What Did You Think Was Indicators of Wealth When Growing Up?

[Incredulity 11675]

2 hours ago, Homercles said:

 

1 hour ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

We used to go on car trips for vacations, often times across the country. That’s more than a lot of my friends got to do. But, my dad would drive all around town at the end of each day looking for vacancy signs. Then, he would try to negotiate rates. Sometimes he would sent me in to get a rate, then he’d come back after he had some other rates from competing motels. We did this all up and down Vegas Strip in 1972. That one is seared in my memory. I still worshipped my dad somewhat as an 11-year old, so I thought it was kinda cool. I always wondered what it would be like to have one of those fancy AAA memberships and use a travel agent for something they called “reservations.”

These two hit the spot.

I had a mostly middle class upbringing(sometimes flush, sometimes hard times) but Dad loved to negotiate and we at some point in the mid 80’s had one of the gigantic satellites in the yard.  I can go on and on about the effort it took to get it lined up to a different group of satellites.  The channel selector was a plastic dial with no detents for position so it was a lot like tuning rabbit ears.

[Guadaloopy 10973]

Growing up, the kid across the street had multiple colors of Panno D’ors and a Kuwahara.  I thought he crapped gold.  

[Bullneck 19117]

I knew people who went to Colorado to go skiing.  They were most certainly rich.

[ramirezut 63]

One time I visited a friends house and saw the end of the rainbow in his pantry -- a treasure chest of the best snacks known to mankind: gushers, pringles, cokes, fruit by the foot, dunk-a-roos, Dorito fun packs...

It was a sight to behold and I knew they had to be rich.

[Zepol87 9188]

2 hours ago, Stunns38 said:

As already said, a Sega Genesis and Nintendo.

And all channels on cable. Descramblers were prevalent so having all premiums, PPV, and porn channels.

Having a big screen TV with those 3 lights. Took up half the basement.

Not sure which model but my uncle had one of those big ass tvs with the speakers on the bottom. I remember many drunken Tio nights after Tyson fights on that thing. He was my hero

[DalTxHornFan 3104]

Inground pool all the way. Couldn't wait until our kids got old enough to have had swimming lessons and to be semi-drownproofed so we could buy a house with a pool.  Two houses later -- after the kids are out of the house, we now have no pool to maintain but some acreage that needs work, so we've got that going for us, which is nice.

 

[elfenix 34269]

3 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

HBO 

that was mine. 

[Zepol87 9188]

10 minutes ago, elfenix said:

that was mine. 

Red shoe diaries was my shit

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Unscrambled porn

VCR (you could watch unscrambled porn and even fast forward / rewind to the good parts.)

My richest friend's dad was kind of a Dixie Mafia type who made his money off "amusements." He dropped off a Pac-Man console at the house for a weekend before it was officially released and he needed to get it out on the track and earning. None of us slept for 72 hours. 

 

[RPM 26322]

Color TV, refrigerated a/c (not swamp cooler), an actual house and not a trailer

[ernest_t_bass 1196]

Satellite TV

Inground pool

ATV

Name brand clothing

Multiple sports team's jerseys

Non shitty cars
- This is one that blows my mind today.  It seems like 85% of people have pretty nice vehicles, and that includes kids.  People who I know are teh poors, but driving around really nice cars.  You didn't see that shit growing up.  

[RDCanecutter 26447]

A trampoline and a go-kart.

Ordering whatever the hell you wanted off a menu.

Flying anywhere on a plane without joining the military.

[MissingInAction 25104]

Hookers and blow.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Having an umbrella in your drink like in those magazine ads.

"Be somebody!"

[Dennis Taylor 18829]

as a former sergeant in the Army Air Corps my dad was a very by-the-book no nonsense guy, so I was stunned and thrilled when he removed the filters that blocked HBO, Skinemax etc from our cable.  

On vacations he did a ton of haggling with hotels as well, but he was a dyed in the wool AAA TripTik guy. I remember flipping through these things while lounging unrestrained in the back of the station wagon on the road to Florida

 

 

[nnm 36418]

Who knew Syracuse was a big salt producer?

[Guest Lobo]

You save Car!

-D. Draper 

[Mo Horn 8848]

2 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

as a former sergeant in the Army Air Corps my dad was a very by-the-book no nonsense guy, so I was stunned and thrilled when he removed the filters that blocked HBO, Skinemax etc from our cable.  

On vacations he did a ton of haggling with hotels as well, but he was a dyed in the wool AAA TripTik guy. I remember flipping through these things while lounging unrestrained in the back of the station wagon on the road to Florida

 

 

I remember those. Loved them as a kid. 

[ABSR 5315]

12 hours ago, Bullneck said:

I knew people who went to Colorado to go skiing.  They were most certainly rich.

For me it was this, or vacations that did not involve seeing relatives.   I remember two trips (not Boy Scout related) from when I was young, but both involved my family with another, but neither dad went as they had to work.  Just Mom's and kids. One was to Galveston and the other to San Antonio.

Only "vacations" with Dad were to visit grandparents/relatives.  He did not want to use vacation days in case he lost his job.  Same company for 36 years, retired with over 2 years of vacation pay owed to him.

[AUS-97HORN 11806]

I second the satellite dish, the big honking massive MFers.   All the stories about being able to watch any televised football or baseball games, plus all the movie channels with no descrambler... that was the shit.

 

also being able to go to Toys R Us and buy anything you wanted.   That was RICH for me.  I tried many, many times to sign up for those $5k Toys R Us shopping spree's and never got my name picked.  grrr

[hundredTT 578]

All the rich kids in middle school had like new shoes every month, my time as a teen in the early 2000’s that’s when Iversons, Shox, tmacs were all the craze. Of course Jordan’s as well. I would just get my basketball shoes at famous footwear, my parents laughed when I asked for $200 Iversons lol. 

Edited July 1, 2020 by hundredTT

[BayouBill 835]

New video game systems and new games. I was always one generation back for a good 2-3 years until the price would drop to below $100. My N64 I did finally get was from a pawn shop Christmas '99.

[Underdog 28708]

Inground pool's a good call, had a few friends from school who had game rooms/finished basements with pinball machine, pool table, ping pong table.  While they wore Levi's to school I had my Sears toughskins.  

[DalTxHornFan 3104]

24 minutes ago, Underdog said:

While they wore Levi's to school I had my Sears toughskins.  

Man, I hated wearing those to school!

[Litig8r 414]

agree on the power windows..

[Parliament 14260]

Remote control TV
A combine with AC
Garage door opener

[Anastasis 23474]

[SimonBolivar 10958]

I don't remember having any friends that had more money than we did. It felt to me like we all lived in the same 90's brick house in our little AAA middle class suburb and we all went to the same football game on Friday night and the same college game on Saturday. Maybe we were the rich kids and I didn't even know it.

[Capt. Squints 176]

Private school

CC Membership

Beach house w/at least two boats and pier

Hunting club w/tons of game and well-stocked lake

[Bullneck 19117]

9 hours ago, ernest_t_bass said:

Satellite TV

Inground pool

ATV

Name brand clothing

Multiple sports team's jerseys

Non shitty cars
- This is one that blows my mind today.  It seems like 85% of people have pretty nice vehicles, and that includes kids.  People who I know are teh poors, but driving around really nice cars.  You didn't see that shit growing up.  

When I was a teenager in Corpus in the 70s I would see a car burning blue smoke like crazy every other day (worn compression rings, I think).  I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen it the last ten years.

[Bullneck 19117]

29 minutes ago, Capt. Squints said:

Private school

CC Membership

Beach house w/at least two boats and pier

Hunting club w/tons of game and well-stocked lake

Nice humblebrag, Mr. Middle Class

[BearSchlong 8098]

Either a ranch stocked with trophy bucks or a 50 plus foot Hatteras fishing boat.

I was a spoiled little fucker that had all the things mentioned above except those 2 things.

 

[Bullneck 19117]

3 hours ago, ABSR said:

For me it was this, or vacations that did not involve seeing relatives.   I remember two trips (not Boy Scout related) from when I was young, but both involved my family with another, but neither dad went as they had to work.  Just Mom's and kids. One was to Galveston and the other to San Antonio.

Only "vacations" with Dad were to visit grandparents/relatives.  He did not want to use vacation days in case he lost his job.  Same company for 36 years, retired with over 2 years of vacation pay owed to him.

Ah, yes, the in-state vacation.  We did the Texas Forts Trail one summer, lol.

[Capt. Squints 176]

3 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

Nice humblebrag, Mr. Middle Class

I didn't say I had all that stuff growing up. Merely answering the question that was posed.

[Bullneck 19117]

9 minutes ago, Capt. Squints said:

I didn't say I had all that stuff growing up. Merely answering the question that was posed.

I figured.  What I was saying is that if that's what you considered rich, you probably had the things we thought were rich.

[BearSchlong 8098]

1 hour ago, SimonBolivar said:

I don't remember having any friends that had more money than we did. It felt to me like we all lived in the same 90's brick house in our little AAA middle class suburb and we all went to the same football game on Friday night and the same college game on Saturday. Maybe we were the rich kids and I didn't even know it.

 

[The University 851]

5.0 with a ragtop (down)

[nnm 36418]

Any swimming pool. There was only one in a 30-mile radius of my home. 
Caddys and Lincolns. With electric windows. And AC. 
Sidewalks. 
Color TV, cable TV, big ol’ satellite dishes. 
Any new car. A car that didn’t vapor lock on the way to town. 
The big cabinet TV/sound system, with the turntable, speakers, all in the cabinet. 
Central heating. 
Buying chicken from the grocery store. 
More than one baseball at home. More than one glove. A bat of one’s own. 

[DalTxHornFan 3104]

4 hours ago, Bullneck said:

When I was a teenager in Corpus in the 70s I would see a car burning blue smoke like crazy every other day (worn compression rings, I think).  I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen it the last ten years.

Errbody seems to drive better cars these days.

[Gil Bang 25961]

never fucking a sweathog.

 

I still feel that way.

[Bash Riprock 1695]

Girbaud Jeans

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Etexhorn13 3051]

Separate tv in the back of the car to hook up a PlayStation to.

A refrigerator with ice and water attachments (we had a separate ice machine, but that was definitely a must have when I bought my own house). 

I remember coming back from summer camp and my dad has direct tv hooked up... beautiful day. 
 

I think I was one of the lucky ones. My parents did alright by me.  

[Stunns38 3514]

Not sure which model but my uncle had one of those big ass tvs with the speakers on the bottom. I remember many drunken Tio nights after Tyson fights on that thing. He was my hero

Man, my aunt had the Tyson fight vs Holyfield’s ear on that big TV. The best part of the night is that my uncle accidentally turned to Spice and was unable to turn back to the fight for 30 secs for some reason. Saw titties and boxing. Memories.

[mchookem 16336]

Jordache jeans, Izod/Polo shirts, Reebok/Nike shoes, Liz Claiborne purse

2-story house

pool table 

en suite bathroom

my BFF had her own horse ("I had a pony!" /manya) 

another friend's parents had a sparkling green (like glitter-sparkly) Ford LTD...i thought that car was made of diamonds. it was the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen. 

 

[mulletpelini 5211]

On 6/30/2020 at 9:35 PM, ImissWallyPryor said:

I asked my wife because I knew they didn’t get to eat out much. She said they ate out less than 10 times a year when she was a kid. My family at least doubled that. Some of my kids’ millennial friends average 10 times a week.

We were not rich, but I never wanted for anything (within reason)  We got to eat out only on our birthdays, so 6x per year.  My dad was very cheap.

 

 

8 hours ago, Anastasis said:

I bought this myself from mowing yards as a kid, pretty sure it cost about $25.  True story, sold just the box a few years back for over $100.

 

6 hours ago, nnm said:

The big cabinet TV/sound system, with the turntable, speakers, all in the cabinet. 

I was fascinated with these for some reason.  I would see them in the catalogs and newspapers and anytime my mom went to JCP or Dillards, I'd go just to look at them.  I never owned one, not even after I had the means to do so.

[Zepol87 9188]

Oh shit the turntable cabinet lol. My grandpa worked for TXU for many name changes before they were txu. He got one of those as a gift for a 40 anniversary with the company thing.  I loved that damn thing 

[PilotsError 2289]

Eating at Red Lobster

[SHOOTER12 8810]

17 hours ago, ABSR said:

 

Only "vacations" with Dad were to visit grandparents/relatives.  He did not want to use vacation days in case he lost his job.  Same company for 36 years, retired with over 2 years of vacation pay owed to him.

Oh hell, a man after my own heart.  I was trying to do the same until our original owners (RIP) family destroyed the company and we were bought out.  I had nearly one year of accumulated vacation and sick days.  That went away under new ownership.  At one point I had nearly 2 years until illness and multiple surgeries put one hell of a dent in my PTO.

Edited July 2, 2020 by SHOOTER12

[nnm 36418]

1 hour ago, SHOOTER12 said:

Oh hell, a man after my own heart.  I was trying to do the same until our original owners (RIP) family destroyed the company and we were bought out.  I had nearly one year of accumulated vacation and sick days.  That went away under new ownership.  At on point I had nearly 2 years until illness and multiple surgeries put one hell of a dent in my PTO.

Man, that’s rough. So when they changed the policy, did you have a leg to stand on?

[Guest Lobo]

Glad to read I'm not the only one on here who grew up lower middle class but was cared for, and also really wanted cable tv, a lake house, a country club membership, a Lincoln car, a portable gaming system, big screen TV, pool table, ski trips, and house big enough to have its own "play room" filled with cool toys.  

I don't mean to brag fellas, but now that I'm grown up and have my own family of four.  We have TWO television sets in our house.  That's right, count 'em.  TWO.  One upstairs and one downstairs.  Oh yeah.  Both with cable TV.