# 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:** 23
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/443 "2021-11-01T19:26:23Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > One of my mother’s first jobs was jukebox operator. The patron would put a nickel in the slot, pick up a phone handset which would ring Mom in a central location. They would request a song, she would find the record, plug a record player into that line, and drop the needle on the record which would play through a speaker at the location. No way! I’ve never heard of that. Can you add anything to it? Where were the jukeboxes? Where was your mom? Was it a bunch of women in a room plugging in record players? Could she only do one call at a time? > [@pkbites](#): > > 8-track tapes. Jebus Gawd they were awful. The worst music format of all time. Cassettes seemed like a miracle after 8-tracks. > [@Crane](#): > > Xray machine at the shoe store This one I never even heard of. What was the advantage over just trying the shoe on? Or was it just a gimmick? > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Now reinstated as hide from the shooter drills, aren’t they? That is a funny take on that. Never thought of it that way. Aaaand now I see this thread has 450 posts in it so I’ll just stop here. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/444 "2021-11-01T19:29:35Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > And the only ones entitled to know your social security number were your employer and the SSA. It wasn’t supposed to be used for anything else. And if you’d never been employed, you wouldn’t have one; people got their SSN when they got their first job. I moved to Kansas in the mid-'90s, and was horrified to discover that they used the SSN as a driver’s license number. So if you wrote a check at the store and someone wanted to see ID, they’d write down your SSN on the check. So they had your: 1. Name 2. Address 3. Bank account number 4. SSN Even then, I thought this was a bad idea. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/445 "2021-11-01T19:30:47Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > in Wisconsin starting in ‘69, [Lenny’s Inferno](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt4780158/mediaviewer/rm2153030657/) Lenny… as in “Crazy TV Lenny”, gave away a free 10-speed with any TV purchase. My wife came to Madison with Not Much, and got her first bike here free by buying a cheap tiny B&W “kitchen” TV. Lenny’s now selling e-bikes, and I kid that she’ll get her last bike from Crazy TV Lenny as well. Probably true. Lots of the on-air “talent” for Lenny’s Inferno were local legends. Dick Flanigan was the host (Mr. Mephisto). “Stormin’ Norman” Lorenz was the camera guy. And so many of the weirdoes were pillars of the community. One of the wacky “constant guest stars”, John Sveum, was a corporate guy, and worked for one of our ad agency’s clients. (as was Jim Pedersen, aka [Rocky Rococo](https://www.google.com/search?q=Rocky+Rococo+character&sxsrf=AOaemvIuqLpO7F--kwc_y4CkPIBAyZMAyA:1635794763248&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFoKeu8vfzAhWCdc0KHf5WCYMQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1011&bih=561&dpr=2)) ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/446 "2021-11-01T20:06:37Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > This one I never even heard of. What was the advantage over just trying the shoe on? Or was it just a gimmick? Oh yeah. You could look down through the viewer and see how your feet fit within the shoes. As if you couldn’t feel the same thing. I think they had a picture of Buster Brown and his dog on the device. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/447 "2021-11-01T20:33:17Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > > [@Crane](#): > > > > Xray machine at the shoe store > > This one I never even heard of. What was the advantage over just trying the shoe on? Or was it just a gimmick? Technically a [fluoroscope](https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/shoe-fitting-fluoroscope/index.html) rather than an x-ray (or at least what most people think of when they hear the term). Typically they were poorly shielded, and while there was little danger to the child or parent the salesbeings were frequently exposed to radiation levels that would be unthinkable today. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/448 "2021-11-01T20:46:28Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > …in the days before days, with the big yellow and white phone books, nearly everyone in town was listed in there by their last name because _the whole point of having a telephone was so someone could look you up and call you_ . Even as a kid, I thought “Why do you want anyone and everyone calling you?” and found out you could get an Unlisted Number. Man, you were somebody if you had one of those. But then I learned they cost an arm and a leg. _For the telephone company to NOT print your name? Wouldn’t that be cheaper for them?_ Then I thought “Why couldn’t you just give them a fake name?” Then you’ve got a phone, but none of your friends from first grade (who want to rope you into selling GRIT newspapers) can just call you up! ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/449 "2021-11-01T20:51:20Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Crank calls were a thing, but scam/junk calls were somehow not. I mean they must have existed, but were much harder to “get anywhere” unless you were targeting a specific person with a tailored line of patter, “scam/junk calls” didn’t exist, because with a computer to make the phone calls automatically, an actual paid employee would have had to manually dial each number and speak to a person. Much more labor intensive (=expensive) than today, when a computer can make all those calls at once, and leave messages for those who don’t answer the call. “targeting a specific person” was known as “cold calling”. This was done, but in a more limited manner than today. Usually by a salesman who had a reason to hope you might be interesting in what he’s selling. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/450 "2021-11-01T20:54:06Z")
> [@gnarator](#): > > I moved to Kansas in the mid-'90s, and was horrified to discover that they used the SSN as a driver’s license number. I don’t remember when Kansas stopped doing this. I think it must have been shortly after you moved there. But, in trying to find that info, I discovered that Missouri was still doing it in 2005. > **[Missouri drops Social Security number from driver's licenses](https://www.stlpr.org/other/2005-12-19/missouri-drops-social-security-number-from-drivers-licenses)** > > By AP/KWMUJefferson City, Mo. – Missouri driver's licenses will no longer have Social Security numbers on them.Instead applicants will get a… ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/451 "2021-11-01T21:17:33Z")
When I was a kid, we had toys that could maim, or kill you (Lawn Darts, Vac-U-Form™, chemistry sets, Clackers, Hungry Hippos, Pet Rocks, ad infinitum). And, we liked it that way, dadgummit! Maybe our parents didn’t much like us!? ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/452 "2021-11-01T21:17:47Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > This one I never even heard of. What was the advantage over just trying the shoe on? Or was it just a gimmick? For some more information… > **[The Shoe Fitting Machines That Blasted You With Radiation](https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/05/the-shoe-fitting-machines-that-blasted.html)** ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/453 "2021-11-01T22:09:06Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > This one I never even heard of. What was the advantage over just trying the shoe on? Or was it just a gimmick? In the early forties it was modern science. You put on a pair of shoes then stood on a platform with a viewing port. You could see your feet (with bones) and the outline of the shoes. The idea was for a perfect fit. It worked great but was a radiation hazard for store employees. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/454 "2021-11-01T22:21:40Z")
Also, in the late 40s, there were still a few hand pumps at gas stations in the Sacramento Valley. There was a glass jar above your head. You worked a hand crank that pumped gas into the jar. When you had as much as you needed you paid the attendant and then drained the jar into your tank. It cost me seven cents to fill my motor scooter tank. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/455 "2021-11-01T23:13:48Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > No way! I’ve never heard of that. Can you add anything to it? Where were the jukeboxes? Where was your mom? Was it a bunch of women in a room plugging in record players? Could she only do one call at a time? Los Angeles, late-1930s to 1942 or so, scattered around town in cafes, bars and such, in an office somewhere, several women in a room, each with a number of clients under her charge, no, but if she ran out of record players, the client had to suck it up and wait for a bit. The chief advantage was the central location had a much larger music selection than your more typical jukebox. [http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Multiphone](http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Multiphone) ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/456 "2021-11-01T23:19:44Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Los Angeles, late-1930s to 1942 or so, scattered around town in cafes, bars and such, in an office somewhere, several women in a room, each with a number of clients under her charge, no, but if she ran out of record players, the client had to suck it up and wait for a bit. > > The chief advantage was the central location had a much larger music selection than your more typical jukebox. Thanks for the link and the fascinating info. I’m a 53 years old learned electrical engineer in telecommunication and have always been interested in the subject also in my private life, and still I sometimes learn about historical means of communication I’ve never heard of before, and often here at the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/457 "2021-11-01T23:20:32Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Have we mentioned typesetting with paper tape? The keyboard punched the paper tape, which was then read by a typesetting device. Initially, there was no way to edit a tape, except manually, with splices and a “chicken plucker” punch. And there was no monitor. Everything had to be figured in your head. Amazingly, I typeset a math textbook this way. Monotype or Linotype Elektron? ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/458 "2021-11-01T23:20:34Z")
> [@digs](#): > > But then I learned they cost an arm and a leg. _For the telephone company to NOT print your name? Wouldn’t that be cheaper for them?_ Kind of like salt-free canned whatever being more expensive than the regular version. I’d picture paying some workman to stand there with his hand over the salt spigot when the kettle filled. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/459 "2021-11-01T23:49:27Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > As for “diaries being private”, I wondered what you were contrasting that with (aren’t diaries still private?) until I realized that in the age of blogging, vlogging, FB, Instagram, and livestreaming, much of what people used to diarize is done with “push notification”, eh? Yup. Many people are now effectively publishing their diaries online and encouraging others to read them. > [@digs](#): > > Then I thought “Why couldn’t you just give them a fake name?” Then you’ve got a phone, but none of your friends from first grade (who want to rope you into selling GRIT newspapers) can just call you up! Because you had to agree to pay the phone bill; and it would be mailed to your address; plus which, they needed to install the phone (it was their phone) at your house/apartment. So they were certainly going to have your address. If you paid the bill by check, they’d also have your name, which would be on the check. (You probably did have the option of paying by cash at some store locations which had signed up to do this, but most people paid by check unless they didn’t have bank accounts.) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/460 "2021-11-02T00:19:21Z")
When I first went away to college, I wrote my name _and Social Security number_ on all of my stuff, so as to be sure that I could identify what was mine. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/461 "2021-11-02T00:25:27Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > We also had the pizzaman, and potato chipman, cruising up and down our street, vending their wares to hungry kids and parents. We had the Charles Chip’s guy, it was always a good day when you saw the Charlies Chip truck in the driveway. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/462 "2021-11-02T02:29:54Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > When I was a kid, we had toys that could maim, or kill you (Lawn Darts, Vac-U-Form™, chemistry sets, Clackers, Hungry Hippos, Pet Rocks, ad infinitum). And, we liked it that way, dadgummit! > > Maybe our parents didn’t much like us!? You left out Creepy Crawlers. Oh, and woodburning sets. [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=22) [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=24)