My wife Sharon and I are classic pack rats. We live in a house bursting with stuff for which we have absolutely no use, but which we either never got around to, or can’t bring ourselves to throw away.
Ever set out on one mission and wind up diverting into another completely unexpected journey? That was the case with us recently when Sharon started rifling through an old metal document box tucked away deep in a hall closet. She was searching for a car title, but instead she discovered a pile of old checkbook registers. They dated back more than 40 years.
For us it was something akin to discovering the Dead Sea scrolls. We immediately abandoned the search for the car title and spent the next few hours on an incredible trip down memory lane. Just wading through the various entries seemed to bring back vivid memories of the beginning of our life together, not to mention incredible snapshots of the world as it existed four decades ago.
The checkbook we found most iconic was dated 1975…the year we were married. I thought it would be fun to share some of the entries with you.
August 14th, 1974 FLEET FARM…..$88.57 MEMO: 4 new tires for car This averages out to a little over $22 per tire. You can’t hardly buy one tire for 88 bucks today.
January 8th, 1975 WISCONSIN TELEPHONE COMPANY……$22.49 MEMO: December phone bill I would be embarrassed to tell you what our phone bill is today. Bear in mind this bill would reflect just one wall phone in my apartment. No mobiles, no text messaging charge, no internet (the world wide web was still about 20 years into the future).
July 7th, 1975 C & T AMERICAN MOTORS…..$1,847.80 MEMO: New car Yes, I actually bought a brand new American Motors Gremlin for a little over $1800. I was getting married in three months and I wanted my girl to ride in style! (Sure, you laugh now, but Gremlins were all the rage at that time….at least for people on my humble radio deejay budget.)
August 10th, 1975 JAMES COWAN, LANDLORD……$75.00 MEMO: First month rent Two months before the wedding. We picked out an upstairs apartment in an old house as our first love nest. I lived there alone until the big day. An elderly lady lived below us. When our TV or stereo was too loud (which was all the time) she would take a broom stick and bang it on the ceiling to indicate to us to turn it down. She was considerably more friendly when she would ask me to shovel the snow off the sidewalk and driveway.
August 31st, 1975 H.C. PRANGE COMPANY……..$411.84 MEMO: Sofa and dining room set At first I just slept on a mattress on the floor with a folding chair in the den. Sharon was beginning to furnish the nest.
September 17th, 1975 TREASURE ISLAND AUTO SERVICE….$8.52 MEMO: Oil change for car Nothing but the best for that Gremlin. Try getting that price for an oil change today.
September 24th, 1975 FOX CITIES COMMUNICATIONS…$6.50 MEMO: First cable TV bill Cable TV was in its infancy, but I was intrigued by the concept, especially this new channel that showed nothing but obscure sports events. It was called ESPN. Probably never catch on.
October 2nd, 1975 JUDY WILLIAMS…..$51.45 MEMO: Wedding cake 16 days before the wedding. I have no recollection of who Judy Williams was. But I do remember that cake was awesome. I’m guessing they are a little more expensive now.
October 10th, 1975 KIMBERLY FLOWERS……$121.00 MEMO: Wedding flowers What??? The flowers were more than twice as expensive as the cake? Personally, I got much more enjoyment out of the cake. 8 days until the wedding.
October 18th, 1975 GUEST HOUSE INN….$19.74 There was no memo for this entry, but this was our wedding day so I’m assuming this was our hotel the first night as man and wife. Could it really have been this inexpensive? Guess this was when she found out she had not married a big spender.
Interestingly, that was the final entry in the register. Apparently Sharon took over the finances after that and I haven’t had a clue where we stand financially since. By the way, there was never a deposit more than $400 in the book, which gives you an idea of my income level in those days.
I guess now that Sharon and I have enjoyed reliving our youth, it’s time to finally throw the old checkbooks away for real………….
……….Nawwww, that’s not gonna happen. Back into the old metal file box they go. I want to take this journey again after another 40 years.