# I remember when...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 21, 2002, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247 "2002-06-21T11:24:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/1 "2002-06-21T11:24:59Z")
…two-letter state codes and zip codes came around
…you could buy 4 candy bars for a dollar
…stamps cost 19c
…TVs had a regular dial and a UHF dial and I knew where the local channels were (17, 23, 40)
…MTV started
…Nickelodeon started
…airlines handed out candy to everyone after meals
…most cars used leaded gas
…Elvis died (my babysitter was heartbroken)
…cell phones came out, and they were the size of a half-gallon of milk
…Nissan was Datsun
…Honey Smacks were Sugar Smacks (and the original Dig’em the frog)
…breakfast bars (like candy bars, for breakfast)
…watching the test pattern on TV on Saturday mornings, waiting for the cartoons to start
…Corn Pops were Sugar Pops
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### Author:  [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/2 "2002-06-21T11:30:38Z")
… gas was 29 cents a gallon
…it was a treat to get a soft drink
…All the TV programs were in black and white
…we didn’t have an inside bathroom
…all the grades of school, 1 thru 12, were at the same place and not consolidated
…lots of candy was a penny
…you could get in the movie for 50 cents
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### Author:  [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/3 "2002-06-21T11:44:59Z")
…Casey Stengel managing the Mets.
…Johnny Unitas as an active player.
…the advent of supermarket check-out scanners.
…the introduction of McDonald’s Happy Meals (or at least, the McDonaldLand characters).
…Bill Cosby’s stand-up career.
…full-service filling stations where they filled your tank, checked your oil and squeegeed your windshield as a matter of course.
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### Author:  [@cagiva650](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cagiva650)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/4 "2002-06-21T12:01:17Z")
I remember when…
the local 7 Eleven was open air {no screens or glass} they rolled the gate shut at night
when slurpees were fifteen cents
I wore hip huggers and wide belts in the fifth grade.
Air Condition was an exception not the rule
cars had no seat belts
my bicycle had a banana seat
my Dad had a crew cut
cocaine was not considered addictive
abortion was illegal
weird shows about the dangers of drug use narrated by Art Linkletter
Broward County was a backwater
and South Beach was full of gray hairs and rocking chairs
Ted Bundy was on the loose
Pontiac Firebirds were the whip
Seeing my first PG movie The Poseidon Adventure.
---
### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/5 "2002-06-21T12:11:51Z")
When arcade games actually only costs a quarter
Or when a arcade actually existed
True story When I was about 6 or 7 years old King size m&ms came out They were 50 cents grandma went to the stop & go for milk
They had a big display out I wanted what was a big bag of M&M’s
My grandma Said she wouldnt pay 50 cents for a bag of candy
I threw one of the few tantrumns in my child hood … I did get some M&M’s but one of the puny bags
I remeber this as i pay 65 cents for a normal bag of m&ms
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/6 "2002-06-21T12:20:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by OpalCat \*
> \*\*…stamps cost 19c
> \*\*
I remember buying a roll of 100 stamps for $8 - back in the days when I used to write lots of letters.
Also, McDonald’s was a rare new treat, there was a _prime time_ cartoon show debuting - The Flintstones - and Saturday morning cartoons were funny, unedited, and didn’t have billions of toy tie-ins.
---
### Author:  [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/7 "2002-06-21T12:55:05Z")
I remember that on Sundays, there was no decent programming until 2:00, when, it was assumed, everyone got home from church.
when getting $2 worth of gas would last for a week.
when .50 was standard allowance and would buy a BIG bag of penny candy.
when people dressed up to go to the doctor, or on a airplane.
when the DOT started repaving the streets with black asphalt, rather than the lighter colored concrete.
how cool it was to skate on the new asphalt - a smooth ride!
when you had to go to a hardware store for hardware, a grocery store for groceries and a gas station for gas, rather than getting it all in one place.
when motorcycles were only for “outlaws”.
when people had common sense.
when I would head for the woods first thing in the morning, be gone all day and not have to worry about anything.
when we could play “war” and no therapists attacked us, assuming we were warped.
when, at 6:00pm, every channel ran the news.
when the news was all about VietNam
when JFK died.
when saying “damn” on TV was considered a big deal.
when blue jeans cost only $8 at the mall.
when we got a mall in our neighborhood.
gas wars
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### Author:  [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/8 "2002-06-21T13:01:13Z")
Elvis Presley came to town, and I paid $3.00 to see his show. It was held in a _movie theater_ !
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### Author:  [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/9 "2002-06-21T13:02:44Z")
I remember when CD players became popular
The release of New Kids On The Block (I had their cassette!)
Punky Brewster. She was the shit.
Damn…I feel so young 🙂
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### Author:  [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/10 "2002-06-21T13:17:59Z")
… ALF was new. The first time.
… All these guys on TV now actually _played_ football.
… Golf wasn’t considered a sport. Oh wait …
… Everyone had records _and_ record players.
… Hanna-Barberra made every damn cartoon on TV.
… Saying “dude” made you feel like a surfer.
… Nobody had ever heard of the internet, and personal computers were something of a joke for rich boring people.
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### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/11 "2002-06-21T13:39:56Z")
…when a record store’s floor space was taken up 90% by records (yes, those vinyl things) and the walls were for cassettes. Then CDs came out and had a tiny little section… but by the end of the year, they had taken over. And I didn’t have a CD player until several years later. ☹
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### Author:  [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/12 "2002-06-21T13:42:23Z")
I remember…
Headlights dimmer switches on the floor
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards
Blackjack chewing gum
Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
Candy cigarettes
Soda pop machines that dispensed bottles
Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
Telephone numbers with a word prefix (Olive - 6933)
45 RPM records
S&H Green Stamps
Hi-fi’s
Metal ice trays with lever
Mimeograph paper (sniff)
Blue flashbulbs
Roller skate keys
☹ I’m old…I think I need to lie down.
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### Author:  [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/13 "2002-06-21T15:24:04Z")
I remember
Dolamite and Kurtis Blow (or the first rap)
My first 8 Track tape player
Wonder Mike (I think that’s what it was called, you could brocast over the radio with it).
Penny Candy
Twinkies used to cost a quarter
My Moms Cigarettes were a $1.35 and I could buy them for her :eek:
Fireworks were readily available
Most of the good radio stations were AM
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### Author:  [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/14 "2002-06-21T16:30:08Z")
like KDIA, fer instance.
‘hey bob jones, i hear you like them faaaat women.’
‘yeah, i like a little something extra on my plate.’
this post is just for oaktowners.
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/15 "2002-06-21T16:40:46Z")
Max Headroom
When NYC subways & buses where 50 cents
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### Author:  [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/16 "2002-06-21T17:14:36Z")
… we had three, just three, TV channels.
… you received a glass if you filled your tank at the aforementioned full service station.
…drive in movies. ☹
… manual choke on an automobile or motorcycle. “Son, don’t mess with the choke!.”
… your bells had to go over the end of your foot. Hash jeans ruled.
… DR DOS.
… a full day skiing pass was seven bucks on Wednesdays.
…your skis had safety straps that could cause your skis to spin around and hit you in the back of your head.
…Rainbow LAPD pants.
…being in the Haight-Ashbury district in 1969.
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### Author:  [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/17 "2002-06-21T17:20:20Z")
… we had three, just three, TV channels.
… you received a glass if you filled your tank at the aforementioned full service station.
…drive in movies. ☹
… manual choke on an automobile or motorcycle. “Son, don’t mess with the choke!.”
… your bells had to go over the end of your foot. Hash jeans ruled.
… DR DOS.
… a full day skiing pass was seven bucks on Wednesdays.
…your skis had safety straps that could cause your skis to spin around and hit you in the back of your head.
…Rainbow LAPD pants.
…being in the Haight-Ashbury district in 1969.
---
### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/18 "2002-06-21T17:23:18Z")
110 film cameras with clunky flash cubes that went on top, had 8 flashes, then had to be replaced.
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### Author:  [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/19 "2002-06-21T17:35:13Z")
The first season of Star Trek
The Summer of Love (I was young, but I remember)
Milk delivered to your door
Airplanes where you went down stairs to the tarmac
Wearing hats to church
Wearing gloves for special occasions
Getting dressed up to go downtown
Girls couldn’t wear pants to school
Long hair on boys meant in touched your collar
The Beatles arrive
---
### Author:  [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-remember-when/115247/20 "2002-06-21T17:37:31Z")
Not in any chronological order:
Dimes, quarters and half dollars were made from silver
DeSoto and Studebaker were still making cars.
JFK was president
Milk, eggs, and cottage cheese were delivered to your door
Bread and pastries were sold from a panel truck that came down your street
Fuller Brushes were sold door to door
LSD was legal
Nobody knew what a Honda, Toyota, or a Datsun was
Going to the “Pike” in Long Beach CA
Mohammed Ali was still Cassius Clay
Reaching even further back into my memory bank:
The Giants and the Dodgers still played in New York and Brooklyn
Listening to Carroll Chessmans execution on the radio
The Grand opening of Disneyland (in Anahiem, CA)
Baseball seasons were 152 games, Football was 12 games
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