Mad About Redlands . . . a what's going on in Redlands California community publication.

REMEMBERING THE WAY IT WAS

4/1/2007 - REMEMBERING THE WAY IT WAS

REMEMBERING THE WAY IT WAS
By Gloria Graham

What happened to the good old days? Come along with me down memory lane and see if you can remember any of the things I am going to share with you. Can you remember when Saturday trips to downtown were a very special time? No one ever thought of going to town without being dressed up. I can recall a time when the women in Redlands actually wore hats to town!

Remember?

It was even a time when credit cards or plastic were very scarce and cash was actually in. Do you remember when almost every mom was home when the kids got out of school? A working mother was not common. How did we do that? But thats the way it was.

Can you recall when a quarter was a decent allowance for any young person and the tooth fairy left 5 cents? We thought we were rich. Do you remember when you would actually bend over to pick up a penny out of a muddy street? A penny was a real find cause you could buy lots of candy like wax filled juice and candy cigarettes.

Remember when summer was full of neighborhood games like baseball in the street and not a car in sight, or tag in the front yard after dark? Not today! How about the fun picnics in Sylvan Park, with the swimming pool full of kids?

Heres a really old one that I was reminded of by old timer, Millie Mayer of Redlands. How about the indoor swimming pool at Warm Springs? It had a huge slide and nice warm water. If you remember that one, youre an old-timer too.

Margaret Flye of Redlands remembers shopping in Redlands years ago. You could never get to the store and back without stopping a dozen times to greet old friends and neighbors. Redlands was much smaller when I grew up here in the 30s and 40s, so we were all family. I still get that feeling, its just a much bigger family now.

Elizabeth Kiel, a graduate of the University of Redlands many years ago, shared her love for Redlands. It was called Redlands Baptist College when I attended, but it was a wonderful place to attend and make friends that lasted a lifetime. The University of Redlands is well known across the nation and the alumni all came back to celebrate its 100th birthday this year. Did you notice the glowing R on the mountain above Redlands at night a few months ago? Hats off to those who made that beautiful sight possible.

I was reminded by Redlands resident Jake Paseo about a few old goodies.
Here are a few he listed for me. See if you can relate. Remember the coffee shops with table side jukeboxs? Home milk delivery in a glass bottle with cardboard stoppers? Oh my, the mess if you forgot to stop delivery when you left on vacation!

Heres a few more goodies to remember. Party lines, peashooters, 45 RPM records and Green Stamps. Metal ice cube trays with levers, mimeograph paper and one of my favorites, the skate key. I loved my skate key dangling around my neck. One really nice one, having three best friends was not an odd thing at all.

If you can remember the way it was, then I know how old you are. For
our young readers, just imagine how lucky you are with all your new found
goodies.

Till next time, I love remembering the way it was.

Editors Note: Gloria Grahams new novel A Memory Unchained, is coming out
this spring. If the novel is full of the same kind of heart and warmth that she puts into her articles for Mad About Redlands, it will be enjoyed and loved by many.
Congratulations Gloria!

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