Memory Lane

The Home of Old Classic Cars from Yesterday

Stepping back in time is fun . . . just plain and simple fun! Whether you are a teenager wanting to learn about the eras in which your parents grew up or the adult who wants to relive the memories, the nostalgia is an alluring invitation for a trip down memory lane. 

Looking back provides reflections into who we are, how we have evolved and in some instances, where we are going [again]. Making comparisons of how things were 'back in the day' to present day is often hilarious. The changes in fashion, cars, appliances, entertainment, even looking back/reflecting upon sayings about the future, which is now the present, can have one doubling over with laughter or simply smiling in amazement. 

Mode of travel...

Let's start our trip down memory lane in the Chevrolet Corvette, which was unveiled in 1953. It featured one of the first all-fiberglass bodies and wraparound windshield.

The Corvette Story: Modest Beginnings

The first C1 Corvette didn’t have a lot of muscle, but the model lasted nine years with gradual improvements under the hood. The C2 Corvette, aka the Corvette Sting Ray, came out in 1963 to much fanfare for both design and performance. The seventh-generation Corvette, the C7, came out in 2014 with a weight-saving aluminum frame. To this day, it is still considered one of the best American sports cars.

Evolution of the Corvette: from then 'til now

Fashionable Changes...

Elizabeth Taylor, c.1955

Fashion—hairstyles and body wear—has undergone radical changes from decade to decade with each leaving its unique signature in the pages of history. Some surfaced never to appear again (thank goodness!), while for others as history repeats itself so do styles.

The 50s decade was an era of experimentation. With WWII over, imagery reverted to styles of glamour. The American film industry and popular music industry influenced hairstyles around the world, both in mainstream fashion and teenage sub-culture. Women generally emulated the hair styles and hair colors of popular film personalities and top models of fashion magazines. Sound familiar today?

  
Music Through the Decades...

Entering the 21st century brought across the board many songs from the 50s all the way through the 90s. Of course, it was by way of the 20s, 30s and 40s that music evolved into a passion relative to survival as many listeners would so declare today.  Look at the plethora of choices available for listening pleasure, dancing, rapping, or simply relaxing: contemporary music, popular music, traditional music, hip hop music, country music. Each decade has offered its own unique genres of music. 

From the 50s into the 21st century, memories remain and the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...

50s General Conversation...

You are living in the 50s. Picture yourself sitting with someone on your front porch in the early evening or perhaps visiting your grandparents. Recall conversations with Grandpa who had a tremendous impact on your views of how things really were in the past - the days before our ever present technological age.

The following statements come up in the topic of conversation, the economy.

~If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00 nobody will be able to hire outside help anymore. How's a business man suppose to feed his family paying such outrageous wages for hired help?

~Did you hear the post office is gonna start charging 7 cents just to mail a letter? That's utterly despicable!

~They say someday soon all our appliances will be electric. Can you imagine the ol' wringer washing machine being electric? That would be a hoot!

~Who would have thought gas would ever cost 25 cents a gallon? I hear it will soon go up to 26 cents. Up a penny now, another penny later. Rate it is going gasoline will reach a dollar a gallon before we know it. What's the world coming to?

~Them Volkswagen cars are gonna open up the door to a whole lot of foreign business. What's happening to made in America?

~Things are really gettin' tough nowadays. Hard for a family to make ends meet. Even some married women are having to get jobs outside the home. It won't be long before people are gonna have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work. Um-m-m? Work to earn enough to pay a sitter so you can work...what's wrong with that picture?

~There is no sense going on weekend trips for a break anymore. It costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay in a hotel. That means a Friday and Saturday night will set one back $4.00...that's almost a full day's wages!

~At $15.00 a day in the hospital, no one can afford to be sick anymore. All those doctors want to do is make their lives easier at our expense! Maw, what's that home remedy for sore throat?

~Some scientists think it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. Down in Texas they even have some fellers they call 'astronauts' gettin' ready for it. Now, ain't that somethin'?

Turn your thoughts to the economy of today with comparisons of that which came up in conversation in the 50s. In other words, move that conversation into a new millennium.

General Conversation Today...

It is the 21st century. You and a friend are sitting at a bar having a few drinks before going home after a hard day's work at the office. Today's economy becomes the topic of conversation.

~Do you remember how things were in the 50s? Sure wish we could turn the clock back.

Looking into the Future... 

No matter how you turn it, the sands of time flow only one way through the hourglass. Look ahead, not backwards, but always keep the memories. Events, encounters, endnotes (sweet or sour) may be gone but certainly not forgotten. All senses are incorporated within the memories awaiting the trigger to bring them back to life—a smell, a taste, a nickname, even the tone of someones’ voice, a particular phrase, the shape of someones’ head in the distance. The memories—they are you, you are them. Life void of memories leaves nothing but emptiness.