# Things that were once cool, but today scream "old geezer/ette" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789 "2026-01-18T14:34:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/241 "2026-02-18T22:12:23Z")
Ah…Tom Ferguson! cool article. (Is ‘cool’ still cool?) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/242 "2026-02-18T22:29:54Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > This article says it started in the mid-90s, with “the real sea change” happening about ten years later: That more or less aligns with what I did. I “one strapped” through middle and high school, around 1992-98. Because that’s what _everyone_ did. I might have continued one strapping for a while as a freshman in college, but at some point I started using both straps. Probably because I started noticing that at least some other people were doing it, and it no longer seemed to be considered uncool. Also it’s a lot more comfortable to use two straps when you have to walk across a large state college campus as opposed to just walking at most to the next building in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/243 "2026-02-18T22:39:51Z")
> Things that were once cool, but today scream “old geezer/ette” Note that the word “geezer” is itself a word only geezers use. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/244 "2026-02-18T23:08:49Z")
So what do the e.g. teens, 20-somethings, or 30-somethings call the gray-haired set? Besides “Irrelevant”? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/245 "2026-02-18T23:13:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So what do the e.g. teens, 20-somethings, or 30-somethings call the gray-haired set? Boomer ---
**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:** [February 18, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/246 "2026-02-18T23:46:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So what do the e.g. teens, 20-somethings, or 30-somethings call the gray-haired set? Homeowners. _Hey-OH!_ ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/247 "2026-02-18T23:50:22Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Hey-OH! That joke retired in 1992. (Not saying isn’t a good joke, just something that screams old geezer.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/248 "2026-02-19T04:12:33Z")
Think about it. The last child conceived between the monologue and the first guest is _33 years old_! ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/249 "2026-02-19T15:48:58Z")
I was just at a baby boomer’s home and she still has an _ash tray_ on her coffee table. I have not see one in a home in _years_… ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/250 "2026-02-19T17:04:43Z")
Technically, I have an ash tray on my coffee table. It’s a vintage Holiday Inn ash tray I found in an antique store a few years ago. It’s old enough that it’s got their old “Great Sign” logo on it. I do not intend for anyone to actually use it for smoking, though. I just think it’s a neat tchotchke. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/251 "2026-02-20T03:45:14Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I was just at a baby boomer’s home and she still has an _ash tray_ on her coffee table. > > I have not see one in a home in _years_… My elderly parents still smoke (maybe a total of 3-4 cigarettes a day, each), as do my sister and her boyfriend, who live with them (the two of them are probably more of a half-pack a day, each). A few years ago, my sister convinced my parents to only smoke in the garage, so there are three ashtrays out in the garage: two are probably 1970s or 1980s vintage glass ashtrays; the third was an old plastic one of a similar vintage, which was dropped and broken recently. We actually found a replacement on Amazon. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/252 "2026-02-20T12:56:04Z")
They still make buggy whips. Ashtrays for cigs will be with us awhile yet. I suspect cigar ashtrays will outlive them though. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/253 "2026-02-20T13:15:56Z")
> [@schnebs](#): > > I’m assuming that wood paneling to decorate your living room was cool once, because I remember a lot of people having it when I was a kid, but these days, if I see it in a movie or TV show, it’s shorthand for “this person is broke and/or has no taste.” My previous house had wood paneling on one wall of the living room. It was installed by the previous owner as part of a major renovation. I guess he thought it was an improvement but I didn’t really like it but put up with it for a while. The intricate structure made it impractical to remove. I got the “brilliant” idea to cover it with a grasscloth type textured wallpaper, which turned into a disaster because of the unevenness of the surface. I finally came up with a real solution – I hired a couple of Iranian brothers\* in the construction business to just put drywall over the whole damn thing, and repaint the living room. The result was so bright and beautiful I was sorry I hadn’t done it long ago. As a bonus, the thick multi-layered wall provided extra sound insulation between the living room and the adjacent bedroom. \* Apparently the predecessors of the Ukrainian brothers who’ve bailed me out of various predicaments in the current house! 😉 ---
**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:** [February 20, 2026, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/254 "2026-02-20T23:39:01Z")
We still have wood paneling in the basement. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/255 "2026-02-21T00:29:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@schnebs](#): > > > > I’m assuming that wood paneling to decorate your living room was cool once, because I remember a lot of people having it when I was a kid > > It was absolutely “the thing” in middle-class America in the 1970s. Yes, I feel like wood paneling was pretty much mandatory on houses built in that era. My 1973 house has it in the dining room, although it had been painted by some previous owner before I bought the place. And the house I grew up in had it too, which was also mid-1970s construction. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/256 "2026-02-21T08:52:38Z")
Isn’t it good? Norwegian wood ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/257 "2026-03-12T07:27:01Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > Rock music, the rebellious youth music of old times, is basically dead, at least few people under 40 still listen to it. Hey, even punk turns 50 this year (if you count the Ramones’ first album as the start of punk). > > good point - go to any classic rock concert (Deep Purple, AC/DC,…) and you are going to see a high proportion of geezers (on and off stage 😉 ) … most likely dressed in jeans A lot of those bands had already been around awhile when I first listened to them in the 80s. What’s more unsettling is looking when modern rock bands like Fall Out Boy or Panic At The Disco! last received major airplay. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/258 "2026-03-13T15:18:56Z")
I’ve been happily surprised by the popularity (resurgence?) of live, original-compositions rock music among young folks in my Wisconsin city of 50,000. Our Popcorn Tavern has hosted several excellent rock-funk and prog- or jam-rock acts in recent weeks (check out Squeaky Feet, from Denver, and Wurk, from Madison). The musicians are college age, and the crowd is mainly 20-to-35-year-olds (plus a few geezers like me). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789.md?page=12)