# 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:** 29
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/563 "2021-11-05T12:41:11Z")
Bookmobiles were an awesome development in our mostly rural area. The closest stop to us was about a three mile bike ride and saying that like it was no big deal probably also says something about the times. I drew number 140 in the '72 draft lottery. Yes, many of us were shitting bricks that day. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2021, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/564 "2021-11-05T12:45:31Z")
There were a couple of different varieties of bookmobile. For me, it was a vehicle that came by once or twice a year to sell Scholastic books - but I know people who think of “bookmobile” as meaning “mobile branch of the library for borrowing books” ---
**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:** [November 5, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/565 "2021-11-05T14:10:49Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “mobile branch of the library for borrowing books” That’s what our bookmobile was. A branch of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library. They had books crammed on the vehicle (like a Winnebago), but you could also request titles and they’d have them the next week, if available. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/566 "2021-11-05T14:56:40Z")
My guess is that this sort of bookmobile was more common in rural areas. I was in a suburban area, and lived less than 2 miles from the main branch of the public library. I used to love hanging out in the magazine room, reading bound volumes of Life magazine all the way back to the first issue. Lots of other magazines too. And the entire NY Times collection on microfilm!!! The internet is pretty good for reading old news, but if you want to reexperience an old decade by reading the advertisements, you need the actual page, not just the scanned and OCR-ed text. ---
**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 5, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/567 "2021-11-05T15:00:22Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Anyone else remember bookmobiles? One stopped in my neighborhood once a week. Loved it. Loved the bookmobile that came to our elementary school yearly. It was about the only time I did my chores well. I needed to earn enough to buy one or two of the good books, with pictures. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/568 "2021-11-05T15:12:58Z")
Indianapolis is a fairly large city. It had (and still has) bookmobile service: > **[Outreach | Indianapolis Public Library](https://www.indypl.org/services/outreach)** > > Outreach Services brings the Indianapolis Public Library to your neighborhood. Services include public Bookmobile stops and community event appearances. ---
**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 5, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/569 "2021-11-05T15:13:18Z")
Did your elementary school send those child life insurance applications home with you every year, listing payoffs? They did at my school, and it always scared the bejesus out of me. _Jeepers, Mom and Dad will collect good money if I lose an arm, or a leg. And, if I die, they’ll be flush with money._ ---
**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 5, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/570 "2021-11-05T16:11:13Z")
I moved around a bit as a kid, but everywhere I lived that had a bookmobile, it only operated in the summertime. Their stops were usually at the school you attended. Which made sense since the rest of the year you had the school library to get books from. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2021, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/571 "2021-11-05T17:46:21Z")
We never had a bookmobile. But I was in a smallish city surrounded by a giant city. Our town had a library that we walked to when I was a kid. It was a _real_ big deal when you could write your name, because then you could get a library card. It was a long walk for us kids (especially in the summer heat), but it was a cool old building – probably built in the teens or 'twenties. They built a new library near the pool, and its parking area was in an original Twilight Zone episode, so it was still old. I worked there in high school and stilled worked there when they built the new new library down the street. I worked there all through college. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/572 "2021-11-05T19:32:33Z")
I didn’t check. Machines were always the most expensive source for cigs. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/573 "2021-11-05T21:23:28Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Machines were always the most expensive source for cigs. … and candy, and soda, and whatever else. Like at the movies or in the airport, you’re paying for the convenience. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/574 "2021-11-05T22:04:22Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Does anyone recall getting the polio vaccine in a sugar cube? I remember in the 60s they were mass-vaccinating people against polio the way we’re vaccinating against coronavirus today. They would publicize the vaccination event on TV and you would go to the location and be handed a sugar cube with the polio vaccine. When I got my polio vaccine, I was handed a sugar cube in a little paper cup (like those ketchup cups at McDonald’s). I took the cube out of the cup and popped it in my mouth. Apparently touching the cube with your fingers was a big no-no, so they gave me a second one. I got vaccinated twice, and I got to eat TWO delicious sugar cubes! 😀 ---
**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 5, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/575 "2021-11-05T23:51:26Z")
The bookmobile always seemed larger inside than out, like a Tardis. You went in, and there was a whole world of books. ---
**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 6, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/576 "2021-11-06T01:34:53Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > Really! That sounds, if nothing else, rather expensive. I suppose TB was a bigger worry back then. Possibly, because the job was in the school snack bar and 100% of the customers were my fellow students, they were were worried a latent case might spread throughout the school. For those who worked at MickeyD’s, not so much. When I went into the navy, they used a [PPD](https://www.medicinenet.com/tuberculosis_skin_test_ppd_skin_test/article.htm) test at the AFEES center, presumably because X-raying hundreds of new GIs a day was cost prohibitive. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/577 "2021-11-06T12:07:50Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > I was a 50’s kid. “Made In Japan” meant cheap junk. > In the late 60’s it seemed to me that Japanese products were getting better. > In the early 70’s I realized that their cars, electronics, acoustic pianos had gotten to be very, very good. And I was an 80’s kid. By my youth, the stereotype of the workaholic Japanese culture and its superior products was entrenched enough to inspire the movie Gung Ho, starring Michael Keaton, that directly addressed the Japanese takeover of an American car plant. > **[Gung Ho (film)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gung_Ho_(film))** > > Gedde Watanabe > Gung Ho (released in Australia and New Zealand as Working Class Man) is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Keaton. The story portrayed the takeover of an American car plant by a Japanese corporation (although the title phrase is an Americanized Chinese term). > A short-lived TV series based on the film, followed in 1987. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/578 "2021-11-06T16:02:06Z")
Hungry hippos get hungrier if you don’t play often, and I would guess that it’s been a few years? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/579 "2021-11-06T20:31:16Z")
Remember when The Phone Company used to deliver a new phone book to every customer each year? It was a requirement. Huge piles of the things would appear in apartment house lobbies. Huge forests were felled to provide all that white, yellow, and blue paper. Do they still even publish a paper phone book? ---
**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 6, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/580 "2021-11-06T21:24:23Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > Do they still even publish a paper phone book? We still get a local phone book every year. Just for the immediate suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/581 "2021-11-06T21:33:23Z")
“Clowns are funny” ---
**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 6, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/582 "2021-11-06T22:25:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > We still get a local phone book every year. Just for the immediate suburbs. I do also; covers several villages. Seems to get smaller every year, though. [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=28) [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=30)