My mom and Dad did that well.
50s, 60s&70s then it all changed.

Same here. My dad was a post office worker. He bought a home in 1956 for under $20K and raised 3 kids. My mom worked on and off to afford to send us kids to catholic school. I wish I could go back and tell her to spend the money on something worthwhile.
No one knows today what a "gas war" is unless they're our age. Sounds unbelievable that 19.9 was the average price per gallon and stations would go as low as 9.9 during a price war. I feel bad for kids, especially. We could have fun all day for 50 cents. Quarter movie matinees, nickel candy bars. And comic books were a dime! Until they got greedy and raised it to 12 cents. Spiderman and Silver Surfer were our heroes.