I Remember...

by Jessie
(LA)

I am not a retiree but I am 50 and I always wanted to write about growing up in my town in the 60's and 70s.

I am on face book and I met up with friends that i grew up with in 70s and school friends and so forth.

Growing up in Baton Rouge, La was to me a simpler time. We always had the best well kept house in the neighborhood where my dad painted every chance he got, and and our screened front porch, my dad always made sure in wasn't torn at all.

My dad worked at a oil plant and just remember seeing that fire in the stacks of the plants. To me, that's always home.

I remember the ice cream truck actually giving real ice cream cones, instead of Popsicles.

Going to the store that was 6 blocks away with only a nickle because a candy bar was nickle back then, and remember putting a nickle in the coke machine and getting a coke. Back then, you had to pull out the coke when your nickle went in and it would unlock the coke.

I remember my dad coming home at 3:30, and my mom cooking... and while my mother cooked, my dad liked to go on the front porch to read the paper, when it wasn't cold.

I remember homework and trying to hurry up with your dinner so you can play outside with the neighborhood kids.

I remember several neighborhood kids used to like to get under an old lady's house, one boy cut his foot on a bottle, because she rented rooms to men and they used to drink sometimes.


I remember hurricane Betsy in 1965 we had a playhouse and the playhouse tilted and I remember the snow in 1968.

I remember always on Saturdays, we used to dress up and go shopping. They had a store called Shoppers Fair and a grocery store back then called Kroger.

I used to go to the grocery store with mama. In 1969, the coffee was 89 cents a pound which now it is 4.99 and a big bag of cookies were 69 cents.
Gas was 35 cents a gallon and my dad used to go to the gas station to fill up and he'd say "charge it" and they would put it on his bill.

I went to first grade and second at St Anthony school. My first grade teach was a nun named sister Theresa Martin and she was as short as I was. I remember we went to a petting Zoo and they had goats. I was scared to death that they were going to eat me because they were chewing on my uniform and i was holding on to my teacher.

We went to several field trips but one of them was we saw the Sound of Music and another one the Singing Nun.

Then I went to junior high where I was wearing bell bottom pants, hip hugger pants, and clogs... that was from 72 to 74. Then in 74, we wore maxi dresses. Then in 75, I went on to high school and they had a pay phone in the school - a time where there were no cell phones.

Those were simpler times and more relaxed...