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I remember hanging out our upstairs window watching the circus - Ringling Bros pass by on the was to where they set up for the show - it was as good as the parade - also the car barns were don the street a few blocks so every morning all the cars covering the city went by - we actually learned to sleep thru the racket. Did I mention the pretzel factory down the street where we could climb up on a low roof and watch them bend pretzels - that was as good as the Sat matinee. they sold a big shopping bag of broken pretzels for a quarter Bob A. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Edith S. Love" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2000 11:52 PM Subject: Re: NOT PD Do you remember? >Ken, > >My father came from Brooklyn. When he was a youngster, he would buy a bucket of milk for five cents to feed a family of seven. > >I remember just about everything you mentioned except the hamburger, fries the coke and the apartment rent. Foodwise I think that's because my mother was probably the first nutritionist. We were not permitted to eat any sweets or such except on weekends(did we go nuts), and a five cent allowance didn't go too far. As I think about it, we really didn't have hamburgers and fries until we came to California. > >I never got to live in an apartment. After I was born, we left NY and moved to what was once a classy brownstone(probably also circa 1920) with my mother's family. My father's sister and brothers and their families had pully dumbwaiters in their apartments. When we visited we sent all manner of things-not garbage-down to the basement! Your apartment sounds glitzier! > >For me the flavored seltzer came from the drugstore(one penny) along with wonderful milkshakes(birthday money), but the greatest treat was to go to Strawberry Mansion for the hugest ice cream cone in the world! This brings to mind those huge doughy pretzels. Do you remember vendors on the street with doughy pretzels and mustard? I haven't thought of them in years. And what about the wind-up victrola? > >Do you remember the horse and buggy vegetable vendors? And do you remember riding the subway for hours without any fear? I remember doing that to go to a girl scout meeting, and it was after dark! What about pushcarts. Do you remember them! Do you suppose modern flea markets got their beginnings there? > >Do you remember the old washtubs and the metal scrub boards? I can still see my grandmother bending over them. Those old fashioned radiators were in the school where I taught. In fact they're still there! > >Do you ever think of the old transportation system that was so much more dependable than what we now have? And what about hanging out of the window on hot summer nights for any sign of a breeze because there was no air conditioning? They've been mentioned before, but I loved the fireflies. Many nights we were out there with our jars! > >You just made me think of the old ice boxes and the ice man who delivered his freezing block every two or three days. Do you remember how the kids would gather around his truck in the heat to get any slivers he might drop-and that brings to mind the opening of the fire hydrant so everyone could get cool. >Have you ever thought about school graduations compared to what we now have? I graduated from the eighth grade during World War II. The principal came into class one morning and told us we were graduating that afternoon! > >This is fun! >E of the headdress > > >