Things from your childhood that would baffle young people of today

[jujube]

Almost all the stores closed on Sundays.

Going for a drive on Sunday afternoon, no destination in mind, just driving.

Going to a movie and spending hours there. There were cartoons, newsreels, previews, then the "first" movie, followed by the "main" movie. If it was really hot outside, you could just sit through the whole thing again.

 

[hollydolly]

Sanitary towel belts !!!

 

[Aunt Bea]

We were country folks, if you were badly cut or injured you would die before you could get medical attention.

I remember the days before every little town had an ambulance service.

If someone was sick or injured you bundled them up and drove them to the hospital.

 

[hollydolly]

I remember the days before every little town had an ambulance service.

If someone was sick or injured you bundled them up and drove them to the hospital.

We still do that now here... it takes an age sometimes for an abulance to get here so it's quicker often to just get the injured party to the hospital ourselves..

 

[Aunt Bea]

Look ma no hands and no helmet!

 

[Aunt Bea]

Department store Charge-A-Plates.

 

[applecruncher]

Car hops brought your food

Drive-in movies with sound speaker that attached to car window

 

[RadishRose]

Department store Charge-A-Plates.

omg, like my mother had! Wow, to see one again....

 

[applecruncher]

View Master

Kaledioscope

 

[RadishRose]

Things at school like mimeograph machines, paper cutters and the good, steel pencil sharpeners.
Slate blackboards and clapping the erasers.

 

[hollydolly]

Department store Charge-A-Plates.

I've never seen one of those before....

 

[hollydolly]

Mail order catalogues, and having to wait up to 28 days for something to arrive...

Spending winter nights indoors looking through the glossy catalogue and dreaming of things you know you'd never be able to get your parents to buy for you...

 

[hollydolly]

 

[RadishRose]

8 track tapes, probably cassette tapes.

 

[norman]

Mum took a lot of pictures and the rolls of film were mailed with the cash enclosed to Chicago for developing. The rolls of film were picked up by our postman. They were mailed back to us which took about 3 weeks. This I find it difficult to believe, but it was about 75 years ago. lol

 

[RadishRose]

I think so, when I was very small.

 

[applecruncher]

Things at school like mimeograph machines, paper cutters and the good, steel pencil sharpeners.
Slate blackboards and clapping the erasers.

"Ditto" machines! We used to sniff that purple ink.

 

[norman]

I was told that an elf named Jack Frost did these and to my astonishment he still exits today, but you never see his art work very often anymore..

 

[Llynn]

LOL..I'm 64 and even I haven't a clue what half of your list is....

Well some of it may be difference between the two sides of the Atlantic. Back in the bad old days, schools considered young ladies to be too delicate to run the full length of a basketball court so the sweet little things only used half the court to play. US cars up and into the 1950s had a foot button on the floor to energize the starter. Duck and Cover was all about the cold war. The govt told us that folding up in a ball under our school desk would protect us from A and H bombs.

 

[Pecos]

Ice boxes, wood cook stoves, and outhouses, I don't miss any of them, except the smell of the wood burning stove. Messing with firewood, no.

 

[terry123]

Buying things on "lay-a-way" and not taking them home until they were paid for in full

Yes that's how I would buy my Christmas gifts for the kids. Waiting for the Sears Christmas book, kids would pick out what they wanted and I would put what I could afford on lay a way.

 

[Patio Life]

When we live out in the country in forested area.
Going outside early in the morning, eating berries / wild apples / rhubarb / drinking from the creek. Playing in the forest all day and going home in the afternoon - at 9 yrs old.

 

[terry123]

78 and 45 vinyl records. Right now my granddaughter is appalled because I asked her to make a deposit to my account using paper checks. She said, "Mimi, don't you have a debit card cause I can take a pic of your checks and deposit". No I don't as I am a target anyway waking with a cane and don't need someone watching me at an ATM, knocking me down, taking my ATM card, etc. She could not believe I expected her to go into the Bank and make a deposit. I just had a few miscellaneous checks to deposit as my SS is direct deposited. She learned something and I did too about what 21 year olds know!!

 

[Llynn]

Department store overhead cash trolleys. The clerk would put your money in a container and snap it to a wire that ran to a central cashier. She would pull on a hanging cord and the carrier would travel up the line. Then the cashier would take your money out, make change and write a receipt and then send back down to the clerk.

Three days to clear checks at your bank.

Xray machines in shoe stores.

 

[applecruncher]

I remember seeing the overhead cash trolley at a store back in the late 60s.... operated on some kind of vacuum. It seemed slow, cumbersome, and antiquated, even back then.