Stories of the Good Old Days

[Jim Kenney]

One thing that's kind of fun about getting older is being able to tell stories to younger folks about "the good old days".

IF YOU HAVE ANY GOOD OLD DAYS STORIES YOU WANT TO SHARE, POST THEM HERE.

Here's a start. Yesterday I played nine holes of golf with two young men in their 20s. We were all strangers before the round. I had a captive audience to regale them with tales of life in Northern Virginia back in the '60s and '70s. Sort of like being trapped with an old yakker for a two hour chairlift ride .

One story I told them was getting haircuts for 25 cents as a kid in 1962. Not only cheap, but in a remote barber shop on the ground floor of a farmhouse located at the crossroads of a pair of quiet, two lane roads deep in the woods. There was also a fruit stand across the street from the barber shop, but few other buildings, this was at Tysons Corner, VA. This a photo from that time frame of the intersection of Virginia State Routes 123 and 7:

This is the Tysons Corner area sixty years later in 2022, it's so big it's hard to capture in one photo:

State Rte 7 view (a MetroRail line runs above the roadway), the old corner intersection was near the tall skinny cell tower in center-right background.

State Rte 123 view, the old corner intersection was near the same tall skinny cell tower in center-left background of this photo.

Excerpts about Tysons, VA (they dropped the word Corner) from Wikipedia: Tysons has been characterized as a quintessential example of an edge city. From the White House in Wash DC it's a 13 mile drive through suburbia. It is home to two super-regional shopping malls—Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria—and the corporate headquarters of numerous companies. People commute into Tysons in the morning and away from it at night, with a daytime population of 115,000 and a nighttime population of about 25,000. The 115,000 office and retail workers in Tysons make it the 12th largest employment center in the United States.


After the guys got bored with the history of Tysons Corner, I told them another good old days factoid they liked better. When I was their age I could get a six pack of Piels Beer for $1.02 and Iron City Beer was about 20 cents more.

 

[Tony S]

One thing that's kind of fun about getting older is being able to tell stories to younger folks about "the good old days".

IF YOU HAVE ANY GOOD OLD DAYS STORIES YOU WANT TO SHARE, POST THEM HERE.

Here's a start. Yesterday I played nine holes of golf with two young men in their 20s. We were all strangers before the round. I had a captive audience to regale them with tales of life in Northern Virginia back in the '60s and '70s. Sort of like being trapped with an old yakker for a two hour chairlift ride .

One story I told them was getting haircuts for 25 cents as a kid in 1962. Not only cheap, but in a remote barber shop on the ground floor of a farmhouse located at the crossroads of a pair of quiet, two lane roads deep in the woods. There was also a fruit stand across the street from the barber shop, but few other buildings, this was at Tysons Corner, VA. This a photo from that time frame of the intersection of Virginia State Routes 123 and 7:
View attachment 172070

This is the Tysons Corner area sixty years later in 2022, it's so big it's hard to capture in one photo:

SR 7 view (a MetroRail line runs above the roadway), the old corner intersection was near the tall skinny cell tower in center-right background.
View attachment 172073

SR 123 view, the old corner intersection was near the same tall skinny cell tower in center-left background of this photo.
View attachment 172074

Excerpts about Tysons, VA (they dropped the word Corner) from Wikipedia: Tysons has been characterized as a quintessential example of an edge city. From the White House in Wash DC it's a 13 mile drive through suburbia. It is home to two super-regional shopping malls—Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria—and the corporate headquarters of numerous companies. People commute into Tysons in the morning and away from it at night, with a daytime population of 115,000 and a nighttime population of about 25,000. The 115,000 office and retail workers in Tysons make it the 12th largest employment center in the United States.


After the guys got bored with the history of Tysons Corner, I told them another good old days story they liked better. When I was their age I could get a six pack of Piels Beer for $1.02 and Iron City Beer was about 20 cents more.

What do "SR7" and "SR123" mean?

 

[Jim Kenney]

State Routes, I clarified. Thanks.

 

[slowrider]

I bought a 67 Chey for $2800.00 new.

 

[fatbob]

Ah haircuts. I remember them. Back in the 90s.

 

[crgildart]

It was an amazing accomplishment to get a car to 100K miles without having to overhaul and replace pretty much everything bumper to bumper. Always having chains ready on ski trips because even the best snow tires sucked.

 

[Bill Miles]

Good old days of learning to ski in Washington:

90 buses parked beside the highway at Snoqualmie Summit on Saturday
When the didn't have enough charter Greyhound type buses, so we rode a school bus
Using mostly rope tows for the first few years
Skiing in the rain more than once

 

[KingGrump]

Every time we skied with @Sandy_NYC , she keeps tracks of how often we say "They don't make those anymore."

She is way less than half our age.

 

[slowrider]

It was an amazing accomplishment to get a car to 100K miles without having to overhaul and replace pretty much everything bumper to bumper. Always having chains ready on ski trips because even the best snow tires sucked.

RWD FTW

 

[Tony S]

What an absolute ordeal it was trying to get my lace-up ski boots tight enough, as a little kid. I was SO psyched when I got "buckle boots."

 

[David Chaus]

What an absolute ordeal it was trying to get my lace-up ski boots tight enough, as a little kid. I was SO psyched when I got "buckle boots."

My first pair of buckle boots were leather. Kolflach or Raichle, don’t remember.

 

[Powder High]

One thing that's kind of fun about getting older is being able to tell stories to younger folks about "the good old days".

IF YOU HAVE ANY GOOD OLD DAYS STORIES YOU WANT TO SHARE, POST THEM HERE.

Here's a start. Yesterday I played nine holes of golf with two young men in their 20s. We were all strangers before the round. I had a captive audience to regale them with tales of life in Northern Virginia back in the '60s and '70s. Sort of like being trapped with an old yakker for a two hour chairlift ride .

One story I told them was getting haircuts for 25 cents as a kid in 1962. Not only cheap, but in a remote barber shop on the ground floor of a farmhouse located at the crossroads of a pair of quiet, two lane roads deep in the woods. There was also a fruit stand across the street from the barber shop, but few other buildings, this was at Tysons Corner, VA. This a photo from that time frame of the intersection of Virginia State Routes 123 and 7:
View attachment 172070

This is the Tysons Corner area sixty years later in 2022, it's so big it's hard to capture in one photo:

State Rte 7 view (a MetroRail line runs above the roadway), the old corner intersection was near the tall skinny cell tower in center-right background.
View attachment 172073

State Rte 123 view, the old corner intersection was near the same tall skinny cell tower in center-left background of this photo.
View attachment 172074

Excerpts about Tysons, VA (they dropped the word Corner) from Wikipedia: Tysons has been characterized as a quintessential example of an edge city. From the White House in Wash DC it's a 13 mile drive through suburbia. It is home to two super-regional shopping malls—Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria—and the corporate headquarters of numerous companies. People commute into Tysons in the morning and away from it at night, with a daytime population of 115,000 and a nighttime population of about 25,000. The 115,000 office and retail workers in Tysons make it the 12th largest employment center in the United States.


After the guys got bored with the history of Tysons Corner, I told them another good old days factoid they liked better. When I was their age I could get a six pack of Piels Beer for $1.02 and Iron City Beer was about 20 cents more.

They probably listened to the story about Tyson's Corner with mild amusement before losing interest.

Want to really get their attention? Tell them about how back then, you could have sex without worrying about getting herpes or any of the other venereal diseases that plague the current generation.

Or that you could afford to buy a house without being a millionaire.

 

[crgildart]

Junior High Ski Club. Had to get to school 30 minutes early to load the gear on to the buses. Ski hill open til 10 pm but parents usually cane to get me around 9. Good times!

 

[KingGrump]

Was going to post this in the funnies thread but apropos here as well.

 

[graham418]

What an absolute ordeal it was trying to get my lace-up ski boots tight enough, as a little kid. I was SO psyched when I got "buckle boots."

I think I had the last pair of leather lace ups at the hill. But they were the tops in laces , with a lace up inner boot, as well as a lace up outer boot. God, how I envied all the others with fancy buckle boots. I hounded my dad for 2 more years before I finally got the buckle boots

 

[Bill Miles]

My first pair of buckle boots were leather. Kolflach or Raichle, don’t remember.

My first pair of buckle boots were original Langes without flow, which never fit right, so I went back to my lace boots for a year or two.

 

[scott43]

I remember trying to ski the most difficult bump run in the place when I was like 12. Halfway down the toe piece releases. I look and it's very loose. I dig into my semi-rigid frozen jeans and find a dime. I reassemble the toe piece with my dime and carry on. I skied those skis again for three or four more years and never touched them again... but yes do check your bindings three times a year because safety...

 

[cantunamunch]

What an absolute ordeal it was trying to get myrs lace-up ski boots tight enough, as a little kid. I was SO psyched when I got "buckle boots."

I was in a hiking boot store and the only person who knew what I meant by surgeons knot and downlacing the cuff was well over 60.

Hook eyelets are another thing wasted on the young.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Was going to post this in the funnies thread but apropos here as well.

View attachment 172125

Good one. The classic rock radio stations now play mostly music from the 80s. What happened to the classics? I think there's some kind of sliding scale going on with the music aimed at listeners they think are at the peak earning years.

And my high school 50th reunion is later this year. What happened to the decades?

 

[KingGrump]

Good one. The classic rock radio stations now play mostly music from the 80s. What happened to the classics? I think there's some kind of sliding scale going on with the music aimed at listeners they think are at the peak earning years.

And my high school 50th reunion is later this year. What happened to the decades?

You know you are old when the oldies station no longer play the music you grew up with. I remembered back a while, the oldies station in NYC was playing doo wop music from the 50's. Then it's the 60's then 70's. I believe they are up to the 80's & 90's now. Guessed they have to change with the changing demographics. The older audiences dying off.

The decades went under the bridge along with the proverbial water.
It's Mamie's 50th HS reunion this year also. Unfortunately, the school no longer existed.