Mom says birds back then were different?

[Chief]

My mother says she would get american parakeets (and other kinds) at department stores back then (she was born in '54). Like her mother and her grandmother would buy them. These were just birds in a plain store that sold everything from clothes to tools.
Weird thing is, my mother said that birds back then were different.
The birds she, her mom, and her grandmother bought were not hand raised/fed but they were TAME and calm. They never bit and were healthy. She says all around the birds were more..I don't know how to say?? But my mom is convinced that now birds are more wild and has to do with what's going on in the world today. We can all see that, everything has changed.
What do you guys think???

[KimM]

I know my Dad did that as well. He bought a canary in the what they call "Five and Dime Store" Called GC Murphy Co and he said it was the best canary he ever owned. He said it never shut up. It even sang while it was molting and when it was covered at night. Apparently, my grandfather loved canaries too and tried to buy this canary from my Dad, but Dad said , No Way!.
I don't know that I see a difference in behaviors, but when I grew up, exotic birds were not as prevalent as they are now, but I do remember seeing budgies and canaries as a kid in that same store.

[mabird]

I myself remember seeing birds for sale at Woolworth's Dept store.
Oh goodness.... I'm so old!

[usamma]

Wow! Imagine! Probably like how you can buy fish at some of the larger Wal-Marts.

My great-grandma used to breed song canaries to get a little extra cash. Not a big operation, just a cage or two.

I remember hearing about a parrot who a family member brought back from another country- he was a sailor. He retired and the parrot outlived him, and was inherited by another family member. The parrot had quite a vocabulary.

[iggysbirds]

Yea about 30-40 years ago my mom worked in a place called Mattinglys (then Matco, then Place's LOL!) anyway they sold all kinds of pets from fish, mice, small lizards (anoles), and small birds, every so often they would get in a larger bird from someone local to sell. Usually no bigger than maybe a conure or small amazon though. Mostly they had budgies, canaries, finches and lovebirds. She was in charge of caring for the animals.

It depends on how you look at it though as far as whether they were better or not. She said they did handle them and "many" were tame but definitely not all. All were fed the cheap in store seeds, no toys in cages and bunches placed into small cages. If they were lucky they would have a plastic "ring" swing. They were definitely not that healthy in fact she said many parents seemed to buy them at that time for children figuring they would only last a short time and would keep the kids entertained for a few months. Some were lucky (or unlucky) enough to live a lot longer and NONE saw a vet.

That being said she loves birds, does not feed them seed only diets, helps make toys for birds and works nowhere near a "pet selling store" anymore ;) So whether for the better or worse times have definitely changed in bird care (I happen to think at least in most ways it is definitely for the better:) )

[ChristyB]

This thread sure brought back some memories! I got my first Budgie from the local dime store at the age of 10. One thing is for certain, there wasn't the 'bird knowledge' that is out now!

[jenseits]

Originally Posted by mabird

I myself remember seeing birds for sale at Woolworth's Dept store.
Oh goodness.... I'm so old!

I also have very vivid memories of going into Woolworth's and seeing budgies there. In fact, there was a budgie that I found inside a not-frequently-used corridor in a shopping mall that I assumed was from Woolworths (the only place in the mall a budgie could have come from, but very far from where I found it). It was repeatedly flying into a large window, so I grabbed it and took it home. It never occurred to me to bring it back to the store, where I just assumed they'd throw it back into the cage with the 30 other birds.

But times have changed. No more Woolworth's... and no more pets for sale at drug stores (thank goodness).

[Vilas]

Maybe the birds in the dime stores were friendly because they had the people that would take care of them, and the people that came to see them. Oh the dime store days.. how I miss that!! Yes, I'm dating myself too! You could also buy the little red eared slider turtles and that stupid, plastic bown with the palm tree for them!

[SisterBlue]

I'll date myself, too. :) I bought C.J., my 20 year old Cockatiel, at Woolworth's (aka the Five and Ten) in the summer of 1990. They used to sell small birds and fish. He was very calm and tame from day one, and in beautiful feather from the day I got him, so I have to imagine that he was treated well at the store.

-SB

[daydream]

I'll date myself too. In the early 70's I remember seeing budgies in the local Ben Franklin store (best i remember it was sort of like a k-mart or other discount store that sold just about everything. I don't recall what other pets they may have sold. I was very young. I just remember admiring those budgies every time we went there. Back then we were just told to feed it gravel and grit. We didn't know anything different.