Someone sent me this in an e-mail, and I thought it was fun. I do remember these, though I had not thought about many of them probably since childhood! I don’t know who to credit the pictures to.
1. Spindles for 45 records.
2. Aluminum Christmas trees and
3. The rotating multicolored light that shined on it.
When I was growing up people had these in the living room and a “real” tree in the family room/
4. Metal ice trays with handles that you pull up to loosen the ice.
5. Chatty Cathy dolls.
I don’t think I ever had one of those, but I remember them being advertised.
6. Coca-cola for 5 cents.
7. Flash bulbs
I don’t know if this particular kind were the ones used with cameras, but I remember those plus big bulbs that you’d have to take out of the back of the TV and replace.
8. Tinker Toys
My kids did have these, too, but they had a lot of plastic pieces in them. In my childhood they were all wood.
9. Test Patterns.
10. 5 cent stamps.
We used those for all kinds of things. I remember once getting a little toy tea set when my parents let me choose a toy with a portion of them.
12. Jiffy Pop popcorn.
Lots of fun to watch the flat silver package inflate into a ball!
13. Drive-In Diners.
Sonic is based on this idea. We used to go to dinner at a place like this every Friday night after getting groceries.
This has jogged my memory to other things common in my childhood: rabbit ears (with foil on the ends) on top of TVs, big heavy TV and stereo cabinets, “dinette” sets, 5 cent milk cartons for school lunches, Barbie dolls with a ponytail right at the crown of the head, toy guns made out of metal (I had to get a toenail removed after one of my brother’s toy guns dropped on my foot), baseball cards with a stick of gum in the same package, little wax soda-bottle shapes with flavored liquid kind of like Kool-aid in them; glass bottle on windowsills with colored water in them…
Anyone else remember these?
Other Thursday Thirteeners are here.
Stray Thoughts 
I remember all of those, too. That was fun; thanks for sharing. 🙂
WHOOOOOOA! What a flash from the past! This was GREAT thinking for a thirteen! Man! I had forgotten ALL about flash bulbs! And oh how I HATED metal ice cube trays!!! I’m VERY proud to say that we NEVER had an aluminum tree – nor the spinning light! But I remember EVERYthing on this list! And the little wax soda bottles — I just mentioned them on my blog not too toooooo long ago! My kids had NO appreciation for them!
I remember ALL of them except the test patterns. *sigh*
Wow! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Or should I say, “Thanks for making me feel SOOOOOO old!”
There were three items on your list that really brought back memories for me – the metal ice cube trays (my grandmother had those), the S&H green stamps (I loved dreaming about what I would get with those stamps if I was allowed, and I also LICKED many of those nasty things and put them into the books for my parents and grandparents!), and the Jiffy Pop popcorn. I thought that was one of the most amazing things to watch.
Oh my gosh you really took me back and gave me an idea for my own baby boomers TT. Thanks for sharing and please visit me:
http://www.apooobooks.com/2008/08/07/apooothursday-thirteen-childhood-summertime-memories/
Even though I’m not a boomer, I remember a few of these on your list. Your mentioning of green stamps reminded me of an early episode of The Brady Bunch where the kids couldn’t decide what to get with theirs.
What a great list, I remember every one of the things on your list. I loved the A&W the root beer was the best. I used to use my allowance to by the new 45s every week.
What a blast from the past! LOL I remember several of these things, like the metal ice trays – good grief, they were hard to get ice out of! My mother collected green stamps and actually bought a few things with them; I think one of them was a lamp that she put in her bedroom. The flashbulbs really stand out to me, but I don’t know why. Maybe because my aunt loved to take pictures, so there were always flashbulbs around when I was little. Something about their icy blue color and all those sparkly flecks in them just fascinated me back then. My mother also used to love going to A&W drive-in when my dad was stationed in RI in the navy. And do you remember getting those 5-cent Cokes out of the machine that you opened the door and pulled the Coke out of a slot? I was always afraid I wouldn’t be able to get the bottle out and I’d lose my money – a whole 5 cents!
I’m afraid I’m way too sentimental. Things like this stir up old memories and make me look back way too much. But there is such comfort and security from back then!
Awesome 13!
I remember the spindles, metal trays, tinker toys, and jiffy pop. My parents are baby boomers and I can’t wait to remind them of some of these things.
I remember the things for the records, my parents had tons of 45’s. So when I was little we listened to them all the time on the record player!
Thanks for stopping by mine, Happy TT!
What a great trip down nostalgia lane! Oh the 45 centers. Takes me back to my first records.
yay!! what a fun list!! great memories, thank you! happy TT!
Recently we were watching a PBS special when a screen came up saying: Techical difficulty. Do you remember when they used to do that all the time and show a rat chewing the cable into.
I’m happy tinker toys are still around. I pick these up in the toy room almost every time I visit in Alabama. The children do clean themselves but we always go behind and tidy up a bit.
I hate to admit I remember all of these. I still have my Chatty Cathy doll.
I think I just aged myself by recognizing (too) many of those!
Great TT! 🙂
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I am not a baby boomer, but I do remember some of those things. 🙂
WOW! Those plastic yellow record inserts really take me back. How fun!
Lots of fun memories! I love A & W rootbeer. I believe they still serve them in the cold frosty mugs at the State Fair.
God bless,
Brenda 🙂
What a trip down memory lane, Barbara. I remember every single one of these. I especially remember camera flash bulbs (we fought over who got them) and S&H Green Stamps. I was the official stamp licker for my Mom. It was a lot easier to fill a page with a fifty stamp, or even five of the ten stamps, than a page of FIFTY one stamps.
Now, I actually run across books of S&H Green Stamps in antique stores. I wonder if that means I’m antique. LOL
Fun, fun, and I especially remember the orginal computer. It was actually a lot more reliable than the one I own now. 🙂
Late in commenting, but I just had too. This was quite a blast from the past. I hadn’t thought of some of those things forever. Great memories.
Julie