# Ubiquitous items from relatively recently youngsters may not recognise **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362 "2023-03-19T15:27:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/341 "2023-04-10T13:54:26Z")
Despite my long career in computers I only met one person in my life who knew anything about those cards. He worked with an RCA mainframe system that supported those card readers, and part of his job was feeding those cards and clearing the jams. I don’t know if any other machines supported those readers. They were clearly a failed continuation of the paper tape concept. Some past threads may have touched on the humorous concept of ‘paper tape’ and ‘punch card’ based operating systems based on the idea of an operator constantly loading decks and tapes to execute OS functions. The use of those cards would take that absurd concept to an even higher level. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/342 "2023-04-10T14:00:03Z")
I didn’t work directly with the cards, but as I was starting in programming, I worked with a guy nearing retirement that wrote a lot of punch card code. They apparently worked fine. The feeders were simple to use and when the stacks of cards were dropped, there was a sorter for them. Back in those days, computer rooms had computer operators. Once a thriving field, like keypunchers. > [@Ubiquitous items from relatively recently youngsters may not recognise](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/205): > > On my first computer programmer job, about 2 months in, they took all the younger IT staff (MIS back then) and had us empty a large closet. It was filled of boxes of programs. Yes, programs as they were on punch cards. The oldest programmer looked kind of teary eye as us kids were laughing and dumping this old stuff. There was also a card sorter for when some hapless Operator accidentally dropped a box or stack of cards. I did come up in the era of reel tapes still being used however. Huge rac… ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/343 "2023-04-10T14:05:22Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Crank windows on cars. Twenty years ago, driving a work car outfitted with them, I had to pick up my seven-year old from school. They were uncommon then and she had never seen one. I heard her say to herself “So THAT’s what they do” as she played with it and found it rolled down the window. I haven’t seen them on a car in years. They’re still on our work vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/344 "2023-04-10T14:07:48Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The feeders were simple to use and when the stacks of cards were dropped, there was a sorter for them. The sorter could be used if the deck was re-punched with a numbered field (which can be done by machine in several ways). The main way of putting a deck back together was from a diagonal line draw across the top of a deck with a marker. Both methods were uncertain because of changes to the deck. In one shop we made a practice of having smaller decks duplicated after each change to maintain a library, and early sort of source control system. Kids today are missing all the fun of computers. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/345 "2023-04-10T14:58:21Z")
How about returnable beer bottles? When I was a grad student in the early 90s I bought beer this way all the time. When you were finished, you brought the case of empties back to the store to get your deposit back, something like a dime a bottle. To last through many refills they were made much thicker and heavier than single-use glass bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/346 "2023-04-10T15:06:37Z")
We still have that here - storeowners are required by law to take empties and repay the deposit. It’s good for the environment. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/347 "2023-04-10T15:13:53Z")
Do you mean “returnable” or “refillable” - as Alessan notes, returning bottles and cans or a deposit still happens but I haven’t seen refillable bottles in years. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/348 "2023-04-10T15:18:29Z")
Drink decent beer and you will. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/349 "2023-04-10T15:27:57Z")
Here we call them Beer Growlers. Most breweries and at least 2 liquor stores I know of will refill them. * * * * * * As late as the 80s, we still had Crates Soda with the refillable bottles. But I haven’t seen them for soda in my area since then. All that is left of this long time NJ business is a Liquor store in the town the Soda Factory use to be. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/350 "2023-04-10T15:30:29Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Were Teletext terminals and green screens really ubiquitous items? I’m over 60 years old and I’ve never seen either one in real life. I saw a green screen most recently within the past couple of years, when I set one up myself (a jerry-rigged mount made from a camera tripod and a yardstick, with a piece of green cloth draped over it), to put behind my desk chair. The computer I use for Zoom calls isn’t beefy enough to be able to do virtual backgrounds without a solid-color backdrop (which didn’t have to be green, but green worked better than most colors). When things started going back to being in person, I took it down. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/351 "2023-04-10T15:43:17Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Do you mean “returnable” or “refillable” - as Alessan notes, returning bottles and cans or a deposit still happens but I haven’t seen refillable bottles in years. Thanks for the distinction - I meant refillable. The emptied bottles went back to the brewery to be washed, refilled, capped, labeled, and sold again without the bottle ever having been melted down and remolded. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/352 "2023-04-10T15:47:22Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Thanks for the distinction - I meant refillable. The emptied bottles went back to the brewery to be washed, refilled, capped, labeled, and sold again without the bottle ever having been melted down and remolded. Standard procedure for almost all bottled beer in Germany (beer still comes in real glass bottles). Refillable (mostly plastic) bottles are also the norm for most sodas and water. As @Alessan mentioned, it makes ecologically (and economically) sense. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/353 "2023-04-10T15:57:37Z")
I’ve seen very few plastic beer bottles anywhere. Ballparks are one of the only places. Beer comes in glass or cans in the US, almost never plastic. But the bottles and cans get recycled, not reused. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/354 "2023-04-10T15:58:55Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’ve seen very few plastic beer bottles anywhere. Ballparks are one of the only places. Beer comes in glass or cans in the US, almost never plastic. The only place where I’ve ever seen plastic beer bottles was at Aldi. Don’t know if they still have them. For the typical German beer drinker, beer from a plastic bottle is an abomination. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/355 "2023-04-10T16:01:58Z")
Agreed, I don’t even like cans. Tap or glass and the glass should actually be brown, not green or clear. But that part is minor. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/356 "2023-04-10T16:04:37Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Here we call them Beer Growlers. Most breweries and at least 2 liquor stores I know of will refill them. Unless I’m misunderstanding what growlers are, I think I’m talking about something different. Growlers are something you buy and bring to the brewery, right ? And you always get the same one refilled right on the spot ? That’s not what I ( and I think Machine Elf ) were referring to. Up until at least the 1980’s I could go to a soda distributor and fill up a case with glass bottles of soda ( not Coke or Pepsi, smaller, probably regional brands) pay a deposit for the case and a week or so later bring back the case and the bottles which would then be sent back the plant, washed and refilled. I’m pretty sure that this also happened with at least some beer brands. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/357 "2023-04-10T16:50:00Z")
I was replying to **silenus** , not you. Different conversation. I’m well aware as you can see by my post about the soda company. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/358 "2023-04-10T17:00:11Z")
We have at least two local bottlers with reusable soda bottles. You generally have to buy them by the case and return a case full of empties. One of them does delivery and later pickup of the empties exclusively. As kids we would find soda bottles and take them to the grocery store to get a 2 cent deposit refund. Doesn’t seem like much now but a Coke usually cost a dime from a machine back then and for the same price you could get a decent size candy bar. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/359 "2023-04-10T17:16:38Z")
deleted ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/360 "2023-04-10T17:20:07Z")
Sorry , I guess I wasn’t clear. What I was really asking was if I was correct about what growlers are because I thought **silenus** was saying if I bought decent beer it would come in a refillable bottle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362.md?page=19)