Remember When

I actually saw a guy mowing his lawn with
an old time rotary mower. I hated that thing
when I was a kid in the 50's.

Saves on gym membership fees.

Quote: Evenbob

I hated that thing when I was a kid in the 50's.

Amen! I was little enough when I first was given some small patches to do, the nut or something in the very back pushed into my chest and made it sore. As soon as it came to a weed, it wouldnt cut it and you had to just bend over and snip.

We mowed a respectable sized yard with it. I would truly hope anyone today would only be using one because he had a small lawn.

I've heard good things about new battery powered mowers for small lawns ... with a pair of Lithium packs to alternate, to be sure.

Quote: Evenbob

I actually saw a guy mowing his lawn with
an old time rotary mower. I hated that thing
when I was a kid in the 50's.

My neighbor lady has one. Our backyards are very small, maybe 1,000 square feet, so it is easy for her to use. I converted almost all of mine to garden and am killing the grass to make nice paths between the plots. I hate mowing so it will be great. Maybe one day I can grow a few things for the market (see other thread.)

I got my first lawn tractor in 1970. It was
a revelation, mowing an acre of lawn was
fun! That dang Wheelhorse, that was used
when I bought it, lasted until 2000, when
I got a John Deere. Some collector gave
me $300 for the WH, which is more than
I paid for it.

This is it:

Emily Post wrote plenty about etiquette. My sister went to a "charm school" where she had to balance a book on her head and walk. I forgot what else. Probably how to serve dinner or something.

Quote:

Men had to be taught not to blow their noses into their hands or to spit tobacco onto ladies’ backs.

that last is a bit earlier than my time. Seems like the second thing would be more obvious.

We were big S&H stamp collectors. Also something about Gold stamps (competing brand). I think my mom furnished her entire kitchen thru Green Stamp redemption when I was a kid. It was fun to lick up an entire page's worth and stick it in the book. There were 4 of us in 4 years, so grocery shopping was a big deal - lots of stamps.

We wore gloves and stockings to church, though usually not hats. Also skirts to school until high school. No pants/shorts for girls, except when it was cold enough you could wear pants under your dress but you had to change out of them as soon as you got there. We hung all our clothes/kept our boots in a cloak room; no lockers. And they measured the lengths of our skirts with a ruler. This was public school, not private, no uniforms, but a very strict dress code.

We had to do the book on the head thing too. It didn't take.

Quote: beachbumbabs

We had to do the book on the head thing too. It didn't take.

Some places still use the book on the head thing. Butler schools still do it. I remember one college in Virginia which had been a "finishing school" and morphed into a college where girls learned how to open and close doors without turning their backs to someone in the room, what the proper order of departure was and the differences between a Very Reverend, a Right Reverend and a Reverend. Also included in the curriculum were the books on the head, proper forms of address. Young ladies were expected to learn music but instruments were usually limited to The Violin or the piano. Those who clearly lacked any talent for art were required to learn art history.

I met one man who had gone to a Bible college where the four inch rule was enforced as well as no public display of affection. None at all. He could not even hold hands with his fianacee, since although engaged, they were not married.

I don't know about spitting tobacco on a woman, that sounds awfully weird. Although I've heard that mistreating a female in mining country was a bad idea because rarity increased their value tremendously. Sort of similar to the times in San Francisco where mousers brought in twenty five dollars each.

This one is not that old, -- but I didn't remember what year it started, so looked it up.

Quote:

Baby on board is the message of a small (usually five-inch) sign intended to be placed in the back window of an automobile to encourage safe driving. First marketed in September 1984 by Safety 1st Corporation, the sign became a ubiquitous fad, flourishing in 1985. Its use in the US rapidly declined by 1986[citation needed] as parody imitations with lines like "Baby I'm Bored", "Pit Bull on board", and "Mother-In-Law in Trunk" became popular

Quote: rxwine

This one is not that old, -- but I didn't remember what year it started, so looked it up.

Quote:

Baby on board is the message of a small (usually five-inch) sign intended to be placed in the back window of an automobile to encourage safe driving. First marketed in September 1984 by Safety 1st Corporation, the sign became a ubiquitous fad, flourishing in 1985. Its use in the US rapidly declined by 1986[citation needed] as parody imitations with lines like "Baby I'm Bored", "Pit Bull on board", and "Mother-In-Law in Trunk" became popular

When my cousin was born his parents were among the first to do this, but they first had a bumper sticker that said the same thing.

This was probably the beginning of the "helicopter parents" thing that we sadly have today.