If you were a "street kid" In Janesville in the 50's you had a great time downtown. You could buy cigarettes at Canon's Pool Hall and Bowling Alley for twenty cents and never be asked your age. You could sit and watch the older kids shoot pool and the old men play billiards. Kids who were brave would count the wieners at Sam and John's Cafe. Adamany's was where the tough kids hung out. If you were so inclined you could buy a dollar bag of popcorn from Gus near the corn exchange. Those who purchased one know what the bag contained, as the rumor goes. The Tallman house was just an old house. The buses gathered at The Corn Exchange and ran until 10:30 pm. The all school track meet was the big event for grade school kids as was the trip to Madison to the zoo by train. Santa was stationed at J.M. Bostwicks and at Douglas Hardware where the toys were on the second floor. Harris Ace was the best place to go anytime of the year. The little train at Riverside park was a favorite and folks from miles around would come to Janesville to ride the steam train. Kids would watch the steam engines at the switch yard at the five points while their moms shopped at Krogers. Was life better, yup.

In the 1950's I was a little kid living in an aparment on the corner of Milwaukee and Jackson streets (now a parking lot). I guess zoning laws were different as we shared a bathroom that connected our apartment to the apartment next to ours, the 2 moms coordinated bathroom usage. I loved Saturday nights in the summer when it seemed like most families in town were strolling the streets, most with ice cream cones purchased downtown. Saturday afternoons I visited Mr. and Mrs. Ulius at their Coconut Shop for lunch and candy (both my parents worked) and on I went to the Jeffers(sp?)theater to watch kids matinees. At the theater we were under the supervision of Mr. Lalor, who was always impressively dressed up. He had a wonderful manner with us kids. Alot of friday nights(parents working) I took a cab with my younger brother (I was around 8 years old) to John's Steakhouse on Court St. to eat great aged steaks or great chili at extremely reasonable prices and to talk to John, who really took care of us 'underage' regulars.
I guess you can tell I'm old by the way I'm rambling on.
One theme I'd like to point out. The businesses were small, mostly locally owned, very personal, and it seemed everyone knew each others name. As a kid it was like having an extended 'community' family.
Humor me, as I've got to mention 1 more highlight from those days. In 1955 my father ordered a green and white buick (you ordered cars in those days). He changed his mind later and went back into the dealerdhip and requested a red and white car. Apparently the car was already on the line and we later took delivery of a red and white car with a green interior.

I remember collecting bottles and taking them to the corner store so we could buy candy or whatever we could afford. Being able to be out “until the streetlights came on” everyone knew that was the time to go home in the summer. Mowing the yard, playing a game of pick up ball, listening to the Packers on the radio with my Great Grandfather, he could not see so the radio was what we used. Back then no one had a TV to watch anyway. Putting a penny on the rail road track and trying to find it after a train went by. Working hard when we had to and playing even harder when we did not have to work.

I think what I remember most about the good old days is that things were much calmer and what seems to me much simpler than the complicated life we have now.

I like to think back on the days when reminiscing was really reminiscing.

Actually, nostalgia comes from a random firing of a neural electro-chemical process. Studies show that stimulating a certain part of the brain will cause someone to long for the good old days of last week.

Pastafarian - Now that's the good old days! Sitting by the fire, and "shopping" the mail order catalogs. Oh look, a 25" COLOR console TV for only $499, and it's 185 lbs???

I just try to forget the clothes. ;~)
http://www.chicagoshopping.com/blog/fash...

Were the "good old days" really so good? I remember the community bath on Saturday evenings. I also remember my only library fine (2 cents) in 1952 and a parking ticket in 1968 which was really my wife's fault, staying too long at a Woolworth's store. I also remember creamed codfish on toast on Friday nights at Grandma's place. She could "stretch" one pound of boxed codfish and a loaf of bread to feed a dozen people (relatives). On Christmas Eve, we each got one or two presents under the Christmas tree and took joy in attending evening church services together. It was not the Depression but it was just after WWII and supplies of many items were short. We collected bottles, aluminum, rubber tires and steel cans for recycling money. We even picked up coal pieces near the railroad tracks to take back home to put in our coal-fired furnaces. We thought times were good and didn't think that we were "poor". Maybe we really weren't. Today's kids seem to have more goods but do they still have the same close-knit families? Were the good old days really all that bad? Any comparisons seem to fall short, things do change.