If you are 40 or older, you might think this is hilarious!

reply to post by jude11


All of this rings true for me.

I also remember getting the best Betamax video and all the rental shops stopped carrying Betamax shortly after.

At least it allowed me to memorize the entire script of Monty Python's Holy Grail (till the tape stretched too much).

11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

reply to post by jude11


And Sunday morning TV was nothing but "come to Jesus".

reply to post by jude11


Wonderful post and so true. I sometimes talk to my older friends about how we managed without a telephone let alone a mobile phone. We still managed to have a social life and organise parties and get togethers.

As for Child Services and other peoples parents making sure we towed the line - Police could look at you and you would s**t yourself and woe betide if the Police took you home to your parents. The Police did not have to kick your a**e because they knew the parents would.

Well above it all - we survived without lots of electrical items and know the value of good conversation skills and writing skills because of our youth. Ah...youth - is wasted on the young! Thanks for the walk along memory lane and the laughs that accompany the memories!

Much Peace...

HAHA! Yeah I can relate. Thanks for putting a smile on my face. Remember this guy?

Oh, yeah.

1) Bike helmets? What are those? In fact, what are motorcycle helmets? Those were for wusses.

2) COLOR TV? Black & White, baby, and though there were 13 positions for channels, there were only half a dozen stations that went ot a test pattern after 11:00pm.

3) Clutches. At least in the US, hardly anyone uses a clutch. You cannot buy a full size pickuop with a manual transmission these days.

4) DUI for .08? Maybe for .25. .08 is only three drinks. C'mon. A six pack and you've just started.

5) LPs pr 45's. That was it, and LP's were NEW.

6) Bring a gun to school? OF COURSE! What else were you going to do at lunch but go shoot some rabbits? They used to have ranges in school basements.

7) If you got bad grades your parents beat you. Nowadays they beat up the teacher.

8) You dressed up in your finest clothes to take an airplane ride where they treated you like royalty. In fact, most people couldn't afford to fly. The best planes had four propellors. People rode trains to go long distances. They went on ships to cross the oceans.

9) Penmanship. Say no more.

10) You had to periodically defrost a refrigerator.

11) The clothes drier was a line outside the upstairs window that extended to a tree on a pulley.

12) Five and dime stores had stuff for five and ten cents. "Drug" stores had fountains. Fountains sold you lunch or ice cream sodas.

Great list, OP. Thought I'd add a few. Thanks!

That is so funny!

I had to have my children read it.

I tell them from time to time about things such as this. They are so amazed about how we only had 1 channel of television (in black and white), no cell phones or video games, etc.

One day a real CME will burn that floating ring of celestial download and everyone below the age of 40 will throw themselves off a cliff. The rest of us will wax colloquial; with a deep breath we will sigh and remember the good 'ol days.

reply to post by schuyler


The tundra,f series and ram series all offer manual trans....

Remember rotary dial phones? It took forever to dial a long distance number!! My 10-year-old is so used to speed dial, she gets impatient at having to push more than 3 buttons in a row!

I think it's difficult to describe the excitement in the 80s to the younger people.

In the 80s, it was like that everything around you was new and exciting, be it the first Video games, "Home" Computers, VHS recorders, The Space Shuttle or 80s music.Everything was new and exciting, it was mind-blowing.

BUT

What is good about having the internet???

What is good about everything being easier???

YES people can be lazy, but that doesn't make life any better... I bet you lived a hell of a life growing up then and wouldn't change it for anything.

If your bored at home you will do something better like socialize... It's a good thing.

reply to post by jude11
we older people should not chastise the young so much i dont mind if i send the apprentice to do a wee job in the other room whilst i work my butt off its so nice to find him texting instead of helping me out its because the world owes them a living if as i have seen they drop their mobile in the paint its the end of their world there could be tears quote !!

reply to post by jude11


Priceless my man..

Priceless...

reply to post by jude11


I realize your post was meant to be humorous because thinking about the 70s & 80s compared to now one have to laugh. One minute after 12 AM on Christmas I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing my great nephews (4 & 7) open their computerized gadgets with glee, the next morning they were playing with the fireman's hats and paddle ball (the paddle with the ball connected to it by a string, don't remember what we called back in the day) given to them by a local dollar store owner. I turned to my niece and said look at what they chose to play with, stuff that require them to use their imagination and body. The older kids would be in serious trouble if one of those worse case scenarios (take your pick of threads on this site, lol) happened. Yes you are right these kids are spoiled with luxury and don't know it, unfortunately I think it's a handicap they will have to overcome one day maybe sooner.
Thanks OP for the trip down memory lane!!

I've seen that somewhere before, and yes, it is hilariously accurate. If you were a kid 30 years ago, it was literally a different world in that time than it is today. What the hell ever happened to Earth, and what exactly is this planet we've all been mysteriously dumped on?

reply to post by jude11


Over 40 myself. and you sure got it right...I remember all of that stuff; but, most of the younger people here want have a clue as to what you are saying....

Thanks OP and to others that are quite a bit older than forty that has stirred my memory.

1.) We had adding machines that you pulled the handle on, no such thing as a calculator.

2.) Watches had to be wound by hand, they didn't have a battery.

3.) Stamps were $.01 for general mail and airmail was $.03.

4.) When they came out with the 3 transistor radio you could actually take it with you and listen to the ball game!

5.) Cars did not have AC, it was either 4/40 or 2/80 air conditioning. You had to love the window attachment that you put ice into and got cool air while going down the road until the ice melted.

6.) Seat belts, that must be something to hold your pants up with.

7.) Phone numbers were letters and numbers such as BR549 & CW449. Plus they were party lines and long distance required an operator to connect you.

8.) You had only one choice in phone service, it was Ma Bell or nothing and your phone came in your choice of designer color, black, black or black. It was owned by Ma Bell and you had to rent it.

To go see my friends I had to hop on my bike and peddle for 5 miles and if they were not home Oh well, I peddled back home.

Originally posted by kaylaluv
Remember rotary dial phones? It took forever to dial a long distance number!! My 10-year-old is so used to speed dial, she gets impatient at having to push more than 3 buttons in a row!

YES. I can still hear the sound they made when you dialed a number. Speed dialing??? LOL , the only speed needed was how fast you could get to the phone. Hey do you remember when people would use the letters of the alphabet for the first three digits of their phone number? Ooops I think I went too far back.

I miss how safe it all seemed back then. I would go ice skating almost every Saturday, for most of the day, at the local rink. Mom would drop me off there when they opened and come pick me up later, well into the afternoon. I was safe, I skated the whole time, it was great! Now, I would never allow a child in my care to even consider that!

I could leave the house to go play all day and as long as I called home or stopped home every 3 to 4 hours to check in, and was home by twilight, all was well and I had freedom. We played in parks, or ran in races, or rode bikes, or just used our imagination to play.

Remember actual roller skates, not inlines? Big clunky boots on them and four wheels. I lived at the bottom of a really big hill and would skate to the top, squat down on my skates, and FLY down that hill. It was fantastic! Of course, I was also walking a long distance to school, crossing a major intersection, but back then, it was safe and all of the kids did it. If you lived less than two miles away from the school, you walked, period.

Yeah, the Cold War was going on and tensions were very high with the (then) USSR. That didn't corrupt the innocence of kids though. Somewhere along the way, that all changed and we lost that.

Great list, loved it Jude!

I'm 34 and found most of these relevant .. but I'm pretty sure microwaves were around, after all they were "discovered" / "invented" during World War 2 were they not? I know they were around in the 70s for cooking .. =) no matter

Funny!