The Nostalgia Thread

[Amy SF]

I taped President Nixon's resignation speech off the TV when I was a kid. I still have the tape, though I haven't listened to it it years.

I remember taping the audio, or part of it, from the movie The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming during a TV broadcast, and wishing I was able to tape the picture, too. This was 2-3 years before we got our first VCR. I remember my dad, who was a technophile, saying he had to get VHS instead of Betamax because even though Betamax was better, VHS was more popular and would overtake Betamax and if something went wrong with the VCR, there was a better chance of parts being available! Or something like that. People actually repaired VCR's for a while! Same with television sets. Now if something electronic doesn't work, it just gets replaced.

 

[Calliegirl]

My daughter had one that was a cross between the two; plastic floors with cardboard walls, and minimal furniture/accessories. After the first day it was mostly used as a shelf for her other toys.

I had the Barbie airplane.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I was watching the Andy Cohen programme Then & Now yesterday and they were talking about the year 2000. It was funny to think about how worried some people were about the Y2K bug.

Andy Cohen Hosts New Bravo Series Then and Now with Andy Cohen | Watch What Happens Live Blog

It seems so weird that it is now 2016, I remember thinking that going into the 21st century sounded really futuristic when I was younger.

 

[Second Summer]

It seems so weird that it is now 2016, I remember thinking that going into the 21st century sounded really futuristic when I was younger.

We're living in the future!

 

[Moll Flanders]

I got my first mobile phone in 1999, it was the year we left uni and started work and all my friends bought the same phone. We probably looked like idiots and the phone would probably look like a brick now.

 

[PTree15]

I got my first mobile phone in 1999, it was the year we left uni and started work and all my friends bought the same phone. We probably looked like idiots and the phone would probably look like a brick now.

Hahaha, I remember my mom having a phone that came in a briefcase. It was so clunky, but she traveled for her job for a while, so it came in handy.

 

[Naturebound1]

I remember the old dial phones when I was a kid. And how you could slam down the phone, or even throw it across the room and it would still work lol.

I had a metal Holly Hobby lunchbox, and a vinyal barbie doll case, and I always wanted saddle shoes when I was little but never got them. I had a huffy bike with a banana seat, and spent my freedom climbing trees and racing the neighborhood kids. Even then I found tv boring.

 

[PTree15]

I remember the old dial phones when I was a kid. And how you could slam down the phone, or even throw it across the room and it would still work lol.

I had a metal Holly Hobby lunchbox, and a vinyal barbie doll case, and I always wanted saddle shoes when I was little but never got them. I had a huffy bike with a banana seat, and spent my freedom climbing trees and racing the neighborhood kids. Even then I found tv boring.

Were we separated at birth? I always wanted saddle shoes and never got them and I had a vinyl Barbie doll case. I didn't have the lunchbox, but I did have a couple of Holly Hobby dolls.

And LOL @ slamming the phone. That was the best feeling sometimes.

 

[Amy SF]

Were we separated at birth? I always wanted saddle shoes and never got them and I had a vinyl Barbie doll case. I didn't have the lunchbox, but I did have a couple of Holly Hobby dolls.

And LOL @ slamming the phone. That was the best feeling sometimes.

Agree about that last part, that's how you communicated your anger or disgust with someone. Closest thing we got with cellphones is snapping a basic phone shut, but it just doesn't have the same effect. And with smartphones, well, forget it. You can shout at someone or send them an angry text, but there's no satisfying slamming the phone down to punctuate how you feel.

 

[Naturebound1]

Agree about that last part, that's how you communicated your anger or disgust with someone. Closest thing we got with cellphones is snapping a basic phone shut, but it just doesn't have the same effect. And with smartphones, well, forget it. You can shout at someone or send them an angry text, but there's no satisfying slamming the phone down to punctuate how you feel.

lol so true! Heck, it took me weeks just to figure out how to answer a smartphone and hang up. I still have to tap the icon several times sometimes to get it to hang up. How lame is that!

 

[Capstan]

Does anyone remember party lines?

 

[beancounter]

Does anyone remember party lines?

You mean where you could call into a central location and be "conferenced in" with a bunch of other people?

I remember hearing about it, but never did it.

 

[KLS52]

I feel like I remember being part of a party line on occasion but I might be making it up, lol. I definitely remember calling someone and accidentally getting connected to someone else's call. Me and the person I was talking to could hear the third party but they couldn't hear us. I think that was just a glitch. I'm sister is a few years older than me...I'll have to ask her if she remembers.

 

[Capstan]

You mean where you could call into a central location and be "conferenced in" with a bunch of other people?

I remember hearing about it, but never did it.

On a party line, your phone circuit was shared by several other households in your neighborhood. The phone company didn't tell you who the other phones belonged to. You could only make or receive a call, provided no one else was using the circuit. You might pick up the phone, and find yourself in the middle of someone else's conversation, in which case, you could say, "Excuse me," hang up, and wait a while for them to finish their call. Or, if your call was important, you might ask them if they would yield the line, in which case, they might graciously give you the right-of-way, or might tell you to take a hike! As a kid, it was sort of tempting to listen in on other conversations, but they always seemed to know, and would say something like, "Whoever that is listening in, you better get off this line right now!" We were on a party line in the 1950s, but we never learned who the other parties were.

 

[Andy_T]

I remember the Rock Hudson / Doris Day comedy "Pillow Talk", where that was the main storyline ... the two sharing a phone, him being a composer and playboy who would always sing his self-composed love songs to his current romantic interest, her being an upset single woman , until, of course, they fell for each other in the end.

Come to think of it, that movie actually won an Oscar and got some more nominations...

 

[Moll Flanders]

Agree about that last part, that's how you communicated your anger or disgust with someone. Closest thing we got with cellphones is snapping a basic phone shut, but it just doesn't have the same effect. And with smartphones, well, forget it. You can shout at someone or send them an angry text, but there's no satisfying slamming the phone down to punctuate how you feel.

I remember having an argument with a boyfriend and then not being able to hang up because sometimes if the other person didn't hang up you were still connected.

It always seemed like "in the old days" people had a landline telephone in the hallway by the front door for some reason.

 

[shyvas]

I remember the Rock Hudson / Doris Day comedy "Pillow Talk", where that was the main storyline ... the two sharing a phone, him being a composer and playboy who would always sing his self-composed love songs to his current romantic interest, her being an upset single woman , until, of course, they fell for each other in the end.

Come to think of it, that movie actually won an Oscar and got some more nominations...

This is the film that came to mind when party lines were mentioned. I don't think we had them in the UK but am not certain.

 

[FortyTwo]

I was watching the Andy Cohen programme Then & Now yesterday and they were talking about the year 2000. It was funny to think about how worried some people were about the Y2K bug.

Andy Cohen Hosts New Bravo Series Then and Now with Andy Cohen | Watch What Happens Live Blog

It seems so weird that it is now 2016, I remember thinking that going into the 21st century sounded really futuristic when I was younger.

Fun (and little-known) fact: if it weren't for the massive effort of a lot of programmers and engineers, Y2K could have easily been just as horrific of a disaster as people thought.

 

[ledboots]

Fun (and little-known) fact: if it weren't for the massive effort of a lot of programmers and engineers, Y2K could have easily been just as horrific of a disaster as people thought.

That is the truth! A couple of friends who were programmers started a Y2K consulting business that has turned into a great business for them. They worked 20 hour tedious days for a year, though!

 

[Calliegirl]

My dad had already retired and was asked to do some work as he was one of the few programmers that knew the (somewhat obsolete) language used by some banks. He was offered $100 an hour, but settled for half if they let him telecommute the majority of the time. Obviously, they let him telecommute. He only had to go on a few business trips to various states for troubleshooting and training the employees on using the new programs. He hated those business trips as he was afraid of flying.

He was in the Air Force and learned how to fly, and has been afraid to fly ever since after learning about just how much could go wrong.