Event Coverage Did you cruise back in the day?

My wife and I were having a discussion with my 27 year old daughter the other night about our high school years and we were reminiscing about cruising. She literally didn’t understand why we would do that. She said “What was the purpose?” That just kinda stumped us.

I’m not some old curmudgeon, I’m a 68 model, but It was the highlight of our young lives.

I would get off work, come home take a shower, throw down some dinner and fire up the 36 for a night of street racing and girl chasing. This would have been circa 1982-86ish.

Folks would come from all over. Hot rods, muscle cars, motorcycle guys etc. It would take 45 minutes to make a pass. We would pull over at the parts house and park there, because my buddy ran the counter at night. He wouldn’t say anything about us congregating.

I just wonder what todays kids will look back and have fond memories of? Hey you remember that TikTok video you shared back in 21? Yeah, that was awesome……

I miss those days. I’m sure every generation does the same thing.

Root

 

The movie "American Graffiti" pretty much sums up my youth as a hot rodder. Every night was a scene from that movie......a .great time to be part of......

 

We did it in the 1980s. Cruise around looking for the action.
Now the kids text around and never leave the house.

 

On and off, from about 1968 to the mid / late 80's. Various locations.
Yeah, I've been around a few years.

Mike

 

I was all over like shit on the bottom if a shoe. In town on weekday nights on the weekends we were all over the area. A cross between American Graffiti and Hollywood Knights.

 

As soon as I got my license in 1966 I was cruising the streets. Capital Plaza Hot Shoppes in Landover Hills, Maryland and the Mighty Mo in Queenstown (Hyattsville) were the places to be .

 

I have noticed kids don’t want their drivers license anymore. I couldn’t sleep the night before I went to take my test. It was freedom! I have a friend that forced his son to get his at 21.

 

...So very true, sad, but very true.

 

Yeah, kids have no frame of reference.

Having to go out, cruise, find what's up...or get the word out about your party is totally foreign. So is meeting people outside their group in person, or talking game or talking shit in person.

I graduated high school 1994, got first cel phone out of college 2000. Everyone after me had a cel phone as part of their High school and college years.

Back to cruising. Town of about 10K in middle of 4 larger towns in each direction. Had a 2 lane town square with a wall all around the inner circle with parking on both sides. Weekends you'd have to wait to be let on the cruise. The wall and the traffic was packed.
Lot of fast cars and race action, way more than normal for a town that size. People would come from the 4 larger towns for a race.

Parking had a hierarchy, inside or outside parking. People would get there early for spot on the wall for their group. It could take up to an hour to walk the inside wall circle. 32 oz fountain drinks were the perfect mixer cup, bottles were stashed behind the wall and people could drop the cups and walk away.
2 popular bars were also on the town square so there was a mix of teens and 20's all hanging out.

If you had a shitty car, park on the streets leading to the square or in the bank parking lots and walk over. If you had a HOT car no one cut you off. If you snubbed someone on the traffic loop, you may have to throw down.
One of my buddies perfected the sideways burnout off the square, pause traffic to get a little speed and kick it sideways and avoid the median.

 

I couldn't wait to get my license and my Dad couldn't either. He hated having to haul my ass around.

 

Didn't have the internet.

 

Kids now a days have been taught by their tree hugging geek nerd teachers that cars are bad from a young age.

 

‘Back in ‘61 we didn’t call it cruising…we were just “ride’n around”

 

....Even helped me buy this so I wouldn't be pestering him for rides.

 

Kids don’t want to get jobs either. They want to stay at home and sleep all day and play video games. When I got my drivers license I became my parents slave boy. Anytime they needed anything from the store I got sent now that I had my license. And I would not change a minute of it!

 

1980, got my license the day of my birthday, got in my 70 Javelin and met my buddies downtown, we cruised the main drag 7 days a week, still cruise the same main drag a few times a week but most of the time its only me and a couple friends

 

In ‘64 we called it: “Dragging the Ave”

 

I lived in a small town that was the county seat. We had a town square around the courthouse. It was kinda unique, in that cars drove around the outside lane in one direction, parallel park in the middle, and drive around the other direction in the inner lane. It was the place to be on Friday and Saturday night, packed.

Sometimes, we would drive over to Pittsburg, Kansas, a larger town. We would drive up and down broadway street a couple miles each way, called draggin the gut. There was room there for a little street racing.

 

You Bettcha ! Cruisin was/ is a pastime for me. I think us Old Timers grew up in the best of times, as a kid 50's with my parents we went to A & W, what a treat that was. Saturday night, Cruisin the Ave, big time event 60's Milwaukee Wi. I still go for a cruise just to go to lunch, have driven 50 miles 1 way on occasion. I don't believe any of my kids "cruise" ages now 48-56, 5 kids, but they put many miles on in a car for sure, however none are a car hobbyist like me. (surprises me) I grew up going to races all summer long as my Dad had a Midget racer, I raced into my 40's, it's what we did. Just yesterday wife and I cruised To Culvers for a fish fry, pretty sure I'll be cruisin till my expiration date.

 

We called it "dragging the gut", don't know were the term came from but it was old.

Cruising was our Facebook at the time, especially during the summer. This is how we found out how our buddies were doing, who was doing what, when and where the next party was etc.

When it came to Friday and Saturday nights the real action started at midnight.

Most kids had a midnight curfew so as midnight hit and the kids headed home the rumble of the fast and nasty cars could be heard coming out into the night.

The fast stuff waited until the kids cleared the streets before they made a presence then the racing started.

Ahhh.... good stuff.... good memories.... good times..... and some great friends......

 

THIS !!! Try talking face to face with people now , most mumble & look at their shoes ! For most face to face communication is a foreign concept , out riding was visual as well as visceral , you used all your senses , not just your eyes , promoted character development . the net may provide information , but its destroyed human interaction . You can convey more meaning using your voice than with a keyboard , even if the words are the same .

 

here it was called scoopin the loop and it was pretty much over around here by the 80's. every small town in iowa had a square that is where you hung out to be seen and meet others. it changed because look at the cars you bought in the 60' and 70's compared to the cars you bought in the 80's

 

Other things that killed " jus' ridin' " was gas prices ! Big difference between $.26.9 & $.98.9
Insurance costs
Police enforcement.
Attitudes .

 

Root, back in the 60's cruising was a rite of passage here in Anderson, South Carolina.

Unlike your area cruising wasn't every night but Friday & Saturday nights the main drag was bumper to bumper, like you I ran home and cleaned up the car, showered and was out the door every weekend, sometimes of we had a gig and I had my bass guitar & amplifier wedged in the back seat and made a couple of laps and other weekends I was cruising until the action died down.

There were always hot rods and custom cars, 30 - 60's, a few were driving mom's car but they were enjoying the camaraderie, always several car loads of teenage girls flirting white the guys without dates.

The cruising usually lasted until 12:00 or so then if there were any challenges we made out way to Denver road or white street to see who had the fastest car.

Root, like you I have tried to explain just how cool it was to cruise the streets to our girls who are now 44 years old, at that time most businesses on main street closed around 6 PM, we didn't have any malls and just one shopping strip and McDonalds was there, the route was drive through Micky D's, back through town and circle the square and back to the shopping center, about a 8 mile round trip to be repeated many times unless you met up with friends and parked on the square or the
Belvedere.

Eventually, the city grew and the city council enacted a no cruising ordinance in the late 70's and just like that the youthful rite of passage for many was gone. HRP

 

Late 70's early to mid 80's I put a lot of miles on driving nowhere! Crusin was the thing to do. It was how we met up with friends and interacted with people our general age. We did not have cell phones. Endless nights in town and if nothing going on you would head to the smaller near by towns. Always some action somewhere. Cars and girls. Wow my kids never understood this at the extent in which we did it. When my boys were in high school, the were the only ones who had old cool cars. Not so when we went to school.

 

Yep, late 60's-early 70's small town burg's was our social outlet. Mostly OT (then current) muscle stuff. Quite a bit of action considering....
Cars ain't the thing nowa days for the younger set. Social media is their cruisin'......

 

I got my license in ‘83 and a 69 camaro in’84. We cruised Lincolnway in Valparaiso Indiana also Lincolnway in Laporte and Broadway in Gary/Merrillville. It was a lot like American Graffiti.

 

Early 60's, between Bushes drive in and the hill top Kings drive in on 38th St. in Tacoma Wa.

 

Ya, at 30 cents a gallon, a Friday or Saturday night, you bet..........Hawthorne Blvd A&W in Lawndale, Ca was the place to cruise. During the day, PCH (101) the beach ride.

 

Yep. Malls and fast food parking lots.
They ran us off at the mall. Most of us didn’t return. Many stores are closed. Some malls torn down. I guess we listened to em.