General Discussion

PasadenaTrudy

(3,998 posts)

111. My list:

Sun Mar 2, 2014, 11:59 AM

Mar 2014

I was born in 1964, for the record

-swinging for hours. Trying to get as high as possible then jumping out of the seat.

-catching tadpoles and crayfish in a stream off the L.A. river. Even caught a catfish once!

-catching toads at Devil's Gate Dam

-going outside after the rain and just looking into puddles. I actually got to do this yesterday!

-being healthy enough to run and jump. Monkey bars and metal slides.

-pogo stick and jump rope, skateboarding and roller skating. The occasional trip to the ice rink.

-riding my Big Wheel, of course, and then my purple Schwinn with the banana seat and sissy bar

Board games I could still play, if I wanted, Parcheesi, checkers, Monopoly, Battleship. I still have a Spirograph set around somewhere.
Sea Monkeys, ant farms, Magic Rocks can all still be tracked down online. Oh, and Twister was fun back when I was flexible.

Quite a list! Makes me realize how much fun my childhood actually was. I won't even go into being tortured by an older brother

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

245 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Old time play. What passtimes from your childhood will never be again? [View all] applegrove Mar 2014 OP

Lawn darts. With metal tips. Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #1

Oh yeah. It is a wonder we survived childhood. Though I look at people who applegrove Mar 2014 #2

Oh yes, we didn't have a trampoline but my friend did Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #11

We used to play on a tippy raft in the lake at the cottage. All of us would get on, 8 people. applegrove Mar 2014 #15

I still have 3 sets pipoman Mar 2014 #5

Lol. :) it would be fun to buy some off eBay Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #12

That's where I got mine 10 or so years ago, pipoman Mar 2014 #31

Really? Wow. Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #37

Lawn darts, aka Jarts, that's what came to mind 1st, for me... GReedDiamond Mar 2014 #17

We played outside with regular darts pinboy3niner Mar 2014 #20

I got a lawn dart stuck in the aluminum siding My Good Babushka Mar 2014 #77

Here is my Memere and Uncle playing lawn jarts in 1969. RadiationTherapy Mar 2014 #154

That's some great footage. My grandmother has a bunch Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #165

We used to play with them in the dusk dark. AngryOldDem Mar 2014 #232

Saturday morning cartoons Fumesucker Mar 2014 #3

I loved "Rocket Robin Hood" and "Max the 2000 year old mouse". applegrove Mar 2014 #4

Cecil and Beanie Fumesucker Mar 2014 #7

The SuperFriends! Codeine Mar 2014 #118

and Schoolhouse Rock. LWolf Mar 2014 #161

Walking home GP6971 Mar 2014 #6

Yeah. The world has changed. I walked 10 minutes home from school at the age applegrove Mar 2014 #8

Same here. 1960 was a different time and place. Nika Mar 2014 #55

I remember how large black and white console TVs would blow picture tubes occasionally. Nika Mar 2014 #56

The thing I miss more than anything in the world is my Dad, who was a commercial pilot ,,, Nika Mar 2014 #60

I remember how we would fix our own TVs... KansDem Mar 2014 #74

You Forgot To Mention The Tube Tester! ProfessorGAC Mar 2014 #235

we played in the woods! Liberal_in_LA Mar 2014 #157

Has not changed as much as paranoid people think it has. nt Logical Mar 2014 #185

Or being able to ride your bicycle, put it in the bike rack for the day, Cleita Mar 2014 #9

Not true. Aristus Mar 2014 #211

I lived in a small town in the forties and I was able to ride Cleita Mar 2014 #212

I wasn't calling you a liar. Aristus Mar 2014 #213

The post was about childhood memories. There was no generalization. Cleita Mar 2014 #216

I did this when I was 6 and 7! stuntcat Mar 2014 #199

Knockers/Clackers and Balllon in a Tube - both NOT safe for kids Tx4obama Mar 2014 #10

Haha. I remember balloon in a tube but it never Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #14

It sure did stink. No telling what was in there. n/t Tx4obama Mar 2014 #18

I loved clackers! n/t Ms. Toad Mar 2014 #95

We still sell that balloon stuff at my market. Codeine Mar 2014 #109

I still have my clackers at my house in Germany. Those things scared the crap out of me. Blaukraut Mar 2014 #122

Balloon in a tube! Totally forgot about that! yardwork Mar 2014 #193

We made Christmas trees with the wire. The games of tag and hide-n-seek Thinkingabout Mar 2014 #13

Grampa's adding machine. JVS Mar 2014 #16

Decent music! William769 Mar 2014 #19

I think every generation says that Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #22

Maybe. But it's my generations music that counts. William769 Mar 2014 #23

Riding bikes behind the DDT truck. MindPilot Mar 2014 #21

ah man�.same here haha�. dhill926 Mar 2014 #25

And model glue that actually glued models MindPilot Mar 2014 #27

yeah�.it worked in both ways you mentioned... dhill926 Mar 2014 #28

Oh, holy shit, yes. We had fun, but god knows what sort of effect it Nay Mar 2014 #96

LOL, me too! I thought I was the only idiot! nt Logical Mar 2014 #187

The guy in the truck would yell at us, but we didn't care, the allure was just too great. Throd Mar 2014 #201

1. Playing with mercury from "accidentally" broken thermometers MannyGoldstein Mar 2014 #24

Oh brother. My brother and I were sorting through boxes of junk Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #40

We were perplexed by our first mercury. Enthusiast Mar 2014 #68

My dad PasadenaTrudy Mar 2014 #100

Metallic mercury is not particularly dangerous FarCenter Mar 2014 #127

That's very reassuring! Thanks! MannyGoldstein Mar 2014 #136

no...I played with some mercury in chemistry lab too and broke thermometers but... wildbilln864 Mar 2014 #203

Vaporous Mercury, Even If Elemental. . . ProfessorGAC Mar 2014 #236

Loved to play with mercury from old thermometers. northoftheborder Mar 2014 #168

it was pretty cool stuff to play with.... madrchsod Mar 2014 #180

Dealing with people without an agenda. Even here. n/t flvegan Mar 2014 #26

playing with cardboard boxes - converting them into kind of non-winter toboggans or sleds to Douglas Carpenter Mar 2014 #29

Some kids here, and many in other countries, will still play with boxes pinboy3niner Mar 2014 #32

Yup nadinbrzezinski Mar 2014 #33

I remember Vietnamese kids with incredibly complex Jackpine Radical Mar 2014 #175

Oh, the joy at our house whenever we got something big in a box! Grammy23 Mar 2014 #34

Me too, Grammy23. Enthusiast Mar 2014 #69

You just took me down memory lane. I remember when my dad got a new refridgerator SummerSnow Mar 2014 #183

Spencerport, outside of Rochester- I was just thinking of refrigerator boxes last week NBachers Mar 2014 #70

Scottsville NY JustAnotherGen Mar 2014 #101

must of been particularly popular in upstate New York. My memories of playing with boxes were in the Douglas Carpenter Mar 2014 #171

Yep that was fun newfie11 Mar 2014 #76

My friend and I made a fort out of the large one from the refrigerator. City Lights Mar 2014 #145

And forts. nt LWolf Mar 2014 #163

Chemistry sets, woodburning kits, Vac-U-Form VScott Mar 2014 #30

I burned the sh*t out of myself with my new woodburning kit IDemo Mar 2014 #84

Woodburning was the best. Did that in Cub Scouts. Codeine Mar 2014 #117

Chemistry Sets Was The 2nd Thing I Thought Of ProfessorGAC Mar 2014 #237

Rafting in the sloughs on rafts of old logs, polly7 Mar 2014 #35

LSD themed media jberryhill Mar 2014 #36

This should give you a decent flashback demwing Mar 2014 #38

No, God no, I just want to forget jberryhill Mar 2014 #41

Vaguely remember that face. Freaky feeling. applegrove Mar 2014 #43

Very. Freaky. jberryhill Mar 2014 #45

My younger siblings 2naSalit Mar 2014 #222

Drugachussets Guy Whitey Corngood Mar 2014 #98

Yep, that about sums it up jberryhill Mar 2014 #123

Jumping rope. winter is coming Mar 2014 #39

I loved Chinese jump rope. liberal_at_heart Mar 2014 #42

I know, right? laundry_queen Mar 2014 #61

double dutch shanti Mar 2014 #140

I rarely see kids riding bikes, shooting baskets, or doing much of anything outdoors. nt Ex Lurker Mar 2014 #44

I was just thinking about that the other day. Codeine Mar 2014 #46

I think it depends on how the neighborhood is set up. liberal_at_heart Mar 2014 #48

They are mostly micromanaged today. Cleita Mar 2014 #51

I waited until my kids were big enough where I felt they could fight off an attacker if someone liberal_at_heart Mar 2014 #58

That's a good concern. I didn't think about that. n/t Cleita Mar 2014 #87

True...and I find that unspeakably tragic. Lizzie Poppet Mar 2014 #89

I don't know why things changed so much. Cleita Mar 2014 #150

As an entire culture, we're sort of "pulling in" on ourselves. Lizzie Poppet Mar 2014 #169

Homework. My kids have hours of it. Codeine Mar 2014 #112

I've gotta agree for children that young. Cleita Mar 2014 #147

That's so sad. Le Taz Hot Mar 2014 #99

Kind of like my old neighborhood back in the forties Cleita Mar 2014 #152

In my suburban neighborhood in Minnesota Jenoch Mar 2014 #195

Incredible edibles, plastic creature makers, pinball... gulliver Mar 2014 #47

Ha! I was trying to think of the name for Incredible Edibles. Thanks! adirondacker Mar 2014 #57

Climbing trees especially the neighbor's trees. Sognefjord Mar 2014 #49

I used to play in a pillbox Skittles Mar 2014 #50

Is that Norfolk? PumpkinAle Mar 2014 #52

yup Skittles Mar 2014 #53

Wow - we must have been near PumpkinAle Mar 2014 #54

my favorite swim spot was Hemsby Beach Skittles Mar 2014 #64

Very nice spot PumpkinAle Mar 2014 #132

here I am as an English schoolgal! Skittles Mar 2014 #202

I used to have a kilt like that PumpkinAle Mar 2014 #219

Kick the can...into the evening hours! nt adirondacker Mar 2014 #59

yes, kick the can under the street lights grasswire Mar 2014 #63

Casting lead soldiers jmowreader Mar 2014 #62

I'm just waiting for my kids to be a little older Codeine Mar 2014 #110

My old crystal radio kit. Shooting bottle rockets at each other Recursion Mar 2014 #65

3 Stooges Matinees at the nearest movie house Contrary1 Mar 2014 #66

I got you all beat. Enthusiast Mar 2014 #67

And then popping up and shouting "I'm a new man!" IDemo Mar 2014 #72

It always amazed me..... A HERETIC I AM Mar 2014 #73

"Rolling around half the yard, falling off a stone wall then getting up... ChisolmTrailDem Mar 2014 #192

LOL....well, nothing we ever did required being rescued by a government agency! A HERETIC I AM Mar 2014 #221

We were heroes at school but our parents, ChisolmTrailDem Mar 2014 #233

Playing in the swamp next to our house csziggy Mar 2014 #71

Yeah, we were gone from the house all day, too. We got called in at dusk, when dinner Nay Mar 2014 #102

Oh yes - we had wild animals to play with csziggy Mar 2014 #148

When I was 10 or so my friends and I would sneak down to the tracks behind the grocery store leeroysphitz Mar 2014 #75

Swinging on vines. Spending the whole day in the woods, until our neighborhood built a swim club. livetohike Mar 2014 #78

Epic hide-and-seek games after sundown- callous taoboy Mar 2014 #79

Yep. And ''Kick the Can''... Octafish Mar 2014 #91

catching all types of bugs and reptiles- callous taoboy Mar 2014 #80

Cleaning out the ashtrays after your parents' cocktail party Orrex Mar 2014 #81

40's for me. My parents didn't smoke, but their friends did. n/t Cleita Mar 2014 #88

I remember going "pollywogging." spartan61 Mar 2014 #82

We used to go to a nearby ditch an catch the polliwogs. SalviaBlue Mar 2014 #134

Yes. LWolf Mar 2014 #162

Yes! and newts! along with every insect that hatched their larva in small ponds or pools. Definitley adirondacker Mar 2014 #170

Strike-em-out CanonRay Mar 2014 #83

My kids to many things mentioned here FreeJoe Mar 2014 #85

Playing outside bigwillq Mar 2014 #86

Our community pool was a swamp with fish and snakes. chrisa Mar 2014 #90

Yes! TroglodyteScholar Mar 2014 #92

Jacks. I never see kids play jacks any more. Also hopscotch. nt Nay Mar 2014 #93

Hopscotch here, too...and kick ball. babylonsister Mar 2014 #104

The kids still play hopscotch in my neighborhood, Codeine Mar 2014 #106

Enjoying a Hostess fruit pie and Saturday morning cartoons. nt MrScorpio Mar 2014 #94

Being kicked out of the house and told to come back when its gets dark. aikoaiko Mar 2014 #97

Aurora monster models! PasadenaTrudy Mar 2014 #103

Or any plastic models. Codeine Mar 2014 #108

Did you get into the anatomical models? MindPilot Mar 2014 #240

My list: PasadenaTrudy Mar 2014 #111

Spirograph! Codeine Mar 2014 #113

Ebay PasadenaTrudy Mar 2014 #131

Do you have a "traditional toy" store in your area? jmowreader Mar 2014 #166

We made jewelry with gum wrapers notadmblnd Mar 2014 #105

You know, I can STILL make a bracelet out of gum wrappers!!! nt Nay Mar 2014 #116

I couldn't notadmblnd Mar 2014 #125

They used to play cat's cradle in Eritrea too. applegrove Mar 2014 #142

Making creepy crawlers! indie9197 Mar 2014 #107

Remember Shrinky-Dinks? Codeine Mar 2014 #115

I loved Shrinky-Dinks! Raine1967 Mar 2014 #130

I loved doing that. texanwitch Mar 2014 #184

We had enough kids in my neigborhood to make up baseball teams randr Mar 2014 #114

Parents Not Worrying About Where You Were otohara Mar 2014 #119

My wife freaks out if the kids even leave a specific part of the yard. Codeine Mar 2014 #121

Yep, same for me. indie9197 Mar 2014 #126

That's the #1. LWolf Mar 2014 #160

No Bottled Water otohara Mar 2014 #164

One day my best friend and I took off at 700 am.... Logical Mar 2014 #189

Playing Cops and Robbers or treasure hunt in the woods Blaukraut Mar 2014 #120

Twack somebody on the back of the head with a stick launched rotten apple. alphafemale Mar 2014 #124

We had rotten apple fights. Good times. aikoaiko Mar 2014 #234

Badminton, croquet, paint-by-numbers. narnian60 Mar 2014 #128

paint by numbers...lol. i completed some crappy pbn pics Liberal_in_LA Mar 2014 #158

Finding cray-fish in the local creek (they're all gone now) and a "high dive" that was 2 storeys Squinch Mar 2014 #129

when does a kid get to sit in the yard with a stick anymore? Carlin on kids. Whisp Mar 2014 #133

scottie dog magnets larkrake Mar 2014 #135

Paper kites that cost about 10 cents in the 60s indie9197 Mar 2014 #137

Smear the queer indie9197 Mar 2014 #138

wire bracelets? shanti Mar 2014 #139

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #141

We had that I think. applegrove Mar 2014 #143

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #144

That sounds about right. I can't think where I played that though. I just recognize applegrove Mar 2014 #146

Going 'exploring' in the steep ravines, streams and cliffs and meadows which were our 'next door' lunatica Mar 2014 #149

Handball shenmue Mar 2014 #151

Jacks. Skidmore Mar 2014 #153

clackers . those hard balls hanging on a string that you clacked together Liberal_in_LA Mar 2014 #155

Nunchucks! bettyellen Mar 2014 #156

card table set up with 1000 piece puzzle Liberal_in_LA Mar 2014 #159

Chemistry sets with real chemicals kimbutgar Mar 2014 #167

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #172

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #173

Runing around in the woods with a single shot .22 Jackpine Radical Mar 2014 #174

We used to catch the ferry over to Shelbyville Arugula Latte Mar 2014 #176

What was the purpose of tying an onion to the belt? Tx4obama Mar 2014 #191

It was the style at the time. SQUEE Mar 2014 #196

No, it sounds like some sort of internet hoax from EIGHT YEARS ago, links below Tx4obama Mar 2014 #197

LOL WTF? good catch nt indie9197 Mar 2014 #208

It was a rant by Grandpa Simpson.. SQUEE Mar 2014 #210

That's so funny! Arugula Latte Mar 2014 #238

Makin' fun of the OP? That's a paddlin'. nt Codeine Mar 2014 #194

Oh my I made those bracelets out of wire too :) SummerSnow Mar 2014 #177

playing hide and seek after dark... madrchsod Mar 2014 #178

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #179

Lead soldiers and indians and my spring cannons we used to shoot lit qtips at make believe forts Drew Richards Mar 2014 #181

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #182

Those were totally boss. Arugula Latte Mar 2014 #186

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #188

Whiffle ball 6 hours a day! Hitting into moms garden was an out! nt Logical Mar 2014 #190

Standing outside your friend's house yelling "Ohhhh Debbie!" Ino Mar 2014 #198

Secret decoder ring, yortsed snacilbuper Mar 2014 #200

Ooh! Making chains from soda pull tabs. tanyev Mar 2014 #204

Every kid riding his bike to school with his baseball "mitt" on his handlebars. brewens Mar 2014 #205

Just being outside and able to roam the neighborhood wercal Mar 2014 #206

Staying up late on Saturday nights watching scary movies on UHF deutsey Mar 2014 #207

Yo-Yo's? PD Turk Mar 2014 #209

Anything with a toy gun. Riding a bike sans hands and helmet. Skates with keys. Hopscotch. WinkyDink Mar 2014 #214

Frisbees and hula hoops kwassa Mar 2014 #215

Came home from school, changed, and "stayed out" until the street lights came on. Junkdrawer Mar 2014 #217

you could also tie them to the end of Han solos pistol and pretend they were lasers el_bryanto Mar 2014 #218

Riding in the bed of an El Camino at 70 mph. Throd Mar 2014 #220

Marbles!! 2naSalit Mar 2014 #223

I remember my mom putting my brother and I outside on cold, cold winter days applegrove Mar 2014 #224

When it was really cold 2naSalit Mar 2014 #225

my brother and me Skittles Mar 2014 #228

You are so lucky to have black and white applegrove Mar 2014 #229

trailer baby! Skittles Mar 2014 #231

Thos booties were made for ass kickin'... Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2014 #243

Bending beer cans to fit our shoes RoverSuswade Mar 2014 #226

Buying M-80s and Cherry bombs by the gross traveling through Wyoming defacto7 Mar 2014 #227

Being a kid in Wyoming was a bit surreal at times. Codeine Mar 2014 #244

playing a record backwards Iris Mar 2014 #230

Catching fireflies in a jar during the Summer. Rarely see them any more. KittyWampus Mar 2014 #239

Gangsta' rap and slow jams for me. Jamaal510 Mar 2014 #241

Over The Line. A 9 inning baseball game played with as few as 4 people... cherokeeprogressive Mar 2014 #242

Throwing M 80's on Mr Johnson's roof in the middle of the night. . B Calm Mar 2014 #245