# I remember when...a trip through the 20th Century **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575 "2005-01-13T17:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/61 "2005-01-15T00:57:05Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > 😕😕😕😕😕 > > the point of this was…? > 😕😕😕😕 Oh. Well, excuse me, **Bosda**. I didn’t realize I’d made a faux pas. Please forgive my ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/62 "2005-01-15T00:59:35Z")
Oh, I see. You meant the point of sitting in a parking garage. Yes, it wasn’t clear where it would land. I thought you meant the point of my post and I thought you were being cranky. Oops. I’ll shut up now. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/63 "2005-01-15T01:01:15Z")
I remember banks were closed on weekends and there were no ATMs yet. If you didn’t get to the bank for cash by 5 on Friday, you were SOL for cash that weekend. I remember the only credit card you could use at Sears was the Sears card, then the were like the only place to take Discover for like 2 years. (My parents still say “do you take Discover?” at places. DUH!) Visa and MasterCard used to be something like “MasterCharge and BankAmericard” We also had one of the first VCRs with the long cord for the remote. The remote was a toggle switch: play/record and pause/stop. I remember actually staying up late to tape movies and pausing during the commercials, so you’d have a “commercial free” tape for later. I remember when video stores started popping up everywhere. In people’s garages, in gas stations, in old grocery stores and movie theaters. Each store might only have like 200 videos, and you had to have memberships at like 10 different stores because the first 9 might be out of everything on Saturday night, or only one had the music video you wanted. I remember when wine coolers were cool the first time, and them being advertised by Ringo Starr and Bartles & Jaymes. I remember my mom making my brother and I matching red, white, and blue striped outfits for the Bicentennial parade. I also had bicentennial “chuck taylor” style sneakers that had eagles on the toe, and a BigWheel knockoff that was bicentennial themed. I remember Big Wheels and Green Machines. (I was trying to describe these to my Niece and Nephew over xmas, and they had no idea what I was talking about.) I remember those round Panasonic transistor radios on a long chain. Crack’d magazine, Mad fold-ins, weird magazine ads for blacklight posters or disco necklaces that said “foxy lady” or “100% Bitch” First crush: Shaun Cassidy, then Luke Skywalker I remember my mom being really into the whole “Star Wars” thing and how the first was really the fourth and it was going to take all these years to make them. She said “Someday I’ll be taking my grandkids to see the last Star Wars” and she might actually be right! I remember how you had to rent or buy a phone from the phone company and it was insanely expensive. It was extra to have someone come in and install an extra line, and if you had one your family was probably rich. Moreso if one was “TouchTone” as already mentioned. Now every house comes with like 20 phone jacks and you can get phones by the truckload everywhere you shop. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/64 "2005-01-15T02:19:09Z")
I remember when _Roots_ came out, and what a media frenzy that was! The mini-series, the book, even our newspaper printed excerpts. I remember taping _The Thorn Birds_ so I could keep it (still have it) and talking about it with my friends at school the next day. I remember _Shogun_ and Omi-san peeing on Richard Chamberlain’s back. That was huge. I remember the final episode of _MASH_. I remember my father getting me John Jakes series on the Kent family, and then later, the _North and South_ trilogy. I remember going to see Lewis Grizzard in person. That man’s accent was so thick it was difficult to understand him at times. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/65 "2005-01-16T16:56:30Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Dialup modems, at 300baud. Text only. We had those in the UCLA library school, 1982 - 84. There was a pair of circular rubber receptacles into which you had to shove the actual handset of the telephone. We thought just being able to search a citation database was the hottest thing since sliced bread. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/66 "2005-01-16T17:04:27Z")
Anyone taking the time to read this thread will probably be interested in [The Prelinger Archive](http://www.archive.org/movies/prelinger.php), a huge collection of ephemeral films and TV commercials. **Pau in Saudi** , you should go there and check out the film _6 1/2 Magic Hours_, a promotional film for the 707 depicting a jet light from Idyllwild to London. ---
**Author:** ![LucyInDisguise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucyindisguise/32/18064_2.png) [@LucyInDisguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucyInDisguise)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/67 "2005-01-16T18:29:05Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > When the earth’s crust cooled and solidified > > the continental drift > > learning how to make fire I think we went to school together … wasn’t the secret “banging the rocks together” or something like that? I think I was absent that day … but I certainly do remember walking to school. Uphill. In the snow. Make that 14" of snow. Every day. Did I mention that the uphill part was in both directions? 😃 On the lighter side: Standing out as the memory that most impacted my life: I vividly remember sitting in the school lunchroom and watching the first 2 hours of news coverage before being sent home when JFK was assassinated. ☹ Followed by the second: Watching the first nationally televised murder (Oswald) :eek: Can’t forget the others: MLK, RFK ☹ In no particular order: Howdy Doody and Capt. Kangaroo Anybody remember _The Beach Boys_? A 9 Transister portable radio $0.l9 for a gallon of gas during the Gas Wars of the early 70’s “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” Pong \*Laugh-in \* (“Wanna Walnetto?”) Tang 4 track tapes 8 track tapes _The Green Hornet_ Illya Kuryakin _Bonanza_ \*Mad Magazine \* Family Shows about Family: \*_The Addams Family_ \*_The Partridge Family_ \*_All in the Family_ \*\*United Network Command for Law Enforcement \*\* vs. **Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity** _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ An actual play ground at the front of the Drive-in theater directly under the screen where no adult dared venture … The Draft Lottery – Number 11 – might as well voluteer … I’m still trying to figure out why Sony’s Beta format didn’t kick the VHS format’s arse right out of the market place … Richard Milhous Nixon (IMHO, If he’s just owned up to the break-in and given us a chance to forgive him, he wouldn’t have had to resign – it was the lie that got him canned …) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/68 "2005-01-16T18:53:36Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > (Oh, re the smallpox vaccination scar-I had the shot but never developed a scar. I’m guessing not everyone ended up with one.) Not everyone has them in the same place, either. Mine’s on my right pectoral. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/69 "2005-01-16T20:18:58Z")
I remember the Beatles on Ed Sullivan-Third grade The assasination and funeral of President Kennedy-Third grade Watching “Lost In Space” Watching the first season of Star Trek-TOS Sixth grade Seeing men walk on the moon-Summer after eighth grade. Polio vaccine, in a sugar cube-First grade Watching Nixon resign the presidency-during Army basic training ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/70 "2005-01-16T22:27:46Z")
Lost in Space Hiding under your school desk from Russian A-Bombs Aurora series of prehistoric plastic models (Cro-Magnon Woman!) When our house was for sale, all our neighbors freaking out about the possibility that a black family might buy it. Hippie school teachers Singing _Blowin’ in the Wind_ and _One Tin Soldier Rides Away_ at school POW’s coming home from Vietnam 7-11 Slurpies with collector cups The Milkman Planet of the Apes ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/71 "2005-01-16T23:13:19Z")
Walking 200 yards to attend Kindergarten thru 5th grade at my “neighborhood” school where Miss “Smith” was the principal, then a half mile to 6th grade, then 1 mile to 7th thru 12th grade. Annual primary school class pictures, with a separate shoulder and head shot of each pupil, all on a 9 X 12 sheet (still have most of them). The ice, milk, Cushman’s Bakery, haberdasher, and Fuller Brush men’s and family doctor’s house calls. Backyard garbage and trash pickups, taken to the town dump and then to the incinerator. Memorizing John Masefield’s _Sea Fever_ and The _Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner_ in Miss “Smith’s” sister’s 8th grade English class, the Declaration of Independence and Gettysburg Address in 10th grade and all of the US Presidents in the 11th grade (I can still recite them, at least thru Kennedy, after that my short term memory fades). Crushing a can with atmospheric pressure in Miss “Smith’s” other sister’s 8th grade science class. Oh, two other spinster sisters taught 8th grade math and 9th grade social studies. Seeing Sputnik overfly my house, and later the US version-the big balloon orbiter. Learning to drive my aunt’s ‘50 Ford, in a cemetery and hearing the first playing of Elvis’ \*Blue Suede Shoes \* while doing it. Mad COMICS - still have several of the first 2 years’ issues. EC Comics - _Tales from the Crypt_, etc (still got them). Revell plastic model planes for 29c- still have a couple dozen (all made) on top of my kitchen cabinets-retrived from Mom’s attic. My Marx and Lionel electric trains. A big Erector Set. Lincoln Logs (originals). Painting by number. Daisy Red Ryder bb gun. Going to a neighbor’s house to see the first tv in the neighborhood, to watch Jackie Gleason, Dagmar, Ed Sullivan,George Gobel. Later, the Cisco Kid and the Lone Ranger, Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Space Patrol, Tom Corbett-Space Cadet, Wally Cox as Mr. Peepers, on our set. \*From the Earth to the Moon, Rocketship X-M \* (just bought the DVD pair–far out!), \*Don Winslow of the Navy \* and other Saturday matinee serials at the movies, at 5 cents per ticket. \*The Day the Earth Stood Still \* (“Gort- Klaatu, Barada, Nikto!”)(Used later in _Army of Darkness_.) \*The Blackboard Jungle \* with Sidney Poitier in his 5th role, with its theme song, Bill Haley and the Comet’s \*Rock Around the Clock. \* Nash Metropolitans, Hudsons, Kaisers, Packards, Raymond Loewy’s Studebaker, esp. the '53 (cars). President Eisenhower and his signing of the Highway Act to start the Interstate Highway System. Riding to/from Boston on the railroad train on snowy days before the highways put them out of business. The rr’s ads said, “Will you like us in May like you did in December?” 20 cent per gallon gas. The Really Good Old Days. But then there was The Polio epidemic. Iron lungs. Hurricanes Carol and Edna. Having to put black window shades on all of the windows (in a seacoast town) so the German U-Boats would not be able to see silhouettes of our ships along the coast. Meat, gas and rubber tire rationing. ---
**Author:** ![leroy\_the\_mule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6a8cbe/32.png) [@leroy\_the\_mule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leroy_the_mule)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575/72 "2005-01-17T06:01:19Z")
"[SixFinger! SixFinger!](http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/Sixfinger.html) , man alive! How’d I ever get along with five?” Gas stations gave free glassware with every fill-up. We used those green bowls and glasses for a long time. A milkman delivered milk in glass bottles to our door every day. No metal detectors in airports. Our mom saved S&H green stamps for several years before she cashed them in on a blender. Cars did not come with seatbelts. Our dad was in the Air Force and got ahold of some airplane belts that he rigged into our Studebaker. Vivid anti-drug movies in school showed nice kids puffing their first joint at a party, then: 1) going insane, possibly also followed by 2) running into traffic and getting killed. If they were at the marijuana party but did not smoke, they were still screwed because the cops would suddenly show up, arrest everybody and throw them in jail for a long time. Just the bad publicity from getting arrested ruined any chance for these kids to ever get a job or be loved by their parents again. Five cents for a soft-serv cone at the ice cream stand. Carnation instant breakfast. :smack: Slide Rule class in high school. The first pocket calculator cost $200. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when-a-trip-through-the-20th-century/284575.md?page=3)