Remember when....

[Jaya]

Remember when: any mother in the neighborhood could lean out the window and yell "STOP DOING THAT!" and the kid would stop.doing.that. There was no "you can't tell me what to do!" because, yes, she COULD tell you what to do. And if you didn't.stop.doing.that, your mother would hear about it and assuredly you would regret that you.didn't.stop.doing.that.

 

[mjkacmom]

Remember when you didn't have standardized tests in school?

Remember when there were no microwaves and you had to reheat food in the oven? And the only kind of boxed meal was a TV dinner you cooked in the oven (and was a treat)?

Remember when tv commercials didn't show a bra on a person, a tampon or pad, presciption medicines, or anything remotely sexual?

When did testing start? I'm close to 50, and remember filling in those bubbles in elementary school. Just checked, and it appears the Iowa Skills test was used in the 70's. I remember my last name was too long to fit in the space allotted.

 

[FINFAN]

Remember when you didn't have standardized tests in school?

Remember when there were no microwaves and you had to reheat food in the oven? And the only kind of boxed meal was a TV dinner you cooked in the oven (and was a treat)?

Remember when tv commercials didn't show a bra on a person, a tampon or pad, presciption medicines, or anything remotely sexual?

ITA...do we REALLY need Viagra or certain gels/cream commercials during dinner? Or prime time shows for that matter? Can you just imagine those ads popping in during The Andy Griffith Show, Carol Burnette Show or The Beverly Hillbillies?

 

[NFLDERS]

Remember when....

You adjusted your skates onto your sneakers with a key?

We walked home from school for lunch? And then walked back for the afternoon?

Getting McDonald's or other fast food was a special treat instead of a regular occurrence?

All the kids in the neighborhood would get together to play kick ball?

The knobs would break & you had to change the TV channels with pliers?

Holding down the record player arm to keep it from skipping?

All of these except we didn't have McDonalds so.. The local Drive in with the girls on roller skates delivering your order to the car was our fast food go to. We used coins taped to the record player arm.

Getting up off the couch to go to the TV to change the channel.

Having 4 main channels to chose from to watch TV (NBC, CBS, ABC, and I can't remember what FOX was.)

When the bike was your method of transportation instead of something to do on the bike trail. It was my freedom as a child.

Release the Belgium started with all neighborhood kids as soon as it got dark until 11 pm.

What was "Release the Belgium?" We were not out as late as you were as kids!

Great thread OP!

 

[HM]

When did testing start? I'm close to 50, and remember filling in those bubbles in elementary school. Just checked, and it appears the Iowa Skills test was used in the 70's. I remember my last name was to long to fit in the space allotted.

I am 53. I didn't take any tests in elementary school, but remember hearing that they were coming...the California something or other test. I think testing wasn't widespread until much later. Only some school districts used them early on.

 

[NFLDERS]

When, Halloween treats were given after entertaining (a trick) for the homeowner, kids were free to go out on their own, and treats were not inspected at nights end.

When, Christmas mean't one gift, and the tree went up while the kids slept on Christmas Eve.

When, Ice Cream came in cardboard rolls, and placed in a cone at the local grocer's.

When, straws had Chocolate, and Strawberry flavouring in them.

And when, Coca-Cola was .10 cents for a small 8oz. bottle!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

when TV commercials and movie previews weren't nearly rated R type material

when the dollar movie theater was $1 not $2 or $3
when you had to call the movie theater to find out the show times

 

[LBIJim]

Remember when there was no such thing as remote controls so your parents made you stand at the tv and turn the dial until they found something they wanted to watch.

Or was that just me?

Yep, even after remote control was readily available, my father was too cheap to get one.

Before cable, we had an antenna rotator. It seemed different channels came in clearer on different settings. CBS on the one o'clock setting, ABC on 5 o'clock, etc. (The settings were actually 360 degrees or directions, not clock hours). And it also depended on the weather, time of day, etc.

High schools had a designated STUDENT smoking area. (See, not all change is bad)

My HS had a student smoking area for those over 18, but the "bad kids" still smoked outside behind the lecture hall.

remember when:

college was semi-affordable?

having a laundry line was the norm ? Man, I miss it

basements didn't have to be finished like the Taj Mahal ...but we still the cool place to hang out, garage attics too

and a biggie for me~
you could go to the gate at the airport to meet/say good-bye to family/friends...and wait to see their plane depart and if you were lucky, see them wave their actual paper ticket in the window to know what seat they were in.

I think my entire college education cost something like $12000. Tuition, room and board, books, everything. And that was kind of high.

You mean an outdoor clothesline to hang laundry to dry? We still have that. Plus one of those square "trees" with multiple ropes.

Yeah, the basement had the old, junky furniture from upstairs. But that was the norm. Oh, it also had a clothesline for drying laundry on rainy days or in winter.

I've been an airport geek since my teens and always enjoyed hanging out at airports, even when I wasn't flying that day. It was great when you could wander at will.

Remember when: any mother in the neighborhood could lean out the window and yell "STOP DOING THAT!" and the kid would stop.doing.that. There was no "you can't tell me what to do!" because, yes, she COULD tell you what to do. And if you didn't.stop.doing.that, your mother would hear about it and assuredly you would regret that you.didn't.stop.doing.that.

There was one busybody old lady in the neighborhood who went out of her way to spy on kids and run to their mothers to report the slightest transgressions. Even the moms got fed up with her nitpicking and ignored her. Eventually the kids started intentionally tormenting her.

Yeah, but in general, you listened to the moms in the neighborhood if you knew what was good for you. One time a mom yelled at me for saying "fart."

When, Christmas mean't one gift, and the tree went up while the kids slept on Christmas Eve.

!

My parents used to pull the whole "Santa brings everything" act; gifts, tree, lights, other décor, etc. When I was four or five I went downstairs around midnight and caught them red-handed in the act of decorating the tree, with gifts piled up in the corner. I think they stammered some kind of plausible excuse, but I never really believed them. They dispensed with the fiction after that.

 

[Squirlz]

Do they at least put the school smoking sections far away from the day care?

 

[PollyannaMom]

Remember when...

All you needed to prove you were actually home sick from school was a note from your parent?

(Yes, I am the bitter parent who had to wake up my sleeping child today to haul him to the doctor in order to get the all-important "official" note for school, only to be told by said doctor to take him home and let him sleep.)

 

[SandiR]

Remember when if you wanted to look something up, you opened a book?

Remember when a family of four could get by on one salary?

Remember when there were phone booths?

 

[slo]

Remember when you always had to have a quarter on you to call home
Remember when you forgot your quarter and had to call "collect"
Remember when you returned pop bottles to the grocery store for $$
Remember when you played a cassette single in your car
Remember when you played 8 track tapes
Remember when all the moms watched their soap operas religiously
Remember when passing notes in school was a strategic event (next to how you folded it)

 

[LBIJim]

Do they at least put the school smoking sections far away from the day care?

Back then, if a girl got knocked up, she dropped out of school, and it wasn't HER decision. She could always return after the baby was born. But someone else had to watch the kid elsewhere.

 

[kimmar067]

...remember when penny candy WAS a penny?

 

[kimmar067]

.....remember filling the S & H green stamps books and trading in the filled books to get some really cool junk....errrr, 'stuff'?

 

[kimmar067]

You mean an outdoor clothesline to hang laundry to dry? We still have that.....

....I use mine all the time...

 

[bcla]

Remember when floppy disks really were? Remember floppy disks at all?

Remember getting a blister from dialing the phone a lot?

Remember adjusting the rabbit ears?

Remember when there was only one radio in the house, and the parents exercised total control over it?

I was early elementary aged in the 70s. Never recalled just one radio in the house. He had a couple of clock radios and a Sanyo mono AM/FM radio with cassette player. I do remember actually dialing on a phone and not pressing buttons. I also remember when Western Electric phones were only leased, were replaced if they failed (no questions asked), and were practically bulletproof.

As far as rabbit ears goes - we actually had early cable TV, but my dad got tired of paying for it an we went to a rooftop antenna (Archer brand from Radio Shack). I also remember tubes inside, replacing blown tubes (also at Radio Shack), as well as banging on the side of the TV when the picture went batty.

I do remember flexible jacket floppies, but it was back when 5.25" was the most common. The strangest thing I remember was an episode of Miami Vice where one was a piece of evidence, and Tubbs just placed it in the picket of his fancy suit without a sleeve and without any concern that he'd damage it. Then Sony came out with these new-fangled 3.5" ones with the hard plastic shells, but they didn't really become common until the Macintosh came with them standard.

 

[bcla]

.....remember filling the S & H green stamps books and trading in the filled books to get some really cool junk....errrr, 'stuff'?

Blue Chip around here.

Remember when you always had to have a quarter on you to call home
Remember when you forgot your quarter and had to call "collect"
Remember when you returned pop bottles to the grocery store for $$
Remember when you played a cassette single in your car
Remember when you played 8 track tapes
Remember when all the moms watched their soap operas religiously
Remember when passing notes in school was a strategic event (next to how you folded it)

Pay phones from Pacific Telephone in California were 10 cents until maybe the late 80s when they went to a quarter. There was that expression when someone called - "It's your dime". And yeah I remember bottle deposits. We have those again but not nearly as much for single-use. We still have some $1 milk bottle deposits around here.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Remember when
... you spoke on the phone for hours after 10 pm, b/c that was the only time your parents weren't expecting a call?
... you stayed up to watch "Friday Night Videos" on network tv b/c you didn't have cable?
... your mom would sew you an outift b/c clothes cost a lot more back then?

 

[FINFAN]

....I use mine all the time...

I tried using my drying rack...on my back patio and got an anonymous letter stating it while we have only a social H.O. and there isn't technically a subdivision rule against it, it was "frowned upon"lol...hey! I get to use the emoji! I still use the drying rack, but really, really miss a full blown line across the back yard. We used to put on plays/skits and that held our "curtain" for the stage. Plus sheets etc just smell nicer after drying outside.