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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 28, 2021 16:43:10 GMT
I remember when people would tap on the window of a phone booth/box with a coin to make it clear that the person inside was talking too long.
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Post by casimira on Dec 3, 2021 16:29:38 GMT
Fond memories from childhood of building "snow forts". Similar in nature to igloos each one could have several distinctive features. Cave like in many ways. Some of us would design our own flag to place on the roof.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 7, 2021 10:01:39 GMT
New generations will probably not imagine that a lot of us had to deal with carbon paper, keeping the sheets carefully in a folder and trying to decide how many times each one could be reused. My office also used the pink and blue single use carbon pages for official letters and memos. Oh, and the correction fluid! What a pain!
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Post by onlyMark on Dec 7, 2021 17:04:07 GMT
I'm old enough to remember the time when I didn't automatically hold on to the bannister rail when I walked up or down stairs.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 7, 2021 20:09:05 GMT
I remember fiberglass "angel hair" and lead "icicles" (or tinsel) for Christmas trees.
Except for the challenge of putting it on correctly, the angel hair wasn't much of a thrill. Being an expert at hanging icicles on the tree, though, was a source of pride and pleasure.
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Post by bjd on Dec 7, 2021 20:24:01 GMT
Tinsel was made of lead? Jeez -- with the lead, the fibreglass and other poisons, it's surprising we all made it to adulthood, never mind our current ages.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 7, 2021 20:35:52 GMT
Apart from paper chains 2 things I remember were silver chains made out of milk bottle tops flattened and then tied together with cotton threaded through the middle. Also we had exotic “birds” made of peanuts with little bits of coloured feathers glued on.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 7, 2021 21:08:03 GMT
My mom was reminiscing about how she loved the final stage of decorating our Christmas tree with lead tinsel whe we stopped in for a visit this past Sunday. When they would take the tree down she took just as much care removing her treasured tinsel and storing it for the next year. She never liked the plastic new version of it so she just no longer put tinsel on the tree when the last of it has to be thrown away.
I can clearly remember seeing the tinsel layed out on the table and how she would grab the pile in the centre and secure it with a wrap of tinfoil and place it gently in her decoration box.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 7, 2021 22:39:20 GMT
with the lead, the fibreglass and other poisons, it's surprising we all made it to adulthood Even better, the angel hair used to be made of asbestos -- whether before the fiberglass version or concurrently I know not. Never mind making it to adulthood. What if we're all brain-damaged & stupider than we were meant to be? 2 things I remember were silver chains made out of milk bottle tops flattened and then tied together with cotton threaded through the middle. Also we had exotic “birds” made of peanuts with little bits of coloured feathers glued on. How adorable! I don't remember ever seeing either of those things. I can clearly remember seeing the tinsel layed out on the table and how she would grab the pile in the centre and secure it with a wrap of tinfoil and place it gently in her decoration box. I don't remember how the tinsel got saved at our house, but have a clear mental image of the box it came it.
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Post by questa on Dec 7, 2021 22:47:50 GMT
I was 9, my brother 5, and we both asked Santa to bring us a canary each as our gift. I "knew" about Santa but brother didn't. Xmas Eve we headed off to bed but about 1am I heard the rustling of feathers and a cage bumping into the bed. I waited until Mum had gone to bed and using a torch had a peek. The bird in my cage was OK but brother's bird was very dead. I crept into Mum and told her. "Don't worry, that's how they sleep" she mumbled. "Mum" I said,"it is flat on its back with its legs in the air!" I took her back to our room and we quietly put my bird half way between both beds. The dead bird was wrapped and hidden in the garbage bin and the cage hidden in the old laundry.
Next day we told brother that there was not room for 2 cages on Santa's sleigh so my canary will come in the New Year. Lo and Behold! January 1st We woke to the sounds of sweet singing. It was my first "Grown-up" thing I did, that I remember.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 8, 2021 6:43:19 GMT
Adorable. And that first thing you did was to protect your bother's dreams.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 8, 2021 17:05:48 GMT
Sweet story, Questa! Tinsel was made of lead? Jeez -- with the lead, the fibreglass and other poisons, it's surprising we all made it to adulthood, never mind our current ages. Today, the day after you wrote that, Bjd, here is the lead story from The Guardian US edition: ‘We’re losing IQ points’: the lead poisoning crisis unfolding among US childrenGoogling leads to all kinds of grim statistics, such as the report from UNICEF in 2020 stating that one third of the world's children are poisoned by lead.
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Post by bjd on Dec 8, 2021 19:31:05 GMT
There are still lots of lead water pipes in anything built in France before 1970. The suburb where we lived in Toulouse started replacing them only about 10 years ago -- it's a big job because streets have to be dug up so the pipes can be replaced.
As for lead in paint in houses and apartments, it's one of the things checked for in an obligatory diagnosis for selling a house or apartment. It's not a problem in new buildings, but there are a lot of old buildings in France.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 9, 2021 1:17:00 GMT
Questa, your story could be made in to a wonderful children's Christmas book. The gift would be the lesson in the story.
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Post by questa on Dec 9, 2021 10:14:05 GMT
Just watch the bottom of the "Canary" industry drop out!
Seriously, thank you for the complimentary words. If you want to use it, you're welcome. A pre-school teacher once remarked that hamsters and caged small birds were only good for teaching the kids to understand and accept how things die. Maybe I should have let brother learn this lesson .
Nah! not with a Christmas present.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 10, 2021 4:33:37 GMT
When I was little, there was always a pencil sharpener mounted on the wall near the door. It was amazing how many children decided they needed to sharpen their pencil when it wasn't really necessary. I'm sure that I did it, too.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 10, 2021 6:15:34 GMT
I remember these big ones with a large handle that you would turn to sharpen. Addictive.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 10, 2021 6:43:06 GMT
Yes, those are the ones.
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Post by bjd on Dec 10, 2021 7:17:36 GMT
We had those at school too. Not mounted on the wall but on a bookshelf or other furniture. Not only did everyone have to get up and sharpen their pencils, but you could usually look out the window while you were doing it.
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Post by questa on Dec 10, 2021 7:41:55 GMT
"I'm sharpening my pencils".This was given as an excuse when my #2 son was at Uni and just couldn't get a start to an assignment. He had been bumbling along for weeks and I had told him he was not allowed out until he had done the first part. When I heard him clattering I called out and got this reply. It has become our family's version of procrastinating.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 10, 2021 16:06:15 GMT
I'm sure that probably all of us also experienced the weird pride of being asked to clean the blackboard with a sponge.
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Post by htmb on Dec 10, 2021 16:23:07 GMT
You sillies! Didn’t you know that volunteering to bang the chalk off the erasers would get you out of the classroom, away from the teacher, and into the fresh air?
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 10, 2021 16:30:13 GMT
We had a board rubber on a wooden handle which the English teacher would occasionally throw at somebody not paying attention. The chalk was also a regular missile.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 10, 2021 17:43:43 GMT
I visited a house that had an old desk for schoolschildren. the one with a 30° board on which you write and under which you could put your stuff. i showed it to my daughter and she said - 'of course I've seen those'. Then I said - 'yes, but did you see the place to put the ink ? - 'of course' - 'yes, but did you I drank those ?' - 'ah... '
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 10, 2021 18:12:11 GMT
When I arrived in France, I think that most of the desks still had inkwells. I had never really seen any before then (except in photos). The inkwells were not used anymore, but I think that most desks were built to last at least 30 years.
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Post by questa on Dec 11, 2021 11:48:08 GMT
htmb...you and I must have had the same school. I sat near the class door so was usually the eraser cleaner. At least it got me outside.
Mick...had an ex-army guy for history in High school. He was like a sniper...have his back to the class and not turn around until he had located the talker, then in one move he'd spin around and let fly with the chalk and always right on target. He was AWESOME. Took great pleasure in telling us the toilet arrangements for knights in full armour (there aren't any, it just runs down the legs)
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Post by bjd on Dec 11, 2021 11:53:22 GMT
When I went to school, the kid "chosen" to clean those chalk erasers had to do it after class. For some reason, it wasn't seen as punishment but more of a privilege.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 11, 2021 13:59:55 GMT
Wouldn’t they get rusty questa?
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Post by questa on Dec 11, 2021 22:02:24 GMT
According to Mr Bohanna (I still remember his name)the full armour weighed 60 pounds and took 3 hours to "dress" to go to battle. Knight had to be winched up to get on his horse which had been specially bred to carry the weight.Totally useless without his squire who probably was the armour cleaner. Also we were told of the use of chastity belts and the origin of the saying "Love laughs at locksmiths". It was pointed out that Sir couldn't dash back for a quicky before going into battle, as Hollywood shows, due to above info. I can't remember dates, order of Royals or most legislation but I remember the Plantagenets and Tudors going into battle. Was he a good teacher?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 11, 2021 22:23:48 GMT
When I went to school, the kid "chosen" to clean those chalk erasers had to do it after class. For some reason, it wasn't seen as punishment but more of a privilege.
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