When I was your age...

[NCC]

Mousse was a dessert, not something you put in your hair. Boys just got a hair cut - they never put crap in their hair and stood in front of the mirror primping.

I remember this horrible stuff we used in our hair when I was young. It came as a semi-solid in a dispenser that looked like a deodorant stick. Kinda a waxy thing that let you do a wave over your forehead.

Nowadays, I avoid mirrors ... makes me feel younger, ha!

my wife has a college degree in secondary education.....teaching typing and shorthand....talk about obsolescence....

Shorthand, yeah ... but typing obsolete??? What're we doing now?

 

[CartHeadMod]

Shorthand, yeah ... but typing obsolete??? What're we doing now?

really?, what stops did you set for your carriage return.....

 

[geeker]

I remember the first time I saw bubble wrap. If you bought a box of Lifesaver lollipops, the inside of the box was lined in it. We wanted the bubble wrap more than we wanted the lollipops.

When MTV first became available, the cable company rigged up our TV with stereo speakers.

We walked wherever we went. To ask Mom or Dad for a ride to a locarion less than 3 miles away was ludicrous. We lived in a harsh climate, with frigid winters and blistering summers.

Speaking of summer, girls used baby oil to get a tan...more like a burn. Fake tans came in a bottle of QT that turned you Jersey Shore orange.

People would have been mortified to star in a show like Jersey Shore or to even admit they watched it.

If something came on HBO that my parents were watching but contained foul language I would be sent out of the room or they would turn the movie off.

The only time I got to drink pop was if we went out to eat (a rare occurrence) or if I had a stomach ache I would get warm 7up or ginger ale.

We got a Merlin for Christmas...the first handheld electronic game that I remember. That, and the football game wth little red LED blips.

 

[topaz_stone71]

Speaking of summer, girls used baby oil to get a tan...more like a burn. Fake tans came in a bottle of QT that turned you Jersey Shore orange.

If something came on HBO that my parents were watching but contained foul language I would be sent out of the room or they would turn the movie off.

We got a Merlin for Christmas...the first handheld electronic game that I remember. That, and the football game wth little red LED blips.

We used to put iodine in the baby oil. The original orange "spray on" tan. Plus we all used Sun In for highlights and then the chlorine in the pool would turn the highlights green.

I remember being sent out of the room for Robin Williams and Richard Pryor.

I also had an electronic pinball game lol.

 

[KPKicker]

Oh boy...this is right up my alley.

Not only am I a curmudgeon. I am proudly stuck in the decades of my youth; the late 60s and early 70s. Or another way to look at it is; I'm stuck in the Nixon administration.

Let's see here...

-The TV had to be turned on a few minutes before your favorite show to give it time to warm up. The dust burning off the tubes produced a smell that is one of the most comforting and cozy smells I've ever...well....smelled.

-The remote control was hard-wired to the TV. When you pressed the button to change the channel it made a loud "click". The channel display wheel in the TV then engaged, spun to the next channel and disengaged. The whole process took a few seconds and made a loud "ka-chunk, whirrr, ka-chunk" sound.

-I was firmly convinced I would marry Dawn Wells, Yvonne Craig or Karen Valentine.

-Henry Mancini penned and performed most of the NBC TV show themes. Which is why even today, they are some of the greatest themes of all time (save Hawaii Five-O which was written by Morty Stevens).

-The NFL rules committee allowed players to play football and they prohibited uniforms that looked like pajamas.

-Kids trick-or-treated AFTER sunset and ON Halloween.

-Food was made with sugar, not some plastic sweetener that makes everything taste like you're eating a frisbee.

-Soda pop came in glass bottles and was made with real sugar.

-Telephones rang.

-Common sense was common.

-Showing respect was met with admiration, not disdain and an assumption of weakness.

-Violence on primetime TV was fake.

I could go on and on and on. Give me a time machine and send me back to 1966. I was born 30 years too late.

 

[TexasRain104]

"You sound like a broken record!"

not...

"You sound like a scratched CD!"

 

[reverendg]

I remember the junk drawer full of brill cream my mom used to part my hair with on the side, with the wave in front .shudder..... My dad was a tv tech, (that was the guy that actually knew what tubes were bad and he made house calls, cause the tv's were huge floormodels made out of beautiful oak wood cabinets. (dad is 74 and still makes a few house calls to the few surviving customers who have had the same television for 50+ years.

Computers ???? what was a computer.

I had to walk uphill both ways...in the snow, with only one shoe and one boot...the kids called me shoebooty. L.o.L

Ahhh, the good ole days.

And the nuns at school not only could smack the crap out of ya, but they usually had the parents blessing.

We learned to respect our elders, or maybe it was fear, either way, we didn't talk back to our parents.

Neighbors watched out for each others kids, now ya have to watch your neighbors around your kids. what a world , what a world.

Well I'm babbling now, but I'm sure some of you will know where/when I'm coming from.

And the country actually fought against socialism.....oops there I go gettin political.
Hey I'm just sayin....

 

[BradSmith]

I remember when I was a kid that any adult would grab me by the ear and tell me to knock it off.

 

[reverendg]

I remember when I was a kid that any adult would grab me by the ear and tell me to knock it off.

One of my ears is larger to this day for that same reason.

Oh and no backaches, creaking knees, groans when getting up or sitting down, no metal replacement parts. Life was so simple back then.

Not to mention smoking was good for you back then. Heck, the doctors usually had one hanging from his mouth when we went in for checkups, or when you were real sick and he came to the house in the middle of the night to check you.

Yup. I just don't get today. But I guess it's like they say. ya can never go home.

 

[Dudeman]

I knew who shot J.R.!

Saturday matinee's were $1

I didn't have a stereo, I had a "hi-fi"

People had Jobs

the tabs came off of soda/beer cans and we dropped 'em inside the can before drinking it

There were no plastic drink bottles

we didn't have to wear a helmet to ride our bikes

Dodgeball was a safe sport for gym class

When we got into fights, we used our fists and it was one on one with no fear of retaliation

a stick could keep you occupied for hours on end

You were actually innocent until proven guilty

cartoons were actually good

100,000 miles on a car was scary

crawling under you desk at school and getting in a crouch position would save you from an atomic bomb (how sad is that one? lol)

kids delivered newspapers

"you just wait until your father gets home!" meant something

if it was powered by electricity, it had a cord

This is too easy, I could write a book.. oh yeah.. pencils had lead in them too.. lol

 

[BradSmith]

I knew who shot J.R.!

Saturday matinee's were $1

I didn't have a stereo, I had a "hi-fi"

People had Jobs

the tabs came off of soda/beer cans and we dropped 'em inside the can before drinking it

There were no plastic drink bottles

we didn't have to wear a helmet to ride our bikes

Dodgeball was a safe sport for gym class

When we got into fights, we used our fists and it was one on one with no fear of retaliation

a stick could keep you occupied for hours on end

You were actually innocent until proven guilty

cartoons were actually good

100,000 miles on a car was scary

crawling under you desk at school and getting in a crouch position would save you from an atomic bomb (how sad is that one? lol)

kids delivered newspapers

"you just wait until your father gets home!" meant something

if it was powered by electricity, it had a cord

This is too easy, I could write a book.. oh yeah.. pencils had lead in them too.. lol

"the tabs came off of soda/beer cans and we dropped 'em inside the can before drinking it"

I still do that. I just bend them back and forth untill they break.


"When we got into fights, we used our fists and it was one on one with no fear of retaliation"

Yep, now when my kids get picked on they are supposed to go tell on the "bad ones", Like that works.

Ps. I will still punch someone in the eye if they ask for it. The only time I spent more than one night in jail was when I punched a cop back (I was found not guilty after the jury saw the video)

A few more for the list.

Women still had curves that were not fake (and they were hot)!!!!

The Vietnam war would never happen again.

Bell bottom jeans were cool as long as they were not handed down from your sister.

People still learned to dance.

Men could ware a hat other than a cap.

When you saw a cop you felt safe.

Drive in movies.

Bozo the clown and Captian kangeroo.

 

[SilverBear]

-Soda pop came in glass bottles and was made with real sugar.

And a 6-ounce bottle more than quenched our thirst.


Babies did not have their hands bound into a permanent cup-holder shape,
enabling them to hold a Nalgene bottle as an adult, perpetually. Believe it
or not, the landscape was NOT littered with the dessicated corpses of
those who did not hydrate every 2 minutes.

(Wow... a triple negative... so that makes it OK then, right?)

 

[KPKicker]

Nalgene bottle

Does the fact that I had to Google this mean that I'm square (or whatever word the kids use the days to describe someone who isn't "with it")?

 

[mmsjs5]

I had to use an outhouse (year around) in 1950's ... if anyone remember what is it!

YEAH! And boy, those were quick trips in the winter!!!!

 

[Charlie58]

One of my ears is larger to this day for that same reason.

Oh and no backaches, creaking knees, groans when getting up or sitting down, no metal replacement parts. Life was so simple back then.

Not to mention smoking was good for you back then. Heck, the doctors usually had one hanging from his mouth when we went in for checkups, or when you were real sick and he came to the house in the middle of the night to check you.

Yup. I just don't get today. But I guess it's like they say. ya can never go home.

I remember my Dr. in my 20's telling me to quit smoking while chain smoking at his desk with an ash tray overflowing with old buts.
Wow I can't remember the last time I went into the Drs. office for a conference instead of in the examining room.

 

[aschmidy]

Speaking of doctors....When I was a kid EVERY time we went to the doctor we got a shot of penicillin, then they would ask what was wrong with you. To this day I HATE getting shots!

 

[cliff5550]

-The car AM radio had that little orange stick that you moved back and forth till you brought in that real faraway station that played GOOD rock n roll. No scan/search crap.

-Cars had a little triangle wing you could open for air instead of putting down the whole window.

-Big, tall bottles of RC Cola were the treat of the week.

-Our Plymouth had push button shifting on the dash.

-When I was a teenager none of us would think of buying a car with an automatic transmission. Those were for old ladies. Nothing feels like a clutch pedal under your left foot and a real shifter in your right hand. Hurst shifters and Cragar mags.

-I could go to McDonald's and get a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake, and change back from a dollar.

-Cruise downtown all night on $5 in gas. And still have fuel in the tank the next morning.

-You actually knew all your neighbors..and trusted them.

-Dog n" Suds Root Beer stands.

-Beatle Boots, Nehru jackets, real bell bottoms, puffy sleeved shirts, big shirt collars, fringe leather jackets, girls in maxi coats and mini skirts, p coats, (guess that decade)

 

[jj2]

My first job, I could fill my VW tank and buy enough cigs for a week for around $5.00.

 

[PaulB]

My first job, I could fill my VW tank and buy enough cigs for a week for around $5.00.

Doing the money algebra on that one, I've got to guess this would have been during VW's 36HP engine era!

 

[AJMoore]

My telephone "number" was some letters (Mohawk6-0778).

I spent $55.00 in long distance charges calling my sister (state to state) for one hour.

It was a big deal when women could wear pants (only pant suites) on a plan, used to be dresses and skirts).

I had to wear a skirt to school (to the middle of the knee).

I remember my art teacher was allowed to smoke in the classroom.

There was no such thing as an "un-wed mother", you either got married or gave up for adoption.

And last, I seemed to have much more time for other things, I'm not sure that computers, 200 channels on TV and cell phones are "time saving" devices.