Well, we had B & W TV, no radio, so I guess I feel a little better. As for the sliderule, my college years were just a little before the scientific calculator time. I remember the awe with which we contemplated our family's first calculator--4 function, $40. That's $40 in 1966 dollars! Bought it at E. J. Korvette--remember them?

Speaking of stores, I used to work as an interviewer in small farm towns in the mid '70s. I had little children at the time and I would pass the time between interviews at the cheap discount stores in some of the towns--right down the street from dime stores (remember THEM?). I was always impressed that I could get pants for my 2 year old for only a couple of bucks at those early WalMarts--LONG before they were on every street corner! Sure wish I had the stock in those first stores that I asked my hubby to buy (he didn't).

Gee, I'm starting to SOUND like a Geezerette!

 

This qualifies you for more than geezerhood! To say I was proud of my slide rule would take interpolation.

 

I'm only 33 and know that one... Luckly my father is an old fart that loves cars!

 

You know you're a geezer: When AM was king and you fell asleep listening to your tiny transistor radio tuned to one of the super stations like WLS Chicago or WABC NY when you lived in places like Virginia or Kansas. And then you discovered FM!

 

Yep, I am definitely reeling toward geezerhood! Pulled up to the Dairy Queen a couple of nights ago to feed my sugar addiction. Got up to the take-out window, and this pretty young woman opens the window and squeals to the girl next to her "Oh, look, it's a Mini...that's the car I'm gonna get...they're so cute!" Well, just for an instant there I felt kind of "upbeat"...until geezermode kicked in and I had to admit it was only the Mini which infatuated them, not the old fahrt driving it. Sigh....

 

The word "fahrt" reminds me--I'm enough of a geezerette that I remember riding on dozens of steam engine trains in Europe--the most common type "back then."

Who remembers M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e? Spelled out, that is. Or those grainy images of the men on the moon? Or pink poodle skirts?

 

Because I was a space shot junkie as a kid. Watched all the launches.

RIP Wally.

Now then, who had a "Stingray" type of bicycle?

 

Stingray bikes, sissy bars, ape-hanger handlebars on the bike, OH yeah. Any idea how many thousands of dollars an "Orange Krate" (or Grape, or Cherry) is worth these days? Amazing... They were my Mini before I had my Mini...

 

Geezer check-in. Have slide rules, bought a 1961 Mini Cooper 997cc in 1965, carried a backpack full of punch cards to the UC Berkeley Computer Center, draft lottery number 77.

Main difference between then and now is that now I can win autocrosses with my MCS; back then I was a back marker.

My 1961 Cooper, with white-wall tires!:

 

I remember going around to the neighbors looking for pop bottles to take to the store for the refund.

 

Well, Daffodildeb, I remember delivering newspapers during a war and everyday the headlines announced how many were killed. Even though I was a male (still am, actually), a teenager, and (tried to be) cool, it would make me cry. Some things I don't like to remember.

 

Yep, at 3 cents per bottle it didn't take long to get enough to see a saturday double feature, with popcorn and candybar, all for 50 cents.

 

THREE cents! It was TWO cents in my day...

 

Ok Ok. I think I qualify for rapidly approaching geezer hood.

Who remembers: record albums, 8-track, fax machines as big as today's copiers, no overnight delivery, TELEX machines, 10 key calculators and TYPEWRITERS!!!
Commodore VIC20, TRS80, Timex Sinclair and Apple II? Bulletin boards? 5 1/4 floppy drives, CP/M, BASIC, and 300 baud modems?

And I always wanted a Stingray, but ended up with a Murray Meteor Flite. Lasted from 2nd thru 9th grade. I figured out how to replace the seat and handlebars - amazing what a girl in the early 70's could do without the INTERNET!

And we used to harass neighbors and family for bottles - a Snicker's bar cost 5 cents - And never forget George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, Secret Squirrel, Tennessee Tuxedo, Stingray, Marine Boy, Kimba, the Adams Family, The Munsters, Lost in Space, Gilligan, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Flipper. And my personal favorite: Rocky and Bullwinkle. Particularly Fractured Fairy Tales. No wonder we late Baby Boomers are so twisted. Just love that moose and squirrel (in Russian accent of course)

 

Your youth is showing, you forgot Underdog, Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Batman, and Adam Ant.

One of my first real jobs was in the summer of 1969 working at NASA in Clear Lake as a runner for the print shop. They set up an auditorium 10 feet accross the hall from the control room and employees got to be the when they blasted off the moon on the way home. Not a bad bit of history for a 16 year old to experience.

 

In my day, they hadn't invented recycling yet (well, not at first anyway).

 

Wow - I thought I was the only person who watched all the manned space launches. Glad to know I'm not alone Do you recall the Gulf Oil commercials promoting their support for the Apollo program? I lived in central Florida at the time of the night launch of Apollo 17 - amazing how that Saturn rocket lit up the evening.

Now for the Stingray. I bought a gold Stingray from my local Schwinn dealer in 1966. It wasn't the Stingray Deluxe, that came with fenders and whitewall tires, but it did have a racing slick tire on the back. Kinda tough getting around during Illinois winters but it looked great.

 

Ok RhinoBob - I do remember WLS, do you remember D i c k Bionde?

 

I do!

 

Biondi blue horizon!

 

I also forgot Fearless Fly, the Beatles cartoon, and the Monkee's! LiteBrite, Chatty Cathy, Creepy Crawlers (you made plastic bugs in an oven type thing), Lincoln Logs (made out of wood!)

 

Who collected the Beatles cards that came with Beatles bubble gum?
I remember watching their first show on Ed Sullivan, heck even remembering Ed Sullivan!

 

On a Zenith B/W 10" TV that was painted "Powder Blue" and only got 1 station out of Reno, Nv. We lived out in the boonies of the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.
Ah the joys....Sunday nights, Ed Sullivan Show then Wonderful World of Disney....then end of programing until the next Sunday.

 

I did!!! It was metal flake blue with a white "banana seat". I loved that bike.

Oh and what about "The Banana Splits"? I still have my fan club membership card

 

Ya got me, Pendergast. As a geezer, I plead poor memory on that particular DJ. Of course, Cousin Brucie from WABC became a big name, as I recall.