Do you remember these road signs?

Do you remember these signs on the road?        To qualify as "old as dirt" you need to recognize these. For those who never saw any of the Burma Shave signs, here is a quick lesson in our history of the 1930's, '40's and '50's. Before there were interstates, when everyone drove the old 2 lane roads, Burma Shave signs would be posted all over the countryside in farmers' fields. They were small red signs with white letters. Five signs, about 100 feet apart, each containing 1 line of a 4 line couplet......and the obligatory 5th sign advertising Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream . Here are more of the actual signs: DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOW OUT SO FAR IT MAY GO HOME IN ANOTHER CAR. BURMA SHAVE TRAINS DON'T WANDER ALL OVER THE MAP 'CAUSE NOBODY SITS IN THE ENGINEER'S LAP Burma Shave SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH BY MISTAKE SHE THOUGHT IT WAS HER HUSBAND JAKE Burma Shave DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD TO GAIN A MINUTE YOU NEED YOUR HEAD YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT Burma Shave DROVE TOO LONG DRIVER SNOOZING WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IS NOT AMUSING Burma Shave BROTHER SPEEDER LET'S REHEARSE ALL TOGETHER GOOD MORNING, NURSE Burma Shave CAUTIOUS RIDER TO HER RECKLESS DEAR LET'S HAVE LESS BULL AND A LITTLE MORE STEER Burma Shave SPEED WAS HIGH WEATHER WAS NOT TIRES WERE THIN X MARKS THE SPOT Burma Shave THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF PAUL FOR BEER LED TO A WARMER HEMISPHERE Burma Shave AROUND THE CURVE LICKETY-SPLIT BEAUTIFUL CAR WASN'T IT? Burma Shave NO MATTER THE PRICE NO MATTER HOW NEW THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE IN THE CAR IS YOU Burma Shave A GUY WHO DRIVES A CAR WIDE OPEN IS NOT THINKIN' HE'S JUST HOPIN' Burma Shave AT INTERSECTIONS LOOK EACH WAY A HARP SOUNDS NICE BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY Burma Shave BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL EYES ON THE ROAD THAT'S THE SKILLFUL DRIVER'S CODE Burma Shave THE ONE WHO DRIVES WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING DEPENDS ON YOU TO DO HIS THINKING Burma Shave CAR IN DITCH DRIVER IN TREE THE MOON WAS FULL AND SO WAS HE. Burma Shave PASSING SCHOOL ZONE TAKE IT SLOW LET OUR LITTLE SHAVERS GROW Burma Shave Do these bring back any old memories? If not, you're merely a child. If they do - then you're old as dirt.. (I remember them well!) "It's not just simply the destination, but also the journey!"

More 50's From Bill Daniels

All the girls had ugly gym uniforms? And wore tennis shoes not $200 Nike's! 

It took three minutes for the TV to warm up? 

Nobody owned a purebred dog?

When a quarter was a decent allowance?

You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny? 

Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?

You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?

Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?



It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents?

They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed... and they did it!



When a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?

No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?


Lying on your back in the grass with your friends... and saying things like, 'That cloud looks like a... '? 


 Playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game? 


Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger...



And with all our progress, don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace, and share it with the children of today.

All this and much more made me me.

Today we need to slow down and smell the roses. thanks, Bill for sharing the 50's with us

Remembering Spring Vegetable Gardening

Its spring now,and I remember working with my father in the garden in the 50's In those days we only used cow manure to grow our vegetables.  In those days we didn't buy plants we grow all our vegetables from seed.  We had a small garden,and I learned a lot Organic Gardening. In those days backyard gardeners didn't know much about chemicals to grow vegetables. My father would order a truck load of cow manure from the milk farmer.
I remember shoveling and spreading cow manure all day. We work from sun rise to sun set all weekend to get finished.  This and more I remember is what made me me. let here from about if you lived in the 50's.
by Crazy Pete

More and more 50 Th's Stuff

I remember back in the 50Th's  we had a coal Furnace. My job was to shovel coal into the Furnace,and I even thought it was fun.  My father always check my work.  It was always fun  to  watch the coal truck deliver coal. There was a long shout and the coal was poured into a very large bin in the cellar. In those days most people didn't finished basements like they do today. All this and more is what made me me.  Lets here from you.


Crazy Pete

My brother remembers the 50's

This Post is from my brother who also remembers the 50's

I remember the first car I owned. It was a 1956 Chevy Bel Air. It was 10 years old when i got it for Hefty $50 dollars. It was a standard shift 4 speed. I had no idea how to use the clutch. I would always stay away from stopping on hills. Too little you stall , too much you would roll back into the car behind you. Not good either way.

In those day you took off the hubcaps and painted the rims Black. You would then put on chrome lug nuts or a shinny Baby Moon. It look really sharp and fast that way. I can't believe I said that.

Forget about Air bags, because it had a solid steel dashboard. No padding back then. One quick-stop and you would loose your smile.

Only AM radio then. No FM or stereo. If you could you would install a back speaker to make it sound like a stereo.

More to come !!

DAF

 Thanks Dave for your comments

More 50's

Do you remember the 50's?  I remember Thanksgiving time my father would go to the turkey farm and picked out a live turkey. The farmer would hang up the turkey by his neck,and cut the turkey 's through. The blood would go into a big pan. My father would take the turkey home,and my mother would have to take the feathers off. She would clean the turkey in hot water. In those days we didn't have a hot water tank,so we would boil the water on the stove. Oh the good old days, We would cook on a wood stove,but we did have a coal furnace. I remember my father sometimes would let me shovel the coal into the furnace. The cellars were dirty with cement floors. My mother always served a wonderful  turkey dinner. No NFL football in those days,but most years we could go out and play in the snow. We had to find our own fun in those days. All this and more is what made me me.  Let's here from you?  

Do you remember 1953

I remember back in 1953 we had a 1947 Ford Stationwagion,and it has real wood around the doors. I remember Sunday morning packing the car to go to the beach after early Mass. We took chairs, blankets, Colman stove to cook on. The car would be packed from bottom to top. Oh and the food my father would bring you would think he was feeding an Army. It was only 30 miles to the beach,but it would take us 3 hours to get there. My mother would stop along the way and buy more stuff for the beach,and my father would say where are we going to put this stuff. We would get to the beach by noon,and it always seemed to take forever to unpack the car. Then my father would start cooking,hotdogs,hamburgers,green peppers,and onions. Oh and the smell of green peppers,and onions cooking would drive other people on the beach crazy with hunger. In those days you cook on the beach,but most people would have sandwiches. We would stay on the beach until around 6 o'clock. Then of course 3 more hours back to home. We always stop for ice cream,and had at least one flat tire to fix on the way home. Oh the good old days that made me me. All of this and more I remember in the land that made me me. Post your comments,if you have memories of the 50s.  Always,more to come.