Things this generation of kids will never know...

[nikkiARNGwife]

the frustration of writing term papers on manual typewriters

having to wait for a vhs tape to rewind

recording your favorite song off the radio onto a cassette tape and having the DJ's voice over the first and last few seconds of the song then using those recordings to make a "mix-tape"

dialing a rotary phone that's NOT cordless..but having one of those super long cords on it so you can stretch it all the way from the kitchen to the hall closet for some "privacy"

having a total of THREE channels on TV (four when the skies were clear) that absolutely would not rewind, pause or fast forward

hearing the sound of a dial up connection on the computer

[*Celeste*]

car windows that roll down

[KateD]

Love this walk down memory lane! I still have a cassette tape of a radio show with Rick Springfield that I recorded by putting my tape recorder upside down on my radio .

Speaking of phones, how about having to be at home to get a phone call? And if you miss the call, not having a clue who was calling?

[*Celeste*]

floppy disks

3-D movies meaning red-and-green glasses.

the buzz of a dot matrix printer

card catalogs

[*Celeste*]

pay phones

[ColleenSwerb]

Mix tapes was totally the first thing that popped into my head. Mix-cd's just doesn't have the same ring to it :P

Along those lines, walk-man's and personal cd players.

Pagers.

Records/players.

[emmasmommy]

my kids found a VHS tape at my mom's the other day and were like, 'you watched THIS on a movie? seriously mom?' LOL

[nikkiARNGwife]

cokes in those big 16 oz glass bottles...they're just not the same in plastic

[Susan Bartolini]

The smell of fresh dittos given to you by a teacher. I can remember getting assignments and the ink was still wet.

For that matter, how about those awful movies we'd watch in school on the projectors with reels of film.

[nun69]

what about cars with no A/C...and we didn't wear seatbelts either

and I still have a ton of Disney VHS tapes, I just can't come to terms with getting rid of them!

NO INTERNET!

[heathergw]

Originally Posted by nun69

what about cars with no A/C...and we didn't wear seatbelts either

I know... I sat in my mom's lap in the front seat

[Jenn Barrette]

Writing notes to your friends instead of texting.

[adrianka]

Let's bring some Eastern European dimension to this. ;-)

I think these days Slovak kids no longer learn Czech as easy as we did - we still grew up in Czechoslovakia where we were exposed to the language... That's what I miss...

And all the wonderful kiddo cartoons we watched... The Communist regime wasn't much but great programmes came to life, they really did. As a generation (people in their 30s and 40s) we are joined by common memories of these programmes, unlike today, when everything changes so quickly... You can buy them on DVD though, which reminds me of another...

These days the suspense of not missing something on TV is gone, as you can buy / record anything. When I was a kid, video recorders were a rarity.

The bad things they are happy to miss:

- they aren't forced to learn Russian,
- they can travel,
- when they go to a shop there's actually a choice unlike in my childhood,
- fruit such as oranges are no longer only available like twice a year (like, on the 1st of May and before Christmas).

[adrianka]

As for ink, typewriters and phones with round dials - I have a veeery nostalgic relationship to them, especially the phones. I loved how the dial rolled and dialling each number lasted / sounded differently. :-)

[adrianka]

Another one that I'm missing - writing real letters by hand! I would write novels, like 16 pages and more, those were the days. :-)

[misfitinmn]

Originally Posted by Jenn Barrette

Writing notes to your friends instead of texting.

And then folding the paper that said note was written on into a fancy shape! haha!

[pomi]

And having snail mail penpals.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by pomi

And having snail mail penpals.

Yes! One my of best friends was actually a penpal originally. I do miss writing letters - these days if I write anything longer than a few lines, I get cramps in my hand. :-)))

[aggiefamily]

Going out to eat was a real treat and not so common.

110 film and having to manually forward your film.

Running after the mosquito spray truck. LOL!

ABC after school specials- I can remember it being an assignment to watch them and then write a report.

[nikkiARNGwife]

And cartoons only on Saturday mornings!

[nikkiARNGwife]

the days when MTV actually was MUSIC television lol!

[misfitinmn]

Having to open a paper dictionary, or thesaurus, or ENCYCLOPEDIA to get information.

card catalogs at the library

[TheHybridMess]

Some South African flair:

No Apartheid, no constant 'state of emergency' and no township curfew.

Also road trips without GPS

Hardcover encyclopedia

and what we did before google (i actually am not sure myself)

[NeverendingJen]

snail mail
writing notes to friends
dial up internet
long distance phone calls
VHS tapes
mix tapes
film cameras
slides(i.e. camera slides)
dial tune tvs

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by nikkiARNGwife

And cartoons only on Saturday mornings!

And cartoons 6-noon on Saturdays!! Now cartoons aren't on until 9 and they really aren't cartoons.

• Dial-up internet... hearing it dial...
• Calling Cards (minutes to call someone from payphone)
• Computers that ran by disk, they had no hard drive
• Cell phones that didn't come in their own bag...
• Bills in the mail
• Going INTO the bank to get cash
• Not seeing what the photo is when you take it... and then having to wait for the pictures to be developed
• using the library to research
• printed newspapers... still around, but getting less and less

Hubby and I were just having a similar conversation about the bills that we have compared to our parents... our parents probably had elect, sewer/water, mortage, maybe gas (both our parents used solar/burned wood - my parents didn't gas furnace until I was in high school)... they didn't have credit cards, we didn't have cable, netflix, internet, cell phones, water service, broker service, cleaning service, landscaping, gym memberships, wholesale clubs, etc. We wonder what kind of bills J will have when he is our age..

[TheHybridMess]

when the tv did not have a remote

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by TheHybridMess

and what we did before google (i actually am not sure myself)

I can remember! It was Yahoo and AltaVista. :-)

[Tracyfish]

Riding in the car with nothing to do...my son can't fathom not having a DVD player or DS in his hand.

[Libby Pritchett]

When tv dinners were actually in foil trays that you had to heat in the oven, and it was such a special treat to get to have one.

[Libby Pritchett]

Oh or carrying change to school every day for lunch money. Now it's all automated!

[nun69]

does anybody remeber DISC cameras...I ALWAYS wanted one!

and what about NO ATM's/Debit cards!...you paid with everything with a check or cash!!!!!!!

[KateD]

Originally Posted by TheHybridMess

when the tv did not have a remote

And had rabbit ears and wasn't even in color (now I'm dating myself).

[Libby Pritchett]

Originally Posted by KateD

And had rabbit ears and wasn't even in color (now I'm dating myself).

hehe we had a little tv in my mom's bedroom that the dial was broken off of, so we changed the channel with a pair of pliers! LOL

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by nun69

does anybody remeber DISC cameras...I ALWAYS wanted one!

I do!! That was my first camera... my granny gave it to me when I was like 8 years old for my birthday!

[DawnMarch]

I think that Adrianka and Chantal have demonstrated that we had it awfully good in the US, even back in the day!

the frustration of writing term papers on manual typewriters

I do remember this, but perhaps ever more painful were the first papers I wrote in college on the very first word processors. It was inevitable that you would lose the whole thing at least once due to a computer crash or other weirdness.

[Freckles]

Being careful not to snap away with the camera because the film only had 24 or 36 photos.
Playing 'tennis' in one of the very first computer games where a 'dot' had to be caught by two 'stripes'! We spent hours playing it!
Having to step towards the television to change channels.
The speaking clock! Which you could call to find out what time it was.

[nun69]

how about an Atari with space invaders

[DawnMarch]

Lol, my dad, who has always been an early adopter, had one of the first "mobil phones". It was about the size of a toaster oven, built into the car between the seats and you spoke on a regular phone handset that was attached by the curly wire to the body of the unit. Needless to say, we weren't begging for our own to carry to school.

[tanyiadeskins]

Originally Posted by pomi

And having snail mail penpals.

I still do this

I would have to say... getting up to turn on and off the tv or not having a dishwasher lol

[KateD]

Originally Posted by Freckles

Playing 'tennis' in one of the very first computer games where a 'dot' had to be caught by two 'stripes'! We spent hours playing it!

Believe it or not, my Dad still has one of those stored in his basement - along with a first generation Apple Macintosh 128K and TRS-80 CoCo (an 8-color computer that hooked up to the TV set as a monitor).

[KristinCB]

- the ice cream trucks

- drive-ins

- family friendly sitcoms (where have those gone. SERIOUSLY)

(sorry if i repeated any LOL)

[Libby Pritchett]

Originally Posted by KristinCB

- the ice cream trucks

- drive-ins

- family friendly sitcoms (where have those gone. SERIOUSLY)

(sorry if i repeated any LOL)

hehe we still have ice cream trucks & drive-ins here!

[KristinCB]

lol.. i miss the ice cream truck! i always remembering hearing it and running around the house scrounging for money

mmmmm chocolate/banana rocket popscicle <3 <3 <3

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by KristinCB

lol.. i miss the ice cream truck! i always remembering hearing it and running around the house scrounging for money

mmmmm chocolate/banana rocket popscicle <3 <3 <3

huh... we have an ice cream truck... but you know I don't remember hearing it once come through our neighborhood this summer... I guess that is done here too.

[origami]

Originally Posted by *Celeste*

car windows that roll down

We actually own a car that is old enough to still have roll down windows.

[julifish]

Originally Posted by nun69

does anybody remeber DISC cameras...I ALWAYS wanted one!

and what about NO ATM's/Debit cards!...you paid with everything with a check or cash!!!!!!!

I was thinking DISC cameras too! LOL!
How about not having a microwave?
Making popcorn in a pan with the babysitter on Saturday night - my kids have only ever had one true babysitter (everyone else has been family or family friend)
8 track tapes
Have 3 seats in the front seat (I always sat up front with my grandparents when we went on car trips.

[origami]

Originally Posted by KristinCB

- the ice cream trucks

- drive-ins

- family friendly sitcoms (where have those gone. SERIOUSLY)

(sorry if i repeated any LOL)

Just saw an ice cream truck going up the street the other day.

No drive in's here anymore though.

All the family friendly sitcoms are on Disney Channel.

[heathergw]

we have two ice cream trucks that drive by everyday

and we still have a drive in by us

[origami]

Originally Posted by DawnMarch

Lol, my dad, who has always been an early adopter, had one of the first "mobil phones". It was about the size of a toaster oven, built into the car between the seats and you spoke on a regular phone handset that was attached by the curly wire to the body of the unit. Needless to say, we weren't begging for our own to carry to school.

My first mobile phone was in a bag and it had a handset just like you describe, attached with a curly wire to the body of the phone. It also had a speaker so you could talk hands-free.

[KristinCB]

penny candy! not to be confused with our penny candy here at ssd LOL