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Bayard

(23,802 posts)
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:05 PM Sep 18

Funny And Relatable Posts By People Who Just Realized That They're Old Now

Who Is Old Enough To Remember All Of These?












Does Anyone Remember This Movie?
(I loved it!)





If You Can Tell What This Is, You Might Be Old






How Many Of You ‘70s Kids Can Feel This Picture?












Who Else Made Their Own Popsicles? (We did!)









Remember When You Opened A Band Aid By Pulling A String?












Who Remembers Changing A Channel By Turning The Knob?



I Loved These And Used To Read Them At The Dentist's Office. It Was Standard Waiting Room Stuff For Kids



Did Anyone Else Sleep In One Of These? I Think I Would Have To Be Helped Out Of It Today












Could This Movie Be Made Today?






The Older I Get, The More I Identify With These Men















I guess I am old as dirt. I did/had just about all of these.

71 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Funny And Relatable Posts By People Who Just Realized That They're Old Now (Original Post) Bayard Sep 18 OP
We must be the same age! MLAA Sep 18 #1
Yup, all of the above! WestMichRad Sep 18 #2
Well, at 78 I figured I was old, but good grief I recognized everything. Biophilic Sep 18 #3
I'm old too. MiKenMi33 Sep 18 #4
I found a Spirograph NJCher Sep 19 #51
What a great find! MiKenMi33 Sep 19 #66
Every one of those things is familiar to me. Ocelot II Sep 18 #5
EVERY single one Kali Sep 18 #6
We had a rotary phone Delmette2.0 Sep 19 #67
I know all of these, and have comments or anecdotes about all of them ms liberty Sep 18 #7
Good gravy, I'm old! LoisB Sep 18 #8
I didnt recognize three, but that was FUN !!!! Karadeniz Sep 18 #9
Didn't know 64 was so old pat_k Sep 18 #10
Yep. Every one of 'em! some_of_us_are_sane Sep 18 #11
Yep Charlie Chapulin Sep 18 #12
You're old when the rebellious songs of your youth are played in the elevator - on the pan flute. oldfart73 Sep 18 #13
Got all of them! birdographer Sep 18 #14
Remember all of them and both my cars still have wind down windows and 5 on the floor transmissions. sinkingfeeling Sep 18 #15
Okay, ACED IT Just Jerome Sep 18 #16
Looking at these pictures brought back a bunch of forgotten stuff in my life! kimbutgar Sep 18 #17
Waterbeds were hard to get out of NJCher Sep 19 #52
Every last one of these takes me down a memory hole. Ferrets are Cool Sep 18 #18
I am old. Lots of memories there. Thank you. BoomaofBandM Sep 18 #19
I remember all of them wendyb-NC Sep 18 #20
Waterbeds. :) highplainsdem Sep 18 #21
Damn. sorcrow Sep 18 #22
I remember all of these. Come on! Being old is FUN? sueh Sep 18 #23
I must be reallllly old. I remember all of them. niyad Sep 18 #24
The Gods Must Be Crazy mountain grammy Sep 18 #25
I wanted to watch this with my grandchildren but it was nowhere to be found. NH Ethylene Sep 19 #43
I will always be able to drive a manual transmission OAITW r.2.0 Sep 18 #26
I remember all of these things. Especially the window crank. Well...all of them...n/t PatrickforB Sep 18 #27
Kids, I was doing DOS before windows 95 came along. Enter stage left Sep 18 #28
I loved 3.1 with the little lines of file folders happybird Sep 18 #30
Windows 7 was the last iteration I ever liked. Enter stage left Sep 18 #31
I was there for Windows I Picaro Sep 19 #62
Apologize if off topic but early Windows OS-s weren't really GUI EverHopeful Sep 19 #48
I can even remember NJCher Sep 19 #54
49 and I remember all of them happybird Sep 18 #29
I felt like we needed one more Bristlecone Sep 18 #32
What I wouldn't give to watch Grandma narrate a slide show happybird Sep 19 #36
Still have mine ... and hundreds of old slides. Winder if KPN Sep 19 #42
Yeah, I'm old Picaro Sep 19 #33
Thanks for the blast from the past! Kittycatkat Sep 19 #34
I remember all BUT the Spirograph. No idea what that was. DFW Sep 19 #35
Here's a spirograph video for you: femmedem Sep 19 #53
That was fun! NJCher Sep 19 #55
Looks like a discovery rating just behind electricity, antibiotics and the wheel DFW Sep 19 #64
I remember ALL of that ... dchill Sep 19 #37
I never had a waterbed, but... LudwigPastorius Sep 19 #38
You can't get one now NJCher Sep 19 #56
Try two kittens playing on a waterbed mattress during the seconds it's uncovered while you're highplainsdem Sep 19 #68
I remember them all. FuzzyRabbit Sep 19 #39
We mixed it up NJCher Sep 19 #57
Oh, c'mon Windows 98 isn't even old. (And more stuff too) hvn_nbr_2 Sep 19 #40
Oops. Forgot to mention: The road with the 3000 foot cliff had no guardrail. nt hvn_nbr_2 Sep 19 #41
What an interesting life you must lead NJCher Sep 19 #58
Yup- On a twisty mountain California road last summer, I was downshifting into first on coastal hairpin turns. You'd be NBachers Sep 19 #61
I remember, and used most of these. Never did a "will not talk in class" type punishment... electric_blue68 Sep 19 #44
The crank is part of a pencil sharpener. Ocelot II Sep 19 #46
The crank is for rolling down the windows... 3catwoman3 Sep 19 #47
Well, I'm officially old. bamagal62 Sep 19 #45
The Gods Must Be Crazy is one of my favorites EverHopeful Sep 19 #49
Yes yes yes I'm 73 I remember all those 👍😁 TommieMommy Sep 19 #50
Every now and then, it dawns on me.... Think. Again. Sep 19 #59
Too funny. I still have mine. Phoenix61 Sep 19 #60
To get ice cubes, there was actually this chrome crowbar-type thing that was used to dig & pry the ice trays out of the NBachers Sep 19 #63
I was using Windows 98 when I first signed onto DU. hunter Sep 19 #65
I had an Osborne for my first computer, was using it when I first ran on online forum on politics and tech in highplainsdem Sep 19 #69
Every freekin one. Prairie_Seagull Sep 19 #70
I didn't think fifty-five was old. Aristus Sep 19 #71

WestMichRad

(1,636 posts)
2. Yup, all of the above!
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:14 PM
Sep 18

Still have some, including a pickup truck with window cranks, Pyrex dishes exactly like those pictured, and a pencil sharpener.

I remember using a phone much older than the one pictured. Oy.

Biophilic

(4,544 posts)
3. Well, at 78 I figured I was old, but good grief I recognized everything.
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:15 PM
Sep 18

I feel like I should win a prize or something.

MiKenMi33

(111 posts)
4. I'm old too.
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:18 PM
Sep 18

I loved my Spirograph and I have that exact Corning Ware now. I remember all but a couple of these.

NJCher

(37,415 posts)
51. I found a Spirograph
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 06:07 AM
Sep 19

At a thrift shop and bought it. I play around with it just for fun. In fact , I may just get it out later and play with it. So much fun for $1!

Kali

(55,566 posts)
6. EVERY single one
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:32 PM
Sep 18

although I never had that particular camera and flash and our wall phone was beige/bandaid colored.

and still have too much of that stuff

Delmette2.0

(4,252 posts)
67. We had a rotary phone
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 10:17 AM
Sep 19

My sister wore out 4 of the numbers.
She must have called her friend a dozen times a day until the contacts were worn down.


ms liberty

(9,688 posts)
7. I know all of these, and have comments or anecdotes about all of them
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:35 PM
Sep 18

And I really want to pick up that receiver and stretch that cord out more evenly. There's another three or four feet in those tight new coils of phone cord, says the telephone man's daughter!

pat_k

(10,375 posts)
10. Didn't know 64 was so old
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:39 PM
Sep 18

I didn't recognize the glue (used goggle lens), but should have. We did use those in crafts when I was a kid.

The cigarette lighter took a minute.

Yikes! I'm old.



11. Yep. Every one of 'em!
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:44 PM
Sep 18

Looking through this group of images is like one of those marvelous old movies that begin with a calendar fanning the months backward to show the story is in the past, and particularly, when

Thanks. I smiled BIG on this one.

Charlie Chapulin

(287 posts)
12. Yep
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:47 PM
Sep 18

And I’m almost, but not quite retirement age. I remember it all. Had that Spirograph, have a crank pencil sharpener and that Corning Ware, too. Did the Silly Putty and have an inactive phone like the one shown, but beige.
And, no. Blazing Saddles couldn’t be made today. Which is too bad.

birdographer

(2,326 posts)
14. Got all of them!
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:51 PM
Sep 18

You didn't just flip through the records, if you were interested in one, you went into a little room and listened to it (John Wade records, Cleveland, Ohio)! And I actually have one of those coin holders now! They are still handy!

sinkingfeeling

(52,751 posts)
15. Remember all of them and both my cars still have wind down windows and 5 on the floor transmissions.
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:52 PM
Sep 18

I still have my blue flower Corning Ware and a manual pencil sharpener.

kimbutgar

(22,763 posts)
17. Looking at these pictures brought back a bunch of forgotten stuff in my life!
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 09:59 PM
Sep 18

The writing the sentences was the standard punishment in my grade school!

And today I saw an old Princess phone on a job where I was moving a woman into a senior center and I remembered my blue one that I had in high school,

I never liked the Spirograph just couldn’t get it to work!

Blazing Saddles could never be made today!

I had a boyfriend that had a waterbed and I didn’t like being on it, let alone sleeping on it!

wendyb-NC

(3,711 posts)
20. I remember all of them
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 10:50 PM
Sep 18

I had to write, I will bring my beanie to wear at Mass on every First Friday. I always lost, misplaced, or forgot stuff, the beanie, or the yellow clip on tie, that was part of my Catholic school uniform.

I enjoyed the Spy vs. Spy, in the Mad magazines, and the movie, "The gods must be crazy".

Fun stroll down memory lane.

sorcrow

(475 posts)
22. Damn.
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 10:55 PM
Sep 18

I was just thinking about Bandaid strings the other day. "Sterile unless opened" was like a magical mantra to six-year-old me.

Best regards,
Sorghum Crow

NH Ethylene

(30,968 posts)
43. I wanted to watch this with my grandchildren but it was nowhere to be found.
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:35 AM
Sep 19

It was really funny, but also illuminating.

Picaro

(1,745 posts)
62. I was there for Windows I
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 07:24 AM
Sep 19

But Windows II was renowned for crashing with the blue screen of death.

You could hear the screams of horror and outrage echo across the floor as people lost all their work.

EverHopeful

(342 posts)
48. Apologize if off topic but early Windows OS-s weren't really GUI
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 04:04 AM
Sep 19

As always, MS let Apple do their R&D then "Created" barely functional knock offs.

Yes, I'm so old that I'm shouting at clouds.

P.S. How do you write the plural of OS?

NJCher

(37,415 posts)
54. I can even remember
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 06:20 AM
Sep 19

A “computer consultant” coming to our offices to tell us about what “Windows” was!

There was one other thing he said that has stuck with me all these years. He said (explaining what his job was about), “if you’ve got a computer, you’ve got a problem.”

Little did we know ….

happybird

(4,978 posts)
29. 49 and I remember all of them
Wed Sep 18, 2024, 11:54 PM
Sep 18

We made coin purses in Shop in middle school, and I can still taste the zappy-tingle end of the flash cube stick on my tongue, and hear the satisfying crinkle when squeezing the rubber top of the glue.

Guess I’m old now. Yay.

happybird

(4,978 posts)
36. What I wouldn't give to watch Grandma narrate a slide show
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:15 AM
Sep 19

of her and Grandpa’s latest trip. As a kid I was bored to tears. But I would give anything now to hear Grandma tell us about some dusty cathedral, Grandpa interrupting with some correction or extra fact about the stained glass work and a description of whatever ice cream or gelato he had in that town. I miss them.

Picaro

(1,745 posts)
33. Yeah, I'm old
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:03 AM
Sep 19

There isn’t one these that I don’t recognize. Silly Putty lifting up an image of the Sunday funnies? Check. Manually changing channels? Check? Wallphone with manual dial? Check. Won’t go on and on. But I can still drive a stick.

Oh, I still have a Corningware covered baking dish. Not sure how old it is, but it has been moved at least 6 times.

Ah memories

DFW

(56,142 posts)
35. I remember all BUT the Spirograph. No idea what that was.
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:08 AM
Sep 19

And since my daughters were born here in Germany, I taught both of them (born 1983 and 1985) to drive a stick shift. I don’t know if they remember! I even taught my wife, who is my age, to drive a stick shift, and she’s German. They were already using automatics for driver’s ed here in 1969. My car (year 2013) is a stick shift. I had to order it! The brand we drive doesn’t hardly make them any more.

NJCher

(37,415 posts)
55. That was fun!
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 06:29 AM
Sep 19

I laughed at the part where he said they had overcome the problem with the Spirograph, and that was that it doesn’t work!

DFW

(56,142 posts)
64. Looks like a discovery rating just behind electricity, antibiotics and the wheel
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 07:52 AM
Sep 19

I don’t know how I missed it.

dchill

(39,972 posts)
37. I remember ALL of that ...
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:17 AM
Sep 19

...but I haven't thought about most of it in years! So yeah. I'm that old!

highplainsdem

(51,691 posts)
68. Try two kittens playing on a waterbed mattress during the seconds it's uncovered while you're
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 11:08 AM
Sep 19

changing the sheets.

Been there, done that, no t-shirt about it and there was no puddle on the floor, thanks to the liner. But I gave up on kingsize waterbeds after that.

FuzzyRabbit

(2,063 posts)
39. I remember them all.
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:21 AM
Sep 19

I never had a Spirograph, and we didn't have to write "I will not . . . "

I still have a rotary phone but the phone company is all digital now, so I can't use it. Cell phones are definitely not an improvement. Not everything new is an improvement.

And stay off my lawn you whippersnappers.

hvn_nbr_2

(6,576 posts)
40. Oh, c'mon Windows 98 isn't even old. (And more stuff too)
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:21 AM
Sep 19

Windows 3 is kind of old.
DOS 3.0 is old.
The Osborne 1 is old
TRS-80 and Commodore Pet are really old.

I still have (and use) those blue and white Corning casseroles.

I remember living in two houses with phones that didn't even have rotary dialers. You picked up the receiver and an operator came on the line and asked, "Number please?" When our town got rotary dials and 7-character phone numbers (BEachwood 45789), we had classes in school to learn how to use them.

Stick shift: I always drove stick shifts until recently. I once left a car salesman speechless when his company didn't even have any stick shift models. I said, "When I'm on a steep and twisty one-lane dirt and gravel road on the edge of a 3000 foot cliff in the middle of a rain, wind, fog, and hail storm, I don't want a machine deciding to shift gears for me." (A real experience I had had.) The salesman just looked at me with his mouth open.

Fun thread.

NBachers

(17,891 posts)
61. Yup- On a twisty mountain California road last summer, I was downshifting into first on coastal hairpin turns. You'd be
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 07:12 AM
Sep 19

going downhill, hit the hairpin, the road would start a steep incline, and you'd need to clutch into first to negotiate the uphill. I was glad i had a synchro 5-speed.

Later on, we hit some coastal pea-soup fog and decided it's saner to abandon the Coast Highway and head inland instead of hanging our wheels over the drop-off to the Pacific.

electric_blue68

(17,097 posts)
44. I remember, and used most of these. Never did a "will not talk in class" type punishment...
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 12:38 AM
Sep 19
Loved the Spirograph!
Ugh, that ?musilage stuff.
The band aid string? 😄 Waaaaaay back!

Going to the record store! 🥰
Balsa glider planes!

What is that crank for - a piece of furniture?

EverHopeful

(342 posts)
49. The Gods Must Be Crazy is one of my favorites
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 04:13 AM
Sep 19

I even have it on DVD and, apparently, DVDs are now also on the list of "Old stuff."

Realized some years back that pretty much everything I liked was either vintage, classic, or retro.

Think. Again.

(16,386 posts)
59. Every now and then, it dawns on me....
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 06:42 AM
Sep 19

...that there is, and always will be, only one group of humans, throughout all of our human history, who will have known life through both an "analog", non-digital experience of the world, and the digital human experience that has now erased that prior life.

And it is us, who are the only group who will ever know both sides of that bridge.

NBachers

(17,891 posts)
63. To get ice cubes, there was actually this chrome crowbar-type thing that was used to dig & pry the ice trays out of the
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 07:38 AM
Sep 19

thick frosted-over little freezer compartment. In my family, we called it the ice kretcher. Then you had to manipulate the lever on top of the ice cube trays to loosen them to get them out. It was quite a procedure. Frost-free freezers were way off in the Space Age future.

And then, there were these:

highplainsdem

(51,691 posts)
69. I had an Osborne for my first computer, was using it when I first ran on online forum on politics and tech in
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 11:12 AM
Sep 19

the mid-1980s.

Prairie_Seagull

(3,609 posts)
70. Every freekin one.
Thu Sep 19, 2024, 01:07 PM
Sep 19

This trip down memory lane may not even come with a seat belt.

Hold on, it may leave a mark. Thanks Bayard.

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