Those who grew up in small towns will relate to this.....

1) You can name everyone you graduated with.

2) You know what 4-H means.

3) You went to parties at a pasture, barn, gravel pit, or in the middle of a dirt road. On Monday you could always tell who was at the party because of the scratches on their legs from running through the woods when the party was busted. (See #6)

4) You used to "drag" Main.

5) You said the "F" word and your parents knew within the hour.

6) You scheduled parties around the schedules of different police officers, because you knew which ones would bust you and which ones wouldn't.

7) You could never buy cigarettes because all the store clerks knew how old you were (and if you were old enough, they'd tell your parents anyhow.)

8) When you did find somebody old enough and brave enough to buy cigarettes, you still had to go out into the country and drive on back roads to smoke them.

9) You knew which section of the ditch you would find the beer your buyer dropped off.

10) It was cool to date somebody from the neighboring town.

11) The whole school went to the same party after graduation.

12) You didn't give directions by street names but rather by references. Turn by Nelson's house, go 2 blocks to nderson's, and it's four houses
left of the track field.

13) The golf course had only 9 holes.

14) You couldn't help but date a friend's ex boyfriend/girlfriend.

15) Your car stayed filthy because of the dirt roads, and you will never own a dark vehicle for this reason.

16) The town next to you was considered "trashy" or "snooty,"
but was actually just like your town.

17) You referred to anyone with a house newer then 1965 as the "rich people".

18) The people in the "big city" dressed funny, and then you picked up the trend 2 years later.

19) Anyone you wanted could be found at the local gas station, the town bar, or the A&W.

20) You saw at least one friend a week driving a tractor through town or one of your friends driving a grain truck to school occasionally.

21) The Wrestling Coach suggested you bail hay for the summer to get stronger.

22) Directions were given using THE stop light as a reference.

23) When you decided to walk somewhere for exercise, 5 people would pull over and ask if you wanted a ride.

24) Your teachers called you by your older siblings' names.

25) Your teachers remembered when they taught your parents.

26) You could charge at any local store or write checks without any ID.

27) The closest McDonalds was 25 miles away (or more).

28) The closest mall was over an hour away.

29) It was normal to see an old man riding through town on a riding lawn mower.

30) You've peed in a cornfield.

31) Most people went by a nickname.

I would not have wanted to been raised any other way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tough times don't last... Tough people do.....

That pretty much fits where I live now,,but we do have a McDonald's.. Love the place compared to the big-city life...

Stoplight?!! I thought you were talking about a SMALL town. If it had more than one cop and any of the side streets were paved, that was a big town.

All 4 stores (grocery, hardware, drug, and Ben Franklin) and the filling station had a stack of counter checks next to the register. Y'all DO remember counter checks, doncha?

We still don't have a stop light. The A&W is 15 miles away and the Macdonalds is 60 miles away. Nobody makes square bales now, but the biggest boy in the district has rolled a big round bale up two pickets and into a pickup.

Bye
Jack

Not an A&W, it's a Dairy-Freez up on the state highway, and it's only about 10 minutes on the back road. sundog

True story, my wife had gall bladder problems one night and I had to take her to the E-room. It was 1:30 AM, moonless, on a county road by some cornfields, we stopped because she was vomiting. Next day at church some one says" Was that you on 111 last night?".

Can't stop and puke without somebody knowing it.

Have you ever been to Floris DOK? My Grandma lived there when I was a youngster. I went back a couple of years ago. It is just a "T" in the road. There is less there now than there was 4 decades back. It has one bar and a Quick Crap store. Still has no police.
The Post Office is still there. I saw a few outhouses still standing. Lots of new houses in the surounding contryside.
It was as you described in your post.
Cheezywan

Have you ever been to Floris DOK? My Grandma lived there when I was a youngster. I went back a couple of years ago. It is just a "T" in the road. There is less there now than there was 4 decades back. It has one bar and a Quick Crap store. Still has no police.
The Post Office is still there. I saw a few outhouses still standing. Lots of new houses in the surounding contryside.
It was as you described in your post.
Cheezywan

Nope. missed that one, musted have blinked? Our eldest son lives in a "town" of six houses and a post office and the school house across the street.

I attended a one room school house until 8th grade when the folks sold a cow to pay the tuition for me to go to the "city" for schooling. Went out for football and when the coach told me I would play linebacker, didn't have a clue what he meant. Those were the days.

Dan

Nope. missed that one, musted have blinked? Our eldest son lives in a "town" of six houses and a post office and the school house across the street.

I attended a one room school house until 8th grade when the folks sold a cow to pay the tuition for me to go to the "city" for schooling. Went out for football and when the coach told me I would play linebacker, didn't have a clue what he meant. Those were the days.

Dan
That dates you as my senior,sir.
I recall my Grandma telling of a women that used the Floris school outhouse after the school had been closed down for awhile. The floorboard had given way and she was there for "a spell" before help arrived. I recall that she survived the whole deal. Shooting was pretty common right in town to deal with varmits and such. I was allowed to load my .22 on the front porch and go hunting as I desired. It was a wonderful time in my life.
Cheezywan

i grew up for a time in the 60's in a small town called LANYON IA. it was 3 blocks wide and about 7 blocks long.. the only school ther had cows and hay in it.. we used to ride the school bus for and hour evry morning and again the same at night there was a store there that had only the staples like bread ,milk, sugar,ect.. the post office was in the back part of the store and the clerk/owner was the post mistress....out of maybe 200 residents i was related to about half of em... biggest town was FT DODGE about 20 miles away..... the high point of the summer was taking swin lessons in another little bigger town for one week...... we had fun though........the biggest thing in these small iowa towns seems to be the grain elevator................

i grew up for a time in the 60's in a small town called LANYON IA. it was 3 blocks wide and about 7 blocks long.. the only school ther had cows and hay in it.. we used to ride the school bus for and hour evry morning and again the same at night there was a store there that had only the staples like bread ,milk, sugar,ect.. the post office was in the back part of the store and the clerk/owner was the post mistress....out of maybe 200 residents i was related to about half of em... biggest town was FT DODGE about 20 miles away..... the high point of the summer was taking swin lessons in another little bigger town for one week...... we had fun though........the biggest thing in these small iowa towns seems to be the grain elevator................

The son I referenced lives in Burnside, IA which is about 13 miles south of Ft. Dodge.

Dan

oohh ya...... been to or thru burnside many times..... the town i live in now is called GOWRIE... still a small town.. right around 1200 i think...... just big enough that everyone knows me.........

No Stop light 1 Stop Sign, 2 churches, No Post Office, 1 Gas Station/Store/Hardware Store. All Houses have wells and Septic Tanks. Old Place where wife was born still has Out House and outside well. Water and plumbing never ran into house. Put in Electric about 50 years ago, but still has the old Delco House with Wind Mill for charging power. (Old Place not used any more now that Grand Pa is gone.) School was/is 15 miles away. Total population 900 +/-.

Lee L.

Thats the way I grew up and the way I raised my kids and the way my grand kids are being raised not a thing wrong with it. :) I am **** proud to be a redneck AMERICAN :)

........the biggest thing in these small iowa towns seems to be the grain elevator................

The first time my wife went on a road trip with me to my home town, she noticed a tall "building" off in the distance and commented something to the effect that the "office building" looked out of place there. It was a grain elevator. We get a chuckle every time we drive by a grain elevator now. And more chuckles when we go to a big city with skyscrapers, and I comment that there must be a lot of agriculture in the area to have so many grain elevators. :rolleyes:

Great thread.
I remember burning a whole tank of gas on Friday night driving around with my friends and never leaving the city limits.
I remember that same gravel pit.

I remember putting "cut outs" on my Dad's new car when our little town opened up a new dragstrip.

There were so few girls in high school that the ones you started out with as a sophomore, you were back with by the time you were a senior.

My first Madras sport coat, and skinny ties.

I also remember when the local bank had one of those big night deposit boxes, and on Saturday night a few dumb teenagers went varmint hunting, shot some coons and foxes and "deposited" them.
Sworn to secrecy, hoping not to get caught and then going to school Monday morning only to find a coon tail hanging on --- "their" locker.

I remember siiting in my desk on college day when the news came that Kennedy had been shot.

I guess it was time to grow up

Watching out for cow pies when sliding under the fence to cross the pasture and get to school. Being certain the bull was way far at the other end when crossing to explore the woods. At seven years old, wandering in the bottom-land forest without supervision, without worrying about weirdos--just enjoying the wonder.

tpv i was 9 yrs old the day JFK was shot in dallas... i too did alot of running around in places that might have frightened my mom if she only knew... i dated a girl later that had her drivers license and we too put alot of miles on her parents car without leaving town... wasn't too worried tho as her dad was the town cop here those days..... and yes it did seem like they heard what you were doing before you got home and couild make up a story........... good times those........

tpv i was 9 yrs old the day JFK was shot in dallas... i too did alot of running around in places that might have frightened my mom if she only knew... i dated a girl later that had her drivers license and we too put alot of miles on her parents car without leaving town... wasn't too worried tho as her dad was the town cop here those days..... and yes it did seem like they heard what you were doing before you got home and couild make up a story........... good times those........

You didn't disconnect the speedometer? One of the first things I learned about a car. Lots of miles....yeah, from the root beer stand on one end of town and the skating rink on the other end...anyone home before 12:00 missed all the excitement. Can't watch corn grow at night so had to "cruise".

Dan

You didn't disconnect the speedometer? One of the first things I learned about a car. Lots of miles....yeah, from the root beer stand on one end of town and the skating rink on the other end...anyone home before 12:00 missed all the excitement. Can't watch corn grow at night so had to "cruise".

Dan

JJB is a lot younger than you DOK! Probably no one around old enough to show him that trick. :p :p

Lee L.