What did you have growing up that seems so old fashioned?

[dusty's mom]

Roller skates that clamped on, with 4 wheels and a key!
Slide rule - no pocket calculators
50 foot TV antenna with a box to change the direction it pointed. You had to live in Modesto to appreciate that!
Big ol' long cars with fins!
Refrigerators that needed defrosting.

 

[essayons89]

Originally Posted by calico2222

Mustard yellow and avocado green furnishing

I remember that. When we moved into our seocomd house in the late 1970's the carpets were an ugly avocado green and the kitchen appliances were either yellow or a light brown. They were horrid.

8-track tapes

The metal boxes on the front porch for milk were still around but they were starting to disappear.

 

[calico2222]

Originally Posted by Essayons89

The metal boxes on the front porch for milk were still around but they were starting to disappear.

Oh, I forgot about those! We had one on our front porch when I was little. I always just thought it was an extra seat for me.

How about the door bells on the middle of the door that you had to turn to get them to ring? Anyone remember those?

 

[pushylady]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I'm not sure what some of you are going on about, there were remotes for tvs in the '50s - the first wireless one being in '56.

Well clearly they weren't very common because most people didn't have remotes for their TV even in the 70's.

 

[ruthyb]

Originally Posted by farleyv

I should say I was born in 1952

I also remember mothers who were home all day and were there when we got off the bus.

The neighbors getting together weekly for cards. People don't even know their neighbors anymore.

I know mine all right, just can't stand them

Its true though, my nan says that it used to be like one big happy family when she was younger, leaving her doors and windows always unlocked. x

 

[motoko9]

Originally Posted by butzie

Radiators and unit air conditioners or just fans.

In my neck of the woods, you still see those things pretty frequently! I guess that they are less common in parts of the country where there are lots of newer homes.

Old toys make me nostalgic. Just the other day, someone on TV mentioned the View-Master. Does anyone else remember them? I loved that thing when I was little. I think they are still being made, but I haven't seen one in a while. I also played with Colorforms, and I loved the Spirograph!

 

[natalie_ca]

I was born in 1962

NO REALITY TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Out houses
Walking a mile to get water from a pump station
Filling a round metal tub and the whole family bathing in it from cleanest to dirtiest!
Pay telephones
Trolly Buses
Walking a few blocks instead of driving
Low gas prices
Chocolate Bar and a bottle of pop for 5 cents!
Board games (still my preferred style of game playing)
Records
Never having to lock your doors
Kids actually playing outside instead of sitting in front of some electronic devise
Music that you could actually hear/understand the lyrics
Roller skating rinks
Skipping (regular, double dutch, yogi)
Milk delivery

 

[natalie_ca]

Originally Posted by motoko9

In my neck of the woods, you still see those things pretty frequently! I guess that they are less common in parts of the country where there are lots of newer homes.

Old toys make me nostalgic. Just the other day, someone on TV mentioned the View-Master. Does anyone else remember them? I loved that thing when I was little. I think they are still being made, but I haven't seen one in a while. I also played with Colorforms, and I loved the Spirograph!

Ohhhh! I loved my view master! And my Slinky!!!

 

[bob'smom]

AM only car radios, with tuner sliders. My grandfather could never get it right on the station and didn't want anyone else trying to fix it.

8 track tapes that would change tracks in the middle of songs.

Telephone tables - a table with a seat and a desk for the phone and paper so you can take messages!

Microwave ovens built into the wall near or over the stove.

As for rabbit ears, I still use them in my bedroom. They're now hooked up to the digital converter box.

 

[darkmavis]

Born in 1980... (in December, so i'm not 30 yet, goshdarnit!!

)

So, most everything I thought of while reading through the thread, other people have mentioned, but here goes...

We had a rotary phone, and when friends came over and had to call their moms to pick them up or something, they never knew how to use it!!

I loved my Walkman (but it wasn't a Sony, just a cheap tape player) and 'boombox' tape player that we could also record stuff like our own made up radio shows and whatever other goofy things we came up with.

I then loved my Discman (again, not a Sony) which i used up until maybe 2 years ago, still carrying my CD carrying case on airplanes...

Hanging out at the rollerskating rink every weekend- we always ended up getting free passes for the next weekend so the parents just took turns driving us all there and back, maybe gave us $1 for snacks.

Yeah, TV with no remote and channels 2-13.

We got our first VCR and videotape- E.T. in I think 1985? It was such a huge deal!!

Helping my friend with her paper route when we slept over her house. No one has paper routes anymore I don't think! Dangerous scary creepy people out there to get the kiddies in the predawn hours. What a shame.

Also just general freedom and no over-worrying about stuff.

 

[skippymjp]

Candy bars came in one size, the size they call "king sized" now, and cost a nickle.

 

[katachtig]

The Fuller Brush man

 

[skippymjp]

Originally Posted by Bob'sMom

Telephone tables - a table with a seat and a desk for the phone and paper so you can take messages!

My grandmother called her's "the gossip bench".

I still have it, AND the Stromberg Carlson rotary phone that sat on it for over 50 years. Still works, just not very loud.

 

[libby74]

[How about the door bells on the middle of the door that you had to turn to get them to ring? Anyone remember those?
__________________
/QUOTE]

Our 100 year old house still has one; pizza dealer guys and trick or treaters love to play with it.

Garter belts (or just garters) and nylons
Party line phone
A black and white tv that only got 2 channels and had rabbit ears
Sleeping on porcupine-like hair curlers. I was thrilled when my hair grew long enough to use orange juice cans as rollers.
Stores were closed on Sundays--it was family day
Wearing pedal pushers (which I absolutely hated)
Getting our first record player when I was 6
There was no such thing as a "house cat"
Plastic popsicle molds that you filled with Kool-aid
Sitting outside on summer evenings and making jewelry from clover blossoms

Oh man, I feel so old!

 

[catkiki]

Penny candy
vinyl records (45's and long playing)
playing hide and seek outside
playing tag
running through the sprinklers
swimming at the pool in the park which cost 20 cents
Selling girl scout cookies door to door not just taking orders
Trick or Treating where you didn't have to be afraid of people trying to harm you
soda cans that had a pop-top that you actually removed. You had to be careful not to step on them in the summer or you would cut your foot
You were happy with sparklers on the 4th of July, you didn't need all the fancy stuff they have now
Swamp coolers instead of AC
Chinese Jump rope

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

No electric lights in the house, used kerosene lamps. When we finally did get electricity, the lights were a bare bulb in the center of the room with a string attached. We tied a longer string on it and then tied that string to the bedpost so we could get in bed and turn off the light from bed.

No heat and A/C. We used a wood burning stove, only in the living room.

Screens in the windows that you put in and pulled them out to hold up the windows.

No running water in the house. There was a pump on the back porch. We took baths in a washpan, not a bathtub. No bathrooms, but a path to the outhouse.

Rides to the store with my grandad driving the mule and cart.

There probably is a lot more, but I have probably shocked you enough. We were raised by our dad with the help of his parents. We were poor, but we never realized it at the time. We had so much love, it more than made up for the lack of other things.

 

[butzie]

Oh! Chatty Catthie, the Spirograph, so many other things.

But, phones and TV - shows watched or set - seem to be the common thread...

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

We lived in my grandparents old farm house. The fron door and back door were in line with each being at the end of the entrance hall. At night dad hooked the screen door, left the wood doors open. There was a window fan and all the windows were left open. The fan drew a breeze through the house. Now I could not go to bed and leave doors or windows open. There are too many nuts walking around.

 

[kittywarden]

My Dad 56 Ford Station Wagon in green and white. The black and white TV and the rotary dial telephone on the shelf by the front door. The shelf is still there at moms house the phone has been upgraded to a push button dial.

 

[c1atsite]

I was raised in a 2-level house. We had 2 plug-in intercoms to combat shouting e.g. "dinner's ready!". Each unit had 3 buttons. Talk, listen, and call. "Call" was a mechanical "boooop" sound. The quality wasn't great but it got the job done.