It was an ordinary day. Talking with a friend from my old neighborhood about the good old times we used to share when I lived in the 900 block of North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. My parents weren't wealthy, but they did manage to give my brother and me all the things we could have ever wanted to pass our time while growing up in the 1940s and 50s. Certain items and events stick out in my memory that were my favorites from that time in my youth. Thought I would pass them along to let you know what children in that era enjoyed as well as utilized. For those who grew up at the same time, I hope I haven't missed too many of your favorites.
- 1 cent candy was one of my favorites at a few corner stores around my neighborhood.
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| Candy cigars |
A quarter, or even a dime or nickle, would give me a small bagful of candy that would last the day. At times I would buy candy cigarettes and pretend I was smoking like my mom and dad did at the time. Also tried a few of the bubble gum cigars, but they cost a nickel. Matter of fact, most everyone smoked in the 40s and 50s. My favorite store was on the corner of Clay and Queen and was known as Eli's. He remembered my name every day I walked in with money in hand.
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| Tinkertoys and Lincoln Logs |
- One of my favorite toys was my container of Lincoln Logs that I used to build replicas of ranches so I could use my toy animals and toy figurines that looked like cowboys. Did have a few Indians mixed in with the set. Another neat building toy was the container of red and white bricks that I had. They were something like the Legos of today, but at the time were smaller and easier to build. They made neat houses and buildings for the train yard my dad would set up right after Thanksgiving. I also had a big cardboard tube of Tinkertoys, just like every other kid in the neighborhood.
- I had two Lionel train sets; one was the Sante Fe passenger train while the other was an Alaska freight train. I did have Plasticville buildings, but my plastic brick buildings which I made myself looked as neat as the others.
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| Hubley cap bun and caps |
- Naturally every one in the neighborhood had a metal cap gun. Mine was a Hubley that was made in Lancaster. My dad actually worked at Hubley as a young man, making toy guns. The caps made a great noise and I loved the smell of the sulphur after firing the gun. Also enjoyed a variety of comic books that you could read at the Lancaster Train Station soda-shop and return to the rack after reading them. My favorites were Archie and Jughead as well as Superman.
- Some of the outdoor items I had were at first a neat tricycle and eventually a Schwinn two-wheeler. Had to take a few of my baseball cards and attach them to the rear wheel to make the bike sound like a motorcycle when the cards hit the spokes of the bike. Also enjoyed racing cat's eye marbles on the rubber mat on our front porch.
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| My Schwinn bike |
The porch was sloped toward the street at just the right angle to allow the marbles to pick up a little speed in the 12 to 15 feet they had to travel. But, out of all these activities, baseball with my brother and all the neighborhood kids was still my all-time favorite activity in the parking lot behind the house or at the nearby railroad station.
- Another toy I loved was the couple of wooden gliders that I had. We made one of them when I was in Cub Scouts. I also enjoyed flying kites, but had to have my dad take me to nearby Longs Park to fly them. When I tried at home they would get caught in the trees and power lines. As I became a teenager I enjoyed sledding with the guys in the neighborhood.
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| My nut-cracker sled |
We would walk the couple of blocks to the train bridge over the Lititz Pike to ride down the nut-cracker while my friends on the west side of the neighborhood, such as my good friend Jere, would hit the bridge over the Manheim Pike to do much the same as we did. Often had arguments as to who had the scariest nut-cracker. I leave it to your imagination as to why we called it as we did.- One item I really enjoyed was my paint-by-number set.
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| Who wouldn't love a Paint-by-Number |
Actually had a few of them. Made great presents for me when needed. I was a fanatic about staying inside the lines when I painted the artwork. At least I thought it was artwork. Funny, but when my mom was in a nursing facility, I would buy her the same thing and she just loved painting them. I would frame them for her and Moravian Manor, where she resided, would hang them in the halls of the place. At the same time I enjoyed building plastic model cars. Revell was my favorite model kit to build. Both my sons also enjoyed building models.
- One final item I loved throughout my childhood, and even in to my teens, was the pup-tent that my Aunt Doris gave me as a gift one Christmas.
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| My pup tent |
I slept in it, played Army in it and even made it into a printing shop by using the lead slugs from the Linotype machine that was in the factory next to our house. Pretended to print my own newspaper, but the lines never made any sense since all the lead slugs were from a variety of stories that the printing company had printed.
- My last few items of remembrance you may remember if you are old enough. I enjoyed pasting the S&H Green Stamps in the books for my mom, talking on the party-line telephone and mowing the grass with the push mower.
Life in the 40s and 50s was something like being on the TV show "Leave It To Beaver". Matter of fact that was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite TV shows. So, what do you think. Bring back any memories for you? Make some of you glad you never had to grow up without electronic items? Hey, that's what life was like in the good old days. And, we survived! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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