The Good Old Days

Do you remember the good old days? Which ones are those you might ask? Well, depending on who you talk to, the “good old days” can be any period in the past where we think things were better than what they are now, to some degree. For example, remember when the price of gas was less than a dollar a litre or there was no social media and therefore the risk of others seeing embarrassing photos of you was minimal? I guess it’s a period of time when things were just simpler or so we thought. I bet no one living in those days thought it was the good old days. They each had their own struggles and difficulties, same as we do today. Just like many years from now we might look back on today and think these are the good old days! I was recently browsing through some old newspapers from the early 70’s and discovered I could get a 3 piece meal at KFC for $1.49 and eat it while sitting at my 5 piece chrome set that I bought at Tetford’s for $64.50. Afterwards I could relax in front of the Westinghouse Solid State Colour TV in my recliner chair that I also purchased from Tetford’s for $94.50 while puffing on the cigarettes I bought at Wescal’s on special – 2 packs for 0.99 cents. Now that sounds like the good old days. What a time to be alive! I also came to the conclusion that The Compass newspaper was probably one of the first forms of social media like Facebook. We learned when someone had a birthday, got married and had babies. But, did you know it also gave details of when residents left town for vacations or visit family members in other parts of the province? For example did you know that Mr. & Mrs. Glavine visited family in Bishop’s Falls one weekend in 1974? Or, Betty correctly guessed the ‘beans in the jar’ game at a baby shower for Mrs. Shute? Read The Compass to get the inside scoop, just like Facebook. Take a look at the images below I found in those newspapers and see if they muster up some feelings of nostalgia.

What reminds me of the good old days is looking through back and white photos. Although there are very few photos of myself in black and white, there were plenty of snaps taken of the family.

Many moons ago when I switched from film to a digital camera, one of the features on it was a B&W setting. I used it sporadically with good results. However, these days I rarely take black and white photos mainly because my latest camera doesn’t give me that option so I need to use a photo editor to make the switch from colour to black and white. I’ve spent the last few weeks or so combing through my photo collection and so far have some across very few black and white snaps and I have literally looked through thousands of photos. Nothing beats a good, vibrant, colourful photo in my humble opinion. Don’t get me wrong, the B&W’s are pretty spectacular in their own way. But for me an image that lacks colour often evokes a feeling of sadness or loneliness. This is not always the case as you will see below. There are some truly happy moments captured as well. Here are a few images of my own that I managed to scrounge up.

Full disclosure: There are some photos here that aren’t black and white and those should be easy to spot. If not, I’ll give you a hint…they all involve snow and the moon. I classified them as B&W since there is little colour to be seen.

To me, all these pictures feel like the good old days. I guess it’s because whether they were taken yesterday or 50 years ago it’s an actual moment in time forever captured and when we look at those pictures we are looking into the past a.k.a. the good old days. So, don’t ever long for the good old days as we are currently living them every moment of our lives even though it may not always feel like it!

Until Next Time!

Andrea