From: carole@rembrandt.Sun.COM (Carole Parker)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: More Old Coots Test Question - Pop Quiz tonight?
Date: 26 Sep 1992 11:19:28 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: rembrandt

In article <n0a75t@ofa123.fidonet.org> Wales.Larrison@ofa123.fidonet.org writes:
>Wales has been listening to the Old Coot Tests from his spot at a
>table in the back of the bar.... He chuckles at several of the
>questions before speaking up.  "As a 'old coot' of 37, maybe I can
>add a few more to the list"
>  
>Does anyone remember their first car with auto airconditioning?
>  I remember leaving for vacations at dusk so we'd be driving
>through the desert East of LA in the night to avoid the August heat.
>  
I remember leaving at dusk because we didn't have air conditioning, also.

>For that matter, widespread airconditioning in general?
>  I still remember when movie theaters advertised "chilled" air to
>bring in crowds.
>  
Yep.

>How about polio vaccines?
>   And the change from needles to sugar cubes?
>  
I remember the sugar cubes.  My first step father also took one.  I can't
remember if he was setting an example for us or if all the adults were
taking them, too.  I remember it looking like a red spot on the sugar cube.

>Radios that had to "warm up"? (not quite the same as transitors -- I
>remember radios that had transistors, but still had enough tubes
>they had to warm up....)
>  
>Cars with no Seat belts?
>   And hard metal, unpadded dashboards?
>  
Yep.

>When Japanese cars first showed up in the neighborhood?
>  
>Crazy glue?  (when it first came out)
>  
>Riding on their first real "jet"?
>   One without propellers....
>   And dressing up to go on airplane flights?  (I remember when it
>was a "class" thing to travel by air rather than by train or bus.
>Not like the bus-station in the sky, it's become now.  I miss
>that ...  people were much politer and civilized at the airport and
>on the plane.)
>  
I remember watching both propeller and jet planes coming into LAX.  I 
remember getting a *free* ride on a jet because the airline was trying
to convince people that jets were better than prop planes.  We flew
around the LA metro area, and the flight took 20 - 30 minutes.  A nice
publicity gimmick.

We used to go out to the airport to watch the planes come in.  My brothers
and I would be dressed in our PJs, and we'd watch the planes until we fell
asleep.

>The Folk Song Generation?
>  
Yep.

>Anti-War marches?
>  
Yep, though I never participated in one.  I always felt like I was a couple
years too young and that I missed out on it.

>The Civil Rights movement?
>  
Yep, same as above.

>The Oil Crisis?
>   and waiting in line to get gas for the car
>  
How can I forget?  Don't forget the price hikes.  Remember when people
thought gas would *never* go above $1/gallon?

>Having the military go into full-scale mobilization in 1973 and
>noticing that you had a 1-A classification and a draft number of
>019 ... and also noticing you've already paid for a full year of
>college ...
>    I have no sympathy for Bill Clinton on this <Grrrrr...>
>  
>The summer of love in SF?
>    Every spring or summer when I was young, the family'd spend 1-2
>weeks in San Francisco.  I was just barely old enough to get out for
>the day by my own (very early teens), but I remember wandering
>through the Haight and watching and being with some of what was
>going on.
>  
Rats! I was aware of it, but I didn't get to participate.  I felt like I
kept missing out on "all the fun stuff."

>The "Pendeltons" first record (later known as the "Beach Boys")?
>   Heck, us old coots remember surf music in general and the surfing
>craze. "Ho-dads and Greebes" "Gnarly" (hmmm.. that one's come back)
>"Tube steak"  "Hang Ten"  "Wipe out"  "Over the falls"  Folks with
>surfer bumps and stars.  LOng boards with no tangs (compared to
>short boards with 3 skags now...) "Woodies"  "Surfin' Safari"
>"Waxin' down"  "Surf city"  <Sigh.... spent too much of my life
>chasing surfer babes...>
>  
>And to add a few other crazes.. (when they were new)
>      Skate boards (the first time ....)?

With the *metal* wheels - no plastic.

>      Frisbees (the first time...)?

Yep.

>      Slinkees?

Yep, metal - not plastic.  I even remember the commercials.

>      Hulla-hoops?

Yep, I was pretty decent at them when I was a kid.  I don't think I would
be as good now, though.

>      "Bannana" bikes?

With the long seats and the sometimes outrageous colors. Yep.

>      "10-speed" bikes instead of "3-speeds"?

Yep.

>      Hiking boots and the "lumber jack" look?

Definitely.

>      Jogging?

Yuck! I never did like it.

>      The tennis craze?

Everyone wanted to be a star.

>      CB Radios ....and truckers ("And a big 10-4 to you, good
>         buddy...")?

Yep.

>      Rocky Horror Stage Show (before the movie)?
>      Pet Rocks ?

Yep.

>      Mini skirts and Hot pants?  - and long legged young ladies with
>         ironed, straight hair and platform shoes

Yep.  I also remember when the fashion industry had women underneath their
thumbs (not like now).  It was so *bad*, I remember a grossly obese woman -
say around 300 pounds - short who wore a micro mini skirt which barely
covered her ass.

Her thighs were bigger than some people's torsos.  I was taller and more
slender than this woman, and I didn't wear a micro mini because I thought
my legs weren't good enough.

I got ill.  I swore that I would not do what that woman did.  I think I've
managed not to wear inappropriate clothing like her.

>      Bellbottoms (and I mean BELL bottoms - striped pants with
>         bottoms so large you could barely see your foot beneath)?

Yep. Don't forget the hiphuggers with the *wide* belts, too.

>      W-i-d-e lapels on men's shirts, buckles on men's shoes, and
>         eye searing colors that were never seen in nature?

Yep.

>      Disco and Lesiure Suits? (Polyesther lives forever!)

Yep.  Fortunately, I got rid of my polyester suit.

>      Sideburns on men? ...  (commonly known among the dashing
>         teenage crowd as "thigh ticklers")
>  
Yep.

>   <Sigh..>  Wales sits back with fond remembrances...
>                               
Yeah, some good memories.


I found myself. See? I'm right here! Until later--

Carole Parker
Newsgroups: alt.callahans