Good Old Days

Popeye always said," if you wanna be strong, eat your spinach!"

 

in the old days, everybody's favorite hang out was the neighborhood ice cream parlor:

 

1950s pic ~ little girl enjoys comics & ice cream malt in neighborhood parlor:







next to playing baseball, that was my favorite activity when I was a little kid in Brooklyn

 

I haven't seen a real soda fountain in years.

There use to be a replica soda fountain in Pasadena, California called "Soda Jerks" but they were forced out of business 16 or more years ago by a greedy landlord who jerked up the lease.

When was the last time anyone had a real soda fountain chocolate malt ?

Remember when just about every drug store in America had a sods fountain ?

 

My first car purchased in 1962. The pic below is one like mine. 1938 Plymouth Coupe. My Dad helped me restore it. We put a 318 V-8 in it and this baby would fly. Then we would cruise town, stop at the Fosters Freeze to have milkshakes and burgers and of course check out the ladies.

 

A 318.

So how many times did you pull up to a stop light and challenged someone next to you to a drag race and they were clueless that you had a 318 under the hood ?

 

Once, then they knew. lol Had a buddy that had a 68 Camaro that learned the hard way.

 

remember these transistor radios?







We thought these were treasures back then. Now they are so passé.

 

I loved the old hi fi or stereos that had a deep sound and short wave radio:

 

wholesome entertainment at the Steeplechase, Coney Island, Brooklyn:

 

Buick with a three on the floor?

 

Pretty sure those were the same type of transistor radios we had in Vietnam.

Always had to wrap them in electrical tape to protect them from the elements.

 

It's a 1962 Studebaker Grand Turismo Hawk


A 289 cu in 4 barrel carb, 225 hp

In 1963 you could have a 335 hp supercharged 304 cu in engine under the hood.

 

On the Left Coast we had Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica known a POP.





And further down the coast there was the Pike in Long Beach.

The Pike was my favorite.

Back during the good old days Long Beach was the home port for 100 U.S. Navy warships. If you were a sailor or biker you went to the Pike to get a tattoo.

 

My Grandmother had one in white. She used to change her own oil and plugs at 85 years old. I could have bought it from her for $500 in '71 but I didn't have the bread...

 

Been to all of 'em along with Palisades Park in Jersey and Kennywood Park right outside of Pittsburgh.

 

My brother has one of them- very heavy steering, but soooo coool.

 

And not one of them guilty as charged - according to their mothers!

 

speaking of Palisades Park, NJ ~






I was there - sure was fun!

 

Thanks for the memories. One of those baby's cost me my crossing guard job (I was in 6th grade). I got caught listening to the world series during my shift. Back then we hadn't even had a tv in my house. On Sundays we'd go to Grannies to watch Bonanza in color.

 

Everything back then had Armstrong steering, needed strong arms to turn. Back then power steering was definitely a luxury.

 

Are you saying he still has the Studebaker ?

They are worth a lot of money today.

The cheapest I've seen has been $17,000 and as high as $50,000.