I'm so old I've...

[catherine]

I'm so old that I remember that when you needed a copy of something, you had to take it to a photoshop, where they would photograph it, and you would get back what was called a "photostat" of your birth certificate or whatever important paper you needed a copy of, and the background would be black and the lettering white, a reverse of whatever the original was, and on heavy photo paper. Getting a copy of an important paper was a big deal and cost several dollars as I remember, which would be like paying twenty bucks to get a copy of something now.

If you were creating a document that you wanted a copy of, you could use carbon paper to make several copies (had to remember to hit those manual typewriter keys HARD if you were making more than one or two copies), OR you could type what was called a "stencil" that you then stretched over a drum of a ditto or mimeograph machine and used a handle to revolve the drum of the machine to end up with a purple (if it was a ditto machine), or a black ink (if a mimeograph) copy of your typed stencil.

Oh, and I'm also old enough to have lived in Washington D.C. when there was literally NO air conditioning anywhere, except in a few "refrigerated" movie theaters, which was what the signs said out front "REFRIGERATED".........

Have I mentioned that I love my computer, my internet connection, my cell phone, my scanner/copier/printer, etc.? I'm definitely one who thinks that the "good old days" were only the "good old days" so long as we engage only in selective memory.........

I agree with you 100%, LC!! And I have the same recall of that old office equipment. I went to Katharine Gibbs for a six-week "Entree" program for women who graduated from college but somehow still needed skills to get a job. If we made more than 3 mistakes, we had to rip the letter out of the typewriter and start over. We had VERY strict standards on how many lines to start the inside address on, and we had to estimate how long the letter was, so that it would be perfectly centered on the page.

When I got a job at NBC at 30 Rock in 1974, the only "fax" machine was in the News Dept. and it was called a "Dex" machine. Imagine a company like NBC only having one fax machine!!!

And then I remember being at Union Carbide when the Wang Word Processor came out and I had to teach the executive secretary how to use it. She was about the age I am now back then (59), and she was HOPELESS!! Couldn't even get the concept of putting the cursor where you want to add a word. She kept saying "If I were typing this, I would have had it done a half hour ago!!" The way I felt teaching her is probably how my kids feel teaching me other stuff, although I really think I'm pretty good for an older working girl.

Oh, and I also remember staying after school for hours when I was responsible for making the playbill for our drama club play--those mimeograph machines were so cumbersome and MESSY. And when you made a mistake on that special paper you had to use a razor blade to scrape off the mistake and then retype.

[peggy]

I remember Maypo, and weiner whistles, and mom enjoying a cold beer as she drove home from the grocery store. Of course she smoked while shopping. I remember walking home from school and if someone, anyone offered us a ride we would hop right in. Didn't matter if we knew them.

[Tenngal]

portable record players, remember? For all the little 45 rpms we bought.

[Mrs-M]

Oh, you guys have come up with such good ones!!! Looks like I bombed on the rotary phone one huh? My way of thinking was, I know rotary telephones haven't been absent from our lives for decades and decades or anything, but, I'd be willing to bet my bottom dollar on the premise that few of today's younger generation have dialed or used one before. So even if that doesn't make me old, it still makes me old enough!

Anyhow, I'm so old I've done laundry in a wringer washing machine! How's that one?

Libby. I sure do! Mom would drag us to the beauty salon every so often and there all the women would be, all lined up in a row, sitting under those big plastic balloon bonnets, smoking cigarettes and talking.

Will touch on more entries as I have time. Talk about a fun thread!

[Zigzagman]

I'm so old that my DW and I saved and lived on Vienna sausages and saltines for what seemed like forever for a 20% down payment on our first house. We never thought a thing about and actually had fun doing it.

We are so old that we both burnt holes in our t-shirts from seeds while smoking grass and listening to Neil Young and sitting in a circle with our friends so we could pass a joint.

We are so old that we both can remember taking a quart coke bottle (glass) back for a 25 cent refund. We are so old that I remember pulling cokes (little cokes) and looking on the bottom of the bottle to see the city of origin.

We are so old that we remember when toilet paper came in single roles.

We are so old that we remember when bumper were made out of "Steel".

Peace

[sweetana3]

I started my IRS career in Alaska pre computers. We had to use microfilm records and paper and pencil to figure out accounts. For years we were able to use a calculator to do all audit reports.

Not so now. All computerized since it is so overwhelmingly complex.

[catherine]

Oh, you guys have come up with such good ones!!! Looks like I bombed on the rotary phone one huh? My way of thinking was, I know rotary telephones haven't been absent from our lives for decades and decades or anything, but, I'd be willing to bet my bottom dollar on the premise that few of today's younger generation have dialed or used one before. So even if that doesn't make me old, it still makes me old enough!

One day (probably in the late 80s, early 90s) when we STILL had a rotary phone (it was cheaper than touch-tone), one of my kids' friends came in the house and asked if he could call his mother. I said, "Sure, Chris, the phone's in the kitchen." He was in there for a while, but I didn't hear anything. So when he was on his way out the door, I asked, "Did you get your mom?" and he said, "No, I couldn't figure out how to work your phone."

[Kathy WI]

I remember when cars had those triangular vent windows that you could open at just the right angle to get the air to blow in your face. I'm so old that when I was a kid, I rode in the front seat, or climbed over to the back seat, or lay down on the seat if I felt like it. And the glove compartment door when opened made a little tray with an indentation for a cup, and my job was to pour coffee for my mom from the thermos.

I remember when finding out that somebody was divorced, or another kid's parents were divorced, was kind of shocking and scandalous.

[catherine]

I remember when finding out that somebody was divorced, or another kid's parents were divorced, was kind of shocking and scandalous.

That was me. My father was alcoholic, I was in Catholic school (7th grade), and God knows divorce doesn't go over well with the Catholics--esp in 1964. I was mortified because my mother's remarriage announcement was in the paper and my schoolmate called me out on it. Her reaction was probably the same as yours was, Kathy. I was the only person I knew that had divorced parents (never mind remarried excommunicated parents), until I met one other guy in high school. Of course, I fell madly in love with him (unrequited--turns out he's now gay).

So, some memories are fun, others are quite painful.

[Miss Cellane]

I remember my mom buying one of the first pairs of pantyhose. And some of the first disposable diapers. Both in the same year, if I recall correctly.

Remember the old car seats that had a little steering wheel to entertain the kid and which just hooked over the back of the seat? Often the front seat? And car beds--my parents had a red plaid vinyl car bed for the babies to sleep in. It folded down flat. It was used as a portable crib when we went to visit the grandparents.

I remember the fight to allow girls to wear pants to high school.

We had a car without seat belts. And when we did finally get a car with seat belts, they didn't retract, but stayed out and got all tangled up. When we drove the 8 hours to visit family, my parents would put all the back seats down flat in the station wagon and make a big bed there with blankets and coats. They'd leave at night, and we'd sleep in the way back for most of the trip.

This post had good timing--just a few days ago, I astounded my 13 year old nephew by admitting that I had never, ever sent an text (he sends over 1,000 a month), and by telling him that cell phones did not exist when I was a kid, nor did home computers, the internet, email, video games or CDs, let alone iPods. I told him how his dad used to record songs off the radio on a cassette tape player, but I don't think he believed me.

No microwaves growing up. Not even a toaster oven.