# Nostalgia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 14, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455 "2006-02-14T15:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455/1 "2006-02-14T15:38:29Z")
This may develop to fit better in CS, may even be IMHO, it certainly ought not be a GD, GQ, or Pit, and I doubt if ATMB needs to hear about, and even if Cecil has an opinion, it’s not that big a deal, so it’s here because it’s about all that’s left unless I missed one. I was watching _Vertigo_ last night for the umpteenth time, just because I wasn’t able to find anything better to watch. Since I knew every line of dialog, every camera angle, all the details that move the story along, I got caught up in how things looked in the late 50’s in the heyday of Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak, Alfred Hitchcock and even Barbara Bel Geddes. But I seemed to zoom in on San Francisco and began having thoughts about how SF looked before the hippies got its image all focused on that aspect of its history. Never mind the _Dirty Harry_ connection, _Bullitt_ or later ventures like _The Presidio_, the way San Fran looked in that movie has prompted tours to visit every spot in the film. Okay. That’s what got me thinking about Nostalgia. Do you get more of that feeling from old movies or old songs? In your own life, do old movies or photos bring back all that era’s mood for you? How about smells? Are you familiar with the Brazilian notion of _saudade_? Talk about nostalgia from your own point of view. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455/2 "2006-02-14T17:10:54Z")
Nostalgia, it ain’t what it used to be. For me, nostalgia seems to center around items and not so much with people. Take classic cameras, for instance. Even as a child in the 1960s, I was fascinated with how ingenius designers overcame certain problems via well made mechanics. Things that the newer cameras (of my day, 60s to 70s) were accomplishing with electronics. How I loved to tinker with those older chunks of metal filled with gears, springs, and levers! _::le sigh::_ For people? Not so much. We moved a lot. I kept moving as an adult, used to it I guess. I found that I kept the old friends easily, all that was needed was communication. And making new friends is as easy as starting a conversation. I do miss the back roads, tho. Not a lot of them left, as they keep getting new subdivisions built around them. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455/3 "2006-02-14T19:28:59Z")
This is a hard one. I listen to old songs often enough that they don’t bring on Nostalgia too often any more. I so rarely watch old movies that I can’t say that they do it, but I suppose if I were to see Abbot and Costello meet the Frankenstien or some such it might trigger some Nostalgia. I used to watch A&C every sunday. I suppose it is probably scents that do it most often. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455/4 "2006-02-14T20:03:04Z")
Me? I get nostalgic about [prolepsis](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/prolepsis). What’s _saudade_? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455/5 "2006-02-14T20:19:33Z")
I don’t know, but something tells me it involves black beans and insane amounts of garlic. Is it nostalgia if it’s a longing for a time you didn’t personally live through? What would you call this? Nerdstalgia? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455/6 "2006-02-15T00:03:12Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Me? I get nostalgic about [prolepsis](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/prolepsis). What’s _saudade_? [This Wiki article does a much better job of explaining saudade than I could](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia/344455/7 "2006-02-15T00:46:47Z")
Thanks for the hint. I don’t have _saudade_, but I have the hell out of _kaiho._ Bartender, another Finlandia, and make sure it’s cold as hell.