What are you old enough to remember?

[BSR]

In our naked swim class, I remember there were about three guys who some thought to be gay. They were bigger than average. One guy's in particular hung low, and had a nice curve. (not that I really noticed)

Dang, naked swimming, makes me regret being born a few years too late. But maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Had I been surrounded by my entire high school gym class starkers, my head would have exploded. Or something would have exploded.

[thickornotatall]

Kresge's (in Detroit) had the same counters. Used to get a Coke served in a paper cone in a metal holder, crushed ice, paper straw, and don't know for sure, but maybe made with syrup and soda water.

Do you remember the Mayflower Donut shop on Woodward?...we took the 7Mile Rd bus to the Fox Theater to the Motown Revues then walked to Mayflower..

[+ bashful]

Do you remember the Mayflower Donut shop on Woodward?...we took the 7Mile Rd bus to the Fox Theater to the Motown Revues then walked to Mayflower..

 

No. Lived on the northwest side. Didn't frequent Woodward. Motown revues were just a bit before my time. I was too young in the early 60's (born in later 50s). I do remember my friend down the street who's older sister used to go to the Grande Ballroom.

Edited February 16, 2021 by bashful

[thickornotatall]

No. Lived on the northwest side. Didn't frequent Woodward. Motown revues were just a bit before my time. I was too young in the early 60's (born in later 50s). I do remember my friend down the street who's older sister used to go to the Grande Ballroom.

I lived on the northwest side too...and did go to The Grande a few times before moving to New York...

[+ poolboy48220]

Don't know if this was mentioned, but I remember exchanges, then a number. The first phone number I remember we had was a word, then number (VEmont - #####), we moved, and our phone number became BRoadway - #####.

I remember those! We were LOgan (56), neighbors were CRestwood (27). That was back in the days where all of southeast Michigan was a single area code.

[Rudynate]

When we got our first dial phone

The ice man making regular deliveries to neighbors who still had iceboxes

Milk delivered in a horse-drawn wagon

Utility bills on punch cards that said "do not bend fold spindle or mutilate"

When most doctors had their own offices that were usually in old converted houses

When most people only had one car

When most people still had old radios in their living rooms that they stopped using when they got their first TV

When most people had wringer washers and hung their laundry out to dry

When my parents had friends over at night to play Canasta

When everybody smoked everywhere and nobody thought a thing about the dangers of second-hand smoke

The Jack LaLanne show

Eisenhower's presidency

The Cuban Missile Crisis

When women wore hats to church

When my mother got dressed up and wore white gloves just to go shopping

Edited February 16, 2021 by Rudynate

[Rudynate]

I remember, when 4 digits were added to zip codes, a comedian's punch line was how we are left with one digit to tell the Post Office our opinion. ??

I don't care. Just something remembered.

 

 

How about before ZIP codes were introduced?

[Rudynate]

When first-class postage was 4 cents and you could mail an unsealed letter for 3 cents

[Guest]

Programming on computer punch cards. My kids don’t get it ?

[marylander1940]

Passengers smoking on planes.

 

When you bought your plane ticket they’d ask you “smoking or non smoking zone?”

 

it was a like a no peeing section in a pool...

[thickornotatall]

I remember those! We were LOgan (56), neighbors were CRestwood (27). That was back in the days where all of southeast Michigan was a single area code.

I still remember our Detroit number...Di(amond) 22546...my grandma's was a To(wnsend) and cousins had a Un(iversity) number..When the all number system came to be I thought I would never remember that and then the zipcode appeared....always changing and remaining the same...then the added 4 digits to our zipcode almost did me in....I'm done with trying to remember passwords..international codes....routing numbers etc..It will all work itself out... I was recently locked out of my Gmail account/Youtube/ not knowing a myriad of pwd's gives me agita...BTW my laptop and cell are facial recognition (wearing glasses)...

Edited February 16, 2021 by thickornotatall

[mike carey]

it was a like a no peeing section in a pool...

So true, I can remember being in the first non-smoking row next to the smoking section. Not exactly smoke-free.

[+ easygoingpal]

My friend showed me his slide rule, but I didn't get to learn how to use it when I got to High School...

[marylander1940]

 

When most people only had one car

 

When everybody smoked everywhere and nobody thought a thing about the dangers of second-hand smoke

 

When women wore hats to church

 

 

just 3 comments:

 

An overwhelming majority of my friends and acquaintances don't have a car. Uber definitively killed the need to own one in large cities.

 

Yes 2nd hand smoking didn't even exist as a concept... Hitler banned smoking in movie theaters and didn't allow anybody to smoke in his presence, unfortunately we took a lot of their science when it comes to rockets and medicine but not about smoking. Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany - Wikipedia

 

Most black women still wear hats in their churches.

[mike carey]

My friend showed me his slide rule, but I didn't get to learn how to use it when I got to High School...

I still have mine, and I did use it in high school.

[+ sync]

My friend showed me his slide rule, but I didn't get to learn how to use it when I got to High School...

My bad, I was thinking metaphorically. ?

[+ easygoingpal]

I still have mine, and I did use it in high school.

I was looking forward to learn how to use it, but by then my mother had bought me a Texas Instrument calculator...

[+ poolboy48220]

I remember when the TI-30 calculator was introduced, the last year or two of high school. It was was relatively cheap, light, had trig functions, and spelled out "Error" when you tried to divide by zero. All common now, but novel back then.

[handiacefailure]

Don't know if this was mentioned, but I remember exchanges, then a number. The first phone number I remember we had was a word, then number (VEmont - #####), we moved, and our phone number became BRoadway - #####.

 

My hometown only had about 20 thousand people and one exchange until I was in college. People would just give out the last four of their phone number without the exchange to local people. Once Fax machines and direct dial to peoples work phones were becoming popular they added another exchange which was one number higher and people would say their phone was 5 or 6 (third number) followed by the last four.

 

My parents were cheap for stuff like a phone and didn't get a touch tone phone until in the 90s when they didn't have a choice and had a party line until around 1980, the other people were never on it and then suddenly someone was on it all the time so they finally broke down and got a private line.

 

The one thing I don't miss is paying for long distance calls. Some of my best friends lived on town over but it was long distance and was expensive to call 15 miles away. My aunt lived on the other side of the country and was in PST and we were in EST and I remember my dad would call her on weekdays since rates were cheapest after 11 p.m. and he didn't want her calling at 2 a.m. our time.

[handiacefailure]

Who remembers Woolworth ?. Sitting at the lunch counter and having a malted or ice cream ?. The place had wooden floors that Creaked and the store smelled like mothballs. And outside the store they had the pony rides for I believe 10 cents. What a bunch of old Queens we have become.

 

The woolworth by my office was still around in the early 90's. I think the lunch counter had closed by then but I remember they had a bargain basement at this store and the creeky stairs in the middle of the store. It was only two door down from the office I was working in and they did have a snack counter and remember they had the best popcorn and I would go there sometimes on my afternoon break and get a box of popcorn and an icee. The only other place that had icee's was Hill's (midwest department store) that I knew of.

[Rudynate]

I was looking forward to learn how to use it, but by then my mother had bought me a Texas Instrument calculator...

 

 

When I started college, my roommate got me an inexpensive calculator as a Christmas present. At the time I thought, "What a dumb present!" Little did I know how much use I would get out of that little calculator that had only cost a few dollars.

[+ tassojunior]

1st memory - An old 1949 Nash we had and how the seats all made a double bed for what were then 2-day trips to see my mother's family 150 miles away.

Edited February 16, 2021 by tassojunior

[handiacefailure]

Kresge's (in Detroit) had the same counters. Used to get a Coke served in a paper cone in a metal holder, crushed ice, paper straw, and don't know for sure, but maybe made with syrup and soda water.

 

My hometown had both a Kresgee and Kmart for a while and remember eating at both lunch counters. Food was pretty good, remember they had great milkshakes.

 

I remember the used to have balloons hanging above the counter and you could pick the color you want and break it and there was a coupon inside for something like a free pop or so much off a specific menu item.

[handiacefailure]

45 records. I didn't think they were that old but pre-covid some people in my building would hang out sometimes on Friday at the bar next door.

 

A few years ago we were there and they were playing the sone from the late 70's baker street and a neighbor a year older than me and I were talking about it and I said I had it on a 45. A neighbor who was sitting with us who was about 25ish asked what a 45 was LOL. I thought he was joking but he was serious and he didn't know that a single song in vinyl was called a 45 and was looking it up on his phone LOL. We were telling him about having either an adapter that you put a stack of 45s on or the little disk you put in the middle.

 

I joked and said I felt old (I was probably 51 then) I feel old and he replied "dude that is because you are old" (jokingly). His wife who is the same age was there and thought he was just messing with us about now knowing what a 45 was but he seriously didnt.

[Rudynate]

My hometown had both a Kresgee and Kmart for a while and remember eating at both lunch counters. Food was pretty good, remember they had great milkshakes.

 

I remember the used to have balloons hanging above the counter and you could pick the color you want and break it and there was a coupon inside for something like a free pop or so much off a specific menu item.

 

 

We had Kresge's, Newberry's and Grant's. I used to do chores and errands for my mother and a couple of the neighbors for pocket money. I would go downtown to the lunch counter at Newberry's and get a ginger ale and an order of french fries. I think it cost 49 cents.