For the old guys (and the old at heart) - Remember when...

[luvmysuper]

There are a lot of great things about living in this age, so don't take this as a luddite longing for the past because it isn't.
I couldn't live without todays modern conveniences and much of what makes life worthwhile today just wasn't available to many of us growing up.

But still, from time to time I am reminded of the things and the ways of the past that I kinda sorta miss a little bit. This is an opportunity to recall those things with fondness.

It certainly isn't to invite a debate about which time or era was "better". Not the point at all.

I was just talking with SWMBO and noted that I missed the whole Television schedule thing;

You know, Advance notice of the new fall line up. A new season of TV shows starting in the fall when most people would be moving activities indoors and watching TV through the winter months.
Then in the Summer, when everyone was outside or on Vacation, the re-runs.

The New Fall Line-Up was quite the thing to anticipate and I remember making mental note of the new shows that I'd be checking out.

Seems that now, new shows start just about any time they please. I'm at a loss as to which shows are nearing their season finale now days. I don't watch much TV anyway, so I suppose the point is moot, but still, one remembers.

Do you remember this? Is there anything else you recall fondly that seems to have gone the way of the Brontosaurus?
(Oddly enough, even the name Brontosaurus went the way of the Brontosaurus and it is now the Apatosaurus)

[Kentos]

I miss walking into a Tower Records and browsing all the albums. I also miss the feeling of invincibility I had on my youth. Nowadays eating the skin on a piece of fried chicken gives me a twinge of guilt.( In a "good" way )

[ouch]

I feel the same way, but I'll admit it was a bigger deal when we only had a handful of channels.

[luvmysuper]

I feel the same way, but I'll admit it was a bigger deal when we only had a handful of channels.

That's true.
But even with 1500 channels I still sometimes sit there amazed that there isn't anything interesting on TV.

It's kind of like the Refrigerator Phenomenon, You can open a fridge full of food and still not see anything good to eat in there. Doesn't matter how big that fridge is.

[ouch]

I was raised in Brooklyn, where you don't leave your windows open. Moving to the suburbs was a breath of fresh air.

A few years ago, I would buy fresh eggs at a farm about five minutes from my house. The 'store', really just a room off of a barn, was unmanned. It had a price list for the eggs, with instructions to leave your payment in a cigar box. If you needed change, another cigar box full of coins and singles was provided so you could make your own change. I thought the year was 1702. There are no longer there.

Of all the things I miss, I miss humanity the most.

[Rivguy]

[QUOTE=luvmysuper;4304201]That's true.
But even with 1500 channels I still sometimes sit there amazed that there isn't anything interesting on TV.

I couldn't agree more. It is like going to a bad restaurant with a very large menu.

Regards,

Doug

[dfigz]

Being somewhat of a "Nocturnal Creature" I myself miss the one on one interview shows such as Tomorrow with Tom Snyder and Good Night America with a young Geraldo Rivera. The only show now I can think of like that is Charley Rose on PBS. Maybe 360 with Anderson Cooper ... but I never watched it. Aside from any entertainment personalities ... they seemed to get really interesting people from politics to media to science etc. Love the fact that it was a one on one with no audiences ... seemed to be genuine and not fabricated ... for that time.

[Robert45]

Being able to leave the house and car unlock without fear or worry.

[oc_in_fw]

Being able to leave the house and car unlock without fear or worry.

I never lock my pick up- I secretly wish someone would steal so I could buy something that does better than 18MPG

[maxman]

I was saying someting like this to my wife the other day.
there are summer shows when before it was just re-runs.
Somehow the "slice of life" sitcoms have died off in favour of 1 hour cop dramas.

The only redeeming thing about modern TV is having a PVR to record the 3 shows that you actually want so you can watch them on your schedule.

[smalltank]

Yea..Tower Records/Virgin Megastore/Three's Company TV show/The Smurfs (original colored version)..seems like all the cartoon TV shows when I watched em in the 1900's are now 3D'd..still makes me wonder how unsimilar they are now..

[Argonaut]

I miss guilt free bacon and eggs, it used to be part of a healthy breakfast, pictured right along side those Super Sugar Smacks with a glass of OJ. Good times.

[Topgumby]

I was trying to explain to my kids the significance of Saturday morning to my youthful self. Ah, the cartoon day. Looked forward to it all week. Read about the new lineups in comic book ads.

Now, they get cartoons constantly, whenever they want, on demand. They have no clue how sweet Saturday was.

[Argonaut]

I was trying to explain to my kids the significance of Saturday morning to my youthful self. Ah, the cartoon day. Looked forward to it all week. Read about the new lineups in comic book ads.

Now, they get cartoons constantly, whenever they want, on demand. They have no clue how sweet Saturday was.

Saturday mornings were what I lived for! You knew it was over when "Land of the Lost" came on.

[Kentos]

Saturday morning was the only day I would willing wake up early for!

[maxman]

Saturday was "WWF Superstars of Wrestling" for me and my friends.
we were glued to that TV watching the best matches ever.
those were the days.

[shavervinnie]

Great thread Phil. I miss many things and feel a great sense of nostalgia when contemplating all of this. One of my favorite TV shows is "The Wonder Years". The Kevin Arnold character would have been only a few years older than me. I relate so much to the overall atmosphere of that show and the culture of that period (late 60's-mid 70's) I really miss the sense of community that my neighborhood had when I was growing up. It really was my own personal 'Wonder Years".

In pop culture I miss, as you and others do, the TV fall line-up and Saturday cartoons (the Warner Brothers stuff was just the best). I miss "Night Flight" on the USA network in the 80's ( Where has that kind of quirky and creatively fun approach to entertainment gone? ) I miss Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, and Frank Gifford. I miss ABC's "Wide World of Sports". I miss LESS NEWS.

I remember when it was safe for kids to play until the streetlights came on in the summer ( which was late), and when actually spending time with friends IN PERSON is what really counted. I remember the great anticipation I felt looking forward to those summer vacations.

I remember when you had to wait for the TV to warm up ( and I DON'T miss that! ). Modern life is great in many ways and I accept the fact that, as the Rolling Stones sang, "Time waits for no one...and it won't wait for me". Not to get too philosophical, I guess I remember when the world was a little more innocent than it is now. I probably miss that the most. Peace

[whiteweed]

"The Family Farm" I miss working on my Grandfather's farm. Or I should quantify, I miss plowing, I really liked setting the plow to the ground. The whole process of preparing a field for the new crop. However, I did not like tending the new crop so well, we grew a lot of strawberries and the first year involved way to much of the "goose-neck hoe". Most of the farm is now a subdivision.

[turtle]

The wife and I were talking about this not too long ago. Some of them not missed or reminisced about much.

Back in the days before the internet:

You had to subscribe to specialty publications such as Antique digest, Main antique digest, Antique trader, to find out about auctions. You would then need to call them on the phone and ask for Polaroid photos of what you were interest in and wait, and wait and wait only to get a blurry image of what looked like someone's cat. Now not only are auction catalogs online but you can bid online from your computer. Gone are the days of setting up a phone bid and hoping someone calls you when the item goes across the block. You can watch the actual auction in real time from your living room.

Getting Bookman's weekly delivered to locate antiquarian books that were imposable to find any other way.

Now the internet has made everything common and inexpensive.

Books that took decades to locate are available in multiple copies from any of the online book sources (alibris, bookfinder, etc). Everything that was rare is now common and inexpensive as everything that was rare is now just there at your finger tips. Books that used to cost thousands are now a few hundred because there are so many available. Lately book sales have started to dwindle as the internet becomes a reference source and casual readers are reading electronic books instead of holding leather and paper.

I don't miss the old way much but it is interesting that just in the past decade the way things in the antiquarian book and antique business has changed.

[luvmysuper]

I do remember staying out late and running around the neighborhood as a kid. If you were in the house before dark during the summer, mom wanted to know what was wrong.
I remember sitting in the cross branch of a huge Mulberry Tree at what seemed to me to be hundreds of feet in the air, although it was probably more like 30 or 40 feet. Looking down on all the rooftops of the neighbors houses and stuffing myself sick on Mulberries.
I don't think that todays world is more dangerous or sinister than my childhood world was, we just have instant notification of the most recent amber alert or the kid who fell out of the tree and broke his leg.
I do believe that we tend to be more protective of the kids than our parents did, despite the danger not being much different.
There have always been perverts, there have always been criminals. There were places where you couldn't leave your doors unlocked back in the 50's and 60's and there are still places where you can today.
I also remember when an adult could walk up to a bunch of kids on the street and engage them in conversation.
It seems today that most adults, particularly adult males (myself included) go out of their way to avoid children when they are not accompanied by an adult for fear of what someone may think or say.
It's sad, but for some, the fear rules their life.