Memories of days gone by: old subway cars

An ancient NYC subway car.

This photo from the New York Transit Museum shows a subway car from the early 1950s. I remember the yellow rattan seats in these cars.

When the weave broke apart, which it did constantly, the seat became a weapon. You can see the blemishes on the seats in this photo -- but you can't feel them. Each contained sharp bits of extremely hard rattan that stuck up and cut right through your clothes. Seriously, you'd ruin your clothes every time you sat down. It was a ton of fun.

And it was unbearably hot in the cars during the summer months. There was no such thing as A/C in the old days, at least not on subways. To cap it all off, the old cars moved very slowly, making each ride seem like an eternity.

Another fabulous memory from the past. Anyone else remember these seats or perhaps another indignity we were forced to put up with in the "good old days"?