Things our kids can't imagine...

[sam_gordon]

Not sure if this is more Canadian or not but big department stores.

We have lost Eaton's. Now both the Bay and Sears are faltering. Not sure what the equivalent is down south off hand.

Eaton's and the Bay were both big 6-7 storied department stores with everything from groceries to furniture to travel agents. Kids these days only know the suburban malls.

This makes me remember...

Getting the Sears Christmas catalog in the mail. 2/3 of it were clothes, appliances and such, but the back 1/3 (maybe 1/2) was all TOYS! It was great just going page by page through the catalog.

 

[CdnCarrie]

This makes me remember...

Getting the Sears Christmas catalog in the mail. 2/3 of it were clothes, appliances and such, but the back 1/3 (maybe 1/2) was all TOYS! It was great just going page by page through the catalog.

Sears Wish book. I got it up to couple years ago. Not sure if they still do one or not. They closed up the catalogue call centre here in Canada (for Sears Canada) and moved it to the Philippines. Stop buying from them after that.
When I was young we also got a similar Eaton's Christmas catalogue. My grandparents use to ask my parents for the page/items numbers we wanted for Christmas.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I've responded before, but let's take this back a generation or two...

1) Flush toilets
2) Electric lights
3) Heat other than fireplace

Not too far back.... that was from my parents.

MG

 

[MSLRAC]

SERIOUSLY.... There are no chalkboards anymore???

MG

No, most have smart boards now and those that don't have dry erase boards.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

No, most have smart boards now and those that don't have dry erase boards.

Yowza. I'm way behind the times I guess.
My sister is a teacher. I guess I will ask her to bring me up to speed.
She has asked me to address her class so I suppose I shouldn't expect to use chalk... ???

MG

 

[Uncranky Donald]

Making plans and keeping them.
- I'm going to so and so's house
-I'm going to the mall.
-I'm going to the movies
Cuz if you were getting picked up/getting a call you darn well better be there when you said you were gonna!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Black & White television
UHF
regular or unleaded?

 

[Skywalker]

Waiting by the radio with your tape recorder ready to try and catch your new favorite song so you could have a copy.

Oh yes, the original "illegal downloading" lol

 

[PollyannaMom]

As a teacher, I'll say chalk boards, overhead projectors, film strips, and crank pencil sharpeners.

I actually have a crank pencil sharpener in my house!

SERIOUSLY.... There are no chalkboards anymore???

MG

I see one once in a great while, but it's almost always white boards or smart boards now.

 

[melanielll]

Knowing how to address a letter and where to put the stamp. Seriously! My oldest is a doctor, and she had to look it up online a few months ago. I wept inside. On a related note - walking to the mailbox to get your mail. Neither of my kids do it unless I tell them to. My youngest lived somewhere for 5 months and only checked her mailbox on the last day when she was checking out of the apartment.

 

[Tattylou]

True, but it depends on where you live and how old the kids are, as well as some other factors. I would say kids are generally less independent until older ages, compared to my generation.

For example, when I was in kindergarten, I walked several blocks to school (in the suburbs) with a friend the same age. I doubt two 5-year-olds would be allowed to walk alone now. Around here, very few elementary school kids walk at all. Most ride the bus or are dropped off by parents. And for those that take the bus, for grades K-2 the school requires a parent to meet their child at the bus stop.

It also helps that most kids have a cell phone by the age of ten. IMO, it gives parents peace of mind knowing they can get in touch with their kids at any time.

This is true - I have a 1st and a 3rd grader and there's no way I'd let them walk several blocks to school alone. Agree maybe it depends where you live, but I'd say where I live kids aren't getting too much freedom to roam before age 11 or 12.

 

[Tattylou]

Knowing how to address a letter and where to put the stamp. Seriously! My oldest is a doctor, and she had to look it up online a few months ago. I wept inside. On a related note - walking to the mailbox to get your mail. Neither of my kids do it unless I tell them to. My youngest lived somewhere for 5 months and only checked her mailbox on the last day when she was checking out of the apartment.

We were just talking about this the other day. The mail is still the way the IRS communicates and jury duty notification comes in the mail too, so not checking it can be a real problem.

 

[anniemae]

Taking pictures, waiting until you took all the pictures in a roll of film, taking the roll of film to the drugstore, waiting a few days, go back to the drug store to pick up the photos.

No taking pictures and seeing them instantly, deleting it if you don't like it and re-take it.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Youtube
Running wild outside all day(the kids in Stranger Things blew their minds)

 

[Aliceacc]

As a teacher, I'll say chalk boards, overhead projectors, film strips, and crank pencil sharpeners.

How about purple dittos? They would come from the machine, still wet with alcohol.

And I cringe when I think about the number of times I wrote out a whole worksheet or test, only to realize I had forgotten to remove the tissue paper separating all my hard work from the carbon paper!

And if you made a mistake, you had to very carefully cut off the carbon with a razor blade.

For the record, though, we still have chalkboards. They come in very handy when:
a) you need more than one screen-- I can put a diagram on the board below the screen, or to the side.
b) the wifi (or even the power in general) is being finicky. We lost power for an hour or so earlier this year... I forget why. I found a piece of chalk, opened the blinds for light, and finished my lesson.

 

[L&Lfan]

Waiting until marriage to have sex.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I just told DS about this thread, and he agrees with whoever mentioned no spell check!

He also says to add the prices of things. It really blows his mind when DH or I talk about buying candy bars for a quarter as kids, or when he sees antique signs showing ice cream at a nickel!

 

[AppleDumpling]

How about purple dittos? They would come from the machine, still wet with alcohol.

And I cringe when I think about the number of times I wrote out a whole worksheet or test, only to realize I had forgotten to remove the tissue paper separating all my hard work from the carbon paper

Ooh, I loved the smell of fresh dittos. The teacher would hand them out and everyone would immediately put it up to their face to sniff. I did not learn until fairly recently that the word ditto was originally a brand name of the machine made by the Ditto Company. It's one of those words that becomes used generically, like Xerox. My school also had mimeograph machines, not sure what was the difference.

Another interesting fact I bet a lot of people, especially millennials and younger, don't know is that the "cc" in emails stands for carbon copy.

 

[diznygirl]

Waiting by the radio with your tape recorder ready to try and catch your new favorite song so you could have a copy. Youtube sure is handy.

There was a radio station that would play whole albums uninterrupted with a break between sides. So nice of them!


Dialing a rotary phone. Just outside Diagon Alley at Universal there is a phone booth you can dial MAGIC to hear a message from the Ministry. I should have video taped my daughter - it never occurred to me she wouldn't know how to do it!!

 

[Uncranky Donald]

Ooh, I loved the smell of fresh dittos. The teacher would hand them out and everyone would immediately put it up to their face to sniff. I did not learn until fairly recently that the word ditto was originally a brand name of the machine made by the Ditto Company. It's one of those words that becomes used generically, like Xerox. My school also had mimeograph machines, not sure what was the difference.

Another interesting fact I bet a lot of people, especially millennials and younger, don't know is that the "cc" in emails stands for carbon copy.

I missed the cutoff for Ditto machines (I'm an 80's baby so Xerox was king ) but I am aware of their history and all my teachers called our hand outs "Ditto paper/sheets". To this day I call white paper "Ditto paper". When I ask anyone born after me to go get me a piece of Ditto paper they have NO idea what I am taking about Blank paper!! Just get me some blank computer paper, Geez!!