I remember when.....

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

Love this thread!

You played outside until your mom actually hollered for you to come home or rang the bell....and you hollered back that you were coming.

Thanks! I was just talking to DH about this, and how you would go outside and play when the sun went down and wouldn't come back in until you could barely see your fingers in front of your face and there was no problem in that. But I so remember my mom hollering out the front door and yelling from a neighbors house in response!

We went to my uncle's once a year to watch "The Wizard of Oz"... which is another thing we've lost over the years. Not the movie, but the 'specialness' of it. It used to air once a year and it was an Event.

I still hold "The Wizard of Oz" in deep respect. It was the first movie I can remember watching when I was little and the first movie I fell in love with. To this day I watch it every year when it comes on tv, even though I have it on disc, I can't help but watch it on TV and take in that "specialness" as you say.

I remember Polaroid cameras - instant photo!

Atari, our first gaming system.

My Grandfather may still have his old Polaroid camera. I used to love that thing. You wouldn't have to worry about what the picture looked like because you could look at it in just a few minutes, after you fanned the picture back and forth for a few seconds and watched it develop right before your eyes.

I remember Atari...I could never beat the darn thing no matter how much I tried. But I also remember not spending hours and hours on it. There was only so much I could take before I went cross-eyed.

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

Sting ray with suicide handlebars, banana seat and a sissy bar.

Does anyone know what I am talking about?

My very first bike ever! I loved that thing.

And audio cassettes. My heart would stop when the tape stopped playing. I would pull it out and the cartridge would come out with the tape still hanging in the player.. Then I would have to try and wind it back up! If I left one in my cold car overnight, I had to sit on it before I could play it!

I used to forget to bring my tapes in at night, and in the winter or fall when the nights would get colder, I would have to wait forever for them to warm up before they played. I would try to hold them to the heater vents in hopes they would warm up faster. I think I ruined a few good tapes that way.

You forgot - Walking [to school] 25 miles, barefoot, uphill, both ways, in the snow, all year long and that's AFTER doing an hour's worth of chores around the house every day (at least that's the version I got.)

I think there were variations to this, but it seemed to always start off the same...I honestly think all grandparents got together and discussed the basics of this quote before adding thier own special twist on it.

Baby oil and iodine for laying out in the backyard, and Sun-In or lemon juice if you wanted to go blonde. No such thing as sunscreen back then.

I think I used Sun-In for a good portion of my pre-teen years, and mind you, I'm already blonde!

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

For those talking about rotary phones...

I can do one better...

I remember when you picked up the handset, you got an OPERATOR!

you had to tell her the number and she would dial it for you, because your phone did not have a dial.

but about a year or two after I was allowed to use the phone, they switched to a rotary dial.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

For those talking about rotary phones...

I can do one better...

I remember when you picked up the handset, you got an OPERATOR!

you had to tell her the number and she would dial it for you, because your phone did not have a dial.

but about a year or two after I was allowed to use the phone, they switched to a rotary dial.

Was her name "Sarah"? JK, you have me beat on that one.

 

[4 Ears]

We were the last one in the country (Bryant Pond, Maine) but I remember picking up the phone, getting my MOM! and asking if I could call my friend "Wendy"? Yup my Mom was one of the operators! So not cool!

If you wanted to call someone "in town", all you had to know was their name.

Our number was 9 1 ring 3 1.

This was about 1981!

I will be 39 in October

 

[4 Ears]

Oh, I've got another one, how about when you went on summer vacation and used a Map or Atlas.... no Tom Tom

 

[Frantasmic]

I worked at Radio Shack in the early 80s and they still had the machine that tested your vacuum tubes for your tv set.

Remember when there wasn't a McDonald's or Starbucks in every TOWN, much less on every corner.

Having someone else pump your gas in a laundered gas station uniform.

When every grocery store gave either S&H green stamps or Gold bond stamps with a purchase

When cities used to spray for mosquitos with that big truck that went up and down every street

When daylight savings time was equal to regular time

Mimeograph machines

Reel to reel tapes

Slide projectors at school

"I'm no fool, no siree, I'm going to live to be 103. I'll play safe for you and me, cuz I'm no fool!"

 

[paintnolish]

Remember when they would put 3D movies on tv? You'd have to get the glasses with a purchase at 7/11 or White Hen. I think I saw The Creature from the Black Lagoon! Or, how about when The Wizard of Oz came of tv? We'd never miss it! My mom would make us english muffin pizzas and make us a little table of phone books so we could eat in the living room.

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

I'm loving this! Keep 'em coming, everything is bringing back great memories!

Having someone else pump your gas in a laundered gas station uniform.

When every grocery store gave either S&H green stamps or Gold bond stamps with a purchase

Wow...It's been so long since I've seen a full service gas station. Not only would they pump your gas but they would wash your windows and check your tire pressure too!

There used to be a market place in my old home town, "Center Market" that used to give out the green stamps. I think the market is still around but they have definitely changed with the times.

 

[Thumper_Man]

I got a couple more.

Concert tickets. To get a ticket, you got up early in the morning to go stand in line. Or camped out over night in front of the only store that sold them. Most of the time the tickets were general admission. No assigned seating. So if you wanted the best seats on the day of the concert, you arrived early to be the first in line to get front row seats. Now a days its assigned seating, VIP ticket sales, Pre-Concert ticket sales and no more waiting in line.

Glass Bottles of Soda. I remember when sodas came in glass bottles and they seemed to taste the best back in those days. You would have to put a deposit on the bottle. Take the bottle back to the store and you got your deposit back. Think the amount was 10 cents for the big bottle and 5 cents for the smaller bottle. Often times, I would go around looking for bottles people didn't want. Try and gather enough bottles to take back to the store just to buy another soda. I know there are still some glass bottles out there, but only the small ones. Can't find the big bottles anymore. Now a days, most sodas come in cans or plastic bottles.

 

[Shadeaux]

I'm loving this! Keep 'em coming, everything is bringing back great memories!



Wow...It's been so long since I've seen a full service gas station. Not only would they pump your gas but they would wash your windows and check your tire pressure too!

Not only did they do all these things, gas was only 29 cents a gallon around 1970 when I first got my license.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Wow...It's been so long since I've seen a full service gas station. Not only would they pump your gas but they would wash your windows and check your tire pressure too!

As I'm sure you know from the Dis, NJ is not allowed to pump their own gas. But gone are the days where they check your tires. If you're lucky someone will clean your windows but I usually get out and do the windows myself.

And keeping with the theme, we used to bike everywhere. I remember biking to a state park and then calling mom to come and get us because we were too tired to bike back. It was over 10 miles and I couldn't have been more than 12!!

 

[Grandmax3]

{The window crank thing is hilarious. It reminds me of that woman who called 911 because she was locked INSIDE her car. Her battery was dead and the power locks wouldn't work. She had no idea how to get out}.

Several people died because the power locks did not work if the power was off. Now every car has a manual way to unlock the car doors. I don't know if it was mandated but every car-maker has the manual option in there cars.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

This is embarrassing, just five years ago one of our cars still had the crank windows and our nine year old van has the manual locks. Heck, it was until last year when my 15 year old car died and bought my DD a used car did we get the power locks.


We're very behind the times.

 

[Motherofboys]

I'm not that old but I want to play too!

When I was in kindergarten our phone was on a party line. I remember my mom crabby about wanting to make a call but the chatty neighbor tying up the line!

When I was little grocery store baggers always took your bags to your car and loaded them for you........now you don't even get a bagger at some places.

Until I was in 8th grade, we had 4 tv stations....total - CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS. We played outside a lot b/c there really never was anything good on.

Saturdays were are only cartoon days, and looking forward to the afternoon specials every week.

Kindergarten snack was the same each day, saltines and milk - that was it, no choice, no allergies, provided by the school. After kindergarten we didn't have daily snack, now my kids need daily snack and snack drink!

Milk at lunch was 10 cents, lunch was 50 cents. The cooks cooked the food, kids did dishes as a job to earn money! There was one lunch entree, not 4 different choices.

Going grocery shopping with our mom once a week was a big deal, the highlight of the week! Going into town and getting a burger or whatever else was on special, listening to the "golden oldies" on the radio.......good times

 

[Thumper_Man]

When I was little grocery store baggers always took your bags to your car and loaded them for you........now you don't even get a bagger at some places.

This was one of my first jobs. It was supposed to be a part-time for the summer. Then summer went into fall and so on. 15 years later, I was still in the grocery business. Worked my way up the ladder of course, but it helped me gain experience to do my current job.

I know what you mean about not evening get a bagger now a days. DW and I go to the store, old instincts kick in and I land up bagging our groceries.

Heck now a days, you don't even have to go through a cashier anymore if you don't want to. You can checkout your own groceries or merchandise depending on where you go.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I'm not that old but I want to play too!

When I was in kindergarten our phone was on a party line. I remember my mom crabby about wanting to make a call but the chatty neighbor tying up the line!



Saturdays were are only cartoon days, and looking forward to the afternoon specials every week.

Kindergarten snack was the same each day, saltines and milk - that was it, no choice, no allergies, provided by the school. After kindergarten we didn't have daily snack, now my kids need daily snack and snack drink!

Milk at lunch was 10 cents, lunch was 50 cents. The cooks cooked the food, kids did dishes as a job to earn money! There was one lunch entree, not 4 different choices.

Going grocery shopping with our mom once a week was a big deal, the highlight of the week! Going into town and getting a burger or whatever else was on special, listening to the "golden oldies" on the radio.......good times

Our school lunch was 35 cents and 5 cents for milk, but other than that, this was my youth, too! We also got to wear our costumes to school on Halloween.

Has anyone mentioned the Good Humor man? When I heard those bells jingling, I screamed "STOP!!!!!" and ran into the house and rushed my poor mother into grabbing some money for me. It's not like he was doing 90 MPH down the street, maybe 5.


Thumper man, ITA about pop coming in a bottle. It tasted so much better, especially those little nickle bottles of Coke.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Just thought of another one. I remember when there were drive-in movies. Now a days I think they're all Walmarts (Everything's Changed - Lonestar. Can see the youtube video by clicking HERE). They had the wired speakers that you would have to hang on your crank down/up window. Eventually they got a little high tech and you could actually tune-in the sound on your car stereo.

Speaking of movies, I remember the beta players. I know someone mentioned VHS/VCR's earlier. Beta was before VHS. You would go out and rent movies. Get to the video store early to be one of the first to rent new releases. If not, then it would seems like days before you could get your hands on a copy. Now a days you can just download them straight to your computer, have them mailed to you or get them from a machine (red-box). Video stores are just about obsolete if they aren't already.

 

[Motherofboys]

Remember when...

No one thought it was okay to wear their pajamas in public! Drives me crazy to see kids and adults wearing pj pants to the store/hotel restaurant/etc - have some pride people!

When you got in trouble with the teacher at school your parents assumed you were the one that did something wrong, not the teacher!

Kids actually worked in the summer! Now the concept of a summer job is "too cruel, let the kids be kids".......where exactly are they supposed to learn how to work, dealing with a boss/co-workers, pride in getting a paycheck, etc? I worked 40 hours a week all summer long since 15, I can tell you it did me a whole lot more good than bad!

 

[stahshee]

Sony Sports walk man
swatch watch
leather coats with fringe
purple contacts