THE FRECKLE SONG
(Harry Stewart / Larry Vincent)
Larry Vincent & His Lookout Boys - 1946
Hank Penny - 1947
The Four Vagabonds - 1947
Sid "Hardrock" Gunter - 1960
Bob Ringwald - 1985
The first movie I remember seeing was at a Drive In. It was “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” with Kurt Russell, which The Google says came out in November 1969. I don’t know how long it took to get movies in Billings Montana back then? I remember it was warm, so probably the summer of 1970. I would have been 5 or 6. Interestingly, I only got to go to one more movie at a Drive Inn before the two here in Billings tore down. That was a double or maybe triple feature of the “Trinity” spaghetti western movies. I was around 14-15. There was another Drive In theater built several years ago between Billings and Laurel, but I have never went to it. I’m not sure it is still open either. I think it was only open in the summer though.
The first movie I saw at a drive-in was a double feature of Flesh Gordon and Death Race 2000; I think I was like 8 or 9, so it would have been 1975 or something. One of my brothers had a Cutlass...easy to hide me in the backseat floor board to get in the gates.
My Freshman year in High School I dated a sophomore that had her drivers licence and access to her Daddy's Plymouth. Between my Sophomore and Junior year in High School until my bride and I were married 5 years later we went to the Drive in Movies because it was about all I could afford most weekends. I don't remember a single movie. Just saying.
Sad to say (not really) I have not seen Flesh Gordon…heard of it, just have not seen it. Death Race 2000, I have seen parts of. There have been times I thought about that show and how they scored extra points if the victims kept? their shoes on…or was it the other way around?
Can't remember exactly; the last time I watched it was probably 25 years ago. These two are cult classics though, a lot like the Python films and such.
I bought my first car in 1981, a 1953 Willy’s Jeep CJ-3B for $200. I did have to tow it home (it had a convenient front tow bar). I put a new (6V) battery in it, changed the oil, plugs, distributor cap & rotor, drained and refilled the oil bath air cleaner and filled the fuel tank with gas. She fired right up and never let me down as long as I owned it. Well….except for that time when the left rear tire fell off and passed me😬. The Willy’s had left hand lug nuts on the right side (or should have). A previous owner either reversed/swapped the axels, hubs or wheel studs so the studs were left-hand thread on the left and right-hand thread on the right, exactly opposite of what they should have been. I was driving from Billings to Bozeman (over the Bozeman Pass) at interstate speeds…well actually more than interstate speeds at that time…(70-75) shhh…..about 140 miles. The wheel fell off in Bozeman by the Park on So. 8th, just a few blocks from the dorm parking lot where I was headed. Lucky🍀 My jack was too tall to get under the Jeep to get the wheel back on. A couple of people seen it happen. Almost before I got out of the Jeep, a person had went and got my wayward tire out of someone’s front yard, maybe off of the porch? about 50-75 yards away and rolled it back. Another fellow had grabbed a small floor-jack from his garage because he saw my jack was too tall and proceeded to jack up my Jeep. I took the three lugnuts holding my spare tire to use as replacements, put the spare in the back of my Jeep, and installed my wayward wheel/tire on with the three lug-nuts. I thanked everyone for their help and went on my merry way. I doubt it took 30 minutes. Montanan’s are great people, well the “native” ones anyway. With “Out-of-Staters”….it’s a crapshoot. With so many “Out-of-Staters” in Bozeman these days, I wonder if the scenario would play out the same? I doubt it.
@KA9FFJ; It almost seems like a dream now, but I remember lots of dates where I could could put $1.00 worth of gas in Dad's old Pontiac Station wagon, go to a hamburger drive in and get 2 cheeseburgers, fries and Cokes for another $1.00. Buy tickets to a movie and popcorn and drinks and still have a couple of dollars left over from a five. I'll bet she thought I was a big spender.
@opipeman I remember those days. My first "job" was at a small gas station when I was still in 8th grade. The owner taught me how to breakdown a flat tire and patch the inside of the tire or the inner tube. He paid me 75¢ an hour to pump gas, check the oil and wash windshields. I got an extra 50¢ for every flat tire I repaired. That was pretty generous considering he only charged $2 to fix a flat tire.
@PappyJoe Was that breaking down a tire with a bead breaking hammer and tire tools by hand? I repaired a few on the farm that way. I was getting $10 a day and found when I was 18. The next year I was foreman with two farm/ranch hands and got $20 a day and found. I lived in an old mobile home trailer without running water or indoor toilet.
Comments
Ok, I'll bite.
Is it a record player speed?
THE FRECKLE SONG (Harry Stewart / Larry Vincent) Larry Vincent & His Lookout Boys - 1946 Hank Penny - 1947 The Four Vagabonds - 1947 Sid "Hardrock" Gunter - 1960 Bob Ringwald - 1985
So funny.
OMG I remember that movie!!! I was a little kid but remember how crazy it was.
Montanan’s are great people, well the “native” ones anyway. With “Out-of-Staters”….it’s a crapshoot. With so many “Out-of-Staters” in Bozeman these days, I wonder if the scenario would play out the same? I doubt it.
I'm not sure if I should put a "haha" on that one or not...😏
It sure ain't funny. The sad part for me is that I remember when it was 25 cents a gallon.
Ah, those were the days...🙂
It almost seems like a dream now, but I remember lots of dates where I could could put $1.00 worth of gas in Dad's old Pontiac Station wagon, go to a hamburger drive in and get 2 cheeseburgers, fries and Cokes for another $1.00. Buy tickets to a movie and popcorn and drinks and still have a couple of dollars left over from a five. I'll bet she thought I was a big spender.
Or how about people actually getting dressed even if just staying at home.
Outstanding.
I remember those days. My first "job" was at a small gas station when I was still in 8th grade. The owner taught me how to breakdown a flat tire and patch the inside of the tire or the inner tube. He paid me 75¢ an hour to pump gas, check the oil and wash windshields. I got an extra 50¢ for every flat tire I repaired. That was pretty generous considering he only charged $2 to fix a flat tire.
Was that breaking down a tire with a bead breaking hammer and tire tools by hand? I repaired a few on the farm that way. I was getting $10 a day and found when I was 18. The next year I was foreman with two farm/ranch hands and got $20 a day and found. I lived in an old mobile home trailer without running water or indoor toilet.