Remember when

Did any of you ever got on the party line? Here in socal back in the 90s there were about 3 to 4 popular party lines you can call for free. One of them was called El Raton De Los Angeles (The Rat of Los Angeles)
You would call in and there were like 20 chat rooms you can bounce in and out of. All kinds of weirdos in there. Actually met some real cute girls from them but also met some really not cute girls lol.

 

.......

 

Mine had Detroit city water coming out of it, I lived

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/UIHLPwwtBSs?si=vCBGqfJ-4LqiA1L0

 

Calling 1-800-Collect from the payphone in the lobby and making my name, "I'MDONEATSCHOOLCOMEGETME"

 

https://youtu.be/V04bh-G4-qU

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/AkJ5DU5UTB0?si=kUvlIbZHWjkCqEnL

 

That wooden playground looks eerily similar to the one in my town growing up

I guarantee if my daughter saw a sticker machine nowadays she would harvest every quarter I have in my possession.

 

Band Aid "metal" tin boxes. Now they're all in cardboard.

 

You could reuse them and put stuff in them

 

One-year right as football season was starting McDonalds advertised their Quarterback special. Burger, fries, and a small Coke. You got a Quarter back from a dollar in change.

 

When I was a kid I can remember dad paying under 30 cents a gallon. It was in the 40-50 cents a gallon range when I got my driver's license. Shortly after it hit $1 to $1.20 a gallon. With the wages people earned at the time and fuel mileage cars in the 1970's got that was a HUGE jump. My 69 Firebird was getting 6-8 mpg around town. I worked a part time job after school. The 1st 2 hours I worked payed for the gas for me to get from home to work and back home again. If I worked less than 2 hours, I was losing money coming in to work.

Fuel pumps at the time weren't designed to be adjusted for anything over 99 cents/gallon. Neither were the old signs they used to show prices. There was only room for 2 digits. They started selling it by the 1/2 gallon. If gas were $1.10/gallon they set the pump at 55 cents. When you finished pumping you owed double what the pump showed. That caused a lot of confusion for some people.

 

My mom had an early 1970's LTD. Big honking engine, I think it was around 400c.i.

I can clearly remember mom telling the attendant, "2 dollars worth", and that was the gas budget for the week.

 

I can remember gas attendants !

 

In the late 60’s while in high school I worked part time at a Chevron station. I put gas in the cars, washed front and back windows and checked under the hood. Checked tire pressure too if asked. Gas was around 27 cents a gallon. The owner gave me a 2 cent a gallon discount (2 cents was his profit per gallon). On date nights I’d put a dollar worth of gas in my car. Take my date to the drive in movie , cost $1.25 each. For less than a dollar I’d buy buttered popcorn and 2 cokes. Bought my own car at age 16 from money I had earned and saved from my paper routes. (A pos 59 Chevy). I was living the life, living large.

 

Gas wars from competing stations, .19 1/2 cents a gallon was the cheapest I remember seeing. Remember gas rationing after the 72’ oil embargo. People’s head would explode today.

 

There is a gas station here that still does that shit with the bell and all