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Mar, 2008 Volume 8 - Issue 6 |
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Mar, 2008 Volume 8 - Issue 6 |
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Sit back and enjoy a review of 50 years of history in less than 3 minutes! Thanks to Billy Joel and some guy from the University of Chicago with a lot of spare time and Google. Through the years, the newsletter has received many notes from guys about their cars. Well "us gals" have "car" memories also and I would like to share some of mine.
Just received this. I know some
people like this sort of stuff but I do wish people would write their
own memories.
Do you guys want this in the newsletter?
Does anyone remember how LONG cars were in those days? I do because I
could never find a parking space in town long enough for my husband's
1959 Buick convertible.
Comments made in the year 1955! That's only 53 years ago!
"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00." "Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000.00 will only buy a used one." "If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous. "Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?" "If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store." "When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage." "Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls." "I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL of DAMN in it." "I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas." "Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President." "I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now." "It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet." "It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work." "Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat." "I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business."
"Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress." "The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on." "There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $15.00 a night to stay in a hotel." "No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's too rich for my blood." "If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it." Some Penny Postcards
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The first car I had was a 1947 Mercury wagon, which I called "Woody." My father paid $25 for it and I drove my girlfriends all over in it. I packed it full to go take tests in Mineola. Did we have the SAT's in those days? I can't remember. 
While a freshman in Oneonta State Teachers College, one of my housemate's boyfriends came to visit in his 1956 Thunderbird. He invited us for a ride and 4 of us went to Cooperstown to the Farmers Museum. I know it was a 2-person car but my roommate Sarah and I sat on the
trunk and put our legs in the opening behind the seats. I never did get to the Baseball Hall of Fame but that's another story. 
My first real car was a 1954 Ford that I bought from a young man. I could not find a picture of my "Betsy" but there was no other car like her around. She was black with fender skirts, chrome spinners on the front wheels and huge chrome side mirrors. The passenger side door always stuck except for one morning on the way to work. I was driving the car pool to Sperry's and all of a sudden the passenger door flew open and I nearly lost Bob Martin, my neighbor, on the Northern State Parkway.
Betsy was eventually traded in by my father for a new Ford and I was given his 1956 Ford coupe. I drove that little green Ford (it was big by today's standards) until I married. 
Then I drove my husband's 1959 Buick convertible. It was too long for parking on the street and we couldn't close the garage door at the apartment we were renting in Lynbrook. That car was traded for something more sensible when we had our 1st son.
In 1969, times were tough and we needed a reliable car for our growing family. We now had 3 children. We special ordered a 1969 Chevy station with no frills. It had standard transmission, black rubber floors, standard, cheap seats and no radio. I remember it cost $2,300! Turquoise was the "in" color that year. That car met its end (circa 1988) when my son fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a tree on "Dead Man's curve" on Jumpers Hole Rd. in MD. Thankfully, the only injury to my son was a chipped tooth. We were living in FL but he drove back to MD.
The next memorable car was my 1981 Chevy Monte Carlo. It was brand new and a rich burgundy color and I bought it St. Petersburg, FL. I drove it until 1992 when I could no longer stand the pressure from my kids to get a new car.
So I traded the "Monty" for a 1992 Lumina Euro Sport. I didn't know it at the time but it was a limited edition because Dale Earnhardt wanted to drive one in NASCAR but couldn't unless it was a stock car first. I'm still driving it. It's paid for, drives well, thanks to proper maintenance and hasn't quite made 50K miles yet. I only drove it to work and the grocery store. All longer trips were usually made in hubby's car. OBTW, "Monty" is still seen around town, now being driven by a young man. 
