# Another "Remember When...?"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 10, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525 "2008-12-10T06:06:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/1 "2008-12-10T06:06:00Z")
…Because I thought of a good one the other day.
Remember when T-Shirts only came in white and only men wore them?
The 70’s put a stop to that. Or maybe even the 60’s. We once scored a bunch of cheap ones at a sidewalk sale and TikkiSis the Younger (she was very much younger way back then) got one that said, “Magic Mushroom” on it and featured a trippin’ groovy graphic of the fungus. We were pretty naive about stuff like that and it wasn’t until years later that I got to thinking that it was out of character for non-druggers like us to have something like that. Especially when the wearee was only 7 or 8. TikkiSis the Younger loved it though and wore it for quite a long time.
Anybody else have any new “Remember Whens?”
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### Author:  [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/2 "2008-12-10T06:14:07Z")
Actually MAKING waffles? With a real “waffle iron”?
Not some frozen crap.
Not some toy machine that looks and feels like it should have a light bulb as a heat source.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/3 "2008-12-10T13:22:10Z")
Remember pay phones? With dials?
Remember ash trays? Even in cars? (For that matter, remember cigarette commercials?)
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/4 "2008-12-10T13:58:58Z")
This is a twisted one.
Just brought in the new phone books. (Left on the porch, in the rain, with the open end of the bag just missing being under the eave of course.) It turned out to have a CDROM version of the books in it for the first time. So…
Remember when having a CDROM version of a phone book would have actually been helpful? Like in 1990? (As opposed to the online version I have used for years.)
Also: Someone has asked for a VCR for Christmas so she can watch her old tapes. Remember when you could just go out and buy a $30 VCR?
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/5 "2008-12-10T14:56:02Z")
Actually I remember when you could just go out and buy a $200 VCR!
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### Author:  [@Gwyen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gwyen)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/6 "2008-12-10T16:04:20Z")
Do you Remember re-winding cassettes after your sister pulled all the tape out because you stole her Strawberry scented Strawberry Shortcake doll? Of course, you only stole it because she broke your jelly sandals with her big feet!
Now where did I leave my slap bracelets? I want to wear them to my friend’s house and watch Saved by the Bell!
Okay, so I can’t remember THAT far back, but you should have seen the look I got from my SO’s 12 year old’s friends when I said something about cassettes. :o
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/7 "2008-12-10T16:11:59Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> Actually I remember when you could just go out and buy a $200 VCR!
Eh, my first one was on July 4, 1984. Two-head Panasonic. No menu and a wired remote. $388 at Circuit City.
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### Author:  [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/8 "2008-12-10T16:22:19Z")
Remember getting into your Grandma’s car (or your mom’s, even) and being disappointed that it didn’t have FM?
Remember playing basketball in Chuck Taylor’s?
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/9 "2008-12-10T16:22:45Z")
…being “gay” meant being lively and fun? And you could say something was “queer” without someone guffawing? When people actually used the word “guffaw”?
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### Author:  [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/10 "2008-12-10T16:30:52Z")
Speaking of casettes…
I remember back in the days when the ultimate playground status symbol was a bright yellow Walkman[sup]tm[/sup], we were all blown away when my friend arrived one day with a brand-new model that let you flip sides on your tape by pushing a button instead of pulling it out and flipping it by hand. It was truly a wondrous day. 🙂
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/11 "2008-12-10T16:37:22Z")
Ashtrays in banks.
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### Author:  [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/12 "2008-12-10T16:39:01Z")
When you could get in a fight and not be worried somebody was going to pull a
“9” and bust a cap in your ass.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/13 "2008-12-10T16:49:22Z")
Remember galoshes? No, not those stupid Totes things that are about all you can get these days. I mean galoshes, loose-fitting things with metal buckles on them. When they were in use, you could call them rubbers without anyone raising an eyebrow. “Kids, put on your rubbers! You need protection!”
Remember diet delight specials at diners? They were usually a bunless hamburger and some cottage cheese.
Remember transistor radios?
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### Author:  [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/14 "2008-12-10T17:38:44Z")
Remember actually having to get up not only to change the (very limited) channel on the TV, but to also adjust the rabbit ears?
When you received a Rubik’s Cube for Christmas and thought it was super lame in comparison to the [Merlin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_(game)) you received the Christmas the year prior?
When Hello Kitty was “special” and could only be purchased in a few select stores.
When tennis shoes were worn for play, not for looks.
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### Author:  [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/15 "2008-12-10T18:28:54Z")
Thanks for all the great replies, everyone!
**usedtobe,** I not only remember those wonderful waffle irons but I made my nieces some waffles on one that has got to be 40 or 50 years old just this morning! The smallest girl, being ever helpful, since I don’t really know my way around their kitchen, got the iron out for me. Then she realized how heavy it was! Good thing I was nearby so I could avert disaster!
And, dang, did it ever make the perfect waffle, even with my inexperience. Hooray for durable old things!
Oh yeah, what an appropriate username for this thread. 🙂
\*\*Hugh Jass, \*\*remember when you got in the car and didn’t have to buckle up?
I even remember when there were no seat belts at all.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/16 "2008-12-10T18:33:17Z")
> [@Tikki](#):
>
> \*\*Hugh Jass, \*\*remember when you got in the car and didn’t have to buckle up?
> I even remember when there were no seat belts at all.
Remember bench seats?
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### Author:  [@Finally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finally)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/17 "2008-12-10T19:24:12Z")
Weren’t rubbers the things that just went over your shoes but not up your calf? And galoshes were the big rubber boots that went over your shoes and had buckles-or is that just a midwest thing?
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### Author:  [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/18 "2008-12-10T22:28:04Z")
Per the second post, I have got an honest-to-goodness heavy, honkin’ solid metal [waffle iron](http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=297601). Not one of those ones with the plastic cases that take forever to heat up and make unevenly browned wussy-waffles.
You could brain somebody with this thing, **and** then make a tasty breakfast treat.
Remember loading up programs onto a home computer from cassette tapes?
Remember black-and-white televisions?
Remember sleeping in the wayback of the station wagon on the way home from grandma’s?
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### Author:  [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/19 "2008-12-10T22:38:23Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#):
>
> Remember sleeping in the wayback of the station wagon on the way home from grandma’s?
My parents made a mattress for the back of the station wagon, foam rubber with a canvas cover, so we could ride back there and sleep on vacation. It even had a separate part that would fold back because the back seat had two sections and you could fold down all or part of it.
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### Author:  [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-remember-when/476525/20 "2008-12-10T22:52:31Z")
Cassettes are bad enough. I remember eight-tracks. Try explaining those to the younguns.
I not only remember rabbit ears, I remember black-and-white TV–but that’s because my thrifty parents refused to replace anything until it was good and worn out, not just outdated. Consequently we watched TV on our big B&W set until well into the eighties.
I remember ashtrays in motel rooms. Big clear glass ones, each with a matchbook printed with the hotel’s logo. In cheaper, nastier motels (and bars) they were fastened down or embedded in the furniture, mostly to prevent theft but also to prevent their being used as weapons.
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