What was the first thing you bought when you got out on your own?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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The Sticks, Northeast PA.
When I got out of the US Navy in '72, all I had was a duffel bag, and stereo stuff. I got an apartment in NYC. There was nothing but a floor and white walls. I was in Manhattan, looking for things, and there was a guy, on the corner, selling things out of his trunk. Supposedly the goods "fell" off a truck. :unsure: :unsure: ?????? There was a nice framed Japanese print, which had a store price tag of $6.67 ($40 in today's money). The guy sold it to me for 67 cents ($2.00, today.
That was the first thing I got.
What was the first thing you bought when you got out on your own?
 

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I bought a portable stereo record player. You could detach the lid and put it somewhere in the room and play stereo records on it, by that I mean you could hear a train approaching from one end of the room to the other. I was fascinated by it. The first long play record I bought was Lester
Lanin Goes Latin and Los Indios Tabajaras , their famous piece was Maria Elena, beautiful guitarists. This was way back in 1964. It took me a month to pay it off.
 
A Stereo Music centre 1976....similar to this

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oscash said:
I bought a portable stereo record player. You could detach the lid and put it somewhere in the room and play stereo records on it, by that I mean you could hear a train approaching from one end of the room to the other. I was fascinated by it. The first long play record I bought was Lester
Lanin Goes Latin and Los Indios Tabajaras , their famous piece was Maria Elena, beautiful guitarists. This was way back in 1964. It took me a month to pay it off.
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I had this one.. my brother bought it for me about a year before I left home....

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The first non-food item that I bought when I got out on my own and had a paycheck was a color TV set. Up to that point, I had owned only a black-and-white set. This set had a 19" screen and was housed in a big clunky box, not like the thin screens of today, almost all of which are larger as well. There was no remote or electronic tuner...it was the 1970's! But I thought that I had the crown jewels there, and had to finance the set on credit, which I was initially refused for as I hadn't been at a residence long enough!
 
Fyrefox said:
The first non-food item that I bought when I got out on my own and had a paycheck was a color TV set. Up to that point, I had owned only a black-and-white set. This set had a 19" screen and was housed in a big clunky box, not like the thin screens of today, almost all of which are larger as well. There was no remote or electronic tuner...it was the 1970's! But I thought that I had the crown jewels there, and had to finance the set on credit, which I was initially refused for as I hadn't been at a residence long enough!
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we couldn't afford a tv when we were first married. Not even a rented tv... (can you even get rental tv's today ?).. Anyway my father-in-law gave us an old Tv he had, and it could only receive one channel... so that's what we had for the first year...

ETA this old TV was Black & White
 
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Before the actual move-in: cleaning supplies. When I first moved in, then pots, pans, dishes, etc. My mother went with me. We went to S. Klein's on E. 14th Street, a department store that has been closed now since ? S. Klein Department Store being demolished, northeast corner of 14th Street & Union Square East - Village Preservation
1984? I moved out over a dozen years before that, make that more like 15 years, but before my real NYC apt, as in the beginning I was mostly in England, living in furnished bed-sits in Chelsea (which is also a neighborhood in NYC)
 
When I moved out, got on a plane from Hawaii to Texas, where the nice people supplied me with lodging, food and a complete set of clothes.
Couldn't buy anything other than postage stamps, stationary and a coke or two toward the end of 9 weeks.
Since I was going to stay in Texas for my Tech school, they let me go to the BX and shop alone. BY MYSELF!

Remember the first purchase I made was a Houston Oiler's ball cap to hide my short hair.

When I got to Guam, purchased a 'real' Rolax watch from a guy on the beach for 15 dollars.
Didn't own a car for the next 3 years.

I know it sounds like a pity train, but it was some of the best times because of the job.
 

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