quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Slight thread drift, if I may.

My Mother bought and gave me my very first gun that was mine, all mine, no borrowing brother's anymore.

Mom owned a small business and it turned out she decided to buy me the gun for my 16th birthday. She told me she funded it by saving all the 50 cent pieces that she received through her cash register.

It was a Marlin Glenfield Model 60 22cal rifle with a scope. I think it was about $70 or so. She purchased it from Otasco, (Oklahoma Tire and Supply), if you are regional to Oklahoma and the surrounding area back in the day it was a great store chain, but now long gone.

That was really my first observation about saving up to buy something.

I still have it, thanks Mom. I will never forget.

I got a .22 Marlin (the one with the squirrels etched in the grip) when I turned 15. I thought I might be a god....

Car insurance and gas for my first car.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
For me it was a slot car, 1/24
" Black Widow" had two engines and a picture of a black widow on the box.
Never happened though, instead I got a pocket knife and firecrackers.

Me also. We had a family business but I didn't get paid so I had to cut grass/rake leaves to save and buy a Cox 1/24 scale La Cucaracha.
At the time it was one of the fastest and lowest-center-of-gravity cars.



I saved for quite a while and ended up with a Super La Cucaracha which was around $24.00 from Ron Cor Hobby House in Jacksonville NC. (A princely sum in the late 60's). It was very fast.
Somehow it survived my younger brother. The box didn't make it, but the car was complete with driver and worked perfectly.
Later in life my mom was very sick and to generate some funds to help I put it on ebay.
It went for over $300.00.
Evidently a fairly small number of the Super La Cucaracha were sold and very few survived...

I think I was in fourth or fifth grade and really wanted a pair of Reebok David Robinson Pump high tops. I thought they looked so cool and it felt like all the other kids had cool shoes (we had school uniforms, so shoes were the one thing we could control). My Dad agreed to chip in $40 (or what he said a pair of shoes should cost) and I had to come up with the rest. It took a while and I don't even really remember how I came up with the $70 or $80 i needed. I finally got them and the only thing I remember is how let down I was. They were just a pair of shoes. They didn't make be a better basketball player, or more popular, or my life any better in any way. I learned that I had wasted a bunch of my time and effort chasing something I didn't really want. It was a good lesson. I now have a really hard time pulling the trigger on a significant purchase and usually will overthink it too much. I have purchased very few things that I felt I really wasted my money on.

Not exactly a direct "save" for something, but as a teenager I used $300 in savings bonds (bought with stamps in grade school) to purchase an upright piano for my use.

flashguy

A new Honda 305 Scrambler when I was seventeen. Saved money in a coffee can in my dresser drawer. Paid cash.

Daisy BB gun. Late 1960s.

Transistor radio to take out to fields while picking string beans @.25 a bushel at about 9 years old.

Moved on to tomatoes, peppers, squash...finally pumpkins don’t remember what I got for picking these but I do remember the string beans as it was my first paying job.

Bought many a model airplane, model cars, BBs, glue, paint, fishing lures, firecrackers, etc., etc., with that pocket money.

My first pair of REAL hockey skates, Bauer Musketeers. Second thing I saved for was a Marlin Model 88 in .308. I was 15.....

Cowboy revolver.
Used to watch plenty of cowboys shows back in the day. TV was b&w.
Gunsmoke, lone ranger, have gun will travel, bonanza, the one with steve mcqueen, johnny yuma, you name it.

Inflation was an still is a bitch down here. Almost impossible to nail a price or catch up with it.
When the parents found out i was doing an ant trail bringing my cash to the toy story the dream crashed and burned.

0-0

Stevens 20 gauge single shot shotgun. Bought it at Monkey Wards.

The next was likely my '70 Cutlass. Rode my bike to work washing dishes at a local restaurant all summer to save up the $300.

Then, my brother and I bought a '68 Mustang convertible...for $300. Man...if I could go back to those days and buy up all of those cars for $300 I could retire.

Atari game cartridges

A bolt action .410 shotgun.

probably 'stereo' equipment of some kind

circa late 70s

-----------------------------

Back in 1993 or so I bought a late 1960s Ruger 10/22 on consignment from a pawn shop. Paid them $10-$20 per week until it was mine (I think the total price was about $110). Here we are 25+ years later and I took my 11 year old daughter to shoot it last weekend.

My first pair of water skis. Ordered them from Bass Pro Shops. Still have them and they are in great condition. Lots of memories on those boards....

First 10-speed bike - a silver Schwinn Continental.

Back in the mid-60's, Aurora HO scale race cars and Estes model rockets.

A BB gun.

quote:

Originally posted by jezsuiz:
A BB gun.

Except I sold a lot of Christmas cards, and that was my payment. A Daisy, with a scope/peep site.