1960s Kids

Yup, lived it all, plus much more.

Never did the Catholic thing though. We were / are Fundemental Baptist, and still damn proud of it!

Back then, life was actually enjoyable to wake up to each day.

dont know about elsewhere but still available here legally.

"1V-LSD"

just not as potent.

there is a store in berlin selling it legally, paying taxes and stuff.

In 1967, my uncle was on leave from the Navy. He closed down a bar and the cops got him on a DWI. He called my dad at 3 am to come and get him. My dad was pissed but did it for him. It was a $50 payout fine; times have changed a lot!

... when it was still okay to roll down the hill in an abandoned dryer drum.

Great Post. All of this is my childhood. I was hit so many times by the nun my hands would be sore for weeks. Yeah, I probably deserved. when the Priest came to the classroom to teach, he hit as well, only harder. The "bad kids" had to go kneel in the hallway. I spent the majority of my time kneeling with the rest of the Heathens. LOL

Riding in the back of a truck.

I survived Catholic school !

My parents refused to put us in the public school. So, we went to a Catholic school from 1st to 8th grade. My 2nd grade Nun had dementia. Most of the time she was OK, but one day we were told to do specific pages in the workbook for homework, which we did. The next day at school, except for a couple of slackers in the class that hardly ever did their homework, the rest of us did. The Nun forgot that she told us to do the pages. Everyone in the class got a swat from the sweeping broom for doing the homework we were assigned, except for the 2 slackers.
My 5th grade Nun was the worst.She could have literally killed me. A girl in my class, Jean B, was the teachers pet. Her Dad was a big time administrator in the public schools, and this girl was entitled, to say the least. When the Nun would have to run to the office for something, or go to the supply room, Jean B would be put in charge of watching the other kids. She was supposed to write down the names of those who misbehaved when the Nun ran out for a few minutes. Of course Jean B wrote down all the names of the other kids who would not kiss her entitled rear end,with me at the top of the list, LOL !
The Nun comes back into the room, and reads off the extensive list of kids who supposedly misbehaved when she had run out. Half the classroom was ordered out to the hallway, before being sent to the principals office. I didn't hear my name until the very end of the list. The Nun said my name, ran over to where I was sitting, pulled me out of my seat, and slammed my head into the metal pedestal of the desk. I was knocked out.I woke up on the floor in the hallway, and several kids were cradling me.I found out that after she had knocked me unconscious, she picked me up, and kicked me into the hall like a football. My Dad came to the school and told that Nun in no uncertain terms, that if she even looked at me in an evil way, habit or not, he would put her through a window.After this, this Nun renounced her vows, moved, and became a public school teacher.
My 7th grade Nun was absolutely evil. Even if it was below zero outside, she made us go out for recess. She was a definite mental case. Fortunately, as we were freezing outside, I would pick the lock on the door with a bobby pin, and let us back in.I admit, I was no saint, OK? The janitor would let us hide in the boiler room until we had to go back to the classroom after recess.
I had a couple of really good Nuns for Teachers in other grades. These 3 were the exception.

My Dad had a huge Pontiac Station Wagon that sat 9. We traveled all over the country and into Canada in that car !

Car Seats and Seat Belts
Or lack thereof. Not only did kiddos sit in the seats unrestricted but they even sat in the front seat. Mom or Dad would fling their arm to catch you for a sudden stop or turn. Heck, my 80s mom even did that. Either that or they would be a lap child, that is, they would sit on someone’s lap. There were some pretty crappy car seats that bigger babies and toddlers could sit in, with only a seatbelt across their lap. (Appropriate car seat regulations and legit seat belts didn’t come out until the 70s and airbags followed in the 80s.

Smoking
Beyond the constant smoking of a lot of mothers, children continued to grow up in a cloud of smoke throughout the years. But smoking was encouraged within society. Cigarette smoke blew from adults lips in places like stores, on planes, and even at the dinner table. It was all over the televisions as well. Parents even posed kids with unlit cigarettes or pipes on the regular for snapshots. For teens, smoking was seen as the mature and cool thing to do. And besides always being around cigarettes, kids could even buy them. So much as a request, and kids could buy cigarettes for their parents and they were sent to do so.

Unsafe Cribs
Knowing what you do about car seats of the 60s, this may not come as such a surprise. But doctors at the time encouraged parents to have their babies sleep on their stomachs, a big no-no. Cribs also had little to no safety measures in comparison to today. The slats were too wide, so much so that infants heads could get stuck in them. There were dangerous drop rails and teeny, tiny places where their little fingers could get stuck, not to mention choking hazards. It took many infant tragedies to lead to manufacturing regulations.

Blood Sisters and Brothers
Proving loyalty and friendship can be done in blood, and it was. You could also keep secrets this way. All you had to do was make a small cut on their fingers and press them together. Friends forever status usually followed, or you could be bound in silence about something. Beware of the blood exchanges, also known as, possible passing of bacteria and diseases.

Home Alone
Kids would often come home to empty houses in a generation known as latchkey kids as moms continued to go back to work. The 50s saw helicopter parents and the 60s kids took care of themselves. They had to feed themselves and watch younger brothers and sisters, unless they were the youngest. Your parents may not have been in any kind of hurry to get home.

Mercurochrome
I can still see this dark pink/red antiseptic in my grandma’s medicine cabinet and she put it on every owie. And she wasn’t the only one. Everyone had a bottle of this in the medicine cabinet. It wasn’t until the FDA started looking into it more closely that they determined the drug contained mercury. Too much use and it could affect your brain, kidneys, and babies in the womb. This was one of the crazy things of the time.

Going it Alone
Playdates and friend get-togethers are a whole lot of work these days. But back in the day? No problem. Just tell your mom where you’re going and hop on your bike or get to walking. The closer the better when it came to your friends houses. You went over there, spent time and sometimes you’d even get a meal out of it. What a great addition to the crazy things.

Hitting Teachers
To be specific, nuns that hit. If you went to catholic schools, you had exposure to different types of discipline. The classic ruler smacking across your knuckles ranked up there for offences such as speaking out loud, not doing your homework or rough-housing in the classroom. Nuns also pulled kids out of classrooms by their ears. Back then this was common practice, now it would absolutely not be tolerated.

My Dad had a huge Pontiac Station Wagon that sat 9. We traveled all over the country and into Canada in that car !

Mercurochrome
I can still see this dark pink/red antiseptic in my grandma’s medicine cabinet and she put it on every owie. And she wasn’t the only one. Everyone had a bottle of this in the medicine cabinet. It wasn’t until the FDA started looking into it more closely that they determined the drug contained mercury. Too much use and it could affect your brain, kidneys, and babies in the womb. This was one of the crazy things of the time.

Two things i want to comment - we also rode in the back-back of the station wagon (the part behind the back seat so we called it the back back)..no seatbelt! fun riding backwards too so we could look out the back window.

I was petrified of Mecurochrome. Something about it looked very scary, wonder if that was my gut feeling warning me that it was toxic. I rarely had that applied to cuts or scrapes. I was petrified. I think i opted for the Bactine. Bactine seemed friendly. not sure why. but mecurachome - no way, maybe it was the smell. Glad i refused it!

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