# 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:** 38
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/743 "2021-12-08T20:09:52Z")
telephone answering machines… I remember that if I was away from home, I could call home, wait for the machine to pick up, and then enter a code to hear my messages. But my memory is getting fuzzy. I have a competing memory, with a different story, accoding to which I’d enter the code on the second ring, _before_ the machine answered. Do either of the above sound familiar to anyone? ---
**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 8, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/744 "2021-12-08T20:40:07Z")
I remember on mine I had to hit the \* key while the outgoing message was playing, then it would stop the message and ask for my code. If correct, then it would play back the messages. That was a digital one. I can’t remember what the even older tape one did, but there was a way to get messages remotely. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/745 "2021-12-08T21:51:44Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > And then there was a company which would cover a page with a couple of dozen ads for various novelties like joy buzzers, x-ray spex, etx. The Johnson Smith catalog > **[Remember Johnson Smith Catalog? Did You Read The Johnson-Smith Catalog As A...](https://doyouremember.com/44219/remember-johnson-smith-catalog-read-johnson-smith-catalog-kid)** > > For juvenile pranksters, reading through a Johnson Smith Company catalog was like hearing a voice from heaven. Yes, children, there really is gum that ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/746 "2021-12-08T22:08:12Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Oz night was also always fudge night… Mom always made a batch of REAL fudge. Did she make it from marshmallow fluff and chocolate chips? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/747 "2021-12-08T22:17:03Z")
“Thanks for _telling_ me that. I _think_ it’s a good idea. You should _tell_ more people and find out what they _think_ about it.” Back when people told and thought, not shared and felt! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/748 "2021-12-08T23:57:18Z")
I always had to wait for the machine to answer to put in my code. On at least one machine, I could hit a button to interrupt the outgoing message. ---
**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 9, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/749 "2021-12-09T01:06:22Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The Johnson Smith catalog [Two of the catalogs they launched in the Seventies still exist.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Smith_Company) [https://www.collectionsetc.com/thingsyouneverknew](https://www.collectionsetc.com/thingsyouneverknew) ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/750 "2021-12-09T03:54:02Z")
“It’s ten o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” ---
**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:** [December 10, 2021, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/751 "2021-12-10T05:15:01Z")
If you don’t, they could end up on a milk carton. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/752 "2021-12-15T13:17:08Z")
I don’t think anyone under the age of 30 would know what a disc preener was. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/753 "2021-12-15T13:59:49Z")
I’m over 65 and never heard the term before. So I googled it. If any of my records was dusty, we’d blow on it or use a tissue. I can see how a true audiophile would avoid scratching their records in such a manner, but no one I knew was on that level. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/754 "2021-12-15T14:12:50Z")
Really? Every dorm room when I was in college had one. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/755 "2021-12-15T14:13:47Z")
We had a disc preener when I was a kid, but I never realized they had a name. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/756 "2021-12-15T14:14:27Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Really? Every dorm room when I was in college had one. Yup. Had a special fluid to put on them too. I had many over the years ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/757 "2021-12-15T14:18:49Z")
You could buy them at headshops, next to the Ozium. Another archaic term, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/758 "2021-12-15T14:35:42Z")
Since I didn’t know what it was, I googled it. And all of the results referred to a " Parostatik Disc Preener". I’m certain I had such a device- but as “disc preener” was completely unfamiliar to me and a more general search for “antistatic record cleaner” brought up different results, I suspect “disc preener” was specific to one brand. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/759 "2021-12-15T18:05:35Z")
I still have a Discwasher record cleaner, that came with a little bottle of Discwasher fluid. Haven’t used it in decades. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/760 "2021-12-15T20:44:43Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I still have a Discwasher record cleaner, Discwasher, that’s what I had too. Couldn’t remember the name. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/761 "2021-12-15T21:58:43Z")
What about an 8-track head cleaner? How was that supposed to work? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/762 "2021-12-15T22:52:48Z")
> [@darazusa](#): > > a slide rule, may they all burn in hell. Slide rules are for cavemen. People in the atomic age use a Curta. > **[Curta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta)** > > The Curta is a hand-held mechanical calculator designed by Curt Herzstark. It is known for its extremely compact design: a small cylinder that fits in the palm of the hand. It was affectionately known as the "pepper grinder" or "peppermill" due to its shape and means of operation; its superficial resemblance to a certain type of hand grenade also earned it the nickname "math grenade". > Curtas were considered the best portable calculators available until they were displaced by electronic calculato... [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=37) [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=39)