I'm so old I remember when...

[Thecatman]

I’m so old Jesus sat in front of me in the third grade!

guess that's better than Methuselah

[FIGJAM]

...having a paper route on my bike.........Sundays were brutal!!!

[Thecatman]

Curb feelers



That "rod" that's forward of the tire is a curb feeler

I guess you can still find but they're not as popular as they were back then.
When cars had personality not to mention white wall tires

[DoctorIknow]

My Dad made me wipe down the car with a Kozak cloth. They still are around.

It's great for light dust, and that's it All the dust/dirt stays in the cloth, which can't be washed.

It would last about 30 to 50 "dry" cleanings.

It had a unique chemical smell that I could still identify in a blind smell test.

[FlyingMonkey]

The Singularity

Things were different back then. A simpler time. Well once time started that is.

[Molotov]

There was only one flavor of Cheerios.

[DoctorIknow]

My job was to adjust the rabbit ears.
I took it very seriously and would tweak them for minutes.

[Krokodyle]

...fiberglass casts for broken limbs was a new and profession-changing technology. I remember seeing my relative with a non-plaster cast on his arm and being disappointed that the cast was made with (or finished with) a dark purple layer, rendering every kids' desire to sign someone's cast a possibly extinct pastime.

[Captain Goddammit]

... car commercials said anything at all about the goddamm car!! I mean anything!

[Thecatman]

I remember when a trailer was a vehicle that was pulled/towed behind another vehicle...not a movie preview

[Thecatman]

I remember when a movie preview was a















movie preview, maybe a clip...not a trailer

[Simon of the Playa]

[Perpetual Burn]

... car commercials said anything at all about the goddamm car!! I mean anything!

Haha... that reminds of this ad on Craigslist selling a car.... they said ,"It runs. It goes and stops."

What more could you ask of a car?

...

I remember when Nintendo games had glitches, so you pulled the game out of the console and blew on it and then it worked again...

Nowadays when games glitch these kids blame it on "clouds!"

[Thecatman]

I remember when Canadian version of Ford pickup trucks were called Mercury.

[XPTom]

The SR 10 calculator had dropped well below its $149 intro price and was now affordable. The slide rule in my pocket was suddenly obsolete. My engineering professor had heard 16 bit chips were in the works and was giddy about their potential.

[Simon of the Playa]

[Captain Goddammit]

I remember when Canadian version of Ford pickup trucks were called Mercury.

And Canadian Dodge trucks were “Fargo”! A lot of Canadian Pontiacs got Chevy engines.
That seems normal now but back in the day, various GM brands may have used the same chassis and various pieces but they always had their own engines.

[FIGJAM]

And the smartest thing in the car was the driver.

[Ratty]

I miss wing windows.

[Netty58]

My brother threw up out of a wing window. Impressive.

[XPTom]

[quote="Ratty"]I miss wing windows.[/quote

.......proper way to smoke with children in the car

[burner von braun]

..and the quaint little headlight dimmer switch button on the floorboard.

[Captain Goddammit]

Chevy/GMC pickups through the ‘50s had a floor mounted starter button too.
I use one of those headlight dimmer floor buttons on my later model truck to control a function I didn’t want to tie my hands up with. I love those things. The goddamm dinners should still be done that way.

[Netty58]

Had a Ford truck with a floor headlight dimmer. Was a truly sensible thing. So of course, they changed it.

[DoctorIknow]

The goddamm dinners should still be done that way.

I had a BMW L6.

The headlights were fine, but wouldn't go to high beams....I thought it must be that stupid steering wheel shaft toggle arm, obviously needing a relay as no way for that kind of power to be switched with a flick of a finger.

The problem wasn't with the toggle arm....it was some mysterious box, not small either, that cost $250 for the part and another $100 to install.

For those wanting to emulate Capt. Goddammit's practical creativity, look at this hefty floor switch, on amazon:

floor switch.JPG

[DoctorIknow]

The goddamm dinners should still be done that way.

I mean, without a clutch, the left foot is totally ignored for its potential to control the vessel, whereas we have to learn the 100 things our hands can do on the steering wheel and column and learn to take our eyes off the road and hand off the wheel to use the touch screen.

And, to add insult to injury, I was driving a friends Tesla Model S, and flipped the blinker going into a turn, but hit the cruise control which engaged at that speed. Yeah, there is about two inches between the two "arm switches." I asked the owner about it and he said it took him two months to not screw up.

[unjonharley]

The right hand floor switch on the kids new car, is the windshield washer.. She keeps going for the clutch and change gears with the wiper control arm .. .

[Captain Goddammit]

I absolutely love the Tesla Model S dual-motor version, its insanely fast and does a ton of ultra-cool stuff... while it’s all new and still working.
I kinda hate the Model 3 that’s entirely controlled by the touch screen, you have to navigate to the right menu and select a screen too icon just to open the glovebox and you have to look away from where you’re going at the center screeen to even see your speedo.
Some old-timey shit was just plain right, like having the speedo straight ahead of you just below your normal forward view.

[ygmir]

Chevy/GMC pickups through the ‘50s had a floor mounted starter button too.
I use one of those headlight dimmer floor buttons on my later model truck to control a function I didn’t want to tie my hands up with. I love those things. The goddamm dinners should still be done that way.

I changed the overdrive in my Dodge W350 /auto, to manual with said floor mounted
dimmer switch. No more hoping the TPS is working right. I put it in O.D. when I want, and out, when I want. Well, except under 35 mph, since it won't change unless it's in 3rd already.

[Captain Goddammit]

Yep that exactly the function I did.
I’ve actually got two floor dimmer-switches, my overdrive (Gear Vendors add-on unit) is on right rear of floor (close to seat) so I can’t confuse it with the other button in the usual left-foot position.
The left foot one controls torque converter lockup. The annoying thing about the Dodge like mine is the computer unlocks the converter every time you take your foot off the throttle. As you cruise down the road it’s always locking and unlocking, which super sucks when you put in a triple-disc converter that really slams in when it locks. The stock Dodge programming also makes an exhaust brake useless.
A manual over-ride button is just plain necessary!

I really wanted a Cummins but it comes with a Dodge around it... and I didn’t feel like another motor-swap project...