Wed Nov 21, 2012, 03:22 PM

Fun pub discussion last night - things your kids will never know or experience

I enjoy some random bar stool diplomacy. Last night we engaged in the "What will your kids never know or experience" discussion.

Some good ones include:

An alarm clock where the numbers flip versus digital
Smoking on an airline
Rest Areas with old outhouse holes in the ground
Records
Record players
8 Tracks
Party Line phone systems
Rotary dial phones

What are some fun things you grew up with that kids now will never experience?

512 replies, 18952 views

Reply to this thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

512 replies	Author	Time	Post
Fun pub discussion last night - things your kids will never know or experience (Original post)	titaniumsalute	Nov 2012	OP
Out all day in the summer	get the red out	Nov 2012	#1
Man that is a good one...	titaniumsalute	Nov 2012	#3
Yep we had to be within distance of my dad's piercing whistle.	JimDandy	Nov 2012	#39
It was my girlfriend's mother's piercing whistle that we listened for 3 blocks away.	beveeheart	Nov 2012	#74
it was my mom's boat whistle - loud! n/t	KT2000	Nov 2012	#181
I raised both of my sons as free-range kids.	FSogol	Nov 2012	#8
Too funny.	AnotherMcIntosh	Nov 2012	#126
We HAD to walk, in my day! With crossing guards, of course!	WinkyDink	Nov 2012	#324
Amen. We rode our bikes everywhere, then threw them down in the front yard overnight...	Romulox	Nov 2012	#138
I couldn't be separated from my bike in the summer.	susanna	Nov 2012	#191
We used to go on "bike hikes" in the summer.	ashling	Nov 2012	#262
You must be just a little older than me.	dchill	Nov 2012	#307
No, I'm only 60	ashling	Nov 2012	#345
I'm surprised you remember before zip codes.	SheilaT	Nov 2012	#414
We were in postal zone 55	ashling	Nov 2012	#422
Interesting. Only some larger cities, if I recall correctly,	SheilaT	Nov 2012	#433
I think you are probably right about the zones	ashling	Nov 2012	#440
Ahhh the Gas Wars!	PoliticalBiker	Nov 2012	#409
Must have been a looser dress code where you were	ashling	Nov 2012	#423
Ahh, I've never ever owned a car with a gas tank that	SheilaT	Nov 2012	#447
Well, come on over to my neighborhood.	glowing	Nov 2012	#241
Sounds really nice! I enjoyed reading your post. nt	Romulox	Nov 2012	#347
YES....and we had to come in at night when the street light came on	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#185
LOL, we could play in the backyard until 10 if it was summer.	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#300
Me too!	Ligyron	Nov 2012	#340
Metal ice cube trays! Yes!	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#380
A separate handle, or integrated with the tray?	RC	Nov 2012	#393
integrated with the tray...	Rider3	Nov 2012	#426
I liked the separate handle better also.	RC	Nov 2012	#442
Yep. That was our rule, too. nt	Romulox	Nov 2012	#348
At ten years old I was an amateur astronomer...	ChisolmTrailDem	Nov 2012	#367
+1 10-mile bike rides, on our own, to a local lake. day-long wanderings through the local woods.	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#192
thanks ! Had forgotten about the homemade skate boards ! And so true about walking everywhere	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#311
at 16 we were at the local bowling alley	musette_sf	Nov 2012	#390
"the mass culture experience, where everyone gets the same news, watches the same tv shows, "	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#354
So funny..."some kind of ceramic figure" with a doily. haha. It also reminded me that everyone	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#475
"a crocheted toilet paper cover in the bath."	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#483
OMG here's a pic of TV with ceramics on it	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#490
hahaha Crocheted Toilet Paper cover pic !	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#491
OMG...I DO rememeber those!	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#495
Take away the crank phone at summer camp...	ChisolmTrailDem	Nov 2012	#371
I read an article once about roaming kids	spinbaby	Nov 2012	#315
When I was a kid in the late '60s and into the '70s my range	ChisolmTrailDem	Nov 2012	#372
I used to ride my Buzz bike to neighboring towns	Art_from_Ark	Nov 2012	#450
We had our adventures, didn't we? And if a kid did that today, not only	ChisolmTrailDem	Nov 2012	#466
so different. i think the historical perspective is important to have, to keep people	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#406
Collecting soda bottles to sell for 2 cents each	The Blue Flower	Nov 2012	#334
Yes. After breakfast Mom would throw us out the door and lock it.	sarge43	Nov 2012	#353
Home for lunch!! Yes	get the red out	Nov 2012	#356
I've made it to seventy and sixty years ago I pulled off some hair raising stunts n/t	sarge43	Nov 2012	#359
This is truly tragic...	ChisolmTrailDem	Nov 2012	#365
"I only hope that there are kids in some small town ..."	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#499
A month with below average temperatures. nt	Speck Tater	Nov 2012	#2
Sorry, But No	ProfessorGAC	Nov 2012	#314
Clarification: GLOBALLY, not locally.	Speck Tater	Nov 2012	#383
Yep. I used to go ice skating in my youth (NJ) and one hasn't been able to skate on a lake ....	MichaelSoE	Nov 2012	#328
Ice fishing on Thanksgiving	Viking12	Nov 2012	#496
Rabbit ears	wryter2000	Nov 2012	#4
Raising and lowering the cars antenna by hand!	JimDandy	Nov 2012	#40
Wind wings! n/t	VOX	Nov 2012	#111
I had a 96 Subaru Legacy...	Agschmid	Nov 2012	#157
OMG I hated those little bastards. You had to stand there and hold them just right.	nolabear	Nov 2012	#97
a broomstick that was a 'remote control' for the tv	Whisp	Nov 2012	#118
Yeah, kids nowadays could not live without remote controls.	RebelOne	Nov 2012	#470
I still wear a wind-up watch	DollarBillHines	Nov 2012	#123
Hire me!	gateley	Nov 2012	#151
You betcha, gately!	DollarBillHines	Nov 2012	#156
No hire me!	Caretha	Nov 2012	#336
i would if i could find one for a decent price. i'd use a wind-up alarm clock, too.	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#199
enjoy!	NMDemDist2	Nov 2012	#206
thanks!	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#210
here's another ebayer to check out, i love his watches	NMDemDist2	Nov 2012	#247
interesting. i wonder if he has a website, i'm not that keen on ebay. i see a watch	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#259
Holy shit! I have that first one:	friendly_iconoclast	Nov 2012	#239
I think I had a Baby Ben alarm clock.	Ilsa	Nov 2012	#255
We still have rabbit ears.	Shrike47	Nov 2012	#137
A student smoking section in the high school cafeteria.	Nevernose	Nov 2012	#147
+1. also, people smoking in the grocery store, at work, and in many public buildings.	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#200
heh...one my older memories was my dad walking into a newberrys...	tjwash	Nov 2012	#219
it seems so odd in retrospect, even if you lived it.	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#229
Yeah, and people used to smoke in hospitals...incredible, it seems now. nt	raccoon	Nov 2012	#373
Newberry's....wow, that's a blast from the past !	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#313
Yep.	tjwash	Nov 2012	#403
Even small towns had locally owned departmment stores	eridani	Nov 2012	#437
Only the bigger corporate stores forbid smoking by checkers. At any small store the person running	brewens	Nov 2012	#308
For some reason, smoking in public had rules for a woman.	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#358
There was a general consensus	SheilaT	Nov 2012	#415
I sort of "knew" that "rule"	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#419
It was a sufficiently embedded idea in our culture,	SheilaT	Nov 2012	#434
Smoking at the movies! In the hospital! In the doctor's office waiting room! nt	MADem	Nov 2012	#463
Little ashtrays in the arms of the chairs at beauty salons. A highlight I now	brewens	Nov 2012	#306
Along the same vein, listening to AM radio at night...	LVdem	Nov 2012	#159
AM radio at night	peachcobbler	Nov 2012	#165
Thought It Would Last Forever	garagedoor	Nov 2012	#220
We used to listen to CKLW in Cleveland.	Doremus	Nov 2012	#265
listening to lots of different kinds of things on radio, not just top 10 playlists. with	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#201
OMG, yes, remember that too. WBZ Chicago - you could pick it up everywhere.	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#312
I had no idea others were doing this! And this was an	ChisolmTrailDem	Nov 2012	#374
living in NYC	musette_sf	Nov 2012	#391
My favorite station was WWL, New Orleans	Art_from_Ark	Nov 2012	#449
I assumed that everyone listened to Beaker Street!	DawgHouse	Nov 2012	#501
with supplemental tin foil	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#188
Rabbit Ear Antennae...	JHB	Nov 2012	#5
Adjusting your car's carburetor with a screw driver until the fuel mixture "sounds right."	FSogol	Nov 2012	#6
Cameras you had to look down into	JHB	Nov 2012	#19
And Polaroids	bhikkhu	Nov 2012	#235
And flashcubes	Canuckistanian	Nov 2012	#271
Weren't those flash cubes disposable??? You just jogged my memory! Wow!	adigal	Nov 2012	#92
I had a archeology course once and we were excavating a supposedly unmolested area of	FSogol	Nov 2012	#512
in my childhood i remember 10, then 12, then 15-cent funnybooks, & then i got	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#212
omg.. the smell of a flashbulb!	annabanana	Nov 2012	#342
Cassettes	Seeking Serenity	Nov 2012	#7
Charles Chips is back!	FSogol	Nov 2012	#10
I want some....did you try and order?....they need some work on the	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#318
Yes, but it took 4 weeks to get, because they only make small batches	FSogol	Nov 2012	#319
Thanks for Posting	Sherman A1	Nov 2012	#453
Milk delivery still exists here in Colorado. It's called Royal Crest Dairy	Panasonic	Nov 2012	#20
Grew up in Lakewood, when much of it was new,	madamesilverspurs	Nov 2012	#208
How dare you! Those are MY memories!	Auntie Bush	Nov 2012	#486
We had a milkman who delivered milk, eggs, cottage cheese, and bread! nt	MADem	Nov 2012	#331
We had a bakery that had home	avebury	Nov 2012	#363
Add to that milk delivery ICE delivery.	broiles	Nov 2012	#48
Car vent windows, tape recorders, correction fluid, carbon paper, fountain pens.	rzemanfl	Nov 2012	#9
I was thinking crank handles in a car and...oh my gosh...physically locking a car door. NT	titaniumsalute	Nov 2012	#13
I have a Jeep which has both. When I drive other people's kids around, they often do not	FSogol	Nov 2012	#23
I actually got trapped in my car once	notadmblnd	Nov 2012	#243
Ha--I still do both! Hand crank windows, two keys for the car; door/trunk and ignition!	MADem	Nov 2012	#506
God, carbon paper. I would never have been a writer in the age of carbon paper.	nolabear	Nov 2012	#99
I still use correction fluid a lot. I white out all the	marybourg	Nov 2012	#261
I was enslaved on my grandfolk's dairy farm	iemitsu	Nov 2012	#275
Bringing guns to school during bird and deer hunting season	Kaleva	Nov 2012	#11
My son is 26. He's used outhouses plenty	cali	Nov 2012	#12
Hi Cali	titaniumsalute	Nov 2012	#15
hey titaniumsalute	cali	Nov 2012	#31
Hi Cali....you didn't have electricity? wow.	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#190
It was cool. For light we had kerosene lanterns built into the walls	cali	Nov 2012	#316
the point, as i'm sure you know, is that your son's experience is no longer the	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#203
Hmmm. Of course globally flush toilets are not 'the norm' so most kids today do	Bluenorthwest	Nov 2012	#357
not sure what your point is. the op is about what american kids today will not	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#408
Huffing mimeograph vapors	arcane1	Nov 2012	#14
LOL!! We love to tell our kids about that one	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#55
The great smell of freshly mimeograqphed handouts in school.	JimDandy	Nov 2012	#58
Handed out while still warm and damp	arcane1	Nov 2012	#59
My students thought that was the best thing about taking a test - the fumes from the paper.	beveeheart	Nov 2012	#78
I'd give my hat & front seat in hell just to smell those purple-printed sheets again!	japple	Nov 2012	#169
OMG, I loved that smell!	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#225
Yes! Mild minty fresh smell.	JimDandy	Nov 2012	#504
YES!	So_Blue	Nov 2012	#252
If you got an opportunity to operate the "Gestetner Stenciller" you could get a noseful	MADem	Nov 2012	#469
Computer command cards	JHB	Nov 2012	#16
That was the new "modern way" we registered for classes at Berkeley...	villager	Nov 2012	#21
Floppy disks that were actually floppy.	backscatter712	Nov 2012	#56
Dot matrix printers that screeched as they printed.	backscatter712	Nov 2012	#60
Manually typing in programs in BASIC out of a magazine, then saving them onto a cassette tape.	backscatter712	Nov 2012	#62
Our family's first computer was a Commador 64	liberal_at_heart	Nov 2012	#288
Mine was an Atari 400.	backscatter712	Nov 2012	#293
I worked at two of those magazines	Silent3	Nov 2012	#361
Some of those games were awesome.	backscatter712	Nov 2012	#376
Yes! We did that too!	ReasonableToo	Nov 2012	#378
Yep. It took fifteen minutes to load a program.	backscatter712	Nov 2012	#379
Yes, I remember those 8" floppies. I thought I had died & gone to heaven	japple	Nov 2012	#172
you just reminded me of when we asked someone in another office to send us a copy of	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#187
I thought those were a miracle! And when they came out with the 3 and a half inchers, I	MADem	Nov 2012	#507
They're called Hollerith cards	TrogL	Nov 2012	#145
I can't believe those cards have a name other than punch cards.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#397
"Do not bend, fold, staple or mutilate." n/t	madamesilverspurs	Nov 2012	#213
Those instructions were widely ignored when they were "stuff in the back of the storage room"	JHB	Nov 2012	#238
Watching someone you dislike dropping a deck of cards.	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#227
My First Exposure To Computers. . .	ProfessorGAC	Nov 2012	#317
I don't know if "more advanced" is the right term...	JHB	Nov 2012	#351
Now every time people hear the word "chad", they think of Florida...	backscatter712	Nov 2012	#377
We called those "IBM cards", because they were the only computer company.	eppur_se_muova	Nov 2012	#494
Freedom from government intrusion into their personal communications.	woo me with science	Nov 2012	#17
...and reasonably predictable weather	villager	Nov 2012	#24
Weather is more predictable than ever.	gcomeau	Nov 2012	#82
interesting point. I suppose I meant in a more "Farmer's Almanac" vein	villager	Nov 2012	#132
a slide rule..	oldhippydude	Nov 2012	#18
Dad has one of those..	Panasonic	Nov 2012	#25
easy.. i can still remember...	oldhippydude	Nov 2012	#224
I still have mine.	The Velveteen Ocelot	Nov 2012	#49
I put together a nice collection of slide rules, when hand calculators first became available.	meti57b	Nov 2012	#87
LOL, I won a trophy in slide rule at a math competition. Total geekdom. n/t	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#230
I have one. Still know how to use it	Ilsa	Nov 2012	#257
I showed mine to my nephew once	eridani	Nov 2012	#439
Black and white photography	nadinbrzezinski	Nov 2012	#22
Did that in high school in '92	Panasonic	Nov 2012	#27
Actually, it's still a hobby with a good following among younger people.	Scootaloo	Nov 2012	#45
Good old Panatonic-X ASA 64	defacto7	Nov 2012	#454
Encyclopedias in book form (nt)	jeff47	Nov 2012	#26
World Books!	Panasonic	Nov 2012	#28
Going on vacation on all two lane roads.	longship	Nov 2012	#29
Long Sunday drives and NO freeways.	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#485
3 video games or pinball machines in the lobby of every 7-11 store.	Systematic Chaos	Nov 2012	#30
And floppy disks	Seeking Serenity	Nov 2012	#43
Ashtrays in the doctor's office	Canuckistanian	Nov 2012	#32
Yes. And if you were hospiltilized, you could smoke in your room in some sitiations.	Kaleva	Nov 2012	#35
In the bank and the grocery store!	louis-t	Nov 2012	#66
Smoking in movie theatres. Smoking everywhere! SMOKING, SMOKING, SMOKING.	japple	Nov 2012	#173
It did seem to be the national pastime back then	Canuckistanian	Nov 2012	#268
Farting around online has replaced it!	MADem	Nov 2012	#508
I never smoked buy my parents and relatives did. I remember the wide variety of ashtrays.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#399
Funny to see old clips of Senate hearings and they are all smoking	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#194
Over-head projectors.	JoePhilly	Nov 2012	#33
Art History classes	garagedoor	Nov 2012	#222
Having to have someone paged in a crowded store, airport, event center etc.	yankeepants	Nov 2012	#34
Oooh. Good one. Can't remember the last time I heard someone paged.	Hassin Bin Sober	Nov 2012	#101
I was paged for a phone call once at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas	TeamPooka	Nov 2012	#119
halloween thanksgiving and christmas being separate holiday seasons. ;-)	JustFiveMoreMinutes	Nov 2012	#36
+1000. It used to be special to ride the bus downtown to see all the decorations.	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#302
setting the points on a distributor	onethatcares	Nov 2012	#37
VW Rabbit quit on us on a country road in Montana in about 1976.	The Velveteen Ocelot	Nov 2012	#52
Your car doesn't burn through a set of distributor points every 20,000 miles anymore, either...	Thegonagle	Nov 2012	#98
Places that were all field	Initech	Nov 2012	#38
Getting slapped around by a teacher, then being sent to the principal to be beaten by him.	Kaleva	Nov 2012	#41
yep. Teachers could hit the kids. still can in same states.	Liberal_in_LA	Nov 2012	#61
Where did you grow up?	AverageJoe90	Nov 2012	#244
Upper Michigan. That's the way things were done back then. At least where I lived.	Kaleva	Nov 2012	#248
I can't help but be reminded of how many blacks were often treated under slavery.	AverageJoe90	Nov 2012	#250
Being able to be fairly certain you weren't on some security camera	Blandocyte	Nov 2012	#42
Cars with no seat belts. Escorted air travel for children. Ditto copying machines.	ancianita	Nov 2012	#44
my grandkids probably won't learn cursive writing in school	backtoblue	Nov 2012	#46
i bought a record player this summer.. it has a cassette deck, cd, and radio in it too.	dionysus	Nov 2012	#47
The typewriter, but it sure wasn't fun.	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#50
I still have my Dad's old Smith Corona portable from about 1946.	The Velveteen Ocelot	Nov 2012	#54
Typing your college papers	Freddie	Nov 2012	#64
If you made a mistake (which I did, often)	The Velveteen Ocelot	Nov 2012	#72
I was a pretty good typist (despite hating it)	Freddie	Nov 2012	#77
I actually had a whole course on correcting mistakes on the typewriter!	Awknid	Nov 2012	#100
You got to erase? I'm retroactively jealous!	madamesilverspurs	Nov 2012	#223
Eaton's "Corrasable bond" paper--a modern miracle! Beat the hell out of white out! nt	MADem	Nov 2012	#509
+1. white-out & erasable paper. when knowing how to type 30 wpm would get	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#202
I took an IBM Standard with me to college forty years ago.	Manifestor_of_Light	Nov 2012	#217
I enjoyed reading your post.	Maw Kettle	Nov 2012	#430
Gas station attendants who pumped your gas and washed your windshield	tblue37	Nov 2012	#260
Lawn Darts...	Volaris	Nov 2012	#51
Rather young myself, so...	Scootaloo	Nov 2012	#53
Automobiles...	Libertas1776	Nov 2012	#341
X-ray machines in shoe stores	The Velveteen Ocelot	Nov 2012	#57
pulling, with all your might, an 8 track out of a stereo.	Liberal_in_LA	Nov 2012	#63
Smoking weed that was so mild - you had to use your imagination to get stoned !!	RagAss	Nov 2012	#65
Maybe that's why I was never impressed with weed and	Cleita	Nov 2012	#80
Gas station attendants.	JimDandy	Nov 2012	#67
Still there in Oregon at least	Scootaloo	Nov 2012	#70
Yes, and the gas is cheaper in Oregon than it is in other states where	Cleita	Nov 2012	#83
And in NJ too.	smokey nj	Nov 2012	#322
Lucky duck! The gas fumes are the worst thing about filling up.	JimDandy	Nov 2012	#505
And free stuff when you bought gas.	beveeheart	Nov 2012	#88
S&H Green Stamps--and the things you could trade them for! nt	tblue37	Nov 2012	#264
I saved S&H green stamps	No Vested Interest	Nov 2012	#305
And don't forget Blue chip stamps. Both my Grandmothers saved them for me and when I visited them	kimbutgar	Nov 2012	#405
Free dishes that came in laundry soap boxes	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#375
How about elevator operators?	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#167
my sister's first job!	KT2000	Nov 2012	#189
Playing High School football in this....	RagAss	Nov 2012	#68
Collecting soda pop bottles for the 2 or 3 cent deposit	Trailrider1951	Nov 2012	#69
now that's a business for people.	TeamPooka	Nov 2012	#120
for homeless people, and not much of one. stipping wires for copper, stealing bricks	HiPointDem	Nov 2012	#205
On a positive note: Pretty soon all kids under 8 won't have experienced a white President	mucifer	Nov 2012	#71
Cruising the main drag, "American Graffiti" style.	apocalypsehow	Nov 2012	#73
cruising the Sunset Strip in L.A. is illegal and they will cite you.	TeamPooka	Nov 2012	#116
that sucks!	ejpoeta	Nov 2012	#160
Roller skates with metal wheels that clamp on to your shoes. n/t	Cleita	Nov 2012	#75
And wearing the key on a string around your neck. n/t	rzemanfl	Nov 2012	#174
in this song...	DBoon	Nov 2012	#428
Considered suggestive back in the day. n/t	rzemanfl	Nov 2012	#471
I still have my pair. I used to go down hills in them and to this can't i did it.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#395
Segregated public schools	jberryhill	Nov 2012	#76
Carbon paper. I hated that stuff, especially when one part was more used	catbyte	Nov 2012	#79
You reminded me of the old fashioned typewriters with the strike keys.	Cleita	Nov 2012	#86
Yeah. I remember when the IBM Selectrics came out & you could actually change the font, lol	catbyte	Nov 2012	#96
I could change the cartridge ribbon in my electric typewriter.	badhair77	Nov 2012	#149
I also remember when the first ones with a memory came out. You could save 5 whole letters	catbyte	Nov 2012	#179
The first IBM memory typewriter cost $5,500 in the early '70s.	rzemanfl	Nov 2012	#214
WOW	catbyte	Nov 2012	#215
I was making $7000 a yr as a teacher then.	badhair77	Nov 2012	#228
Early handheld calculators cost $200--just very	tblue37	Nov 2012	#267
In 1971 I paid $750 for a used mechancial printing calculator that would multiply and divide. n/t	rzemanfl	Nov 2012	#472
Just yesterday I found a carbon credit card receipt from 1993.	So_Blue	Nov 2012	#254
Adjusting the Horizontol on the tv to stop those lines.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#81
Bang on the side of it...	jberryhill	Nov 2012	#85
lol You must have had the same make.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#90
Now I can watch THIS in 1080i HD	jberryhill	Nov 2012	#144
Adjusting ANYTHING on any screen.	DireStrike	Nov 2012	#91
LOL, remembering overadjusting the vertical and getting a screen that rolled up	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#299
Relatively recent, but	treestar	Nov 2012	#84
Towels or glasses that came inside boxes of laundry detergent.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#89
Or given to customers at a gas station with a fill-up!	VOX	Nov 2012	#105
hmmmm	Locrian	Nov 2012	#93
As my daughter	mercuryblues	Nov 2012	#94
Pre-teens being allowed to walk alone to a neighborhood store to buy milk and bread	slackmaster	Nov 2012	#95
Or pre-teens being allowed to walk on their own to the store to buy cigarettes	Kaleva	Nov 2012	#104
When I was about 9 or so my mom would give me a quarter and send me to the bakery	The Velveteen Ocelot	Nov 2012	#107
Black & white TVs.	hobbit709	Nov 2012	#102
Getting up the change the channel on it also (nm)	Rambis	Nov 2012	#108
I still have a little black and white TV.	The Velveteen Ocelot	Nov 2012	#114
And TV stations that went off the air and you woke up with the buzzing	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#323
Cap guns. Brody knobs. Chemistry sets. Leaving doors unlocked overnight...	VOX	Nov 2012	#103
chemistry sets - wow	badhair77	Nov 2012	#152
I just have to disagree with the well built American cars	doc03	Nov 2012	#216
Yep. They don't make them like they used to,	SheilaT	Nov 2012	#416
I had one car that rusted thru in 18 months and I paid extra for rust-proofing	doc03	Nov 2012	#420
And I'm willing to bet that your pick-up has a lot more	SheilaT	Nov 2012	#435
Brody knobs?????	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#384
Are you saying that cap guns have gone the way of the dodo?	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#400
Never having a house key because we never locked our doors	Kip Humphrey	Nov 2012	#106
Fountain pens	Kingofalldems	Nov 2012	#109
We're in suburban Chicago- and our forest preserves have hole-in-the-ground 'outhouses'...	BlueMan Votes	Nov 2012	#110
Actually Vinyl records are making a comeback..	SomethingFishy	Nov 2012	#112
so do some hipsters	DBoon	Nov 2012	#429
I actually saw a bunch at "Fry's"	SomethingFishy	Nov 2012	#431
Fry's is awesome!	DBoon	Nov 2012	#436
Sex before AIDS came into play. and admiring someone without being hit with a sex harrasment charge	graham4anything	Nov 2012	#113
Blackboards and chalk	elfin	Nov 2012	#115
S&H greenstamps	onethatcares	Nov 2012	#117
We were talking about Green Stamps just last night	DollarBillHines	Nov 2012	#133
I remember buying sheets for my college apartment with S&H green stamps	Neurotica	Nov 2012	#266
Green spaces. Lots and lots of green spaces.	Ezlivin	Nov 2012	#121
xacto knives and wax for pasting up type	Whisp	Nov 2012	#122
Yes! And cutting film. And making stats or veloxes.	xfundy	Nov 2012	#411
Letraset and when being a negative stripper	Whisp	Nov 2012	#418
Party lines	billh58	Nov 2012	#124
life without Walmart	Skittles	Nov 2012	#125
stores being closed on sunday. or holidays.	ejpoeta	Nov 2012	#161
Life without any big box stores.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#164
I Remember Traveling	garagedoor	Nov 2012	#236
any of the 3 Kennedy sons being alive and in the world. The football NY Jets winning Super Bowl	graham4anything	Nov 2012	#127
Winter and snow.	sagat	Nov 2012	#128
TV stations going off the air at midnight.	subterranean	Nov 2012	#129
Radio stations that went off at night	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#140
With Larry Lujack!	eridani	Nov 2012	#441
I remember him. WLS rock n roll gone and turned to talk :(	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#448
Yes, indeed--and the round ones, as well....	MADem	Nov 2012	#510
Glaciers.	lob1	Nov 2012	#130
Hostess Twinkies.	subterranean	Nov 2012	#131
The first time we apent $20 at the grocery store. My mother cried all the way home.	DollarBillHines	Nov 2012	#134
The smell of freshly made ditto copies at school.	MicaelS	Nov 2012	#135
The State Recreation areas here in Michigan still feature hole-in-the-ground style	Romulox	Nov 2012	#136
A little older	just us	Nov 2012	#139
Toys in cereal boxes	subterranean	Nov 2012	#141
Gas stations that allow checks are going bye-bye	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#142
Hardware stores	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#143
Well, mine all know LaserDiscs, cassette tapes, vinyl records, and VCRs.	HopeHoops	Nov 2012	#146
My favorite:	mrsadm	Nov 2012	#148
Paper drivers licenses (no pictures), silver coins, Fizzies, car exhaust fumes	jpak	Nov 2012	#150
You live in a strange world	muriel_volestrangler	Nov 2012	#154
Unadulterated car exhaust fumes - before catalytic converters	jpak	Nov 2012	#158
You've never experienced real car exhaust fumes!	bhikkhu	Nov 2012	#242
I bicycle too and I can smell the occasional car go by	Fumesucker	Nov 2012	#457
LOL- Curfew sirens. Never heard of that one!	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#170
9 PM - UUURRR uhh UUUURRR uhh UUUURRR uhh	jpak	Nov 2012	#171
The best game ever	TransitJohn	Nov 2012	#153
now that's good stuff	fishwax	Nov 2012	#253
Lol, I had the green one. nt	greyl	Nov 2012	#272
Social democrats in the Republican Party...	leftlibdem420	Nov 2012	#155
filmstrips in class	badhair77	Nov 2012	#162
Those Bell Telephone movies with the guy in the labcoat, so we'd know he was smart.	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#237
Yes, lab coats make people look smart.	badhair77	Nov 2012	#246
"filmstrip" I haven't heard that term in ages, also forgot about those gendered	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#396
Sending a telegram.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#163
Department stores that sold everything and had elevator operators.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#166
Buying gasoline for 20 cents a gallon. nt.	OldDem2012	Nov 2012	#168
a strong belief that one's children would be better off than their parents	zazen	Nov 2012	#175
Just think...anyone under 4 years old will never see a Republican as president in America again	graham4anything	Nov 2012	#176
My mom once said that we wouldn't have a Republican President again for a whole generation	slackmaster	Nov 2012	#177
Jimmy Carter would have won reelection had the Dems come together in the general	graham4anything	Nov 2012	#182
No, he would not have won. If you think he would have, show the numbers	JHB	Nov 2012	#478
PA NJ Texas should have been for Carter, Florida too.	graham4anything	Nov 2012	#482
Everyone was saying that!	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#204
Yes. The GOP leveraged the patriotic fervor of the nation's bicentennial, and sold its soul to...	slackmaster	Nov 2012	#364
Lucky for them.	Cleita	Nov 2012	#184
Hitchhiking.	aikoaiko	Nov 2012	#178
that's the first thing i thought of	laruemtt	Nov 2012	#273
I have a rotary dial phone as the main phone in my living room.	MineralMan	Nov 2012	#180
Very cool!!!	mrsadm	Nov 2012	#289
I have a rotary dial phone.	Lasher	Nov 2012	#310
I also have a rotary phone.	tammywammy	Nov 2012	#362
I always wanted a pay phone, complete with a booth.	MineralMan	Nov 2012	#370
Roller Skates you attached to your shoes with clamps & Skate Keys	Sekhmets Daughter	Nov 2012	#183
I'm 26, and assuming I have a kid in 2015 or so...	Odin2005	Nov 2012	#186
Being hit on the hand by a nun and having the phone ring and not knowing who it is	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#193
Riding on the speaker shelf in the family car n/t	LadyHawkAZ	Nov 2012	#195
White Go-Go Boots!	KT2000	Nov 2012	#196
Clapping erasers on the brick wall of the school and all the chalk dust	FSogol	Nov 2012	#197
Canned television.	Arctic Dave	Nov 2012	#198
When I was a kid, we only got one TV station.	Rhiannon12866	Nov 2012	#221
9 on 9 pick up Baseball games in the summer that last until the sun goes down.	sarcasmo	Nov 2012	#207
A teenage girls dad embarrassing you on a landline phone	cprompt	Nov 2012	#209
Drive-in movie theaters.	Agnosticsherbet	Nov 2012	#211
I know of at least 3 drive-ins within an hour's distance.	Lars39	Nov 2012	#368
Mimeograph papers from the schoolteachers w/blue ink. I'd huff those papers...	Honeycombe8	Nov 2012	#218
Card catalogs in libraries.	Louisiana1976	Nov 2012	#226
They don't have those anymore??	madinmaryland	Nov 2012	#279
Our library does!!!!	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#385
That win or lose, the integrity of our election system was taken for granted	corkhead	Nov 2012	#231
Kool-Aid after recess in elementary school.	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#232
The dimmer switch on the floor board	Still Sensible	Nov 2012	#233
Dipswitch actually.	TheMadMonk	Nov 2012	#290
Great info in this thread.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#398
OMG..had almost forgotten about them.	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#386
Waiting a year for a favorite movie to come on tv. Once.	bhikkhu	Nov 2012	#234
when I was a kid	liberal_at_heart	Nov 2012	#284
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol always scared the crap out of me.	jpak	Nov 2012	#329
party lines for the phone	badhair77	Nov 2012	#240
Walking over a mile to school. Bare foot, in the winter, in the snow, up hill, both ways.	notadmblnd	Nov 2012	#245
hahahaha. . .	kevinbgoode1	Nov 2012	#369
I think it's an old Bill Cosby line. But my mother used to tell us that	notadmblnd	Nov 2012	#424
My kid didn't know the song, "Ten tons of greasy, grimy gopher guts."	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#249
"Ten tons"? We had "Great big gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts. . . .	tblue37	Nov 2012	#269
Rubber cement in school....	So_Blue	Nov 2012	#251
Silence.	pinto	Nov 2012	#256
The anticipation...	WinniSkipper	Nov 2012	#258
Summers on my uncle's farm.	Snarkoleptic	Nov 2012	#263
Riding in the rear-facing seat of a wood-paneled station wagon with no seat belt	Neurotica	Nov 2012	#270
Riding in the space between the second and third seat in a station wagon.	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#276
We sat on the open tail gate with our legs dangling !	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#327
25 cents a gallon gas. playing hopscotch on neighborhood streets.	laruemtt	Nov 2012	#274
now you can't even use sidewalk chalk	justabob	Nov 2012	#360
Saturday night at the movies on TV,	BarbaRosa	Nov 2012	#277
MTV	Mac Adams	Nov 2012	#278
Recording songs from the radion to cassette tape and no one freaks!	SaveAmerica	Nov 2012	#280
Get a clear station by putting tin foil on the ends of the rabbit ears	SaveAmerica	Nov 2012	#281
I use to do that all the time	liberal_at_heart	Nov 2012	#286
Doing research papers with microfiche - what google?	SaveAmerica	Nov 2012	#282
Getting on a plane without being searched or body scanned	DaniDubois	Nov 2012	#283
A film breaking at the theater	aletier_v	Nov 2012	#285
Great thread!	Wind Dancer	Nov 2012	#287
I was very little last time all that stuff was popular...	MrsBrady	Nov 2012	#291
The popsicle man, and	Brainstormy	Nov 2012	#292
A pension	jberryhill	Nov 2012	#294
sad but true	liberal_at_heart	Nov 2012	#295
My mother was a switchboard operator	Cresent City Kid	Nov 2012	#296
Backyard burning barrels	Spirochete	Nov 2012	#297
Oh yea ! That burning leaf smell.	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#330
No indoor bathroom.	Lugnut	Nov 2012	#298
I remember waking in the morning to frost and thin ice on the window.	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#388
Most of our windows were frosted and icy during the winter.	Lugnut	Nov 2012	#445
Bookmobiles. These days, tough shit, take a bus or car to the nearest branch or do without.	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#301
I was at our local Bookmobile just last month....Books To The People....	Bluenorthwest	Nov 2012	#366
Neat! n/t	gkhouston	Nov 2012	#381
Riding your bike to school with your mitt on your handlebars. n/t	brewens	Nov 2012	#303
Movies for 20 cents.	No Vested Interest	Nov 2012	#304
45 rpm 7" singles.	dchill	Nov 2012	#309
I'll add card catalogs. nt	Bonobo	Nov 2012	#320
THE Drive-in	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#321
absolutely loved the drive-ins	newspeak	Nov 2012	#389
Drive ins still exist--many still have the old speakers, but they don't repair them when they break.	MADem	Nov 2012	#462
Some of these answers refer to "grandkids." Heh.	WinkyDink	Nov 2012	#325
Clean abundant readily accessible WATER.	Eyes of the World	Nov 2012	#326
I haven't read every thread so this may be a dupe...pick up the phone reciever and have the operator	MichaelSoE	Nov 2012	#332
EM-1233 Actually I remember when it was just 1233.	Auntie Bush	Nov 2012	#487
Classrooms without computers in them	NNN0LHI	Nov 2012	#333
Birthday Party Spanking Machine	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#335
Paper Bag Bookcovers	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#337
Early McDonalds	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#338
I so remember this game being played at birthday parties. I completely forgot until I saw your	kimbutgar	Nov 2012	#407
Stretch Armstrong	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#339
Manual word processor...	Historic NY	Nov 2012	#343
$.95 Saturday matinees, no Internet, MTV actually played nothing but music videos	justiceischeap	Nov 2012	#344
I usd to tell my nieces and nephews that we had to walk uphill to school and uphill home from	libinnyandia	Nov 2012	#346
Holiday Cartoon Specials after dinner, back before 24 hour cartoons/vcrs/cable. nt	Romulox	Nov 2012	#349
No TV! n/t	RKP5637	Nov 2012	#350
A few from my youth	fredamae	Nov 2012	#352
Cube rat stuff from a half century ago	sarge43	Nov 2012	#355
we didn't have the plastic like we do today	newspeak	Nov 2012	#382
RUSH LIMBAUGH!	aletier_v	Nov 2012	#387
Rotary dial phones?	RC	Nov 2012	#392
Regularly hearing different types of music	Z_I_Peevey	Nov 2012	#394
Life before backpacks. Lugging textbooks home under one arm and carrying a lunch pail in the other.	snagglepuss	Nov 2012	#401
Drive in Theaters, reel to reel tape players, Super 8 Projectors that made the ticking sound	kimbutgar	Nov 2012	#402
Sour Bites, From Beechnut... Man I Loved Them Little Candies...	WillyT	Nov 2012	#404
Chemistry sets with real chemicals that you could use for experiments	kimbutgar	Nov 2012	#410
Me too for much of the above. I'll try not to duplicate:	northoftheborder	Nov 2012	#412
"zip lines with a container for your money"	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#421
The little dot when the tv goes off.	xfundy	Nov 2012	#413
That modem sound	sakabatou	Nov 2012	#417
Oh yes......	northoftheborder	Nov 2012	#425
Hahahaha	savebigbird	Nov 2012	#461
Jarts	Lemonwurst	Nov 2012	#427
The unbridled joy, space, and freedom of the '60s and early 70's.	Zorra	Nov 2012	#432
Those were the days:	lucca18	Nov 2012	#438
Ahhhh...lightning bugs. If you are looking to see those again....there's a beautiful B&B in VA	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#477
We are so lucky here to have fireflies.	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#498
Computers the size of a living room, requiring a special operator	LeftInTX	Nov 2012	#443
An american made steel tonka truck	Demonaut	Nov 2012	#444
Most young people will not experience formal dress being the norm in their lives rather than the	Midwestern Democrat	Nov 2012	#446
Hell, I'm in my 20s and haven't experienced those things.	Drunken Irishman	Nov 2012	#451
Polio, Child Labor, the Civil War. The Black Plague, the Spanish Inquisition, trepanning, rickets	Warren DeMontague	Nov 2012	#452
The scandal surrounding the trial of Socrates...	Democracyinkind	Nov 2012	#458
Honda 305 scrambler	Aanenin	Nov 2012	#455
Three television stations...if you were lucky. No DVDs or videotapes or "On Demand" -- you had to	MADem	Nov 2012	#456
Where I'm from...	savebigbird	Nov 2012	#460
West Coast, right?	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#502
My family moved from Kansas to California in 1962. Our Philco TV got three stations in Kansas City.	slackmaster	Nov 2012	#465
I had this exact discussion with my daughter at Halloween when the Great Pumpkin was on.	hughee99	Nov 2012	#468
so true ! I remember very well "suffering" through Lawrence Welk..haha	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#474
Fun thread!	savebigbird	Nov 2012	#459
pogo sticks	GeorgeGist	Nov 2012	#464
I can actually participate in this thread, God I feel old.	white_wolf	Nov 2012	#467
GREAT thread!!!	FirstLight	Nov 2012	#473
Did anyone else have local record shops? Ours even had a "sound booth"...we would	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#476
Riding in a car with no seat belt or any restraint. Riding with a parent who is drunk as a skunk.	raccoon	Nov 2012	#479
Yup...my dad still won't go fishing because he has bad memories of going to the CT shore with his	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#480
Part of the reason might have been less people, less cars, less traffic. Remember when	raccoon	Nov 2012	#488
true...and I guess depending on where you lived mattered a lot too. Like a lot of	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#489
I do not remember my Mom or her sisters ever driving a car!	dixiegrrrrl	Nov 2012	#497
Actually....	lbrtbell	Nov 2012	#481
I actually do think it was better to have the phone ring and not know who it is or to get	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#493
As a millenial i am GLAD i will never experience smoking on an airline.	alp227	Nov 2012	#484
No worries, they reserved the back 5 rows of the plane for smokers	Laura PourMeADrink	Nov 2012	#492
My teacher had to quit teaching school once she started "showing".	DawgHouse	Nov 2012	#500
The boys took SHOP CLASS, the GIRLS took HOME ECONOMICS....	MADem	Nov 2012	#511
Well, at 77 (going on 78), so lets see:	clydefrand	Nov 2012	#503

Response to titaniumsalute (Original post)

Wed Nov 21, 2012, 03:24 PM

get the red out (7,286 posts)

1. Out all day in the summer

Running around the sub-division with my friends all day during the summer with our Mom's just trusting that if they couldn't see us, someone elses Mom probably could. We all were expected to survive and did exactly that.

Fun pub discussion last night - things your kids will never know or experience

1. Out all day in the summer

3. Man that is a good one...

39. Yep we had to be within distance of my dad's piercing whistle.

74. It was my girlfriend's mother's piercing whistle that we listened for 3 blocks away.

181. it was my mom's boat whistle - loud! n/t

8. I raised both of my sons as free-range kids.

126. Too funny.

324. We HAD to walk, in my day! With crossing guards, of course!

138. Amen. We rode our bikes *everywhere*, then threw them down in the front yard overnight...

191. I couldn't be separated from my bike in the summer.

262. We used to go on "bike hikes" in the summer.

307. You must be just a little older than me.

345. No, I'm only 60

414. I'm surprised you remember before zip codes.

422. We were in postal zone 55

433. Interesting. Only some larger cities, if I recall correctly,

440. I think you are probably right about the zones

409. Ahhh the Gas Wars!

423. Must have been a looser dress code where you were

447. Ahh, I've never ever owned a car with a gas tank that

241. Well, come on over to my neighborhood.

347. Sounds really nice! I enjoyed reading your post. nt

185. YES....and we had to come in at night when the street light came on

300. LOL, we could play in the backyard until 10 if it was summer.

340. Me too!

380. Metal ice cube trays! Yes!

393. A separate handle, or integrated with the tray?

426. integrated with the tray...

442. I liked the separate handle better also.

348. Yep. That was our rule, too. nt

367. At ten years old I was an amateur astronomer...

192. +1 10-mile bike rides, on our own, to a local lake. day-long wanderings through the local woods.

311. thanks ! Had forgotten about the homemade skate boards ! And so true about walking everywhere

390. at 16 we were at the local bowling alley

354. "the mass culture experience, where everyone gets the same news, watches the same tv shows, "

475. So funny..."some kind of ceramic figure" with a doily. haha. It also reminded me that everyone

483. "a crocheted toilet paper cover in the bath."

490. OMG here's a pic of TV with ceramics on it

491. hahaha Crocheted Toilet Paper cover pic !

495. OMG...I DO rememeber those!

371. Take away the crank phone at summer camp...

315. I read an article once about roaming kids

372. When I was a kid in the late '60s and into the '70s my range

450. I used to ride my Buzz bike to neighboring towns

466. We had our adventures, didn't we? And if a kid did that today, not only

406. so different. i think the historical perspective is important to have, to keep people

334. Collecting soda bottles to sell for 2 cents each

353. Yes. After breakfast Mom would throw us out the door and lock it.

356. Home for lunch!! Yes

359. I've made it to seventy and sixty years ago I pulled off some hair raising stunts n/t

365. This is truly tragic...

499. "I only hope that there are kids in some small town ..."

2. A month with below average temperatures. nt

314. Sorry, But No

383. Clarification: GLOBALLY, not locally.

328. Yep. I used to go ice skating in my youth (NJ) and one hasn't been able to skate on a lake ....

496. Ice fishing on Thanksgiving

4. Rabbit ears

40. Raising and lowering the cars antenna by hand!

111. Wind wings! n/t

157. I had a 96 Subaru Legacy...

97. OMG I hated those little bastards. You had to stand there and hold them just right.

118. a broomstick that was a 'remote control' for the tv

470. Yeah, kids nowadays could not live without remote controls.

123. I still wear a wind-up watch

151. Hire me!

156. You betcha, gately!

336. No hire me!

199. i would if i could find one for a decent price. i'd use a wind-up alarm clock, too.

206. enjoy!

210. thanks!

247. here's another ebayer to check out, i love his watches

259. interesting. i wonder if he has a website, i'm not that keen on ebay. i see a watch

239. Holy shit! I have that first one:

255. I think I had a Baby Ben alarm clock.

137. We still have rabbit ears.

147. A student smoking section in the high school cafeteria.

200. +1. also, people smoking in the grocery store, at work, and in many public buildings.

219. heh...one my older memories was my dad walking into a newberrys...

138. Amen. We rode our bikes everywhere, then threw them down in the front yard overnight...