# 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:** 27
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/522 "2021-01-26T02:13:57Z")
Even more nerdy than Ham radio is a hobby I greatly enjoyed as a teenager some 50+ years ago: Shortwave Listening. It was a very popular hobby back then, and given the dearth of shortwave radio stations still in existence and all the manufactured noise that makes the shortwave and AM bands barely listenable nowadays, probably no one does it any more. I had an old GE table radio from the 1940s with an AM band and one Shortwave band, which I still have and which still works, and I connected it to a 100-foot copper wire antenna from my bedroom to a tree. I pulled in all sorts of countries and have dozens of QSL cards. Even more fun was DXing on the AM band late at night. Of course you’d hear the 50 thousand watt blowtorches coming in like locals, but you might also pick up some 1,000 watt station from a thousand miles away. Most radio stations would happily send you a QSL card or a letter verifying reception. It was a lot of fun. Not surprising that I eventually went into the Radio field myself. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/523 "2021-01-26T02:47:36Z")
Another thing that is thankfully long gone is the streets being filled with dogshit. Back in the fifties and sixties if you walked down any residential street you would see piles of dog crap. People were encouraged to curb their dogs, but many dogs just went wherever. On some streets there were “dog toilets,” often a stretch of street that wasn’t directly in front of someone’s house, where many of the residents walked their dogs. While this meant somewhat less crap along the rest of the street that stretch stunk to high heaven. And it was fairly regular to accidentally step in a pile, usually on the way to church, so you had to vigorously scrape your sole against the concrete. If you were wearing sneakers with a patterned sole it was almost impossible to get off entirely without a hose. It was inconceivable to anyone at the time that people could actually be made to pick up and remove their pet’s shit, but somehow that ended up working and the streets now are almost entirely clean. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/524 "2021-01-26T02:53:48Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > but you might also pick up some 1,000 watt station from a thousand miles away. When my dad got his new satellite dish, early on one night he picked up a tv station from Texas, and we were north of 49. He said it was a perfectly clear, calm night, and i guess all the connections were tight and new. He tried to get it the next night, and never got it again. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/525 "2021-01-26T04:04:25Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > Even more nerdy than Ham radio is a hobby I greatly enjoyed as a teenager some 50+ years ago: Shortwave Listening. It was a very popular hobby back then, and given the dearth of shortwave radio stations still in existence and all the manufactured noise that makes the shortwave and AM bands barely listenable nowadays, probably no one does it any more. I had an old GE table radio from the 1940s with an AM band and one Shortwave band, which I still have and which still works, and I connected it to a 100-foot copper wire antenna from my bedroom to a tree. I pulled in all sorts of countries and have dozens of QSL cards. Even more fun was DXing on the AM band late at night. Of course you’d hear the 50 thousand watt blowtorches coming in like locals, but you might also pick up some 1,000 watt station from a thousand miles away. Most radio stations would happily send you a QSL card or a letter verifying reception. It was a lot of fun. Not surprising that I eventually went into the Radio field myself. I’m 34 years old and currently in the process of studying to attain a ham radio license. I did NOT grow up around any ham radio users, so it’s not something I inherited from an older generation. It just arose from a combination of things. 1. Several months ago we had a power outage lasting nearly 24 hours, after which my GF (who lives with me) suggested that we buy a battery-powered radio so that, in the event of another long outage, we could have something to provide music and news if our phone and laptop batteries were to die. 2. I look on eBay for radios, and, because I am a lover of 80s technology and design, I buy a Panasonic RF-B20, identical to the one in [this video.](https://youtu.be/Nf5lSQ2vkxA) 3. Intrigued by the shortwave reception capability of this radio - up until then, every radio I’d ever used was AM/FM - I do some further research into the concept of shortwave radio. I knew a little bit about it already because I had this book, [Passport To World Band Radio (1992)](https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/books/Passport92z.jpg), which I had bought in a used bookstore several years ago, mostly because I liked the cover illustration. And I had done some poking around on [Web SDRs](http://www.websdr.org/) (software-defined radio), although I didn’t _really_ understand what I was doing, it was just a novelty. Now, with an actual analog shortwave radio in my hands, I became more interested in learning about how radio waves _actually work._ It’s one of those things that’s always fascinated me when I’d stop and think about it, but never enough to want to really jump down the rabbit hole, until recently. 1. I step up my shortwave radio game in a big way by purchasing an [RF-2600](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LCMOLDyWfw), sort of the “big brother” of the little RF-B20 - again, on eBay. It arrives and I spend several days figuring out how it works. 2. It’s then that I remember that an old childhood friend of mine was involved in ham radio back in high school (this would have been 2000-2004.) He was into science generally, and is today a professor of Comp. Sci. I hadn’t had any communication with him in a while, so I figured it was as good a time as any to catch up and tell him about my radios. It turns out he is still an active ham operator, and has a great deal of knowledge about radio. This exchange results in the discussion of some ideas for improving the reception of the radio, which is inhibited by the walls of my house and the interference of other devices nearby. 3. Using speaker wire and fishing line, and following along with various YouTube videos, I construct a makeshift [long wire antenna](https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/antennas-propagation/end-fed-wire-antenna/end-fed-long-wire-antenna-basics.php) between a tree in my front yard and a tree in my back yard - high enough out of sight to not be an eyesore to the neighborhood. The end of the wire antenna simply goes through a hole in the window screen and the window closes over it. Now with this antenna, the reception of both radios is MASSIVELY boosted and on the RB-2600 I’m able to hear an astonishing number of ham operators talking to each other on the 80 and 40 meter bands. Now at this point I can’t _possibly_ limit myself to simply listening, I HAVE to be able to talk. Why? I just do! So, for the past week I’ve been studying for the license exam. I’m now learning about voltage, current, how a circuit works, resistors, capacitors, induction - stuff I never learned in any formal way before, because I never took physics. Physics was optional at my high school - only biology and chemistry were required. I’m finding myself fascinated by the physics of electricity now, and going down rabbit holes on YouTube far outside the scope of the knowledge I actually need for the ham license. As I said, it wasn’t so much that I set out to get into amateur radio, as that it snowballed from an initial novelty into a more intense interest - in no small part due to the increased amount of down-time caused by the pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/526 "2021-01-26T04:55:30Z")
Just be aware that a random wire antenna is great for _listening_, there’s a bunch more hoops to jump though to make an antenna safe to transmit through… ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/527 "2021-01-26T05:20:38Z")
Also a Ham, WØGOM, though like you not too active recently. I’ve been trying to get my HotSpot working correctly with little success. With theCOVID it’s difficult to get together and work on projects. And I do have Amateur Radio plates on my car. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/528 "2021-01-26T06:40:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Another thing that is thankfully long gone is the streets being filled with dogshit. Yes, and some of it was white. ---
**Author:** ![half-elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/529 "2021-01-26T12:35:57Z")
Safe in what sense? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/530 "2021-01-26T13:04:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Another thing that is thankfully long gone is the streets being filled with dogshit. > Yes, and some of it was white. (we had a thread here once about the white stuff: Apparently it was caused by chemicals in dog food, which are no longer being used by the manufacturers.) But my really important question is: Does anybody know how and when the culture around dog shit changed? I also remember it being everywhere, until suddenly it wasn’t. Who was the first person to pick up his dog’s shit, and how did he convince everybody else to do it too? Some things change due to social pressure, backed up by law enforcement.Example: seat belts, smoking. , or kids wearing helmets on bikes. Those are things that, if you offend, it is clear and obvious that you are guilty, and the law is easy to enforce. But dog shit is an easier thing for the offenders to ignore --just take a few steps away and deny that it’s yours. What made the culture change? ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/531 "2021-01-26T13:29:59Z")
The first “pooper-scooper” law was in Nutley, New Jersey, in 1971. [But the big advance was in New York in 1978.](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/we-scoop-to-conquer-40-years-since-nycs-poop-scoop-law/) It used to be seen as the city’s responsibility to clean up animal waste like horse manure and dog droppings. “Curb your dog” campaigns were meant to assure that droppings were deposited in the gutter instead of on the sidewalk, where street cleaning machines could take care of it. But they were really too dispersed for that to be a solution. New York had an intensive PR campaign to promote compliance. There were enough people who were sick of stepping in dogshit that there was a cultural shift so that instead of being enforced by the city it was enforced by neighbors. And you’re out walking your dog every day. If you’re a consistent offender, people will notice and give you shit about it. (At least in New York they did.) [White dog poop](https://alldogspoop.com/that-white-dog-poop-from-the-70s/#:~) was caused by high amounts of bone meal being used in dog food. Nutritional standards have changed so it no longer contains so much. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/532 "2021-01-26T13:44:55Z")
It used to be common to assume that the city would just clean up whatever mess you made, or that mess would somehow just disappear. [This scene from _Mad Men_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDIvzDGBLWU) shows the Drapers having a picnic in a park and then casually just leaving their trash behind. That was in fact the attitude in the 1950s and early 1960s. Although some people today still behave this way, it marks you as a total asshole when 60 years ago it was normal. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/533 "2021-01-26T13:48:03Z")
> [@half-elf](#): > > Safe in what sense? In very, very non-technical terms … An antenna being used to receive is picking up microwatt levels of energy out of the air. No danger there. An antenna being used to transmit is sending multi-watt or multi-dozen watt levels of power out of the radio into the air. Anyone touching the antenna risks a burn like grabbing a lightbulb. As well the antenna needs certain electrical and geometric features or else the power coming out of your transmitter essentially bounces off the antenna and flows back into the transmitter. Burning out its innards. Maybe not dangerous, except to your wallet. Antennas for broadcast stations can put out enough power to cook a person pretty readily if it’s all diverted into somebody. Ham radios don’t have that kind of power, but you can still hurt yourself or somebody who doesn’t know any better with one. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/534 "2021-01-26T15:05:39Z")
Both answers just exactly what I had in mind, but I’ll add a third potential danger. An improperly constructed antenna that is at least in part in the room with the radio and operator can lead to unhealthy levels of RF exposure. You could potentially induce current into the case or controls of the radio as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/535 "2021-01-26T19:18:47Z")
Oh, believe me, when it comes time for the transmitting, I’ll be upgrading to an entirely different system, including a purpose-built antenna with whatever safety measures are needed. I take it that the tranceiver unit, as opposed to a separate transmitter and receiver, is standard for two-way communication. Do you have any recommendations for a good one? I’m interested in a proper base unit, not handheld. And I’d like to keep it in the $500 range. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/536 "2021-01-26T20:08:35Z")
When I was in school (1970-1982) the stalls in the boys restrooms didn’t have doors (I’m pretty sure the girls’ had doors, but I’m not positive. During elementary school this meant that if you were unfortunate enough to take a dump while other kids were coming into the can you’d be stared at like a monkey in the zoo. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/537 "2021-01-26T20:24:53Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > When I was in school (1970-1982) the stalls in the boys restrooms didn’t have doors (I’m pretty sure the girls’ had doors, but I’m not positive. Girls’ restrooms in the grade school I went to in the 1950’s/early 60’s did not have doors on the stalls. I started my period in 6th grade; as far as I know the only girl to do so (puberty these days seems to often start earlier than it did.) I refused to go to school during my period. The school offered to let me use the teachers’ restroom; but I said everybody would want to know why I was doing that so that wasn’t any better. They let me stay home. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/538 "2021-01-26T20:29:30Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > (puberty these days seems to often start earlier than it did.) It really is; **[you’re not just imagining it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menarche#/media/File:Acceleration1.jpg)**. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/539 "2021-01-26T20:40:10Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > It really is Yeah, I was pretty sure I’d seen reports. That’s quite a graph, though. I would have been right around that 11 1/2 year old line; and that school was in no way prepared to deal with a menstruating 11 1/2 year old. I was also the only girl in grade school with enough breast development for it to be visible while wearing clothes. That was fun. Not. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/540 "2021-01-26T20:45:20Z")
Yeah. A common issue to miss in historical fiction (I just read a terrible novel, which among other things had a girl of 13 who had completed puberty - in about 500AD (the book was terrible for a large number of things, not just missing a major change in human life)) ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703/541 "2021-01-26T20:45:46Z")
This should probably be a thread in itself instead of an ongoing hijack. I’ll happily join in with what I know. First question to answer there will be something to the effect of, “What are my main interests/objectives/goals?” You can do some cool things with $500, but certainly not _every_ cool thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-dustbin-of-our-cultural-history/927703.md?page=28)