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Remembering The Good Old Days
Oh yes the fifties! Television was new
Jimmy Durante, an excellent comedian
He sang “Inka Dinka Doo,” and always
said “Goodnight Mrs. Calabash wherever
you are.”
Schwinn bikes, roller skates, English racers
Spent summers swimming at our local pool
Swimming pools all had lifeguards
Until it was time to go visit my cousins farm.
Telephones were new also, back then we all
shared a two party line to save money on the bill
You could call the operator and ask any questions
non related to the phone company, she answered
as a parent would have.
We didn’t have area codes then. We would dial
LI for Lincoln or BA for Bailey and a simple five
digit phone number. Phone books were thin
as not many had a telephone or TV.
We were allowed only an hour of TV
Howdy Doody and Clarabell were favorites
Saturday mornings we saw Gene Audry, The
Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Hop-A-Long Cassidy
Mother’s didn’t work they were housewives
Our milkman came daily or every other
according to your preference.
Our family doctor made house calls.
Over at the butcher he cut meat fresh
per each order, and gave the scraps away
for your dog, free. Fish heads for your garden
Sawdust on his floor.
Mama tried her new deep fat fryer breaded
shrimp, scallops and chicken were the rage
We all had vegetable gardens, and plenty of flowers
We would pull out a carrot, and rub off the dirt to eat.
Ford cars were popular in price. There was only
one red convertible on our street. We didn’t have
swimming pools, but Mom or Dad would turn
on the sprinkler; so we could run through in
our bathing suits on real hot days. Then we felt
pretty cool. We dried off on our porch.
In the winter we took a couple of wooden
boards, and did our own cross-country skiing.
We sledded with a cardboard box if you didn’t
have a sled. Made snow angels and snowmen.
Teens hung on the back of bumpers to hike a
ride down the street. We jumped in snow piles,
and made igloos or long tunnels in the yard.
Christmas we sung in the choir like angels.
Every spring the popular TV ad was “Paint Up
Fix Up Time.” We wore bottle caps all over our jackets.
Slang included “Daddy-O which made our Dads angry.
Coolville, deadsville, Doodyville, squaresville, weirdsville
Those were the fifties!
© Joyce Ann Geyer 2006
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