Record players

45 rpm, 78 rpm, and 33 1/3 rpm records to play on the record player

Rabbit ears (for the black & white TV)

Actually getting a color TV!

Eight track players for the car

Reel to reel tape recorders and players

Drive in movie theatres

Beer and pop cans with pull tops

I'm 36 and I remember record players, rabbit ears, 8 track players, drive in movie theaters and cans with pull tops very well. I never did get to go to my local drive in movie theater though.

I dont know if you've heard but apparently vinyl records have been making a bit of a comeback recently.

Interesting about the records. Now why would that be? They scratch easily and you need a record player. I actually kept ours for many years, but eventually it just grew dust and I gave it away.

OK, here's some more. Office machines. I took a class in office machines in high school. We had a ten key adding machine, a manual typewriter, some other stuff which of course is now antique. Eventually, we got some IBM Selectrics. WHOA. They still use IBM electric typewriters at work.

We had a key punch machine and that was highly prized since it meant you were computer programming.

I can't remember the language we started with, probably a couple steps behind Fortran and COBOL. I was still programming with those in college.

I remember them all.

You forgot one, those triangle shaped windows in the front of drivers/passenger doors, to let the air in, no AC.

You guys are either really old or you have great memories back to the age of 1/2 year.

Oh, here's another one: Drive in restaurants. I know, Sonic and few others still do it, but not like when I was growing up. Heck, there was a drive in every other block. And we spent a lot of time there at night. A&W and Bob's Big Boy were favorites.

And cruisin'. Do kids still do this on a Friday and Saturday night? I wouldn't know, I don't get out much. I'm old.

Hey, 1980 wasn't that long ago, when the KT technology boundary that is carbon paper was layed down for the last time.

To think that in 1976 a digital watch - red LED that couldn't be read in sunlight - cost seven hundred dollars in the Sears wishbook catalog (Catalogs! OMG!). It was gold toned and displayed the date and seconds as well as the time, though, so it was worth the price, I reckon.

I had a couple of those red LED watches when I was a very young child but they certainly weren't the $700 version.

29 years according to my computer calculator, but who's counting?

Aw, who am I kidding, I have shoes that are older than that.

I remember one time back in HS, our math teacher brought in an electronic calculator. It plugged into the wall outlet, had a red LED display, and was a basic add/subtract/multiply/divide calculator. But it was "electronic"! We oohed and aahed over it for a while and then I assume they put it back in the school vault.

I forget what he said it cost, but it was obscene.

Heck, I remember my 1st grade teacher having an abacus. How's that for old tech??

<-42 I remember all except 78 records. My family was one of the first in the city to get a remote controled tv back in 71 i think.

Your old if you remember the moon landings.

Remember the moon landings? I was 26 and doing the Navy "thing" on July 20, 1969. We watched Neil come down the ladder on our little b&w tv in our apt. in San Diego. I used all that stuff in the first post except the 8-track -- and still have a record player (turntable) and reel-to-reel tapedeck right here in the room with me now (although I haven't used either in a long time). Thank goodness for progress (hi-tech and otherwise).

CB

Hey, I was super pissed when the Space and Rocket Center cut the top floor displays in order to make room for a rock wall for kids. They had a "typical scene from 1969" with kids laying on the floor watching the Moon Landing on an old TV.

I was four years old and remember it clearly. In fact, the whole Apollo mission set is some of my most clear memories of being a kid. I can't tell you who my kindergarten teacher was or a single kid that was in my class, but I know that Alan Bean was the fourth man on the Moon.

Jumping ahead, I drank so much Tang that my Mom was concerned my pee would turn orange - but it was not only what astronauts drank, the jar came with a plastic moon buggy. Pretty good toy, too, it was built solidly and had a rubber band deal so it would roll on its own power.

In 1984 I got a chance to meet John Glenn when he was throwing his hat into the Presidential ring and made an appearance at my college; what a thrill. He was very gracious when I admitted that he had my undying respect and admiration, but not my vote. Since the deal was hosted by the Young Democrats and I was a Young Republican, he politely chuckled at my lame "twice the party crasher" joke.

Of course I was hustled out of there before I could say boo past that.

Panzer, we learned the abacus as a required subject in grade school, and in college it was not unusual to see a slide rule. In fact, they still offered classes ("seminars") on how to use one in 1983.

Yeah, I guess so. And I do. I remember exactly where I was in my parent's house, watching the TV, listening to Walter Cronkite. It was awesome. When Armstrong set foot on the moon, I let out a whoop and my parents ran in to see what was the matter. They were oblivious to all this space stuff and couldn't care less. But I sure did.

Other stuff:

I used to watch "Howdy Doody" and "The Mickey Mouse Club" after school.

Phew, I dont qualify then!

You forgot A&W Restaurants where the waitress rolled up to your car with roller skates, a tray, and fresh brewed root beer in a frosty glass mug.

I only remember the latter ones, esp Apollo 17 sticks in my mind with their banter as they cavorted around, and the night-launch. I don't remember watching the first landing on TV, but do remember my dad taking me outside and pointing at the moon and telling me there were guys up there walking around.

Damn, I regret never having experienced that, especially if the waitress happened to be hot.

you mean ring pull? we still have those ...

Well, down here we called them pull tops. Maybe same thing. You pull the ring and the "top" or part of it, comes off. Beaches and parks and other places used to be full of these aluminum foot cutters. You didn't want to walking around barefoot. They got rid of that, here, jeez, must have been in the '70's.

Here's a story, sad but true. My buddy and I used to share a little duplex. And, we drank a lot of beer and had a lot of parties. And we asked everyone to toss their pull tops into a bowl. And later, we'd hook them together and make a chain. Eventually, that chain went 7 times around the top of the walls in the living room.

One more story, about my buddy. We're basically brothers, been best friends since about 5th grade. Anyway, same apartment, we had announced a New Year's Party. Well, nine o'clock, and NO ONE is there. We're wondering WTH? He got so wound up, he went out in the street and yelled "Where the hell is everyone?"

Not ten minutes later, that tiny apartment was crowded with about 30 people. The music, laughter, and talk was so loud. I pulled him aside and said "What the hell did you wish for?"

They also had a poorly designed button type thing I vaguely remember to replace the pull tab, you pushed in a little button type thing to release the pressure in the can or something and then pushed in the other part you drank from, didn't last long.