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Confessions of a Homeschool Dad
Feb. 8, 2006
We Lived in the Stone Age
I was talking to my kids recently about the things that they have now that we didn't have when I was a kid around their age. Keep in mind that this was in the early-ish 70's that we're talking about here.
As it turns out, I lived in the Stone Age. I bet you did, too.
Here's a list of things we didn't have then that we have now:
- Cable / Dish TV - 3 main networks plus maybe a few UHF stations if you lived in a major metro area. Extra points if you know what UHF stands for without looking it up!
- Home Computers - Even the Apple I wasn't out until 1976. And, again, you had to be a serious geek to have seen one of those.
- Remote Controls - Okay, they existed in various weird forms before the early 70's, but you had to be rich to have one. In my house, I was the remote control.
- Microwave Ovens - What did we do for "quick cooking" before microwaves? Boil-In-Bags were the best that we had, I suppose, but the water still took 15 minutes to boil! I'm guessing we just ate a lot more cold foods..
- The Internet / E-Mail - No blogs, no e-mail, no SPAM, no digital pics of the kids, no checking a website for weather, news, or movie showtimes. What did we do with all of our time?!?
- Strawberry Shortcake, The Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle Me Elmo, Star Wars, etc. - None of these characters were in existence yet. Well, the Elmo doll was used, but "Elmo" as a persona didn't appear until 1984. I think we had GI Joe and Barbie. Oh, and Holly Hobbie!
- Cruise Lines - You might have been one of few on the maiden voyage of the TSS Mardi Gras, which ran aground in 1972. But, after that outstanding start, there wasn't a modern-style cruise leaving until 1975.
- (Affordable) Digital Watches - You could get a $2,100 Pulsar, the first of the digital watches. But it would be 1975 before the $20 digital watch was a reality.
- Cell Phones - Where would your local, loud, annoying teenager be without one of these? How would you call your spouse and say, "Oh! Could you get some milk, too? And some caramel ripple fudge ice cream?" I think our brains might have worked better, but I can't think straight because I have this buzzing in my head right now...
- Cordless Phones - Walk around your house while having a conversation? Forget it! Until 1980, we were tied down to a cord. We were impressed with people who got the 12' extension and could at least wander around their kitchen.
- FedEx - Can you believe that FedEx wasn't around until 1998? You want it there overnight? I hope you have a fast car!
- FAX Machines - This is one of those technologies that makes me feel old. Think about it: We were around for the birth and death of an entirely new technology. And while we're at it, have you looked for a FAX machine lately? There's nothing for less than $60 or $70 out there!
- Nissan, Acura, & Lexus Cars - They were all Datsuns, Hondas, and Toyotas then. American car companies were standing astride the earth chomping their cigars and wondering what could ever dislodge them from supremecy. A decade later, they'd know.
- Wendy's, Whataburger, Subway, Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bell - Okay, so some of these were around, but only in very localized areas. Wendy's in Ohio, Whataburger in south Texas or Arizona, and Taco Bell in Cali. Chick-Fil-A wasn't around until '85.
- The Space Shuttle - We had been to the moon, we had rockets, and huge 'ol satellites, but we didn't really know what we wanted to do with all of it. Hey! We just made it to the moon! Isn't that worth anything?! Incidentally, my parents still have a set of encyclopedias that say something like, "Man dreams one day of going to the moon...."
- Whiteboards - Do you know why whiteboards were invented? http://www.usmarkerboard.com/Whiteboards-History-Of.html" target="whiteboard">Because chalk dust got into computers! So, no computers, no white boards. We could still show the girls that we were cool by running our fingernails across a chalkboard.
Okay, you stone-agers! Let me know what I missed!
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Feb. 8, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Susan