Forgotten pastimes

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Fyrefox

Well-known Member
What's something that used to be a popular diversion for children or adults that now is less common? Roller skating used to be quite popular, and my father actually met my mother roller skating. He used to joke that he hadn't gotten onto skates since that time, and you might be hard pressed to find a roller skating rink these days... :)

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At the end of the school year, when I was hard pressed to find something to keep the kids busy that wasn't another worksheet, I showed them Cat's Cradle -- that game with the string. They were universally charmed by it, and some of them kept at it for days. I also showed them jacks, which they didn't find as interesting, probably because it was a lot harder.
 
I grew up in a small, rural, crossroads village. We kids were always outside doing something. Some of the things we did that seem to have fallen by the wayside: kick the can, hide and seek, gigging frogs, skipping slate down at the river, building tree houses, taking the unsuspecting on Snipe hunts, helping bale hay for the local farmers, having community wiener roasts, going on hayrides. . .playing marbles and jacks, catching lightening bugs. . .all such fun.
 
Marlene said:
We kids were always outside doing something. Some of the things we did that seem to have fallen by the wayside: kick the can, hide and seek, gigging frogs, skipping slate down at the river, building tree houses, taking the unsuspecting on Snipe hunts, helping bale hay for the local farmers, having community wiener roasts, going on hayrides. . .playing marbles and jacks, catching lightening bugs. . .all such fun.
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yup


Now?

Kids are in their cells

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Fyrefox said:
What's something that used to be a popular diversion for children or adults that now is less common? Roller skating used to be quite popular, and my father actually met my mother roller skating. He used to joke that he hadn't gotten onto skates since that time, and you might be hard pressed to find a roller skating rink these days... :)
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I have been taking my granddaughter roller skating once a week now for over a year. Here it still seems to be the cool place to meet up for those kids that don't have a driver's license and/or car.
 
Gary O' said:
building a tree fort

it never quite turned out like you imagined

but the fun was in the build

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ha, ha, what great memories. One of the neighborhood dads built us a fantastic tree house but warned us not to put too many kids in at once. Did we listen? Ha, when do kids ever listen. We were having a "club meeting" and every kid in the neighborhood was in it when it broke lose from the tree and we all crashed to the ground. Scratched and bruised, but what a great story: the year we survived our tree house disaster. Still makes us laugh today.
 
RadishRose said:
I don't ever see kids playing outside anymore.

Running through the hose water or sprinkler was big in summertime...waterballoons.
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I agree, Rose. When I get back to my hometown, I still drive by my old haunts where the kids all played and hung out and no one is ever around. They are all probably inside their caves playing games.

When I became a teenager, working on cars was my big thing. I bought an old 1950 Olds as my first car and a few of my friends helped me get it on the road. I worked and paid for everything that I put on that car. Even though my parents were well off, they made me pay my way, except my dad put snow tires on my car. That was back when we had to switch our rear tires from regular tread to snow tread.

A lot of guys worked on cars back then. It was the cool thing todo around my area. That and working at a job that paid.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
My mom & dad used to play cards with other couples several times a month. It was a common thing for couples to do. I still remember everybody yelling about a "dummy". There always was a lot of laughter, and alcohol. I don't know if couples play cards like they used to way back when.
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We used to play cards a lot when we were in the Army. As I recall, it was mostly pinochle or spades that we played. It was a fun, cheap (popcorn and beer) evening back then when money was very tight. The men would sometimes get together and play poker, but the women never joined in.

We never played Bridge.
 
Summer children's matinees in our town movie theater. In the 1960's they had daytime weekly movie showings that cost 10 cents to see. Mostly Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin movies, Elvis Movies, and other kid friendly recent movies. We walked to the theater with our friends. If you can imagine, it was kids only, without adult supervision. So much fun.
 
Another thing we children{12-14 years old} did on our own was to ride our bicycles 2 miles to the public swimming pool and swim for hours. No parents came with us and we had a great time. I enjoyed the carefree freedom we had as youngsters. It helped us feel independent and adventurous, while getting us ready for adulthood.
 
I was always riding my bike and could do several tricks. Trying to ride down our steep fronts steps wasn't one of them. I went head first over the handlebars.
Loved jacks, jumping rope, swimming at our public swimming pool and spent hours with my grandma picking blueberries, blackberries and elderberries which she turned into delicious jams and jellies.
 
We would make holes in dry autumn leaves using a magnifying glass and the sun. We played ball for hours, rode bikes without helmets, went to museums by ourselves, enjoyed parades, picnics and playing spy. We'd go to the beach and swim way past the jetty. We'd play miniature golf and go bowling. In winter we'd shovel old people out and they'd give us cocoa. We'd go ice skating and sledding. It was awesome. By teenage, there were parties and dances every weekend and dance contests and battles of the bands. It was a fun time as I recall. No technology necessary or needed.
 
Butterfly said:
We used to play cards a lot when we were in the Army. As I recall, it was mostly pinochle or spades that we played. It was a fun, cheap (popcorn and beer) evening back then when money was very tight. The men would sometimes get together and play poker, but the women never joined in.

We never played Bridge.
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Yes, we played cards too, when I was a young married. We never played bridge; that was my parents thing. I never learned.

We played canasta, set-back, penny poker, casino and pinochle. I completely forgot how to play casino and pinochle!

When Trivial Pursuit came out, everything else; cards, Yahtzee, etc...even electronic Battleship- disappeared.
 
Duster said:
Another thing we children{12-14 years old} did on our own was to ride our bicycles 2 miles to the public swimming pool and swim for hours. No parents came with us and we had a great time. I enjoyed the carefree freedom we had as youngsters. It helped us feel independent and adventurous, while getting us ready for adulthood.
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Oh gosh yes. We'd be gone on bikes almost all day, during the summer. No parents,no cell phones. Pocket change got us a soda and a Devil Dog when we got hungry.
 
Marlene said:
ha, ha, what great memories. One of the neighborhood dads built us a fantastic tree house but warned us not to put too many kids in at once. Did we listen? Ha, when do kids ever listen. We were having a "club meeting" and every kid in the neighborhood was in it when it broke lose from the tree and we all crashed to the ground. Scratched and bruised, but what a great story: the year we survived our tree house disaster. Still makes us laugh today.
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What doesn't kill ya only makes you stronger.šŸ˜œ
 
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