# I'm so old, I can remember "\_\_\_\_\_"! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419 "2002-11-05T19:36:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/61 "2002-11-06T17:19:03Z")
Pounds, shillings and pence. ‘O’ level grades in numbers. TISWAS and Sally James. Watching England winning the World Cup. I was too young to notice but I had a ration book as a baby. Oh, and I was in the RAF so long ago, I worked on Lancasters (OK, it was a restoration job, but it sounds cool!) and Pontius was a pilot 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/62 "2002-11-06T17:24:50Z")
I just looked at this board, and saw the title “I’m so old, I can remember —” right above the title “Sex”. ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/63 "2002-11-06T17:41:15Z")
I remember when interactive video was [Winky Dink And You](http://tvparty.com/requested2.html)! ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/64 "2002-11-07T04:46:37Z")
I remember milkmen, and putting pennies in the fuse box. And I remember playing before we ever thought about watching TV. And I remember TV coming to my neighborhood. As well, I remember living in post-war Japan when there were many fairly young men about (30s) who absolutely hated American _geijin_ - I was a kid then, and a _geijin_. _Howdy Doody_ yeah, and _Topper_, too. How’s about _Ed Sullivan_ - he lasted into the '60s. _Soupy Sales_, or _The Life of Riley_, anyone? Before TV, if we were sick and had to stay in bed, the primary privelege was that we got to have the BIG radio in our room, by the bed. There were all sorts of radio stories to follow, and what we now call rock’n’roll was still commonly referred to as ragtime (which is now recognized as a separate genre). When we moved South, I learned by remonstration about the difference between “White” and “Colored” bathrooms and drinking fountains. Hell, I was 6 and hadn’t been introduced to the concept yet when we moved. I could read, and the “Colored” water fountain seemed most interesting to me. I didn’t know that I was “White.” My Dad got to fly back from Japan (1950s) on a jet! I think it was a 707; nevertheless, it was the first jet service - we had to go back on a Connie (well, that was pretty nifty, too). We lived in Hawaii when it was still a Territory, and I remember things being named _territorial_…, such as the _Territorial Garage_ or _Territorial Grocery_. Then later came the hot rod groups and the surf tunes, but before too long, along came: [sub]One Two Three Fah…[/sub] _She was just seventeen, You know what I mean…_ And I _do_ remember the Navy blimps patrolling the harbor. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/65 "2002-11-07T06:39:27Z")
Actually, **David Simmons** is current champ - for those entirely too young: > [@](#): > > When a “spare tire” was just that, an extra tire. until the 1920’s, spare tires were _exactly_ that - tires. No wheels, no tubes, just the round rubber things strapped to the rear (usually) or side of the car. The classic “sidemounts” (in fender wells) didn’t come along until very late 1920’s - by then the mfg’s were throwing in wheels and tubes free, so replacement was just a matter of bolting on the spare - no wrestling the old tire off, patching the tube, and beating the new tire into submission. I did once encounter a straight razor - now it is probably illegal to own one. Burying “time capsules” at various places, for really questionable reasons. And, anachronism that it was: a Xmas tree lit with real, live burning candles. ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/66 "2002-11-07T07:19:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*Who remembers these acronyms: CGA, EGA, MCGA? > > Anyone? \*\* Color graphics array, enhanced graphics array and micro channel graphics array?? Not sure… ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/67 "2002-11-07T08:19:44Z")
…when I thought 30 year olds were over the hill, hmmm Now they’re still kids… how 'bout when Willie Nelson wore a crewcut and sang gospel music and GW’s grandfather was working w/ the Whitehouse selling weapons and Kennedy just got the (JOB) Nixon was supposed to have. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/68 "2002-11-07T08:23:12Z")
I remember five-cent cokes at the fountain in the drugstore, reading ten-cent comic books. I had one nickel cup of coffee, once. It came with a free refill. You could buy six different types of rocket fuel powder at the hobby store, and ignition caps for them. They wouldn’t sell dynamite to kids, though, at the hardware store. You could buy a bottle of mercury, though, or amonia, or glycerine, or battery acid, or any of a number of useful chemical compounds. Later I remember having people sign for their paregoric, and codeine when I worked at the drug store. You didn’t even have to sign for some other things which are illegal now days. I walked to school, and back, and pretty much wherever I might want to go. I remember having to come home by dark, when I was about eight. I wasn’t supervised other than that, much at all. I remember when there wasn’t much to do at home either, since TV wasn’t on, a lot of the time, and there was only one station, back when I was too little to stay out after dinner by myself. Radio sucked. I read books, most of which I got at the Book Nook, a second hand book store which sold “dirty books” in the back room. They were pretty much all text, or line drawings. My mentally retarded friend was old enough to buy most things I was not allowed to get, and he pretty much did whatever I asked. At the time, we said he was dumb. He seemed fine to us though, aside from being dumb, and he was quite a bit bigger than most of our circle of friends, and great to have around to avoid fights. We had no guns, other than toys. But we had real nice “Wrist Rocket” sling shots, and half inch steel ball bearings for ammo. We could get into the freight yard fairly easily, and squash things on the tracks as much as we wanted to. No one even seemed to notice us, or do anything other than chase us ineffectually if they did see us. As I got older the cops started to keep an eye on us, so we were a bit constrained in our experimentation. So, I pretty much gave up on ordinance work. TV was on all the time, and while I was still allowed to go out when I wanted, most of my friends were in trouble with their parents, and not allowed out after dinner. Several were specifically not allowed to associate with me. Go figure parents! So, I watched a lot of TV. Kit Carson, The Cisco Kid, Sky King, Commander Cody, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Superman, and the cartoons, too. (Crusader Rabbit, anyone?) I must say it stunted my intellectual development considerably. I never did build my cannon, or the police band radio I was planning. Maybe that was a good thing, after all. ## Tris “Sic transit gloria mundi. And Tuesday’s usually worse.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein ~ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/69 "2002-11-07T12:35:53Z")
> [@](#): > > And, anachronism that it was: a Xmas tree lit with real, live burning candles. This isn’t all that old. My grad school advisor had one fifteen years ago (He was from Germany, where they have lingered). One Christmas the tree caught fire and went up in seconds. Fortunately, us grad students pushed the tree out into the snow. But the next year, he had that tree up again. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/70 "2002-11-07T14:01:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by abogan \* > \*\*… > And, walking 10 miles to school - uphill both ways. \*\* Dad? is that you dad? .😉 I remember my kid brother had the first “video game” I believe. It was a predecessor to PONG. It looked like a miniature TV w/ about a 10" screen. It was hollow inside but w/ a fan that blew air through the box. I don’t remember whether it took batteries or what. anyway, There was a knob on the right and one on the left that had rubber bands attached, So when you turned the knobs a paddle on each side could be moved up or down. The fan floated a small ping-pong ball inside the game that would bounce back and forth/side to side. “Imagine airhockey sideways in a box”. It was pretty innovative back then. oh, and Dad… you only had one pair of shoes, that had to last all year. Remember having to put pasteboard in them to get by until school started in the fall and you could get a new pair! he-he ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/71 "2002-11-07T14:08:52Z")
\*when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous \*tube testers at the drug store \*when cable tv was new (and commercial free) \*saturday night live (the real/first one, live) \*fridays, the tv show (john candy, micheal richards, eugene levy), it was hilarious \*when people looked down on japanese vehicles \*when “bikers” were real (it was not just an image) i’m 37 unclviny ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/72 "2002-11-07T15:04:19Z")
Maybe it’s just because I’m from a very, very very small town, but many of the technological things here, I remember… and I’m 19. The grocery store near my house still has the doors that open when you step on the rubber mat. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/73 "2002-11-07T15:26:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lazlo \* > \*\*Color graphics array, enhanced graphics array and micro channel graphics array?? > > Not sure… \*\* More or less, yeah. Except it was Multi-Color Graphics Array, which I didn’t know 'till I looked it up about five minutes ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/74 "2002-11-07T16:03:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by happyheathen \* > \*\*I did once encounter a straight razor - now it is probably illegal to own one. > > Burying “time capsules” at various places, for really questionable reasons.\*\* My hairdresser shaved me with a straight razor not two weeks ago. There was a thread on how to use one correctly a few months ago. And the Scout group in my suburb buried a time capsule this year. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/75 "2002-11-07T16:12:18Z")
- my parents buying me tickets for the school lunch - Love American Style - every male classmate with a crewcut - Bob Hayes being the world’s fastest man - getting homemade cookies when we trick or treated - Lake Travis being clear - boarding commercial flights via the mobil ramp on the tarmack ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/76 "2002-11-07T16:31:35Z")
The best quote I ever heard on this subject came from black conservative economist Thomas Sowell, who said, “I’m so old, I can remember when all the best basketball players were Jewish.” ---
**Author:** ![crazy4chaucer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@crazy4chaucer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazy4chaucer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/77 "2002-11-07T16:55:43Z")
I remember watching a cartoon show about the Jackson Five and another about the Osmonds on Saturday morning cartoons. Watching Lawrence Welk with my parents. My parents dropping me off at the downtown theatre for a double-matinee movie and thinking nothing of it. Walking to and from school all by myself. Earning a whopping $5 for washing and waxing a neighbor’s car. My friend and I walked to the Stop ‘n’ Go and got enough junk that I yakked all over the bathroom floor that night. Watching Richard Nixon resign the presidency. The $100 budget my parents gave me for school clothes my sophomore year of high school bought an amazing amount of clothing. Our first color TV. Our first microwave. I remember before credit cards were really common. My Dad had a Diner’s Club card, and we were on a road trip. We stopped at a restaurant, but Dad cautioned us that we could only eat there if they accepted Diner’s Club. They didn’t, and on the way back to the car my 3-year old sister said “sonuvabitch” loudly and distinctly. I remember getting my mouth washed out with soap on a weekly basis. (I never did learn! :D) I remember when a spanking with a belt or a paddling was standard punishment, and no one called CPS because you were being abused. Watching David Cassidy and Davy Jones and thinking they were totally cute. The poster of Donny Osmond on my bedroom wall when I was 9 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/78 "2002-11-07T18:03:13Z")
Home electronics with plastic woodgrain – televisions, stereos, Atari 2600’s, even some Commodore computers. Nobody seemed to think that it weird at the time. Typewriters that hummed like sewing machines and had little dancing metal balls with letters on them. To make multiple copies of something you used a “Ditto” machine, which used some kind of special gummy blue paper. Copiers were huge and really expensive and called “Xerox machines” at the time. Scientists were convinced that we were in for another Ice Age. This was before Global Warming and El Nino. A trip to Pizza Hut was considered pretty classy. People spoke about John Denver, Barry Manilow and Donny and Marie Osmond without irony. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/79 "2002-11-07T18:20:03Z")
In no particular order: The Cisco Kid Hopalong Cassidy Sky King Bullet Nose Studebakers Bobby Lane was the QB of the Steelers Bobby Thompson and Ralph Branca Super “Connies” Engineer Bill and red light, green light Amos 'n Andy Sid Caesar and Emogene Coca Listening to Rocky Marciano VS Archie Moore on the radio Lister bags on cars in the desert Driving from Ontario (CA) to LA before I-10 was built ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419/80 "2002-11-07T18:37:23Z")
\*\*when bar codes were first placed on packaging. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-i-can-remember-_____/135419.md?page=5)