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We always think of the past as the good old days, but were they?
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How did we not slam our heads into the windshield on a daily basis in the 60’s and 70’s?
I grew up riding in the front seat of a 1962 Ford Falcon station wagon.
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And yes, my mother still had it after my husband I got married…. when we were dressed head to toe in stonewashed denim. ( In our defense… it was the 80’s. Denim ruled. 🤣)
It had vacuum wipers, a manual choke, the dimmer switch on the floor…. and no seat belts.
But mothers must have had quicker reaction times and more serious arm strength back then because mine drove me in and out of New Jersey and NYC with my cranium still intact. Impressive feat of parenting, that.
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To this day I don’t know the first names of my parents friends from back then. I was trotted out to shake hands with guests upon their arrival and taught to say how do you do Mr. and Mrs. Whoever before disappearing to my room never to be seen or heard from again. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to interrupt adults. Nope. Never.
Very different from today’s parenting where the world seems to revolve around a five year old’s desires.
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Ain’t that the truth? Run nonstop all day and fight going to sleep at night. Now I can’t get up off the couch without creaking and as soon as it gets dark? My pajamas are calling.
Maybe they were the good old days after all….
😉
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River's world..... 
I think I had the same pair of 1980s jeans! My first car was a 1962 Chev that had been red but had faded to pink. It was a manual on the wheel also with a dimmer on the floor and no seatbelts. I agree, I don’t know how we didn’t crack our skulls at least twice a week. So, good old days? Not really but I hear you about that energy!
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I learned to drive in that old Falcon and that choke drove me crazy. You had to feather it just right or the damn thing would stall.
🤣
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Great photo!
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So young, so… blue.
🤣
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Ahhhh the good old days!!
The worst braking accident I ever had was in a 1966 red Rambler Ambassador convertible with bucket seats. My son who was around five at the time, was standing in the back floorboard. A car stopped abruptly in front of me and I had to furiously slam on the brakes! He came flying up over the seat back, and landed on his head in the front floorboard.
Luckily, he only got a couple of small bruises, but from then on, he sat in the seat with his seat belt fastened.
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Kids.
We were tougher back then. We climbed all over the car, stuck our heads and feet out windows and tea, took the occasional tumble.
Our Falcon was a ‘62, no seat belts. Anywhere.
🥴
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I didn’t hit the windshield until my Toyota Tercel got flipped into a Jersey barrier by a dump truck. The seatbelt ripped out of the floor. I’m sure my mom would have stopped me.
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Yikes!
But yes. Mom’s arm was like a steel bar. You would have been fine.
😉
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