days gone by, lost things that will never return

[Derby City Speedway]

Ah, yes when you could speak the truth and people could take it:



and a kid could be like dad and buy a pack of smokes like dad:



What can you come up with?

[waaytoomuchintothis]

AAAUUUGGGHH!!!! Lawn Darts!!!! Terrifying bad idea!

I remember Lane Bryant. The girls who appreciated boys with character- us shy guys. Finest kind. The bright spots in the jungle of elementary school. While we are on the subject, how about those horrible Sears (that's Simpson's for you Canadians), Roebucks Toughskins Husky Jeans? They would grind the skin right off your knees the first time you wore them. Terrible!

Remember the candy cigs that had powdered sugar all over them? You could puff a bit and make fake smoke? A little red at the end for fire, and the candy itself was tasty, too.

How about this? Did you have a gas station (mine was Citi Service- the Dino sign, green and white), that stocked every kind of penny candy, ready for you to buy on your way home from school? (Lance, Brach's, bubble gum, Beeman's, Black Jack, Mary Janes, Atkinson's peanut better bars, Bit-O-Honeys- how about those wonderful coconut rainbow things? Cracker Barrel brough them back). If I went back to the little town, I could show you the exact place where the old Citi Service Dino gas station was that had all those in glass jars, just waiting for all us kids. The guy who owned the gas station used to pick us up and hold us over the jar we chose to pick out our candy.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Okay, Dave has made me confess- We used to climb over the back fence of the local corner grocery and steal, yes steal, the empty bottles from the weeds behind his store, the carry them around to the front of the store and get the deposits from him to spend on HIS penny candy and canned mustard sardines with crackers. We were so shameless, we ate the proceeds of our larceny on HIS front steps, along with the required Lemon-Lime Belly Washers. I guess he probably knew all along, but it was like stealing watermelons, you just have to go through with it once you give in to trying it... Come to think of it, he profited from us in a small way.

[Ember]

(chuckle) Around here it wasn't the gas station for the candy (lolly) fixes for the kids. We had Milk Bars which were I suppose a bit like a cross between a drug store and a general store. They usually had your dairy goodies, newspapers, some emergency groceries, sodas, milkshakes, ice-creams and the lolly counter. I'm a decimal kid (as distinct to His Lordship who will wax lyrical about the penny bags), so I remember the 1/2 and 1/4 cent lollies: milk bottles, choc-buds, freckles, mates, traffic lights, etc. A 10c or 20c bag of mixed lollies would get you a little white paper bag brimming full of sugar rush.

The milk bar was also the place for cashing in the refund on the softdrink/soda bottles. Every time I came here to visit Nan on the school holidays I'd grab the shopping basket and fill it up with bottles from the shed and wander around the corner to Mrs Nevershut's shop to cash in the bottles. 20c would go on lollies and the remainder would go into the piggy bank.

At age 7 or 8 I realised that Mrs Nevershut put the empty bottles in crates by the back gate ready for the delivery man to swap over when next he came. So yes, I was guilty of sneaking up the drive way to fill up the basket with bottles that I had returned earlier in the day. I made quite a tidy sum before I got caught.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Lynne, we are half a world apart and identically fraudulent. I am certain that the bottles we stole were at least partly our own being re-submitted for cash. It feels good to be bad, doesn't it?

Remember, stolen watermelons always taste sweeter, no matter how honest you are. Ha!

[ChallengerGuy]

I am reading this thread while eating jet puff funmallows (the small, colored marshmallows). I am thankful some things have not changed. Oh, you can now buy Mexican coca cola rather easily in glass bottles. It's great - made with cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. Just kuje Canadian coke. I managed to find Popeye cigarettes up in Canada. Those are yummy.

[Reslotted]

[Ember]

We used to be able to get chocolate sticks wrapped in paper to look like cigarettes. The all had names and packets that played on real cigarette brands. Of course you can't buy them any more.

There was also a white candy cigarette stick, a bit like the texture of a musk stick but harder, that had a dob of red to suggest a lit end. These went by the name "fags". Now I must point out that "_fag_" (underscores added to get around autocorrect) here is a colloquiallism for cigarette. They are still available but are now called "fads" thanks to our adoption of many Americanisms. Oh and they no longer have the lit end.

[TsgtRet]

Anyone else remember the wax coke bottles with the "fruit" drink in them?

As far as the Mexican Coke; up here we have "Throwback" Mountain Dew & Pepsi made with "real" sugar. That Dew is better than Red Bull!

[BRP32]

I remember as a kid growing up my Dad going to certain gas stations around the area and when you filled up your tank back then they gave you a red line hot wheels car. I use to have pillow cases full as a kid. It was a treat to receive one when my Dad filled up his car!

I remember also going into Clarkins and Uncle Bill's discount stores and looking at the racks full of hot wheels and Matchbox cars. I always talked my Dad into buying me one. I would always come out with the latest Matchbox catalog being handed out also. I use to buy Ho slot cars there of Tyco curve huggers for around $2 each too. These stores actually had Ho trains and accessories to buy also.

Good times, great memories!

Wayne (Bolton's Speed Shop) :D :D :D

[studioRS]

Being able to afford a 1962 racing Porsche RSK...
http://www.sportscardigest.com/porsche- ... -for-sale/

[Ember]

Am I the only one that misses the toy inside the cereal packets? The excitement of getting up early of a Saturday morning when everyone else was still tucked up in bed. Grabbing the new cereal packet from the shelf, Opening it up and plunging the hand in searching for the toy. That didn't work, so the inner bag would get carefully pulled out of the box. Peering through the waxed paper packet to try to spot the toy before giving in and getting all of the cereal bowls out of the cupboard to tip cereal into so that the toy could release itself. Then pouring all the cereal back in the packet and carefully putting it back in the box. Then grabbing the almost empty packet off the shelf to pour cereal into my bowl, adding milk and creeping into the loungeroom to watch the Thunderbirds. There was always more in the bottom of the packet than I expected. And I'd always get into trouble for opening the fresh packet before the other one was finished. But the next weekend the same would happen.

[HomeRacingWorld]

When it is was really important to be cool on the first day of school.

[HomeRacingWorld]

You waited all year for it. It was more worn out and dog eared than any phone book ever could.



Because it had it all. If it wasn't in here, it wasn't cool...period.