I remember back in the UK during the late 1950's

smog

Measles and German measles (never could find the swastikas)

Domino cigarettes at 4 for sixpence

Black Russian and also Balkan Sobranie cigarettes which came in beautiful colours.

Jet petrol at 1/9d per imperial gallon

Cars before MOT tests

Buying a set of flashing indicators for my car (but they were 6 volts)

A big 90 volt battery powered radio with 2 accumulators for the valve heaters and going down to the garage with my Dad to get them charged up.

My 1953 VW Beetle that had a separate ignition switch and starter button.

My first powered machine was a bicycle with a 2 stroke motor in the back wheel and cost me 12/6d a YEAR to insure.

Trolley buses in Bournemouth and open deck buses in the summer.

Riding the footplate of the Wareham to Swanage railway.

The bad freezing winter of 1962/63 when steam engines had to have fires goind 24/7 so the boilers didn't freeze and burst.

Frozen water pipes at home.

Gas lighting and gas mantles as we didn't get electricity until 1964

Listening to Journey into Space with Jet Morgan, Mitch, Lemmy and Doc and sitting very close to my Mum while it was on.

Clockwork train sets by Hornby.

Meccano sets.

Going up the common land as a kid and asking Mum what time lunch was (I had no watch so it didn't really matter.

If you were thirsty or needed to use the toilet being able to knock on anybody's door and there would be no problems.

Getting caught scrumping apple by the local PC Plod, being dragged to the house owner to apologise the getting clip round the head from the PC and not daring to tell your Dad as you would get another one.

I will probably add more later when the brain cells kick in.

Life was good and fun and so safe in those days.

Journey into Space- that was great!

And there were Liqorice root in the greengrocers shops for a penny. You could get fish and chips for 5 pence. Ten woodbine cigarettes 10.pence halfpenny. Spect apples , beer 1 shilling a pint. A pork pie 4 pence. Cinema 3 pence. Watchng General Montgomery going to collect his pension on the newsreel. And an invention I have seen on the newsreel at the cinema but never seen commercialized.

9p pocket money, wine gums 4 a penny, movies 20 p upstairs, a boy selling ice cream cones in the auditorium at half time.

I remember back in the UK during the late 1950's

smog

Measles and German measles (never could find the swastikas)

Domino cigarettes at 4 for sixpence

Black Russian and also Balkan Sobranie cigarettes which came in beautiful colours.

Jet petrol at 1/9d per imperial gallon

Cars before MOT tests

Buying a set of flashing indicators for my car (but they were 6 volts)

A big 90 volt battery powered radio with 2 accumulators for the valve heaters and going down to the garage with my Dad to get them charged up.

My 1953 VW Beetle that had a separate ignition switch and starter button.

My first powered machine was a bicycle with a 2 stroke motor in the back wheel and cost me 12/6d a YEAR to insure.

Trolley buses in Bournemouth and open deck buses in the summer.

Riding the footplate of the Wareham to Swanage railway.

The bad freezing winter of 1962/63 when steam engines had to have fires goind 24/7 so the boilers didn't freeze and burst.

Frozen water pipes at home.

Gas lighting and gas mantles as we didn't get electricity until 1964

Listening to Journey into Space with Jet Morgan, Mitch, Lemmy and Doc and sitting very close to my Mum while it was on.

Clockwork train sets by Hornby.

Meccano sets.

Going up the common land as a kid and asking Mum what time lunch was (I had no watch so it didn't really matter.

If you were thirsty or needed to use the toilet being able to knock on anybody's door and there would be no problems.

Getting caught scrumping apple by the local PC Plod, being dragged to the house owner to apologise the getting clip round the head from the PC and not daring to tell your Dad as you would get another one.

I will probably add more later when the brain cells kick in.

Life was good and fun and so safe in those days.

Journey into Space- that was great!

Don't forget "Mars, the Red Planet".

I just found this on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_into_Space#The_main_characters

I loved it but it did scare me as a young boy.

Of course with radio you used your imagination which can be far more scary than TV.

Tying smashed tin cans on the feet and scraping along the concrete road making sparks at night (until the neighbors put a stop to the noise!)

Having fun wiggling my skeleton toes in the shoe store fluoroscope. 20 years later saw those machines used to inspect reactor fuel plates!

Radium dial watches

A tiny cardboard "telescope" from a cereal box that had little flashing lights in it. (Turned out that was radium also!)

My mothers "Fiestaware" dishes. Learned some of the colors (orange, purple) used oxides of uranium. Took a geiger counter home from school and those plates were HOT!

Hayrides

Maypole dances (until the problem with Russia)

May baskets made and given out (again, until the problem with Russia)

Burma Shave signs (USA)

Using wooden clothespins, taken apart, reversed, used to fire "strike anywhere" match heads at each other at night.

(do they sell strike-anywhere matches these days?)