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rxwine
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February 13th, 2026 at 7:14:53 AM permalink
Quote: billryan

Quote: avianrandy

The blurb I seen said they were released in 1979
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I owned two comic shops in the mid-1980s and set up at many card shows. There was almost nothing geared towards girls, so I'm surprised that these were around at the time.
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I think these were where their money went.

Tiger Beat, 16, Bop, and Seventeen. Anyone selling teen idol posters?
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billryan
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February 13th, 2026 at 9:05:20 AM permalink
Quote: rxwine

Quote: billryan

Quote: avianrandy

The blurb I seen said they were released in 1979
link to original post



I owned two comic shops in the mid-1980s and set up at many card shows. There was almost nothing geared towards girls, so I'm surprised that these were around at the time.
link to original post



I think these were where their money went.

Tiger Beat, 16, Bop, and Seventeen. Anyone selling teen idol posters?
link to original post



When I had my shops, I sold a ton of Menudo stuff. These days, almost anything with either Ricky Martin or Draco Rosa will sell quickly. Not for big bucks but steady money.
I figured selling Menudo stuff would attract girls, and nothing brings in teenage boys like teenage girls. It didn't work out as I expected, but it opened the door s to my moving to Puerto Rico for two years.
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billryan
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February 13th, 2026 at 9:09:16 AM permalink
Charles Schulz passed away on this day in 2000 and as per his wishes, the last original Peanuts strip ran the next day.
I was in second grade when A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired, and Linus reminded us of what the true meaning of Christmas is, was, and always will be.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
AZDuffman
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February 13th, 2026 at 9:28:35 AM permalink
Quote: billryan

Charles Schulz passed away on this day in 2000 and as per his wishes, the last original Peanuts strip ran the next day.
I was in second grade when A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired, and Linus reminded us of what the true meaning of Christmas is, was, and always will be.
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Not exactly. The last strip was planned for months. It was just chance he died the same day. Sunday comics sections are printed days in advance.
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billryan
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February 13th, 2026 at 10:43:43 AM permalink
In the late 1980s, the baseball market was truly the Wild West, as it was almost completely unregulated. People were producing unlicensed sets and selling out before anyone could stop them. I produced a set of American players playing in the Puerto Rican league. My partners thought 500 sets would flood the market, but producing 2500 sets cost about $300 more than producing 500, so we went large. They cost us $ 2,200 to produce the finished sets, and after a $45 ad, we sold over 1,000 in a week, and sold out in a month.
I produced a second set, consisting of West Coast players like Jose Canseco and Wally Joyner. Our lawyers said we should include those players in a set rather than do individual cards. We made 1500 sets and sold nearly half in a week. We ran afoul by using the name Big Apple Cards, as we didn't know there was already a company with that name. They quickly filed a cease-and-desist letter with us, and our lawyer told us we were screwed. The owners turned out to be pretty nice, and we agreed to take an ad out explaining the set had nothing to do with The Big Apple Card Company and that we'd stop selling them. I kept about a dozen sets, and we donated the remaining sets to a charity that distributed them to children in need in Central America. Soon afterwards, the leading publications agreed not to allow advertising for unlicensed products, and our little venture died on the vine, after producing only three sets.
I'm purging 90% of my baseball stuff, and while digging through it, I found ten sets of these. Looking it up on eBay, I see the set is now considered scarce and selling for about $100 each.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
EvenBob
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February 19th, 2026 at 8:47:41 PM permalink
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6IgT7DDuAQc

20 MB hard drive! I got my first computer 1992 it was not a laptop but it wasn't much better than that. And it was extremely expensive like $1,500. But it was truly wonderful as pitiful as it was.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
Dieter
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February 20th, 2026 at 1:30:27 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6IgT7DDuAQc

20 MB hard drive! I got my first computer 1992 it was not a laptop but it wasn't much better than that. And it was extremely expensive like $1,500. But it was truly wonderful as pitiful as it was.
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The portables... those look like the next iteration of the Compaq Portable, Kaypro, or Seequa.
May the cards fall in your favor.
DRich
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February 20th, 2026 at 8:51:14 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6IgT7DDuAQc

20 MB hard drive! I got my first computer 1992 it was not a laptop but it wasn't much better than that. And it was extremely expensive like $1,500. But it was truly wonderful as pitiful as it was.
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My first hard drive was 5 MB, I would guess that was in the mid 1980's.
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rxwine
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February 20th, 2026 at 9:01:42 AM permalink
First laptop was in 1995. Was $2000.
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EvenBob
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February 21st, 2026 at 10:26:29 PM permalink
Oh my gosh, anybody else remember these. 1975 state of the art and extraordinarily expensive. We were in awe.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ZY93zJvu4Q
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
AutomaticMonkey
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February 22nd, 2026 at 12:47:44 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Oh my gosh, anybody else remember these. 1975 state of the art and extraordinarily expensive. We were in awe.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ZY93zJvu4Q
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Yes I do! I remember very distinctly a classmate who was always boasting of his family's wealth, because his father was a local politician, and all the expensive things they had and this was one of them.

Neither one of us really understood what it meant when a local politician (who was not wealthy separately from that) had a lot of money and expensive things. But yeah, he found out in a couple of years.
rxwine
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February 22nd, 2026 at 8:49:17 AM permalink
I used to watch this. Just noticed the original host died this last December.

Quote:

The Computer Chronicles from 1984 to 1989) is an American half-hour television series that was broadcast on PBS public television from 1984 to 2002.[2] It documented and explored the personal computer as it grew from its infancy in the early 1980s to its rise in the global market at the turn of the 21st century.[3] Series creator Stewart Cheifet served as main host throughout the show's existence.

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DRich
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February 22nd, 2026 at 1:11:45 PM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Oh my gosh, anybody else remember these. 1975 state of the art and extraordinarily expensive. We were in awe.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ZY93zJvu4Q
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The Betamax was a superior product to VHS but was more expensive because Sony held the patent, the consortium of VHS manufacturers created price competition so it buried the Betamax because of price.
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AutomaticMonkey
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February 22nd, 2026 at 3:54:49 PM permalink
Quote: DRich

Quote: EvenBob

Oh my gosh, anybody else remember these. 1975 state of the art and extraordinarily expensive. We were in awe.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ZY93zJvu4Q
link to original post



The Betamax was a superior product to VHS but was more expensive because Sony held the patent, the consortium of VHS manufacturers created price competition so it buried the Betamax because of price.
link to original post



When Betamax first came out there was no video sale or rental industry and it was marketed as a broadcast TV recording device. That was a big deal back then, to not have to arrange your daily schedule around a broadcast schedule if you wanted to watch a particular thing. When Blockbuster first came out there were some Betamax tapes available but it was limited as VHS was much cheaper and they needed a large market, so that accelerated the decline of Betamax relative to VHS as I remember.
EvenBob
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February 22nd, 2026 at 10:09:59 PM permalink
Quote: AutomaticMonkey

Quote: DRich

Quote: EvenBob

Oh my gosh, anybody else remember these. 1975 state of the art and extraordinarily expensive. We were in awe.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ZY93zJvu4Q
link to original post



The Betamax was a superior product to VHS but was more expensive because Sony held the patent, the consortium of VHS manufacturers created price competition so it buried the Betamax because of price.
link to original post



When Betamax first came out there was no video sale or rental industry and it was marketed as a broadcast TV recording device. That was a big deal back then, to not have to arrange your daily schedule around a broadcast schedule if you wanted to watch a particular thing. When Blockbuster first came out there were some Betamax tapes available but it was limited as VHS was much cheaper and they needed a large market, so that accelerated the decline of Betamax relative to VHS as I remember.
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In 1982 I bought the RCA VHS and it was $1,200 which was an incredible amount of money in 1982. You could buy a really nice used car for $1,200. But I owned the bar then and I could go home at 2:00 a.m. and watch prime time TV that I had recorded. At the time it was worth every penny to me.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
billryan
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February 22nd, 2026 at 11:03:58 PM permalink
The first video recorder I saw in a house was in 1981, when my friend's father bought a system in order to tape Masada. I remember it took forever to set it up right, and the tapes needed changing a few times an episode. They were ridiculously expensive- maybe $2,000.
I bought my Mom one for Christmas 1985, and she ended up getting me one, as well. They'd come way down by then.
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rxwine
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February 23rd, 2026 at 12:07:47 PM permalink
I had no idea these lasted this long. Anyone have one?

Quote:

While exact total production numbers for all LaserDiscs are not publicly tracked, the LaserDisc Database (LDDb) catalogs over 1.3 million discs, with thousands of unique movie titles produced between 1978 and 2001. The format, known for its superior audio/video quality, featured over 1,800 titles in many niche collections, with roughly 15,000+ discs in stock at specialized sellers

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smoothgrh
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February 23rd, 2026 at 12:49:24 PM permalink
Quote: rxwine

I had no idea these lasted this long. Anyone have one?

Quote:

While exact total production numbers for all LaserDiscs are not publicly tracked, the LaserDisc Database (LDDb) catalogs over 1.3 million discs, with thousands of unique movie titles produced between 1978 and 2001. The format, known for its superior audio/video quality, featured over 1,800 titles in many niche collections, with roughly 15,000+ discs in stock at specialized sellers


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I have TWO! My original one, and one that I found at a Goodwill.

When I bought the original one in the 1990s, it was the only way you could watch movies in the "letterbox" format—in the movie's original aspect ratio. After I learned about the difference between pan & scan and letterboxing, I couldn't go back.

odiousgambit
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February 23rd, 2026 at 1:12:41 PM permalink
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!”   She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
linksjunkie
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February 23rd, 2026 at 4:33:15 PM permalink
Basically VHS won the battle against Betamax when the porn industry chose VHS.
Son you ain’t paying attention I’m cutting you but you ain’t bleeding - Foghorn Leghorn
linksjunkie
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February 23rd, 2026 at 4:39:11 PM permalink
There was definitely porn available on Betamax as my friend had some in the early 80’s but VHS porn was definitely more widely available
Son you ain’t paying attention I’m cutting you but you ain’t bleeding - Foghorn Leghorn
DRich
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February 23rd, 2026 at 5:20:40 PM permalink
Quote: billryan

The first video recorder I saw in a house was in 1981, when my friend's father bought a system in order to tape Masada. I remember it took forever to set it up right, and the tapes needed changing a few times an episode. They were ridiculously expensive- maybe $2,000.
I bought my Mom one for Christmas 1985, and she ended up getting me one, as well. They'd come way down by then.
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My father was a High School principal back in the early 1980's and would regularly bring home the equipment from the A/V club. When I had parties in High School I would rent concert VHS's and play them at the party. He would also bring home the camcorders of the day that were basically big shoulder cameras with a battery bag you hung over your shoulder.
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Dieter
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February 24th, 2026 at 2:13:29 AM permalink
Quote: rxwine

I had no idea these lasted this long. Anyone have one?

Quote:

While exact total production numbers for all LaserDiscs are not publicly tracked, the LaserDisc Database (LDDb) catalogs over 1.3 million discs, with thousands of unique movie titles produced between 1978 and 2001. The format, known for its superior audio/video quality, featured over 1,800 titles in many niche collections, with roughly 15,000+ discs in stock at specialized sellers


link to original post



I used to. Pretty sure people started saying "Anime - drugs would be cheaper" because of laserdisc.

As I recall, the manufacturing process for the discs could not be made less costly while maintaining compatibility. Yes, the picture was great, but $30+ for laserdisc vs $5 for DVD kind of killed it. It wasn't uncommon for a laserdisc to cost $70, back when that was 5 tanks of gas.
May the cards fall in your favor.
billryan
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February 24th, 2026 at 5:47:56 AM permalink
I've always thought that the VCR industry won the war by targeting rentals, while laser discs were targeted at buyers. By 1985ish, almost every consumer could afford a VCR and two or three rentals a week. Buying even one disc a week was an expensive proposition.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
ChumpChange
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February 24th, 2026 at 6:13:47 AM permalink
I tried to rent a VHS tape once in 1989 and they wanted a $90 deposit from a credit card. I didn't have that so "no sale."
When Blockbuster came along my way over a decade later, I didn't notice absurd deposit fees required from credit cards. I didn't even have a credit card until like 2002. I paid most of my bills by mail until around 2017 when my cable company and phone company switched.

I had a friend bid on a computer on e-bay for me and I paid him back $400 cash for it back in 2000. I didn't get broadband until a couple months before 9/11.
Last edited by: ChumpChange on Feb 24, 2026
AZDuffman
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February 25th, 2026 at 5:33:45 AM permalink
For post 15,000 I think a Remember When.

Remember how much tech and culture we have seen the birth and death of?

VCRs
Fax Machines
MTV
The K-Car
Mall Rat Culture
Hi-Fi Syttems

Just a few I can think of. And yeah, "malls" are still there but they are not what they were in the 80s when they would be jammed on Friday night.
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EvenBob
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February 26th, 2026 at 12:03:57 PM permalink
Quote: AZDuffman



Just a few I can think of. And yeah, "malls" are still there but they are not what they were in the 80s when they would be jammed on Friday night.
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I've been to a mall exactly once in the last 25 years and that was only because my wife dragged me there. In the 1970s I went quite a bit but after that very very seldom.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
billryan
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February 26th, 2026 at 12:43:27 PM permalink
Food Truck Fests are the new malls in Arizona.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
EvenBob
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March 2nd, 2026 at 9:57:25 PM permalink
This song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by Queen was on the charts at number one for 9 weeks. The studio did everything in its power not to release it because it was 6 minutes which was too long for radio stations to play but they played the crap out of it anyway. This was 50 years ago and I was 25 years old and I heard this song every time I turned on the radio. Music like this today would just confuse this generation. They have no idea what real talent looks like.

"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
EvenBob
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March 8th, 2026 at 10:52:21 PM permalink
This is an 80% accurate AI video of childhood in the 1950s. Most of this is pretty right on, especially the part about in the summer leaving the house after breakfast and not coming back till dinner time and your parents could not care less what you did and they never asked. And nobody died, nobody went to the hospital, we all somehow magically survived it. They touch on bullies a little bit but not enough. The bullies I experienced in the 1950s were always two or three years older than me and that thing about stand up to a bully and he'll leave you alone. Pure BS. The bullies I knew would beat you to a bloody pulp if you stood up to them so you learn to avoid them. Anyway an interesting video If you grew up in the 1950s.

"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
AutomaticMonkey
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March 9th, 2026 at 1:13:43 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

This is an 80% accurate AI video of childhood in the 1950s. Most of this is pretty right on, especially the part about in the summer leaving the house after breakfast and not coming back till dinner time and your parents could not care less what you did and they never asked. And nobody died, nobody went to the hospital, we all somehow magically survived it. They touch on bullies a little bit but not enough. The bullies I experienced in the 1950s were always two or three years older than me and that thing about stand up to a bully and he'll leave you alone. Pure BS. The bullies I knew would beat you to a bloody pulp if you stood up to them so you learn to avoid them. Anyway an interesting video If you grew up in the 1950s.

link to original post



That was very interesting. It would also be around 80% for the 70s too. The clothes and cars were different, and our toys were all what was heavily advertised on TV. That's OK, it doesn't make much difference where your toys come from. We were also more fascinated by violence and destruction, as a lot more of that was shown in movies and on TV.

The most significant difference was the size of the generations. I am early Gen-X, and there were a lot fewer kids around than with the Boomers. I remember when I was very young, preschool, seeing the throngs of teens in the playgrounds and hanging out on the streetcorners and I was terrified of them! But they started moving on into adulthood, and when I was old enough to go and do everything on my own there were comparatively few kids my age. My classrooms were never crowded, and there were always piles of leftover books from years past we had to count. But your playgrounds, amusement parks, ball fields, public pools and all that were still there, just barely, and you could go to the playground and there was just a couple of kids there or maybe none at all. So there were a lot more things you did by yourself or just with one friend. That resulted in a culture that was a bit more subversive, and furtive.
AZDuffman
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March 9th, 2026 at 2:38:15 AM permalink
Quote: AutomaticMonkey



The most significant difference was the size of the generations. I am early Gen-X, and there were a lot fewer kids around than with the Boomers. I remember when I was very young, preschool, seeing the throngs of teens in the playgrounds and hanging out on the streetcorners and I was terrified of them! But they started moving on into adulthood, and when I was old enough to go and do everything on my own there were comparatively few kids my age. My classrooms were never crowded, and there were always piles of leftover books from years past we had to count. But your playgrounds, amusement parks, ball fields, public pools and all that were still there, just barely, and you could go to the playground and there was just a couple of kids there or maybe none at all. So there were a lot more things you did by yourself or just with one friend. That resulted in a culture that was a bit more subversive, and furtive.
link to original post



Try to explain this to people. I was born pretty much in the nadir of the Gen X collapse. The classes before me had 3 sections, we had 2 and even they were smaller classes. Empty classrooms that were just not needed, told stories of how 20 years before one row of desks was crammed against the wall because they had to shoehorn all the kids in somehow. Age 4 looking out at playgrounds full of slightly older kids, same playgrounds empty when I got there.

With the birthrate collapse since 2009 I have to wonder if kids today are seeing the same?
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lilredrooster
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March 9th, 2026 at 10:07:28 AM permalink
.
I can't say that I loved Western movies, but I do love this one - "Hombre"

Paul Newman plays a person (Hombre) of mixed race who was raised by Apaches

he takes on a gang that is trying to steal money and water from passengers in the coach he was traveling in

"Mister you've got a lot of hard bark on you. Walking down here like this. Now I owe you. You put two holes in me."

at the end the Mexican says "I would like at least to know his name"




.
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
AutomaticMonkey
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March 9th, 2026 at 10:51:59 AM permalink
Quote: AZDuffman

Quote: AutomaticMonkey



The most significant difference was the size of the generations. I am early Gen-X, and there were a lot fewer kids around than with the Boomers. I remember when I was very young, preschool, seeing the throngs of teens in the playgrounds and hanging out on the streetcorners and I was terrified of them! But they started moving on into adulthood, and when I was old enough to go and do everything on my own there were comparatively few kids my age. My classrooms were never crowded, and there were always piles of leftover books from years past we had to count. But your playgrounds, amusement parks, ball fields, public pools and all that were still there, just barely, and you could go to the playground and there was just a couple of kids there or maybe none at all. So there were a lot more things you did by yourself or just with one friend. That resulted in a culture that was a bit more subversive, and furtive.
link to original post



Try to explain this to people. I was born pretty much in the nadir of the Gen X collapse. The classes before me had 3 sections, we had 2 and even they were smaller classes. Empty classrooms that were just not needed, told stories of how 20 years before one row of desks was crammed against the wall because they had to shoehorn all the kids in somehow. Age 4 looking out at playgrounds full of slightly older kids, same playgrounds empty when I got there.

With the birthrate collapse since 2009 I have to wonder if kids today are seeing the same?
link to original post



No, despite the falling birthrate, up until very recently they have been seeing classrooms even more crowded. With kids who don't speak English and are just there to lear.
EvenBob
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March 9th, 2026 at 1:14:36 PM permalink
Quote: AutomaticMonkey

Quote: EvenBob

This is an 80% accurate AI video of childhood in the 1950s. Most of this is pretty right on, especially the part about in the summer leaving the house after breakfast and not coming back till dinner time and your parents could not care less what you did and they never asked. And nobody died, nobody went to the hospital, we all somehow magically survived it. They touch on bullies a little bit but not enough. The bullies I experienced in the 1950s were always two or three years older than me and that thing about stand up to a bully and he'll leave you alone. Pure BS. The bullies I knew would beat you to a bloody pulp if you stood up to them so you learn to avoid them. Anyway an interesting video If you grew up in the 1950s.

link to original post



That was very interesting. It would also be around 80% for the 70s too. The clothes and cars were different, and our toys were all what was heavily advertised on TV. That's OK, it doesn't make much difference where your toys come from. We were also more fascinated by violence and destruction, as a lot more of that was shown in movies and on TV.
link to original post



The part about kids playing in construction sites is certainly true. We did that every summer because in our neighborhood there was constant building of new suburban homes and after 5:00 they all went home and we could play to our hearts content in the half-built buildings. One time we found a box of 22 caliber ammunition so of course we took it home and started throwing it into the burn barrel while it was going. The burn barrel looked like Swiss cheese afterwards. We thought the bullets could hurt us so of course we hid behind a tree but a bullet going off without a gun isn't going to do much damage.

One time in the late 1950s I found a paper bag full of candy bars so I took it home and split it with my brother and sister and my mother said nothing. Today that bag would have been immediately thrown away by some parent. We were always told never take candy from a stranger but finding a bag full of it on the street was a loophole.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
DogHand
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March 9th, 2026 at 1:50:27 PM permalink
Quote: AutomaticMonkey

<snip>
No, despite the falling birthrate, up until very recently they have been seeing classrooms even more crowded. With kids who don't speak English and are just there to lear.
link to original post


AutomaticMonkey,

Did you mean "leer"? Or perhaps King "Lear"? How about "learn"... if they are.in the classroom to learn, I am in favor.

Dog Hand
AutomaticMonkey
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March 9th, 2026 at 5:55:44 PM permalink
Quote: DogHand

Quote: AutomaticMonkey

<snip>
No, despite the falling birthrate, up until very recently they have been seeing classrooms even more crowded. With kids who don't speak English and are just there to lear.
link to original post


AutomaticMonkey,

Did you mean "leer"? Or perhaps King "Lear"? How about "learn"... if they are.in the classroom to learn, I am in favor.

Dog Hand
link to original post



No, I mean lear. You know, like at a learing center.

I'm really into learning, myself. Unfortunately, there are certain people who due to culture, or ideological or personal preferences, or low IQ, are ineducable and everyone will be better off in the long run if we admit that.
rxwine
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March 10th, 2026 at 4:06:38 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob


The part about kids playing in construction sites is certainly true. We did that every summer because in our neighborhood there was constant building of new suburban homes and after 5:00 they all went home and we could play to our hearts content in the half-built buildings. One time we found a box of 22 caliber ammunition so of course we took it home and started throwing it into the burn barrel while it was going. The burn barrel looked like Swiss cheese afterwards. We thought the bullets could hurt us so of course we hid behind a tree but a bullet going off without a gun isn't going to do much damage.

One time in the late 1950s I found a paper bag full of candy bars so I took it home and split it with my brother and sister and my mother said nothing. Today that bag would have been immediately thrown away by some parent. We were always told never take candy from a stranger but finding a bag full of it on the street was a loophole.
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We used to go into construction sites, I don't actually remember this Willie Mays blasting cap warning, but do remember seeing them.



In today's world, blasting caps would just be another stupid TikTok challenge.
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odiousgambit
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March 10th, 2026 at 4:52:08 AM permalink
Quote: AutomaticMonkey

I'm really into learning, myself. Unfortunately, there are certain people who due to culture, or ideological or personal preferences, or low IQ, are ineducable and everyone will be better off in the long run if we admit that.
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What gets overlooked is what goes on at home. Generally speaking, children do not exceed the education level of their parents or perhaps go up one level. There are exceptions of course. But if the parents dropped out of high school, maybe in good homes you see the kids get through high school and even learn to read and write... some going further of course. But if the parents went on to graduate high school, many more kids exceed that, and if their elders tend to be college graduates, you may see some ambitious focus on higher degrees and good paying professions. Note the qualifier 'good homes'

And then you have families that are dysfunctional in some way. Alcoholism, wife beating, stressed single parent, or you name it. Horrible things come out of that and 'uneducable' is the least of it. Those kids who rise above it are to be celebrated for sure
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!”   She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
EvenBob
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March 10th, 2026 at 10:15:52 PM permalink
Here's an easy one, remembering where you were when you heard that John Kennedy was shot. We always had a pep rally in the gym for the entire school every Friday afternoon and they announced it during the rally. We all kind of laughed and joked because we were 14 years old and we did not know he had died yet. But that weekend, that entire weekend, was no joke. We were in absolute shock. And we were watching, my sister and I, live TV when Oswald got shot. My sister went insane running out the front door screaming what's going on what's going on at the top of her lungs. The reaction today to a president being shot and killed, whoever the president is, would get about 10% of the reaction it got in 1963. That's how much society has changed for the worse.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
AutomaticMonkey
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March 11th, 2026 at 12:39:47 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Here's an easy one, remembering where you were when you heard that John Kennedy was shot. We always had a pep rally in the gym for the entire school every Friday afternoon and they announced it during the rally. We all kind of laughed and joked because we were 14 years old and we did not know he had died yet. But that weekend, that entire weekend, was no joke. We were in absolute shock. And we were watching, my sister and I, live TV when Oswald got shot. My sister went insane running out the front door screaming what's going on what's going on at the top of her lungs. The reaction today to a president being shot and killed, whoever the president is, would get about 10% of the reaction it got in 1963. That's how much society has changed for the worse.
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Easy? Easy for you to say!

Looking a bit older than I am I've had a few conversations like this with old drunk guys:

"So where were you in 69, tough guy? You serve?"

"Well I tried to sign up but they wouldn't take me."

"Oh? Why not? You were 4F?"

"No, just 4."

"Well if you had any balls you would have lied about your age."

"Oh I had them. Still do. They just hadn't descended yet."

I do remember very well the shooting of Reagan and of Lennon, and the stabbing of Pope John Paul II.

Regarding Oswald being shot, I do have a serious historical opinion of that. I think the Dallas police were in on it. But not revenge for killing Kennedy. For killing JD Tippitt. This was Texas in the early 60s, and if you kill a cop I don't like your odds of being around for your sentencing.
AZDuffman
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March 11th, 2026 at 7:05:01 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Here's an easy one, remembering where you were when you heard that John Kennedy was shot. We always had a pep rally in the gym for the entire school every Friday afternoon and they announced it during the rally. We all kind of laughed and joked because we were 14 years old and we did not know he had died yet. But that weekend, that entire weekend, was no joke. We were in absolute shock. And we were watching, my sister and I, live TV when Oswald got shot. My sister went insane running out the front door screaming what's going on what's going on at the top of her lungs. The reaction today to a president being shot and killed, whoever the president is, would get about 10% of the reaction it got in 1963. That's how much society has changed for the worse.
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I think I was in about 3rd grade learning about it in class.......

JFK being shot is a catalyst for the start of the decline of American society. It did not cause it, but it killed the USA post-1945 "childhood." For the first time, Americans saw someone die in on TV. Then with Oswald saw it live.
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
AutomaticMonkey
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March 11th, 2026 at 7:34:37 AM permalink
Quote: AZDuffman

Quote: EvenBob

Here's an easy one, remembering where you were when you heard that John Kennedy was shot. We always had a pep rally in the gym for the entire school every Friday afternoon and they announced it during the rally. We all kind of laughed and joked because we were 14 years old and we did not know he had died yet. But that weekend, that entire weekend, was no joke. We were in absolute shock. And we were watching, my sister and I, live TV when Oswald got shot. My sister went insane running out the front door screaming what's going on what's going on at the top of her lungs. The reaction today to a president being shot and killed, whoever the president is, would get about 10% of the reaction it got in 1963. That's how much society has changed for the worse.
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I think I was in about 3rd grade learning about it in class.......

JFK being shot is a catalyst for the start of the decline of American society. It did not cause it, but it killed the USA post-1945 "childhood." For the first time, Americans saw someone die in on TV. Then with Oswald saw it live.
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They put on quite a show. This is brilliant:
lilredrooster
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March 11th, 2026 at 1:15:37 PM permalink
.
Times Square, NYC in the 70s_____________so beautiful__________;)

it got cleaned up in the mid to late 90s - "Disneyfication"








.
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
billryan
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March 11th, 2026 at 2:09:40 PM permalink
Today is National Johnny Appleseed Day.
The Legendary Johnny Appleseed wandered the American frontier, planting apple trees so that the pioneers who followed would never want for food.
In real life, Johnny Chapman studied horticulture and apprenticed under an arborist before setting off on his lifetime mission. He didn't haphazardly toss seeds on the ground. He systematically planted orchids along what he thought would be the main routes west and worked closely with the communities along the way. His idea was that each settlement should have an orchard of apples and pears, so travelers could feed themselves. Ironically, the type of apples he developed proved to be better suited to making cider than for humans to eat.
He dressed in rags, but was quite wealthy. Although a legend in his own lifetime, his death is shrouded in mystery. The location and even the year of his death are disputed.
The first National Johnny Appleseed Day was held in the 1890s, as America experienced a tree revival, and as late as the 1920s, there were hundreds of parades to honor the man and his legacy. Today, there is not a single parade for the man who helped feed generations of pioneers
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
AutomaticMonkey
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March 11th, 2026 at 6:31:36 PM permalink
Quote: lilredrooster

.
Times Square, NYC in the 70s_____________so beautiful__________;)

it got cleaned up in the mid to late 90s - "Disneyfication"








.
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Ah yes, I remember them well!

And I'm glad I went to those places, those cathedrals of heterosexuality, when I was like 15 and 16 because I couldn't possibly have enjoyed them as much as an adult. I think society gets that backwards. An older guy going to places like that, it's like an older guy going to Scandia or Chuck E. Cheese Just... why? How much fun can that be for you? How much fun should that be for you? But a teen getting a superlative thrill out of it- perfectly normal.
EvenBob
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March 11th, 2026 at 10:32:53 PM permalink
I remember the first time I saw a microwave oven was in 1968 in the lunchroom of the cookie factory where I worked. It's the only place you saw them was in restaurants and lunch rooms because they were so expensive, 4,500 in today's money. The first time I used it I thought I was in an episode of Star Trek. I used to brown bag it to work and I would ueat my sandwich in the microwave and it took about 20 seconds to get a hot sandwich. If you were not around before microwaves you can't understand how futuristic this was. There was no way to heat anything that fast, it was wonderful. It wasn't until the mid 80s that microwaves came down enough in price that they could go in your house. I now use it almost everyday and don't think anything about it and you can get a cheap one for under $100. I used to really look forward to heating up that salami sandwich because it was like living in the future. Women would bring casserole dishes from home to eat for lunch and heat them up in the microwave. Beef stew, macaroni and cheese, it was really pretty amazing.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
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