# Things you're suprised under-30s don't recognize **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101 "2010-07-26T21:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/261 "2010-08-03T15:50:50Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > I remember it was kind of cool when some company introduced _erasable pens_. I remember those as EraserMates, presumably made by PaperMate. I used those as well as Liquid Paper (we never called it Wite Out) on my handwritten papers in school in the early to mid 80s all the time. I even occasionally typed my papers using a portable manual typewriter that looked exactly like [this](http://www.etsy.com/listing/26855693/vintage-smith-corona-portable-typewriter). At some point in high school (1984-88), I got an electric Brother typewriter. > [@Superhal](#): > > 1. The only place you could buy Twizzlers was at the theater. Twizzlers? Try Red Vines. It seems that Twizzlers, which are considerably inferior to RVs, are currently the only red ‘licorice’ you can get at the movies anymore. I have seen RVs for sale at Blockbuster, however. Now, Jordan Almonds… those were the quintessential movie theatre candy of my youth. I also remember going to the drive-in in my PJs, as did every other kid in order to make it easier for our parents to transfer our sleeping selves from the back seat to bed after the movies. > [@Savannah](#): > > I’d be amazed if anyone under the age of 70 recognised this, but following a washboard link, there was information about laundry “bluing”. I remember my Scottish-born grandmother washing clothes by hand in the kitchen sink, and using a few drops of what I thought was blue dye. When I asked, she told me that it was “a bit of blue, to make them white”. Very confusing to me! I still use bluing for my whites as did my mother. It lasts a long time because you don’t use much at all, but the last time I needed it, I bought Mrs. Stewart’s at Wal-Mart. I also have a bar of fels naptha. How many under 30s do you think know what that is or what it’s for? > [@Superhal](#): > > 1. “Espresso” was synonymous with “France,” not “Starbucks.” Funny that, considering it’s Italian in origin and name, and I remember it at the higher end Italian restaurants. Perhaps I’m an outlier, but I would say few under 60 associate espresso with France. How about aspic, though? I doubt very many under 30s are familiar with it. No doubt for a very good reason. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/262 "2010-08-03T17:14:21Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > Sadness on my part ensued, and she asked in all innocence: “Who’s Bruce Springsteen?” I had the same moment a few years ago when a twenty-something friend of mine asked “Who’s Dr. Demento?” ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/263 "2010-08-03T17:23:07Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Therefore, they don’t even teach 10-12 anymore. They didn’t teach the 10-12 times tables when I was in elementary school. I’m 35. > [@Brown Eyed Girl](#): > > I also have a bar of fels naptha. How many under 30s do you think know what that is or what it’s for? I’ve seen fels naptha, but never used it or been told what it’s for (other than it is somehow associated with laundry). It looks like soap. I would guess it’s for getting stains out of clothes. Wikipedia says I was right! ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/264 "2010-08-04T01:53:01Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > > [@Superhal](#): > > > > Therefore, they don’t even teach 10-12 anymore. > > They didn’t teach the 10-12 times tables when I was in elementary school. I’m 35. New Thread: Things you’re surprised people OVER 30 don’t know (Where’s Skald?) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/265 "2010-08-04T02:52:21Z")
Cherry Phosphates. Metal roller skate keys. Brylcream. Don Pardo. Carol Merrill. And for the toss up, [these](http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/FSD/FSD078/x19598171.jpg). Also, where does “toss up” come from? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/266 "2010-08-04T02:58:06Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Cherry Phosphates. > Metal roller skate keys. > Brylcream. > Don Pardo. > Carol Merrill. > And for the toss up, [these](http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/FSD/FSD078/x19598171.jpg). > Also, where does “toss up” come from? I think that’s more like “under-50s don’t recognize.” I’m 40-ish, and I’ve _heard_ of some of these, but certainly haven’t ever laid eyes on any of them (and no idea what that picture is). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/267 "2010-08-04T03:04:57Z")
My dad used Brylcreem. Might still do, for all I know, though he hasn’t got much hair now. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/268 "2010-08-04T03:40:30Z")
Didn’t Password have a toss-up question? Although I doubt that was the start of the term. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/269 "2010-08-04T03:50:00Z")
Toss-up? Basketball, I think. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/270 "2010-08-04T04:25:43Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I don’t think anyone under the age of forty will know what a tube tester is. I’m 38, and I learned to use one in high-school. And the picture a couple of posts up is that of a 45rpm record hub. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/271 "2010-08-04T06:29:53Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > I recently encountered seventeen year olds that… thought references to the Red Army in WWII was somehow related to the social conservative Republician political causes. I want my color back! ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/272 "2010-08-04T18:42:24Z")
> [@j66](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > I’ve heard rumours that young’uns can’t write cursive or tell time on an analogue watch face. > > When I was in my early twenties, I expected that people my age then would not know how to tell time (digital doesn’t count) by now. I was wrong - everyone in their twenties that I know can tell time (unless the clock face has no numbers, which is a stupid design and should be rejected). > > However, it never crossed my mind people would not know how to write cursive, but none of them do. It’s the equivalent of logs and slide rules. My daughter is going into the first grade this year. Her school district is phasing out teaching cursive writing at all, so she will not be taught it in school. Considering that I am almost 40 and have not used cursive for anything in years, it does not make me feel too bad about it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/273 "2010-08-04T20:37:58Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > > [@Savannah](#): > > > > As for what’s surprised me that an under-30 didn’t recognise–it was Bruce Springsteen. (I’d just bought concert tickets, and mentioned how excited I was to a young co-worker.) Sadness on my part ensued, and she asked in all innocence: “Who’s Bruce Springsteen?” > > What really just rendered me speechless for a few seconds the first time I realized it is the fact that, at this moment, we are farther away from the time of our youth (for people who grew up in the 70s and 80s) than I was from the beginnings of rock and roll when I was born in 1971. And all of those “oldies” that my mom liked so much and were so much ancient history to me, were closer to that time than the Thompson Twins “Hold Me Now” is to now. I have a similar reaction when I contemplate this: The movie Grease came out in 1978. I remember when I saw it that I thought the period it depicted (around 1958, I think) was practically ancient history. (I was born in 1962.) But looking back from today, that same span of time brings us to 1990. In my mind, 1990 feels like the very recent past. It’s mind-blowing for me to reconcile these two feelings. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/274 "2010-08-04T21:24:31Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > The movie Grease came out in 1978. I remember when I saw it that I thought the period it depicted (around 1958, I think) was practically ancient history. (I was born in 1962.) > > But looking back from today, that same span of time brings us to 1990. In my mind, 1990 feels like the very recent past. > > It’s mind-blowing for me to reconcile these two feelings. For me it’s _Happy Days_. That series was set in the late Fifties, and was watched by everyone in my classroom, mid 70s. 1990 just doesn’t seem as far away from us now as the world of the Fonz seemed from 1975. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/275 "2010-08-04T22:44:26Z")
Ha. My wife is watching _Boy Meets World_ reruns from 1993 (for reasons I cannot quite fathom). ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/276 "2010-08-05T01:46:00Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > I gave someone a fake phone number, 867-5309, and no one got it… Im 20. ☹ It breaks my heart that people think my handle refers to some wrestler, or they try to pronounce Italian style (too-toe-nee). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/277 "2010-08-05T18:52:50Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [ul] > [li]Loony Tunes.[/li][/ul] Someone has already mentioned manual transmissions, which still come standard (Heh) on most base models of cars. But I find it hard to believe that no one under 30 would know what the Looney Tunes are. You mean people would actually draw a blank if you said “What’s up, Doc?” or told them they were “deth’picable?” Or asked what happened to the Earth-shattering kaboom? My old fogey moment occured several years ago when a friend of my then 12 year old nephew picked up an 8 track cartridge and asked, “What’s this? A video game?” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/278 "2010-08-05T19:27:55Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You mean people would actually draw a blank if you said “What’s up, Doc?” or told them they were “deth’picable?” Or asked what happened to the Earth-shattering kaboom? > > My old fogey moment occured several years ago when a friend of my then 12 year old nephew picked up an 8 track cartridge and asked, “What’s this? A video game?” Of course people under 30 know who the Looney Tunes are. People thinking they wouldn’t is one of the reasons why this thread is ridiculous at times. As for 8 tracks, you have to admit, [they do look like Atari games](http://www.soundsaver.com/8track.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/279 "2010-08-05T19:29:46Z")
Earth shattering kaboom? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101/280 "2010-08-05T19:35:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Earth shattering kaboom? From the Illudium Pu-36 Explosive Space Modulator. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-under-30s-dont-recognize/548101.md?page=15)