We had postal codes before we had zip codes. What became
Houston, TX 77019
was written
Houston 19, Texas
during the brief life of postal codes.
Wow…do folks my age and younger really have that poor a grasp on recent history? I’m 25, and I’ve gotten all these references…except the Rob Petrie thing. Who’s he?
He was Dyke Van Dick 
I’ve read in old magazines where a mail-in card or such would have, in lieu of a space for “zip code”, a space for “zone”. Is this the same thing?
Also, our town tests the sirens at noon every Saturday (wakes me up, too…grrr). However, they’re not ‘Air Raid’ sirens, they’re ‘Tornado’ sirens.
Ovaltine’s still around.
Is Rob Petrie off Dick Van Dyke?
That’s who I meant; I didn’t see your reply.
<raises her hand> OOOoo Boyo, I know, I know. 
I think Ringo’s post (slide rules) is pretty definitive. Very few folks under 50 know how to use one.
Advising girls in highschool to learn Gregg shorthand so they can get a job until they get married. (This was standard advice when I went to school).
Girls taking Home Ec; Boys taking Shop. Absolutely no crossover.
Mimeographs, stencils, carbon paper.
PBX board (switchboard) operators. (I ran one as my first job)
Manual typewriters.
Knowing the names of the Mouseketeers.
Having watched Howdy Doody.
Knowing who Klem Kaddidlehopper is.
AuH20
I got them all too and I’m 31.
Rotarie phones drove me crazy! I always had issues with them when ever I used one.
I was just thinking the other day about TV dinners when they came in tinfoil pans with tinfoil coverings.
When soda and beer cans had a seam and pull tabs.
And my husband who acts like he was born in my grandparents gereration is forever after me about my use of the word tinfoil. Have had that around in years it’s now aluminum foil.
For as_u_wish: “In your heart you know he’s right.”
It’s pretty scarey that, after almost 40 years, I know exactly what Ringo’s talking about. I think I’ll got take some Geriotol.
“My wife, I think I’ll keep her.”
“Mother, please! I’d rather do it myself!”
Speedy Alka Seltzer.
Rob Petrie was the character played by Dick Van Dyke in the original Dick Van Dyke Show. His wife Laura was played by Mary Tyler Moore, the first female character on TV allowed to wear pants! His co-workers (co-writers of an imaginary TV comedy/variety show) were Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers, played by Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie.
“That info is straight from the government, so you know it must be true”
gas crisis in the 70’s. They had to use gas rationing.
I’m 22 years old and knew that
“Sending away” for things. And having to wait 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. I am in my 20’s, but I too lived through the dark ages of having to wait patiently for your fake vomit, ventriloquist’s dummy, or baseball cards.
Joe K, yes, the postal code was for zone.
Ok, what’s a suicide door?
A suicide door is one that is hinged on the rear instead of the front.
And they might be coming back. Well, we’ve got seatbelts and airbags nowadays.
Ok, Ringo, what do you mean? I get the concept of the door hinged on the other side, but why the comment about seat belts and air bags?
It seems from the naming of the door, and your comment, as though there is something ominous about it, but I can’t figure what.
I’m 20, and I recognize virtually everthing posted so far.
Then again, I’m obsessed with the 80s, so I’ve always been known for living in the past.
I’m not sure about the air bags, but the seat belts (if worn) reduce the “suicide” aspect considerably.
At speed, a rear-hinged door, if opened, acts as a huge air brake and drags itself out from the car. Anyone holding the handle for the purpose of opening the door tends to get dragged out with it. A seat belt reduces that risk by letting the door get sucked open, but holding the occupant inside. (A front-hinged door, of course, has the wind pushing it back toward the car, shoving the occupant back into his or her seat.)
(The first generation of the “new” suicide doors were built so that they would not open until the front-hinged door was opened, so a passenger in the back could not accidentally pull on a handle and get sucked out. I do not know how the current crop is designed.)