# In the dustbin of our cultural history **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703 "2020-12-10T00:57:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/221 "2020-12-17T13:43:19Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > (Nowadays, it would be a 1-800 number, but back then you dialed the operator and said “Zenith number ### ####”.) At least in the USA **[ZEnith numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenith_number)** were 5 digits after the ZE prefix for a total of 7. I suspect that was true in Canada as well. I grew up in California in the 1960s and the one heavily advertised number was ZEnith 12-000 pronounced “Zenith 12 thousand” which was the state-wide emergency number for the California Highway Patrol. 9-1-1 was then a decade or more in the future. At that time CHP was _the_ local law enforcement agency for many of the rural parts of the state in addition to its highway duties everywhere. So having every citizen everywhere know how to contact them was important. Per that wiki, ZEnith 12-000 was still in use as late as 2006 (!) though CHP also had an 800 number (1-800-tell-CHP). As of today the website says they just have the 800 number. Plus of course 9-1-1. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/222 "2020-12-17T15:01:35Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > larger household items such as brown or white goods, … a couple of terms you don’t hear muchr. okay, ya got me…what are brown goods and white goods?\ . ---
**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:** [December 17, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/223 "2020-12-17T15:24:37Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Until the '70s nude swimming was common (or even required) in all-male environments like YMCAs, Boy Scout camps, and PE classes. The same did not apply to women & girls in all-female settings. My own father swam naked and thought nothing of this. Things have changed so much that many people find it unbelievable nowdays. I beg to differ. Maybe this was true in certain parts of the country, but in the 1960s I never encountered nude swimming at YMCAs or Boy Scout camps. There was certainly nudity in the communal showers, but once you went out into the public pool, even in an all-male sanctuary, everyone wore bathing suits. None of the schools in my area had pools for PE, so it never came up. By the time I got to college in the early 1970s, though, “tank suits” were required for swimming classes. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/224 "2020-12-17T15:28:48Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Until the law was changed in 2008, it was illegal to sell yellow-colored margarine in Quebec (the butter cartel had a hand in this). Often margarine came with a little pack of yellow dye, so you could color your (white) margarine yellow. It was similar in Wisconsin, again due to the strength of the dairy industry, though the margarine law changed much earlier here (in the late '60s or early '70s). There were, back then, stores just over the state line (particularly in Illinois) which specialized in selling “Oleo” to Wisconsinites. 😃 [![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RPgeKco7NVo/UKu5cNWsPWI/AAAAAAAAAY4/S0XvknNR9RI/s1600/Oleo%2Bmargarine%2Bsales%2BUS%2B41_Dooper%2Bstore_Jan%2B1966_private%2Bcollection_sm.jpg) ](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RPgeKco7NVo/UKu5cNWsPWI/AAAAAAAAAY4/S0XvknNR9RI/s1600/Oleo%2Bmargarine%2Bsales%2BUS%2B41_Dooper%2Bstore_Jan%2B1966_private%2Bcollection_sm.jpg) ---
**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:** [December 17, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/225 "2020-12-17T15:30:52Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > okay, ya got me…what are brown goods and white goods?\ I knew that “white goods” are home appliances (refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, clothes washers, etc.); until I looked it up just now, I had not heard of “brown goods,” which are apparently home entertainment electronics (TVs, stereos, VCRs, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/226 "2020-12-17T15:37:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It was similar in Wisconsin, again due to the strength of the dairy industry, though the margarine law changed in the late '60s or early '70s. There were, back then, stores just over the state line (particularly in Illinois) which specialized in selling “Oleo” to Wisconsinites. Why was margarine such an in-demand product that people would go across state lines to get it? I can understand people going out of their way to get cigarettes, alcohol, and stuff like that, but _margarine_?!? It’s written on that storefront at least 3 times, but I only see cigarettes once. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/227 "2020-12-17T15:37:37Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > When I started work the majority of people were paid weekly and in cash and that was on Thursdays - you got a tiny little wage slip that told you your pay, tax and national insurance. I forgot about that. Yes, we were paid in cash (and coin) in envelopes at the end of the pay period. (at $3.65 per hour it didn’t end up being that much) Regarding nude swimming, maybe it was a holdover from the hippie era, but we had a lot of co-ed naked swimming and people were pretty nonchalant about it. I think those days are probably over. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/228 "2020-12-17T15:52:06Z")
Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador have a constitutional relight to have margarine available for sale. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/229 "2020-12-17T15:53:19Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Why was margarine such an in-demand product that people would go across state lines to get it? I can understand people going out of their way to get cigarettes, alcohol, and stuff like that, but _margarine_ ?!? I think that part of it was the debate about the relative healthiness of margarine versus butter – particuarly at that time, as I remember it, it was believed that margarine was a healthier option, as it doesn’t contain cholesterol. Plus, there’s the phenomenon of artificial demand caused simply by the inability to easily get something. The entire premise of _Smokey and the Bandit_ was the inability, at that time, to get Coors beer east of the Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/230 "2020-12-17T16:08:13Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > constitutional relight That should be “constitutional right”. Darn auto-correct. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/231 "2020-12-17T16:39:30Z")
Yup, Procrustus pretty much nailed it, lots of places also counted furniture as brown goods too. The national figures of spending upon these items was deemed important as an indicator or the direction of the economy since these were parlty considered to be elective spending, if figures went up then it meant the economy was doing ok, if they went up a lot then the government might increase interest rates to control inflation - which hardly ever worked. I should have mentioned that this is all UK centric - you Murricans might have other terms for the same things ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/232 "2020-12-17T17:32:09Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > banks were always closed earlier than most factories and were also closed on Saturdays, so you had to open a Bulding Society/Friendly Society account, the Post Office also ran accounts. This meant you could get you pay out in a Saturday morning or perhaps on the one late day opening some of them had during the week - a late day opening was until 6pm. Around here banks had Friday evening hours. They’d close as usual Friday at 3PM in order to allow the staff to get supper, then they’d re-open from 5 to 7 PM, Fridays only. Most people got paid on Friday and would head straight to the bank; and then often eat out on Friday night, which might well be the only night of the week they didn’t eat at home. > [@casdave](#): > > None of us had credit cards and I think it was just a matter of not having bank accounts. Even people with bank accounts often had no credit cards up until about the 1980’s; and most places weren’t set up to take them anyway, with the possible exception of an individual store card that would only be good at that store. I took a trip around the country [USA] in the late 1970’s, and what I carried was travellers’ checks. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/233 "2020-12-17T17:38:45Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I took a trip around the country [USA] in the late 1970’s, and what I carried was travellers’ checks. Traveler’s checks are something else in the dustbin of history. I think you can still buy them, but many fewer places accept them. In some places you would need to go to a bank to cash them, when they used to be accepted by most hotels. I recall traveling with a thick book of traveler’s checks, making sure to have some small denominations. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/234 "2020-12-17T17:48:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > they used to be accepted by most hotels. > > I recall traveling with a thick book of traveler’s checks, making sure to have some small denominations. Yup. Most groceries and gas stations would accept them also; but they’d be expecting the smaller denominations. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/235 "2020-12-17T18:05:24Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > I should have mentioned that this is all UK centric - you Murricans might have other terms for the same things The term “white goods” is at least somewhat familiar here in the U.S., though I suspect that it’s fallen out of use. I also hypothesize that it was used more by people who worked in the industry than by consumers. There’s a catchall term of “durable goods,” which would cover both categories, that sometimes gets used by business and economics journalists, but again, I don’t think it’s a particularly common term in everyday parlance. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/236 "2020-12-17T18:19:27Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Yup. Most groceries and gas stations would accept them also; but they’d be expecting the smaller denominations. Before credit cards were accepted by grocery stores, my elderly aunt and her friends used travellers cheques. They were conscious that they were potential targets for purse snatchers and didn’t want to carry large amounts of cash for their grocery shopping. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/237 "2020-12-17T19:15:47Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I knew that “white goods” are home appliances (refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, clothes washers, etc.); until I looked it up just now, I had not heard of “brown goods,” which are apparently home entertainment electronics (TVs, stereos, VCRs, etc.) Well, if it’s any consolation I, like @casdave, am in the UK, and I had no idea what brown goods were. Checked with Mrs Trep, and she’d never heard of the term either. It might be a generational thing, but so much of casdave’s post matches my experiences that I would have thought not. The inability to get your hands on your cash is something I remember well. Where I worked in the early 80’s you had to be paid directly into a bank account; but every Wednesday you could write out a cheque/check and these would all be collected up by Personnel (as HR were known in those days) for one of the company drivers to take to a local bank to cash. Then back to personnel to pick your money up. j ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/238 "2020-12-17T20:08:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As of today the website says they just have the 800 number Between cash and direct deposit, we had a period when many people were paid by cheque. To cash a cheque at a bank, you needed to have an account at that bank. Except for wages cheques: banks realized that (a) most wages cheques were good, and (b) companies wouldn’t use cheques for wages unless the workers could cash them. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/239 "2020-12-17T20:22:59Z")
I recently re-watched Smokey and the Bandit and forgot that it was about smuggling Coors beer. I grew up in the 70s and remember hearing about people taking a trip out west to where it was available, and return home with cars full of Coors and probably sell it for a decent profit. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/240 "2020-12-17T20:23:00Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Except for wages cheques: banks realized that (a) most wages cheques were good, and (b) companies wouldn’t use cheques for wages unless the workers could cash them. There were also companies, like Thillens, which would come to worksites with armored check-cashing trucks, allowing employees at those sites to cash their checks immediately. [![](https://iacoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/early-thillens-armored-truck.png) ](https://iacoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/early-thillens-armored-truck.png) [![](https://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/matchbook-chicago-thillens-check-cashing-2351-w-devon-ave-picture-of-vintage-armored-car.jpg?w=174) ](https://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/matchbook-chicago-thillens-check-cashing-2351-w-devon-ave-picture-of-vintage-armored-car.jpg?w=174) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703.md?page=13)