A museum of "forgotten things". Things that were but are no longer. Typewriters. Dial phones. Researching in the library. What else?

ZOWIE and WOW! I remember most of them. The reel to reel tape recorders? Nope. I saw those machines and the punchcards to which you refer but I never operated one. Also 8-track tapes. What are they? Do you remember Green Stamps? We had those too. VCR's and Betamax? Vass iss dat? But carbon paper was my BANE. One error and you had to "fix" every copy. It always looked very sloppy and messy. I DESPISED having to type MULTIPLE copies. I'd get nervous of course which never helps. I do not mourn the loss of need to use it. I dance on the grave of carbon paper. Meanie me! Thank you for your reply Shuhak. Very extensive! :) Ever buy anything from the Helmsman? Ever had milk delivered by the milkman? Ever have the paperboy knock on your door and give you a bill that you paid that way? SIGH. Those were the days! :)

We had a reel to reel recorder.  I gave it to my brother the last time he was up here (I sure didn't want it).
Yes, I remember green stamps.  This May sound bad but, I believe there are still a few of them in the boxes out in my shed. And yes, there's carbon paper out there too (me, throw things away?).  When I worked at Ralphs, they still carried the stuff.
I've never heard of Helmsman.  I missed the milkman by a few years.
I WAS the paperboy.  And I hated collecting as much as you hate carbon paper.  I had to take all that money (ones, quarters, penies, dimes) to down to the newspaper and pay for my papers by the 5th of each month (but I couldn't start collecting before the 25th).  I started with a small route (57 papers), but in a few years I was delivering over 118 papers.  I went through over 20 bicycles doing that route... all brand new 10-speeds.

In southern California only I guess HELMS was a large bakery and trucks would go to neighborhoods and announce their arrival with bells or something! I remember my mom was especially fond of their chocolate eclairs and cream puffs! If you've not heard of it then it was local only. Does carbon paper have a shelf life sweetie? I just wonder WHY you keep something you have no intention of using? Jim is the one who keeps everything. Me? Off with their heads ! OUT they go. Make room for the new. Get rid of the unwanted unusable! What will you do with it? I doubt carbon paper appreciates in value over time. Were you a comic book collector or baseball cards? You could make a bazillion bucks. Some folks will pay anything for anything they want. I shall have to ask about that. You went through 20 (?) bikes? How do you "go through" a bike? I had one bike as a kid...a Schwinn. No paper route but I rode it every day almost definitely. 118 papers seems like a lot. Did any of your customers ever try to stiff you? Did some tip you for your dependable service? Boy that's dredgeing up of long ago isn't it? Thank you for your very informative and nifty reply Shuhak! It seems you were born running at top speed. Ever slow down or no way? :) This post was edited by RosieG at December 23, 2020 1:37 PM MST

The only bells I remember were on the ice cream truck.  A blue Datsun pickup with a freezer for a bed.  And no, we never got to get any (too expensive).

Carbon paper lasts indefinitely.  

I collected Snoopy books (Peanuts).  Even though I had them memorized, I read and reread them for years.  They're quite worn.  (I still have them in the bookcase beside my computer). 

My route was on the edge of town - a mile from where I lived.  To get there I had to go through the park and school, or along the NID ditch.  None of which were smoothie pavement.  My entire route was about 5 miles in length (including backtracking, long driveways, and doing both sides of the highway separately.  What's more, newspapers aren't light... well, not counting Mondays.  Wednesday paper had all the ads so it was VERY big.  I had to get all my papers to my route at the same time (no making 2 trips).  10-speed bicycles weren't made for that kind of abuse.  I used a 10-speed due to the hilly terrain.  I tried a few smaller bikes, but it was just too hard (I had to walk them up Main Street hill).
You bet they stiffed me!!  Each month I carried about 2% of my customers to the following month, as I could never "catch them home".  Then there were the "move-outs" (didn't even have the courtesy to stop the paper.... and I still had to pay for them).  I got a few tips. My older customers would make a big deal of giving me a "2-bit" tip.  (gee, mister, a whole quarter).  One guy always tipped me with a Kennedy half-dollar.  I prefered the customers who tipped me $1.  At Christmas, I made over $100 in tips.  I even sent out christmas cards to all my customers (a chore which I hated!!!).  I had to buy a stack of cards from the Newspaper, then sign them all, them carefully deliver them to each customer.  Hours of extra work.   Since school got out at 3:40, and the sun set around 4:45, I really had to hustle.  Doing my route after dark was a nightmare (it was an afternoon paper that had to be delivered by 6 pm mon-sat).  Since I had Main Street, I got the commute traffic.  3:10-3:40 for the GVG folks, and 5-6 for the rest of the town.  People didn't stop for pedestrians anymore then than they do now,.  And when the sun hit the top of the hill, a pedestrian in that crosswalk was invisible.

Have you ever considered writing about your life Shuhak? I am quite serious. Your memory for detail seems extraordinary to me. You put so much into describing your experiences they come alive. When the ice cream man came around I almost always got the orange creamsicle. You know vanilla ice cream surrounded by orange popsicle. Elsewise I'd get a fudgesicle. I don't really remember what it cost but we were not even middle class wealthy and there were two of us. My "baby" sister (7 years younger) and me. I remember when I'd leave for junior high at recess I used to like to buy a large oatmeal raisin cookie. They cost a dime. My dad insisted on giving me a quarter but all I wanted was the dime. It's funny what you remember isn't it? How old were you when you took on that paper route responsibility? Did you ever have time to be a kid and do kid things like play baseball or ride your bike for fun? I know you've always been a loner but still so I have I and I remember being a kid and doing kid things. About Charles Schulz and Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. About 20 years ago or so when our son David (the one who passed away last year) and his family lived in Springfield, Oregon we drove up to visit them. On our way north we stopped overnight in Santa Rosa...where the Charles Schulz museum is and also at  that time the Snoopy Ice Skating rink and diner. I don't know if they are still there. I hope so.

We had visited the museum and the gift shop and before we left to continue on to Oregon we went inside for a cup of coffee. His table was roped off with a red velvet rope. On it was a vase with a single red rose. He used to have coffee there every morning while he read his paper and watched the ice skaters through the glass to the rink. He was so loved and respected. It was a highlight of our lives. Happiness is a Warm Puppy. Charlie Brown. The Red Baron.  The little redheaded girl. He created a world of fantasy that I think has never been equaled. When he passed away all the cartoonists did their strips about him and in honor of him. I kept that newspaper. Apologies for the eyestrain. I just had a lot to tell you. :) This post was edited by RosieG at December 24, 2020 9:22 AM MST

No apologies necessary.  It's a pleasure to read.

To me, I've led a very mundane, inconsequential life.  Nothing to write home about.  

I got my paper route when I was 12.  I got it because my brother had gotten one a few years earlier and it looked like fun (all the neat  things he got to do because of it).  


Me be a kid?  Of course!  Not with friends as I didn't have any; but I did have a big brother to copy (although he was NOT a good role model)  He played in the old Scotia mine, so I played there too (even inside one of the mine tunnels).  Excessively unsafe!!!   It did have a nice orchard, however.   We'd all go there in the fall and eat a few apples off the trees.  

No, I never played baseball (no fun by yourself).  Once I finally learned how to ride a bike, I rode around (within the set "bike limits").  As a family, we'd ride our bicycles all over the place.... even down highway 20 to Penn Valley as it was being built (no pavement, just dirt, rocks, and bulldozers) .  My parents were very "into" family.  Meaning we did a LOT together - walking, hiking, bike riding, exploring the backcountry, picnicking, car rides through the mountains, and such. What is now Malakoff State park was open land.  In those days much of this area (around 3,000' elevation) from Malakoff to I-80 was heavily scarred by the old hydraulic mining they used to do.   Hardly any trees and pieces of old mining equipment littered everywhere.

That is so touching. This post was edited by Shuhak at December 24, 2020 11:16 AM MST

Thank you for your kind, thoughtful and very informative reply Shuhak. This may be presumptuous of me but if we grew up going to the same school in the same time I think maybe perhaps we might have been friends. I'm pretty sure I told you I had one friend until 10th grade when she dumped me and started hanging out with a "wild" crowd. They smoked behind the boys' gym. I know. That is so very innocent now. I do believe males and females can be very good close loving PLATONIC FRIENDS. Some say that isn't possible but I have lived different and some of my best relationships have been with males starting with my Dad. I'm not a girly girl. Jim says I'm very feminine but not "girly". I take that as a compliment. I don't get hysterical if I have a bad hair day or chip a nail. I'm not a shoe freak. I never enjoyed a night out with "the girls".  Though there are things about which we absolutely DISAGREE for the most part we sort of see life through the same lens having experienced similar things. Square pegs round hole. But whenever you can find someone who UNDERSTANDS where you are coming from and doesn't get angry I think that is a super treasure find!  I'm going to Google it and see if the Snoopy skating rink still is there. What with the Covid who goes ice skating or to coffee shops or gift shops?

A flip phone? You had one and you miss it? I miss the dial phone with a dial tone. I never cell or tweet or twitter or facebook or anything. I long for the olden days when life made more sense. Changing our toys certainly hasn't improved our stock. Sigh. Thank you for your reply! :)

I still have my old flip phone, but I only use it when I am out. I only use a landline at home.

I am not a cell phone fan. Jim has one. A SMART phone. He is always learning new tricks it can do. It fascinates him. He likes gadgets galore and that is his most gadgeting thing. This app and that. Always new stuff. Personally I find it deadly boring. Different strokes. The only benefit I see is that when he is out he has the ability to call for help or if I need to reach him I can. All the rest is busybox bullshit. In my opinion. Bah humbug! Thank you for your reply E and Happy Wednesday to thee and thine! :)