I remember when.....

[Snowdrop]

My parents having a VCR that had a remote control that you plugged into it with a big, long wire, (good for tripping/falling over).

Having a bright red rotary phone.

A black and white TV in my bedroom.

The enormous 1950's/60's record player my grandparents had that was in a beautiful wooden oak sideboard unit. What I wouldn't give for one of those now!

 

[scottyrocks]

I was working at NBC in the mid-80s when VCRs were on the rise. With an employee discount, their upper line model was $400!! Top loader with a wireless remote and electronic control panel, as opposed to the lesser line's rotary - yes, rotary dial.

Around 1974 I got a 12" black and white TV with a digital clock in it. It had an alarm clock, and a timer so it would go off by itself. Very useful for going to bed watching the tube. The numerals were flat plates that were released to fall every minute. This was pre-LED - no electronics. The screen had a grayish filter over it that lessened the harshness of the picture and made the set look very sleek. I was free to watch whatever of seven channels I wanted with no interference from anyone! Hot stuff!

 

[Snowdrop]

I was working at NBC in the mid-80s when VCRs were on the rise. With an employee discount, their upper line model was $400!! Top loader with a wireless remote and electronic control panel, as opposed to the lesser line's rotary - yes, rotary dial.

Around 1974 I got a 12" black and white TV with a digital clock in it. It had an alarm clock, and a timer so it would go off by itself. Very useful for going to bed watching the tube. The numerals were flat plates that were released to fall every minute. This was pre-LED - no electronics. I was free to watch whatever of seven channels I wanted with no interference from anyone! Hot stuff!

Wow, your TV was all singing, all dancing, compared to mine! I think mine had belonged to my mom when she was younger. I had to get out of bed to change the station over and the screen was tiny, but it did the job!
And our old VCR didn't have rotary controls on it, I think they were push button and they made this weird little sound when you pressed them. But that VCR remote was responsible for sending a good few unsuspecting people flat on their faces. lol

 

[MikeBravo]

I remember when paddlepops cost 20c.

I remember when Barney Bananas went up to 6c

 

[St.Ignatz]

I remember going to the dairy with my Grandfather. He would hand the empties to a man the dairyman addressing him by name. When we got home he would pour the cream off the top and save it in a small pitcher for his coffee and fruit in the morning. I remember TWO pieces of candy for a penny. You could fill a small paper sack for 10 cents. I remember when there were cent keys on typewriters!
Tom D.

 

[scottyrocks]

Wow, your TV was all singing, all dancing, compared to mine! I think mine had belonged to my mom when she was younger. I had to get out of bed to change the station over and the screen was tiny, but it did the job!

That 1974 TV was also rotary dial and no remote. had to get up to change the channel just like everyone else! The clock and the redesigned cabinet made it looks so new. Otherwise it was just a b&w TV.

 

[St.Ignatz]

I remember the old RCA remote you could change by running your finger over the teeth of a comb. The channel wouldn't change all the way butit did make it move from the existing one. The old RCA remote is why some still call them "clickers" as that's the sound made in the unit. No battery required.

Tom D.

 

[Snowdrop]

That 1974 TV was also rotary dial and no remote. had to get up to change the channel just like everyone else! The clock and the redesigned cabinet made it looks so new. Otherwise it was just a b&w TV.

I think they old television sets looked so much nicer than the new ones, the wooden cabinet surrounds and the control panels made them look like attractive pieces of furniture, as well as being functional.
And I know we all had to get up to change the channels, lol and as the youngest in the house, I was always the one to have to get up and do it! Whatever would we do without remote controls these days?! (Aside from get substantially more exercise!)


Ahhh, I didn't know that, Tom.D! Now I know why my Dad still calls it a 'clicker', but I don't think I remember us having one of those. I must ask him about it.

 

[CharlieB]

That 1974 TV was also rotary dial and no remote. had to get up to change the channel just like everyone else! The clock and the redesigned cabinet made it looks so new. Otherwise it was just a b&w TV.

Getting up to change channels was not so much of a bother then, we only had four to choose from, so "surfing" was kind of pointless!

 

[scottyrocks]

I think they old television sets looked so much nicer than the new ones, the wooden cabinet surrounds and the control panels made them look like attractive pieces of furniture, as well as being functional.
And I know we all had to get up to change the channels, lol and as the youngest in the house, I was always the one to have to get up and do it! Whatever would we do without remote controls these days?! (Aside from get substantially more exercise!)

Ahhh, I didn't know that, Tom.D! Now I know why my Dad still calls it a 'clicker', but I don't think I remember us having one of those. I must ask him about it.

My grandparents still had a big wooden-cabineted Sylvania console with a huuuge 27" screen lol long after everyone else had updated to bigger-screened, plastic-cabinet sets that stood inside a wall unit or some such.

I didnt remember it until you mentioned it, but now I remember my dad asking me to get up and change channels when i was a kid.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I agree. I have 5 sets in my house, three are consoles and the other two have nice faux-woodgrain sides on them. One console my parents bought when they got engaged in 87 one of the tabletops was my great-grandfathers in the 70s until he passed away, the year I was born and it has been my television ever since.

I think they old television sets looked so much nicer than the new ones, the wooden cabinet surrounds and the control panels made them look like attractive pieces of furniture, as well as being functional.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I remember mechanical cash registers. As a kid I was fascinated by the multitude of colored keys. Many stores still had them as late as the early 1980s. Other things I remember were brands of TVs such as Admiral and Zenith; elevator operators in buildings; and local TV shows and TV personalities. One such local TV show that I seem to recall was one called Travel with Don and Bettina. The Don and Bettina show was like watching Aunt Mildred and Uncle Max showing their home movies. The same station that carried Don and Bettina -- I think it was KCOP Channel 13 in L.A. -- also used to do almost all the commercials that ran on the station. There were two announcers that used to do the commercials: one was a man with a very deep voice and the other was a woman with a breathy Marilyn Monroe kind of voice.

 

[scottyrocks]

Speaking of mechanical cash registers, I also now remember how groceries were pulled up before the conveyor belts. There was a long handled, 3-sided wooden slide that the cashier pulled everything to her with.

As for local shows, WOR channel 9 had Officer Joe Bolton, in his beat-walking blues, hat and all, hosting a half hour show with the old Three Stooges shorts.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I remember stamps costing 29 cents as well as the uproar that came when the postal service put Elvis on a stamp.

 

[Feraud]

I remember mechanical cash registers. As a kid I was fascinated by the multitude of colored keys. Many stores still had them as late as the early 1980s.

My parents had one in their grocery store and we kids learned to use it.
Now that I think about it, for many years my dad kept a nickel plated derringer in a drawer of the register. He later switched it out for a .38 kept tucked in a pile of mail and papers next to the cash register.
There was a counterfeit bill spotting lamp that sat on a small shelf on the register.
Then there was the time I tried out the pepper spray they sold..:eusa_doh:

 

[rue]

For reference I grew up in Los Angeles county..

I remember when TVs and stereos were furniture and changing the channel manually too.

I remember 'digital' clocks with numbers on little plastic squares that flipped when the time changed.

I remember when cartoons were only on Saturday mornings.

I remember when the Star Spangled Banner played before the TV went to rainbow bars.

I remember when cable came out and going from 3 channels to 6.

I remember when MTV came out. I was almost twelve and all my friends came over for the big event.

I remember when Nick at Night played shows from the 50s.

I remember Johnny Carson.

I remember when video games first came out.

I remember not having to wear a seatbelt and riding on a lap of an adult as a kid in the car. I also remember being able to make tents in the back seat with blankets.

I remember having a milkman.

I remember when my grandmother bought one of the first microwaves (it was huge) and tried to cook Thanksgiving turkey in it (not good).

I remember trying to get a Bain de Soleil tan and using sun-in to get my almost black hair to turn blond.

I remember having hard contact lenses, before they came out with soft and glasses so thick they looked like coke bottle bottoms.

I remember having rotary phones.

I remember when you could call POPCORN to get the correct time.

And somewhat like Big Man...

I remember my grandfather's voice clear as day and I haven't heard it in 25 years.

 

[marcoshark]

... The Department stores in NYC Had pneumatic tubes

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I remember having an antenna on top of my house and not a satellite dish.

 

[Fletch]

I remember when bowling was middle-class and tattoos were lower-class.

I remember when kids drank Tang. At breakfast.

I remember when cars looked like furniture and no one noticed.

I remember when boat shoes were too sissy to wear to school.

 

[I Adore Film Noir]

I remember:

As a child: Summers seemed to go on forever, playing outside until dusk.

Jumping rope double dutch 'cause that was the coolest way.

Roller skating on the sidewalk and feeling vibrations in your feet and legs for a while afterward.

Penny candy that would fill a small brown paper bag for 15 cents.

As a teenager: Kent cigarettes were 25 cents a pack.

Gasoline was less than $1.00 a gallon and we'd pool our change for enough gas to ride around after school.

Sock hops. Drive ins. Soda fountains. Tangee lipstick. Sitting at "the kids table" during holiday dinners.