You Know You Are Old When

[scootr]

Right out of high school in 1972 I pumped gasoline for $0.27 a gallon and we washed windows and checked the oil while the customer sat in the car. It was one of 2 jobs I held to afford my 2 bdrm room apt for $200 a month. 8 yrs later I bought my first house for $14k. It was 2 bdrm 1 bath on 1 acre in the Mojave desert.

 

[FriendwithTractor]

Friends and I were playing a card game with my parents. One of the cards was "Give us your best hog call." My friend made a game attempt, but compared to my mother who called hogs...I think the entire neighborhood heard her.

Grandmother used a housebell to summon her kids, and later the grandkids back for dinner at the cabin. "Hear the bell, run like hell!"
Again, pretty confident the entire mountain heard that.

Wish there was a way to know the good old days were there before they were gone.

 

[WinterDeere]

Had used these on the farm back in the 50's powered by a car battery
View attachment 862161

willy

I have a pretty good collection of old phones, including Western Electric's competing model for your example, typically called the "Country Junction" phone. These were local battery phones, meaning the transmit power was indeed provided by a battery in your home, rather than from the telephone company.

But I'd be real surprised if your batteries were still hooked up in the 1950's, as this would not play well with the phone system, all of which switched from "local battery" to "common battery" in the very early 1900's. Unless you were on some weird rural branch that just never got converted, it's more likely the battery (#6 dry cell) was left sitting there after conversion, but not actually hooked up. Most of these local battery phones worked fine on the common battery system, with a simple conversion transformer, and only a few of them needed larger magnetos for long-haul.

Phone historians would cry to hear that as a young teen, I threw away a whole cabinet full of those original wood-cased dry cell batteries. Dad had them all stored in the basement, and I had no idea what they were, so I tossed them after he passed. Probably worth a few bucks today, but hardly the biggest similar mistake I've made.

 

[MossRoad]

We have a small bell hung outside of our back door. Wife and I use it to summon each other from the yard when we can't find one another.

DING DING DING... dinner is ready!

 

[Jstpssng]

My father used to whistle and my mother would come running.
The first Christmas that my brother eas with his wife, I whistled for my dog. His wife yelled at me "you'd better be whistling for your dog!"... apparently my brother had tried it on her and found out the facts of life.

 

[scootr]

They don't make em like they used to

 

[JethroB]

We were going out to pick some veggies for my sister to take home one Sunday afternoon.
Just getting to the edge of the farm yard my nephew said he had to go back to the house. He was about 5-6 years old.
Why?
He had to pee.
Pick a tree, bush, or just turn your back.
Growing up in the city it just blew his mind you could pee in the great outdoors.
Next week in school they did a little project of what they did that weekend.
He did a picture of us standing looking the other way and him by a bush taking a pee.
The other kids supposedly couldn't believe it.
I still have it framed in my office.

My 5 year old nephew got into trouble on the school playground for showing everyone what his daddy taught him over the weekend. Good thing his mama is good natured.

 

[Sigarms]

Yesterday I was using some few choice words for myself.

Thought my credit card didn't work at the gas pump coming back from church. Then it hit me...

Back in the "old days" you swiped the credit on machine with paper. Handed one of the triplicates to the owner of the card for their receipt.

Ten you slid the magnetic strip on the corner of the machine so you didn't have to do it "manually" anymore and have to deal with paper for both the business owner or customer other than a receipt.

Then you had to insert the end of the card with the chip into the machine.

Then you could slide the card across the machine.

Now you have to tap the chip side of the card on the spot on the machine where it tells you to tap it at.

I was trying to insert my card at the gas pump yesterday and then it hit me, I need to tap the chip side to that part on the machine for it to take it.

I would just like ONE WAY to use my credit card please LOL

 

[JethroB]

Yesterday I was using some few choice words for myself.

Thought my credit card didn't work at the gas pump coming back from church. Then it hit me...

Back in the "old days" you swiped the credit on machine with paper. Handed one of the triplicates to the owner of the card for their receipt.

Ten you slid the magnetic strip on the corner of the machine so you didn't have to do it "manually" anymore and have to deal with paper for both the business owner or customer other than a receipt.

Then you had to insert the end of the card with the chip into the machine.

Then you could slide the card across the machine.

Now you have to tap the chip side of the card on the spot on the machine where it tells you to tap it at.

I was trying to insert my card at the gas pump yesterday and then it hit me, I need to tap the chip side to that part on the machine for it to take it.

I would just like ONE WAY to use my credit card please LOL

. And please standardize the design of the machines! I feel like an idiot trying figure the various ones out. And many you have to hold with your other hand so they don’t slide around.

 

[scootr]

Technology is a runaway train right now. Everytime I get comfortable with a system it changes, Grrrr!
Can't these darn Millennials find something else to do besides F with us old people!?