By Gail Marsh
Ah, the good ol’ days. If you traveled America’s highways during the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, you probably witnessed several things that younger RVers today may never see or might not even recognize. Sit back and relax for a trip down memory lane.
A memory lane road trip…
Cassette tapes
Remember listening to your favorite music courtesy of your vehicle’s cassette player? Attempting to rewind an accidently yanked out, yard-and-a-half of tape took years off my life. And who can forget the abandoned tapes fluttering across the highway? No doubt, frustrated travelers tossed the tape right out of their car window! I’m more than happy that Pandora and other apps have replaced the way we enjoy our music while traveling today.
“Eat and get gas”
Stuckey’s wasn’t the only roadside stop to use this catchy phrase. Other fuel and restaurant stops adopted it, too. You don’t see many Stuckey’s anymore. But the name sure makes me wish I had a pecan roll right now. (Read about Stuckey’s history and rebirth efforts here.)
Burma-Shave signs
Years ago, Burma-Shave used small, consecutive signs to advertise their brushless shaving cream. These signs were posted along the roadway for passersby to read. At first, the company itself came up with the signs’ content. Later, Burma-Shave hosted a nationwide contest for new signs with several winners chosen each year. Here’s one example of these iconic signs: “No lady*likes to*snuggle*or dine*accompanied*by a*porcupine. Burma-Shave.”
Wooden station wagons
Well, they weren’t really made from wood. Some just featured side and back panels that were wood or what looked like it. Today the Woodie Wagon itself is rarely seen outside of antique car shows. Years ago, it was the preferred way for families to travel.
Polaroid pictures
Stopping at a scenic overlook often meant that Dad would take our picture with the Polaroid camera. The camera immediately spit out the photo, but you had to wait for the picture to develop. This often meant someone was tasked with gently shaking the photo to help it develop faster. (Fun fact: In 2004, Polaroid finally admitted that “shaking or waving has no effect.”) You can get these iconic cameras on Amazon (and elsewhere, of course).
Picking up hitchhikers down memory lane
Yes, you still might happen across someone standing along the highway with thumb extended and wearing a hopeful, if desperate, smile. But years ago, hitching a ride was much more commonplace.
My husband still enjoys recalling his hitchhiking experiences—his most memorable one was when he was given a ride by an exhausted trucker who asked him to drive! My husband (19 years old at the time and, more importantly, not a truck driver) somehow successfully ground through the gears and lived to tell the tale.
CB radios
The Citizen’s Band or CB Radio Service is a two-way, public radio. Some truckers today still use CB radios, but back in the day, many other drivers had them, too. CB folks used their own coded language. Police were referred to as “Smokies” or “Bears.” A yellow school bus was a “Cheese wagon.”
Larger cities across the country also had CB monikers. “Big A” meant Atlanta; “Cowtown” meant Fort Worth, Texas; and “Shakeytown” meant Los Angeles (due to earthquakes, I guess).
For several years, we used a CB radio while traveling. We still sometimes revert to CB language while RVing. Like, “10-4, good buddy. 10-4.” (10-4 is an acknowledgment or affirmation, as in “OK.”)
Where does your mind go down memory lane?
Please use the comment section to share travel memories you remember from days gone by—things that younger RVers may never see or experience as they travel today.
8 tracks! VHS. Cathode tube TVs. Technology moves on.
a very short list down memory lane, kind of disappointing. By the way, I still use a CB
Why not add to the list, PRR?
Instead of critical statement, add some of your memories for the rest of us to enjoy
Drive-in movie theaters!
I took a girl to a drive-in theater once. I spent half the movie trying to find out which car she was in!
That’s what you get for not locking your car doors, Dave.😉😆 BTW, I went to school (many decades ago) with a Dale Easley. Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Pristine vinyl records on a quality turntable. Even a few scratches are OK. And who had a car with a turntable under the dash?
My good friend had one in his 56 Chevy 2 door! No one believes me when I talk about it!
I’m trying to figure out how this could have worked! I believe you! Just trying to visualize it…
Hi, Gail. The future husband of my best friend in high school (in the early ’60s) had a turntable installed under his car’s dash. The records were smaller than an LP but a little bigger than a 45? I can still picture it, and remember he didn’t have very many records to choose from. Google “record player in car.” Have a good afternoon/evening. 😀 –Diane
Chrysler offered the “Highway Hi-Fi” 1956-59 as a factory option!
I have seen them at classic car shows. I have never talked to an owner,so I too wonder how they worked “going down the road”!
Eating at Nickerson Farms as a kid and my first cross country trip as a driver with my collection of 8 track tapes.
I guess I may be older then some of you. I had a 4 track in the first car.
I got my first CB back in the 60’s. Back then you were supposed to apply for a license, and I did. KEZ2744 was my number. I can’t believe I still remember that, especially since I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night.
Also, long gone is the ability to open the hood and be able to name everything you see – and you could work on it and fix stuff that needed fixin’.
I know! Who could possibly name all the little shapes and doo-dads with wires and tubes coming out of them!
I had an 8-track player in my car. Those seemed more reliable than cassettes but I eventually got one of those too and was able to record my own from l.p.’s and saved money. I love the old Ford wagon pictured- that really brings back memories! My Dad always drove fast- he got pulled over a couple of times. He always used to tell us to look out for cops when we sat in the rear-facing seat. One time the cop told him to follow and face the judge at his house!
In 1952, I was 12 years old and hitch hiking. A car stopped and I jumped in. “Where are you going?” Asked the driver. “Lake City” says I. “This is my driveway,” says he.
Hitch hiking brings to memory: in 1950 when as a Boy Scout, my dad was supposed to pick me up from summer camp – 120 miles from home! He forgot the date.; so having no alternative as the camp was closing and in my BSA uniform and duffle bag I hitch hiked home – getting 4 rides to make the trip. I was 15!
I have picked up many hitch hikers over the years however, none in the past 25 years or so – when they started kidnapping and killing kindhearted drivers!
Used to hitchhike in uniform in the mid 60’s. The generous $60 a month did not go far.
As kids we’d go to grandma’s in Wisconsin, no interstates back then. 3 kids, 2 adults and a basset hound in a little Valiant. The roof rack had the heavy canvas tent, heavy sleeping bags, metal Coleman cooler and stove on top. We always left the farm on Sunday. My dad wanted to avoid getting stuck behind the farm equipment on narrow roads and that was a day off from farming (except for the cows). There was always a bakery on main streets in small towns and on Sunday we would stop for fresh donuts. A stop at Dairy Queen was included in the trip at least once. How did we live without a/c in those days?
It was called Armstrong air conditioning, crank down that window !
Was that the same company that made Armstrong Power Steering? 😉
We used to call it 4/60 air! 4 windows down/60 m.p.h.!
A.M. radio, 8 track players, c.b.’s and call signs. Aah, Life was good and simple…
I still have my reel to reel tape recorders and tapes. Still have cassette tapes and tape deck, LPs and turntable and a bunch of 45s. Would have to dig deep to find my 8 tracks and player. Ford van had 8 track player and I bought a slip in device that would play cassettes. My ’70 VW Ghia came with a mini cassette player. Still have a couple of CBs. Does anyone remember pegged pants and 3/4 sleeved shirts? and I wouldn’t go anywhere without a vest. Cigarette pack rolled up in the T-shirt sleeve? Oh, DA haircut? My 1960 VW Bug without a clutch? (It would start in first gear and I listened closely to the RPMS to shift.) Whoa – the Way Back Machine! Juke Box on the booth table?
Thank you, Gail! I recall very little. My parents took us to “town” for groceries, and to church. The bus driver took us to school. Vacations were staycations before it was a word. We went nowhere and spent the time working, rather Daddy did. The rest of us did pretty much whatever we usually did when home. Daddy might paint the inside or outside of the house. If he worked cows, put in the garden, or planted a pasture, then we helped. “Vacations” tended to be dreaded by my little brother and me because we likely would play less and work more. 🙂 Yet, they WERE the GOOD OLD DAYS. 🙂
Back in the late 60’s, I actually had reel to reel tape player that I placed on the rear seat of my first car. It ran off 12 volts.
Then, when every car came with an 8 track player, I had one of the first under dash cassette players. I could flip a switch so it would play through the cars speakers.
There were even 45 rpm record players that would mount under the dash.
I still have the cassette player and it still works.
And then there was the “Walkman”.
A few years ago I bought my RV. 1977 Dodge Silver Streak. It came with a working 8-track/AM/FM radio. I use the radio mostly because the 8-track tapes that I ,and some of my packrat friends still have end up just jamming up the works. But it looks cool and gets questions from the younger crowd!
When I was very young, I asked my fathers trucker friend what 10-4 meant, he told me it was “shorthand” for “job done”. J is the 10th letter of the alphabet and D is the 4th. I guess “10-4” sounds better over the CB than “JD”.
Not sure how accurate that is, but that’s what I was told MANY years ago.
A small point. Many of those early ‘woodys’ had real wood on the side, not metal. My father had a 1954 Ford wagon with wood trim similar to the 1958 in the picture. Even earlier ones had almost all wood bodies behind the hood and front fenders and doors. Great memories in the article.
I made a lot of money in my high school years, installing and cleaning 8 track players. What I don’t miss is people being able to smoke wherever they wanted. Hospitals, airplanes, stores, etc.
Thanks – this was enjoyable! I see internet pictures and questions about them pretty often. Things like “what is this thing?”, with a picture of a big pencil eraser inserted into the sprocket of an 8-track tape, or a metal spout for piercing an old metal oil can. It’s somewhere between gentle and shocking to realize that I’m getting older. Also, you know you have some years behind you when you fill out an online form and have to scroll waaay down to find your birth year.
Making your own ice cream, walking to school, wooden school floors that creaked, old crank pencil sharpeners. Actually playing outside all day until sunset! Those were the days my friend, and we hoped they’d never end!
Those instant cameras have come back in fashion among the younger generation much to my surprise. My granddaughter got one for Christmas last year. We’ll see how long that fad lasts.
Stopping to eat sandwiches our mother had packed at picnic tables along the road. Not a rest stop. Just a picnic table or two. One reason was saving money. Restaurants were expensive. The other reason because there were no fast food places or convenience stores.
Wow Gail! This brings back a lot of memories…. suffice to say all the above you wrote about as well as all the comments below mine! What a wonderful life we had. Oft times wonder what happened? Also, my dad bought a new 1951 Ford Country Squire woody – that is what I drove throughout my hi-school years. Several comments in my school year books about that woody!
Thank you for the nostalgic reminders, Gail! During my childhood we traveled to Oklahoma City from near Chattanooga and back. FAA had an academy there and Daddy drove all night to get there ahead of whatever class he’d been assigned. He inserted framing to fill the foot wells of the back seat for my brother and me to have a play/sleeping area. We arrived early Saturday morning and house-keeping was set up ahead of his class beginning on Monday. After his multi-week class ended on a Friday, he again drove all night to get us home and him back to work on Monday. Daddy’s vacations were spent working on the house or farm. Have a great week & safe travels!