In the past several years, we've seen the coming of popular fads such as
Harry Potter; Latin pop music and rap/metal bands; we've seen the Pokémon and the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze; and we lived through the fear of Y2K.
With all of these changes and new inventions, often times, products, people
and ads that once were popular with my generation are lost or relagated to the
past--things like eating fish on Fridays, wearing hats in church, and little
girls in pink pinafores and frilly dresses. I miss some of these old-fashioned
customs, products and people. And, as the decades go flying past, I find
myself wondering whatever happened to hatcheck girls. During the 1930s, '40s and
'50s, 95 percent of all American men and women wore hats, making it essential
for most public businesses to include a hatcheck room on the premises.
What about elevator operators? Before the "do-it-yourself" push-button era of
the 1960s came along, uniformed attendants stood like well-mannered soldiers
at the elevator controls, waiting to take their riders to a requested floor.
They were sometimes called "elevator jockeys."
What about the Edsel? Though it may sound like something you'd eat with beer
and chips, Edsels weren't eaten, they were driven. When this innovative car,
created and produced by the Ford Company, hit showroom floors, it caused quite
a public stir. Some people loved it. But the majority hated it, and the Edsel
became Ford's biggest sales dud.
Door-to-door salesmen? Hard to believe, but there once was a time when
products and food were brought to us door-to-door. The Watkins man delivered our
cooking and medicinal needs; the Fuller brush man, our household wares; the
delivery boy, our groceries; the milkman, our fresh cream; the Avon Lady, our
cosmetics; the produce man, our vegetables; our fishmonger, our sea bass; and the
bakery truck, our warm breakfast rolls.
Nylon stockings? Before pantyhose came alone and eliminated the need for a
garter belt, the American woman of the 1940s and '50s covered her legs in
stockings made of luxurious nylon. But nylons had one big drawback; their seams
always needed straightening. "Are my seams straight?" was the common lament of the
fashionable woman.
House dresses and frilly aprons? Before "wash and wear" and blue jeans came
along, American homemakers wore feminine cotton dresses with well-starched
collars. To protect these dresses, every homemaker wore a frilly white apron. A
strand of white pearls completed her daily ensemble.
Cigarette holders? Silly as it may seem by today's standards, smoking
cigarettes was once fashionable and considered very sophisticated. A long cigarette
holder was considered a stylish accessory to a smoker's wardrobe. President
FDR's use of a cigarette holder did a lot to promote this style trend.
Shoeshine stands? Before Nike made sneakers fashionable for everyone from the
chairman of the board to granny, a man was judged by the shine on his shoes.
A 25-cent shoeshine made a man feel like a million. The shoeshine boy snapped
and buffed until he could see his face in the leather's shine.
Ten-cents' worth? Not too long ago, a dime could buy you a phone call, a
Hershey bar, a double-scoop ice cream cone, a postage stamp or a cherry cola from
the fountain bar.
Hope chests? These wooden chests were made of fine cedar and were used to
hold a young girl's belongings for her future wedding day. It was customary for
engaged girls to keep hope chests filled with all the things she'd need some
day to set up housekeeping. During her engagement, the cedar chest was
traditionally filled with romantic keepsakes, linens, silver and crystals--all the
necessary items for a bride to begin her married life.
The 25-cent "kiddy" matinee? On Saturday afternoons, kids under 12 flocked to
their local theaters to enjoy the kiddy matinees. Two mercury head dimes and
a buffalo nickel entitled us to see two full-length adventure films, three
cartoons and coming attractions. Candy bars were a nickel.
Full-service gas stations? Before automation came along, the full-service
aisle was the rule and not the exception. Smiling attendants pumped our gas,
washed windows and checked the oil, tires and radiator water--all for 40 cents a
gallon.
Soupy Sales? No that's not a brand of seafood or alphabet soup. For those
under 40, who don't remember, "Soupy" with pal "White Fang," was a funny,
pie-throwing comic from TV's early days. Others of his ilk include, "Time for
Beanie," "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" and "Howdy Doody."
Eight-track tapes? Just after LPs and before cassettes and CDs came along,
the eight-track tape was all the rage. The bulky eight tracks were cumbersome
and low in quality when compared to the super sound of today's paper-thin CDs.
Phonograph records? Remember those? Round black vinyl things with a hole in
the center? They came in 45, 78 and 33 1/3 rpms. They're gathering dust now in
closets and trunks, but the music they produced was once as important to us as
the CD is to today's generation.
Accordion music? The accordion wasn't always a hated instrument. It was once
beloved by the public during the 1930s, '40s and '50s. The serenade of a
strolling concertina set the mood for a romantic evening. The popular sounds of
accordionist Dick Continuo and polka maestro Lawrence Welk had everybody playing
and dancing to the strains of the musical "squeeze box."
Movie musicals? Whatever happened to those wonderful extravaganzas known as
movie musicals? The kind that made us leave the theater humming a tune. And how
long has it been since we've watched the extraordinary footwork of a dancer
with the talents of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly or swooned to the voice of a
romantic crooner like Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin?
Blue-chip stamps? Blue-chip stamps replaced the green stamps of the 1940s.
And just as we did in previous years, we faithfully pasted these stamps inside
our booklets, redeeming them for a variety of free gifts. Wouldn't it be nice
today to get more than just a bill at the checkout stands? It sure would help
to soothe the escalating food bills.
The three-cent stamp? Yes, in the 1940s, I can remember when it took only
three cents to mail a letter. A postcard could be mailed for a penny. Everybody
could afford to send long lists of Christmas cards at holiday time.
Unfortunately, due to the high price of postage, Christmas card lists keep getting
shorter and shorter.
House calls? Having our family doctor come to our homes to treat us in our
sickbeds was a luxury enjoyed by the 1950s family. The sound of his reassuring
voice, a spoonful of medicine and his friendly bedside manner helped to bring
about a speedy recovery. A cup of coffee and some friendly conversation were
his only additional fees for the service.
One of my mom's favorite sayings is, "There's an advantage and disadvantage
to almost everything". As I grow older I appreciate her words now more than
ever. For instance, there's a great advantage to owning a microwave. It gives us
quick and easy cooking and reheats a cup of coffee almost instantly. But gone
now are the aromas we grew up with, the warm and welcoming smell of coffee
simmering on the stove and garlic frying in the pan.
The newest invention, the
digital computer camera, makes it almost impossible to take a bad picture. No
more guess work, no more taking the film to the drug store and waiting for
development. It also means there will be no more excitement or anticipation as we
tear open the photo envelope with eager expectancy to see how those vacation
pictures and birthday photos came out. The bad photo has been eliminated and
with it the fun and anticipation of picture taking.
And so, like so many things from my generation, it will eventually be
relegated to the past, mentioned and remembered only occationally in nostalgia
columns such as mine.
For over 14 years, Cookie Curci wrote a popular nostalgia column for The Willow Glen
Resident. (The Silicon Valley Metro Newspapers...San Jose califonia)
www.metroactive.com. She's currently writing a column called "Looking Back" that
appears monthly in FRA NOI - a Chicago based newspaper. In additon she writes for
"Mature Living" in Toledo, Ohio, "Senior News" in West Virginia and THE WILLOW GLEN TIMES in San Jose. More about Cookie is at On Writing a Nostalgia Column.... If you would like to comment on an article, Cookie can be reached at Cookiecurci@aol.com.
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