Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[najaB]

The main difference was that the offended person knew that little would be done about it, and they would just have to bear it.

That's exactly the point I was making - nobody else would see it as far enough across the line to step in and do something about it.

 

[Harpo]

The main difference was that the offended person knew that little would be done about it, and they would just have to bear it.

Exactly. In a workplace of mine about 35 years ago a (non-HR) lady manager uncovered institutionalised sexual harassment, middle aged male managers imposing themselves on young girls who believed they had to tolerate that behaviour to succeed there.

The lady who uncovered it saw it through very thoroughly, re-educating offenders and victims alike. She was probably ahead of her time.

 

[87electric]

It came across my mind recently that women fainting was quite prevalent in films/tv shows that I viewed as a kid in the 1960/1970s.

 

[GordonT]

It came across my mind recently that women fainting was quite prevalent in films/tv shows that I viewed as a kid in the 1960/1970s.

And being revived with "smelling salts" and a "medicinal" brandy on a chaise-longue. Also the use of a cigarette holder when smoking as was sometimes utilised by Princess Margaret.

 

[BingMan]

It came across my mind recently that women fainting was quite prevalent in films/tv shows that I viewed as a kid in the 1960/1970s.

I think swooning was the technical term

 

[CaptainHaddock]

It came across my mind recently that women fainting was quite prevalent in films/tv shows that I viewed as a kid in the 1960/1970s.

And whenever they were being chased by a man they would inevitably trip over a twig or something, scream and fall to the ground. Men being chased never seemed to do that.

 

[The exile]

Laborious procedures for staff to insert new till rolls etc.

Which always seemed to happen just when I’d put everything on to the conveyor…

 

[Harpo]

Also the use of a cigarette holder when smoking as was sometimes utilised by Princess Margaret.

Needing an ash tray, the universal project in school pottery and metalwork classes.

For younger readers-

Schools used to have pottery studios, woodwork shops and metalwork shops where kids could learn useful transferable industry skills.

 

[najaB]

Schools used to have pottery studios, woodwork shops and metalwork shops where kids could learn useful transferable industry skills.

It might surprise you to know that many schools still do, and that (in Scotland at least) Practical Wood and Metalworking are still offered as Highers subjects.

 

[GordonT]

When access to a hot (or even cold) shower in an average home was a relatively rare thing. This was sometimes compensated for by affixing a shower attachment to the bath taps affording a great opportunity for scalding injuries if the controlling of the water temperature and the affixing of the attachment were not handled appropriately.

 

[philthetube]

When access to a hot (or even cold) shower in an average home was a relatively rare thing. This was sometimes compensated for by affixing a shower attachment to the bath taps affording a great opportunity for scalding injuries if the controlling of the water temperature and the affixing of the attachment were not handled appropriately.

and the use of other taps in the building.

 

[Harpo]

It might surprise you to know that many schools still do, and that (in Scotland at least) Practical Wood and Metalworking are still offered as Highers subjects.

It does surprise me. At my kids’s schools, rooms containing lathes, mills etc. are regarded as closed museums full of ‘old crap’ to quote one teacher.

 

[Trackman]

Needing an ash tray, the universal project in school pottery and metalwork classes.

For younger readers-

Schools used to have pottery studios, woodwork shops and metalwork shops where kids could learn useful transferable industry skills.

They had technical drawing at my school, I suppose this was made redundant with the advent of ECAD in the mid 80s.

 

[cool110]

It might surprise you to know that many schools still do, and that (in Scotland at least) Practical Wood and Metalworking are still offered as Highers subjects.

It does surprise me. At my kids’s schools, rooms containing lathes, mills etc. are regarded as closed museums full of ‘old crap’ to quote one teacher.

A lot of the ones around here sill do, seems to depend on if they had the technology specialism under the old SSP funding system before academies were created

They had technical drawing at my school, I suppose this was made redundant with the advent of ECAD in the mid 80s.

Even more so when laser cutters came more common in the mid 2000s. Would do your drawing on computer and feed it directly into the machine, which would interpret the different colours as power and speed settings. So typically black lines were cut and green shapes were engraved.

 

[AM9]

They had technical drawing at my school, I suppose this was made redundant with the advent of ECAD in the mid 80s.

Technical Drawing at 'O' level in the '60s was really a mechanical engineering discipline which was replaced by CAD (Computer Aided Design) in industry in parallel with NC (Numerical Control) of machines. ECAD, at industry levels was later as you say, which in part came from the electronic circuit simulators where printed circuits became too complex for manual board layout processes. Since then, the original CAD systems have been called MCAD, the 'M' being Mechanical of course.

 

[dangie]

When access to a hot (or even cold) shower in an average home was a relatively rare thing.…

Putting on the immersion heater for Sunday nights weekly bath before school on Monday.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jan 2025 ==

It came across my mind recently that women fainting was quite prevalent in films/tv shows that I viewed as a kid in the 1960/1970s.

Used to be quite common that during school morning assembly that someone (usually a girl) would feint. A teacher would appear, lift them up and carry them out. Assembly would then carry on as normal.

 

[Amos]

Putting on the immersion heater for Sunday nights weekly bath before school on Monday.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jan 2025 ==

And getting moaned at for having it on half a second longer than necessary!

 

[Harpo]

Using all of the hot water*. Another way to get shouted at.

* There was often no instant water heater. Just that big copper cylinder full of water, although…..


I bought a doer-up house in 2003 that had two gas water boilers, one for hot water and one for the radiators. The hot water boiler still had a sticker confirming it had been converted to ‘Natural Gas’.

 

[eoff]

Technical Drawing at 'O' level in the '60s was really a mechanical engineering discipline which was replaced by CAD (Computer Aided Design) in industry in parallel with NC (Numerical Control) of machines. ECAD, at industry levels was later as you say, which in part came from the electronic circuit simulators where printed circuits became too complex for manual board layout processes. Since then, the original CAD systems have been called MCAD, the 'M' being Mechanical of course.

I have an O Grade in Engineering Drawing from the scottish system. Many years later my grandfather who was a toolmaker had a look at the drawings I had kept and said I was better than many of his apprentices. You had to learn how to represent and understand 3d objects, draw sections and projections, and not get it wrong as rubbing out was a pain.

 

[bspahh]

I bought a doer-up house in 2003 that had two gas water boilers, one for hot water and one for the radiators. The hot water boiler still had a sticker confirming it had been converted to ‘Natural Gas’.

In 1996, I looked at a Victorian terraced house in Wantage where the plumbing consisted of a cold tap in the kitchen and an outside toilet.

 

[Ken X]

I have an O Grade in Engineering Drawing from the scottish system. Many years later my grandfather who was a toolmaker had a look at the drawings I had kept and said I was better than many of his apprentices. You had to learn how to represent and understand 3d objects, draw sections and projections, and not get it wrong as rubbing out was a pain.

That brings back some memories.
First angle, third angle, isometric views. All good fun.

 

[Ediswan]

They had technical drawing at my school, I suppose this was made redundant with the advent of ECAD in the mid 80s.

It changed. The drudgery of hand drawing is removed, but there is still some art in making a good drawing. One of the outcomes of learning technical drawing is an ability to interpret technical drawings. Show one to many people and they will react much as if it were a blank sheet of paper.

 

[GusB]

Techy drawing was a subject that I took in my first two years of secondary school, taught by one of the staunch advocates for another anachronism (the tawse)! Woodwork and metalwork was taught in a separate class and it was boys only; the girls were taught sewing etc. at the same time.

By the time I got to third year, the subjects had changed to Technological Studies and Craft and Design; I wanted to do the former but a timetable clash prevented it. I got another dose of drawing when I started my engineering degree course, well into CAD days.

 

[Trackman]

Techy drawing was a subject that I took in my first two years of secondary school, taught by one of the staunch advocates for another anachronism (the tawse)! Woodwork and metalwork was taught in a separate class and it was boys only; the girls were taught sewing etc. at the same time.

Girls did needlework, cooking and typing at my school.

 

[D6130]

Girls did needlework, cooking and typing at my school.

We called it 'Home Economics'.

 

[Trackman]

We called it 'Home Economics'.

Indeed, that's what it was called. If I put Home Economics, perhaps people wouldnt know what I'm on about.
Just dawned on me, girls did shorthand too.

 

[GordonT]

Indeed, that's what it was called. If I put Home Economics, perhaps people would know what I'm on about.
Just dawned on me, girls did shorthand too.

At my school the senior teacher of Home Economics/Secretarial Studies was a motherly figure who also had a welfare responsibility for girls issues and in school photos she was always sitting at one side of the headmaster and the deputy head sat at his other side.

 

[BingMan]

Indeed, that's what it was called. If I put Home Economics, perhaps people wouldnt know what I'm on about.
Just dawned on me, girls did shorthand too.

Shorthand and typing used to be the vocational course that young ladies did: it virtually guaranteed a job in an office, if only as a copy typists
Information technology seems to be the modern equivalent

 

[Sun Chariot]

Knitted tank tops. In bad colours.
I still bear the emotional scars.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I had one of those C&A jumpers with the rainbow stripe across the middle. At least everyone new where we shopped.