Life was simpler..........
- Thread starter Player
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One thing that has made a huge difference to the road toll is the cars, seat belts and improved roads.
Doing 70mph on cross ply tyres and one lets go is really exciting
The inbuilt safety features in todays cars are way better than the 60s >>, the wider roads, both multi lane and single, are very helpful and much more forgiving than 1.5 car widths of tar. Road shoulders are generally much better as well.
One big difference between us and the a lot of kids of today is that we were more independent, we experienced danger and risks so life was actually more exciting for us. It also meant we learned how to take a fall/mishap and get up and keep going.
I also think that most parents had at least 3 kids and were concerned about all of them so tended not to focus all their fears on their only child. It sounds kind of callous and of course they would grieve if they lost a child but when you only have one child you would worry more IMO.
Doing 70mph on cross ply tyres and one lets go is really exciting
The inbuilt safety features in todays cars are way better than the 60s >>, the wider roads, both multi lane and single, are very helpful and much more forgiving than 1.5 car widths of tar. Road shoulders are generally much better as well.
One big difference between us and the a lot of kids of today is that we were more independent, we experienced danger and risks so life was actually more exciting for us. It also meant we learned how to take a fall/mishap and get up and keep going.
I also think that most parents had at least 3 kids and were concerned about all of them so tended not to focus all their fears on their only child. It sounds kind of callous and of course they would grieve if they lost a child but when you only have one child you would worry more IMO.
I'm not sure this is really true.I don't have any information either way.
Not a lot of people died while I was growing up, except the ones that committed suicide, or other types of accidents.One friend school mate died as a result of a car accident.
Even though I always use a seatbelt, I think sometimes the injuries it allows some people to survive with , isn't much of a life IMO.
I was born in 1960 and I was fairly protected but all three of us (two older brothers) still pretty much roamed the streets with the neighbouring kids etc etc.
We have been slightly more protective of our kids, but they still have wandered the streets, climbed trees, done most things we did but with us perhaps keeping more tabs on them. We have certainly never cottonballed them.
I always knew that sometimes the danger was closer to home
.For me, the danger was inside the home of my grandfather, someone I should have been able to trust. Unfortunately, my mother kept me from knowing the danger and I became a victim, like she and her sister(s) had been before me. I will never know whether my very much loved grandmother had any idea of what a pervert she had married. It only involved touching, but I don't remember how young I was when it started, and the secrets and guilt involved were a big load for me.
I made damn sure my boys knew that it was not right to be touched by anybody, including relatives who, believe me, know very well how to manipulate situations to get a child alone. I was very lucky that it didn't go further than touching, but it went on for years until Mum found out when I was 12.
It wasn't until we discussed it when I was an adult that she told me she and at least one sister had been similarly "fiddled with". One sister has never talked about it. The sister who told Mum that she also was victim has a husband who thinks my grandfather was a lovely bloke. I can only assume that this aunt has never told her own husband what she went through as a young girl. Why does the victim have to continue to suffer and hide what happened like it is something he/she should be ashamed of?
It seems common that we "victims" have to, or choose to keep quiet about this stuff. Certainly in my mother's case it brought shame on the family. I say, shame only on the perpetrator!! I believe it was "family shame" that probably stopped the law being brought in.
Mum used to say she ensured that I was never alone with him, but these types of people are master manipulators, and two little boys sent to the shop over the road with some lolly money worked a treat. Had she told me what I told our boys, I would possibly have had the skills to report it or even recognise something that felt "wrong", or to even KNOW that this was wrong.
I imagine even had she waited until I was "old enough" to be told what to guard against, it would probably have already started. At least it could have saved me years of being a victim.
I don't blame my mother for what happened to me. I know she did what she thought best to protect me. But I made very sure that our boys knew what happened so that they knew to come straight to us if anything like that happened, stranger or "trusted" relative.
I have typed this and thought a few times about hitting "submit". What if somebody knows this is "me". There are people on here who know who I am. Then I think "what do I have to be ashamed of?". Should I be embarrassed by having a twisted grandfather? This stupid feeling that this sort of thing must be hidden is the real danger, and allows these twisted people to keep going.
I feel very much that I was very, very lucky. It could have been so much worse. But it was bad enough.
These days kids need to be in a safety seat until they are SEVEN. What's next, kiddie seats until they are teenagers? Is the underage road toll realy rising so much that kids need to be in a seat that long? This is going to cost us rather a lot of money on a larger car very soon now as we have a small, economical car and the blasted kiddy seats don't FIT in it, so we really do need a Government enforced upgrade to a SUV
The highest cause of externally caused (ie. accidental) child deaths are motor accidents.
Followed by drownings.
Cant blame them for wanting to reduce those.
Wylie,
That is very brave of you to share this.
As you said, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
Growing up, there were schoolmates that were also being molested. One ended up pregnant at 13. The other died in an accident at 18.
One can only imagine how many others, that we didn't know about.
Nothing was ever done.
The pregnant 13 yr old, was molested by her uncle.The grandmother knew (they all lived in the same house) and permitted it to happen.
That is very brave of you to share this.
As you said, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
Growing up, there were schoolmates that were also being molested. One ended up pregnant at 13. The other died in an accident at 18.
One can only imagine how many others, that we didn't know about.
Nothing was ever done.
The pregnant 13 yr old, was molested by her uncle.The grandmother knew (they all lived in the same house) and permitted it to happen.
Some of these stories validate to me, that once you scratch the surface of those simpler times, they weren't so simple or innocent as sometimes we want to remember them as.
Thanks for sharing your story Wylie.
Thanks for sharing your story Wylie.
Nice post Player.
This brought back visions of the brown vinyl front bench seat and front quater vents (with buttons on the little levers).
Also wire mesh anti-stone thingies you but infront of your windscreen.
... and we still had sprinklers in every front yard.
There was Chinese - but no plastic (or paper) tubs - you had to take you own crockery anbd they filled it for you.
I do recall KFC though - but in those days fried foods were'nt bad for you, so they were called Kentucky Fried Chicken.
For the young ones here - this actually means drinking with your mouth on the bottle. If you were particularly civilised, you wiped the top of the bottle with your sleeve.
Memories of Yoo-Hoo.
Sort of recall Wagon Wheels being bigger than today and about 10c?
Mixed bag of lollies for 10c was decent. 20c mixed bag was big!
We had milk bars - not convenience stores.
Only mega rich people had color TV's.
Milk was delivered pre-dawn by a horse drawn cart. The bottles had foil tops, and the milk was not homogenised.
Bread came in size A, B, and C (hang on I think there was a D as well?)
You didn't need to be a licenced electrician to change a light bulb.
People opted for smaller house / bigger garden.
Sunburn was irritating but not dangerous.
Dogs did not have leashes - unless they were very expensive breeds.
The telephone cable covers had PMG on them.
The Y-man
This brought back visions of the brown vinyl front bench seat and front quater vents (with buttons on the little levers).
Also wire mesh anti-stone thingies you but infront of your windscreen.
... and we still had sprinklers in every front yard.
There was Chinese - but no plastic (or paper) tubs - you had to take you own crockery anbd they filled it for you.
I do recall KFC though - but in those days fried foods were'nt bad for you, so they were called Kentucky Fried Chicken.
For the young ones here - this actually means drinking with your mouth on the bottle. If you were particularly civilised, you wiped the top of the bottle with your sleeve.
Memories of Yoo-Hoo.
Sort of recall Wagon Wheels being bigger than today and about 10c?
Mixed bag of lollies for 10c was decent. 20c mixed bag was big!
We had milk bars - not convenience stores.
Only mega rich people had color TV's.
Milk was delivered pre-dawn by a horse drawn cart. The bottles had foil tops, and the milk was not homogenised.
Bread came in size A, B, and C (hang on I think there was a D as well?)
You didn't need to be a licenced electrician to change a light bulb.
People opted for smaller house / bigger garden.
Sunburn was irritating but not dangerous.
Dogs did not have leashes - unless they were very expensive breeds.
The telephone cable covers had PMG on them.
The Y-man
I don't know about this bit though... both my parents worked during my childhood, and seemed very happy about doing so.
My mother was the original supermum. She worked, had boarders/ homestay students, played tennis 5 times a week, cooked gourmet meals for up to 13 people every night, cleaned the house, kept up the garden, supported her elderly neighbours and regularly threw big parties with up to 100 people attending (and prepared all the food herself). I don't know how she did it.
People say that I try to do too much, but with mum as my role model, I always feel that I'm very lazy!!
On the car front, my family use to drive from Melbourne to Sydney, with 4 kids in the back seat, plus a bassinet (with me in it!) on the floor. In the front, we had mum, dad and the big dog on the floor. As we got bigger, and the family continued to expand, we had to spread out to 2 cars and drive in convey. But we still travelled with animals in the car as well. One trip, we had chooks and a pig.. that was a fun trip! particularly when we had someone rear end us, and later in the day got stuck in a boggy road!
Pen
Wylie, that is indeed brave of you.
I know a family that was torn apart by the same kind of thing. In my early 20's I was close to this family, as he was the president of the club that I was with, and his wife taught me some officiating duties for competitions. They had a young daugher of around 13.
He was a master of making all the young girls at the club at ease with him and would regularly grab their breasts. He called me a "fuddy duddy" because I objected. Looking back the signs were obvious, but this sort of going on was never really publicised. Some of the mothers of these youngsters would see what was happening too, but not voice any objections.
I remember well, him jumping in the shower with the daughter, and walking around his house without clothes on, even when I was there. His wife described him as a "free spirit" and saw no harm in this behaviour.
It wasn't until later on, when the daughter was an adult that it came out exactly what had been going on. He had had a stroke by this time, and was needing care at home. His wife had been devoted entirely to him, spending hours a day looking after his needs. She had no idea of what his former activities had been, and when she found out, she kicked him out. He had to go into some kind of institution, and died alone and penniless.
I know a family that was torn apart by the same kind of thing. In my early 20's I was close to this family, as he was the president of the club that I was with, and his wife taught me some officiating duties for competitions. They had a young daugher of around 13.
He was a master of making all the young girls at the club at ease with him and would regularly grab their breasts. He called me a "fuddy duddy" because I objected. Looking back the signs were obvious, but this sort of going on was never really publicised. Some of the mothers of these youngsters would see what was happening too, but not voice any objections.
I remember well, him jumping in the shower with the daughter, and walking around his house without clothes on, even when I was there. His wife described him as a "free spirit" and saw no harm in this behaviour.
It wasn't until later on, when the daughter was an adult that it came out exactly what had been going on. He had had a stroke by this time, and was needing care at home. His wife had been devoted entirely to him, spending hours a day looking after his needs. She had no idea of what his former activities had been, and when she found out, she kicked him out. He had to go into some kind of institution, and died alone and penniless.
Quote: "Only mega rich people had color TV's.
Milk was delivered pre-dawn by a horse drawn cart. The bottles had foil tops, and the milk was not homogenised."
We had a black & white tv with a remote that dad had picked up in a 'rubbish drive'....the remote was connected to the tv with a thick electrical cord & the stations clicked over with a 'thunk, thunk' sound.
If you were the first one to open the milk, you got that lovely sweet layer of cream off the top
Milk was delivered pre-dawn by a horse drawn cart. The bottles had foil tops, and the milk was not homogenised."
We had a black & white tv with a remote that dad had picked up in a 'rubbish drive'....the remote was connected to the tv with a thick electrical cord & the stations clicked over with a 'thunk, thunk' sound.
If you were the first one to open the milk, you got that lovely sweet layer of cream off the top
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bottle feeding was encouraged.
if you cried at night after 8 weeks of age you were shut in the laundry at the far end of the house - and soon learnt there was no point.
as babies we were put on our stomachs.
once older, if you found 20c in the gutter you were as rich as!
there were no nits at school - ever!
at the end of a hard days' play, mother would line us up in the backyard and hose us off before we were allowed into the shower.
if out in public you blew your nose on dad's "well used" hanky, otherwise the sleeve sufficed.
the pets had fleas. you ate all your veges (and even - gulp - liver) with no complaints. soft drink was manna from heaven - even if it was flat and warm the next day after a grownup party. for new years there were consecutive pool parties - entree at one, main at another, dessert at another - with plenty of adult drinking at each house and a drive in between.
if you cried at night after 8 weeks of age you were shut in the laundry at the far end of the house - and soon learnt there was no point.
as babies we were put on our stomachs.
once older, if you found 20c in the gutter you were as rich as!
there were no nits at school - ever!
at the end of a hard days' play, mother would line us up in the backyard and hose us off before we were allowed into the shower.
if out in public you blew your nose on dad's "well used" hanky, otherwise the sleeve sufficed.
the pets had fleas. you ate all your veges (and even - gulp - liver) with no complaints. soft drink was manna from heaven - even if it was flat and warm the next day after a grownup party. for new years there were consecutive pool parties - entree at one, main at another, dessert at another - with plenty of adult drinking at each house and a drive in between.
It is better to be alive now than any time in human history.
Nostalgia is only a distant cousin of reality
Nostalgia is only a distant cousin of reality
We used to get around in underground drains as well. And pop up the grates on the roads to get out. Seems bizarre now, but fun then.
I had a mate that owned a lot of those council warning lights they use for roadworks. No way could we afford torches to see in the pipes in those days.
I had a mate that owned a lot of those council warning lights they use for roadworks. No way could we afford torches to see in the pipes in those days.
My hubby's best friend at about 15 modified his mother's TV to incorporate the first remote TV in Brisbane. He got a length of garden hose to suit, shoved one end onto to the knob that controlled the sound and when he wanted to "mute" the ads or turn up the volume, he picked up his end of the hose and twisted (old hose worked better I imagine).
Couldn't change channels or turn it on or off by his "remote" but hubby thought it was pretty awesome
.
To name a few passtime activities:
Most school day mornings - got up before daylight - dragged our boards behind us and went to the beach, lit a fire and waited for the surf to expose itself.
Hid in the bushes and dragged old belts (fake snake) tied to fishing line across the road in front of approaching cars and got a kick out of the mixed driver reactions.
Waded through scrub and smelly dams at the golf course finding balls with our feet - cleaned them up and sold them to the golfers for pocket money. (the local pro ended up employing our services - no insurance issues back then)
Set pieces of tin and boards in the grass and checked them regularly for snakes to catch.
Caught as many beach worms as we liked.
Cracker nights with huge bonfires and amazing fireworks. Had roman candle battles (yes that was a bit dangerous in hindsight)
Scrounged quite successfully for fags that drunks had dropped behind the RSL club.
Could go on..........
Most school day mornings - got up before daylight - dragged our boards behind us and went to the beach, lit a fire and waited for the surf to expose itself.
Hid in the bushes and dragged old belts (fake snake) tied to fishing line across the road in front of approaching cars and got a kick out of the mixed driver reactions.
Waded through scrub and smelly dams at the golf course finding balls with our feet - cleaned them up and sold them to the golfers for pocket money. (the local pro ended up employing our services - no insurance issues back then)
Set pieces of tin and boards in the grass and checked them regularly for snakes to catch.
Caught as many beach worms as we liked.
Cracker nights with huge bonfires and amazing fireworks. Had roman candle battles (yes that was a bit dangerous in hindsight)
Scrounged quite successfully for fags that drunks had dropped behind the RSL club.
Could go on..........
I've been watching a show called madmen lately its set in the late 50's in one scene the mother calls her child over who is running around with a dry cleaning bag over her head and warns her that if she has creased the dry cleaning she will be in all sorts of trouble then sends her off no mention of the bag.
In another scene a child comes to a birthday party and the father says come out the back im sure we can find you some peanut butter sandwhiches and a BB gun to play with.
Great show.
In another scene a child comes to a birthday party and the father says come out the back im sure we can find you some peanut butter sandwhiches and a BB gun to play with.
Great show.
