BACKTRACKING

Do You Remember When?

By Terry Hogan

Do you remember when,

Cars and their drivers had whitewalls?

Flattops were haircuts?

Telephones actually were dialed?

You had to pick up the receiver and listen before dialing because it was a party line?

You took US 150 to Peoria and it was a big trip?

Galesburg didn't have enough water pressure to fight fires?

Downtown was crowded on a Friday night?

Lake Bracken had outdoor movies on Sunday night?

The Galesburg Silver Streaks were defeated at State by the Cobden Apple Knockers?

The Galesburg Airport was on North Henderson Street?

The following burned: Public Library, old High School, Broadview Hotel, and Lake Bracken Clubhouse?

Cooke School blew up? Ever wonder what the cause was?

The Burlington Zephyr roared through Galesburg on the way to the 1934 Chicago World's Fair?

You sat on tractors, not in them?

The good roads out of town were the "hardroads"?

You drove to the old dump with a carload of trash and brought half a carload of "treasures" home?

You pumped your own drinking water?

You had an outhouse instead of 2.5 bathrooms?

Cedar Fork carried more than just water?

Cars only had AM radios?

Cars didn't have air conditioning?

Rubbers kept your feet dry?

Trains carried people instead of containers of foreign-made goods?

Galesburg had "dry goods" stores?

You stood outside to order your McDonalds?

Hamburgers were 15 cents?

There were steam locomotives?

You played with metal toy cars and trucks in the dirt or gravel driveway?

You could swim nearly anywhere without worrying about water quality? (It was probably worse then, but we didn't worry about it).

Farms were small and had fences?

Mercury was better known as a car than a health threat?

You used to "silver" coins with the mercury from broken thermometers?

"Mad Cows" meant you were late for the milking?

You didn't have instant news access to all the world's problems?

As close as you got to a network was patching the minnow seine?

Both the TV and the news were "black and white"?

Editorials were kept separate from news reporting?

If you can remember many of the above, but can't remember what you did yesterday, then you're just plain old. And unfortunately, we don't respond to aging the way cheese does.

3-21-06