# 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:** 55
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1083 "2022-06-24T10:21:51Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Not if you want certain denominations like $500 with $400 in hundreds, $60 in twenties and $40 in tens. Sure. Then you go inside. Makes sense, given what you want. The last time I negotiated a cashier’s cheque, it was for $46,000. Damn straight I’m going inside for that one; I’m sure as hell not going to try to negotiate that in a drive-thru. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1084 "2022-06-24T11:04:53Z")
Drive-through lanes at banks aren’t totally obsolete, but they’re used [less than they used to be](https://www.nj.com/business/2015/03/the_death_of_the_bank_drive-thru_pneumatic_tubes_dwindling_in_digital_nj.html). The branches with four or five lanes were built for a different time (and it’s not like they’re building a whole lot of _new_ branches in 2022). ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1085 "2022-06-24T12:31:31Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > For real? What was the point if you knew it was margarine already? Did it look like yellow mashed potatos when you were done? Back in the early 50’s, many states had a strong dairy lobby. Margarine was sold white so folks “would not be confused”. The product my folks bought came in a bag of some sort and there was a dark pellet inside. You broke the pellet releasing to coloring agent. I had to squeeze the contents back and forth until the color was uniform yellow. The results were then put in a container and put in the “ice box”. " Dairy firms, especially in [Wisconsin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin), became alarmed at the potential threat to their business and by 1902, succeeded in getting legislation passed to prohibit the coloring of the stark white product. In response, the margarine companies distributed the margarine together with a packet of yellow [food coloring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_coloring).[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine#cite_note-rupp-2) The product was placed in a bowl and the coloring mixed in manually. This took some time and effort especially if the mixing needed to be done by hand, which was typically the case at the time since [domestic electric mixers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixer_(appliance)) were rarely used before the 1920s. It was therefore not unusual for the final product to be served as a light and dark yellow, or even white, striped product. During [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II), there was a shortage of butter in the United States, and “oleomargarine” became popular.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine#cite_note-rupp-2) In 1951, the W.E. Dennison Company received [U.S. Patent 2,553,513](https://patents.google.com/patent/US2553513) for a method to place a capsule of yellow dye inside a plastic package of margarine. After purchase, the capsule was broken by pressing on the outside of the package, and then the package was kneaded to distribute the dye. Around 1955, the artificial coloring laws were repealed, and margarine could once again be sold colored like butter." from the [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1086 "2022-06-24T13:04:30Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > The booster polio vaccine, right? I recall taking more than one. I recall getting the polio vaccine in a sugar cube more than once but I was talking about a little later in life when it was one of the ways LSD was distributed. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1087 "2022-06-24T13:06:55Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The last time I negotiated a cashier’s cheque, it was for $46,000. Damn straight I’m going inside for that one; I’m sure as hell not going to try to negotiate that in a drive-thru. “Stop honking at me! I’ll move as soon as I finish counting 2300 twenty dollar bills. Damnit, now I have to start over!” ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1088 "2022-06-24T16:56:56Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Back in the early 50’s, many states had a strong dairy lobby. Margarine was sold white so folks “would not be confused”. The product my folks bought came in a bag of some sort and there was a dark pellet inside. You broke the pellet releasing to coloring agent. I had to squeeze the contents back and forth until the color was uniform yellow. The results were then put in a container and put in the “ice box”. Interesting, I’ve never seen that before. I don’t think I saw margarine or butter in anything other than blocks until things like Country Crock started coming out in tubs. > [@TriPolar](#): > > I recall getting the polio vaccine in a sugar cube more than once but I was talking about a little later in life when it was one of the ways LSD was distributed. Sorry, I was trying to be funny too. I saw a lot of sugar cube LSD when I was in high school and college. Some people jokingly referred to them a polio boosters. Maybe just a local thing. > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Drive-through lanes at banks aren’t totally obsolete, but they’re used [less than they used to be](https://www.nj.com/business/2015/03/the_death_of_the_bank_drive-thru_pneumatic_tubes_dwindling_in_digital_nj.html). When I see newer ones now, there is usually one lane right at the bank to do business deposits or pick up rolls of change and stacks of ones for business. The second lane is a vacuum tube device. The outside lane is a drive thru ATM. Ninety-nine percent of the time the ATM is the only one in use. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1089 "2022-06-24T17:06:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > the other lane is away from the window. So they use the pneumatic tube to do transactions with the car in the far lane. Our bank moved to a much smaller space, and now the Drive-Through is a floor below the rest of the bank. So _it’s tubes all the way down…_ Handy when you need $2 bills for poker games. (It’s all about the Jeffersons, baby…) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1090 "2022-06-24T19:24:51Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Sorry, I was trying to be funny too. I saw a lot of sugar cube LSD when I was in high school and college. Some people jokingly referred to them a polio boosters. Maybe just a local thing. Never heard that but interesting to know. Someone would always say “Remember the polio vaccines…”, so the connection was clear. I can also show you my smallpox vaccine scar. Just a tiny scar that migrated from my upper arm onto my shoulder, some people got much worse. If it was on the wrong part of your skin the scar could get stretched out. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1091 "2022-06-27T15:09:14Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > > > Point of sale counters with no cash registers. The clerk would put the bill of sale in a container and then in a pneumatic tube, > > You know where I’ve seen these still in use recently? In certain banks. There’s a bank (maybe several) near here with two drive-through lanes. So one lane is alongside the teller’s window, but the other lane is away from the window. So they use the pneumatic tube to do transactions with the car in the far lane. > > ETA: Pic found with google image search: Not the bank near me, but apparently these are common. > > [https://townsquare.media/site/29/files/2022/06/attachment-thumbnail\_IMG\_5024.jpg](https://townsquare.media/site/29/files/2022/06/attachment-thumbnail_IMG_5024.jpg) VERY common around here. I think every drive-thru bank has this set up. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1092 "2022-06-27T18:18:53Z")
“plus or minus ten thou.” ---
**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:** [June 27, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1093 "2022-06-27T22:44:02Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Around 1955, the artificial coloring laws were repealed, and margarine could once again be sold colored like butter." from the [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine) Wow, so I was actually alive when margarine was still white? Well, alive, but _very_ young. I remember my mom talking about mixing in the dye, but I had it in my mind as way back in the 30s or something. And we always had margarine when I was a kid. Hated it. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1094 "2022-07-03T03:53:03Z")
Taking empty glass soda bottles to the corner candy store and getting the deposit back in CANDY! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1095 "2022-07-03T18:11:45Z")
Chilblains and hot-water bottles (not unconnected) Rag-and-bone men (“totters”) Having to book international phone calls (especially if you wanted to make a Christmas Day call, to someone who’d emigrated); and having to go through the operator for long-distance calls Writing cheques, or paying bills in person, in cash. Calling the radio “the wireless”. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1096 "2022-07-03T21:48:57Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Writing cheques, or paying bills in person, in cash. I’m sure all kids understand paying in cash. Some kids are too young to have debit cards or a smartphone app, so cash may be their only option. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2022, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1097 "2022-07-03T22:03:02Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > > [@PatrickLondon](#): > > > > Writing cheques, or paying bills in person, in cash. > > I’m sure all kids understand paying in cash. I’ve used cash plenty, but I don’t think I’ve ever paid _bills_ in cash. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1098 "2022-07-03T22:47:28Z")
Yeah. But my parents did (their budget) was a notebook of envelopes, each holding the amount of money they expected to need for groceries, utilities, etc (I suspect they paid some bills by check). ---
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1099 "2022-07-03T23:03:07Z")
> [@Pabitel](#): > > Turning the dial on the antenna rotor control to move the antenna on the roof into the right direction for the TV channel you are trying to watch. Hey! I still have one of those. It goes along with the modern stuff, like the Roku. ---
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1100 "2022-07-03T23:42:57Z")
I was a local highly skilled observer in GOC. That’s the Ground Observer Corps. We just logged single engine airplanes flying in our observing section, but had to immediately call the government to report multi-engine airplanes. The report started with “Aircraft Flash Clymer . . .” followed by the airplane. I could identify aircraft by the sound of the engine. (Remember I said I was a hot shot?) Then came the day they installed a big sensitive microphone on the roof. We could hear them from miles away, then went out to spot them and their direction. We could even overhear conversations from a long ways off. We could not talk about those. A couple Air Force officers visited our station one night. Long story. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1101 "2022-07-04T04:57:09Z")
Bit more from the depths of memory: Coal fires, and being sent down to the cellar to refill the coal scuttle (even if that meant missing a bit of my favourite wireless(radio)/TV programme (no pause/rewind/on-demand services) A meat-safe by the stairs down to the cellar (the coolest\* spot in the house before we got a fridge) \*(when “cool” meant not-quite-cold and nothing else) ---
**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:** [July 4, 2022, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1102 "2022-07-04T06:27:00Z")
Washing machines with a wringer on top. One of my aunts had one. Also, a “mangle” for ironing large items like sheets. [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=54) [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=56)