Here Today - Gone Tomorrow - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Here Today - Gone Tomorrow

A retiree friend of mine sent this video entitled “Here Today - Gone Tomorrow” that shows very realistically what it was like growing up in the 50’s and 60’s. I’ve copied several of the scenes from the video below and share my recollections about each:

Mom would never let us sit this close to the TV, saying it was bad for our eyes and who knows what kind of harmful rays were being radiated from the box. And Dad had his own personal remote back in those days; it was us kids being told to change the channel, adjust the antenna or up the volume.

We had our own special milkman and it was Dad. And the milk couldn’t have been fresher, since he had just milked the cows a few minutes before coming into the house for breakfast and supper.

Going to the dentist was absolutely the worst experience growing up. Cavities were prevalent since there was no fluoride in the water. And the Novocain shot was worse than the drilling. Ouch!

All kinds of traveling salesmen visited our farm on a regular basis. Mom always seemed to be buying something - somewhat like Amazon today.

My grade school memories were captured in this recent blog.

Mom’s kitchen was pretty much like this one, with a big dining table the centerpiece of the kitchen. Boards could be added to the table on a moment's notice if someone was staying for supper. Mom always made extra food that was turned into soup or leftovers for the next day.

The full service gas station was the norm in those days. Dad’s uncle, Aloys Ernst, was the proprietor of the local SOHIO station. After Dad retired, he spent many an hour at the station, then and likely still owned by Tim Ernst, Aloys grandson, telling and re-telling stories with his fellow retirees.

The drive-in theater was a special treat as kids, likely to see a Disney movie. Later as teenagers, we’d sneak into the drive-in hidden in the trunk to save the ticket price. And still later, I actually worked at a drive-in theater one summer during college, first as a ticket taker than as security. Main problem was people driving away with the speaker still hanging on their car door window, doing some pretty serious damage to both. I also recall as employees, we were allowed $1 for free food in the concession stand.

Mom and Dad enjoyed the Saturday Evening Post, as did us kids, because the photos were always interesting. It was a lot better than Dad’s farm periodicals or Mom’s women’s magazines. Eventually, I saved enough for a subscription to Sport magazine for like $1.50 a year.

Riding on an airplane was definitely one thing we never did as kids. The closest we got to a plane was watching them take off and land from the observation deck at Vandalia airport.

Records were popular back then and between me and my sisters, we had quite a collection. I always enjoyed listening to the reverse side of the record since it was not worn out and scratchy from overplay. We’d go through new needles weekly.

This photo shows a telephone and typewriter for you youngsters out there! These were the primary tools for communication back then and the predecessor to the smart phone.

Lone Ranger was my favorite Saturday morning show. And each weekday afternoon, the Mickey Mouse Club was pretty special; my favorite Mouseketeer was Annette, along with every other kid I knew.

Here today, gone tomorrow, indeed. So it goes!