George Brown
Yvonne and I married in August of 1966 at the tender age of 20 in the midst of our college years.  Memories of those early days cannot easily be called to mind, especially those long forgotten memories of the day-to-day events of our lives.

A few weeks ago Yvonne was going through what can only be described as “a box of old stuff” when she discovered two check registers spanning the first 18 months of our marriage. Why we kept only those two check registers for all these years is puzzling to both of us, but we’re glad we did. Reviewing the 208 entries together brought back many interesting and sometimes humorous memories about the happiness we shared during that honeymoon period of our marriage.

The first entry, check #101, was for $1.50 to Savage’s market, the small grocery store just around the corner from our basement apartment located a few blocks off campus. We wrote quite a few checks to Savage’s market for small amounts, $2.83, $3.85, and one for a whopping $5.90.  Why in the world we wrote checks for such small amounts instead of carrying cash is hard to figure out.

On February 6, 1967, after six months of marriage, we celebrated Yvonne’s 21st birthday by going to the Giant Food supermarket for the first time to buy our groceries. The check entry was for $18.06. I’m pretty sure that covered a two week supply of groceries. As I recall, you could fill a large brown grocery bag for about $5.

There is a reason why it took us six months to make it to Giant Food; we didn’t own a car when we got married.  Check #118 dated January 18, 1967 took care of this problem. It was made out to our neighbor Dick Ball for $200 to purchase his 1958 Rambler station wagon. It was a straight six, three speed on the column that had already traveled over 100,000 miles, but it was a good buy for us at the time. Yvonne learned how to drive that spring and even parallel parked that tank to get her driver’s license. I don’t think she has parallel parked another vehicle since then.

Checks for gasoline during early 1967 ranged from $4.55 to $4.76. By July we had succeeded in getting an American Oil credit card and wrote a check for $26.33 to pay a full month’s gasoline bill. I wrote quite a few checks to keep that old Rambler on the road, including a check for $16.55 for a muffler, $34.87 for two tires including balance, and $20.34 to replace the gear shift when it fell off. It really did turn out to be a good first car. We put 15,000 miles on it, and then sold it for $100.

Food and a vehicle were necessities, but we also appreciated and enjoyed the finer things of life. For example, Yvonne wrote check #104 to Lerner’s for $3.08 for a new purse. I’m sure it was a nice one. On February 1, I wrote a check for $3.02 for a pair of slippers and another check for $2.06 for a recipe box. I’m sure both were presents for Yvonne’s 21st birthday. What a guy!

Mysteriously, Yvonne wrote a check to Woolworth’s on her birthday for $2.86 but failed to record what she bought – not by accident I’m sure.  I suspect it was to purchase what she really wanted for her birthday. The price was cheap enough so I won’t complain about it now.

But can you believe this? On May 5, 1967 Yvonne wrote a check for $10.21 for Tupperware. That was a staggering amount to spend on such a purchase, especially when it left a balance of only $8.14 in our checking account! We were never overdrawn, but the balance was rarely over $100 and on one occasion it was only .27 cents!

Most of my entries in the check register were for auto expenses or household needs, but I did make a few personal purchases, like $4.07 for a dress shirt, $1.03 for a new tie, and $3.39 for one pair of “paint pants.” I worked my way through college as a painter, and I can still swing a pretty mean brush. 

The old check register does reveal a few large purchases. It took five monthly payments of $25 to pay off the 12×12 shag carpet we purchased for the living room, which was a good investment. But for the life of me I cannot figure out why we paid $100 for a used piano when neither of us could read a note of music and still can’t to this day.

Other indulgent entries included several checks to the local record store and a check for $8.01 for a croquet set. But for the most part, the 208 checks we wrote in those early days of our marriage were for vehicle expenses, food, rent ($85.00), telephone ($8.04), gas and electric ($11.28), and other expenses every young couple discovers as they launch a new life together.  Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.

George Brown is a freelance writer. He lives in Jackson Township.