Trip Down Memory Lane 1

Living long has its benefits and drawbacks. Providing one does not develop Alzheimer then the memory remains intact meaning the person will remember bygone times. And that is what this is all about. The things I do remember and to see how far we came along. This listing is random. It is just how they come to my mind.

I left my home country in early 1957, so these things are until that time. I know that technology and modernization has taken over but still my memories remain.

For years after WWII horse drawn carts were permitted in Budapest. Every morning a large container type contraption, drawn by two strong horses came around to collect the garbage. The building super placed the garbage cans by the curb then handed those up to the man who emptied them into the container. A whistle and the horses moved on to the next building. Around the middle of the 1950s they bought some trucks but while I was there these were only used in selected locations.

There was a famous beer company in Budapest who delivered their beer in horse drawn carts. These horses were similar to the Budweiser horses. Big and strong, looking very healthy.

For quite a few years cars and trucks had no electric starters. What they had were hand cranks. I always watched as someone had to go to the front of the vehicle and crank it by hand to make the engine to start up. Not a bad idea. Sometimes when my batteries were not strong enough to start my car, I wished I had a hand crank!

There were no traffic lights for years after WWII. At major street crossings there were traffic policemen standing on a wooden box in the middle of the intersection and directed traffic by hand. Just as they still do in N. Korea. God forbid you crossed when it was not your time. Eventually they made electric traffic lights and then those policemen were sitting in a raised booth and controlled the lights by hand. Eventually they made those automatic.

Streetcars (trams), buses had ticket collectors (conductors). One in each streetcar wagon. His/her job was to walk back and forth and check, sell the tickets. They all had a leather bag on their shoulders containing the money. They had one fare tickets and transfer tickets. These ticket collectors punched all kind of code into the tickets to make sure that they could not be used more than what they were bought for. It is another story how streetcars were started at each of their stops.

Each car had a continuous string or something like that attached to a bell. When the conductor decided that there were no more people getting on or off, he/she pulled that string. When the bell sounded in the first car, the engineer (driver) started the tram moving. Very sophisticated, right?

I think this is enough for now. I will have more as they keep popping up in my head.