May 28 A Simpler Time

I recently read Bill Bryson's "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid". (see November 24th post). He describes his life growing up in Iowa in the 1950's in the book. The section where he describes the various toys he had as a child had me laughing out loud. I had a lot of the same toys 15 years later. He joked about how easily amused kids were back then because they could play with a Slinky all day long and never get bored. Here's an old Slinky commercial for those unfamiliar with what is essentially a big spring.



Maybe Mr. Bryson was right. The kids in that commercial look border line retarded. I can't imagine kids nowadays being excited to get a Slinky over a Nintedo Wii. I bring this up now because Chrissy gave me a New York Mets Pez dispenser recently.

I was surprised they still sold them. This candy dispenser seems so out of date nowadays that it made me feel nostalgic for the old days. Every generation longs for how things used to be and now I am old enough to feel that way...at times. Today was one of those times. So I looked around my house for things from 'the old days'.  The only thing I found after a short walk through the house was this shopping list reminder that I got from my Italian grandmother.

Here's a throwback to the days before post it notes, dry erase boards and cellphone calls on the way home to find out what needs to be picked up from the store. This is hung on the cabinets in the kitchen but we don't actually use it. I guess it is just a decoration that reminds me of my grandmother and how things always seemed simpler in the old days.