I KNOW.....'CAUSE
I WAS THERE !!
♥
♥
I graduated from high school in MAY OF 1956
I want to share with you some of my most PRECIOUS MEMORIES
of that era.
Also, I want my grands to know that....
I really was young once.....;>)
of that era.
Also, I want my grands to know that....
I really was young once.....;>)
At the age of thirty-six, Marilyn Monroe died of an overdose of sleeping pills in 1962.
** note: I tried to bleach my hair blonde, just like hers, but my almost black hair turned the brightest shade of ORANGE...:(
I also practiced hour upon hour, in front of a mirror, to get HER look on my face.
I always ended up just looking sick to my stomach...:)
I LOVE LUCY
was the top television show of 1956.
I know a lot of you STILL watch all her shows..
so do I.
It's strange but...the things that she did back then were so funny...
and, now, over 50 yrs. later...they are STILL funny.
It's strange but...the things that she did back then were so funny...
and, now, over 50 yrs. later...they are STILL funny.
DOES ANYONE STILL EAT 50's FOOD ?
It's the food most of us grew up on. Meatloaf. Pot roast. Chicken pot pie. Turkey with stuffing. It was cooked by Mom or maybe Swanson or Morton's on those rare occasions when Dad had to pinch-hit. It was classic American food before classic American food became burger, fries, and a Coke.
Does anyone still eat '50's food?
You bet.
For millions of people, it'll be on tonight's dinner menu.
For others, it's COMFORT FOOD . . .
a once-in-a-while trip back to a safer, less complicated time.
A few of MY favorites from a child...(still are)
...hot biscuits, meat loaf, chicken and dumplins' (and I don't care what ANYone says, MY mama made THE best ones.)
STORE PRICES in the 50's
MILK...97 cents a gallonBREAD...18 cents
CHUCK ROAST...33 cents per pound
CABBAGE....4 cents lb.
EGGS...45 cents dozen
COFFEE...69 cents lb.
(I can remember buying hamburger meat, 4 pounds for a $1.00, the year we married, 1960)
The AVERAGE income was $4,454.00 yearly.
GASOLINE was 23 cents a gallon
FORD car was $1,748.00 to $3,151.00, if you got it fully LOADED....
Mr. Sweet had one very much like this when we married in 1960.
BOWLING was a BIG thing during the 50's....the ONE bowling alley in the town I was raised in was a tad rough. ...meaning the guys that hung out there smoked *suck in breath*, and cussed *let breath out* and, if they could find it, they would drink a few beers.
We didn't get to go bowling too often...just because of these ratty guys.:(
I don't know to this day WHY....but my two best friends and I always thought THESE guys were ........well......COOL.
Something about being around one of the, hmmmmm, uh.....seedier side of life guys always made my heart beat a little faster..wonder why?? young age??
I remember having one for a boyfriend once (for about a week) and he was probably one of the nicest guys I ever went out with during my teen years. I guess being TUFF was all a put-on.
Another thing we loved so much during the 50's
was ROLLER SKATING.
My town, PLAINVIEW, TEXAS, had a tent covered wooden skating rink when
we first moved there.
Sometime later, a brick building housed the most fun place in town...
I so wish I had a photo of my girlfriends and I skating our little fannies off......but not one single photo was taken of us, all the years we had such fun there....or at least, I have never been able to locate one.
I think we were all too interested in BOYS
to even think of taking pictures. :>)
We sure had a lot of fun.
.
AND, since my mom sewed ALL my clothes,
AND, since my mom sewed ALL my clothes,
I must have had 15 of these POODLE SKIRTS...
in all colors....and, boy, did I twist my little, skinny butt in them !! :O) ♥
Our crinoline petticoats were STARCHED so heavy, they STOOD in the corner of the room.
PINK and BLACK
were THE colors in the late 50's........
A story I laugh at TODAY but was MORTIFIED back THEN....
My boyfriend (at the time) had a BLACK Ford.
Pretty good lookin' car but one evening he came to pick me up
and he had
SPRAY PAINTED his DASH in a flat PINK.
It looked HORRIBLE and I didn't want to be seen anywhere
even NEAR that ugly thing.
I just gritted my teeth, grinned and suggested we go to a movie so that car would be parked somewhere WITHOUT ME IN IT.
I must have been pretty shallow when I was 17........:(
This sweet boy did it because I loved PINK AND BLACK...
Bless his heart, he was killed in a car accident several years later.
♫♥♫♫♥♪♪♫
My senior prom was fun but not as much fun as it would have been had my boyfriend AT THE TIME
been able to go with me. He didn't go to our high school so he couldn't come.
Several girlfriends and I went to the party together and then met our boyfriends afterwards.
THIS isn't my prom dress...this is one from the net.
My mother made one just almost like this one only it was white...
It was sooo dreamy....I don't have a photo of that, either.
Wonder why photos weren't taken much back then? Or, maybe it was just MY family....???
PINK and BLACK
were THE colors in the late 50's........
A story I laugh at TODAY but was MORTIFIED back THEN....
My boyfriend (at the time) had a BLACK Ford.
Pretty good lookin' car but one evening he came to pick me up
and he had
SPRAY PAINTED his DASH in a flat PINK.
It looked HORRIBLE and I didn't want to be seen anywhere
even NEAR that ugly thing.
I just gritted my teeth, grinned and suggested we go to a movie so that car would be parked somewhere WITHOUT ME IN IT.
I must have been pretty shallow when I was 17........:(
This sweet boy did it because I loved PINK AND BLACK...
Bless his heart, he was killed in a car accident several years later.
been able to go with me. He didn't go to our high school so he couldn't come.
Several girlfriends and I went to the party together and then met our boyfriends afterwards.
My mother made one just almost like this one only it was white...
It was sooo dreamy....I don't have a photo of that, either.
Wonder why photos weren't taken much back then? Or, maybe it was just MY family....???
The SOX HOPS in the high school gym were SO MUCH FUN..
Do they still have SOX HOPS ?
♫ ♪♪ ♫♪
TOP 10 SONGS of 1956
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. |   The 50's was such a great time for being a teenager. I can honestly say that "GAY" meant we were happy. "DRUGS" meant medicines from the doctor. "BUZZ" was what bees did.... "Swell" was a favorite word..... "dragging Broadway" was what we did on a Saturday night...to see who all was in town and who they were with.   How 'bout YOUR high school years...Fun ? Tell us about it. |
57 comments:
Fun post, BJ! I loved reading about your memories from the 50's!
Smiles,
Carol
Well, I was born a year after you graduated. Yes, we had good home cooked meals back in the day and much better television programs.
You just told all of my memories -- I graduated from high school on June 1, 1956! We sure had fun - I dated my future husband our Jr. & Sr. years wearing his class ring around my neck!! His ring has a groove in it from the chain - he has never worn it as he gave it to me the day we received our rings. I wore it until the day he gave me an engagement diamond. Great memories!! Sally
We both are remembering with you this era ... you brought a chuckle. Those were the best times. The milk delivered to our door stoop, the cream popped up out the top when it froze. Playing freely in the streets & the ice cream truck coming by in the heat of the day. Skating or riding our bikes around the town for hours.
Oh, boy! You got me started ... these were the VERY BEST OF TIMES, BJ.
Have a beautiful eve ~
TTFN ~
Marydon
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that I still fix my husband of 53 years meatloaf twice a month! Sally
I was 5 when you graduated, so I don't remember much, but when I was a little bigger I remember been in love with Elvis, thought he was gorgeous and he was! My dad had to take me to the movies to see him caz I was going to marry him when I was 18, lol! I enjoyed reading about your 50's great and fun life. We loved Lucy, Marilyn and Sinatra too! I loved all the rock'n' roll singers too. Thanks for sharing and you were such a pretty girl, it's no wonder you had lots of boyfriends! Hugs,
FABBY
I have never commented on your blog, but I have to tell you I just love it! I love when you post photos of what you had for dinner, and that you get so excited over a Goodwill find. You really are an inspiration in that you truly find joy in simple pleasures, and have such a positive outlook. I so appreciate reading your blog everyday!
I listen to the 50's on the radio all the time! LOVE those songs cause they remind me of grade school and the CRUSHES I had on the bOYS!!!!!!!!!!! I remember everything you mentioned. What a BLAST FROM THE PAST!!!!!!!!! Thanks, BJ! XO, Pinky PS, what a SWEET picture of you!
What a great frolicking post this was! You know, I was only a baby in 1956,yet I remember every one of those songs. Do you think that I have listened to the Time Life commercials on Saturday night one time too many? Now that sweet graduate is you, right? You were and remain a beautiful gal!
I love the '50's cause, well, I was born right smack in the almost middle of them, in 1954. I remember my mom got me a poodle skirt when I was 3 or 4 and it was black with a pink poodle. I had a pink and black stuffed poodle named Fifi. Great memories, BJ. xo
I remember all of those songs even though I was four in 1956. The music that you hear young is imprinted on the heart, no doubt. You were such a pretty grad, BJ!
What great memories, even though I was born in the 50's I remember that times back then were soooooo much easier...and cheapier or should I say least expense :)
Kids these days really can't appreciate the "hard times"
Thank you for bringing back those wonderful memories.
Suzann ~xoxo~
I love your memories because they were pretty much my memories too. I was just a few years younger, but still old enough to know and enjoy those same things. Ah, the "good old days" --wish they would return. Great post. Mickie ;)
Loved this,brought the biggest smile to my face while I had my morning coffee! I was born in 1969 so all I can say is I remember my Mom and Dad talking about all these same things!
Girl you know I also remember all of these thing..I got out of school in 61 and I tried to go steady with a differ guy each week ha ha!! wore there ring with yard wrapped around it and hung from my neck..then I also had there jackets to wear..Poodle wear I also had a ton of..still wear them when Len and I do "Hot August nights" in Reno car show each year..still can do the bop and swing dance not as fast but still can do them ha ha!!
Lucy was my fav on TV and I loved the Honeymooners but I always wonder what the heck Alice use to do in that 1 room apartment all day and no furniture to dust not even a curtain at the windrow ha ha!!
When my grand daughter was 8 I made her a poodle skirt and girl she even slept in it ha ha!!
Thanks for the fun trip down memory lane it almost made me feel young again..Hugs and love my dear friend Gloria
Oh boy, you do not want to hear about me and high school. You may never look at me the same LOL. I have always said the best era to grow up in was the 50's. Good ole fashioned fun. I LOVE LUCY! Great post!
love the fifties and love all your photos...boy that sure takes you back...loved all the music...who would have thought of cell phones and buying water in a bottle...lol...just a fyi...have you been to naps on the porch where blogger has added the ability to respond to each comment...check it out...phyllis
Great post. Loved the 50's. Thanks for visiting. I'll be back to read more.
I remember a lot of this even tho I didn't live it...sounds to me like you had great teen years.
Oh, this was great BJ!! Enjoyed walking down memory lane with you!!
You always think of the best things to write about! I love they Lucy! I was born in the early 60's but remember laying on the living room floor right in front of the tv watching her. You had to stay close to the tv to change the channel or turn it up then. Loved to roller skate too. I remember many a time doing that with friends. I am glad that you never perfected Marilyn's look cause your's is just beautiful!
What a GREAT post, BJ...I was born in 58', but remember so much of this. And, I just made a chicken pot pie for a sick friend, yesterday. And, you might like to know that Dezi, Jr. lives here in Boulder City (by Hoover Dam...just a hop, skip and a jump from us), with his delightful wife, Amy - he still looks the same, just a little older now.
Have a wonderful weekend - thanks for the memories!
Thanks for the memories; I was not far behind you. I remember it all; I loved those crinolines, saddle shoes; Elvis was my idol.
I married my then boyfriend; it will be 49 years this summer and I still make food for the 50s. In fact my boys grew up on that comfort food. Your post spoke to my soul; thank you so much my friend.
Hugs,
Rita
Great post! good to see you looking back with fond memories and its a great FTF :-)
bj, I love your trip down memory lane and what a cute post. You were a doll, you still are! I remember the comfort food too, it's what my momma made. I still make some of it, just have to have it, don't call it comfort food for nothing! GREAT POST, love it.
Have a great weekend…….
~Emily
The French Hutch
What a fun post! I grew up in the 1960's but loved hearing Mom and Dad talk about the 1950's. Especially Dad who was probably one of those "bad" boys that hung around the bowling alley! And I was really bummed when I saw poodle skirts and realized they were out of style in the 60's. I made myself one a few years ago for a Halloween party and I love it!
Blessings
Linda
Great post! I was born in 1953 and graduated in 1971. Bowling and roller skating were a big deal in my small town. Our bowling alley only had 3 lanes and my best friends dad owned the the bowling alley, so we bowled for free in the day time. We had a Jerry's Drug Store in town that had a soda fountain, with red leather stools.
I was born in 1957 and to this day I still say I should have been a teenager by then, not just being born because I so love everything to do with the 50's!! In the 60's I was (and still am!) a huge Elvis fan when it wasn't "cool" to be an Elvis fan! lol The clothes, the styles, the music...ah yes, there will never be another era like that. Such a delightful post, BJ, and I so enjoyed reading about the fun you had back then:-) I think you'd enjoy my post today, about pajama parties!! hehe xoxo
I loved your post, Bj! I am just exactly 10 years behind you but the area I grew up in really had a 50's flavor..and didn't really represent the 60's that everyone knows. GREAT post! xo Diana
Hi BJness! Oh, what a wonderful fun posts! I love it! I was born in 1951 but remember all of this and the music! I made sure my kids were on to all the wonderful oldies of the 50s and 60s! ;)
You were gorgeous then and you're gorgeous now! :)
Love ya,
Shelia ;)
Really loved reading about your memories, Memaw.
Hello bj, I adore your wonderful post that 'so' is the way I grew up. I remember everything you wrote about.I am just one year younger than you. We were so lucky grow in one of the most fabulous times in American history. I enjoyed your photo and especially the on of you. Beautiful then and beautiful now. I mean it.
I didn't know about the Google friends thing. I'm checking it out.Thanks for the heads up.
Love you bunches,
Jeanne
The 50's were the best!! I graduated in 1954 and have about the same memories as you described. I still love meat loaf and fix it ever so often. The football games, sock hops and yes the Junior and Senior proms all great memories of the past. I still enjoy listening to the music of the 50's. Have a blessed day BJ and a great weekend. Madeline
What a fun post! My parents were married in 1956, so yep, it was a good year! :) We still had sock hops in the '70s at my high school, but I think it was because of the TV show Happy Days that made the '50s seem cool to those of us who hadn't been around for the fun the first time.
Thank you for the memories! I graduated in '58 and those years were the best! It's hard to explain, but you did a real good job of it. Pictures are great. As a Red Hat lady, we went to a convention where we all got to wear a poodle skirt and bobby socks once again. Fun! Just wish our kids could have had a taste of those sock hops. The big drink was Root Beer from the Frost-top Drive In.
Now THAT was fun! I learned to drive in my sister's 56 Chevy, wore homemade poodles skirts, and went to the high school prom with my husband (: of course we weren't married yet. You've always been beauiful BJ.
My hubs and I talk more and more about the "good ole days". We each ate the same 7 meals on the same 7 days...and our moms had a few extras to throw in. I never knew what a taco was until I was 18 years old. My mom's spices consisted of salt, pepper, dill - for pickles, and cinnamon! Didn't know the others existed! and guess what???? those WERE the good days!
bj what a fun post! I love the 50's. I was born in 1950 so I'm a 60's high school grad and teen...different for sure. I just might have to do a memory lane post one of these days. This really made me smile. You were and still are gorgeous!! hugs, Linda
What a fun post! I have been particularly interested in the 50s and 60s here of late. Such an interesting, more glamorous time, that's for sure.
ahh. a simpler time. you were and still are a beauty!!!
OH the 50s produced ME, 1954 to be exact! Great times:) I am amazed at how things have changed over the years!
I LOVE LUCY is one of my favorites even today! She has given me SO many laughs! Funny, my Granddaughter has a HUGE picture of Marilyn Monroe in her room:) She is beautiful!
Comfort food? YES Skating? YES Those were the days my friend!
Thanks for this walk down memory lane! HUGS!
What a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing your memories with us. I had a lot of fun reading your post. Have a great weekend.
Oh bj, what a time it all was~! I was there with you..
Did you have a Hazel Bishop lipstick with the jeweled tube? In a lovely melon color? Wear a little scarf around you neck or where white buck shoes and angora socks and sweaters? :):) Yep..so did I. My mother made my peek a boo petty coat and poodle skirt. Freshman year in black and white saddle oxfords and then white bucks.
Did you every have a Poodle haircut? Yep..I did. Wear pony tails..use your lipstick lid to form your perfect lips..hate the pointed circular stitched bra's???
What a time it all was.
Especially wearing your boyfriends huge class ring on a chain around you neck! :):)
A date every single friday and saturday night?? :):) The skating rink and the roar of those skates to the organ music..couples only with the lights flashing around the room. Parking and making sure you were a nice girl...always knowing what "too far" was ..but really NOT knowing?
Me too!! 1954 was my graduation date.
Love and hugs,
Mona..
I enjoyed this trip down memory lane. It was definitely a simpler time (with wonderful food ) Check out the prices of groceries!
Roller skating made a comeback in the 80's when I was a teen and it was so much fun!
I love the clothes of the 1950’s.
My parents grew up in the 1950’s and my Mum waxes lyrical about the clothes and how peple used to dress up in their finery to go for an evening out.
Oh, Girl, what a wonderful post! I loved reading about your memories! My memories are so similar! I graduated in 1955, Lubbock High Westerners!!! Yea! What fun. "Those were the days,my friend, we thought it'd never end." I'm married to my high school sweetheart with the "black Ford with Hot pink trim" I'd didn't mind, 'cause the best-looking boy in Texas was behind the wheel!!! Thanks for the memories, Maki of Maki's Little Red House
Hmmmm, the 70's were....probably not as awesome as the 50's lol! I used to dress up in some of my mom and aunts old 50's dresses, I thought they were soooo beautiful! Still do, and my girls dressed up in them and I still have them grands some day.
Great post! I enjoyed reading about your memories from the 50s!
I've got to send my mom this way. She would love this post! She had a yellow dress just like the one in that picture and a white one like it another year. She has pictures of it, and I was always jealous that the tacky "earth girl" prom dresses of my era didn't have any glam.
WHat a fun post BJ!! I graduated in 67 so I was a "Beatles" era girl. But my older sister & brother were 50's kids so I knew everything that was going on in their era. My sister & I had matching poodle skirts, people loved seeing big & lil sis in them!
You were and are a GORGEOUS GAL BJ!!
Hugs, Sherry
BJ,
I was 4 years old when you graduated. My, you were a beautiful gratuate!!! Loved hearing your views on the fifties...they were great. At age 4, I was really into the Westerns...Roy Rogers & Dale Evans ( must have drove my MoMa nuts with..."Why don't they have the same name if they're married"?)and can't forget the singing cowboy...
Gene Autry. Oh yes, more of my favorites were Flicka and Fury...horse shows...and of course, the Amazing "Mr. Ed"! That's too funny now! Ha! Thanks for these wonderful memories!
Fondly,
Pat
P.S. I disliked helping make hash on Mondays after Sunday's pot roast...never have made hash as an adult, but pot roast...oh, yeah!
A Wonderful post! I graduated in 1980....it seems like forever ago. However, I married my high school sweetheart so the good times are still rollin.
I enjoyed all this info and the personal stories sooooo much. I think I am most surprised at the yearly income. . .Your graduation photo is lovely - you have those beautiful, full lips that we all wish we had! Mr. Sweet knew a pretty girl with a great pucker, now didn't he?!
BJ... love the senior photo! Hey! I was around in the 50's.. though I spent a good part of it in cloth diapers and rubber pants!
but I'd gladly have traded the late 60's and early 70's teen years for your 1950's... life was simpler then wasn't it...
great share! hugs. Dixie
What a fun post!!
Happy Weekend!
Your post was so much fun to read! Thank you for sharing such wonderful things. :o)
thanks for the taste of 1956!
imagine if "kids today" wanted poodle skirts instead of pitbull tattoos ... wore classrings instead of piercings ...
do i sound like a curmudgeon?
My sister was a teenager in the 50's I have a pic of me aged 3 with her in a poodle skirt ( without the poodle)beehive hairdo !!
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