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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2012 19:15:01 GMT
I remember when modern movies had scenes of people smoking in restaurants.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2012 15:58:55 GMT
I remember when the yellow international vaccination booklets were obligatory even when going between Europe and North America.
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2012 20:17:34 GMT
Today our new young employee Nawel was filling out her permanent contract employment form and she came to me because there was a word that she did not understand in the 'skills' section. When I saw it, I could not believe that it was still on the form for a company in the 21st century. I tried to explain the whole concept of what it was to her and she was astonished. Something before disquettes. Something before floppy disks. Something long before Windows 2.0.
KEYPUNCH
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Post by bixaorellana on May 22, 2012 5:37:55 GMT
;D
"Firstly, the wall switch ......"
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Post by rikita on May 22, 2012 20:04:08 GMT
very strange, all this. mr. r. knew what it was though.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 22, 2012 15:30:15 GMT
Lugg's mention of the rag & bone man prompted me to browse through this thread again. One thing I'm old enough to remember is when "sneakers" didn't mean some ergonomically puffed up Frankenstein shoes with space age fabrics, wavy soles and screaming colors.
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Post by htmb on Jun 22, 2012 19:28:04 GMT
My great grandfather was a classical violinist and my grandmother was what I guess would be termed a "socialite." They had a maid and a gardener and, when we would visit for large family meals (I had to be about four or five) I was always amazed that the maid would appear from the kitcher, as if by magic, whenever anyone needed anything. Mention you would like some more milk, please, and here came the maid, who was out of earshot in the kitchen I am sure. One day, after everyone had left the dinner table, my little brother and I were playing hide and seek. When climbing under the table to hide, I found a pretty big lump under the rug which turned out to be a button that looked like a doorbell buzzer placed near my great-grandmother's chair. It turned out that every time she needed the maid she'd press on that buzzer with her foot to summon her from the kitchen. I still remember being absolutely astounded.
I would also imagine that after my brother and I finished playing with that buzzer it never worked properly again.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2012 13:21:14 GMT
Fascinating, Htmb. It must have been like transporting little modern children back to the gilded age. How many times did the poor maid have to come scurrying in to an empty dining room before she discovered the little buzzers under the table?
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2012 16:29:02 GMT
I'm not sure about that, bixa. I seem to remember the maid being pretty amused, while my great grandmother was a bit put out. The house was a fascinating place for children with lots of cupboards and other hidden spaces to explore. It was certainly out of a different era.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 25, 2012 17:56:55 GMT
If my family had had servants & a way to summon them, it probably would have been so long ago that the summoning device would have been a bell pull. ;D  Suitors scramble to save a woman the effort of having to pull a bell-pull, James Gillray, 1805 |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2012 7:59:57 GMT
I remember when French toilet paper was slick and shiny like wax paper and I have still never understood why they would do such a thing.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2012 10:22:50 GMT
Jukeboxes with 45RPM vinyl record on them that I remember magically plopped themselves down from the array of selections and the arm of the needle would fall onto them and summon up the music.
(maybe this has already been posted in here, I just saw one yesterday and was reminded)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2012 11:02:54 GMT
In one of the Dr. Who episodes, there is a scene in a museum in the distant future and they bring out a Wurlitzer in full glory. "This is what the ancients called an iPod to listen to music!"  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2012 13:59:56 GMT
I wonder when France & Spain got the message that toilet paper should be an absorbent material. The toilet paper in Spain was also slick and, as far as I can recall, not perforated. I think there was just one brand -- Elefante, which my mother still references not only for bad t-p, but for any product that is contraindicated for its intended use. I can't call up a mental image of the records dropping in a jukebox, only the kind where the curved arm selected the record, then lifted it & placed it on the turntable. Maybe I never saw the other kind. (& thanks for getting "The Wurlitzer Prize" stuck in my head again.  ) |
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Post by Kimby on Jun 28, 2012 16:46:18 GMT
Hah! I made a collection of the various non-absorbent toilet papers we encountered during our 1967 family trip to Europe. (Being a small-time hoarder, I probably still have it!)
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Post by Kimby on Jun 28, 2012 16:47:20 GMT
Every time I visit my parents' house, I am reminded of something that I am old enough to remember. However, I am also old enough to not be able to remember what it is by the time I get to the computer.  |
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Post by htmb on Jun 28, 2012 19:16:26 GMT
I am old enough to remember Cuban girls coming to my Catholic girls school to live with the nuns (it was not a boarding school, but there was a convent), but was way too young to understand why they had been sent there without their parents.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2012 19:23:41 GMT
I remember when we had a grand total of 3 television channels where I lived, and it was so annoying to go to France and find only 2 channels on my grandparents' television set. I didn't know 1) that they were among the only people in the village to own a television and 2) they were among the only people in France to have two channels because they could get Télé Luxembourg in their region besides the ORTF.
I also didn't understand what a sacrifice my grandfather had made to buy a television to impress his American grandchildren.
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Post by htmb on Jun 28, 2012 19:40:56 GMT
Kerouac, Black and white, or color?
In Florida we only had b & w at our house until I was about 11. We got NBC, CBS, and, I think, a public television station.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2012 21:33:15 GMT
Black and white, of course.
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Post by joanne28 on Jun 29, 2012 18:06:56 GMT
Remember the rabbit ears to go with said televisions?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 29, 2012 18:44:54 GMT
Gosh, yes. Remember wrapping them with aluminum foil? Or having to be either the person who twiddled them, or the monitor who barked orders at the twiddler? "No -- RIGHT, dammit. Now you went too far the other way. Okay... okay ....... no, that was good -- get it back to where you had it before."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2012 18:52:28 GMT
While I remember rabbit ears quite well, I never knew anybody who ever actually had to use them except in emergencies.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 30, 2012 13:11:46 GMT
Gosh, yes. Remember wrapping them with aluminum foil? Or having to be either the person who twiddled them, or the monitor who barked orders at the twiddler? "No -- RIGHT, dammit. Now you went too far the other way. Okay... okay ....... no, that was good -- get it back to where you had it before." We are still twiddling with antennas here in Montana (by choice - we refuse to pay the cable or satellite pirates what they ask). Only on rooftop instead of set top, and we have 2 way radios to convey our cussing back and forth. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2012 16:00:48 GMT
Are there no subsidies or special rates for people living in isolated areas, or would that be completely unamerican?
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Post by Kimby on Jun 30, 2012 17:23:50 GMT
Actually we get 12 channels off the air for free and prefer it that way.
I tend to be overwhelmed when presented with 100+ cable channels to choose from. By the time I've worked through the whole dial, looking for something to watch, a half-hour has passed and a whole new set of shows are on.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2012 18:39:47 GMT
Yes, well we know that problem everywhere now.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 1, 2012 13:12:17 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 17:17:16 GMT
Yes, there were lots of reports here on June 30th. Although there were still half a million users in the last month, most of them were using access points through the internet.
Because of the Minitel, I have been online since 1983. I've noticed that my (vast?) experience generally leads me to be the first person to cry "TROLL!" on various websites when I smell something fishy.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 3, 2012 18:26:30 GMT
Knew u wuz good for something!  |
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