No way! I’ve never heard of that. Can you add anything to it? Where were the jukeboxes? Where was your mom? Was it a bunch of women in a room plugging in record players? Could she only do one call at a time?
The worst music format of all time. Cassettes seemed like a miracle after 8-tracks.
This one I never even heard of. What was the advantage over just trying the shoe on? Or was it just a gimmick?
That is a funny take on that. Never thought of it that way.
Aaaand now I see this thread has 450 posts in it so I’ll just stop here.
I moved to Kansas in the mid-'90s, and was horrified to discover that they used the SSN as a driver’s license number. So if you wrote a check at the store and someone wanted to see ID, they’d write down your SSN on the check. So they had your:
Lenny… as in “Crazy TV Lenny”, gave away a free 10-speed with any TV purchase. My wife came to Madison with Not Much, and got her first bike here free by buying a cheap tiny B&W “kitchen” TV. Lenny’s now selling e-bikes, and I kid that she’ll get her last bike from Crazy TV Lenny as well. Probably true.
Lots of the on-air “talent” for Lenny’s Inferno were local legends. Dick Flanigan was the host (Mr. Mephisto). “Stormin’ Norman” Lorenz was the camera guy. And so many of the weirdoes were pillars of the community. One of the wacky “constant guest stars”, John Sveum, was a corporate guy, and worked for one of our ad agency’s clients.
Oh yeah. You could look down through the viewer and see how your feet fit within the shoes. As if you couldn’t feel the same thing. I think they had a picture of Buster Brown and his dog on the device.
Technically a fluoroscope rather than an x-ray (or at least what most people think of when they hear the term). Typically they were poorly shielded, and while there was little danger to the child or parent the salesbeings were frequently exposed to radiation levels that would be unthinkable today.
Even as a kid, I thought “Why do you want anyone and everyone calling you?” and found out you could get an Unlisted Number. Man, you were somebody if you had one of those. But then I learned they cost an arm and a leg. For the telephone company to NOT print your name? Wouldn’t that be cheaper for them?
Then I thought “Why couldn’t you just give them a fake name?” Then you’ve got a phone, but none of your friends from first grade (who want to rope you into selling GRIT newspapers) can just call you up!
“scam/junk calls” didn’t exist, because with a computer to make the phone calls automatically, an actual paid employee would have had to manually dial each number and speak to a person. Much more labor intensive (=expensive) than today, when a computer can make all those calls at once, and leave messages for those who don’t answer the call.
“targeting a specific person” was known as “cold calling”. This was done, but in a more limited manner than today. Usually by a salesman who had a reason to hope you might be interesting in what he’s selling.
When I was a kid, we had toys that could maim, or kill you (Lawn Darts, Vac-U-Form™, chemistry sets, Clackers, Hungry Hippos, Pet Rocks, ad infinitum). And, we liked it that way, dadgummit!
In the early forties it was modern science. You put on a pair of shoes then stood on a platform with a viewing port. You could see your feet (with bones) and the outline of the shoes. The idea was for a perfect fit. It worked great but was a radiation hazard for store employees.
Also, in the late 40s, there were still a few hand pumps at gas stations in the Sacramento Valley. There was a glass jar above your head. You worked a hand crank that pumped gas into the jar. When you had as much as you needed you paid the attendant and then drained the jar into your tank. It cost me seven cents to fill my motor scooter tank.
Los Angeles, late-1930s to 1942 or so, scattered around town in cafes, bars and such, in an office somewhere, several women in a room, each with a number of clients under her charge, no, but if she ran out of record players, the client had to suck it up and wait for a bit.
The chief advantage was the central location had a much larger music selection than your more typical jukebox.
Thanks for the link and the fascinating info. I’m a 53 years old learned electrical engineer in telecommunication and have always been interested in the subject also in my private life, and still I sometimes learn about historical means of communication I’ve never heard of before, and often here at the Dope.
Kind of like salt-free canned whatever being more expensive than the regular version. I’d picture paying some workman to stand there with his hand over the salt spigot when the kettle filled.
Yup. Many people are now effectively publishing their diaries online and encouraging others to read them.
Because you had to agree to pay the phone bill; and it would be mailed to your address; plus which, they needed to install the phone (it was their phone) at your house/apartment. So they were certainly going to have your address. If you paid the bill by check, they’d also have your name, which would be on the check. (You probably did have the option of paying by cash at some store locations which had signed up to do this, but most people paid by check unless they didn’t have bank accounts.)
When I first went away to college, I wrote my name and Social Security number on all of my stuff, so as to be sure that I could identify what was mine.