We don't do that no more

[olhorseman]

Mowing the lawn with a push reel mower. Eventually we got a motorized reel mower without a recoil rope starter. You had to wrap a rope around a pulley on the flywheel each time you tried to start it.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Mowing the lawn with a push reel mower. Eventually we got a motorized reel mower without a recoil rope starter. You had to wrap a rope around a pulley on the flywheel each time you tried to start it.

I grew up using a Jacobsen reel mower probably from the late '40's to early 50's that pulled a sulky behind it. It had the recoil pull start I think, but I do remember some that were as you described. I have a motorless push reel mower leaning against the side of my house (DoggyMama bought it at a yard sale for some reason). I won't be using it!

 

[actaeon277]

Riding a bike with no helmet, half way across the county.

4 to 6 weeks until delivery...

And those 4 to 6 weeks were FOREVER.

 

[target64]

Berry hunting along the country road. Using those same roads to look for your Christmas tree. Picking out your live turkey from the filling station for thanksgiving dinner.

 

[flatlander]

Smoking on airplanes?

Bob

 

[Alamo]

Milk delivered to your house and put in a milk box on the front porch.
….

I had forgotten all about that. When I was still too young to be in school I used to watch for the milkman's truck and go out to meet him and bring in the milk. And popsicles!

 

[SmileDocHill]

I predict our kids will be talking about how you used to be able to buy police trade in handguns. "It's hard to believe the government used to facilitate the transfer of police weapons to public hands! How did anyone stay alive 2020's?"

 

[actaeon277]

used to be able to at least try to fight back against bullies.

 

[White Squirrel]

Telling my mom after dinner that I was going over to my friend Steve's house. Steve telling his mom after dinner he was coming over to my house. Meeting Steve at the local Ford dealership where his dad worked and all the cars were unlocked with the keys in them. No, we did not go joyriding, we just sat in the cars and pretended to drive them while we listend to the Cardinal games on the radio. His dad mentioned one time they couldn't understand why everytime someone wanted to test drive a car the battery was dead!

And speaking of foot operated dimmer switches, how about trying to hit that dimmer switch at the same time you are trying to hit the clutch and shift. That required some slick footwork.

And floor vents in your truck, our 'Chevy pickup I learned to drive on didn't have a floor, most of it was rusted out. The door latches didn't work either. We had a bicycle inner tube stretched from one door handle to the other to hold them shut. Worked okay until you took a corner a little too fast and the inner tube stretched and the door flew open.

 

[KMaC]

Geez, I thought I was old./QUOTE]

Thanks, I needed that.

 

[rhino]

Boarding an airplane with a knife that had a blade 4" or less.

Before that, boarding a plane without anyone bothering you about what you might be carrying.

 

[Usmccookie]

How about gravity fed water systems.
15amps for the entire house.
No heat or ac.
Lighting the pilot for the water heater if thou wanted a "hot" shower.

Thus was a blast from the past!
Although being only thirty, I'm possibly the youngest to live in these conditions...

 

[Expat]

Boarding an airplane with a knife that had a blade 4" or less.

Before that, boarding a plane without anyone bothering you about what you might be carrying.

And enjoying a smoke while cleaning your nails with your knife...

 

[jspy5]

Telephone party lines.

Going to drive-in theaters and never seeing a movie.

Finding a nice secluded road or pull off in the country to do some "parking".

Clotheslines.

Skate keys.

1/32 scale slot cars.

Baseball cards in bicycle spokes.

Pre FM radio days.

Oiling the road !We also lived off a gravel road and during the summer the dust would become such a problem whenever someone would go down the road. Some of the neighbors would pay out of pocket for a truck to come and lay down a coat of oil therby solving the dust problem. Thing was that the oil took awhile to kind of mix in with all the gravel etc. before it became a fairly nice "blacktop" surface. Also there was a lot of black crap on your car in the meantime ! BTW if you didn't pony up for the oil you had to suck on the dust all summer long, and this was before everyone used AC and hung there laundry outside to dry.

 

[ghuns]

Boarding an airplane with a knife that had a blade 4" or less.

Before that, boarding a plane without anyone bothering you about what you might be carrying.

That wasn't that long ago.

My first commercial flight was the February after 9/11. My CRKT K.I.S.S. went through in the tray with my wallet and pocket change without incident.

Though it's presence in my pocket at the Hoover Dam a couple days later nearly drew a SWAT team.

 

[olhorseman]

Vacuum windshield wipers - one of the worst designs in cars ever. They operated fine while maintaing a speed but if you accelerated to pass another car they would stop working. Passing another car required a plan and patience in heavy rain.

 

[AllenM]

using a pay phone

answering machines

 

[JettaKnight]

Milk delivered to your house and put in a milk box on the front porch.

I do recall that occurring at my brother's house in Denver less than ten years ago.

Of course, now it's more of a hipster thing...

Going to drive-in theaters and never seeing a movie.

Finding a nice secluded road or pull off in the country to do some "parking".

Clotheslines.

All totally still things done today and will be for a long time.

 

[rhino]

That wasn't that long ago.

My first commercial flight was the February after 9/11. My CRKT K.I.S.S. went through in the tray with my wallet and pocket change without incident.

Though it's presence in my pocket at the Hoover Dam a couple days later nearly drew a SWAT team.

The last time (and I repeat LAST) time I flew was in 1995. Among others, I had a first generation Spyderco Endura with me. No issues at all. I don't recall ever flying without at least a Buck 112 or similar sized folder and an SAK.

 

[Alamo]

No heat or ac.

I remember my Dad installing our very first air conditioner (but we had an oil furnace) in our 1950-era crackerbox house. It was a window unit, but the only small windows that opened were in the bedrooms - the kitchen and the living room (one room really) had only large, non-opening, "picture windows", so he had to cut a hole in the wall to mount the A/C. Which then jutted out onto the screen porch, so it was too noisy and hot to sit out there until evening, when it cooled down to 80 and my parents shut off the A/C to save money. To keep from having a big rusty puddle on the screened porch floor, dad plugged the drain pan hole, and it was my job to go out once an hour and drain the drain pan into a bucket.



And...drive-in theaters and clotheslines are nowhere near as ubiquitous as they once were.