# In my day, we \[blanked\]. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913 "2009-08-27T15:00:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/1 "2009-08-27T15:00:16Z")
[ul]Played records that we cut off the backs of cereal boxes.[/ul] [ul]Took our lunch to school in bread wrappers and got in trouble if we didn’t bring the wrapper home.[/ul] [ul]Walked all over the neighborhood and our parents didn’t know where we were.[/ul] [ul]Didn’t wear seatbelts, but that was stupid.[/ul] Fill in the [blank]. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/2 "2009-08-27T15:16:15Z")
In my day we actually played baseball in the park rather than on a computer. Made up songs about our teachers as villains and they found it funny, not threatening, even when we sang about dancing on their graves. Ate unrefrigerated leftovers from our lunchbox at school, including chicken that was only wrapped in foil, and never got sick from it. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/3 "2009-08-27T15:17:13Z")
[ul] [li]Didn’t panic when we found ticks after a day of running around like savages out in the woods.[/li][li]Played all day long out in the hot summer sun and didn’t have to worry about staying hydrated by anything more than a convenient waterhose.[/li][li]Walked home three miles from school every day, and didn’t see our parents 'til 6pm.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/4 "2009-08-27T15:26:15Z")
\*Walked to school if it was less than a couple of miles \*Thought goofing off down by the railroad trestle was more fun than just about anything \*Left the front door unlocked \*Left the car doors unlocked \*Had one TV channel, and it was fuzzy ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/5 "2009-08-27T15:37:25Z")
…were told not to leave our toys outside, because it might rain, and they’d – get this – RUST. …had a clicker for the TV. It was as big as a briefcase, but it let us access all 8 channels. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/6 "2009-08-27T15:42:32Z")
- Were expected to change the TV channel for our parents because we “had younger legs” (and there was no remote control). - Eagerly awaited the Sept. TV guide so we could check out the new lineup and plan our Saturday morning cartoon viewing. - Sat in the front seat. - Paid the same price for a Bruce Springsteen concert ticket as a year’s subscription to National Geographic ($12). - Ate fries that were cooked in lard. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/7 "2009-08-27T15:45:52Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > - Paid the same price for a Bruce Springsteen concert ticket as a year’s subscription to National Geographic ($12). I remember paying about $5 for big-name acts. We’re talking Allman Brothers, Aerosmith, Rush, Styx… I think the records were more expensive than that. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/8 "2009-08-27T15:46:52Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I remember paying about $5 for big-name acts. We’re talking Allman Brothers, Aerosmith, Rush, Styx… I think the records were more expensive than that. It was in my HS yearbook from 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/9 "2009-08-27T15:50:31Z")
…saved boxtops to get decoder rings …read comic book ads and thus hoped to buy Grit magazines so we could re-sell them and earn points to get a bike, but were stopped by our parents …wanted Sea Monkeys, and this time were allowed by our parents, but soon were disappointed when they wouldn’t hatch. …had to go to Gramma & Grampas to see TV on a round screen …longed to play pinball at the bowling alley but never found it free ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/10 "2009-08-27T15:52:22Z")
Were sent down to the lake to shoot cans with a musket and a rifle, aged 6 - but it was OK because we had a responsible 8-year-old with us. Walked a mile to school and back on my own every day, aged 7. Had a tin stashed with porn in the woods, aged 10. Babysat my siblings, aged 11. Rode in the flatbed of pickup trucks - any age. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/11 "2009-08-27T15:58:33Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > It was in my HS yearbook from 1980. Is that the year you graduated? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/12 "2009-08-27T16:06:42Z")
Had one telephone in the entire house. It had a dial, was mounted on the kitchen wall, and was rented from the phone company. Were each given a Smith Corona typewriter as a high school graduation gift. Used punch cards in our college intro computer science class. Had air-raid drills in grade school. Were let out of public elementary schools on Wednesday afternoons to walk to the local catholic school for religious ed. Had very few organized activities outside of school besides scouts, little league baseball, pop warner football, and a few through churches or ethnic societies. Paid attention to when the Charlie Brown specials, Rudolph, and Wizard of Oz were going to be shown on TV that year. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/13 "2009-08-27T16:15:48Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I remember paying about $5 for big-name acts. We’re talking Allman Brothers, Aerosmith, Rush, Styx… I think the records were more expensive than that. Hee. I remember buying my first album, and my frugal record-collector father said never pay more than $3.99 for an album. It was U2 War and I paid $5.99 for it! You’d say just throw out the wrapper with the price tag? Nah, that had to be saved in case the record was scratched or faulty when played the first time. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/14 "2009-08-27T16:20:19Z")
- Watched Match Game ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/15 "2009-08-27T16:26:02Z")
Back in 1936… Listened to Tom Mix on a battery powered radio. Took a bath every Saturday night in a #2 washtub. If it was raining, got to ride to school (first grade, one room country school) in a horsedrawn buggy. Fun times! ---
**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/16 "2009-08-27T16:27:37Z")
I could leave my bike unlocked all over town and it was always there when I returned. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/17 "2009-08-27T16:34:59Z")
In my day, we went into the freezing Atlantic without a wet suit. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/18 "2009-08-27T16:43:05Z")
…used sun tanning lotion at the beach to get as brown as we could. …rode our bikes everywhere, from just after lunch until dinner time, and our families had no idea where we were. …would “try not to” let the girls (the “kissing cuties”) catch us on the playground to give us a kiss. …sat in the front seat, without seat belts. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/19 "2009-08-27T16:44:41Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > - Watched Match Game You beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913/20 "2009-08-27T16:46:41Z")
- Rode a bike alone to the Singer sewing store to buy 45s. - Went from Singer to the 5 &10 to buy real model glue. - Got our dinner glasses from boxes of detergent. - Considered Converse hightops too fancy and stuck with PF Flyers. - Had to rake long trails of grass thrown out from the lawnmower. - Stopped on the way home from church to buy a big block of ice we could chip for cold sweet tea at lunch. - Use the leftover ice and rock salt to hand-crank homemade ice cream. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-day-we-blanked/507913.md?page=2)