# 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:** 51
**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:** [March 29, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1003 "2022-03-29T17:47:31Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > When looking for a job, you’d get the Sunday paper and look through the classifieds. Your job was sending out resumes, calling for interviews, etc. Monday through Wednesday And waiting by the phone for a call back. I know know about other people, but we didn’t have an answering machine in the old days. And staying off your phone so you could get a call, no call waiting. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1004 "2022-03-29T19:26:03Z")
Dorm rooms festooned with chains made from pop tops that came off of aluminum beer cans in those days. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1005 "2022-03-29T20:10:10Z")
Doormats made with beer bottle caps (the ones you need a church key to take off) - great for scraping off mud. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1006 "2022-03-30T00:08:52Z")
Pop tops from soda and beer cans littering parking lots. They where everywhere. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1007 "2022-03-30T01:49:43Z")
But…do you remember the ill-fated Coors experiment, with two punchholes on top of the can? [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/gHeksD7.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/IvI5dDG) ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1008 "2022-03-30T02:06:10Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > But…do you remember the ill-fated Coors experiment, with two punchholes on top of the can? Wow! That’s just an invitation for binge drinking. I remember a custom from my youth, when I was 18 or 19 (16 is the legal drinking age for beer and wine in Germany), when we punched holes close to the bottom of a beer can with some tool (a screwdriver, a pen knife or even an ordinary key all worked), put the hole to our mouth and pulled the pop top. Instant gratification, and usually a long burp afterwards. We called it “Dosenschießen”, “can shooting”. What is the English/American expression for this technique? ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1009 "2022-03-30T02:22:32Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > What is the English/American expression for this technique? “Shotgunning”. > **[Shotgunning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgunning)** > > Shotgunning is a means of consuming a beverage, especially beer, very quickly by punching a hole in the side of the can, near the bottom, placing the mouth over the hole, and pulling the tab to open the top. The beverage quickly drains, and is quickly consumed. > Shotgunning is normally done as a competition. The participants wait until all the others are ready until the countdown begins. Once the countdown is finished, the participants get under way and the first one to finish consuming the bev... ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1010 "2022-03-30T02:27:00Z")
Yeah, that’s an appropriate term 😆. Thanks! ETA: and of course there’s a wiki about it. There’s a wiki about everything! ETA2: that led me to the German wiki, which files under “Dosenstechen”, but also mentions “Dosenschießen”. I now remember that both terms were used back then when I dabbled with that questionable custom. > **[Dosenstechen](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosenstechen)** > > Dosenstechen (auch Dosenschießen, Kosakenpumpe, Turbobier, Stechhalbe oder Holzfäller, amerikanisch auch shotgun) ist eine Methode, mit der eine Getränkedose besonders schnell ausgetrunken werden kann. Dazu wird die Dose mit einer zusätzlichen Öffnung versehen („angestochen“), so dass beim Trinken aus einer der beiden Öffnungen die Luft durch die andere Öffnung oberhalb des Flüssigkeitsspiegels in die Dose nachströmen kann. Auf diese Weise wird verhindert, dass sich oberhalb des Flüssigkeits Da... ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1011 "2022-03-30T03:25:19Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > That’s just an invitation for binge drinking. AFAIK, those Coors cans weren’t really made for shotgunning. You pressed in the little hole first, which relieved the pressure, and then pressed in the bigger hole. Actually worked just fine, as I recall. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1012 "2022-03-30T03:28:11Z")
But you could have gulped down the whole can in one go, with the under pressure relieved by the second hole, like when shotgunning, couldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1013 "2022-03-30T03:29:20Z")
Now that weed is legal in more than a couple of states, this post hopefully won’t violate board guidelines. A crumpled pop/beer can with a couple of holes poked in the dent. An empty toilet paper tube with a hole cut in the side, and a piece of foil pushed into it and punctured with pinholes Taking faucets apart for the screens Two spoons made red hot on a gas range, smoking product put into one and the other spoon pressed into it while you inhaled A cool shop teacher who warned you jerks not to make pipes in class because copper fumes are poisonous ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1014 "2022-03-30T03:35:52Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > But…do you remember the ill-fated Coors experiment, with two punchholes on top of the can? Not just beer cans. I remember Orange Crush and Hires Root Beer had the two punchholes for a while. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1015 "2022-03-30T03:36:47Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > An empty toilet paper tube with a dole cut in the side, and a piece of foil pushed into it and punctured with pinholes A friend of mine always fishes out the paper rolls from my trash when he’s hanging out with me and I like to have a few joints with him. He’s just not into wasting good weed by spoiling it with tobacco. The smoking device built that way is called a Kawumm here, a rather onomatopoetic expression. I have to ask once again in this thread: what’s it called in English? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1016 "2022-03-30T03:45:15Z")
We just called them toilet paper bongs. They smelled like scented toilet paper. Here’s something from way back, though I’m a living witness: Newspaper scandal section: men and women arrested for adultery. Men arrested for lewd behavior in public restrooms, or “loitering with intent” for cruising. Everyone’s name and address listed, and noted if “negro.” ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1017 "2022-03-30T03:54:27Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > We just called them toilet paper bongs. They smelled like scented toilet paper. To the defense of my friend, he always builds them with kitchen roll tubes, never toilet rolls. And interestingly, what I know for bongs always have to do with water. I’m really no expert though, because I’ve never been into smoking pure or with other devices than rolling paper and tobacco. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1018 "2022-03-30T05:17:32Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > A crumpled pop/beer can with a couple of holes poked in the dent. > > An empty toilet paper tube with a hole cut in the side, and a piece of foil pushed into it and punctured with pinholes Ball point pens, ink tube removed from the center, pushed into an apple; dig out a scoop from the top of the apple down to the pen, put a screen in there. Bongs for us also always involved water. And we never mixed with tobacco; though much of the time there was no knowing what we were actually smoking. We’d have noticed tobacco, though, because we knew what that smelled like. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1019 "2022-03-30T07:51:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > What I was going to offer is a record changer. Before LP records came out, a record could play only about 3-4 minutes. If you had a changer, you could pile a half dozen records on it and it would drop one automatically and the arm would come out and played the record. When it ended, the arm would move away and the next record in the stack would drop and so on. When all had played, you would turn the stack over and play the flip sides. Show music like Oklahoma would come in a dozen record album to be played that way. Even entire symphonies. And the individual platters were stored in their sleeves that were assembled into an album, just like a photograph album. Which is why, when LPs came out, they were called “albums” (and why pissant little pedants who insisted that it was improper to call CDs “albums” were wrong, Wrong, WRONG). ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1020 "2022-03-30T14:17:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@TRC4941](#): > > > > The announcements, at the time of my birth, only showed the father’s name. Mr. John Doe, baby girl, 1/1/61. Apparently, the mothers had nothing to do with births back then 🙄 > > The mother would have been Mrs. John Doe, obviously! You’re right. If you read any old newspapers, the women were always identified by their husbands name. “Mrs. John Doe and Mrs. William Jones attended the charity gala.” ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1021 "2022-03-30T15:07:41Z")
The old newspapers? My parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration just a few years ago had the table cards written that way. My mother, who was nominally not involved in organizing the event, insisted upon it. People of her generation and mine were generally confused by it and the next generation were offended. I took the heat for it as the organizer. Of course my mother couldn’t be the organizer because you can’t throw a party for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1022 "2022-03-30T15:32:07Z")
I just want to make sure I’m understanding you correctly - you’re not talking about the card for a married couple saying “Mr. & Mrs. William Jones”, correct? You’re talking about the card for a woman attending alone saying " Mrs. William Jones", right? How old _is_ your mother - because my 81 year old mother and her friends probably would have been offended. [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=50) [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=52)