The telephone

Once again, from 1955, an ad from the phone company suggesting that you install an extension phone for "only pennies a day."

Back then maybe people we're still on a party line so you could listen in on your neighbors.

And the telephone itself belonged to the phone company. You paid rent on it every month. It was very durable and had zero features. You had two choices - wall or desk.

Things are different now. Does the phone company even offer phones for sale or rent?

And the joke these days is the kid who searches the house for the lost cordless phone, only to suggest that someone ought to invent one with a wire attached!

Or, no land line at all. 20% of us have no home phone service at all.

"Ahoy, ahoy!"

The British are coming

Apparently in preparation for the opening of the latest upcoming Harry Potter movie, Doug has taken to incorporating interesting British slang and accents into his vocabulary. For example, I have recently both "pinched" and "nicked" his wallet in a spate of money-begging at the checkout counter.

In addition, his efforts to imitate Mr. Dursley's pronunciation of the word "owls" have provided good exercise for his speaking muscles but not a solid enough rendition to merit an callback to appear in the final movie.
MUM

A moment of silence, please.

It happened last week. Our fine dishwasher, willed to us by the Neumanns after they got a brand new one, died and went to dishwasher heaven last week. A memorial service was held outside under the trees until the trusty appliance was moved to the curb. It was last seen being carted away by a kindly scrap metal scavenger, its organ donor card taped proudly to the side so that other dishwashers might live...
SH

Way to go, Walgreens

I was at Walgreens yesterday and they had a stack of toothpaste at the counter with a sign that said for a buck they'd send one to the troops.

The clerk said, "Do you want to buy a tube of toothpaste for the troops?"

I said yes.

She scanned the box and tossed it in a separate carton under the counter.

Simple, direct, done.

Thanks, Walgreens!

A different time

This ad from 1955 shows our concern about the forecast lack of workers in 1964. The GE solution was automation.

Things sure have changed.

Breakfast of Companions

You couldn't drink the water and the only milk safe to drink was evaporated, mixed with water that had been properly boiled. They had some mineral water that was bottled but I never got into that. One of the brands they sold was "Agua de Jesús". Obviously, some of the missionaries took home a bottle of that, but I never did.

So, I drank Inca Kola for two years. In most of the small stores of Perú they sold soda pop at room temperature, some sort of national phobia about getting sick from drinking cold beverages.

The only exception to Inca Kola was when I lived in Tacna, near the Chilean border. They had a small, local bottler who created some interesting flavors (sort of like Jones Soda flavors, though not as eclectic) and I got in the habit of trying them out.

Looking back, we were probably slightly dehydrated most of the time.

But drinking Inca Kola today reminds me of two years in Perú.

It's available here in the USA at some of the ethnic stores. It tastes like carbonated bubble gum.

Note: It is bottled with caffeine in most US formulations.

Getting around in '55

Here's a taste of the nation's transportation systems in 1955, courtesy of The Improvement Era, June 1955.

Note the FIVE DIGIT phone numbers, four in Idaho!

Another fave from 1995

From CH back when she was just six years old. Aaahh!

Birthday pens (er...Fathers Day. Oops.)

Thank you, one and all. And thanks AAHM for the extra FIVE YEARS.

The taco is missing from the collection...

...but the paper burrito is still intact.

I used to be cool

A great deal has changed since 1995.
I may have lost the "cool" part, but I'm still weird.

Before there was the Ensign

...the church published the Improvement Era. The Ensign was first published in January of 1971. So for over 70 years we got the Era, complete with advertisements.

Like waxed paper. Look at the swell wrapping job she did with that sandwich.

And gasoline. The UTOCO logo looks a bit like AMOCO.

I love the pitch from US Steel. Burro crates!

This one for Rain Bird slipped passed the editors with the vulgar reference to "the bird."

Better dancing through Levi's...

Savings accounts paid 3 1/2%. And offices in Hawaii.

"King size" 7-up was 12 ozs.

So, there you have it. Church magazines with ads.

Read the label

So, the old Jewel had Breyers Ice Cream 2 for 1. Note that the Rocky Road is "Real Ice Cream".

I'm thinking the cherry chocolate is also real ice cream. It isn't.

It is "Cherry Frozen Dairy Dessert." What makes that different from real ice cream? I dunno.

Is it like yogurt or cheez whiz? I still dunno. So I consult the ingredients.

Not too enlightening. It must be the butter fat content. But look at the other stuff you get to make it cherry. "Black carrot concentrate." "Beet juice concentrate." Fortunately, I consumed the "Cherry Frozen Dessert with Cherry Pieces and Chocolate Flavored Chips" before I read the label.

I checked the produce section. They don't sell black carrots, at least not at retail.