My daughter doesn't know what it means for networks to "sign off"

[Catch22Dem]

...for the night. It's just one of those things that seems silly to her. You used to watch TV until late at night, then the network would "sign off." She asks, "so what did they show after that?" "Nothing," I said, "they signed off and went blank for the night. Later they started showing infomercials after sign-off, but that doesn't count."

I suspect kids someday won't know where the term "rewind" came from. With everything being digital, they won't understand the "reel-to-reel" concept. Oh, the phrase "rewind" will still be around, but they won't understand where it came from.

What else can you think of that is from your past that your kids will never understand.

[libnnc]

1. using a payphone

I'm a sub teacher and the teenagers I run into think I'm a freak for not having a cell phone.

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. Using a rotary dial phone

Also, renting a beta or VHS video player.

My 3-year old granddaughter has a cold, and is cooped up at home. She's using the portable DVD player to keep herself entertained between naps. It's all just the every day world for her.

[Reverend_Smitty]

61. This will make you really feel old...

I am almost 22 years old and I've only used a rotary phone once in my life...and the worst part about it I had to ask for help (in my defense I was only 8 or 9 and I had to call my mom from the nurse's office)

[Nikia]

76. My grandmother still has a rotary phone

All of her grandchildren, including the ones who are toddlers have learned how to use it.

[reyd reid reed]

2. actually changing channels

I mean, getting up, walking across the room and turning a dial.

Vinyl records. Wax records. 45s. Defrosting freezers. The list goes on and on and on and on.

[Catch22Dem]

3. We thought we were high-tech...

when we got one of those "remote controls" that had a long cord running to a box with a row of buttons and a switch on one side to change the value of the buttons on the row, and a knob on the other side to "tune" the channels in if they were a little off.

[RevolutionaryActs]

7. Welcome to DU!

:toast: :hi:

[reyd reid reed]

19. Thank you

Tonight seems to be the night to come out of the lurker's closet.

[ContraBass Black]

14. People don't defrost freezers anymore?

I missed that one.

[reyd reid reed]

25. I've had the same refrigerator for fifteen years

and I've never once had to defrost the freezer. I had to chip the ice out of it once when the icemaker busted and the valve to the water supply wouldn't shut off and niagra falls froze in there, but I've never had to defrost the sucker.

[Nikia]

77. My boss yelled at me for not defrosting the freezer at work

I had known that it had an excessive amount of ice in it, but I didn't know what to do about it. I had never defrosted my refridgerator nor seen my parents do it.

[bleedingheart]

48. I was my mother's remote control before they were invented..

she would scream my name or my brothers from the living room and when we got there...she would say..."change the channel"

[Catch22Dem]

4. UHF

The kids don't know what it means to turn the TV to the UHF band to get the "other" channels.

[booksenkatz]

43. And having just 3, maybe 4, channels to choose from. nt

[Floogeldy]

5. Did you explain the part about walking ten miles to school, in the snow?

Oh.

:)

[Heidi]

13. Where I grew up,

we had to rollerskate to school, backward, uphill, in raging snowstorms. In August. And our skates had no ball-bearings. :cry:

[Floogeldy]

22. No wonder you are so resilient!

:)

[Heidi]

24. And no wonder I moved!

No way would I raise The Wiley and Excellent Cat Named Ginger under such harsh circumstances. (Plus, he doesn't skate. Yet.) :evilgrin:

[reyd reid reed]

16. Uphill both ways, right?

of course.

[NewJeffCT]

37. And, it was uphill, both ways!

against the wind, too.

[Jamastiene]

82. Uphill and barefoot at that.

Also, it was uphill both ways. Let's not forget that part.

[JVS]

6. Tell her it's what they used to do instead of switching to infomercials

[EstimatedProphet]

8. Good point

"Signing off" started to phase out in the early 80's, didn't it?

I wonder- how long will it be before people don't remember manual windows in cars? Or no A/C?

[Archae]

10. WBAY channel 2 in Green Bay still signs off

ABC affiliate.

[politicat]

11. No AC or pushbutton windows in my 2001....

Entry models are still that way... (Not that I mind. We need AC about a month a year, and if we ever get too feeble to roll down a window, it's time to "take us to a nice farm".)

[EstimatedProphet]

21. True, auto everything isn't everywhere yet

But it's so much more common now that I think it won't be long until it's mandatory.

[ContraBass Black]

17. Those are still widely available as cost-savers.

[ContraBass Black]

12. Game Cartridge

Loose CD Caddy

Side-scroller

Oomagles

Disk film cameras

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Roller skates that you clamp to your shoes with a key.

[ContraBass Black]

18. I haven't seen those in a while.

[reyd reid reed]

31. Now that's something I haven't heard in a long time

Remember?

"I've got a brand-new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand new key"

Okay, I'm going to get all misty and nostalgic in a minute if someone doesn't make me stop.

And over roller skates, no less.

[Catch22Dem]

33. It's funny isn't it?

All these little things.

I was in the store today and noticed the little age thingy that says, "if you were not born before this date, you can't buy cigarettes/beer blah blah blah." The cigarette one says 1988 now. Cripes Almighty!!!

[Catch22Dem]

20. Sitting by the radio with a cassette recorder making a mix tape

Man, I used to do that all the time.

[politicat]

27. Making mix tapes - rewinding, fast forwarding, getting the volumes right..

Cueing...

With audio software it's so easy now....

[Arugula Latte]

78. I remember that --

the crappy sound, the songs cut off early by commercials, the waiting all day just to hear one song ... it was so... so ... primative!

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Don't tell her about the test pattern

That might be too much for her.

[Catch22Dem]

26. HAHA, or what about electronic football

You know where the whole board vibrates and all the pieces fall over.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Foosball!

[Catch22Dem]

30. Yeah, that too...

Now, I will say, my daughter LOVES skee-ball, and air hockey, so there may be hope for her generation yet!

[proud2BlibKansan]

52. My kids have great taste in music

For that I will be forever grateful.

[NewJeffCT]

39. That game never quite worked for me

I always thought it would be awesome, but the reality never quited measured up...

[ContraBass Black]

53. I think that was just called "Electric" football.

[enigmatic]

28. I used to think I was hardcore as a kid

to stay up until all the channels signed off for the night. I think I stayed up until 2am that way a few times:)

[Catch22Dem]

32. That's kinda what got me thinking about it...

I heard something in the other room (Olympics coverage) that made me think they were signing off. At first, it didn't seem the least bit odd. Then I realized it was just music, and wondered why it was so easy for me to make that conclusion when I haven't seen a network sign off in 20 years.

[Benfea]

34. PPP

Already most kids look at you funny when you say things like "In my day, we had to log off and disconnect from the Internet whenever we weren't surfing." You could probably show them an old fashioned external modem and they'd instantly think "Hey! Where's the coax connector on this modem? What's that funny jack? It looks like a really tiny ethernet jack."

[LostinVA]

35. I feel old...

[LostinVA]

36. Remember UHF channels?

[KitchenWitch]

38. 8 track tapes!

Vinyl

Vinyl at speeds other than 33-1/3 RPM

[Catch22Dem]

41. George Carlin doing a joke about...

Listening to Black Sabbath at 78 speed. That one would go right over their heads.

[KitchenWitch]

45. True

I remember listening to my 33s at both 16 and 78, it was a hoot.

[miss_american_pie]

55. My baby sis doesn't remember 8 tracks

She makes me feel old.

I was young, but I can remember listening to my mom's Rick Springfield 8 track.

[NewJeffCT]

40. It wasn't that long ago

that most people only had 3-4 channels to choose from
ABC
NBC
CBS
PBS

[booksenkatz]

42. Playing records backwards

ym nos sah on aedi tahw esoht dnuor kcalb sgniht ni eht tnemesab era.

[ContraBass Black]

54. I remember a lyric from the Nas song, "Rewind"

"...Sounded like Heavy mettal fans, spinning records backward like AC/DC..."

Kids everywhere must be confounded.

[Rabrrrrrr]

44. The little triangle window that used to be in cars

[nutsnberries]

47. those were great!

my dad longs for the good ol' days when you could get a triangle window...

[kick-ass-bob]

50. the ones that opened up? yes!

I thought those were great for not letting in too much air, but you get a little fresh air.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

62. Those were great for rainy days

You could get some air without getting soaked.

Also you could ash your cigarette outside without covering the inside of your car in ash.

[reyd reid reed]

63. and curb feelers!!

[kick-ass-bob]

65. did people really "use" those?

:D

[DBoon]

73. and the metallic whiskers on the front of cars

so you could park properly

[DoBotherMe]

86. Wings!

"Open the wing, dad, your smoke is choking me." D ; )

[Catch22Dem]

89. I loved those. Could get good air into the car if you needed it, or...

Could angle it to your face if you REALLY needed it. Good for holding a cigarette out the window too, but I don't do that any more. :)

[Debbi801]

46. phone numbers that start with a word....

such as Rogers41071.

We had friends over not too long ago and the adults were all reminiscing about tv sign offs, the only kids shows available, etc. All of our kids were looking at the 4 of us like we were from another planet. :rofl:

[kick-ass-bob]

49. UHF and VHF channels.

2 dials on a TV?

Why was there even one?

:D

[Ptah]

51. Splashdown

[ContraBass Black]

56. "Ringing up"

It just occurred to me that all of the cash registers I've seen that have bells in them are toys.


"Carriage return"
Most keyboards have recently switched to "Enter"

Non Anti-Lock Brakes
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa *crunch*"

[booksenkatz]

66. On that subject

Kids today are not taught how to count up to make change when working a cash register. The cash register simply tells them how much to hand over to the customer. Sad.

[ContraBass Black]

67. Really?

In that case, I should find a cashier's job. Higher pay, and I wouldn't have to worry about mistakes.

[CornField]

57. Video Arcades

My kids absolutely cannot believe that we use to have to pay a quarter for the pleasure of a video game... or that there were places devoted to nothing but video games.

[ContraBass Black]

58. Take them to one.

They're everywhere.

Aren't they?

[CornField]

59. I don't think we have any in Iowa

The closest would be Chuck E Cheese, but you use tokens there.

[ContraBass Black]

60. Really?

Wow, I must be getting old too.

[kick-ass-bob]

64. But don't the tokens cost a quarter?

Putt-putt places? Many of those (Adventure Landing) have arcades inside.

[IA_Seth]

69. They have them at the big I-80 rest stop...

Not that it's anywhere near you, but if you are ever on your way to the QC you can stop in and show them what's what! I believe Westdale Bowling still has some as well.

just doing my official "iowa" search to see what people are saying and saw this.

[CornField]

70. Oh, don't be coy

I know you're stalking me, Seth. LMAO!! :hi:

[kick-ass-bob]

68. What do you mean you didn't have seat belts in the car?

[Catch22Dem]

87. Because it was a sign the automaker didn't have faith in the car

Can you believe that?

[ucmike]

71. 3 on the tree.

my brother in law has a ford van with this feature. its the last column shift manual transmission i know of. he let me borrow it once, i asked my younger brother to move it and saw the look on his face. he had no idea what to do.

how about dialing 7 numbers to make a phone call. we had a discussion about that and ended up explaining to a highschool girl in the room. for her entire life she's had to dial an area code for all phone calls.

on a side note, i saw a news segment about a sound engineer who is recording sounds before they dissappear. he records ordinary noises from daily life for posterity. he was recording phones with real bells in them and typewriters in the segment i saw. he pointed out that most people younger than thirty have never heard a room full of typewriters working.

[Catch22Dem]

88. Good ones

I took typing in high school, so I've heard a room full of ELECTRIC typewriters but not manual typewriters.

Ah yes, the column shift manual transmission. I actually drove a '63 chevy for a few months in high school, so I'm quite familiar with them.

[Maddy McCall]

72. When I was a kid and had pajama parties...

it always signaled bedtime when the local channel played the Star Spangled Banner with a film of the flag waving in the wind. That told us that it was time to either go to bed, or to have a seance to channel each other's dearly departed pets. :D

Yeah, kids today have no idea. We had three channels, four if we were lucky and PBS was visible, on a good day.

:hi:

[madinmaryland]

74. Most would play the national anthem when they signed off.

I remember waking up at 2am to the NA and then realizing I had been asleep for three hours on the couch!

[DBoon]

75. walkie-talkies

and what a thrill it was to talk to someone two whole blocks away with a radio

[ContraBass Black]

83. Children still play with short-range ones

And I see people buying and using long-range ones all the time.

[DBoon]

85. Good!

I'd assumed cell phones had pretty much taken over.

[Ron Mexico]

79. Drive-through liquor stores.

I wish we still had them today.

[ContraBass Black]

84. We do.

Mostly in Eastern beach towns.

[Taverner]

80. Walking your relatives to the gate at the airport

To see them off...

Also - I remember when getting on a plane meant walking along the tarmac and getting on a stair car.

And of course, don't forget soda cans made of tin, and pop tops that actually came off.

[Catch22Dem]

90. Funny story about pop tops

When I was in Jordan in 1996, we went to a bar that actually had pop-tops. Needless to say, I got pretty loaded and decided to make the dreaded pop top necklace. The next morning, I woke up to fingers that looked like shredded beef, and a nice blood stained pop-top necklace. Looked like something out of a horror flick.

[Jamastiene]

81. They'll never understand why Pac Man and Swords of Chaos

were considered such great games at the time. They'll also never know about the little 45 adapters you had to try to keep from losing and why a quarter would stop a record from skipping and that sometimes it may take $0.35.

The ones I go to college with also seem not to know about the Reagan years. I realize that this is a problem. They will be more apt to vote for a repuke blindly unless we can educate them about the dangers of repuke seizing power. They will never understand comletely about this era and why we seemed so powerless to stop these horrid wretched people from doing some of these things. Sadly, I may never understand it either.

Also, they will never know the anticipation of waiting for a roll of film to develop, or why we ever had to go pick up our pictures at a store a day or two later.