Author	[Modern View]
Mark - IN. 12-20-2012 19:58:26 71.201.64.82 Report to Moderator	Its going to be Christmas in a few days, so there are lots of old Christmas movies on. I just watched “Miracle on 34th Street”, and at the end of the show, after Santa let the little girl down and didn’t get her the house she wanted, her mother and her lawyer boyfriend were driving the little pouting girl home. Remember when they found her house and she started yelling “Stop, Stop, Stop”? Well here’s what I mean about the good old days. They were driving down the road in I’m guessing a 1940ish Ford Coupe that had no seatbelts, everything inside of it was painted steel, and the little pouting girl sat scrunched next to a passenger door that probably didn’t lock so well, while her mother sat in the middle next to her boyfriend, the driver. The good old days. When I was a kid, we had a ’61 Chevy Impala wagon, ’62 Chevy pickup, a Jeep Forward Control, and because we lived near South Bend, various Studebaker Hawks and Larks, every last one of them painted steel interiors, no seat belts, and the passenger doors on the pickup and one of the Hawks not only didn’t lock well, they used to fly open if Dad rounded a corner too fast. The good old days. These days? Cars have nice soft and quiet everything in the interiors equipped with televisions, air conditioning, heat, doors that not only lock when you tell them to, they have child proof windows that don’t go all the way down, and not just seatbelts, but child safety restraint systems. Heck, I’ve seen commercials where cars parallel park themselves, and have cameras in the tailgates so you can watch how well they park themselves on one of the televisions. Oh yes, they even dial 9-1-1 if they think you need a cop or fireman, and tell you that they just did after they do it. My point? I used to stand up on the floor of the passenger side of them, chin on the all steel dashboard as Mom or Dad used to drive down the road. And if they came to a screeching halt after driving too fast when one of us kids yelled, “Stop, Stop, Stop” we would get flipped from the back if we were sitting or standing in the back, thrown over the seats, and bounced off of the all steel dashboards, and end up with a few cuts, bruises, maybe concussions, or had to stop by the hospital to get a few stitches and a cast on the freshly broken arm on the way home. But, it was fun and toughened us up. It was always adventurous. The good old days. Kids these days will never get to experience the good old days as I remember them. It was that old Ford at the end of Miracle on 34th Street that made me think of this. Great Christmas movie. Merry Christmas is almost here all. Mark [Reply]   [No Email]
Retired Farmer 12-21-2012 20:19:24 207.200.116.12 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Mark - IN., 12-20-2012 19:58:26   How did we ever survive those unsafe days and grow up and turn out as well as we did? [Reply]  [No Email]
twostepn2001 12-21-2012 15:10:07 76.198.111.230 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Mark - IN., 12-20-2012 19:58:26   Good 'ol days? crash here [Reply]  [No Email]
S2710 12-22-2012 04:21:42 98.143.227.89 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to twostepn2001, 12-21-2012 15:10:07   But did you see all the rust dust in the old one? As far as I can see the rust weakend the old one. Bob [Reply]  [No Email]
Pops1532 12-22-2012 07:11:09 98.227.131.18 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to S2710, 12-22-2012 04:21:42   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see I doubt the rust had much to do with it though. Don't be mislead by that video into thinking those results would be typical of all old cars. The '59 Bel Air was chosen for the demonstration because it had an X frame. Google images of 1959 Chevy frames and it's easy to see why the car was so badly damaged. Clearly the '59 Chevy wasn't the safest car around. Not even in it's day. The makers of the video clearly had an agenda or they would have used a safer vintage car like a Ford that had a perimeter frame. It's a shame they destroyed such a nice car to further their agenda. Reminds me of an old saying. Don't believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see. [Reply]  [No Email]
sbogusta 12-21-2012 14:31:05 69.123.9.58 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Mark - IN., 12-20-2012 19:58:26   I remember lying across the back dashboard in my uncles 72 Delta 88 while my pop and uncle shared a 6 pack in front and mom and aunt shared blody maryies in back. We would drive from NJ to W Virginia to visit my cousin. Man I miss the good times. Merry Christmas!!! Steve [Reply]  [No Email]
ss55 12-21-2012 12:12:51 173.31.19.80 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Mark - IN., 12-20-2012 19:58:26   Dad grew up in the 1930's. He used to say "The good old days weren't so good". [Reply]  [No Email]
Dean 12-21-2012 06:56:27 67.172.15.77 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Mark - IN., 12-20-2012 19:58:26   I well remember standing up on the front seat of my Father's 1947 Pontiac when very small. My Father would reach over with his right hand to hold me if he had to brake hard. Later, when a bit bigger, I would stand on the floor. If all of us were in the car, my two brothers and I would stand on the floor behind the front seat and hold on to the strap attached to the back of the front seat. Later, I taught myself to drive and wrench on that 1947 Pontiac. Merry Christmas to all! Dean [Reply]  [No Email]
nys 12-21-2012 03:02:01 98.15.254.212 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Mark - IN., 12-20-2012 19:58:26   My Dad owned a sawmill and did his own logging co first things I drove were dozers skidding logs(I cracked a sprocket in the woods when I was 8 yrs old and was told I should know better) Then an old Army 6x6 that had been a log truck then was a yard truck in the mill yard. At home we had a model A sedan cut down to truck and a 43 Willys army jeep we learned to drive and shift(double clutch) in the fields. Later a 55 chevy pickup in the fields after it wasn't roadworthy about 1970. I often am amazed my brothers and I survived with no major injuries as we had no safety equipment no roof on dozers few guards in the mill old style chainsaws ect. At the time I may not have thought it the best way to grow up but now I think differently growing up in the woods was great we spent a lot of time hunting, fishing, trapping, looking for ginseng, hikeing and camping in the mountains. Wish I could do more of that now. Happy holidays [Reply]  [No Email]
ShadetreeRet 12-20-2012 20:28:23 184.4.21.191 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Mark - IN., 12-20-2012 19:58:26   Mark, you are not alone when you remember those good old days! I actually learned to drive a tractor first, but as far as vehicles go, I learned to drive a 1940 Ford pickup. Took the test for my drivers license in a 1938 Chrysler Sedan. There was more metal in one front fender of that behemoth than there is in an entire automobile today! But we learned to drive RESPONSIBLY, because our safety depended on OUR skills, not on a switchboard of electronics. With all the "safety" features today, such as anti-lock brakes, anti-roll sensors, seat belts, air bags, etc, etc. I think drivers have a false sense of security. And it is obvious by the way some of them drive. Reminds me of the man who was looking at a new fast, expensive import. The salesman says, "This thing will do zero to 150 in less than ten seconds and stop on a dime!" Potential customer asks, "And then what?" Salesman answers, "Then a little blade comes out and scrapes you off the windshield!" Have a good one! [Reply]  [No Email]
Bernie/MA 12-21-2012 17:52:32 67.142.166.23 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to ShadetreeRet, 12-20-2012 20:28:23   That was a Bob Hope joke back in the 50s when power brakes first came out. [Reply]  [No Email]
Billy Shafer 12-21-2012 00:31:58 173.184.43.67 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to ShadetreeRet, 12-20-2012 20:28:23   My first car was a 1949 Dodge Coronet Delux. Sure wish I had the money to buy one today. I also remember hanging out at the local ice house in the summer. Feeling the cold air coming out into the Texas heat. [Reply]  [No Email]
Dick2 12-21-2012 05:50:39 174.19.205.113 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Billy Shafer, 12-21-2012 00:31:58   I had a 1950 Dodge Wayfarer; it was one of the best cars that I ever had and I've had a lot of different cars when I count the company cars I had. I wish I could find another Wayfarer just like it. That fluid drive was great. [Reply]  [No Email]
hillbillyjack 12-21-2012 11:23:50 69.168.144.138 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Dick2, 12-21-2012 05:50:39   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see You could have this 51 Canadian Dodge Regent for $3000.00, not fluid drive though. [Reply]  [No Email]
Dick2 12-21-2012 14:21:40 174.19.205.113 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to hillbillyjack, 12-21-2012 11:23:50   The Wayfarer was a 2-door with a tapered rear roofline. I sold it and bought a 1955 Ford 6-cylinder; it was absolutely the worst car that I ever had. [Reply]  [No Email]
Larry NEIL 12-21-2012 03:27:48 76.202.215.165 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Billy Shafer, 12-21-2012 00:31:58   First NEW car I bought in the fall of 1960. A Chevy Impala convertible. It was red with a white top and black and white interior. Had to carry a stick around with me to shoo the excess girls away!! ;>@ [Reply]  [No Email]
Lance in Brenham, TX 12-21-2012 10:07:20 173.8.230.193 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Larry NEIL, 12-21-2012 03:27:48   Excess girls? No such thing!:) [Reply]  [No Email]
60 acre hillside 12-21-2012 03:27:28 67.142.170.20 Report to Moderator	Re: The Good Old Days in reply to Billy Shafer, 12-21-2012 00:31:58   I remember 4 adults and 8 school age kids riding ina 1940 oldsmobile. Also remember family 1952 GMC pickup with a steering wheel spinner on the left and using right arm to ----- well keep her from falling out the door! [Reply]  [No Email]