REMEMBER WHEN?
/“I’ll tell you this: if things keep going the way they are, it’s going to be impossible to buy a week’s groceries for $10.00.”
And so began “COMMENTS MADE IN 1955,” a witty and prescient email from my friend John Loewenberg. We’re all feeling the economic pinch, I’d bet, and these quotes induced a nostalgic yearning for the fabulous fifties. Here are some I hope trigger a smile:
“Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won’t be long before $2000 will only buy a used one.”
“Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 4 cents just to mail a letter?”
“If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."
“When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon? Guess we’re better off leaving the car in the garage.”
“Did you see where some baseball player signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be making more than the President.”
“If they think I’ll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it.”
“No one can afford to be sick anymore. At $15 a day in the hospital, it’s too rich for my blood.”
“There’s no sense going on short trips any more for a weekend. It costs $2 a night to stay at a hotel.”
“It’s too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet. It won’t be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.”
“I’m afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.”
“The fast food restaurant is convenient for a quick meal but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.”
“I’m afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying “DAMN” in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.”
“I never thought I’d see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They’re even making electric typewriters now.”
“Thank goodness I won’t live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government.”
“I read the other day where some scientist thinks it’s possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call “astronauts” preparing for it down in Texas.”
And here’s a look-back that I liked: “Keeping up with the Joneses was a full-time job with my mom and dad. It wasn’t until years later when I lived alone that I realized how much cheaper it was to drag the Joneses down to my level.”
