I'm So Old . . .

[21C]

This is is the thread for posting memories of things/events long forgotten.

[21C]

I remember my family owning an old washing machine that had a wringer (or mangle) to squeeze out the water before hanging them out to dry.

[21C]

I remember houses having strips of plastic in doorways to stop the flies from coming in. Usually the fly curtains (I can't remember if that was their name) were in the back door of the house to let in fresh air but not the flies.

I also remember fly strips. Sticky bits of paper(?) that flies would get caught on. Once the strip had enough flies stuck to it then you threw it out - some people had them hanging up for years.

[cuervo72]

I'm so old I asked "HOW OLD ARE YOU?" Match Game-style when I read the thread title.

I'm so old I remember my parents joking about not trusting anyone over 30 when they turned 30.

[Sweed]

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by 21C

I remember my family owning an old washing machine that had a wringer (or mangle) to squeeze out the water before hanging them out to dry.

My mother had a washing machine you had to connect to the sink. When her friend gave it to her she might as well have been handing her a million dollar check for how excited she was. No more lugging clothes to the laundromat!

My grandmother had a clothesline for as long as I can remember. From one old oak to another, about 5 or 6 poles in between. Always had fly strips hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen during the summer.

I hate these threads, I was born to reminisce.

[rowech]

Thought of one just yesterday -- the switch you had to hookup to the back of a tv to switch between game and tv.

[cuervo72]

Ah, the good old RF switch. Also the toggle for that to work on channel 3 or 4.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by 21C

I remember my family owning an old washing machine that had a wringer (or mangle) to squeeze out the water before hanging them out to dry.

My mom used to use a washboard at our cottage when I was little.

At some point we got a wringer-washer. One day when I was 11-ish I was playing with the wringer part, touching the rollers. My hand got caught and it pulled my arm in up to the elbow as I screamed bloody murder. My Dad was just outside the shed and ran in, and in a panic, instead of hitting the release mechanism that would separate the rollers, he just grabbed my arm and yanked it out as they spun. That might be the most pain I've experienced so far in my life.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by rowech

Thought of one just yesterday -- the switch you had to hookup to the back of a tv to switch between game and tv.

Reminds me that I had a Pong machine that connected to our TV through the antenna.

[Fidatelo]

With the way things come back into fashion this may have been hip again and I just don't know it, but when I was really little my parents had a door made out of beads down in our basement.

[A-Husker-4-Life]

Being forced to be the remote for my older bothers. Loved the day we got a TV with a Remote.

[thesloppy]

Remember when remote controls had wires?



Convenience, yo.

[Edward64]

I remember when I first saw a microwave used in the early 80's. It cooked some eggs.

I remember having to defrost refrigerators once in a while.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I remember when I first saw a microwave used in the early 80's. It cooked some eggs.

I remember having to defrost refrigerators once in a while.

My dad sold microwaves for a living at first. he had the new models a lot.
I remember him bringing home the strangest microwavable things.

These boxes of microwave pancakes with fruit. strawberries yum.
and plain...but i preferred the fruit

There was also this strange dessert. I wanna say it was microwave ice cream cups. but that sounds silly. Maybe they were parfaits or strawberry shortcakes. Something like that. We had thousands of them it seems.

Those were good.

I miss him.

[Critch]

I'm so old The Battle of the Somme is closer to my birthdate than today is.

I'm also older than Scarlett Johansson and Ariel Winters added together.

I'm so old I dont know who Ariel Winters is.

http://you.regettingold.com/

[stevew]

Those old school microwaves had amazing cookbooks. How to cook a Roast, for example. Stuff you wouldn't dream of using it for now.

[Antmeister]

I remember buying my last record which was a 45 of 'Tender Love' when I was in high school.

[Antmeister]

As a child, I remember playing a plastic record that was included on the back of a cereal box.

[Dutch]

Imnso old I remember when Gatorade only had Lemon-Lime and Orange...in glass bottles.

[fortheglory]

I'm so old that my first set of golf clubs featured woods that were actually made of wood.

[hoosierdude]

I'm so old that I remember an 8pk of 16 oz glass bottles of Coke and I could get ten cents a bottle recycling them at my local grocer.. I miss 16 oz glass bottles of Coke! Can anyone still get 16 oz bottles of Coke products anymore?

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Remember when remote controls had wires?



Convenience, yo.

Hell, I was the remote..."Hey, go put it on channel 5". Then at commercial.."Go put it back on channel 11"...and so forth...

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Hell, I was the remote..."Hey, go put it on channel 5". Then at commercial.."Go put it back on channel 11"...and so forth...

I'm so old I remember watching commercials.

[Kodos]

I remember listening to the Beach Boys on my parent's 8-track player.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by hoosierdude

I'm so old that I remember an 8pk of 16 oz glass bottles of Coke and I could get ten cents a bottle recycling them at my local grocer.. I miss 16 oz glass bottles of Coke! Can anyone still get 16 oz bottles of Coke products anymore?

Pretty sure you can get a case at Sam's Club.

The only time we ever had soda as a kid was when we went to the beer distributor to get a dozen quart bottles of Frank's. They came in one of these:

[cuervo72]

Dola: ok, I guess they did eventually come out with cans:

[BYU 14]

This was my first "Madden"

I had the only one in our group of friends and this was one of the few things that ever had us choosing to be inside instead of outside playing.

[molson]

I remember calling the local newspapers' sports hotline number to get the scores from last night's games.

And I remember watching the old "Sportschannel", which, in the morning, consisted solely of elevator music and rotating screens of text-only sports news and scores.

[heybrad]

I would try to stay up every night for the 11 o'clock news to catch the sports section. Then to get any detail about what was really going on, I looked forward to the occasional weekly show like The Sports Machine with George Michael or This Week in Baseball.

[frnk55]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Remember when remote controls had wires?



Convenience, yo.

Good Lord I haven't seen one of those since...ummm, early 80's

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by molson

I remember calling the local newspapers' sports hotline number to get the scores from last night's games.

And I remember watching the old "Sportschannel", which, in the morning, consisted solely of elevator music and rotating screens of text-only sports news and scores.

I loved Sportschannel. Weird sports, the crawler from like 1am till the next afternoon. ESPN 2 did kind of the same thing when it premiered except with much different music.

[stevew]

Headline sports at 19 and 49 after the hour.

Also anything phone related. Whether it be rotary dial, original cell phone plans, party lines, or cords.

[CU Tiger]

Phones.

Party lines.
Then 4 digit dialing
Then 5 digit dialing
Finally 7 digit dialing...then 10 digit mandatory area codes...my grandma just had her phone removed after that. My other grandmother, I just found out last year was STILL paying $5/month for a phone rental and had this old antiquated phone.

Bathroom was outside. We had "indoor plumbing" but our bathroom was detached.

I remember the service station down the street "oiling" the roads in the summer. They dumped out the used motor oil from where they did oil changes. This kept dust down. We would all be upset and the old folks happy when they oiled the roads for a few weeks. Made playing ball in the streets suck but kept the dust of the cars.

I remember when bums washed your windows for a nickel instead of just bgging

[stevew]

I wanna say I think my friend's parents discovered they were leasing a phone back in 2000 or so and I thought that was bonkers. But in 2016...jeez. So your grandma has spent probably 3-5K on that phone?

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Hell, I was the remote..."Hey, go put it on channel 5". Then at commercial.."Go put it back on channel 11"...and so forth...

Followed immediately by getting yelled at for turning too fast.

"You'll break the knob!"

[EagleFan]

UHF... rapid fire clicking on changing the channel... of course getting yelled at for doing that.

Channel 3 or channel 4?

Looking for an eraser before putting a record on.

Actually dialing a phone.

That dreaded feeling a kid gets when hearing these words... "The President is on"

Phone booths.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Phones.

Party lines.

Damn, we go back to the same years, forgot all about these.

Also - Penny candy actually cost a penny

Wacky packages, I must have had 700-800 of these.

[Umbrella]

Tang (it's what the astronauts drink).
Getting up early Saturday morning to watch cartoons, since that was the only time they were on.
Buying cigarettes for my mom.
Getting spanked in school.
Banana seats.
Pull tabs.
Roller rinks (all skaters, change directions).
Schoolhouse Rock (to this day, it's how I know the preamble to the constitution).
Video arcades.
Playing outside until it got dark, and in the summer, after it got dark.
Riding on the drivers lap in the car.
The mechanical push button car radio.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, pretty much everywhere.
Riding in the back of a pickup.
Midnight movies.
Getting to the airport a half hour before your flight.

[Umbrella]

I can't stop!

S&H Green Stamps.
Tube testers in the grocery stores.
Praying her dad didn't answer when calling a girl to ask for a date.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Riding on the drivers lap in the car.

I remember a momma having a big buick. And I was a short legged chubby kid of ...maybe 3-4 years old. I would ride down the road STANDING in the front passenger seat (bench seat - burgundy velour of course) with the seat belt buckled across me "Buckled Up for Safety".

Of course she smoked cigs and drank beer legally while driving down the road.

[AlexB]

I'm so old I remember England getting to two semi-finals...

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by AlexB

I'm so old I remember England getting to two semi-finals...

I am so old they actually won a world cup in my lifetime

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I am so old they actually won a world cup in my lifetime

That never happened, it was just a big conspiracy to torture us English

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Phones.

Party lines.

My mom selling our first VCR when she got the phone bill that had over $200 in 976 charges.

Then having to sit there awkwardly while my whole family watched a 20/20 expose on the subject of phone sex lines and the insane charges people run up. I don't think I've ever been as embarrassed about anything in my entire life.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Tang (it's what the astronauts drink).
Getting up early Saturday morning to watch cartoons, since that was the only time they were on.
Buying cigarettes for my mom.
Getting spanked in school.
Banana seats.
Pull tabs.
Roller rinks (all skaters, change directions).
Schoolhouse Rock (to this day, it's how I know the preamble to the constitution).
Video arcades.
Playing outside until it got dark, and in the summer, after it got dark.
Riding on the drivers lap in the car.
The mechanical push button car radio.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, pretty much everywhere.
Riding in the back of a pickup.
Midnight movies.
Getting to the airport a half hour before your flight.

[dawgfan]

...owning a pair of Van's back when they were first popular.

[korme]

Thank you, nol.

[Draft Dodger]

we had a B&W TV until I was 13 or 14. I didn't know, for example, that everyone on Star Trek had different colored uniforms

[Draft Dodger]

also, renting laser disc players