Times change

When I was fourteen, I purchased a Ruger pistol for $38.00 at a variety store by myself. No one was with me. At fifteen I purchased a Model A. for $25.00. I had a sixteen year old friend help me drag it home only to have my Dad tell me I could keep the car so I dragged it back and got my money back. A boy I knew saw the goings on, purchased the A. and had it running before the day was out.

My Grandpa on Dad's side was born in 1880 and Grandma in 1886. We bought 22 shells at the drug store for 50 cents for a box of 50. Magpies had a bounty on them. We would collect their legs to try and win a new 22 rifle. Ah those were the days in Montana in my youth! Times have changed.

Used to get to go stay with granddad between Hamilton and Corvallis in the Bitterroot valley
sometimes visited family in Stevensville, up in Hardin and Kalispell.
Remember ridin theu the Bitterroot valley on a hay wagon with a bunch of other children an folks from church and the community by a blacksmith that had a team of mules he used to ride around and give all the children rides, he had a fabulous collection of blacksmith tools in a big pole barn that he had collected from all over Montana, he showed me how you heat metal up and weld it together with a hammer

cannonball1 said:

At fifteen I purchased a Model A. for $25.00.

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About the same for me. My first car was a 1936 Chevrolet Tudor sedan. Found it out in a farmers field with a broken LR axle and a lot of surface rust. The axle cost me another $25 at the junk yard. Replaced the axle and my brother towed me home with his '57 Chevy and a chain. At home I put a battery in it and the engine turned over. With my grandfathers help (advice) I changed the oil and filter, cleaned the points, spark plugs and carburetor. The gas tank was bone dry so I put 2 gallons of gas in that my dad had for the lawn mower (he wasn't to happy about that) until I promised to replace it. I got in pulled the choke knob out and it started after about three revolutions and my grandfather adjusted the carburetor, got it purring like a kitten.

Before I was allowed to drive it, my grandfather again helped with checking the brakes. I pulled off one wheel at a time and the brake shoes looked like new and found no leaks, the master brake cylinder was full of fluid. The radiator was full of water too. The passengers door was kinda loose & sagged when open. In his spare time my father took the door off and made a new wood strut for the door and got it fixed. It amazed me that cars of that vintage had a lot of wood for things like that.

My father was an excellent wood worker/part time carpenter and a Lt. on the police dept at the time and he said because I had only a learners permit with a motor cycle endorsement, if I got stopped on the way to the gas station, I should explain to the officer about just getting the car and to be very respectful to the officer.
I drove it to a Sunoco station that as about a mile from the house. I had $4.00 on me and I put 2 gallons of leaded regular in the gas can and filled the gas tank which cost me $3.19. I took the "long way" home and got stopped twice by 2 different officers. both gave me a verbal warning and one gave me advice about how to remove the body rust & painting it.
After about a week or so, I got my regular drivers license and my parents bought a license tag for it. I don't remember if it ever had insurance but I bet they did get it for me. I drove that car to Jr. high school for the rest of the semester and High school until a guy offered me $500 for it.

He wanted to chop & channel it to make a hot rod so I sold it to him, with my folks permission, so I could buy a 1953 Chevrolet fast back that I had my eye on. I don't remember what the '53 cost as my folks put in the difference in cost from my $500 which I paid them back because I was working at the Sunoco full service station by then pumping gas and cleaning windshields for customers.
Boy those sure were the days.

gunpa said:

My Grandpa on Dad's side was born in 1880 and Grandma in 1886. We bought 22 shells at the drug store for 50 cents for a box of 50. Magpies had a bounty on them. We would collect their legs to try and win a new 22 rifle. Ah those were the days in Montana in my youth! Times have changed.

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I had a similar experience as a kid. Spent the summers in eastern Montana with my grandparents. Grandpa would hand me the .22 and a box of shells. He would pay me .05 for each gopher tail I brought in. Told me if I was a good shot and patient, I could buy my own ammo and make a little spending money. I was not a very good shot (blamed it on the old rifle) and not very patient so the ammo ran out in short order, and I only had .30 cents or so in gopher tails. What's a kid to do? I rode my bike along the highway and gathered a few more roadkill gopher tails to add to the bank. Still not enough for more ammo. Neighbor kid suggested I go fishing for them. So, I found an old fishing pole and some string and went fishing. Basically, found an active hole and snared them when they poked their head out! Took a while but finally had enough bounty money for more .22 ammo. After all that the rifle seemed to get a lot more accurate and my patience grew. Great way to spend the summer as a kid and yes times have changed.

53 Chevrolet? So if you went up hill in a rain storm the windshield wipers stopped until you took your foot off of the gas.

Not my first car, but my first pickup was a 1966 Dodge that was a four-door,
I paid 200 bucks for it at a junkyard walked home and got a battery and a can of gas and carried it all the way back put the battery in and poured some gas in the carburetor and tank and drove it home

My first car was a 57 Chevy; I paid $50 for it sitting up on blocks behind a dudes house with weeds all around it. Got some wheels and tires and towed it to my friend's dad's garage. Motor had some sort of major catastrophic overheat failure because we couldn't free the pistons welded in the bores. I busted a hole in one trying to get it free with a wood stake and a sledge hammer. Gave up and sold it to a junkyard for $50. I later heard a guy bought the front clip for $50. The junkyard guy crushed the rest and the poet in me wants to think he got $50 out of that lol.

cannonball1 said:

53 Chevrolet? So if you went up hill in a rain storm the windshield wipers stopped until you took your foot off of the gas.

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Yep. Vacuum actuated. We had several. Seems like I remember my old 56 Chevy pickup had em.

William Sublette said:

What is that? A 50's Era fighter jet?

So, if that guy was a 10yr old drummer boy in 1865, he'd be 105ish in that picture?

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I think the last soldier died in 1959. This might be him

Had permission to drive to grammer school regulary from ( Porkey ) the local police chief when I was in 5th grade ,my mom would ride shotgun and bring the 66 cj5 back home. Demo model with all the bells and whistles including vacuum wipers, and first v6.

Mad Hatter said:

Had permission to drive ... from ( Porkey ) the local police chief when I was in 5th grade ....

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Hah not me. Local barney fife got me riding my motorcycle without a license, which was a double whammy since it meant I rode out of my quarantine zone (our "holler" ). I hid the ticket and sweated it out. One day Daddy came storming in from the steel plant and yelled "YOU GOT SOMETHING TO TELL ME BOY?!!". It seems the local yokel judge worked part time and was on Daddy's shift. Busted!!!

No cell svc where I live. I don't need it. Have a "go phone" to use when traveling. We go to Church dinners , guys whip out their cell phones , and show their smiling faces , and deer kills. This year , last week of the season , I got a buck killed by a Buick near home. Everyone's seen a dead buck , and a car. No photo neessary. Didn't even have to replace the patched lead ball in my quick loader board. LOL , may you all be blessed.

TC Tommy said:

I remember as a kid in Michigan there were warnings about not eating the snow. It wasn't yellow snow, it
was radio active snow from the nuclear testing in the southwest deserts. Used to find little pieces of tinsel
in the yard. Government would drop from high altitudes to track wind and fallout.

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remember all my kin people in NORTH CAROLINA would say. dont eat the first snow and they wouldnt make snow cream.

gunpa said:

My Grandpa on Dad's side was born in 1880 and Grandma in 1886. We bought 22 shells at the drug store for 50 cents for a box of 50. Magpies had a bounty on them. We would collect their legs to try and win a new 22 rifle. Ah those were the days in Montana in my youth! Times have changed.

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yes brother the times have changed. ive never seen such feel bad for the up and coming generations.