...cartoons shows were only available on Saturday mornings? And you lived for those mornings because you were allowed to run downstairs in your nightie and turn on the TV even before your parents came down, and be mesmerized by Dudley Do-Right, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Hong-Kong Phooey?
...the only portable electronic device any kid had was a box record player? And you had to know the difference between a 45 and a 78? (And how to entertain yourself by reading for long stretches of time?)
...pen-pals actually used pens to write letters?
...elementary school kids who lived within walking distance of the school walked the whole way unaccompanied by their parents? Even in second grade?
...TV came in four channels (NBC, ABC, CBS and PBS), and you had to get up and walk across the room to change them? And your guide to the week's programming was printed in a little magazine that provided tantalizing descriptions of upcoming episodes? And if you weren't home when your favorite show was on, you just missed watching it? And if you fell asleep during the late show, you would wake up to a graphic of the American flag and the national anthem playing before the channel went off the air for the evening?
...girls bought new "school shoes" in the fall, and the choices were saddle oxfords or saddle oxfords?
...most cars did not have air conditioning, and gas cost 87 cents per gallon? (and there was a key on your keyboard for a cents sign?)
...lunchboxes were made of metal and came with matching thermoses?
...your first bicycle had a banana seat? And a triangular orange flag atop a long bendy pole sticking up from the back axel?
...wood floors had to be waxed periodically?
...Lite Brites had to be plugged in to light up, and Battleship didn't light up at all?
...telephones were attached to the wall, and the receiver had a looonnng springy cord so that you could still talk on the phone while you did the dinner dishes?
...no one you knew had a microwave? And you had to learn to operate one while babysitting? And you had no idea how long to heat the chocolate sauce for the ice cream, and so you not only heated the sauce but thoroughly melted its container?
Makes you wonder what your own kids will think about with some nostalgia, and try to imagine how to explain to their kids.
What will be their version of the gut-stunning question: "Mama, what's a record?"
5 comments:
I'm a late 80s baby so I missed some of these. But I do remember having my little tapedeck and my monogrammed tape case so I could listen to the beatles on long car rides.
I remember sitting at our tiny black and white computer playing Math Blaster.
Wow that takes me back…
When I got my first apartment I purposely bought a 50 foot telephone cable and a 10 foot phone cord. I could take my phone anywhere in the apartment.
I explained a tape to my 8 year old the other day. It was eye opening.
Considering my 20 month old has been playing games on my iPad all week...I do wonder.
However? I was born in 1980 and lived in Los Angeles. I actually had cable most of my childhood. I remember when my mom had to explain to me about the first color TV she saw. Ha.
I used to walk to Kindergarten! What were my parents thinking? And don't get me started on them letting me mow the lawn at age 6 on a riding lawn mower...with my 4 year old brother sitting on one of the wheel covers. *gasp*
My classmate Becky Shaw had that exact lunchbox in like third grade. I will always remember her for that and her wacky, Scooby-Doo influenced sense of humor!
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