Diaper Services, Milk Boxes, and Other Bygone Things

Phoenix32890 wrote:

My father bought one of the first 1949 Fords. That was the year when the entire shape of cars changed, from kind of boxy to elongated. For the first few weeks after he got that car, people would stop him on street corners, and ask him about the car.

1948 Ford

1949 Ford

Notice how the windshield was divided into two parts.

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Gala wrote:

realjohnboy wrote:
I remember as a kid hearing one of my folks say "Go play in the street." And that wasn't considered to be bad parenting. The street was our playground. Tag, kickball, stickball.

One of my employees heard an interview on NPR with an author who has written a book about the automakers' efforts in the 1920's (?) to take (back) the streets for the purpose of use primarily for vehicles; not as playplaces.
As part of Detroit's campaign, my employee Andy claims he heard in the interview, there was a print newsaper campaign showing a clown steping into the street in front of a car of terrified riders: dad. mom and two kids.

Which brings us to the word "jaywalker." It supposedly was introduced in this ad campaign to describe the clown. All of my dictionaries define it as we know it today. One of them lists the origin as being 1919. Another (1975) specifically defines "jay" as meaning "a simpleton." My other dictionaries don't define it as such.

I hope I haven't strayed too far afield.

No, not at all. Thanks for this post. I love stories about how words evolve and take on different meanings over time.

To add to this as an update. Commiting jaywalking is almost meaningless in New England and in some of the Mid-Atlanntic states. In California, though, they do not tolerate it and they'll slap your hide with a ticket.

In Boston, if you jaywalk, you could easily be killed.

In Dallas Texas, you'll get a ticket if you jaywalk, ( I know!!).

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My first car purchased in 1960 (1949 Dodge) cost-$70)

http://www.rrclassiccars.com/d1949DodgeCoronetD1t.jpg

My 2nd car purchased in 1962 (1948 Packard convertable) cost-$ 75

http://www.dyna.co.za/cars/1948_Packard_Convertible_White_sf11.jpg

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The above cars should have signs reading "I dare you to hit me"!

Razz

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i can remember when companies gave out items as advertisements

yardsticks or rulers, bottle or can openers, and always matches

here's a scan of a sewing kit given out by silverwoods dairies

it came from my grandmothers house as we cleaned up after her death, i can remember the siverwoods man coming when i stayed with my granparents as a child, you put the sign in the front window and he knew to stop and get your order

http://h1.ripway.com/djjd62/silverwoods.jpg

some folks we knew who owned a poultry farm would also deliver eggs or fresh chickens if you phoned them, they delivered them on their way to the downtown market

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The Savings and Loan Banks always used to give out gifts, after your bank account/CD account reached a certain level.

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What'a HOMO Milk?

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Miller wrote:

The Savings and Loan Banks always used to give out gifts, after your bank account/CD account reached a certain level.

I can remember a period of time when you would get a gift, even if you opened a modest account (I don't remember how much.) The deal was that you had to keep the account for a certain period of time. The banks had tables filled with gifts.......toasters, coffee makers, blenders, etc.

I had a very rich aunt who would go from bank to bank opening accounts, and collecting gifts.

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dagmaraka wrote:

What'a HOMO Milk?

Full cream (or "whole" in US and UK, "homo milk" in Canada & some US dairies, about 3.25% fat)

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Dag- Years ago, when milk was not homogenized, the cream would rise to the top. I really think that the milk was much much richer in those days. I suspect that today some of the cream is taken off, and used for other products even in supposed "whole milk".

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should have mentioned that "homo" is a contraction of homogenized

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o figgered. It still sounds funny though.

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well, we're very liberal up here in the great white north Very Happy

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http://www.vermonty.com/photos/Got_Milk_Ad.jpg

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Phoenix32890 wrote:

Dag- Years ago, when milk was not homogenized, the cream would rise to the top. I really think that the milk was much much richer in those days. I suspect that today some of the cream is taken off, and used for other products even in supposed "whole milk".

In those days, no one worried about high cholesterol levels or plugged up coronary artieries. Razz

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http://img.shopping.com/cctool/PrdImg/images/pr/100X100/00/01/bf/0a/ce/29297358.JPG

I know they are still around (people are trying to save the Planet) but pushing this thing up and down our front and back lawn every Saturday was a chore.

Then, because my father was sure that having all that 'thatch' build up in the grass was bad for the lawn -lawn, huh, it was mostly weeds- we had to rake the clippings and put them in the compost pile.

Joe(Right after we all left home, guess who bought a gasser?)Nation

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Miller wrote:

In those days, no one worried about high cholesterol levels or plugged up coronary artieries.

I suppose that's one of the reasons that in those years quite a few men dropped dead of M.I. in their sixties. (There also were neither angioplasty nor coronary bypass operations)

Now that we are "on" medicine, think about this: AIDS did not exist, and polio was the most feared disease. The word "cancer" was uttered only in hushed tones, if at all. Often the doctor would tell the family of the cancer patient, but the patient himself was left in the dark.

My girlfriend had rheumatic fever, and was confined to her bed for a year. Another friend had scoliosis, and was trussed up in a full body cast, lying on a gurney, at home, also for a year.

Penicillin had not been invented. If you had a bacterial infection, your mother gave you sulfa powder, (Mine was mixed in apple sauce).

THERE WERE NO BIRTH CONTROL PILLS!!!

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No car alarms. No seat belts. In fact, the front seat of the car was the same as the back seat. Three people could easily sit up front.

Toasters did not pop up.

http://1902victorian.com/toaster_web.jpg

The door on each side of the toaster dropped down. You put in the bread and had to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't burn. When the bread was toasted on one side, you flipped it over and toasted the other side. Lots of burnt toast back in those days.

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Very few people had air conditioning in their homes. The earlier a/cs were extremely noisy, and a source of great annoyance to your next door neighbor, who had his windows wide open.

On sultry days, you went to the movies, which was chilled to the point where your teeth chattered. On the front of the theatre (one theatre, no multiplexes) there was a blue and white sign. The lettters looked like icicles, and proclained, "It's Cold Inside"!

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The grocery stores (no real supermarkets) I remember going into always had these black ceiling fans. It was cooler in there than outside, but not like you get in HEB these days.

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Diaper Services, Milk Boxes, and Other Bygone Things

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