"You're Old!!!" moments - Page 3

wolf · 12-27-2003, 10:14 AM

My beloved drive-in is now a Fresh Fields, a Chuch E. Cheese, and a Staples.

PF Flyers were just about the coolest shoes on the planet, before there Nike and Adidas. They outmarketed Keds and Converse back in the the day. Also, they sometimes had really cool toys that were given away with every purchase ... There was a jungle tooth thingy, the plastic tinted to look like eather ivory, with a whistle (not a regular old ball whistle, but one of those ones with the rotary blades that made a sound not unlike that of a lonely loon on a summer's evening) and helpfully provided a morse code chart so you could fail to understand the message your friend was whistling you with some authority.

Oh how I loved my PF Flyers, the ONE time I was able to convince my mom that I needed them. We were a Keds family, you see, and our regular shoe-salesman (who didn't sell PF Flyers) made a point of telling my mom how bad they would be for my feet, and how good the Keds were ....

elSicomoro · 12-27-2003, 10:44 AM

The drive-in my family and I used to frequent is now a strip mall my mom shops at in South St. Louis County. The last movie I saw there was E.T.

xoxoxoBruce · 12-27-2003, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Undertoad
The best "soda pop" machines are still those where the bottles are right there but you can't pull them out of their little metal holder thingie until you put the money in.

And then you still try to beat the mechanism by pulling out two bottles at the same time, but it doesn't work because the mechanism is just right.

I'm sure these old machines are wasteful of energy, with the door letting the cold air out of all the bottles. And the glass bottles would break and wreak havoc, and they were heavy, and they didn't hold much, and if they were returnable somebody had to haul them back to the bottler.

But it was better dammit.

Before Harley Davidson made their dealers remodel for the yuppies, Hanums in Media, had a Coke machine that sold the heavy glass 6 1/2 oz bottles. That stuff would take the scum from a 3 day binge, off your tongue. Or the chrome off your bumper.

warch · 12-28-2003, 08:30 PM

Cardboard records you'd cut out from the sides of cereal boxes.

Griff · 12-29-2003, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by warch
Cardboard records you'd cut out from the sides of cereal boxes.

Man I forgot all about those things!

wolf · 12-29-2003, 09:49 AM

I even ate cereal I couldn't stand for those sometimes.

My next entry: actual prizes in Crackerjack ... what they are putting in there now are certainly less likely to result in a liability lawsuit, but the joy of finding the miniature compass in a tire or the bug's eye viewer can not be felt by today's children.

warch · 12-29-2003, 10:08 AM

Cereal boxes were regularly bowed out and ripped up, to say nothing of the poor cereal, as my bro and I dug in there for gold. Cereal? what cereal?

We'd get in trouble if we cut out the box before the cereal was gone...on one occasion my dad tossed the empty box of Honeycomb which included a pressed record of "Sugar" (appropriate) by the Archies. Gone...gone...We raises such a ruckus he yelled at us, stormed out and returned with a new 45 (record)

This was also a time when we'd use that glass bottled milk with the cardboard top-the milkman left it on our doorstep in a silver insulated box.

Boy, now I feel old.

Undertoad · 12-29-2003, 11:10 AM

We had the milk delivery when I was a youth, and then it stopped. And then, in 1977, we up and lived in England for a while, and the milk delivery was back again. This time it was better: it was in pint bottles, and it was not homogenized so the cream floated to the top. You'd either pour it off for use as cream later, or you'd stir it in if you preferred whole milk.

xoxoxoBruce · 12-29-2003, 11:28 AM

My #1 ex's grandfather used to pour off the cream for his cereal then eat it with a fork leaving a bowl of slightly used cream for the kids.

OnyxCougar · 12-29-2003, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Undertoad
We had the milk delivery when I was a youth, and then it stopped. And then, in 1977, we up and lived in England for a while, and the milk delivery was back again. This time it was better: it was in pint bottles, and it was not homogenized so the cream floated to the top. You'd either pour it off for use as cream later, or you'd stir it in if you preferred whole milk.

And man, if you forgot to bring in the milk one morning, it was spoiled by noon.

lumberjim · 12-29-2003, 04:09 PM

UH....i vaguely remember the invention of the microwave oven? sears came out with a geigercounter after we had it for a year...."just to check" ....I do not currently own a microwave......I have a convection toaster oven.

....and the vcr.......did any of you go beta?

what makes me feel old is when i get a loan approved for someone who was born in 1984. and i graduated in '88.

after reading this thread, though, i'm feeling slightly more sprightly.

xoxoxoBruce · 12-29-2003, 05:16 PM

No microwave!? How do you dry off the pets after a bath?

kerosene · 12-29-2003, 05:20 PM

Or make funky designs on CDRs?

elSicomoro · 12-29-2003, 05:20 PM

One of my HS teachers swore by Beta, and would only use VHS when necessary...and this was '93.

plthijinx · 12-29-2003, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sycamore
One of my HS teachers swore by Beta, and would only use VHS when necessary...and this was '93.

'93?!? whoa. i was a manager at a local video store chain and we only carried VHS. that was from '89 to 91, in the collage days.

as a kid i used to like to catch roaches with a paper towel then wad it up so they couldn't get out and the zap them until they popped in the microwave. sick i know, but i'm sure someone has done worse......

12-29-2003, 09:49 AM	#6
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I even ate cereal I couldn't stand for those sometimes. My next entry: actual prizes in Crackerjack ... what they are putting in there now are certainly less likely to result in a liability lawsuit, but the joy of finding the miniature compass in a tire or the bug's eye viewer can not be felt by today's children. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

12-29-2003, 04:09 PM	#11
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	UH....i vaguely remember the invention of the microwave oven? sears came out with a geigercounter after we had it for a year...."just to check" ....I do not currently own a microwave......I have a convection toaster oven. ....and the vcr.......did any of you go beta? what makes me feel old is when i get a loan approved for someone who was born in 1984. and i graduated in '88. after reading this thread, though, i'm feeling slightly more sprightly. __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

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12-27-2003, 10:14 AM	#1
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	My beloved drive-in is now a Fresh Fields, a Chuch E. Cheese, and a Staples. PF Flyers were just about the coolest shoes on the planet, before there Nike and Adidas. They outmarketed Keds and Converse back in the the day. Also, they sometimes had really cool toys that were given away with every purchase ... There was a jungle tooth thingy, the plastic tinted to look like eather ivory, with a whistle (not a regular old ball whistle, but one of those ones with the rotary blades that made a sound not unlike that of a lonely loon on a summer's evening) and helpfully provided a morse code chart so you could fail to understand the message your friend was whistling you with some authority. Oh how I loved my PF Flyers, the ONE time I was able to convince my mom that I needed them. We were a Keds family, you see, and our regular shoe-salesman (who didn't sell PF Flyers) made a point of telling my mom how bad they would be for my feet, and how good the Keds were .... __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

12-27-2003, 10:44 AM	#2
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	The drive-in my family and I used to frequent is now a strip mall my mom shops at in South St. Louis County. The last movie I saw there was E.T.

12-28-2003, 08:30 PM	#4
warch lurkin old school Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,796	Cardboard records you'd cut out from the sides of cereal boxes.

12-29-2003, 10:08 AM	#7
warch lurkin old school Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,796	Cereal boxes were regularly bowed out and ripped up, to say nothing of the poor cereal, as my bro and I dug in there for gold. Cereal? what cereal? We'd get in trouble if we cut out the box before the cereal was gone...on one occasion my dad tossed the empty box of Honeycomb which included a pressed record of "Sugar" (appropriate) by the Archies. Gone...gone...We raises such a ruckus he yelled at us, stormed out and returned with a new 45 (record) This was also a time when we'd use that glass bottled milk with the cardboard top-the milkman left it on our doorstep in a silver insulated box. Boy, now I feel old.

12-29-2003, 11:10 AM	#8
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	We had the milk delivery when I was a youth, and then it stopped. And then, in 1977, we up and lived in England for a while, and the milk delivery was back again. This time it was better: it was in pint bottles, and it was not homogenized so the cream floated to the top. You'd either pour it off for use as cream later, or you'd stir it in if you preferred whole milk.

12-29-2003, 11:28 AM	#9
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	My #1 ex's grandfather used to pour off the cream for his cereal then eat it with a fork leaving a bowl of slightly used cream for the kids.

12-29-2003, 05:16 PM	#12
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	No microwave!? How do you dry off the pets after a bath?

12-29-2003, 05:20 PM	#13
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	Or make funky designs on CDRs?

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