Things the younger generation wouldn’t believe when you were a kid

[Lloyds siding]

I went to Roscoff this year, and there was a large placard to commemorate the 'Onion Johnnies' close to the promenade.

I understand that the huge number of them that set off for Britain every year was part of the reasoning for the Brittany Ferries company forming.

 

[Ediswan]

And an Ashtray

I had a French car with a space in the centre console which looked perfect for a packet of cigarettes. I recall using it as somewhere to put the mobile phone.

 

[Calthrop]

I certainly think leaving it later to marry and have kids is a good idea. Firstly you're more prone to making mistakes when you are young; secondly having kids too young ties you down in your 20s when you might want to be enjoying yourself. I will say here though that I have never had kids (to me, having them just ties you down full stop) so I am doubtless biased.

Your second sentence here -- me too; have always felt that that is a thing which no-one in their right mind, would sign up for. Going by the generality of mankind, this makes you and me, somewhat weird -- but happily, in the part of the world in which we live: it's a weirdness which is overall, accepted and tolerated.

 

[farleigh]

Using a tape recorder to load a game into my ZX Spectrum, waiting four minutes for it to load and then receiving the dreaded R Tape Loading error message.

 

[johnnychips]

I went to Roscoff this year, and there was a large placard to commemorate the 'Onion Johnnies' close to the promenade.

I understand that the huge number of them that set off for Britain every year was part of the reasoning for the Brittany Ferries company forming.

Was there something particularly special about French onions? I would have thought it was a low-value product that we could easily buy in England, so how could they make a profit?

 

[Ediswan]

Was there something particularly special about French onions? I would have thought it was a low-value product that we could easily buy in England, so how could they make a profit?

Not any old French onion, they now have an AOC.

Oignon de Roscoff

The Oignon de Roscoff is a variety of onion that is grown in the Brittany region of northwest France. The use of the name is protected by appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) certification that was awarded in 2009, restricting the name to onions grown in a delimited area of the northern coast of Finistère, which includes the commune of Roscoff.

 

[Runningaround]

As a child, if I wanted to visit friends from about age 10 you went by bike, no helmets, no knee or elbow pads, and when there just stuck it by side of house, or in back garden, bike was never locked. Parents often had no idea where you were.

Most kids where I live still ride bikes (and Skateboards) without any safety gear only the youngest wear a helmet and I've yet to see any wear the rest you've listed unless they are involved in extremely fast downhill organised mountain bike racing.

 

[johnnychips]

Bonfire night is less now but the antisocial aspects of fireworks has ruined it. Plus its more like a month not a night!

One for today, just before bonfire night:

I think you mean the noise has spread from just that one night to several. However, in the 60s and early 70s, children could legally buy ‘bangers’ and ‘rip-raps’ (essentially about five or more bangers in a paper tube) and we set them off everywhere. We let them off in front of people’s houses, put them in dog turds and dustbins. This was pretty much during all the second half of October, and I lived near Manchester.

When I moved to South Yorkshire in 1982, I found they had the concept of ‘Mischievious Night’ on the 4th November where this was concentrated into one evening, and involved pranks as well as fireworks like tying people’s doorknobs together and throwing eggs. Over the years it got more and more out-of-hand, like kids running over people’s cars and throwing tins of paint over windows and doors. Eventually the police cracked down, maybe fifteen years‘ ago or so, by imposing curfews, and it now seems to have disappeared.

So I will blissfully go to bed tonight, confident there won’t be a dog turd pushed through my letterbox, no potential omelettes on the window nor dents in my hypothetical car. Was this just a Yorkshire thing?

Edit: pictures of a rip-rap and bangers if you don’t know what I mean:

More Old Fireworks

Explore EpicFireworks' photos on Flickr. EpicFireworks has uploaded 25005 photos to Flickr.

www.flickr.com

 

[Runningaround]

You are unusual in that respect. Most people just chuck the broken appliance away and buy a new one these days.

There are lots of these little DIY tasks that people seem to have forgotten how to do. I know someone who moved into a new house and paid a lot of money to have the locks changed by a locksmith, then a lot more money to have a plumber bleed the radiators. Both very simple DIY tasks. I remember my dad had a big book, I think from Readers Digest, that told you how to do all these basic repairs.

Really!! Where do you get this assumption from? Who throws away say a hoover and pays £100's for a new one for the sake of a fuse in a plug? if the items playing up and within warranty then take it back even if it's just a fuse as by taking it apart will possibly stop you getting a new one if the fault is found to be more serious

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I thought this thread was on ''what youngsters wouldn't believe you did when you were their age'' it's just another ''I'm an old git and you're too young to know better whinge''.

What they may find difficult to believe is that you had to head to the pub or cafe to engage in gossip, innuendo of your neighbours and put a face to the comments you make and if you wanted to complain publicly you had to write to the editor of a newspaper with your real name and address with a very specific reason to have your ''Name and address withheld''.

And they won't believe you did it that way it because you are posting as frequently and anonymously on internet forums just like they do on what's app

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Porn was very restricted in what you could see and where you could get it.
If you wanted to look at near to naked ladies, you'd use a catalogue if you wanted to see topless ladies, you'd buy the Sun or Daily Star, if you wanted a bit more you had to nick it from the newsagent's top shelf or if you were lucky your best mate had found his dad's stash.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

New mains-powered electrical appliances being supplied without a plug sticks in my mind, probably because it was my job as a kid to fit a plug to electrical goods my parents bought.

When I was at university, I was a couple of years older than those I was sharing halls with. We decided to club together to buy a George Foreman grill (back when they were new) for the communal kitchen... which I was responsible for getting because I had a Saturday job at an electrical retailer so could get a discount. I also called in a hardware store to buy a plug with a switch built into the back, so that we didn't have to unplug it when not in use. When I set to removing the supplied plug and fitting the switched one (and swapping the fuses too), they looked at me like I was some sort of mediaeval sorcerer! This wasn't a skill taught at school, but by my dad one Christmas when I'd just received my first Hornby train set.

Edited to add, I'm "only" 40 years old!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2022 ==

Yeah, that was how it was done then. I guess that practice died out when mobiles came along with their ability to save numbers and automatically display the associated stored name, eliminating the need to remember anyone's actual number.

I used to be able to memorise the home phone numbers of several friends, and when mobiles became widespread was able to remember a few of the longer mobile numbers. These days the only number I have memorised is my own- and when asked for it I still use the same format for reciting it- first five numbers (pause) three numbers (pause) three numbers.

Kettles that you had to switch off when they boiled.
Kettles that weren’t electric, but had to be put on the cooker or over a fire.

Apparently old fashioned metal kettles with whistles are all the rage with hipsters who have newfangled induction hobs!

Using a tape recorder to load a game into my ZX Spectrum, waiting four minutes for it to load and then receiving the dreaded R Tape Loading error message.

Borrowing Amstrad (Spectrum or Commodore 64 also available) games off a mate, and using the hi-fi with a double tape deck to copy them onto a blank C60 or C90. Had to remember to turn the volume down, or you'd be treated to the loading sound at a much higher volume than you were used to!

 

[Springs Branch]

When I was at university . . . . . I was a couple of years older than those I was sharing halls with. . . . . When I set to removing the supplied plug and fitting the switched one (and swapping the fuses too), they looked at me like I was some sort of mediaeval sorcerer! This wasn't a skill taught at school, but by my dad one Christmas when I'd just received my first Hornby train set.

Half a dozen years ago, I was visiting a firm in California which develops and manufactures hi-tech medical equipment.

After my meetings I went to leave and discovered my hire car in the car park had a flat rear tyre. Not such a big deal, I thought: jacket & tie off - sleeves rolled up - spare and jack out of the boot / trunk - where's the wheelbrace? - blah, blah, blah - and soon enough the car's ready to go with the spare wheel fitted.

As I went back into the offices to wash off the grime before driving to the airport, I was met by two or three of the firm's 'bright young things' (all young, male and calling themselves 'engineers') who had been watching the whole operation through the reflective office windows.

They were all very impressed that I'd managed to change the wheel myself - "I've never seen anyone do it so quickly", "I couldn't have done that!", "I would have just called the AAA" (RAC/AA-type rescue service).

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Half a dozen years ago, I was visiting a firm in California which develops and manufactures hi-tech medical equipment.

After my meetings I went to leave and discovered my hire car in the car park had a flat rear tyre. Not such a big deal, I thought: jacket & tie off - sleeves rolled up - spare and jack out of the boot / trunk - where's the wheelbrace? - blah, blah, blah - and soon enough the car's ready to go with the spare wheel fitted.

As I went back into the offices to wash off the grime before driving to the airport, I was met by two or three of the firm's 'bright young things' (all young, male and calling themselves 'engineers') who had been watching the whole operation through the reflective office windows.

They were all very impressed that I'd managed to change the wheel myself - "I've never seen anyone do it so quickly", "I couldn't have done that!", "I would have just called the AAA" (RAC/AA-type rescue service).

You'd be lucky to have a proper spare these days... it's all sealant spray or (if you're lucky) a low-speed "get you home" spare!

 

[Springs Branch]

You'd be lucky to have a proper spare these days... it's all sealant spray or (if you're lucky) a low-speed "get you home" spare!

Yes, the car which Hertz gave me on that occasion was a bright red Chevrolet Camaro, complete with huge alloy wheels and wide tyres (a nice, heavy object to heft into the boot - and none of idiots standing watching me came out to help).

The spare was a piddly little get-you-home wheel with a bright yellow sticker telling you not to exceed 40 or 50 m.p.h. Great fun on the freeway! Luckily, I didn't have too far to drive, and the US car hire companies don't (at least didn't then) try to hit your credit card with usurious charges for any tyre damage, unlike the scam they seem to run in UK and Ireland. Anyhow, getting a bit OT here.

 

[birchesgreen]

You'd be lucky to have a proper spare these days... it's all sealant spray or (if you're lucky) a low-speed "get you home" spare!

Spare tyre was an optional extra when i got my new car, 300 quid extra! I did get it though, although i've never needed to change a tyre before i thought sod's law would apply if i no longer had a spare...

 

[341o2]

Anyone remember when some traffic lights had a pressure strip in the road, which was activated by vehicles running over it?
There is the story of a London Transport staff bus held up at one such set of lights, and someone got off and jumped on the strip.
The lights changed, the driver set off, leaving him behind, and was not amused to receive one bell.
He called that individual a steaming great nit, something you don't hear today, either

 

[chorleyjeff]

One for us older members (I’m 62). Are there any things that you tell your grandchildren; or students if you are a teacher; or things you can imagine, that they really can’t believe.

My students can’t believe that firstly, I only had one bath a week, and the cleansing agent was Fairy Liquid. Secondly, most people didn’t have a shower in the house. Thirdly, that the hygiene regime was augmented at secondary school when we had to take naked communal showers twice a week.

The other one is that there were only two TV channels, in black and white.

What things happened to you as a kid that young people find astonishing today?

Food rationing.
While at junior school going for bike rides from breakfast to tea time with only a sandwich and a bottle of tiger.
Working in a market garden for 12 pence ( in new money ) in all weathers.
Teachers only taught and were not interested in pupil welfare.
University was only for a very few bright pupils - unless you had "connections".

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2022 ==

Most people received their pension and other benefits in cash at the Post Office, like banks on a Friday, Thursday was pension payday for many. You had a book with dockets that you signed each time you went to collect your money.
Most transactions were in cash, and no barcodes. The person at the till had to manually enter the cost of each item, all the cash register would then do was to give a total amount and the cashier had to work out how much change to give manually.

When you married, usually your bride was either a virgin or a widow. the facts of life weren't openly discussed, I was given a booklet explaining it. Marriage was expected to be "until death do us part"

Not sure about the virgin bit. Sex was not invented in 1964. WW2 was a wild time for young women.

 

[Cloud Strife]

and none of idiots standing watching me came out to help.

Unfortunately, being a selfish prat while calling yourself an engineer is widespread in the tech industry.

Anyway, one thing that struck me recently living abroad: teenagers don't seem to hang out for hours pointlessly in the local park. 20 years ago, living in suburbia, it was quite normal for loads of teenagers to be hanging out in different places within my suburban town. You roughly knew which groups were where, so our group's 'home' was the local primary school. Another group would be in a park on Friday nights drinking, a third group would be at some park near my house and so on.

It wasn't territorial (most people in my high school got along), but even though most of us had phones in 2000-1, you rarely needed to use them because everyone knew where to find others.

In comparison, there's only a handful of kids hanging out in my nearby park where they've constructed a racing track for bikes. The rest? I have no idea where they are or what they're doing, because I never see them. It's quite depressing to think that most of them are inside, because of parental paranoia.

Someone mentioned that parents had no idea where the kids were: this was very much true from about 10 onwards. The deal was always the same: be back home at x time, but other than that, use common sense and stick with your mates. We used to roam all over the town, which wasn't that far in reality (perhaps 1.5 miles from home to the furthest point), but the point was that we would go out after lunch and stay out for 4-5 hours without any means of contact with our families.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2022 ==

University was only for a very few bright pupils - unless you had "connections".

Yes, my grandmother told me that she always wanted to go to university, but it simply wasn't going to happen as a child from a poor Fife town. She had actually done very well at school, she had obtained the Scottish Leaving Certificate, but the University of Edinburgh told her at an entry interview that they didn't think she was suitable for university study.

Interestingly enough, she went on to have a solid career in business, although she never quite hid her distaste for university graduates after that.

 

[Class 33]

That 30+ years ago on some days during the winters, there was very very thick dense fog. You could barely see more than a few feet in front of you when walking. It would last for hours at a time before clearing up. It could start sometime in the morning and then not clear up until late morning or early afternoon! For some reason though we haven't had fog like this for many many years now.

 

[Typhoon]

That 30+ years ago on some days during the winters, there was very very thick dense fog. You could barely see more than a few feet in front of you when walking. It would last for hours at a time before clearing up. It could start sometime in the morning and then not clear up until late morning or early afternoon! For some reason though we haven't had fog like this for many many years now.

Peasoupers! Hung over the Thames, the other bank was not visible, ships would blast their fog horns regularly and you might just make out a light on them. You wore a scarf which you wrapped around your mouth and nose. We certainly had these that would be there when I was going to school and there when I came back - sometimes, but not always, they would clear up (at least partly) during the day.
The Clean Air Act(s?) helped a lot.

University was only for a very few bright pupils - unless you had "connections".

I was the first in my area to go to university, and I was treated as something really special (getting to Grammar school was out of the ordinary - we had four in my year, no-one could remember that high a number and only one lived anywhere near me) when I wasn't. I had to be arm-twisted to apply by one of my teachers (thanks, Coke). It was suggested that we be imaginative over my father's occupation when I applied - he worked on the shop floor making machine parts. Unfortunately, I've forgotten what it was. The country missed out on an awful lot of talent through that near-sighted approach, sometimes those with the more innovative approaches come from less academic backgrounds as they often start with the basics.

Not sure about the virgin bit. Sex was not invented in 1964. WW2 was a wild time for young women.

I gather the twenties were not a time of puritanical abstinence, either (at least in some circles). What has changed is the opinion of others towards those who indulge in sex before marriage. In particular, the shifting of 'blame' that was very largely focused on the woman.

 

[Busaholic]

Anyone remember when some traffic lights had a pressure strip in the road, which was activated by vehicles running over it?
There is the story of a London Transport staff bus held up at one such set of lights, and someone got off and jumped on the strip.
The lights changed, the driver set off, leaving him behind, and was not amused to receive one bell.
He called that individual a steaming great nit, something you don't hear today, either

We still have a pressure strip in my Cornish town: people are always wondering why there is no light for pedestrians to cross the road there, but that is why (it's on a one-way street, by the way.)

 

[Calthrop]

Not sure about the virgin bit. Sex was not invented in 1964.

(My bolding); no -- according to Philip Larkin, 1963 was the date of that momentous invention .

 

[Busaholic]

(My bolding); no -- according to Philip Larkin, 1963 was the date of that momentous invention .

Specifically, sexual intercourse.

 

[jfollows]

When I was at university, I was a couple of years older than those I was sharing halls with. We decided to club together to buy a George Foreman grill (back when they were new) for the communal kitchen... which I was responsible for getting because I had a Saturday job at an electrical retailer so could get a discount. I also called in a hardware store to buy a plug with a switch built into the back, so that we didn't have to unplug it when not in use. When I set to removing the supplied plug and fitting the switched one (and swapping the fuses too), they looked at me like I was some sort of mediaeval sorcerer! This wasn't a skill taught at school, but by my dad one Christmas when I'd just received my first Hornby train set.

Edited to add, I'm "only" 40 years old!

For sure it's a skill little used today, and appliances used to come without a plug which you had to fit yourself, but

• My dad bought a new kettle, and complained that it didn't work. I (teenager) said "give it to me" followed by "you need a 13A fuse". "The old one didn't" he said (I don't believe) but of course the 13A fuse fixed the "problem".
• As a teenager I went to a local "aunt's" house and fixed something. "Why do you have a 13A fuse in a table lamp plug?" - "oh, I don't understand these things, and 13A fuses work with everything".
• More recently my partner chopped the cable on a garden hedge trimmer. "Shall I go and get a new one?" he asked. Grrr ... give me a few minutes with a sharp knife and some electrical tape .... all as good as new now.

Probably good to supply plugs with new appliances now, I guess, given the general ignorance.

 

[Ediswan]

More recently my partner chopped the cable on a garden hedge trimmer. "Shall I go and get a new one?" he asked. Grrr ... give me a few minutes with a sharp knife and some electrical tape .... all as good as new now.

Not safe. Use a suitable outdoor (usually orange) plug and socket.

 

[jfollows]

Not safe. Use a suitable outdoor (usually orange) plug and socket.

And an earth leakage circuit breaker, yes.

 

[dgl]

Not safe. Use a suitable outdoor (usually orange) plug and socket.

Or a ceeform if you don't mind the size.
Talking about "tape bombs", doing portable appliance testing at work one owners van had a TV in the bedroom on the wall, tidily wired with the cable going through small holes in the wardrobe and covered with mini trunking, now I noticed that the TV had flat cable coming out of it and the plug round cable, no room for a proper connector solution in the trunking and so they had just twisted and taped the wires together.
Annoyingly I noticed that they had removed the failed sticker when I happened to be in that van later but it got reported again and got sorted in the end.

Admittedly I have done a few little wiring things for work, whether or not it's strictly allowed. Made two extensions for our pressure washers that convert from a 32A plug down to a single ip rated 13a socket, with an ip rated fused spur providing fuse protection with extra converters for 16A to 32A, 13A to 32A and a 13A to 16A to allow the extension to power a caravan if necessary. Also made a fixed extension for out tea trolley as the proper one went missing and the only other one is only 5A rated, not good for an urn, it also allows me to use 1.5mm² flex for an extra safety margin. Currently has a metal double socket fitted as they will take an ip68 strain relief gland and can't be easily removed like a regular multiplug extension, it hasn't gone missing yet!
Also all my wiring now uses bootlace ferrules as it makes for a much nicer job and no loose strands, the tools are cheap enough and so are the ferrules, but make sure the tool is of the ratchetting kind for reliable results (either two or four jaw).

Interestingly at secondary school in the 00's we did get taught how to wire a plug.

 

[Whistler40145]

No such thing as using the internet to purchase rail tickets, you’d have to purchase them at the station

 

[ABB125]

Interestingly at secondary school in the 00's we did get taught how to wire a plug.

So did I, about 4 years ago!

Meanwhile, I may have to have a go at rebuild a theatre lighting dimmer panel dating from the 1960s in the not too distant future. Not something I'm entirely comfortable with, but there isn't much other choice! Definitely not a common thing for non-qualified people to do...

 

[341o2]

Specifically, sexual intercourse.

Of course, it went on. I am reminded of Nevile Shute Norway and the ill fated R101 airship. Norway commented that the men, straight from the plough, were as to be expected, but the girls... they were dirty, foul mouthed, and promiscuous. Intercourse going on everywhere.

Whereas respectable, middle class, often churchgoers didn't.
Some Christian sects even advocated separation, to the point of boys not being allowed to speak to girls.
There used to be a Bible College in Birkenhead which practised this, although things were more relaxed in its final years.
Then there is the Bob Jones University, Carolina where Ian Paisley studied, and Billy Graham did for a while, however, he found the discipline, especially regarding, female students too onerous and resigned

 

[farleigh]

My first car (Morris Minor) stalled at a busy junction and would not re-start.

Jumped out with the starting handle and within a minute off again.

This was 1996 - happy days