Every man's memory is his private literature. ~ Aldous Huxley

I am so, so tired this evening. I probably shouldn't even try to write anything because I don't think my worn out brain can function that well this evening after playing trucks on the floor most of the afternoon with Dylan and Cooper and building Lego towers most of the morning. Dear Hubby and I went out to dinner at DeNicola's to start off the weekend in a relaxed mode so I'm sitting here with a bellyful of their delicious spaghetti, feeling stuffed and mellow and more and more sleepy as the minutes tick by. It's not going to end up being a very late nite around here for either one of us, but then few rarely are.

I read such an interesting entry at my young friend (I just went back and deleted 'very' as one of the words I called her...since at 26 I felt pretty grown up) Jaggy's this morning, all about how much the world has changed since she was born in 1983. Well, I was born 30 years before that, in 1953, and if she thinks the world has changed a lot in her lifetime...like Dear Hubby says, "I could tell her a thing or two about a thing or two". So I got to thinking about it and I went and found this site that provided me with quite a bit of history as to what was happening way back then. Now I feel even more old and more tired than I did when I sat down.

Oh well.

So I decided I'd write a list of a few - probably very few at the speed my brain cells are banging away in there - things I can think of on a personal level that have fallen by the wayside since 'mid century' of the 1900s:

1. Penny candy. At the Dime Store in my hometown there was a HUGE table filled with all sorts of penny candy. And some were even 2 for a penny! And some were even three for a penny...but they were pretty rare.

2. Transistor radios. At least I don't see transistors anywhere anymore??? Or am I not observant? Oh, the lazy hot sunny summer afternoons where I'd lay out in the grass on a spread-out towel in a 2-piece bathing suit, getting a tan, sipping Kool-Aid on ice, my skin slathered with a combination of Baby Oil and iodine to speed up the tanning process. My transistor was ever-present, tuned to the popular AM stations, singing along with the likes of The Beatles, The Turtles, the Mamas and Papas, Neil Diamond, Simon and Garfunkel. And will any of us of my generation ever get the lyrics of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" figured out?!

3. School air raid drills. I think only children who grew up in the Cold War era where nuclear war was an ever-present threat can appreciate the shivers of fear that would dash up and down our spines and cause the hair on our neck to stand up every time the drill siren would blare. At my school we kids were shepherded down into The Dungeon, an old basement area that was used mainly for storage and old tumbling mats. As if anything would've "saved" us. My Dear Hubby's memory of those drills was being told to hide under their desks with their heads cradled in their arms. Sheeeeeeeesh.

3. Nifty binders

4. PeeChees. Do they still have those???

5. 45 records played on portable record players...and the little plastic chips you could fit inside a 45 to make it playable on a record player/stereo spindle

6. Old A&W rootbeer stands where you placed your order on speakers and they'd deliver the food to your car

7. Drive in movies --- oh, those were the BEST!!

8. At least in my part of the country - the Pacific Northwest - the courtesy of calling adults "Mr." or "Mrs." We were allowed to call a few adults in our neighborhood by their first names if our parents were friendly with them...otherwise, the parents of my friends were "Mr. Jones" or "Mrs. Jones". And if we got in trouble at school, we got in even more trouble at home. Disrespect to teachers was unthinkable, let alone allowed. And if we really misbehaved, we'd get called up in front of the class and get a swat with a wooden paddle right where it was deserved. And rarely, in my time, did that ever happen. Classrooms were orderly, peaceful, and quiet places of learning.

9. Nylon stockings with garter belts or 'panty girdles', I think they were called. The early panty hose were a joke, too...you'd wear them a time or two and the elastic was such poor quality they'd stretch out and slide down your waist.

10. This is rather personal, but definitely was something we girls had to put up with...sanitary napkins with sanitary belts. Nightmares. I will never forget the deep embarrassment of my first period and my mother demonstrating to me how to use one. I knew the Facts of Life already but even so....yuck! One of the happiest days of my life so far was having my hysterectomy and realizing I was free!!!!!!!

Well, 10's a good round number to stop with, I think. If you have any thoughts on the subject or any memories of your own you'd like to add, please feel free! I'm sure there are zillions of things that have slipped my slippery mind tonite and I'd love to hear some of your memories.

Right now, this tired ol' granny is heading for the Land of Nod......