick.  I've seen many a buddy and/or a buddy's sister "wipe out" face first when the skates hit a raised end of a sidewalk that due to being there a long time, had many uneven surfaces.

 

When I was a kid, the fire department was inside the city hall building.  By 1964, they built a new and seperate building for the fire department across the street of the back of city hall.  Still all there.

 

Eventually my cousin( or second cousin as he was also my Mom's cousin) became Captain of the Lincoln Park Fire Department.  As kids, we never hung around the station, but going past it would often see them playing horseshoes in the vacant lot next door to the station.

 

We never in my town, had anywhere one could be OVER any train tracks, but there were tracks running through one side of town, and more tracks not too far from the other border in neighboring Ecorse and Wyandotte.  To this day, I can't fall asleep unless I hear trains rolling down some tracks from ONE side or another.  And also, I can only recall a couple of times in my life when I ever saw a STEAM LOCOMOTIVE roll down the tracks.  And that was a LOOOONNNNGGG time ago!

 

 

Sepiatone

[laffite]

The brick building that was Fire Station #3 is still there but it's now a store. The station sign is still on the building and it might have historical status. I delivered a paper there. I also delivered a paper 'round the corner to a house in which lived the girl I worshiped the most ever. To this day even. Her house is not there any more but her avatar for me is the old fire station. When they make Citizen Laffite the story will surround the last word uttered by the old pirate. It will be the name of a girl.

 

Awwwww....

[DownGoesFrazier]

You know I was reading through these posts and really enjoying all the reminders they have brought to my mind.  One thing I remembered but don't see much of anymore is sleds.  When I was growing up everyone in our neighborhood had one...and they were great Christmas gifts.  I believe the fancier ones had handles that you could steer and all of them were made of my wood.

 

My mom had one that was made for infants that had a cover over part of it and she would pull my brother in it...all bundled up.  She would use this when she couldn't wheel the pram because of the snow.  I think she may have used this if she had to walk to the neighborhood market...in the days when there was one located in each of the neighborhoods.  I think this sled was wooden as well. 

 

Remember when we all had galoshes, those rubber boots you put on over your shoes and had metal clasps...they were hard to get into but harder to get off..

 

Happy New Year all....here's looking at you kids!!!

Some of the games we used to play were wire ball (hit the telephone wires with a ball), step ball (richochet the ball off the steps), Baby in the air, and Dead Box (using bottle caps, which you shot).

[Princess of Tap]

Some of the games we used to play were wire ball (hit the telephone wires with a ball), step ball (richochet the ball off the steps), Baby in the air, and Dead Box (using bottle caps, which you shot).

 

Hitting telephone wires - - where I come from they would have put you behind the reform school door. Wasn't that not only antisocial but also dangerous?

[DownGoesFrazier]

Hitting telephone wires - - where I come from they would have put you behind the reform school door. Wasn't that not only antisocial but also dangerous?

When you're 8 years old, who knows from antisocial and dangerous?

[Sepiatone]

Hitting telephone wires - - where I come from they would have put you behind the reform school door. Wasn't that not only antisocial but also dangerous?

 

We never did THAT, but we DID like to take a hammer or bat or something on that order and hit the GUY WIRE that held telephone poles in place just to hear that cool SOUND it made.

 

Tickled the HELL out of me when I read that was how the sound men got the sound for those  "blasters" they used in STAR WARS!    I KNEW it sounded FAMILIAR! 

 

 

Sepiatone

[Vautrin]

There was a large maintenance building just off the GSP filled

with small granite chunks that must have been used for some

kind of highway maintenance. We'd climb up to the top and

mess around and roll down to the bottom. There never seemed

to be anyone around (damn union jobs). Not the best environment

for the lungs, but we had a lot of fun.

[Tikisoo]

As kids we would order those plastic "100 Army Men" figurines (or Navy or Cowboys) that came in a tube previously mentioned. I'd set them up in line on my mother's beloved split rail fence and shoot them off with a BB gun! If you hit them just right, they'd mangle funny. My favorite was the "swab the deck" guy and the least favorite was the Army guy crawling on his stomach-hardest to hit!

 

Funny, no one worried about us kids shooting an eye out. 

 

My very favorite activity was exploring the half built houses in the new suburban tract formerly wooded section of the neighborhood. I learned how walls were built and how to climb to the second story when there were no stairs. Amazing we could rummage around a construction site without getting hurt-but we DID!

 

I wholeheartedly believe in the theory of allowing your kids to get hurt. It's part of learning the limitations of your body & the consequences. Being over protective doesn't teach anything except to be scared of the world.

 

One of my strongest childhood memories is being heavily bandaged from falling off my bike (headfirst!) and not being able to go in the pool all summer! I was definitely more careful after that!

 

(and before anyone flames me for it, I don't mean anything crazy like riding a bike in the road with no helmet, I just mean allowing kids to climb trees even though they may fall & break a bone)

[Sepiatone]

Exploring through houses under construction was a favorite pastime for me and my friends also.  And not only houses.  For example---

 

The high school I attended and graduated from was constructed in 1957(completed by 1960) and I still have the memory of that poor overwheight cop chasing us all up, down and around he site to get us out of there.  Risking a CORONARY to do so!  You could almost HEAR the sweat popping out on his beet red forehead!

 

Sure, I go along with kids learning some things the hard way.  But even in MY day( and yours too I guess) there were limits.  Another example---

 

The house I lived in once had two good sized Elm trees in the section between the sidewalk and the street.  Me and my best friend got the idea to tie a bunch of old inner tubes together, tie the ends around each one of the elms and try to SLINGSHOT ourselves across the street to the vacant property that was there( our combination baseball, football field, ice rink in winter, and kite flying area)   So, I placed myself dead center of the connected tubes and started pushing back with my feet.  Looking down at my feet while doing so.  Halfway to where I wanted take off from I looked up to see my friend was NOWHERE IN SIGHT.  Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and looking up saw my MOM looking down at me!  She simply said, "I don't think so."  Well, I slowly stepped foreward to loosen the tension on the tubes and moved away from them.  I also learned that day that a pair of pinking shears can turn inner tubes to confetti REAL quick!  

 

That friend of mine's Dad had a huge roll of that brown paper that people used for wrapping pakages in his basement.  Why, I don't know, but his adventurous older brother one day tore a few huge sheets of it off the roll and we walked into his backyard just as he was done duct-taping them together in one HUGE rectangle.  He then enlisted us to help him fold it into a giant paper airplane saying he was going to fly it off the roof of the house!

 

WE thought he meant he was going to THROW IT from the roof to see how far it would fy.  Turned out HIS idea was to see how far HE could fly while hanging ONTO it!  He took a running start from the peak of the roof and jumped with it once he reached the end.  Went about six feet out and dropped like a ROCK!  Broke his arm in two places.  As he swirled like CURLY HOWARD on the ground screaming in pain, his Dad came out, stood there looking at him and asked us waht happened.  When we told him, well, I had NEVER heard Mr. Jackson use THAT kind of language before!   Loudly telling the boy, "I oughta make you CRAWL to the hospital you #@*%#@%&  FOOL!"  and all like that. 

 

Now, THAT'S learning the HARD way! 

 

 

Sepiatone

[Tikisoo]

Me and my best friend got the idea to tie a bunch of old inner tubes together, tie the ends around each one of the elms and try to SLINGSHOT ourselves across the street to the vacant property that was there

 

Sounds like you watched too many Wile E. Coyote cartoons.

It IS amazing what kids will think up as "fun".

 

Turned out HIS idea was to see how far HE could fly while hanging ONTO it!

 

Another cartoon stunt. Isn't it a great learning experience to realize your weight & limitations? I bet NONE of the kids in attendance ever jumped off a roof again. Even with a personal helicopter vest.

 

Guess I was lucky growing up riding horses, enough dare devil thrills for me. I never did any crazy stunts like those.

[Sepiatone]

Me and my best friend got the idea to tie a bunch of old inner tubes together, tie the ends around each one of the elms and try to SLINGSHOT ourselves across the street to the vacant property that was there

 

Sounds like you watched too many Wile E. Coyote cartoons.

It IS amazing what kids will think up as "fun".

 

Turned out HIS idea was to see how far HE could fly while hanging ONTO it!

 

Another cartoon stunt. Isn't it a great learning experience to realize your weight & limitations? I bet NONE of the kids in attendance ever jumped off a roof again. Even with a personal helicopter vest.

 

Guess I was lucky growing up riding horses, enough dare devil thrills for me. I never did any crazy stunts like those.

 

Rick(the "hang glider's" name) was like that.  I NEVER saw him at school SIT on a swing in the playground.  He always STOOD on the seat.  We used to see how far we could go when we jumped OFF the swings sometimes.  Rick got HIS swing going so HIGH that when HE jumped off, he wound up flying AGAINST THE WALL of the school building!  He was also the kind of guy who always tried to see if he could go so high on the swings to get it to rotate around the TOP BAR of the swingset.  I'm truly surprised he's still alive!

 

He'll be 70 this year.  I haven't seen him since his Mother's funeral  20 years ago.  Me and Donny had fun goading him about the "paper airplane" thing.

 

 

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