When I Was Your Age....

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I believe I'm guilty of having used that phrase. I remember things like:
1. loooooong phone cords: Mom would stretch it out 5 feet to get out the back door & close the door to get away from us.

My mom had those extra-long 25 foot cords on the one in the kitchen. But then, we thought we were hot shit in our neighborhood because we had a phone jack installed on our front porch.

We also had a dozen phones in our house . . . and all working. Including a trimline on the wall in the bathroom and one on the porch.

2. our black/white TV in the den, with no remote and actual channel DIALS, one of which was UHF

I can remember only having 3 channels (we got cable in the late 1970's) and a rather fuzzy PBS station.

And if the President was on, you were screwed . . . .'cause he was on all 3 channels.

3. not having to wear a seatbelt because Mom's car was manufactured before that law

I remember my Mom's Camaro having only lap belts. I think her Lincoln and the Ford truck both had shoulder belts, but either way we didn't use them.

Hell, we rode in the back of the truck (if the weather was nice) and didn't worry. Neither me or my brother ever fell out.

4. The days of playgrounds without the benefit of rubber mats or other safety ffeatures

Rubber mats? What are those?

5. the days of riding my bike all over the extended neighborhood from 9:00am to 9:00pm, coming home only for snacks

And don't forget we didn't have those elbow and knee pads back then. Helmets were also unheard of, too.

6. the choices for video game systems were: Atari, Atari, or Atari

Yet the choices for computers were numerous and each manufacturer had their own version of BASIC language and the software titles were limited depending on what brand computer you had.

And the early computer printers used ribbons instead of ink cartridges. My first one was an OkiMate 20 that used the interchangeable color or black ribbons. Replacement ones cost $5 each (and that was expensive back in the mid to late 80's.)

Some of those early printers used daisy wheel printheads similar to typewriters. Speaking of typewriters, I had a vintage manual typewriter and an electric portable.

[Lachrymose]

When I was your age... [cue the "Old Gray Mare"]

http://oldgreymaresheaintwhatsheusedtobe.ytmnd.com/

[LibraryLady]

Are your pants at least up where they're supposed to be?

Oh yes, Irv. My pants are in perfect order. I'm even considering digging out an old pair of silk harem pants for our trip to Hawaii in October. I've been told they're back in style.

[LibraryLady]

Thanks, Lachrymose. That was a hoot!.

[edible_hat]

The internet was too expensive, so we used dial-up BBSes when you had to wait for an hour for someone to log off and free up a phone line... kind of like AOL.

When you missed something on TV, you asked if anybody happened to record it to video tape. If someone had it, the next question was "Is it on VHS or Beta?"

The remote control for our VCR had a cable. It wasn't quite long enough, and when it came unplugged you had to walk all the way across the room anyway.

School was harder. Recently the year 9 literacy and numeracy tests were printed in the paper. I could have got 100% when I was in year 6.

There was one computer in the whole school, and that was only because some kid's rich uncle donated it.

Instead of a printer, that computer had a device that you attached to an electric typewriter.

[BookstoreEscapee]

There was one computer in the whole school, and that was only because some kid's rich uncle donated it.

The computer screens were all green (or orange) text on a black background and you had to type in commands to get it to do anything.

[persephone]

If you wanted to make your own mix, you had to press the record/play button to record your favorite songs from the radio on your cassette tapes

That was awesome -- cause it also meant that mix tapes MEANT something -- you had to work for weeks and months to get it just right! I knew my Hubby loved me when he made me my first mix tape back in high school.

[Trayol]

I never thought Power Rangers were cool!

Same here. I remember the very first time I tuned into Mighty Moron Flower Arrangers... I remember thinking to myself "self, this is just a very cheesy, D-grade, live-action rip-off of Voltron... and then I changed the channel!

20yo Trayol: I respect your truthfulness.


5yo nostalgic Trayol: Lies. Lies, I tell ya. La la la lala. La la la lala.

Yeah I'm in that boat. I totally loved Power Rangers

Testify

[AdamAnt316]

I may be "only" 26, but I do my best to live my life anachronistically. Observe:

-My first TVs were all VHF/UHF two-dialers, bought at yard sales. First was a mid '70s 12" GE black & white set, bought for $2. Later upgraded it to a newer mid '80s no-name 12" B&W set for $3, then later to a gorgeous 13" RCA XL-100 color set for $5. All were yard sale purchases. Sadly, all of them were thrown out in 2000, shortly before MA made it difficult to discard old TVs due to the hazardous chemicals within. Fortunately, I've since managed to acquire a $2 13" Philco color two-dialer, which gets used with my vast assortment of classic video game systems (from Atari 2600 to NES to Sony Playstation, and just about everything in between).

-I have an impressive collection of obsolete computers, from TRaSh-80 Color Computers (complete with cassette recorders for program loading!) to numerous Commodore 64/128 variants, to various Apple ][/Macintosh models from the '80s and early '90s, including the Lisa 2 seen as my avatar.

-I have enough vintage stereo equipment for multiple audio systems, with plenty of tube and solid-state gear, cassette decks, turntables (well over a dozen, with hundreds of LPs and other records to play on them), reel-to-reel tape recorders (few of them in working condition ), early CD players, and even an 8-track deck or two.

-I have various examples of obsolete video playback devices, including Selectavision CED players, LaserDisc players, Betamax VCRs, and, of course, VHS VCRs. The quality might not be all that great, but watching a glitch-y, skipping CED copy of Star Wars has some sort of charm to it...

-I have numerous antique radios, both tube and transistor, stretching from the 1920s all the way to the 1970s. Atwater Kent, Zenith, Philco, Crosley, and many more. I also have a few 'boatanchor' radios, including a couple of military communications receivers from the Cold War era which employ a couple dozen tubes, receive signals from all over the world with little effort, and make excellent space heaters in a pinch.

-I keep a stable of obsolete/low-fi keyboard instruments from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. From a classic Farfisa combo organ to the über-cheesy Optigan Music Maker, to goofy Casio sampling keyboards, and beyond. I've begun using them in an attempt to produce some sort of music, as Dr. Optigan.

And in case anyone's wondering, I indeed have an old-fashioned electric typewriter, but it sees little use since it tends to try and 'dance' it's way off of my desk every time I try to type with it.

More details about my madness can be found at my website below.
-Adam

[Jester]

I was born in 1970. So much of this is amusing to me. When I was "your age," whatever the hell age that is.......

Tattoos were on sailors or outlaw bikers only. They were not fashion statements, let alone by suburban white kids.

Speaking of bikers, "bikers" were a collection of hardcore and dangerous outlaws that rode their hogs through towns, ran drug rings, and generally lived outside the norms of legal society. They were not lawyers and software engineers who trucked their gleaming new Harleys in on trailers to ride around for a few days for the "bike rally."

Body piercings were generally only on exotic foreign (i.e., Indian) women. They also were not fashion statements by suburban white kids.

Answering machines were the cutting edge of telephonic technology, at least on the home front. You could be out and actually not miss someone's call! And these were the kinds where you had to press buttons down, and when you got home, you would press other buttons to rewind the cassette deck and listen to the messages left on the cassette that you inserted in the machine. (As I recall, ours had two cassettes--one for incoming messages, and of course one for your outgoing messages.)

Athletes signed autograhps for kids without charging money. And trading baseball cards meant we traded them, or "flipped" for them (anyone else remember that game?), not that we kept them in plastic sleeves to keep them pristine for the card show. People who actually went to card shows were weird, man!

My father got an electric typewriter, so gave us kids his manual typewriter to use. That, by the way, is why to this day I type so loudly, to the point of having been asked to leave computer labs....I learned on an old key-sticking manual, damn it!

Foreign cars were the exception, not the rule, and Japanese cars were a cheaper alternative, not status symbol cars. Status symbol cars back then were either Caddies or some such, or European.

Restaurants had smoking and non-smoking sections. And generally speaking, the non-smoking sections were much smaller.

We actually won or lost our Little League games. And we wanted to win. Not "feel good about ourselves." Hell, winning did just that, damn it! (For the record, I played catcher.)

Basketball players wore short shorts, not shorts that went all the way past the knees.

T-shirts with funny messages on them were just coming into vogue. I specifically remember NOT getting the joke when I saw in a t-shirt shop the one that read: "To all you virgins--thanks for nothing!" My father got me hooked on screwy t-shirts, by the way. The first one I remembered him getting simply said, "Bah! Humbug!" Dad rocked.

Walkmans were new and exciting. I specifically remember as a young teenager getting a cassette/radio walkman that had auto-reverse, and what a cool freakin' thing that was! You actually didn't have to take the tape out and flip it! Also cool around the same time was boomboxes that would record a song in its cassette player internally from what it was playing on the radio, eliminating outside noise. This was a novel concept.

You younger music lovers will be shocked by this, but I remember if I wanted a particular album by a band, I had to go find it in a record store. If it was a rare or hard to find out out of print one, you really had to look to find it, and sometimes it became a quest. You could not simply go online and find it, buy it, and have it shipped to you. I STILL remember how awesome it felt in the early 90's (I was in my early 20's) when in L.A. I found a cassette copy of "Buckingham Nicks," not to mention imports!

Getting back to my childhood, I remember with much distaste corduroy pants. Even back them I hated them, but they were part of the norm. Please tell me those fucking things have been launched into space and exploded. All of them. For you younger folks you haven't a clue what I am talking about, these were torture devices disguised as pants that made an annoying sound when you walked, as the fabric of the inner legs rubbed together to create a "swish" sound. Corduroy pants sucked!

I am sure there are others, but you get the idea. I DO have to say that I don't think all the changes are a bad thing. I for one hate the idea of being without my cell phone, being the phone and text whore that I am. Hell, I talk to my girl in Phoenix every single night. Before cell phones, "when I was your age," my long distance phone bill would be astronomical. These days with my cell, calling Phoenix costs me no more than calling the other side of Key West. You gotta love that! And online shopping? Rocks. Ditto for much of the changes.

Especially if they did away with corduroy pants.

and no helmets!

I have been riding bicycles since I don't remember. I do know that my first bike without training wheels was around first grade. I got my first helmet when I bought one for an organized bike event. In my twenties.

(Raises hand from walker, shakes fist in air "You kids! Get outta mah yard!)

That was made a lot less funny and a lot more intimidating by Clint Eastwood in "Gran Torino." Great movie. I highly recommend it.

I'm in the same boat. The best thing to tell them is "I remember when EVERYONE thought Power Rangers were cool."

I really don't think there was ever a time when they were cool. Let alone when everyone thought so.

Test patterns. Back in the day after the late show, tv stations went off the air & all you saw was this pattern on the tv which doesn't exist anymore.

Test patterns still exist. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. As former broadcasting major, I can tell you they are still around, and still used....just not for the end of the day sign-off, as infomercials have replaced them.

Personally, I prefer the test patterns.

45's, 33 1/3's & 8-Track tapes...

My father had an 8-track player. It was on that very eight track player in Dad's basement office that I first heard the wonder that was George Carlin.

Also, I remember specifically buying record albums. Not only that, but back in Phoenix, I still have plenty of vinyl from my early teen years in my storage unit, including, as I recall, about 40 LP's (what we called albums, kids, the big ones that played at 33-1/3 rpm), and about 100 45's. AND a turntable/stereo to play them on. I am willing to bet it still works, and the records are still in great shape. (At least I hope so!)

...it was my half-sister that had the Atari 2600... but hers came from Sears, so it was rebranded with the Sears name on it 'cuz they did that back in those days.

They still do stuff like that, with all kinds of things. If you have ever been to a resort that has their own label of wine, for example, trust me when I tell you they don't have a vineyard in the back. Generally, resorts license with vineyards to buy the vineyard's wine and have it labeled with the resort's label. When I worked at a resort in Phoenix, for example, our "resort wine" was actually just relabeled Fetzer.

But there are many other examples of rebranding, my friend. The practice has not discontinued at all.

I see your Atari and raise you a Pong.

I may be crazy, but wasn't Pong a game ON the Atari? At least the home version?

*Playing Monopoly on a DOS based computer.

Try sitting around with the family playing Monopoly.....on a board.

"But Jester, we did that too!"

Ours had wooden houses and hotels.

--Kids (for the most part) still respected (and obeyed) their parents and teachers.

Oh, here we go again. The "this generation is so much more disrespectful than ours ever was." I've said it before, and I'll say it again (and I am not the only one): People have been denigrating the younger generation since at least Aristotle's time, folks.

So to this I must say bullshit. Because good kids raised by good parents are still respectful of their parents and teachers. And don't bring teenagers into this, because teenagers are still teenagers, period.

--Cookie Monster still ate cookies

You mean he doesn't eat cookies anymore? Why not? And if he doesn't, do they still call him Cookie Monster?

Cell phones doubled as personal security devices.

They still do. The difference is that now you can use them to call police or other aid, whereas before it was far easier just to bash someone's skull in with them.

Volvo was synonymous with "tank".

And that has changed how?

Seriously, they may be more stylistic, but they are still solid, safe, boxy, and boring.

Does anyone remember when Cap'n Crunch had fewer berries, and they were all pink and HUGE?

That was Crunch Berries. If you had huge pink things in your regular Cap'n Crunch, it meant you had let it sit around too long.

All electrical lines were above ground. When there was a storm we were almost certain to lose power.

Still the way it is in Key West. Then again, when you live on an island that is such a solid piece of rock that the cemetery has the graves above ground, this not that surprising.

And in case anyone's wondering, I indeed have an old-fashioned electric typewriter, but it sees little use since it tends to try and 'dance' it's way off of my desk every time I try to type with it.

I actually have an antique portable manual typewriter. And by "portable" I mean it comes in a case that opens, the legs of the typewriter attach to the bottom of the inner part of the case, and there is a space for paper to be held in the case and everything.

I inherited it from my Deadbeat roommate when I threw him out. I'll sell it to you if you want. Pawn shops around here won't give me more than ten bucks for it.

[SengaKitty]

Try sitting around with the family playing Monopoly.....on a board.

"But Jester, we did that too!"

Ours had wooden houses and hotels.

*SNIP!*

I'll sell it to you if you want. Pawn shops around here won't give me more than ten bucks for it.

Hey, we had the wooden houses and hotels! But our set also came with mom after her and dad divorced

And how much for the typewriter?

[hecubus]

The computer screens were all green (or orange) text on a black background and you had to type in commands to get it to do anything.

Your computer had a screen?? Lucky you.

The only computer we had at my school was a dumb terminal (no screen, just a big typewriter looking thing that printed what you typed on a huge roll of paper.) The only programming language that was taught was BASIC.

Other things I remember:

The only jeans I ever had were the old Sears Toughskins, which were made from a blend of, I believe, cotton and sheet steel. You had the wear the things for about a month before you could even bend you knees in them.

About the only tennis shoes I ever had were the ones that you could pick up at the store in a bin by the registers for about $1.99.

There were no video games, not even Pong, until I was about 14 years old.

My first stereo was an all-in-one model with a turntable, radio, and 8-track recorder/player.

We got our first color TV when I was 13.

My brothers college friends used to use record covers and a credit card to separate the seeds out of their pot. For those of you too young to remember, marijuana used to have seeds. For the really young among you, there were these things called "records......."

[jnd4rusty]

Black and White television
8 track tapes and cassettes
record players (my frist album was GREASE)
5 and 10 cent stores
candybars were 10 cents
bottles of coke from coke machine (glass bottles) 25 cents
gas 50 cents a gallon, speed limit 55 on interstate
cigarettes 75 cents a pack
TV dinners were actually a meal not a snack (the sizes have decreased and so has the flavor)
playing outside at dusk and not worrying about being kidnapped
spankings at school if you did something wrong
popcorn stand with 10 cent bags of popcorn
needed only 16 credits to graduate high school
milkman delivered milk and ice cream every week
no call waiting
phone calls from phone booth cost only 10 cents
Dippidy Doo (those from the 70's will remember this product, was used when you rolled your hair in curlers, it helped to set the curls)
cereal had really cool prizes in the boxes
CrackerJack prizes were equally cool and not "cheap" as they are today
sports cards in every loaf of Wonder Bread
the Old Home keep on trucking commercial (remember the one with Mavis and the dog named Duke)
good cartoons such as Jetsons, Roadrunner, Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Tom and Jerry, Mickey Mouse...just to name a few
So many memories and not enough time...ahhh the good old days!!!!

[sms001]

My brothers college friends used to use record covers and a credit card to separate the seeds out of their pot.

Probably double albums. And VERY probably drivers' license.

[BookstoreEscapee]

You mean he doesn't eat cookies anymore? Why not? And if he doesn't, do they still call him Cookie Monster?

Cookies are a sometimes food, now. Cookie Monster is eating healthier these days.

In a June 19, 2008, appearance on The Colbert Report, Cookie Monster again explained that "Cookies are a sometimes food." He also attempted to eat Stephen Colbert's Peabody Award. Colbert had asked agitatedly why Cookie Monster had "abandoned the pro-cookie agenda" and thus caused fruit to become the favorite snack of American children, according to a study Colbert had heard. Colbert criticized Cookie Monster for not wearing a cookie lapel pin. Cookie Monster also claimed to have "crazy times" during the '70s and '80s, referring to himself as "the Robert Downey Jr. of cookies." After eating a cookie to prove he still likes cookies, Cookie Monster asked if the Peabody Award, a round medallion on a small pedestal, was a cookie.[5] When Colbert returned to speak to Cookie Monster at the end of the show, the award had disappeared and Cookie Monster was wiping his mouth with a napkin.[6]

I had a record player ... it had ladybugs on it.
Does anyone remember The Magic Garden? I had that record. Also Free to Be... You and Me. On vinyl. (One of my college roommates had it on CD.) I also had 45s of the "Rubber Ducky" song sung by Ernie, and "It's Not Easy Being Green."

My parents had Bill Cosby (among many others). My first exposure to the Chocolate Cake for Breakfast bit was on vinyl.