My family lived in a new subdivision of brick homes called Cherokee Park in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a brand new shopping center had just been built nearby. Several of us neighborhood girls would jump on our Schwinns every Saturday afternoon and pedal to the dime store to spend our money.
What sounds like an unbelievably small amount today actually stretched pretty far back then. My favorite purchases when I was in elementary school were Banana Bike penny candies and plastic hair barettes. As I got older, I spent my allowance on Tangee lipstick (the kind that looked bright orange but turned a "natural pink" on your lips...and pushed up rather than twisted up out of the tube), Cutex nail polish and the latest 45s by teenage heartthrobs like Fabian, Frankie Avalon or Ricky Nelson.
My friends and I would stroll the aisles of the TG&Y and weigh the merits of this purchase or that, enjoying the process of deciding as much as we enjoyed the purchases themselves. Eventually, we would make our way to the cash register, pay the cashier, put our bags in our bicycle baskets, and head for home, where we would gather at a friend's house and sit cross-legged on someone's pink bedspread listening to records, giggling and admiring our swag.
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| Banana Bikes wrapper flickr.com - grickily |
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| Plastic hair barettes etsy.com - katybitsandpieces |
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| Tangee lipstick case with push-up button stokemuseums.org.uk |
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| 1963 Cutex ad pzrservices.typepad.com |
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| 45 records collectible-45-records.seebyseeing.net |
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| 45 record adaptor shopradiocast.com |
Oh what a sweet post! Those hair clips!!
ReplyDeleteI used to love riding to the shops too, to buy lollies. That was in the early 80s. I'm worried about my kids today, if only things were as simply pleasant as they once were ...
My daughter grew up in the 80s too, but we lived in a large city, so she didn't have nearly the freedom I had as a child. I'm sure my grandsons will never get to roam very far at all as long as they live in the city. What a shame...
DeleteLove the hair bobbies!
ReplyDeleteI remember the 20c bag of mixed lollies from my 80's childhood!
I love that you call them "bobbies" and "lollies." :)
DeleteI was a kiddo in the 60s but I had those hair clips! I didn't know you were from Shreveport. You didn't know any Shorters there did ya? My uncle was a photographer there and my cousins still live there.
ReplyDeleteThe name sounds familiar, but I don't remember having any friends at school with that last name. I may just remember your uncle's business. Do you know what part of town they lived in back in the 50s and 60s? Small world...
DeleteYou're a bit older than me, my allowance was a little more because of inflation. I started out at $1 when I was in grade school, but I had a job by the time I was 13 so no more allowance for me!
ReplyDeleteYes, my allowance stopped the minute I started working too. I was in a high school vocational program and worked as office help at a Goodyear tire store. I still remember my hair smelling like rubber when I went home every night. Ewwww!
DeleteThis was such a fun post. (As I too love to remember back to my childhood.)
ReplyDeleteI rode a purple banana seat around with my friends & would also buy barettes & makeup... but since this was the 80s I would buy the mood color change lipstick *lol* I usually chose the green or blue one. They still had penny candy when I was little... thats something I really miss. *hahaha*
haha...Love the purple banana seat!
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