# 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:** 36
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/703 "2021-12-01T21:56:00Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I remember buying a 15-minute black-and-white silent version of one of my favorite movies ( _Marooned_ (1969), with Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus and Gene Hackman) so that I could watch it on my family’s movie projector. Before VCRs, my dad had a Super-8 movie projector and a modest selection of commercial (as well as home) movies, one of which was a few scenes from _Star Wars_. (And yes, in those days “_Star Wars_” referred to one specific movie.) ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/704 "2021-12-01T22:11:41Z")
When I was a kid, the public library used to have a 8mm Magi-Cartridge projector with an allotment of about 100 cartridges. You could plug a cartridge into the projector and watch the movie on a screen at the desk. The films were silent so it didn’t bother other patrons. Most were nature or travel documentaries with intertitles, and a few were extremely condensed (down to 3-4 minutes) feature films. One was a documentary on the Kennedy assassination, but it had footage I don’t remember seeing anywhere else. Part was what I now recognize as the Zapruder film, but there was a title card saying the shots came from the 6th floor of the Texas Book Depository followed by a shot of a rifle barrel being pulled back inside the window. I have no idea if that was a re-creation or was from some other person’s home movie footage. Haven’t thought about that in a long time. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/705 "2021-12-02T00:20:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The 1965 film **The War Game** , requested by the BBC but considered too scary and subversive. Yeah, I saw it when I was still in high school, so, in or after 1969. I might have seen it at UCLA. And, yeah, it was absolutely terrifying. Soul-freezingly terrifying. As a little kid, I was certain I was going to die in an atomic bomb explosion. It was the background noise of my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/706 "2021-12-02T06:56:07Z")
KTLA 5 and tom Hatten… he was the only artist that was legally cleared to draw popeye characters by king features outside of the strip and tv shows… ---
**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:** [December 6, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/707 "2021-12-06T21:15:24Z")
Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/708 "2021-12-07T00:38:39Z")
My mom likes to remind me that I once called up, probably aged 8 or 9, and pledged $100. Apparently, they mailed you a postcard with instructions on how to pay that arrived a few days later. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/709 "2021-12-07T01:01:04Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > When I was a kid, phones weren’t used to call people. > > They were used to call the places you expected the person to be. > > “Hi, Mom! Is Dad there?” > “No, he went to the office.” > “Hi, is Mr. JohnT there?” > “No, honey, your father went to see his brother.” > “Hi, Uncle Al! Is my dad there?” > “Sure… let me get him for you… John! Come grab the phone! It’s your kid!” When I was a kid, in the 2000s, this is also how I and everyone I knew used phones. Unless the person I was calling happened to be the one that picked up. I remember my Dad had a _pager_. Doubt many kids today would recognize such a device or guess at its purpose. ~Max ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/710 "2021-12-07T01:02:19Z")
We talked about various aspects of telephones - but not this one. When i was a kid, if the phone rang, you answered it - regardless of almost any other circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/711 "2021-12-07T01:05:09Z")
I remember it was an _honor_ to answer the telephone for the house, because calls were important. There was also proper form, not just “hello” but “S. residence, Max speaking”. ~Max ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/712 "2021-12-07T01:09:33Z")
Yep. If you were a big kid, you might be allowed to answer the phone > **[Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/ring-ring-ring-ring/561545/)** > > Telephone culture is disappearing.  ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/713 "2021-12-07T01:13:52Z")
Not one of my students got my joke today. It’s not from my childhood, but still. I feel really old. I put a pine & holly ring on the inside of my classroom door. Framed in the middle is a picture of Ricardo Montalban and his pecs - a still from _ST2_. Other than a few enquiring as to who the old lady was, nothing. Even my geek class didn’t have a clue. It’s the Wreath of Khan. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/714 "2021-12-07T01:16:52Z")
He will forever be the old guy from _Spy Kids_ to me, although I did finally watch _ST2_ this year. ~Max ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/715 "2021-12-07T01:21:54Z")
Someone at work had a cartoon on his door - about a tape cassette surgeon asking the nurse for a pencil. I doubt many people understood it, since when I mentioned a Walkman to a colleague, she said “Oh those old-fashioned things you wrote on your belt that played a CD?” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/716 "2021-12-07T01:26:56Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I remember it was an _honor_ to answer the telephone for the house, For some people, maybe. [![](https://i.redd.it/o5ejpb5iyuu01.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/o5ejpb5iyuu01.jpg) ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/717 "2021-12-07T13:29:25Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I remember my Dad had a _pager_ . Yeah, there were a few years way back when I used a pager. What a pain in the ass!!! Get a page…….find a pay phone……,find a _working_ pay phone…….get change from a store……make the call. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/718 "2021-12-07T16:03:53Z")
I remember when telephones actually rang a bell for an incoming call. Sure, now you can use a digital sound of a bell for your ring tone, but a synthetic bell just isn’t the same ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/719 "2021-12-07T16:12:01Z")
Before Pam (non-stick spray) came out, my mom’s can of Crisco always had a piece of waxed paper in it. We’d use that to grease pans for baking…and then put it back in the can! 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/720 "2021-12-07T16:27:14Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Oh and the chemistry sets with real chemicals > [@Tibby](#): > > Loved my Gilbert Chemistry Set as a kid. I had a Skilcraft set but couldn’t do anything really interesting with it. The alcohol lamp was confiscated by my parents as soon as I opened the box. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/721 "2021-12-07T16:32:18Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > When i was a kid, if the phone rang, you answered it - regardless of almost any other circumstance. Oh yeah. And it rang and rang and rang if you didn’t. No voice mail or answering machines. You’d never know who was calling if you didn’t pick up. Also, if you were on the phone, you’d never know you missed a call. The caller would get a “busy signal,” until one day they invented “call waiting.” ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/722 "2021-12-07T16:39:54Z")
I remember the “urban legand” (?) that the telephone company encouraged everyone to answer their phones quickly. Because their lines were tied up from the moment the call was connected, but they only charged from the time that the person picked up the phone. Probably encouraged by describing telephone manners - especially business telephone manners. [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=35) [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=37)