# How were things different when you were a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032 "2026-04-04T22:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/162 "2026-04-06T01:41:13Z")
that reminds me, back in 80’s in LA, there were 2 24-hr newstands on Hollywood Blvd ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/163 "2026-04-06T01:42:37Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Back when comedy albums were a thing, what speed did they typically play at? I had a few from the ‘70s (Richard Pryor, Steve Martin), and those were 33s. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/164 "2026-04-06T01:43:41Z")
my dad had a Plymouth Fury like that ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/165 "2026-04-06T02:48:15Z")
Long play (“licorice pizza”) records with 6-8 songs on a side were nearly, if not always, 33⅓ RPM; single play (7" records with a large spindle hole) were 45 RPM. 16 RPM, as noted, were for spoken word or music where sound quality was less important than playing time. 78 RPM was a holdover from the time before LP when a typical record only held 3-5 minutes on a side. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/166 "2026-04-06T03:48:21Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Wow, thanks for the memory jog: back in the day, The (Baltimore) Sun had a 6AM edition, a noon-time version and then The Evening Sun around 5PM. I might be slightly wrong on the times. In the 1960s, most daily newspapers were either morning or evening papers. My father worked for the Sunday Sun, and I remember as a kid looking up in the World Almanac (remember them?) and discovering that the Sun was one of only 19 papers in the country (among hundreds listed there) that published a morning, evening, and Sunday edition. Each one had a completely separate editorial staff. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/167 "2026-04-06T04:11:33Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > _I never saw a 16 rpm record anywhere, or ever heard of anyone owning one or a store selling one. But it was fun sometimes playing records at different speeds._ My older brother bought a Magnavox console stereo in the early 1960s, and it had 16 rpm on it. “It’s a Gas” by Alfred E. Neuman was especially funny at that speed, though it was equally sidesplitting at 78. For those too young to remember, “It’s a Gas” was a small disc on cardboard that came tucked into a special edition of “MAD” around 1964 or 65. I still have it. It still cracks me up at any speed. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/168 "2026-04-06T04:30:54Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > . I never saw a 16 rpm record anywhere, or ever heard of anyone owning one or a store selling one We had a toy telephone in the house that took little records that were in 16rpm. > **[Mattel-O-Phone (1965) | Toy Tales](https://toytales.ca/mattel-o-phone-1965/)** > > In 1965, Mattel released the Mattel-O-Phone, letting kids have up to 40 different phone conversations. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/169 "2026-04-06T06:31:53Z")
There were many more of us. Aging boomer her. 👴 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/170 "2026-04-06T08:10:47Z")
Some things from my youth that are probably vanishingly rare for other dopers: - There were entire beaches, public amenities, entertainment venues and public transport I could not use on pain of, well, pain. And imprisonment. - Television was entirely in Afrikaans on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and alternating Sundays. - There was just the one TV channel at first. - There was no sliced bread available for sale on Sundays. Only rolls. And only from a bakery, because the grocery stores were shut just like most every store except the bakeries. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/171 "2026-04-06T08:33:28Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > There was just the one TV channel at first. Same for me. One channel until 1980. Two channels until 1990. Three channels until 2000 (though by then I had moved from NZ to Aus). ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/172 "2026-04-06T11:53:15Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > I think there was also a vacuum salesman too, don’t remember the name of the company. Probably Kirby. I worked for them for about a week in around 1979. I was to learn the ropes from an experienced salesman. His name was Charlie Brown and drove an AMC Pacer. If someone let us to do a demo they’d get a free canned ham. We knocked on about 20 doors and never got in. I quit after that. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/173 "2026-04-06T12:07:45Z")
This is why I didn’t post about what my childhood in Pakistan was like. It is so outside the American cultural experience, it would be hard for others to understand. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/174 "2026-04-06T12:20:12Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > My older brother bought a Magnavox console stereo in the early 1960s, and it had 16 rpm on it. “It’s a Gas” by Alfred E. Neuman was especially funny at that speed, though it was equally sidesplitting at 78. I wonder if that influenced the line in “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/175 "2026-04-06T12:40:58Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > There was also the Trading Post, which came out weekly and had want ads of all kinds for the entire region. Grew up in Ohio, and I remember the trading post. It was just like the [classified section of a newspaper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_advertising), wherein anyone could buy or sell stuff. Most ads consisted of just one or two sentenses, and I recall it wasn’t cheap to place an ad. Today’s online marketplaces are vastly superior. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/176 "2026-04-06T12:59:58Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > the World Almanac The World Almanac was a fun read — just one huge rabbit hole. I think the “noon time” version of The Sun I mentioned was just the 6AM edition with the front page updated. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/177 "2026-04-06T13:01:55Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Considering that, compared to modern teens who basically carry parental tracking devices in their pockets (viz, cell phones), we Gen-X teens in the 80s were downright feral. Already discussed at length in this thread is the long periods of time in which we were effectively devoid of adult supervision; not discussed is how that freed us up to have all the sex. > > I don’t know if teens today are having as much sex with each other as we did back in the day. I’ve read that they aren’t, and I wouldn’t be surprised. Between not being able get enough time away from the technological reach of the ‘rents in order to complete the transaction, and the need for expressed, written consent for every sex act, I’d be surprised if most teens weren’t chaste. I’m Gen X (born in 1967). My late teen years were so much different that the late teen years of our children. It was during the rock era, and countless weekends were spent partying, trying to score beer, going to rock concerts, more partying, etc. etc. Our chilren and their friends seemed to be much more straight-laced, which - I guess? - is better. But their generation also seems to have a _lot_ more psychlogical problems. It seems that every Gen Z person I’ve met is on meds for this or that. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/178 "2026-04-06T13:12:33Z")
The last time I used in was in 1993/94, when I moved to New York City and didn’t need my car anymore. As I recall they old guy who bought it lived an hour and a half or so away, so it had a further reach than newspaper want ads. It was kind of like placing an ad in all the newspapers withing a fairly large radius, thus the higher cost. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/179 "2026-04-06T13:37:25Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I think the “noon time” version of The Sun I mentioned was just the 6AM edition with the front page updated. Yes, most papers, morning, evening, or Sunday, would issue several editions each day, with, as you say, minor updates to the lead stories as new info came in. The delay between when each edition was “put to bed,” ie, all the editorial changes were finished, and when it appeared on the streets, was several hours, to allow for the typesetting and printing a several thousand copies. So the 6 am edition would have been put to bed at, say, 2 am, and the noon at 8 or 9. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/180 "2026-04-06T13:42:52Z")
Kolchak never got that by-line, did he? A shame. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/181 "2026-04-06T14:25:45Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > This is why I didn’t post about what my childhood in Pakistan was like. It is so outside the American cultural experience, it would be hard for others to understand. Huh. Yesterday, I went to shop at a local grocery store. Not a chain (I don’t think, maybe a local chain), but it’s pretty big. Great fruit and veggies. At least a dozen aisles. It was closed. Easter. Huh. OK, no prob but it sort of surprised this atheist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032.md?page=10)