The Good Old Days - Remember them?

Question

My grandfather was a fruit peddler in Melrose Park Illinois. Anyone happen to be from Melrose and remember him? I can remember stories Grandma told of when he "got modern" and got rid of his cart, he purchased an old school bus, took out the seats and put in wooden shelves with bins. I got to go to the Water Street Market with him in Chicago and tag along as he bought his fresh fruits and vegetables.

I remember the "banana man". He was black and he always gave me a banana.

Answer 1

That's right! We Baby Boomers are now officially the custodians of the Good Old Days.

There was the man who sold hot chestnuts in a small brown paper bag out in the street, the pretzel guy, the Good Humor man and his little ice cream truck...

Or do you mean Hendrix at Winterland, playing "Hey Joe" so loud that I couldn't hear my own footsteps for three days?

Answer 2

The good old days for me were in the 70's. I was born in the 60's.

I remember being able to walk ANYWHERE in our town at any hour alone, as a child, without worrying about being abducted.

We left the doors to our homes unlocked and usually OPEN 24 hours a day. We never used our car locks.

However, drinking and driving was much more acceptable back then. My grandfather would call the 6 hour drive from dayton OH to Knoxville TN a "6-beer trip".

I also sadly remember the cigarette smoke was so thick at my grandparents's parties....I could hardly see. The entire family has died of cancer. Go figure.

So, I can't see the good old days without seeing the "bad old mistakes" at the same time!

Answer 3

I live in Scotland and have different memories, I remember the Lerie ( guy who lit the gas lamps each night), and when the Milkman and the Baker had horse drawn carts, the old dustcarts when the binmen lifted the bins to their shoulders to empty, I remember the Prisoners working to clear the towns streets of snow every winter, and the guards keeping a close eye on them. I remember feeling safe when out in the dark on my own. I could go on and on, but I won't. lol.

Answer 4

Yes, some things were good, others were bad. I remember getting a paper route at age 8 and working 40 hrs a week while going to high school, later getting the chance to be the first in my family to go to college because of the GI bill. I remember my parents sweating out the summer because of the polio epidemic that seemed to strike at least one of my classmates every year. I remember when the drug store in our small Texas town got "refrigerated air." I remember the first TV station that we could pick up with our huge anntena... and watching the test pattern in anticipation of a real picture that came on from 3PM to 12 midnight, when they played the National Anthenem & went off the air.
I remember when everyone said "yes sir & yes maam" to any adult. I remember when no one worried about where their kids were, until it came time for supper. I remember when all the neighbors gathered at the farms to help with harvests & hog killing... everyone, including the kids piitched in to butcher the hogs (my job was to scrape the hair off them.) I remember getting up at 5 AM each morning to milk the cows before riding my bicycle 3 miles to school. I remember my mother making our clothes out of flour & feed sacks (my sheets consisted to 4 feed sacks bleached & sewn together.)
I remember starting our old tractor with a hand crank.
Most of all, I remember crying when my dad got on that bus in 1942 to go to war.
Some things were better & some were worse. I do miss the time when people were more ethical & respectful to others.

Answer 5

When I was a kid, we had an ice-man and in the summer he would always chop off chips of ice for us kids before he took a block of ice into the house for our ice-box. (now I sound old) We also had a milk-man and a bread-man and we used to run across the street to grab the long grasses to feed the horses. (OMG, I am old) One thing about the good old days is, we didn't miss what we didn't have.

Answer 6

The good old days are a farce. The old days were much like the new ones - just different. Yeah, my grandfather was a farmer and a vegetable peddler, as well, in our town. He never talked about any "good old days" - he was damned happy to get a truck and not have to haul that cart around every afternoon afer getting up at dawn to work the fields.

No good old days - just warped memories, revisionist history, and a desire to escape reality.

Answer 7

that visit must of been nice.I remember,when I was about 6 or 7,(44) now,we actually moved house with horse and cart !!! Me and sis were sat at the back of the 2nd cart,and doggie followed on with no lead.It was a wonderfull trip.Slow paced and soft on the mind,unlike todays house movings !!!

Answer 8

Wow, how cool. My good old days were in the country! Way out in the country, so far out we had our own gas pumps! Going to the city would have been fun! Your Grandparents sound great! Yes I remember my good old days... longingly!

Answer 9

Brings back fond memories, some would be wonderful to share with our children and grandchildren. Thankfully they won't have to deal with some of the not-so-good days. Every generation has it's memories, so share and enjoy ours.

Answer 10

My grandma remembers the "paper, rag" man who'd mill about town in his homeless manner and sell "papers" and "rags" to anyone who'd give half a care...although he made it sound like he was saying "paper, egg" so he didn't get much business. Needless to say...