My family wasn't much for recreation. My father worked six days a week, from early morning until early evening. We did go for a long car ride on Sundays. Back then gasoline was cheap, and having no destination wasn't thought of as wasteful. Children were more content to sit in the back seat and look out the window, now they want a video screen in the vehicle.
Even children's play then involved more imagination and interaction. Howdy Doody was just a puppet on strings, who spend most of his time talking to an adult, Buffalo Bob, can you imagine?
Sitting in that back seat in the mid fifties, I might well had
my "coonskin" hat with me. Fess Parker was a genuine American hero. It mattered little if he played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, both were king of the wild frontier. The ride probably lasted for two hours and then we would go to a restaurant to eat dinner. Compared to now, there were very few restaurants.
My mother would cook all the other meals that week, and we probably ate out more than most. Supermarkets were the new rage in food shopping, but the butcher, baker and candle stick maker were still going strong. If my father headed west or south, chances are we ended up at Shankweiler's Hotel, famous for chicken and waffles. They were at the intersection of Old 22 and Route 100. The building still exists and currently is a bank. The family also owned another hotel on Route 309, which had an adjoining Drive-In movie venue.
If my father headed north or east, we would end up at Walp's, which was on the corner of Union Blvd. and Airport Road. Walp's was a much more urban place. While Shankweiler's was an old country inn, Walp's was built as a modern restaurant. I enjoyed those rides, they were a learning experience.
reprinted from previous years
I would say that democrat policies have pretty much killed the Sunday drives you describe.
ReplyDeleteAs you note, gas prices are high again, and I would argue purposely so given the current administration’s energy policies. Even if you can afford the gas, there is no shortage of democrat activists to (falsely) shame and blame you for destroying the planet
And don’t get me started on food prices! I just read about fast food value meals now costing over $25 in California, caused by democrat minimum wage policies. But who could have seen that coming? Anyway, that stop at a restaurant you mention would now likely require a down payment and a mortgage.
Over the years, people have read dystopian novels and satire like George Orwell’s Animal Farm to reveal a future that should be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately, democrats have used such books as their policy manuals.
God help us.
Hilarious
Deleteanon@3:41:This post is from the early days of this blog, which I started in 2007. The post is dripping in nostalgia. At that time I could have never imagined that it would elicit a political response... It didn't even occur to me earlier this morning when I reposted it. Sure is a different time.
ReplyDeleteI prefer nostalgia over politics. My dad usually took us to Shartlesville, where we could eat all we want and my mom really appreciated not having to cook for all of us.
DeleteMM - 3:41 here again.
ReplyDeleteI understand your post is from many years ago, and we've gone through several administrations (nationally) since then - both democrat and republican. I guess I see the inevitable effects of the policies that one party has pursued for decades, while the other party at least realizes those effects are a problem (though is often ineffective in stopping them).
Trust me, I appreciate the nostalgia of the post and have fond memories of my own Sunday drives, as well as cruising along Hamilton Street as a teenager. But while you focus on the nostalgia of the Sunday drive, it makes me wonder why such a good thing has disappeared.
I wish that today's youth would at least have the OPPORTUNITY to experience similar pleasures of things like the Sunday drive, but I see their futures being stolen. As the price of not only gas but cars themselves skyrockets I can't help but wonder if they'll be able to afford the gas to take the Sunday Drive, or even a second-hand car to put the gas into. Maybe that's part of the plan.
I'm sorry if that makes my comments seem overly political, but I do see the harmful effects of too much government regulation and bad policy - which we're living through now. I'm willing to have the discussion with those who believe otherwise (and I appreciate your facilitating such discussions), but I don't think any of us can afford to stay silent anymore.
anon@5:39: You will have to have your discussion elsewhere, not on this post. This blog doesn't crave comments, and I'm so tired of the canned partisan rants from both sides this election cycle. Replies to anon 3:41 aka anon 5:39, or echoes of such, will not be printed.
ReplyDeleteFriday night was at the Boulevard Drive-in. If something good was playing, perhaps a midweek night out at the West End or again the Boulevard.
ReplyDeleteDrive-ins then were a cheap night out. Also a night at the drive-in meant my mother didn't have to cook dinner. Just a small snack at home then a few hot dogs or a hamburger, or the famous barbecue sandwich at the consession stand. The films were usually a double feature which meant I mostly fell asleep in the back seat of the car by the time we got home. Oh yes, there was the kiddie park up by the screen before it got dark enough and the movies began.
Drive-ins are now basically gone. Yes there is Shankweilers but we never went there. Last one I went to was in 1974 when my then fiancé and I went to one in Charleston, S.C.
You can always come up to Becky's in Lehigh Township.
DeleteTerms and condition of "Simple Life" think about those 2 words--now here's the test---the next time you go to any "eating out experience" note the lack of inter action because of the presents of Cell Phones--what's lost to that and the inter action emotionally and psychologically is staining society in catastrophic ways we can't imagine--the car ride, capture a family and induced conversation lost in our society today!
ReplyDeleteHi Mike,
ReplyDeleteYour Blog is still the best place to travel down Memory Lane, for us "Old Timers" in our 80's and 90's. Especially "The Allentown Chronicle" !!
Keep up the good work, it is well appreciated......PJF
The thing is back in those days you took a 10 minute drive outside Allentown and you would be on sparsely traveled country roads. Today they are littered with warehouses and houses and apartments which clutter these former rural areas. Seldom today can one travel these former back roads without some eager beaver pressing up behind. Which leads to the question, why should Lehigh Valley growth be viewed as a positive thing? I certainly don't see it that way.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that !!....We had our problems too....But life was much simpler back in the 40's & 50's...When people took care of each other.....PJF
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