# What was the most anachronistic thing you've seen in a fictional work that wasn't intentional or an accident? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2021, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956 "2021-11-08T03:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/461 "2022-07-10T01:44:03Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I’m willing to forgive a lot of lighting issues. Otherise we’d all be going “what’s happening? I can’t see a thing!” I remember an early episode of _Mystery Science Theater 3000_, where the characters entered an ancient tomb that was suspiciously well-lit. One of the jokes was, “Wow, it’s bright enough to shoot a scene in here!” ---
**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:** [July 10, 2022, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/462 "2022-07-10T06:03:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > t’s even more ridiculous when you stop and think that $20 in 1964 would be about $188.58 today! Nobody’s going to carry that amount around casually, looking for a cup of coffee. Disagree - before credit cards, well-to-do people of that generation would definitely carry even larger amounts of money around on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/463 "2022-07-10T11:00:51Z")
How well-off was that person in the hospital? Was it a clinic for the rich and famous? The only time my old man would have casually carried a $20 bill in his pocket was when he was taking everybody out to dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/464 "2022-07-10T12:01:03Z")
Not a rich person - wife of a garment factory owner (so not poor either but very accustomed to knowing exactly how much things cost) ---
**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:** [July 10, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/465 "2022-07-10T12:38:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > How well-off was that person in the hospital? Was it a clinic for the rich and famous? > > The only time my old man would have casually carried a $20 bill in his pocket was when he was taking everybody out to dinner. I guess it’s a cultural thing. My grandparents, who were the same age, economic class and ethnicity as the characters in question, would never leave home without a few hundred dollars in their pockets. Otherwise people would think they were poor. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/466 "2022-07-10T12:48:07Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It’s even more ridiculous when you stop and think that $20 in 1964 would be about $188.58 today! > [@terentii](#): > > The only time my old man would have casually carried a $20 bill in his pocket was when he was taking everybody out to dinner. And this reminds me (and explains) a memory from my childhood where I felt put upon - mom sent me to the grocery store to pick up something (not much - I rode my bike). She gave me $20 (maybe all she had?) - when I got to the store I checked my pockets and no money. Went home to nonchalantly tell her and get more cash, she was pissed - fortunately I found it in the front yard when sent out to retrace my steps. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/467 "2022-07-10T12:56:58Z")
I’m trying to imagine my mother with a $20 bill in her hand. I can’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/468 "2022-07-10T12:59:34Z")
When I was a kid, Mim had a plastic grocery calculator (mechanical) - the idea is that you can figure out what your grocery bill will be while shopping. It had a maximum of $20. Who’d need groceries that cost more than that? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/469 "2022-07-10T13:03:09Z")
Maybe - but approximately how old are you? My grandparents were roughly the same age and economic class - but I would not have any idea of how much cash my grandfather carried around in 1964 as I was only a year old. I do know he typically carried at least $2-300 in the eighties. I’m sure gramps was carrying more than a single $20 bill around in 1964 - but I’m also pretty sure that breaking a $20 bill for a 35 cent cup of coffee was about as common as breaking a $100 bill for a cup of coffee was at any time between the eighties and now. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/470 "2022-07-10T13:16:16Z")
The only time I would have carried $50 in my pocket during the '80s was when I needed to put gas into the beater I owned. And I only had that for two years. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/471 "2022-07-10T14:01:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The only time I would have carried $50 in my pocket during the '80s was when I needed to put gas into the beater I owned. That was after the first big bump in gas prices. The idea of needing $50 to put gas in your car in 1964 would have been laughable. Gas was about 30¢ a gallon. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/472 "2022-07-10T14:16:35Z")
Even so, gas accounted for maybe $30 of that $50. The rest went for breakfast (coffee at McDonald’s), lunch (a Polish sausage and a Coke at a gas station), dinner (the buffet at Big Boy), laundry (at a laundromat), toiletries, and other sundries. I was a poor student for almost all of the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/473 "2022-07-10T18:16:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Nighttime in the country with no moon is DARK. You can’t even see your feet. Same as in the desert. Which is why we always tried to schedule camping trips for full moons. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/474 "2022-07-10T19:08:12Z")
That only applies if there is cloud cover. Out in the middle of the Mojave in November, you don’t need the moon to see. The Milky Way is plenty bright enough to find the latrine. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/475 "2022-07-10T19:17:14Z")
One of these? [![](http://image.timepassagesnostalgia.com/watermarked/imagesl0/l029adderx3.jpg) ](http://image.timepassagesnostalgia.com/watermarked/imagesl0/l029adderx3.jpg) And now I’m feeling really old because grandma’s had plastic buttons covering metal actuators. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/476 "2022-07-10T19:17:54Z")
The middle one, yes ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/477 "2022-07-10T20:32:53Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Nighttime in the country with no moon is DARK. You can’t even see your feet. Yeah, I was out one dark moonless nite, with just enough clouds to even hide most of the stars. Dark. Really fucking dark. > [@terentii](#): > > The only time my old man would have casually carried a $20 bill in his pocket was when he was taking everybody out to dinner. My dad carried the usual “reserve 20” in the “hidden compartment” in his wallet. I carry a $50. But yeah, my Dad liked to have $100 in cash. Mom didn’t carry much, but then again, she didn’t drive. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/478 "2022-07-10T21:15:25Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Same as in the desert. Which is why we always tried to schedule camping trips for full moons. I was out in the deep desert with an astronomy club. While my group didn’t have a telescope, we did have night vision goggles. We could hear something moving around at out feet, but couldn’t see a thing. The NVG quickly explained it. There were two kit foxes standing about a foot away. Their eyes glowed like radioactive mutants in the NVG. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/479 "2022-07-10T21:37:47Z")
I spent two summers teaching English in Blatna, Czechoslovakia. There was a huge park in the center of town that was home to a small herd of deer. I was walking back to my flat through the park one overcast night and it was DARK! I could hear the deer breathing and snorting all around me, and it completely freaked me out. I couldn’t have been more scared if a serial killer had been stalking me ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/480 "2022-07-10T21:56:43Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I mentioned this in the Mrs Maisel thread (a show that’s full of anachronisms), but having a character at a 1964 hospital … Since the most recent season of _TMMM_ took place in 1960, this post is … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956.md?page=25)