Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 4:13 PM
Default "In the olden days...."
When I was growing up, my parents would regale us with stories of The Olden Days, and how treacherous it was.
They had no cars, no refrigerators, and no TVs. (Many people my parents' age had no electricity at all.)

In 1969, I was in my teens, and making extra money cleaning house for an elderly couple next door. Both were retired psychologists, Drs. Peterson. Both were born in the last decade of the 1800s.

Mister Dr. Pete was from North Carolina. He was a little boy in 1903, when he saw someone flying a plane for the first time. He said the plane was only in the air for a few seconds, but the fact that anything that large could leave the ground and stay up for any amount of time
was unreal, inconceivable. "And now, today, a man is walking on the moon."

In 2006, my granddaughter came into my kitchen and asked me, "Is it true, Nana, that they didn't have microwaves when you were a little kid?"
I knew in that moment that I had reached that magic age when one might be officially tasked to impart tales of The Olden Days.

Our ovens were not self-cleaning, we wrapped our lunch sandwiches in wax paper. I remember when Saran wrap was first invented, and stuck mostly to itself, so why bother. Our bread came in cellophane, so it was very important to not eat the ends, so that they could help keep the bread from drying out. Milk came in glass bottles, as did soda pop. And beer came in cans. My parents needed to use a church key to drink from them.

We had to iron almost everything. Dryers were an expensive and rare luxury, as were dishwashers and colour TVs. Telephones were on a party line, and you needed an operator to make a long-distance call...which wasn't necessarily that far away. There was no 911, you called the operator for help.

^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^

I think no matter how old or young you are, there is some invention that wasn't there yesterday. That you remember a life before [insert concept or invention here].

So I'm curious about that. I think it's cool to hear about what came into each other lives as we grew. What do you remember not seeing before?

Non-stick frying pans? Smoke detectors? Apps?
Advertisement
Inventor
#2 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 4:22 PM
In the olden days, this was considered amazing graphics =




Now people look at it like "how can you even tell what's going on?"
Mad Poster
#3 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 4:30 PM
Oh, I love stories about the "old days" like when people walked uphill to school both ways!


I remember typing this way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCCFS_lhA8
Screenshots
Scholar
Original Poster
#4 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 4:45 PM
@SuperSimholic

That is amazing!

@VerDeTerre

OMG, I had that computer! I can't believe I thought 16 mb of RAM was fast!

In high school, they strongly encouraged all us girls to take typing and shorthand.
The typewriters were electric by then, but mistakes were still a mess to fix.
Mad Poster
#5 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 4:47 PM
I had jobs where I typed, using carbon copies, and a metal plate for when I needed to make a correction and prevent smudges to the carbon copies. Remember carbon copies?
Scholar
Original Poster
#6 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 4:49 PM
Oh god, yes. I remember getting it on my hands.
Mad Poster
#7 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 5:00 PM Last edited by simmer22 : 25th Aug 2015 at 5:47 PM.
I remember my first cellphone, which I shared with mom, back when I was 12-13 years old. It had belonged to my brother before, but he got a new one. It was about as thick as 3-4 phones are today. It had one line for writing texts (you had to click back and forth to see the message), and a tiny line for icons. The screen was in green and black. I was so happy when I got my first proper phone, and it had colors!!! This was in early 2000, mind.

I do remember a time without phones or personal computers. We actually had to get off our ass and play - and we did without too much complaint. I also grew up with just a couple of TV channels, and for a while we only had one. We also had to share one computer in my family for several years, an old and slow thing that wouldn't even have space enough for sims 1, let alone be able to run it. The techo age came slowly into my life at the start of my teens.

I now see my nephews practically growing up with an Ipad in their hands. Any earlier now, and the techno gadgets will come pre-packed with the baby upon arrival. How times have changed!
Scholar
Original Poster
#8 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 5:24 PM
Now there's some significant, wonderful new technology! Flat screens!
Your phones (well, hand-held computers, actually) are wafer thin these days, omg.

I remember the first flat screen monitor I got. I couldn't get over how light it was.
The idea of being able to pick it up just blew me away.

We didn't have PCs in my childhood (or even my early adult life). We did read of computers that took entire buildings.
But we used pencil and paper, and slide rules.

I've noticed the difference in the lack of children outside playing. I actually find my ears perking up when I hear a child or children laughing outside.
Even when they're outdoors, most kids I see are holding a screen with one or both hands...
It seems like any physical activity for children these days is scheduled and formalized.

To me that's a significant drawback when it comes to technology. Children don't seem to actually play anymore.
Theorist
#9 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 5:36 PM
When I was a kid, there were no cellphones. When I was a teen, my stepdad got his first cellphone that he carried in a bag and had a separate handset on a cord. The first person I knew that ever got a cell phone was probably when I was 19, and he got a used brick phone like Zack Morris, though it was already a few years old.

Kids whose parents had a little more money (or were spoiled) had a 2nd phone lines that was listed as "Children's line" in the phonebook. We had one, my sister pretty much hogged it and was on it all day.

I remember when Caller ID came out, I was probably around 12-ish. I was fascinated by that box because it had a cool LCD screen.

To upgrade RAM in a computer, you had to use a chip puller or small screwdriver and actually pry chips out of sockets, then plug in better chips and you'd better make sure the pins were straight.

You couldn't print anything at night, because it would wake up the whole house, if not the whole neighborhood.

Playing on an 8-bit NES wasn't "retro-gaming", it was just called gaming.

Going "online" meant dialing up a BBS on my 2400-baud modem and watching text stream across the screen barely any faster than I could read it. That's one thing I find weird in Sims 4, is when they are hacking, it makes dial-up modem sounds. Do any young people today even know what a dial-up modem sounds like?

When I was really young, even camcorders didn't exist. My dad had this VCR that was 2-pieces, the part with the VHS tape could be disconnected from the tuner/clock part and had a huge battery in it. You put it in a bag and hung the bag on your shoulder. Then a cable about the thickness of a small snake ran up to this huge video camera that you carried on your shoulder. It was probably 50-lbs of gear whose picture quality was only a fraction of what a cellphone could do today.

To record a TV show, you had to program your VCR timer. Most people didn't even know how to set their VCR clock.

Resident wet blanket.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 5:52 PM
Oh yes, I remember the dial-up internet - I used to quit the web every hour for the bills to look smaller, since mom paid. She always got a bit cranky when I used the web too much. I also have a bunch of VCR-videos from back when I insisted recording everything. We also had a button-phone before we got caller-ID. Gran had one with a dial, which always fascinated me.
Mad Poster
#11 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 5:54 PM
So many memories from different eras -
- Being sent up on the roof by my father to turn the antenna while he shouted feedback at me to try to get optimal reception for something he wanted to watch. Thank God we lived in a split level house.
- Getting a massive Compuserve bill because one of my stepdaughters was constantly online chatting.
- The same stepdaughter was also always on the phone - she had an extension in her room. Once my husband was in Singapore for a month working and I hadn't heard from him. In the middle of the night I heard ranting coming from the old style answering machine - 'Goddamn it, [stepdaughter's name]! I've been trying to call all night and all day. Show some goddamned consideration and get off the goddamned phone!etc etc' Now everyone has their own phones and you don't need an answering machine because there's voicemail for cellphones and land lines and texting and all the other wonderful things unheard of in my childhood.
Top Secret Researcher
#12 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 6:07 PM Last edited by coolsim22 : 25th Aug 2015 at 9:20 PM. Reason: should have stated that this is about the 11+ during the 1950s and not the whole period of the 11+
in 1944 - 1976, primary schools in the England and wales had the the Eleven plus exam which students took on their last year of primary school to determine whether they'd go to a Gramma school, a secondary school or a technical school. This system was unfair during the 1950s because teachers at the time teachers picked favourites and split the class into 2 groups, the group at the front of the class were students that the teacher thought would pass the 11 plus exam and the group of student at the back of the class were students that the teacher thought were going to fail the 11 plus exam, the students had no say in this arrangement also the 11 plus exam had ridiculous questions.
students who got into secondary school were split by gender and they'd have lesson based on the jobs that seemed suitable for their gender.
girls had to do sewing and had lessons on how to be a house wife because that's what women were seen as where as the boys had lessons on mechanic and lesson on other things that were seen as manly jobs. this system was sexist though as it wasn't fair for women.
(learnt this in GCSE history and surprised I remember all this because I haven't had history in six weeks due to the summer holidays)

Life is like a rollercoaster. It has its ups and downs. But it's your choice to scream or enjoy the ride
Cottage feedback- would be greatly appreciated
Simple Holiday House - great for parties and relaxation
Mad Poster
#13 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 6:26 PM Last edited by HarVee : 25th Aug 2015 at 6:42 PM.
Now I'm not as old as some of you here, but I do remember these:

-360p was the highest resolution available
-Computers only had 64MB RAM
-56kb/s download speed was good
-VCR tapes and CDs were common norm
-The most annoying sound ever
-Cassette tape & CD walkmans

Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry

Scholar
#14 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 6:52 PM
@HarVee More like BEST sound ever! It was the moment you knew you were about to be on the World Wide Web!
Guest
#15 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 7:23 PM
Cars had no seatbelts. Children had no car seats - just put the baby on the floor if you didn't want to hold him. Children sat on one another, but cars were huge.

Computers had magnetic core memory.

Push-button "Princess" phones were a new novelty. They were, like all phones, wired to the wall.

Color TV was new, and looked pretty bad.

I remember watching TV during the Cuban missile crisis, and expecting to get blown to bits in short order.

I became aware of the Vietnam war in Kindergarten, and I was carrying a draft card in my senior year in high school.
Constant Contestant
retired moderator
#16 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 7:27 PM
Quote: Originally posted by coolsim22
in 1944 - 1976, primary schools in the England and wales had the the Eleven plus exam which students took on their last year of primary school to determine whether they'd go to a Gramma school, a secondary school or a technical school. This system was unfair though because teachers at the time picked favourites and split the class into 2 groups, the group at the front of the class were students that the teacher thought would pass the 11 plus exam and the group of student at the back of the class were students that the teacher thought were going to fail the 11 plus exam, the students had no say in this arrangement also the 11 plus exam had ridiculous questions.
students who got into secondary school were split by gender and they'd have lesson based on the jobs that seemed suitable for their gender.
girls had to do sewing and had lessons on how to be a house wife because that's what women were seen as where as the boys had lessons on mechanic and lesson on other things that were seen as manly jobs. this system was sexist though as it wasn't fair for women.
(learnt this in GCSE history and surprised I remember all this because I haven't had history in six weeks due to the summer holidays)
I have to disagree with you on some of this, coolsim. I left school in 1978. I went to a Secondary Modern girls school (there were mixed gender schools too). I did not learn 'housework' at school but we did have needlework and home economics lessons. These were far better than Food Tech and Textiles because we actually learnt how to make clothing and a proper meal from scratch! I don't remember being segregated in Junior school for the 11 plus and I must've taken it.

Want a specific style of house or community building? Why not take a look at my profile and see what I build and then come ask me to make it!
Top Secret Researcher
#17 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 8:03 PM
Quote: Originally posted by KarenLorraine
I have to disagree with you on some of this, coolsim. I left school in 1978. I went to a Secondary Modern girls school (there were mixed gender schools too). I did not learn 'housework' at school but we did have needlework and home economics lessons. These were far better than Food Tech and Textiles because we actually learnt how to make clothing and a proper meal from scratch! I don't remember being segregated in Junior school for the 11 plus and I must've taken it.


KarenLorraine, I may have gotten the year wrong, I should've mentioned in the post that it was about the 11 plus during the 1950s which is what the history teacher taught us about but we only learnt about what the 11 plus was like during that decade and I may have gotten some of my facts a Little wrong due to not having history for quite a while.

Life is like a rollercoaster. It has its ups and downs. But it's your choice to scream or enjoy the ride
Cottage feedback- would be greatly appreciated
Simple Holiday House - great for parties and relaxation
Instructor
#18 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 8:05 PM
I miss the stands with headphones in supermarkets where you could listen to CDs before buying them. I was picking CDs just because of pretty covers and I was really excited how will it sound like
Now in the "Youtube times" I dont even know how most of the album covers look:D:D:D

Visit my Tumblr for more creations http://crowkeeperthesimmer.tumblr.com :)
Constant Contestant
retired moderator
#19 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 9:00 PM
Quote: Originally posted by coolsim22
KarenLorraine, I may have gotten the year wrong, I should've mentioned in the post that it was about the 11 plus during the 1950s which is what the history teacher taught us about but we only learnt about what the 11 plus was like during that decade and I may have gotten some of my facts a Little wrong due to not having history for quite a while.
Phew, coolsim :D

Want a specific style of house or community building? Why not take a look at my profile and see what I build and then come ask me to make it!
Top Secret Researcher
#20 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 9:16 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Crowkeeper
I was picking CDs just because of pretty covers and I was really excited how will it sound like:P

Yes! Yes! Album cover art! Thumbing through my parents' stack of LPs with the big, beautiful covers, and hearing that there used to be entire stores full of more and more of them!

To get really "olden" I need to hear my Da's stories -- which he has a lot of . But for this post, I'll just say what I've been struck by during my own life, and only with respect to technology. (If you were to get me going on human rights, it could be a long and strident post; so for now, just technology.)

When I was very very little, everyone seemed to think of electronic devices as being pretty self-contained and each having its own purpose. A phone would be for voice calls and texts, and a fax machine for faxes. A TV was mainly for watching video. Cameras took pictures or videos. A computer could be for writing, for calculating, for storing data, or in my case, for playing JumpStart (tm) games. Surely we did use the Web a lot! but even then, it felt like something we were doing on the computer, not like something we were doing with someone else. And it is true that many of these devices could be made to connect to each other, but that would be a deliberate process -- the device was the device, and the connections were something that you'd do with them.

The difference now is that nearly everything is a communication device of some kind -- inherently, in its own concept, and regardless of what other functions it might be doing. I notice that change in the way we view all of our technologies, more easily than I can name any specific gadget or pastime or lifestyle that has come or gone.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#21 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 9:26 PM
It might also depends on what area or country you are from. I'm from Australia and born in 1966.

I remember:
Going to the neighbours house for the moon landing. I wasn't quite 3 but I remember a few things from when I was 2. They had the biggest TV on our road. It was in black and white and there were lots of people. I had no idea what was going on. But everyone was excited.

Milk in glass bottles, they came in pints and I liked the foil type lids. Those were colour coded depending on the type of milk. Full cream was gold.

Being held up by my father to place a 2 cent coin into the slot stamp machine outside the Post Office. Then you turned the handle to get a 1 or 2 cent stamp. I thought this was super exciting and I got to do this every Saturday. I was mad when they took it away.

Going across to the little shop across the road from our primary school, looking through the glass and deciding which 1,2 and 5 cent lollies I wanted. 10cents would give me a small bag to eat on the bus going home.

When Australia changed from imperial to metric. I was super confused about it all at school. I never did fully go over to metric. I still today use feet and inches for height and pounds for babies.

When cassettes came out I thought that was the best thing ever as they were so much portable than records and when I got a portable cassette player that attached to my jeans my life was complete.

When the first sit down Space Invaders was installed at our local pool. It took 20 cents at a time and I was hooked.

My first Amstrad computer. with floppy disks.

When we dropped the dollar and two dollar bill and went over to 1 and 2 dollar coins. Still don't like that as it increases the weight we carry. I do like that our other paper money is now plastic. We also have no 1 or 2 cent coins any longer, everything is rounded up or down to the 5 cent coin.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#22 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 11:09 PM
I remember cassettes! Those were amazing! I loved making up theatrical recorded pieces when I was little. We also had 8 track tapes.

When I was younger, the phones were all rotary and area codes were given as names, not numbers. No one had a portable phone. The closest thing to that was in the fictional spy comedy show, Get Smart, where Agent Smart had a "shoe phone".

When my dad was growing up, there were no tvs and he went to the theater once a week to watch a "serial" feature movie and to get news. Growing up during the depression affected both of my parents very much and we were always careful with resources. Nothing was taken for granted. My mom remembered practicing black outs as a teen during the war. I remember duck and cover. It didn't make me feel safe, just aware that there were people out there who wanted to kill us.

I taught my son how to phone home from a pay phone when he was in preschool. Good luck finding a pay phone now.
#23 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 11:20 PM
When I were a lad, and all round here was fields ... regular bags of crisps/chips were much bigger.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 25th Aug 2015 at 11:44 PM
Anyone remember the turbo button on computers?

Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry

#25 Old 26th Aug 2015 at 1:03 AM
I remember my mom's floppy disks, our camera that stored pictures on mini-discs the size of a GameCube disc, our first iPod from '05 or '06, bulky TVs, our car that didn't have an iPod port...oh wait we still have our car

Uhhhh, Playhouse Disney, when I would get my hair cut and you'd have a choice of playing GameCube games (or PS2, depending on the place) or DVDs, my mom's bulky phone, the flip phone she got after that, the iPhone she got after that, when SpongeBob didn't suck, when the White Sox won the world series, Windows XP...

........I'm not that old
Page 1 of 3
Back to top