Childhood Memories

[trainlady]

I grew up in Tacoma, Wa. in the 1960s and I have the most wonderful childhood memories. I am so thankful that I grew up in such simple times when it was still safe to play outside...and we did... from sunup to sundown in the summertime!!!...playing Barbies under the cherry tree, reading Archie comic books, swimming at Wrights park, baseball and koolaid stands at the grasshopper patch, twirling my baton with the Tacoma Starlighters in the Daffodil Parades, riding bikes to the library...and not having to lock them up, making Halloween decorations to hang in the windows out of black and orange construction paper, trick or treating, family camping trips at Dash Point, Camp Fire Girls camp at Camp Wakoma, birthday parties at Point Defiance, March of Dimes Walkathons, hamburgers from Frisco Freeze, 4 square, hopscotch,jumping rope and easy bake ovens...what simple, wonderful times those were....

What are YOUR childhood memories?
Peace, the trainlady

[Juliecc913]

Hi Train. Loved your post. I grew up on the 60's in a small town in Kansas called Atchison. It had/has great brick street, beautiful old homes, is on the Missouri River.

I, too, remember sitting under huge trees playing Barbies and Army men, neighborhood watermelon feeds, catching lighting bugs, jumping rope, playing with yo yo's, exploring down by the creek and so many other great things.

Oh! and TV--Lost in Space, the Mod Squad, My Three Sons, The Brady Bunch, the Ed Sullivan Show and Red Skelton's shows and Andy Williams Christmas specials.

Drive-in movies and root beer from A & W. Dairy Queen after softball games. Smiley face, bell bottoms, peace signs. What a life.

Peace be with you.

[trainlady]

Hi Julie, what peaceful, joyful memories you have,too! Aren't you glad we grew up in those "Flower Power" days!!!

Who's next!?
Peace, the trainlady

I grew up on a dairy farm in the '60s. All I remember is work!! We started mowing the lawn by the house, and by the time we finally reached the barn, it was time to start all over again. I also fed calves and pulled weeds in our huge garden. We had a huge tree in our back yard, and we would just sit out there in it. My kids look at me cross-eyed when I tell them to "go sit in a tree".

I was helping in the field (driving tractor) at the age of 10. It was a simple life, but I don't always look back on it fondly. ;-)

[Lifestar]

I grew up in The Bronx. I rode my bike on black top streets, played Stoop Ball, and Stick Ball, where if you got a Two Sewer hit, you were a really good player. We also played Paddle Ball. Not tennis, or badmitten or squash or raquetball..Paddle Ball. Oh yes, and Basketball, There was a lot of that.

I went to Jones Beach on Long Island to swim in the Atlantic Ocean and to Rye Playland in Westchester to ride rickety old rollrcoasters and Pallisades Ammusement park in New Jersey to ride the tallest ferris wheel I'd ever seen. I went "Up-state" to Bear Mountain to picnic in the woods, and to Van Cortalnt Park to hang out in the summertime in virtual wliderness in the middle of The Bronx, in the back-yard of a mansion that George Washington once slept in. You could rent horses there to ride, and the trail went right through the middle of a busy roadway!

We didn't have Dairy Queens in the Bronx, we had Carvels. And we had the Bungalow Bar ice cream truck that came around on summer evenings.

In the wintertime we went to Central Park's Wolman Rink to skate, because Rockerfeller Center was for tourists and too expensive. But My father would take us to Rockerfeller Center to have Hot Cocoa and watch them light the Christmas tree, and then to go look at the store displays on 5th Avenue. We would also see the Christmas spectacular at Radio City Music Hall and watch the Rockettes and the Nutcracker Suite on stage. That's where I saw the "Sound of Music" and "Fiddler on the Roof" and "West Side Story" when they came out on film.

As a teenager I would take the train, with my friends into "The City" as we call Manhattan. We would buy bags of candy at Woolworths' Five and Dime, and for a nickle we would ride the Staten Island Ferry. They would load the people on , and then load the cars. It was fun just to be out on the water. To get a look at the Statue of Liberty. We'd ride round trip and then just hang out in lower Manhattan. We'd walk around the Battery and Wall Street, and head north through Little Ittaly and China Town, basically eating our way up north! Then we'd head through SoHo and Greenwich Village, oogling the "hippies" and lie to our parents about being there.

As I got older, I spent time on top of the Empire State Building and climbing the Carolon Tower of Riverside Church. I'd buy 1/2 price theater tickets (which were actually affordable in 1974) and see whatever Broadway show had a mattinee available.

I watched the World Trade centers being built in the 1970's. And ate dinner at Windows on the World when I was on one of my first "real" dates with a boy. I got to spend time at the observation deck of the WTC, and my sister-in law worked in Tower 2.

I went to Knicks and Ranger games at Madison Square Garden with my boyfriend who was a sports nut, and even went on a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park one evening. I visited all the museums, enjoying the Natural History and Haden Planetarium best. But I've never gone to the Statue of Liberty. Someday.....

I have great memories of growing up in the city, and sad memories of watching the city decline through the later 70's 80's and beyond into an urban jungle that I could no longer walk through or enjoy.

I missed feeling safe there, and now that I live in the northern suburbs, and take my kids there for "tourist treats", I feel sad when they react with trepidation and disbelief that I used to walk those same streets at all hours, and hang out with my friends on the very side walks that I now find myself needing to protect them from.

And most of all I miss those two twin towers (that I was never sure I really liked...I always thought they were some how misplaced in the skyline that had been there,,,, )and now..they leave a hole so angry and deep..I can still feel it every time I drive accross that bridge. I can't believe it's almost a year. I can only guess at what the people from my community who lost family must be thinking this time of year.

I hope they have some happy reminiscing too. I don't mean to get depressing here...But in a way it's part of my memories of growing up and what has changed.

I guess this post is a little long, and mayne a little dull. But even if no one reads it. It sure felt great to write it.

Thanks trainlady for the post. This was a most pleasant trip down memory lane

[Stargazer]

I grew up in rural Ohio in the 60's. I, too, loved Archie comics. I still do! Do you read them sometimes? We still pick them up once in awhile and I read them and my kids do too! It's a comfort thing I guess.

If I want nostalgia I watch "Laverne and Shirley" or "Happy Days" on tv.....it makes me think of how simple it was in my childhood days, and how much simpler it was when my mom was younger...

I also used to sit in a tree, and read or color. My brother and sister used to walk alone up or down several properties to get to our neighborhood friends' homes. We were so free! We used to ride our bicycles up about a mile or two of road, to the railroad tracks where we'd stand and wait for the train to go by.

We live in Virginia now, and my kids grow up in the suburbs. I like to have them do fun things too that they'll remember when they grow up. They LOVE to go visit Grandma and Grandpa in the country. Sometimes I imagine I'm there......young again. It feels good.

[bowlergrl2000]

Hello Trainlady! I currently live in Olympia for the last 13 years, but I grew up in Aberdeen, so I know what you are talking about! We didnt even have house keys because we never locked the doors there! I grew up in the 60's there also. So calm then! Could go anywhere at night with no problems what so ever.

I was born in Pomona,Calif. But my dad got transferred with the newspaper to Washington. Lived in Centralia for a bit, then on to Aberdeen, where we graduated from, my sis and bro and me. Im very glad now that he was transferred there. My girls were there until 13 years ago, and now they both live in Seattle, and love it!

I also twired baton, and was always in the Daffodil Parade. I taught for awhile also. I was on the Hoquiam Majorettes team. Did you go to the baton Competiton at Lakefair? We always went. When I taught, I had the Cosmopolis Cowgirls! The 4th of July parade and competition in Oakvile?

Well you know our weather here, and when the sun actually decides to come out, its a rareity, so Im going to pool to catch up some of those seldom rays!

Talk soon!

[Juliecc913]

Trainlady. This is a great thread. I've loved reading each of these so far. I hope many other's join us here.

[Lifestar]

I watched all the same shows you did while I was growing up. I also loved "The Wonderful World of Disney" when it went from black and white to color as Tinkerbell flew past!

And do you remember Flipper, The Flying Nun, Gidgett, and The Patty Duke Show?

My Dad would watch Gun Smoke and Pallidan, and I loved The Man From Uncle, I Spy, and Get Smart!

Geeze! Then there was "Car 54 where are you?" ( My dad hated that because he was a Police Officer and thought the show put cops down too much). and the Adams Family and Dark Shadows...

I guess I watched a lot of TV, huh?

Oh this is so much fun.

Trainlady, I just recently had my 45th birthday...and honsetly have not much of my childhood family still on this earth...but you have gotten me reliving so many good memories lately. It's such a gift!

What a great thread!

[Juliecc913]

I'll be 44 on the 1st, I see Lifestar is 45, how about you Trainlady? And yes--Dark Shadows, everyday after school. The Flying Nun and Gidget, of course and how could I forget Get Smart. Gunsmoke was big at our house too and Sunday nights with the Wide World of Disney. Ahhh. Thanks for the memories!