# Without saying your age, what's something from your childhood that a younger person wouldn't understand? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138 "2021-10-25T01:08:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/182 "2021-10-26T03:05:29Z")
If our power goes out, so does our phone system. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/183 "2021-10-26T03:06:41Z")
Cell phone. Square et al. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/184 "2021-10-26T03:08:05Z")
Whose cell phone do you suggest we use? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/185 "2021-10-26T03:24:30Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Hey, pass me that water jug, would you? Water jug? Just drink it out of the hose. I’m out here waiting for my sister to finish on the phone so I can use it. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/186 "2021-10-26T03:48:00Z")
Probably a Hudson map book. We were still using them at work in the early 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/187 "2021-10-26T03:52:22Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Blocks of wax (to put in the waxer and melt, for “cut and paste.”) > Compugraphics and Varitypers. > Developer and fixer. > Cutting rubies. As a designer in the 70s, all of the above. And cleaning up rubber cement and other adhesives with _Bestine._ We all “knew” that the industrial-strength spirits we were basically soaking our hands in was toluene, which was carcinogenic. Did we put on gloves? Pffft, we were too tough. BUT, just tonight, looking this up, I found out it never was toluene, it’s heptane. And we weren’t flirting with cancer, we were just [depressing our central nervous systems when we were getting light-headed, dizzy and nauseous.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/heptane) We were getting paid to get loopy at work… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/188 "2021-10-26T04:01:58Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Note the jack on top where a modern networking type plug could go. That’s an [RJ11](https://www.google.com/search?q=rj11+connector&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=AOaemvIJzu4AZfPSow0kSdlsrl_8FN2sfg:1635220695697&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFtcjll-fzAhV7ITQIHamYDrAQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1536&bih=778&dpr=1.25) jack (2 or 4 wires). I think you’re thinking of the [RJ45](https://www.google.com/search?q=rj45+connector&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjCpIyCmOfzAhUBlJ4KHd5XBgwQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=rj45+connector&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDIHCAAQsQMQQzIFCAAQgAQyBAgAEEMyBAgAEEMyBAgAEEMyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDoHCCMQ7wMQJzoGCAAQBxAeUNykBljqpgZg17kGaABwAHgAgAFviAG1ApIBAzEuMpgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=E313YYLPH4Go-gTer5lg&bih=778&biw=1536&client=firefox-b-1-d) (8 wires). ---
**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:** [October 26, 2021, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/189 "2021-10-26T05:00:11Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > I am going to nominate whiskey for sale in the pharmacy. I saw this as recently as the mid-70s in Boston. They had half-pint bottles high on the shelf. I think this was a way to get around the blue laws at the time, i.e. the package stores were closed on Sunday. “For medicinal purposes,” ha ha. That probably depends on your state liquor laws. Here in Arizona, my nearest Walgreens has a fully-stocked liquor department. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/190 "2021-10-26T06:45:56Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > In my recollection, also, phones that could be unplugged started showing up in the 70’s (along with phones that had buttons instead of dials). But I was talking about the 50’s and 60’s. The house where I grew up — which was built sometime in the 1930s, and my father bought in 1946 — had a wall outlet like the one pictured in **kenobi65** ’s post above in most rooms (certainly in each bedroom). I don’t know whether they were part of the original construction or added later, but I was aware of them in the 1950s because “my father the doctor” needed to have the only phone in the house close by so it kinda followed him around. This reminds me of one other odd feature about the house: a [radio outlet](http://gfretwell.com/electrical/Radio%20outlet.jpg) in a recessed bookcase in the living room. Apparently they were fairly common in upper-middle-class houses built during that time period, but I’ve never seen one elsewhere. One side was power; on the other, the flat slot connected to an antenna which ran along the peak of the house and the angled slot was a ground (you can see the labels if you look closely). An experiment with a crystal radio proved that it still worked in 1963 or thereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/191 "2021-10-26T06:59:21Z")
Collecting comics from individually-sold pieces of Bazooka Joe bubble gum and mailing them in for prizes was still a thing when I was young, but I’m fairly sure it had ended by the time I reached my early teens. I’m pretty sure every word of that would make absolutely no sense to some of my Gen-Z coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/192 "2021-10-26T07:46:26Z")
My great-uncle only got rid of his hard-wired rotary phone (in the UK) about 5 years ago. Apparently it stopped working, so he called a repair guy out who was completely flummoxed when he couldn’t find the plug. They had to basically find the oldest repair person in the company to remove it, because he was the only one who had ever seen a hard-wired phone before. So I’ve actually used one- when staying with him- despite being born in the 80s. Hiding in the footwell of the car when the police were nearby, because we _were_ supposed to have a seatbelt on, but… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/193 "2021-10-26T08:53:53Z")
Department store charge-a-plates. Christmas lights that got so hot, you could burn yourself on them. No supermarkets. You had to go to a grocery store, then a butcher, then a bakery, etc. Needing a new TV picture tube. Fuller brush men. Praying mantises were fairly common. I used to raise them. Linotype machines. Typositors. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/194 "2021-10-26T09:12:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Department store charge-a-plates. Oh gosh, yes. My father had a charge plate for pretty much every business he had business with: Eaton’s, Simpson’s and The Bay (all department stores), but also Esso, BP and Supertest (all gas stations), and Air Canada (which at the time, did not accept Visa or anything else, so he needed it for business travel). Along those lines, he also had credit cards for various rental car places, and hotel chains. Dad’s wallet was fat, but not with cash–it was fat with plastic. And at the end of the month, Dad would sit at the dining room table, and write out cheques to Eaton’s, Simpson’s, The Bay, Esso, BP, Supertest, Air Canada and the rental car places and hotels. Each cheque was put in its handy envelope, with a stamp (paid for by Dad). At least Dad’s business reimbursed him for the business travel. Nowadays, for me, everything just goes on Visa. I pay it via online banking. Takes about five minutes, and not the hour-plus it used to take Dad to write all those cheques for all those businesses. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/195 "2021-10-26T10:00:38Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > This reminds me of one other odd feature about the house: a [radio outlet](http://gfretwell.com/electrical/Radio%20outlet.jpg) in a recessed bookcase in the living room. I swear, no matter how obscure the topic, someone has a page for it: > **[Museum of Plugs and Sockets: pre-NEMA types](https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/NorthAm2.html)** > > Pre-NEMA plugs and sockets So that reminds me of another item, recessed sockets for plug-in wall clocks. The idea was that the electrical cord could be wrapped up and stuffed into the recess around the plug, so all you saw was the clock on the wall. The cover plate even included the hanging hook. But more on topic, a younger person might not understand that the sum of _electronic_ appliances in a typical home might be just a telephone, radio, and TV. And…“calculator” was a job description for a person. ---
**Author:** ![tavaritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@tavaritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavaritz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/196 "2021-10-26T10:21:43Z")
Very old one: No potatoes in spring. First new potatoes were available mid June and old potatoes were finito in late February early March. There were lots of seasonal fruit & vegetable that today is year round. In workplace one answered co-workers phone if they were not present: N.N.'s phone M.M. speaking. Today if someone leaves their cell on the table and it rings no-one answers as it’s private phone, even if company pays it. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/197 "2021-10-26T13:00:18Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Cutting rubies. Now there’s a lost art. At least in the semiconductor industry. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/198 "2021-10-26T14:08:20Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Drunk driving was OK, sort of. Circa 1982, I remember stopping for a case of beer on my way home on Friday. The beer I drank wasn’t twist off, so the guy always asked how many I wanted him to pop open for the ride home. Two was my typical answer. I also remember the first eight track player I bought for my first car circa 1975. A friend told me about a guy selling used eight track players. I somehow arranged to meet him in a parking lot, where he showed me three nice eight track players. I paid $5 for one and handed over a ten. He said he’d throw in a $5 gun for a total of $10 and I got a nice little .25 caliber semiautomatic. It was a few days before I realized the player wires were cut very short, and the gun’s serial number was partially ground down. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/199 "2021-10-26T14:20:51Z")
Not sure if anyone mentioned a slide rule, but in my first 3 years of college that was the only calculating device we were allowed (I knew how to use one from high school). After that, we were allowed to use an actual calculator. So, perhaps another thing that younger people won’t understand is ‘reverse polish’ logic from an HP calculator. 😛 Not sure about this one, but today do they require engineering students to learn to draft using regular drafting tools? Or is it all CAD? CAD became a thing at my old school after I graduated, so my assumption is that today they only use that. My cousin, who was an architect major only learned to use drafting tools in college…he didn’t actually learn CAD until years after he graduated. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/200 "2021-10-26T14:30:15Z")
Nobody really learns mechanical drawing on a drafting board anymore. Its straight to AutoCad for begineers. I was in the last class in college that did drafting and the first one to use the new CAD system at the time, AutoCad 1.1. I never was required to draw, straight out if college I was put in front of every high end CAD system available for like 35 years. Many people bought old drafting boards at first, but I see them given away at garage sales now. Nobody has room for them and there is no need for drawing things at home anymore for most people. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/201 "2021-10-26T14:34:45Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > And…“calculator” was a job description for a person. Going back a bit further, so was “computer.” > **[Computer (occupation)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation))** > > The term "computer", in use from the early 17th century (the first known written reference dates from 1613), meant "one who computes": a person performing mathematical calculations, before electronic computers became commercially available. Alan Turing described the "human computer" as someone who is "supposed to be following fixed rules; he has no authority to deviate from them in any detail." Teams of people, often women from the late nineteenth century onwards, were used to undertake lon Sin... > [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > But more on topic, a younger person might not understand that the sum of _electronic_ appliances in a typical home might be just a telephone, radio, and TV. Nitpick perhaps, but by the time people had TV’s, most would have had refrigerators, washers and dryers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138.md?page=11)