What Old Technology Has Been Replaced by Modern Innovations?

[sas3]

I remember my first C.B. Radio a "23 channel" Pinto Base station from J.C Pennies.

 

[turbo]

I remember when even pretty small radios had to be plugged into AC and NONE of them got any band other than AM, and I used to pray for sundown when the mega-stations in Albany and Buffalo would start pumping out Mo-Town, Blues, and English rock.

 

[rewebster]

Long trips on vacation on non-interstate roads

 

[Andre]

I remember doing homework I would sneak into the office of the little family company and use the dinosaur calculator. A big very heavy black metal box with an 10 x 10 array of buttons each marked 0-9.

With some physical extertion, turning the heavy handle, it was actually possible to have that thing make your calculations for homework. Wow.

 

[GeorginaS]

I remember when the best way to get a motorcycle sound on my bicycle involved using clothespins and baseball cards to rub on the spokes. IIR, Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron rookie cards sounded really good.

Yes! Hockey cards flapping in bicycle spokes. Wonderful noise.

 

[Ronnin]

I remember when people thought corduroy jackets and pants actually looked good. I remember my bowl haircut and those stupid velour sweaters my mom use to make wear. It's Texas mom, we only need sweaters two weeks out of the year!

 

[turbo]

I remember when Milky Way and Snickers bars cost 5 cents, and a Hershey Lunch Bar (plain chocolate) cost 3 cents. At the time, sodas cost 10 cents (including the 3 cent deposit on the soda bottle) so if the store owner trusted you, he'd sell you a bottle of soda AND a Lunch Bar for 10 cents with the understanding that you'd consume them on the front porch of the store and bring the bottle back in when you were done.

 

[Dr Transport]

Remember Jiffy Pop?

My son's boy scout troop thinks that Jiffy Pop is the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Cooking on a wood stove.

Did that up until 2001. We heated with wood and used the stove for long cooktime items like beans.

1 gallon water
2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic whole
about 6 ounces of salt pork
3 quarts of soaked pinto or anasazi beans

Boil covered from when the sun shows full over the Sandia Mountains til dark. 'bout 8 hours in winter. Check water ever 2-3 hours... Crudely mash the beans with a potato masher (in some of the liquid.)

Our neighbors add wood ash to the beans at the start.

 

[Ronnin]

Our neighbors add wood ash to the beans at the start.

What kind of flavor does that add?

 

[jtbell]

I remember when McDonalds was just a local hamburger stand - just one.

I don't go back quite that far (at least my memory doesn't), but I do remember when all McDonald's had a counter on their sign that proudly announced how many hamburgers the chain had sold so far: "100 million served"... "200 million served"...

Of course, they eventually had to switch to the Carl Sagan version: "Billions and billions served."

 

[FredGarvin]

Does anyone remember making actual carbon copies on an old Gestetner, hand crank copy machine? My Dad had one in his office for the longest time.

 

[Moonbear]

MB, I didn't realize that anyone still makes popcorn this way... Hmmmmm, I may try it again, but if I burn myself it will all be your fault.

Perhaps I should remind you to put the lid on the pot too?

Just put a tablespoon or two of oil in a heavy pot, and about 3 kernels of popcorn, put on the lid, place it over medium-high heat. When the first few kernels pop (I always do three in case you have a "dud"), the oil is ready. Quickly add your 1/3 cup of kernels, put the lid on, and wait. When you hear the popping start (shouldn't take long at all), start shaking the pot. When the popping slows down, take it off the heat, wait a moment or two longer for the last little explosions to stop (otherwise they'll all jump out of the pot when you open the lid), add salt or butter to taste (I can eat popcorn popped this way completely plain, but still add a little salt and butter anyway) and enjoy!

And yes, when I was growing up, my mom did it the scalding oil in a cheap (thin) pot and too high of temperatures and burn half the popcorn way too.

 

[Evo]

One of the most heavenly smells - hot buttered popcorn, one of the worst smells - burned popcorn.

 

[Evo]

Does anyone remember making actual carbon copies on an old Gestetner, hand crank copy machine? My Dad had one in his office for the longest time.

I remember having to type with carbon paper if i wanted copies.

The good old days of changing typewriter ribbons, unsnagging the keys

 

[jim mcnamara]

What kind of flavor does that add?

It's a way of getting potassium into foods that are otherwise low in K. But they don't know that - it's simply traditional.

 

[Ronnin]

Speaking of copies, has anyone seen or knows of anyone still using a mimeograph machine. I remember the teachers back in school having to wave the papers before they passed them out. The smell was unmistakable.

 

[jim mcnamara]

The mimeo fluid tasststestes good, too. hic.

 

[Math Jeans]

I remember a 32 bit graphics card being the best in the market.

I remember Windows 98

I remember a time without blue laser pointers .

 

[turbo]

I remember when Alpine ski boots were all made of leather and they laced up the front. Actually, my first few pairs were all of this type.

 

[Dr Transport]

Speaking of copies, has anyone seen or knows of anyone still using a mimeograph machine. I remember the teachers back in school having to wave the papers before they passed them out. The smell was unmistakable.

Back in the early '90's I taught at a community college that used them. If you wanted photocopies for a you had to submit them 5 days in advance, mimeographs were immediate if you ran the machine.

 

[rewebster]

I remember the family going outside to watch Sputnik fly over head.

My dad worked on the Mercury and Gemini projects at McDonnell-Douglas (before that-Vandenberg) and there was a private showing of the Gemini return capsule that we all were able to go up and touch. I remember sticking my fingers under the plexiglass to feel the grooves formed on the shield from re-entry.

 

[turbo]

I remember having to type with carbon paper if i wanted copies.

The good old days of changing typewriter ribbons, unsnagging the keys

I remember having to type my term papers on onion-skin (very thin light paper) so that the carbon copy would be crisp enough to read clearly. My electric typewriter really snapped the print-heads down, and if I used regular typing paper for the top copy, the carbon paper would bridge, and lower-case e's, a's, etc could be quite filled in and hard to read.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I remember the family going outside to watch Sputnik fly over head.

My dad worked on the Mercury and Gemini projects at McDonnell-Douglas (before that-Vandenberg) and there was a private showing of the Gemini return capsule that we all were able to go up and touch. I remember sticking my fingers under the plexiglass to feel the grooves formed on the shield from re-entry.

Was that in Long Beach? I had a friend in Scouts whose dad worked for either NASA or an associated contractor like Douglas, and we also attended a private showing of a capsule [not sure which one anymore].

 

[rewebster]

Was that in Long Beach? I had a friend in Scouts whose dad worked for either NASA or an associated contractor like Douglas, and we also attended a private showing of a capsule [not sure which one anymore].

We lived in a suburb of St. Louis (McDonnell-Douglas headquarters are there) in the early '60's.

I remember watching them build the Arch at St. Louis.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Ah.

One side of my family comes from Highland Ill, which is just down the road about thirty miles.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I remember when the top of my head wasn't shiney.

 

[Moonbear]

I had this set containing a spring powered cannon that fired a projectile about the size and weight of a real 44 bullet, and spring loaded wall that would explode when hit. I can still recall that the wall mechanism was fairly stiff and required a good bit of force to actuate, so those projectiles must have really been zinging along. I guess that's why I don't recall being shot... I don't think anyone wanted to try that one.

Oh, that reminds me of a toy I had that was my father's when he was a kid (unfortunately, I was not as good about taking care of toys as he was, so most of them are gone now). It was a spring-loaded cannon too, with a crank to adjust the angle, and you loaded little wooden balls into it, about the size of marbles. I also remember learning to never aim a loaded cannon at your little sister if your mom was within earshot.

 

[rewebster]

I remember when the top of my head wasn't shiney.

Shiney like a light bulb?

that means that you're always having an idea (I guess it depends on the wattage too)


I remember when I only took aspirin for hangovers

 

[RonL]

I remember a 32 bit graphics card being the best in the market.

I remember Windows 98

I remember a time without blue laser pointers .

What about Windows 3.0, running on a 8088 clone, at 4.77MHZ. With One full meg of Ram. I still have it in the shop, on a shelf with all my other ones. 386 x 33, 486 x 66dx 2, ...