I’ve been busy this week and thought maybe some boomers or children of boomers might appreciate and get a chuckle out of some of the things that passed through my hands.
Do you remember when a student carried a dictionary? I chuckled for sure when I saw this one had only 40,000 words, and its copyright dates were 1893, 1914, and 1930. Any ladies out there who took Gregg Shorthand or were tested on mimeograph machines? How about a grade school report card with marks for music, art and hygiene but science had to be handwritten on the card?
Then there’s Life Magazine from 1946 for $.15, a satirical recipe on “How to Cook a Husband,” and an article about aging, “It’s Over,” when you hit 60.
Instead of a smart phone, a three-minute overseas call in the 40’s was $12 for three minutes, a job offer to a college graduate in the 60’s was $50 a week, and the delivery of a baby, both hospital and doctor, in the 70’s cost under $700.
Or are you interested in a three-bedroom house with a two-car garage, workshop, sleeping porch, wood stove and a large garden area for $49,000?
I’ve had a trip this week for sure going through family papers dating back to the early 1900’s. A week of so many memories included laughter, smiles, and in some cases tears.
Here’s hoping one of these items brought a smile or a memory of simpler times. I don’t know if they really were the ‘good old days’ or not, but they certainly were vastly different from today.
🙂
these were pretty good and caused me to laugh out loud. Thanks!
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Good – that’s what they were meant to do. Have a great day. 🙂
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Showing my age here. I remember all of those things and more! Going through old family papers can really turn up a lot of interesting items.
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Glad to know I’m not alone. 🙂 As I was putting the post together, I thought what if no one knows what I’m talking about and even that made me laugh.
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I found bank statements which were hand written ledgers going back to the 1950’s!
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This was a fun post, Judy! 🙂
Today I have to go to URBAN DICTIONARY online to understand half of the things my youngest is saying on FB 🙂
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The very first time I saw LOL I thought it was sending lots of love, but it didn’t make sense in the context, looked it up, and had myself one heck of a laugh. 🙂
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Great trip down memory lane. I have foggy memories of flying from New York to Brussels in 1954 on Sabena Airlines. It was a propeller plane that made several stops – Bangor, Maine; Newfoundland; then some place in Ireland before arriving in Brussels.
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Propeller planes – oh, I made a couple of trips on them myself. 🙂 Interesting that your destination was Brussels because we’re finalizing plans for a trip there today.
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These are great! Congratulations on your gold stars! I remember seeing a document with a sale price of $2,000 for the house my grandparents owned. I might have been about ten at the time and demanded to know why they didn’t buy lots more of them “at that price!”
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Wouldn’t you love to have a couple of deeds to properties that bought for $2,000. Oh my that would be good for the bank account. 🙂
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What a fun post, Judy! I’m definitely interested in the house with the sleeping porch and large garden! So happy that you found these treasures! ♡
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Wasn’t that a hoot. Glad you got a chuckle too.
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Great winter project Judy! I have several trunks from my parents’ house to go through but can’t bring myself to get rid of anything.
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That part is a challenge for sure. I’d make a pass one day and then do another pass the next day until I got it down to where I needed it to be. I’m sentimental so it is always hard.
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I actually got a check from a client the other day that was done on a typewriter! All the ‘T’s’ were misaligned. .. Ah the good old days. 😉
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A typewriter – oh my. Now I’m wondering if it was an IBM Selectric with the little dancing ball. 🙂
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Those were pretty funny! 😄
I once got a loaner new fangled ‘word processor’ typewriter (circa 1986) at work and someone had typed a steamy hot romance story on it. Us girls were all gathered around it as it typed out this hot smut. Then of course the typing stopped right before the climax. Isn’t that the bananas!
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These were wonderful and I’m so glad you shared them! Remember that 50 acre farm I’m always talking about? My mother sold it for $6000 in 1962. 50 acres!!!!!!!! They saw her coming.
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Can you imagine how many subdivisions and houses they could create on 50 acre?. Oh my goodness.
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I think it’s so important to preserve a family’s slice of history. Finally, I photographed boxes of clippings, photos, wedding invitations, recipes, journals, etc., and made an online album for everyone to visit. It sounds like you are the official family historian like I am.
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What a great idea. I still get emotional looking at the Western Union Telegrams my grand parents received when their sons were declared dead in WWII. They even kept the envelopes. There is no way in this world I could get rid of them.
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Hilarious, but of course, just like we were with our parents….our kids don’t want to hear it!
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Yes, life was vastly different then. I remember a lot of these things – the hand written report cards and receipts. I am concerned sometimes that we are losing the uniqueness of handwriting and treasure all the handwritten things I have from my grandparents. A fun walk through memory lane!
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I remember still practicing my handwriting as part of the curriculum when I was in business school. There was a real sense of pride in having nice, readable handwriting. Now, all they need is thumbs. 🙂
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What a lovely walk down memory lane. I can imagine how strange our grandchildren would think school was with shorthand and hygiene classes. 😀
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Oh, my goodness, I did enjoy this. Science did not have to be written on my report card, but grades were written in the teacher’s handwriting. And I did take a year of Gregg shorthand.
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Oh my, I’m so glad I’m not the last person on earth who took Gregg shorthand. 🙂
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