# The Things For Which Kids Today Have No Context (another list of how things have changed) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035 "2014-08-07T14:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/381 "2014-08-14T16:49:13Z")
Movies would have scenes of doctors happily puffing away while they talked to patients. I don’t KNOW that it’s ever happened in a movie or TV show, but very possibly there have been scenes where the doctor says: “I’m afraid it’s bad news, Jim (puff) … you have lung cancer!” ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/382 "2014-08-14T17:14:53Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > How about when the town 12 miles to the west was not Long Distance, but the town 12 miles to the east was. Or better yet, when the town 24 miles to the east was not long distance the the town 2 miles to the west was. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/383 "2014-08-14T17:15:20Z")
The fact that cc: stood for, literally, carbon copy. I learned to type on a manual, with carbons, in high school in the late 70’s. Sometime after that, photocopy machines became cheaper, and carbons went bye-bye. I don’t recall using carbons in college, ever. I still type cc: on letters every day at work, and use the cc: function in emails. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/384 "2014-08-14T17:37:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Unleaded? When were you born? It was Regular and Premium. > > Anybody remember when they gave away dishes at the movie theater? (Even I’m not that old) No but we had plenty of gas station glassware. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/385 "2014-08-14T18:26:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Anybody remember when they gave away dishes at the movie theater? (Even I’m not that old) When I was very young they did a raffle with your ticket number or sometimes Bingo. I won a punchbowl set once. But no, not like in Jean Shepards stroies, no dish with every ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/386 "2014-08-14T18:46:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > When I was very young they did a raffle with your ticket number or sometimes Bingo. I won a punchbowl set once. > > But no, not like in Jean Shepard’s stories, no dish with every ticket. No throwing gravy boats at the theater manager? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/387 "2014-08-15T01:26:35Z")
Anyone remember those old huge dry cells that looked like something that would power a telegraph? They were about the size of a can of tennis balls, usually paper wrapped, had one terminal in the center of the top and the other on the edge. I think they were already obsolete when I was a boy but you’d still see them in chemistry classes. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/388 "2014-08-15T02:10:18Z")
I recall the national anthem playing before movies in the theatre. How fucked is that? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/389 "2014-08-15T02:45:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Anyone remember those old huge dry cells that looked like something that would power a telegraph? They were about the size of a can of tennis balls, usually paper wrapped, had one terminal in the center of the top and the other on the edge. I think they were already obsolete when I was a boy but you’d still see them in chemistry classes. We had those. My family owned a very large hardware/general store that opened in 1902 and some things just never sold so they were still around hidden on some back shelf of the cavernous and mostly unexplored place. Well, I was determined to explore it as a child. My grandfather was an eccentric man and bought tons of weird things in the 1950’s during its heyday and some examples were still around. I once found an an unopened Geiger counter on a back shelf. It came complete with a small piece or uranium for checking that it worked. Apparently, my grandfather bought and sold a ton of them and that one just got overlooked. I never could find a working battery to check to see if it worked (it was pristine but the batteries had long since deteriorated). I still had fun playing with it and the uranium with no ill effect yet. I think that general idea is the biggest thing that kids today wouldn’t understand. Nothing was truly dangerous in our minds even though people got killed or injured all the time. Drinking and driving - no big deal except _possibly_ if you were too drunk to stay in your lane and go on to insult the police officer directly. A DUI was a very difficult thing to get until MADD gained traction in the 1980’s. The preferred seat for any kid in a rural area was in the back of a pickup truck usually sitting on the side rail no matter how far or fast you were going. Sometimes we would pop the tailgate and jump out while the truck was still moving if we felt like it (some people miscalculated the difficulty in that and smacked straight into the road but they were still mostly OK). Sitting on the bench seat in the front just wasn’t fun or cool. I never knew anyone that was truly hurt by it except for being scalded when sitting down too fast on the all metal bed on a hot summers day in shorts. Everyone knows you have to ease down slowly to absorb the heat or you will end with with 2nd degree burns on your legs. Even old school electric fans could hurt you with their ample motors, bare minimum enclosures and metal blades. Rifles were completely allowed at school during hunting season as long as we left them in our vehicles. It is completely different world now. Many people are paranoid about things that were accepted as routine and unnoteworthy even 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/390 "2014-08-15T02:56:31Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Anyone remember those old huge dry cells that looked like something that would power a telegraph? They were about the size of a can of tennis balls, usually paper wrapped, had one terminal in the center of the top and the other on the edge. I think they were already obsolete when I was a boy but you’d still see them in chemistry classes. they were Ignition Cell battery. used to start a glow plug model gas engine, also battery doorbells. good for school science use because they lasted for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/391 "2014-08-15T03:04:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I recall the national anthem playing before movies in the theatre. How fucked is that? They play the king’s anthem – NOT the national anthem like is misreported by some clueless foreigners, but the king’s anthem – before movies in the cinemas here, and everyone stands for it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/392 "2014-08-15T04:34:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I recall the national anthem playing before movies in the theatre. How fucked is that? You never went to the movie theatre on any USCG, military, or naval base then. I (with some backup from my friends) was personally responsible for a nastygram from the Governor’s Island Base Commander to ALL PERSONNEL and dependents that making cymbal crashing sounds during the National Anthem filmette before the main feature was NOT appreciated. 😃 ---
**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:** [August 15, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/393 "2014-08-15T15:24:08Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Having idle curiosity about something, but instead of asking your phone or computer to google up answers in 5 seconds or less, you had to either > > 1. Parlay some serious time to travel to the library and research > or > 2. Shrug and forget about it If the library was open, you could call them and have it looked up. I started my career during the pre-Web era, and gave answers over the phone plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/394 "2014-08-15T16:44:11Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > If the library was open, you could call them and have it looked up. I started my career during the pre-Web era, and gave answers over the phone plenty. If a student has the brains God promised a doorknob, he will become friendly with the Research Librarian. If you can engage an RL’s curiosity in a topic, you’ve got it made! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/395 "2014-08-15T19:28:36Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Oh my God. My father _lived_ to collect S&H Green Stamps. Then he’d call us into the kitchen to wet the stamps and paste them in the book. (Zzzzzzz . . .) Then he’d bitch because he didn’t like the cheap crap in the redemption catalog. I inherited dozens of books of both Green Stamps and Blue Chip Stamps. Green Stamps is still in operation as a system giving points on a customer card. And you can turn in old stamps, but you have to fill out an affidavit swearing which store disbursed them and I had no idea where my Mom and Grandma had gotten them. So they all got tossed. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Unleaded? When were you born? It was Regular and Premium. . . . No, it was Regular and Ethyl. Both had lead, but Ethyl had more lead. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Let’s not forget TV antennas on the roof. Haven’t seen one of those in ages. I recently had an old oak removed because it was lifting and cracking the house foundations. They found an old aerial up in the branches. Apparently it had grown and pulled the aerial away from the house. > [@Baker](#): > > I’m old enough to remember TV ads encouraging people to begin using the now standard seat belts. One ad featured several frivolous reasons people give for not wearing the seat belt, such as _“Besides, it wrinkles my dress!”_ That reminds me, few people remember clothes made of fabric that isn’t permanent press. Back then, the wrinkles might have been a bigger thing. I remember being twenty and hearing teenagers wondering what old people could possibly be thinking when they decided to wear (ugg!) polyester leasure or pants suits. And I knew they were thinking about Monday not being wash day and Tuesday not being ironing day any more. ## I’ve gone back through my Dad’s home movies and you can see the clotheslines slowly disappearing from the neighbor’s yards as the years go by. It was 1964 when we got our first dryer. And you don’t take out the clothesline right away, because you don’t know when you’ll need it as backup and because it was set in concrete and it’s going to be half a days work to dig it up and truck it to the dump. Anyone remember when the photographer with the shetland pony would go door to door taking pictures of kids sitting on it, wearing cowboy hats and vests? I’ve inherited itinerant pony pictures from my Dad’s generation and from mine, but nothing after the mid-sixties. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/396 "2014-08-15T19:54:55Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Anyone remember when the photographer with the shetland pony would go door to door taking pictures of kids sitting on it, wearing cowboy hats and vests? I’ve inherited itinerant pony pictures from my Dad’s generation and from mine, but nothing after the mid-sixties. Not that but I have a photo from the early 70’s of me, age 5ish, holding a lion cub. It was taken at the local shopping mall (would have been Yorktown in Lombard, IL for those keeping score) where, sure enough, there was some event where you could just drop in and have your kid manhandle a lion cub for a few minutes while someone took a picture. It looked to be about the size of a smallish dog. I’m not sure if that would fly today. At least, I haven’t seen any local opportunities to have my kids photographed with lions at the mall. I looked at Google for photos and those I saw seemed to be either taken in foreign countries or at wildlife shelters/parks versus some chump at the mall. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/397 "2014-08-15T22:14:10Z")
We went to a reptile show at the fairgrounds a few months ago, and they had an exhibit where you could have your picture taken holding a tiger cub. There were plenty of little kids in line with their parents, so I don’t think age was an issue. As much as my daughter wanted to hold the cub, she didn’t want to wait in the long line. Another exhibit gave you the choice of your picture taken holding a boa constrictor or a smallish (teenaged?) alligator, so she went with the alligator. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/398 "2014-08-16T04:17:18Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Not that but I have a photo from the early 70’s of me, age 5ish, holding a lion cub. It was taken at the local shopping mall (would have been Yorktown in Lombard, IL for those keeping score) where, sure enough, there was some event where you could just drop in and have your kid manhandle a lion cub for a few minutes while someone took a picture. It looked to be about the size of a smallish dog. > > I’m not sure if that would fly today. At least, I haven’t seen any local opportunities to have my kids photographed with lions at the mall. I looked at Google for photos and those I saw seemed to be either taken in foreign countries or at wildlife shelters/parks versus some chump at the mall. > [@GESancMan](#): > > We went to a reptile show at the fairgrounds a few months ago, and they had an exhibit where you could have your picture taken holding a tiger cub. There were plenty of little kids in line with their parents, so I don’t think age was an issue. As much as my daughter wanted to hold the cub, she didn’t want to wait in the long line. > > Another exhibit gave you the choice of your picture taken holding a boa constrictor or a smallish (teenaged?) alligator, so she went with the alligator. That’s still common over here. You can even go to a tiger temple upcountry and take your photo with a full-grown tiger or tigers. I wouldn’t recommend it though. The monks claim the tigers have been tamed with spirituality, but evidence exists that the tigers have just been drugged and are mistreated. But photographers will still trawl the bars in Pattaya with large snakes and offer to take your photo. I think I’ve seen photographers in Waikiki with parrots for tourist photos too. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/399 "2014-08-16T05:14:34Z")
I remember when credit card purchases meant the cashier called the bank to get approval, plus put the card into the “ka-chunk” slider to make a carbon copy imprint. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/400 "2014-08-16T07:56:49Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I remember when credit card purchases meant the cashier called the bank to get approval, plus put the card into the “ka-chunk” slider to make a carbon copy imprint. I worked in a retail store back in the day, and you are correct but only over a certain limit. I think my store’s limit was $50 (circa 1978) so anything under $50 was fine, but anything over I had to call and make sure it was OK. I was 16 at the time and felt embarrassed to call in some situations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=21)