I'm so old that I remember....

[JimmyLyding]

Gatorade in glass bottles
Sleeping bags that were as-big-around as a spare tire
Salt tablets instead of Gookinaid/Vitalyte

[Al_HikesAZ]

Im so Old I cant remember Crap!

I remember how great our old crap was. Not like all this new-fangled crap that ain't worth a crap. Our paints were prettier because of all the lead in them. And our buildings -especially the old Valley Bank Building took less energy to keep it cool because of all the asbestos in it. Now the best this current generation can do is BPA - ha - that ain't nothing like our old crap.

[azbackpackr]

I have CRAFT disease...

[kingsnake]

Pro wrestling when it was wrestling, not soap opera.

[Trishness]

*****When gas was 25 cents a gallon and I used to drive my dad's 1969 Chrysler Newport with a BIG V-8 all over town with
all of my high school friends piled into the car.

*****Life before cable/satellite TV and all we had was ABC. CBS, NBC, maybe one Independent station and PBS. God forbid
if the President had a message on TV because there was NOTHING else on. Also Rabbit ears and B&W TV only.

******ALBUMS!!! Not CD's, not MP3's but actual albums and turntables.

******When I went grocery shopping with my Mom and we could buy all we needed for a family of 4 for $36

******Cigarettes were 45 cents for a pack

******Stamps were 4 cents. Of course it took 10 days for them to get to their destination.

******We had milk delivered to our house every day. In Glass bottles.

[azbackpackr]

My red three-speed (hub gear) Schwinn bicycle with hand brakes, that I received for my birthday when I was 8. It was too big for me but I soon learned to ride it.

[kingsnake]

We used to get milk delivered as well. Also had home pickup/delivery of dry-cleaning.

I remember C-rations. (Ham slices and cheese on crackers, mmmmm ...)

[Grasshopper]

I really miss the Charlie Chan movies
(As a kid, about the only thing that could keep me inside on a Saturday night glued to our family B & W TV set)

[Alston_Neal]

Charlie Chan and Tarzan, couldn't get any better.
I remember Scottsdale Rd. was dirt north of Shea and my mom's friends lived way out in the desert at Shea and Tatum.
My Dad and I dove and quail hunting at what is now 56th St. south of Shea.
Our fully outfitted expedition offroad 55 Ford station wagon.
My dad target shooting in Echo Canyon at Camelback Mtn., although in hindsight he may have been consuming adult beverages.
My mom taking me into "town" at the Sears and Town and Country at 20th St. and Camelback.
When the London Bridge was in London.
The big orange cloud would come into the valley from the copper mines by Globe and Superior.
It would take all day to get to Payson.

[te_wa]

It would take all day to get to Payson.

Roger that
we lived in Peoria and by the time we got to the Rim, it was time to come home..

[azbackpackr]

I remember the London Bridge in London, since I walked across it when I was 13. My sister took a picture. I sure wish she'd find that picture and give it to me. It would be fun to go to Lake Havasu and have someone take a similar pose of me, then frame them side by side.

Yes we had the milk delivered, and the "laundry man" who took the drycleaning every week--mostly my dad's suits. They just walked in the back door without knocking, too. We had a cleaning lady, too. (Wish I had a cleaning lady...)

I recently got in touch with the gal I walked to kindergarten with. Found her on Facebook of course. I'd say we walked over half a mile by ourselves--at least 6 blocks, and we were only 5 years old. If one of us was sick the other walked alone. Everyone did that.

Our car didn't have seat belts. I liked the '67 Buick Wildcat my parents bought when I was 15, because it had seat belts. My dad's driving was scary, because he didn't pay attention very well, and ran stop signs, etc. (I later found out maybe he had been having "silent strokes.") Anyway, scared me half to death. I always, always wore the seat belt in any car that had one, even when it wasn't considered "cool."

[outdoor_lover]

Ah yes, the good old days. The Charlie Chip man, the Fuller Brush man, the great big, new, state of the art Mall that opened in Mesa, called Fiesta Mall. The celebration and sigh of relief when they opened the Superstition Freeway all the way to Power Road. I have a picture of Scottsdale Baptist Hospital on my birth certificate. It was a one story office building. It is now called Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn....

Nothing but desert west of 43rd Ave or north of Jackrabbit in Scottsdale. You had to go through Wickenburg to get anywhere near LA or Orange County and it was always a scary drive to California at night. The family hike was the Hole in the Rock at Papago Park and it was an all day event and accomplishment.

My father grew up helping his parents manage Phoenix Giants Stadium. They lived on site and Dad went to Phoenix Union High School.

Tubing the Salt River and hanging out at Los Arcos Mall were the cool things to do as a high schooler. We walked to High School. The only students bussed in were the students that lived in Fountain Hills, because Fountain Hills didn't have a High School yet. We had 100 year floods every year for awhile that kept washing out the bridges and we would go down to see the "river" on Scottsdale Road. It was a big deal.

Yep, simpler times, didn't take nearly as much to stay entertained.....

[azbackpackr]

Well, at least tubing the Salt is still very, very popular!

[kingsnake]

I haven't been tubing since I realized of all those beers being drunk, no one was getting out to whizz ...

[azbackpackr]

Hahaha!

I kayaked that last summer--had not been in the area for years. It was a lot of fun: http://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=16507

[outdoor_lover]

I went this summer for the first time since '81 and now I remember why we used to go all the time. It was a blast! It's changed some with the Tube Rental and the Bus Pickup areas and it looks like they have done alot to clean the river areas up. I was impressed with how clean the water, banks and even the river bottom was.....

[azbackpackr]

I went this summer for the first time since '81 and now I remember why we used to go all the time. It was a blast! It's changed some with the Tube Rental and the Bus Pickup areas and it looks like they have done alot to clean the river areas up. I was impressed with how clean the water, banks and even the river bottom was.....

Yes, I thought it was remarkably clean. Very pretty along the banks, too. I went on a weekday in late August, and there were just a few parties tubing. We had water fights with them, all in good fun. Our kayak much faster than the tubes, so we'd let this one group catch up to us, have a big water fight, then dash off and ambush them again when they floated down.

[Alston_Neal]

@Outdoor Lover
My family home was on the NW corner of Scottsdale and McDonald Dr, so I went to Saguaro when it opened.
Los Arcos, yeehaaa we're a big city now. So how much did you scarf at Pancho's?

[outdoor_lover]

So how much did you scarf at Pancho's?

Not at all! We had insider information, my brother worked there! :yuck:

Yep, the trend for Scottsdale was always north since it was the only direction it could grow. Saguaro first, then Chapparral. Pretty soon no one was raising kids in South Scottsdale anymore and they closed Scottsdale High. I went to Coronado. Was kinda sad to see Los Arcos die. But I guess by then, Scottsdale Fashion Square had alot more action!

[Alston_Neal]

Ewww Coronado, we heard about you folks.
Jk
It really irks me when I hear downtown Scottsdale called South Scottsdale.....ack!

[outdoor_lover]

It really irks me when I hear downtown Scottsdale called South Scottsdale.

Ya, I know. Sounds like we live in the ghetto doesn't it? ;) My mom says it all the time, so I guess I picked it up from her. And I guess I don't really consider us as downtown, we're south of all that I guess? 68th/McDowell?