I remember when . . . .

[Ryvyan]

I was born in the 80s so not that far back...

I remember gathering with other kids at the playground after school and playing without more than the cursory "what's your name".

I remember standing at public payphones keying in alphanumeric messages to pagers.

I remember being on my best behaviour as we check books out of the library because the librarians were fierce.

I remember my mother buying us lollipops on the way back from kindergarten.

I remember non-digital cameras so every photo is taken carefully.

I remember waking up early on Saturday mornings for the cartoons.

I remember going to computer lessons when I was 10, learning typing and Microsoft Office programs.

I remember using MS Dos on my aunt's computer and playing solitaire. I remember my first computer - a Windows 3.0.

I remember dial-up and exceeding the number of hours allocated.

I remember Altavista chats.

I remember when I got my first handphone.

[crich70]

And don't forget games that didn't have the words "batteries not included" stamped on the box (aside from 'Operation' of course).

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by Tome Keeper

Here, here! and school's actually did proper science, not show videos of the experiments because of 'Health and Safety'!

It wasn't a good experiment unless the fire brigade was called or someone fainted.

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I remember the Charles Atlas ads and the ads for novelties like "X-Ray" glasses and teeth-blackening chewing gum!

Sea Monkeys. You only buy them once and what a stick when they all die.

Originally Posted by sakura-panda

Meijer still has pony rides for a penny, ----> SNIP

There a dollar over here.

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Toy soldiers, before they had moving parts and accessories.
'Slinkies' made of metal rather than plastic.
Toy chests full of 'stuff that could put your eye out,' 'dangerous if swallowed,' and politically incorrect.


Stitchawl

Toy bow and arrows. You could take the suction cup of and sharpen the wood.
Throwing a Bowie Knife into the back door over and over when anyone at all could have just opened the door from the other side.
Jumping from the third floor construction into a pile of sand.
Walking through the drainage tunnel from behind my house to the beach about a kilometer away without a torch.
Going down the big hill at the beach on a skateboard and getting the death wobbles.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Ryvyan

I remember going to computer lessons when I was 10, learning typing and Microsoft Office programs.

I remember using MS Dos on my aunt's computer and playing solitaire. I remember my first computer - a Windows 3.0.

I remember dial-up and exceeding the number of hours allocated.

I remember Altavista chats.

I remember my 1st computer as well. It was a TRS-80 (color). No CD-rom, no hard drive, no modem, dot matrix printer, programs were saved to audio tape drive, and the total memory was 16k. Later when I got a more modern computer I was on dial up. The connection would always drop suddenly (usually while trying to download a file of some sort). I don't recall Altavista but I do remember egroups (they were absorbed by Yahoo Groups and I lost my username because someone else had the same one through yahoo). I also remember WebTV. I used it for a time between the TRS-80 and my newer computer (a 486 built when the 1st Pres. Bush was in office). It was a huge step up for me at the time though I've gone way beyond that now days.
I remember turning on the TV (to use my WebTV) and seeing a plane hitting a building. I thought to myself "I wonder what foreign city that's happening in" only to find out that it was New York City. It was just a little after 8am on 9/11/2001.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Nobody's mentioned Top Value stamps yet.

Aren't they the same as Triple-S Blue Stamps and S&H Green Stamps?


Stitchawl

[Stitchawl]

My first computer was a Vic-20. No nothin'. Not even a monitor. You hooked it up to your TV, put in a game cartridge, and got a text-only game on the screen...
"You are now at a crossroads, and can go east [E.] west [W,] or north [N.] Enter... "N"
You can see a tree and a chair. You can climb [C,] or sit [S,] or walk forward [W.] Enter...



Stitchawl

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Aren't they the same as Triple-S Blue Stamps and S&H Green Stamps?


Stitchawl

Yes, they were a competitor of S&H Green Stamps. They were yellow. I've not heard of Triple-S Blue Stamps before.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Yes, they were a competitor of S&H Green Stamps. They were yellow. I've not heard of Triple-S Blue Stamps before.

Probably a regional variety...


I remember raising Sea Monkeys to feed to my tropical fish. Sea Monkeys were just plain ordinary Brine Shrimp, but sold to kids for a higher price.

At 12 years old, splitting packs of cigarettes between three of us. One kid always got the short draw, 7, 7, and 6. He'll probably live longer than us.

Pinball machines with real steel balls, 10 cents a game. Tilt!

The Children's Reading Room at our library.

Trying to type a school report on our old Royal Underwood, and having the keys stick together, getting black ink all over my fingers, and a really yucky looking finished paper.

Mimeograph machines, and getting blue ink all over my fingers and really yucky looking papers.

8mm film projectors at school, getting stuck and melting the film


Stitchawl

[wannabee]

Dipping the girls hair in front in the ink well. They always knew and I always got caught.
Being privileged to clean the chalk board duster and thinking "this aint no privilege" . . .*coughing*

[Bikeridr]

I remember when the TV program list (for the one and only TV channel in Norway) had an "F" ("Farger" = "Colour") behind the program name to indicate that the program/show would be in colour.

I remember when I got my very first vinyl LP record. (Kiss - Dynasty)

I remember when my Dad got his first Mobile Telephone (OK, it was "movable", weighed 1,2 kgs ~3 lbs) and it cost $3.000,- *used*. Call charge was about a buck a minute.

I remember when 100 HP in a car was *M.A.S.S.I.V.E*

I remember 8-track and 45' Vinyl player for cars.

I remember the VW K70.

I remember "Skippy" and "Flipper" (And a good portion of pedagogically correct Norwegian childrens TV programs).

I remember radio tube radios for cars. Occupied the whole glove compartment (and you didn't need the heater to be on during winter ).

I remeber our first wireless landline telephone. It had a retractable antenna which was a full meter long when extracted.

OK, I feel old..

[sakura-panda]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

'Slinkies' made of metal rather than plastic.

I don't believe they are plastic anymore. At least, I can't remember the last time I saw one that wasn't metal.

They were metal when I was a kid and the ones my kids have are metal. I remember plastic ones sometime in between, but I don't think they sell them anymore. Or they just don't sell them where I shop.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by wannabee

IToy bow and arrows. You could take the suction cup of and sharpen the wood.

I remember those. And I remember how easy it was to pull the suction cups off the darts in dart guns.

I remember sharpening popsicle sticks to use as knives. They were probably safer than the dart guns.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Yes, they were a competitor of S&H Green Stamps. They were yellow. I've not heard of Triple-S Blue Stamps before.

There was also Gold Bond Stamps, but my mother usually used the Top Value stamps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_stamp

[Dylrob]

The first computer I owned was a Mac 128k. It was a hand-me-down. The screen was pure B&W... not even a shade of gray. Its internal floppy drive was broken, so everything ran off the external one. Swapping disks could get rather tiresome. But hey, it was mine!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

My first computer was a Vic-20. No nothin'. Not even a monitor. You hooked it up to your TV, put in a game cartridge, and got a text-only game on the screen...

Mine was a Sinclair ZX81.

"You are now at a crossroads, and can go east [E.] west [W,] or north [N.] Enter... "N"
You can see a tree and a chair. You can climb [C,] or sit [S,] or walk forward [W.] Enter...

Text adventure games are still alive and well. I've got all the old Infocom games running under the "Frotz" app on my iPhone. It works very well.