I don't know what my parents were thinking when they decided to have
5 children. But they did... and I remember the certain sacrifices we made
as a family.

Let me reflect and entertain some of you who may or may not remember.

In the summer we pretty much ate from the garden my father grew. Plenty of
tomato sandwiches, lot's of mayo... and if it was a good week, a slice of cheese.
Heck, on a REAL good week you might get a couple pieces of bacon. Yes the BLT!

Pop would take us cat fishing along  the Delaware river, bring home our
catch and fry it up along with some yellow squash. Coat everything in egg and
flour. Man that was some good grub!

Back then Mac n cheese was about .25 a box. Mom fixed it up with some hot dog
pieces or ham chunks.

Today I laugh when I see a can of "Spam".

S&H green stamps were strewn about the kitchen, mountain of them on the fridge.

While grocery shopping, we were directed to the big wire bins that held the most
god awful ugly sneaker's you ever saw. Mom reminded you what size to select.

Everyone who lived in our neighborhood had just 1 car, and Pop took it to work.
If you wanted to travel it was on foot. I did alot of walking back in my day, especially
to visit a female I was particularly fond of.

Hitchhiking was a form of public transportation.

The gas lines... you remember them? You got or received a ration of gasoline
depending on your license plate... even or odd last digit. Ahh... nothing like siphoning
gas from the neighbor that owned the BIG station wagon so you could go out cruising.
Sometimes we resorted to the buses at the local High School, those tanks were always full.
Ever swallow a mouthful of gas? I promise you... you'll only do that once!

Christmas...Woo Hoo! Bring on those socks and gloves, lunch boxes and various other
school supplies. Older brother would get a new winter jacket , and I would adopt his old one.

We obviously didn't have much, but we appreciated what little we did have. If we couldn't
afford it, we simply did without.

As I sit here writing, and reflecting back. It becomes apparent that this is where my
conservative values,  family morales, and work ethic stems from.

God bless us each and every one.

Should have been around in the 50's.

Quoted: God bless us each and every one.

You guys crack me up!

... One of five huh? Me too, grew up poor as dirt. Dad's policy, "you want something? Get a job". Being the oldest, seems he rode my arse the hardest  (had to set a good example for the younger brothers and all). Luckily, my parents are good people and what I once thought of as unfair treatment, only partially stemmed from being broke. Fortunately, dad’s strict ex-Marine discipline form and mom’s conservative values yielded five boys that came out just fine as adults.

My big joy was Red Pony Suede sneakers and a round of Minature golf for my birthday.

Quoted: Don't feel like the Loneranger there pal.  Your post made me nostalgic for my youth except subtract 10 years and add about 100hp to the cars. Tj

Actually I have 2 older Sister's, and I remember their boyfriends quite well.
I had to accompany them on many dates.

I remember seeing the "The Godfather" at a drive-in theater while laying on the
hood of a 68 Nova... listening to the ping... ping sound of the engine cooling off.

After the movie... lot's of drag racing took place.

8 track tapes, and window mounted speakers.  Who could forget ?
Shoving folded match-packs into the 8 track player as a shim to make them
play properly.

The Moody Blues and Rolling Stones were the rage.

I wasn’t exactly well off when I grew up either.

But I didn’t know it since everyone else where I lived was in the same boat.

No offense (and I’m probably closer to jerry48430’s era than yours), but it would never have occurred to me to steal from one of my neighbors.

For a long time I thought you had to beat beef before you ate it.  My grandmother would get  a mallet beat the shit out of it before she cooked it.  I thought it was normal.  I also though chicken came in parts.  We would get 50 chicken wings and nothing else or  50 thighs.  My grandmothers friend worked at the chicken processing plant and they could buy left over chicken after filling all the orders for cheap.  We picked strawberries and raspberries for money.  We were little though it was just fun until I stepped on a nail!  Ouch!

Quoted: I wasn’t exactly well off when I grew up either. But I didn’t know it since everyone else where I lived was in the same boat. No offense (and I’m probably closer to jerry48430’s era than yours), but it would never have occurred to me to steal from one of my neighbors.

It was a common practice back then, and we lost more than we ever took.

Kind of like taking beer from the neighbors garage.

Had my Pop been aware... There would have been "hell" to pay.

Payback was heading out for a long promised Sunday drive... only to find that your
gasoline supply was somehow diminished.

I was the last of four.  I was born in '55.  My Dad never made more than $400 a month.  We weren't poor, but there wasn't anything extra.  Mom made a 3 1/2 pound chicken feed 6 people.  At the end of the month we would have chipped beef on toast, but only if Dad wasn't home.  To us kids it was a treat:  I didn't know until more than 25 years after Mom's death that chipped beef only cost 17 cents at the Commissary and that we were always out of money by the end of the month.

There was never, ever a bill left unpaid.  We did our best not to have any bills, other than the barest of essentials.  I wore hand-me-downs to school for many years.  Thank God I had two older brothers;  I would have hated to wear my sister's stuff.  That's a joke.

I wouldn't trade my upbringing or the valuable lessons I learned with anyone.  In retrospect, I had the best my parents could provide and it was damn good.  My kids had more, but they darn sure didn't have better, or even as good for that matter.

There is a cultural bankrupcy that tells us that money is all it takes to be happy or that being poor means you have it bad.

<====== Born 1963

(nothing better than Mom making polyester clothes for you)

Sears Tough-Skin Jeans (guaranteed for life, when I outgrew them my Mom would tell me to go play some Knee-Football so I could wear out the knees out so she could return them for a bigger size.)

$1.99 K-Mart Track shoes (Those thin ones that lasted just a few months)

in the summer when it was 100 degrees here in AZ, we would grab burlap bags and go down to the Pima Indian Reservation to do something called "Gleaning" for potatoes and onions. Which basically means that after the harvesters were done, we could walk around in the fields taking what was left over. My Mom would can the potatoes (canned potatoes taste funny) so we could eat them all year, and hang the sacks of onions from a shade tree in the back yard (my yard always smelled like onions).

My mom found a place were she could buy Huge wheels of chedder cheese for cheap, I grew up on cheese sandwiches (grilled or just with mayo) and cheese crisps (what we call guesadillas now).

Forgot the damn block cheese and the condensed milk or powdered milk.  I still dont like that stuff.

Hard work sets your head on straight; there's no substitute.

Quoted: Quoted: Don't feel like the Loneranger there pal.  Your post made me nostalgic for my youth except subtract 10 years and add about 100hp to the cars. Tj Actually I have 2 older Sister's, and I remember their boyfriends quite well. I had to accompany them on many dates. I remember seeing the "The Godfather" at a drive-in theater while laying on the hood of a 68 Nova... listening to the ping... ping sound of the engine cooling off. After the movie... lot's of drag racing took place. 8 track tapes, and window mounted speakers.  Who could forget ? Shoving folded match-packs into the 8 track player as a shim to make them play properly. The Moody Blues and Rolling Stones were the rage.

Moody Blues... now there's some classic mellow rock...
Had the same 8-track tape when I was a lad. How about Lee Michaels, Ten Years After, and Jethro Tull?

Heck all that aint nothing.....

When I was kid in the 70s` we had to re-cycle toilet paper...

at one time, the only running water in the house was from grandmas chin........

Quoted: Forgot the damn block cheese and the condensed milk or powdered milk.  I still dont like that stuff.

...nor the powdered eggs... they didn't taste like eggs no matter how you cooked them.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Don't feel like the Loneranger there pal.  Your post made me nostalgic for my youth except subtract 10 years and add about 100hp to the cars. Tj Actually I have 2 older Sister's, and I remember their boyfriends quite well. I had to accompany them on many dates. I remember seeing the "The Godfather" at a drive-in theater while laying on the hood of a 68 Nova... listening to the ping... ping sound of the engine cooling off. After the movie... lot's of drag racing took place. 8 track tapes, and window mounted speakers.  Who could forget ? Shoving folded match-packs into the 8 track player as a shim to make them play properly. The Moody Blues and Rolling Stones were the rage. Moody Blues... now there's some classic mellow rock... Had the same 8-track tape when I was a lad. How about Lee Michaels, Ten Years After, and Jethro Tull?

Nights in white satin,
Never reaching the end,
Letters I've written,
Never meaning to send.

Beauty I'd always missed
With these eyes before,
Just what the truth is
I can't say anymore.

'Cause I love you,
Yes, I love you,
Oh, how, I love you.

Gazing at people,
Some hand in hand,
Just what I'm going thru
They can understand.

Some try to tell me
Thoughts they cannot defend,
Just what you want to be
You will be in the end,

And I love you,
Yes, I love you,
Oh, how, I love you.
Oh, how, I love you.

Nights in white satin,
Never reaching the end,
Letters I've written,
Never meaning to send.

Beauty I'd always missed
With these eyes before,
Just what the truth is
I can't say anymore.

'Cause I love you,
Yes, I love you,
Oh, how, I love you.
Oh, how, I love you.

'Cause I love you,
Yes, I love you,
Oh, how, I love you.
Oh, how, I love you.

When times were good, and sometimes, not so good.....

Banlon shirts
bell bottoms
wide belts
paisley shirts
Ponderosa jackets (just like the guy who was in The Byrds)
Neru Jackets
Studebakers
"President Kennedy has been shot."
Ramblers
Simcas
Flower Power!
hot pants
long straight hair on girls
"Now it's on to Chicago....."
long straight hair on guys
The Last Picture Show
Houston...Tranquility Base here......
"the light at the end of the tunnel"
"Reports are coming in from Memphis that Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and....."
Love means never having to say you are sorry.
They shoot horses, don't they?
"I will not seek my party's nomination...."
"I was brainwashed...."

Quoted: When times were good, and sometimes, not so good..... Banlon shirts bell bottoms wide belts paisley shirts Ponderosa jackets (just like the guy who was in The Byrds) Neru Jackets Studebakers "President Kennedy has been shot." Ramblers Simcas Flower Power! hot pants long straight hair on girls "Now it's on to Chicago....." long straight hair on guys The Last Picture Show Houston...Tranquility Base here...... "the light at the end of the tunnel" "Reports are coming in from Memphis that Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and....." Love means never having to say you are sorry. They shoot horses, don't they? "I will not seek my party's nomination...." "I was brainwashed...."

You left out tie-dyed T-shirts and Petuli oil...

Hell I am from a family of growing up in Philadelphia in the 60's and 70's and i rememeber the $1.99 sneakers at the supermarket and my mom bought em but i refused to wear em....We weren't poor  but we were not rich either....

1829...Are you from Philly?

Oldest of 5 myself, started punching a clock at 14 years old after school. To this day I can't stand:

1. Peanut butter

2. Generic corn flakes.

3. Spaghetti with straight tomato sauce (one can tomato paste, one can water + whatever spice is left in the cabinet, NO MEAT!)

4. Oatmeal, (Bring oatmeal into my house and I might kill you)

Edited to add: My mom died of cancer when I was 8 years old. Dad got remarried to a closet alcoholic after mom died and all the grocery money went for her booze (and her dope when Dad wasn't looking.)

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Quoted: Hell I am from a family of growing up in Philadelphia in the 60's and 70's and i rememeber the $1.99 sneakers at the supermarket and my mom bought em but i refused to wear em....We weren't poor  but we were not rich either.... 1829...Are you from Philly?

From the Philadelphia Burbs Bro.

You most likely shopped at Acme?

Have you ever been told that you have an "accent"?

Never Poor.  Thanks for sharing.  

I wore yard sale clothes(only child, mom paid for hand-me-down levis...had tough skins too when I was younger). I had 2 pair of shoes= name brand sneakers(cheapest ones) and k-mart boots. They got replaced when you could see a toe or a heel. They gave me my first bike for x-mas (santa).  I had chores to be completed weekly and actually got paid....$2.50 a week.  Most my friends got $5.00 and did nothing...when I told my dad that, he laughed and told me they'd never amount to a thing.  I have owned and ridden motorcycles since I was 11.  I paid for them all.
My grandma died when I was 10 and I got her lawn mower...after that, no more allowance...none needed. I did yard work in the neighborhood all year for money until I was 16 and then worked for a motorcycle dealership.
By the time I was 16 I had owned 5 motorcycles. I bought my own first car, a VW thing. My parents did pay for tuition while I was in college....I paid for every thing else.  That meant living in a rough area when guys I knew lived in town homes and nice apartments.  So What! I felt lucky. All I had to do was keep up my car, rent and utilities.  Sure, I didn't have time for golf....but I didn't leave college in debt!   Thanks Mom and dad!

In many ways my father was a sorry man/husband...He never lived what he preached.  He was a drunk. He milked SSI. He didn't have a problem w/ my mother being the primary bread winner. I think he raised me the only way he knew how...the way he was raised in the 50's by his mom/dad.  My dad was a hippie fence walker...he went for the free love(adultery), dope(booze and drugs) and commie (SSI disability) cause it was easy. He knew it was wrong or he wouldn't have raised me like he did. I allways hated the elietist "do as I say, not as I do" story line of his life. Nevertheless, I think he died proud of me.  He passed almost 2 years ago at 57.  His father passed 2 months ago at 85.  

I never had it easy....but I never had it bad.  Congrats to you guys that had the cards stacked against you and overcame!

-HS

Same here, never had it easy, never had it bad. We were poor, a family of 5 on an enlisted airman's pay. We all gained weight at the beginning of the month...

Still, if you guys think you had it rough, I HAD TO WEAR SEAR'S TOUGHSKINS JEANS TO SCHOOL!!! Remember those gawdawful plastic jeans? I must have been 'issued' every color in the rainbow. The worst were a Peter Pan Greeen and a nasty Rust colored pair..

How I ever made it to adulthood a heterosexual man is beyond me. I can't tell you how many fights I got into at school over my clothes!

Dave

Poor is a state of mind...or...judgement (now called label)

MT

We also never went to the regular movie theater.  We went to Fort Lewis and or another military post theater.  I always though you stood when they showed the flag in the theater before the movie.  Never knew we were poor.  But we did eat a lto of stuff from the garden and went digging from clams and stuff in the Puget Sound.  Once we got on a military base and there were 5.56 shells littered on the beach.  Thousands of spent brass casings.  They must have had some exercises on the beach.  I remember thinking thats some small casings.  

Don't feel like the Loneranger there pal. Your post made me nostalgic for my youth except subtract 10 years and add about 100hp to the cars.

+1 except subtract about 20 years!

family of 5 (+1 later) living on <$10k/yr in southwest montana '77-'82

-dad and i hunted and fished literally to keep the family fed.

-grew virtually all of our own vegetables.

-mom used wheat germ to 'stretch' peanut butter, and made burgers that were 50% beef and 50% lentils.

-had an arrangement with the bakery for throwaway product, so we spent fridays scraping mold off of discarded bread.

-made our own butter, jelly, and pasta.

-made our own clothes.

-only had fuel for vehicle when dad found odd jobs.  walked everywhere, even in -20f weather.

-central heating was a woodburning stove dad made out of an old water heater.

-only new clothes we ever got were gifts from grandparents.  got my first storebought shirt when i was 12.

yeah, i remember the late '70s  

Quoted: yeah, i remember the late '70s

... Great post man!

… See, living in poverty doesn't necessarily mean you have to toe the Liberal ‘s "I’m disenfranchised, give me a your share of your income because I’m a lazy ass” mentality.

Those were the days.  Not poor but lower-middle-class and also inflation-pinched in the 1970s.  Back then a new car might last 7 years if you were lucky.  

Mom canned or froze everything from the garden plus a crate of cherries and peaches and pears each summer.  Plus we had to go pick rapsberries at truck farms.  Many clothes were made by Mom.  Each year our Halloween costumes were configured to become PJs for the year.  Lots of handmedowns and toys from the broken toy store for Christmas. Outgrew my pair of jeans each year and got teased for "flood pants".  Family vacations were in a car and involved camping every night.  Bread bought from a day-old bakery store and frozen.  All milk was powdered and came in a big 50-lb bag.  

GunLvr

see below.   damn i hate it when i hit the wrong button

Quoted: I don't know what my parents were thinking when they decided to have 5 children. But they did... and I remember the certain sacrifices we made as a family. Let me reflect and entertain some of you who may or may not remember. In the summer we pretty much ate from the garden my father grew. Plenty of tomato sandwiches, lot's of mayo... and if it was a good week, a slice of cheese. Heck, on a REAL good week you might get a couple pieces of bacon. Yes the BLT! Pop would take us cat fishing along  the Delaware river, bring home our catch and fry it up along with some yellow squash. Coat everything in egg and flour. Man that was some good grub! Back then Mac n cheese was about .25 a box. Mom fixed it up with some hot dog pieces or ham chunks. Today I laugh when I see a can of "Spam". S&H green stamps were strewn about the kitchen, mountain of them on the fridge. While grocery shopping, we were directed to the big wire bins that held the most god awful ugly sneaker's you ever saw. Mom reminded you what size to select. Everyone who lived in our neighborhood had just 1 car, and Pop took it to work. If you wanted to travel it was on foot. I did alot of walking back in my day, especially to visit a female I was particularly fond of. Hitchhiking was a form of public transportation. The gas lines... you remember them? You got or received a ration of gasoline depending on your license plate... even or odd last digit. Ahh... nothing like siphoning gas from the neighbor that owned the BIG station wagon so you could go out cruising. Sometimes we resorted to the buses at the local High School, those tanks were always full. Ever swallow a mouthful of gas? I promise you... you'll only do that once! Christmas...Woo Hoo! Bring on those socks and gloves, lunch boxes and various other school supplies. Older brother would get a new winter jacket , and I would adopt his old one. We obviously didn't have much, but we appreciated what little we did have. If we couldn't afford it, we simply did without. As I sit here writing, and reflecting back. It becomes apparent that this is where my conservative values,  family morales, and work ethic stems from.

bingo, hit the nail on the head

Was so poor...
If I didn't have a ding-ding, I would not have had anything to play with

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SGtar15