AUSPICIOUS AUTOS

A lot of automobiles have defined my lifetime- some classic, some not.  Some I’ve loved and many I’ve put up with.  My father never bought a new car;  used or broken in (broken down) was always better.  

There was a nice variety of vehicles in my youth- they all had their individual character.  But as the years passed and I got older a new car managed to sneak in here and there.  Much more dependable, but they all seem to look alike now.

A 1941 Buick.  It used 76 quarts of oil on a trip to Florida from Ohio in 1948.  It was retired soon after that trip.

The 9 passenger 1947 DeSoto.  A worthy car for a family of nine.  The brakes gave out on a hill in Boone, N.C.  My mother was driving and she had the presence of mind to head for the curb. With a car full of kids it was decided that the DeSoto had seen better days anyway.

A long, black Cadillac-  My father always wanted a Cadillac.  It also made a trip to FL.  and I remember us throwing our winter boots out the window as we crossed the border into the Sunshine State!  Photo credit: Gedstrom / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

An MG- TD- My first husband arrived on the scene with it.  It met it’s demise  when he swerved to avoid a raccoon on the road.

Porsche- A classic, very fast car.  We lived in Florida then with lots of wide open spaces to drive.   Definitely not a family car.  Gave that one up for a Saab.
Photo credit: Fabio Aro / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

A VW Bus-  Second husband  came with this one.  He was a tinkerer with cars and the driveway was full with an old Mazda and a forlorn looking Jeep.  He managed to find homes for all three before he died of cancer in 1996.  

Photo credit: Lawrence Whittemore / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Mercedes-Benz-  A great old classic.  I bought it from my soon to be last husband in 1999.  I loved it but the undercarriage rotted out . Upstate NY winters can be cruel on cars!  

Photo credit: DryHeatPanzer / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

1998 Toyota Avalon-  It has seen better days now but still a reasonably dependable car.  It’s good in snow and great for hauling dogs around.

2013 Hyundai Elentra-  So well equipped!  A far cry from the old days of iffy vehicles that sometimes got you where you wanted to go! 

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Joan

BAD RAP SHOULDER PADS

A fashion that comes and goes as all fashions tend to do.  Baby Boomers look back to the 80s when shoulder pads were really “in” and think “How could we have worn those?  They look ridiculous.” But for women with sloped shoulders we never gave up on them

Narrow or sloped shoulders tend to make one feel insignificant. “Power suits” in the 80s remedied that.

Photo credit: Stewf / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Some clothes fit better with shoulder pads.

Photo credit: Jason Hargrove / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

The size of shoulder pads in the 80s did tend to go overboard.  Some were the size of dinner plates.

Photo credit: ...love Maegan / Foter.com / CC BY

I have great affection for my jackets from the 80s and still wear them. 

They look better on me than up in my attic.

Shoulder pads have been voted the worst of the top 80s fashion trends.

Photo credit: daftgirly / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Guess what?  They’re making a comeback in 2013 but in a much more subtle shape.  Thanks, Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga!

Photo credit: stilettobootlover_83 / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

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Joan

WE’VE COME A LONG WAY

In the midst of the past 60 years a lot of good things have happened.  We hear a lot about the bad stuff, but sociological changes, inventions and medicine have revolutionized our lives for the better.

Birth control pill-  Women have a choice.  They now have an option to limit the size of their family.

Photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com / Foter.com / CC BY

Polio vaccine-  Polio was a scourge in the 1950s.  My mother lived in constant fear that one of her 7 children would come down with it.

Photo credit: PV2 Andrew W. McGalliard / Foter.com / Public Domain Mark 1.0

Voting and Civil Rights Act passed-  Long overdue.

Photo credit: THE Holy Hand Grenade! / Foter.com / CC BY-ND
Photo credit: Tony Fischer Photography / Foter.com / CC BY

Election of our first black president-  That didn’t seem possible, but we did it!

Photo credit: Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo, U.S. Air Force / Foter.com / Public domain

More liberal thinking about gays and lesbians-  In many states same-sex marriage is allowed.

Photo credit: Pilottage / Foter.com / CC BY

Coronary bypass surgery-  Heart problems took too many of my ancestors. 

Great to know something can be done about it now.

Photo credit: aussiegall / Foter.com / CC BY

Married women working outside the home-  Good to have a choice.
Again, it would be nice if equal pay were involved.

Photo credit: Rsms / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Automatic dishwashers-  Although invented earlier they didn’t become available commercially until the 1970s.  Now, thankfully, no one has to hear “whose turn is it to do the dishes?”

Photo credit: alsis35 (now at ipernity) / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Air conditioning-  My family lived in Florida in the 50s and 60s, in a big house with one air conditioned room.  All of us camped out in that one room!
Photo credit: THE Holy Hand Grenade! / Foter.com / CC BY-ND




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Joan

A 10 YEAR OLD & WORLD WAR II

I was 10 years old when World War II ended.  Not old enough to understand why it happened but old enough to remember events associated with that war and my family.

My father was 29 in 1942 but he was deferred because he and Mama had 3 kids at that time.  Until 1945 he worked at Westinghouse for the war effort.  Three more sisters and another brother came along and we became a big family.  

For most older folks looking back now at that time, “rationing” seems to come to mind. As a little girl then,  these are part of my memories.

Items like meat, sugar, butter, gas, tires, nylon stockings, etc. were going to be in short supply during the war.  Each person was issued a ration book with just so many coupons for each rationed item. 

Photo credit: deflam / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

8,000 ration boards were created in 1942 to administer these restrictions.  Even newborn babies were issued their own ration book.


Photo credit: deflam / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

In place of butter we used something called Oleo. It looked like a small block of lard and came with a packet of yellow food coloring to mix in.  It tasted strange.

Photo credit: Foter.com / CC BY-SA

It was suggested you drive no more than 35 MPH to save wear and tear on your tires.

Photo credit: HuTDoG83 / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

An “A” sticker on your car meant you were allowed 4 gallons of gas per week.  My father would put the car in neutral and coast down hills.

Photo credit: scrosske2 / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Air mail letters from my uncle stationed in England arrived with large sections deleted by the War Department.

Photo credit: snaps / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

The day the war ended there were mobs of people celebrating across the country, including my hometown, Canton, Ohio.  I remember the day well. 

We took my grandmother’s 1935 Packard downtown to join the crowds and the car was almost swamped with guys jumping up and down on the car’s running boards.

Photo credit: brizzle born and bred / Foter.com / CC BY-NC





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Joan