Remember When

Quote: billryan

Thanksgiving was normally celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
When Franklin Roosevelt was President, November had five Thursdays two years in a row.
At the time, it was widely accepted you didn't start Christmas decorations and sales until the day after Thanksgiving.
Merchants were worried that the late date for Thanksgiving would affect the Christmas season sales so they petitioned FDR to move it up a week. FDR announced that Thanksgiving would now be the 4th Thursday anytime November had five Thursdays.
Republican governors of several states decided this was an evil plot and declared the last Thursday was the real Thanksgiving and so half the country celebrated on the 23rd, while Republican lead states celebrated on the 30th. Texas being Texas, they celebrated both days. It was a mess, as families in different states had to choose when to celebrate.
Store owners loved the early Thanksgiving, but its many opponents called it Franksgiving. They didn't object to the earlier date, but they didn't think the President could change a holiday unilaterally.
After two straight years of this, with America about to enter the World War, Congress stressed National Unity and declared Thanksgiving would be on the fourth Thursday every year, even if it is not the last Thursday of the month..
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Wow, what a bunch of idiocy....LOL

Quote: TigerWu

Quote: billryan

Thanksgiving was normally celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
When Franklin Roosevelt was President, November had five Thursdays two years in a row.
At the time, it was widely accepted you didn't start Christmas decorations and sales until the day after Thanksgiving.
Merchants were worried that the late date for Thanksgiving would affect the Christmas season sales so they petitioned FDR to move it up a week. FDR announced that Thanksgiving would now be the 4th Thursday anytime November had five Thursdays.
Republican governors of several states decided this was an evil plot and declared the last Thursday was the real Thanksgiving and so half the country celebrated on the 23rd, while Republican lead states celebrated on the 30th. Texas being Texas, they celebrated both days. It was a mess, as families in different states had to choose when to celebrate.
Store owners loved the early Thanksgiving, but its many opponents called it Franksgiving. They didn't object to the earlier date, but they didn't think the President could change a holiday unilaterally.
After two straight years of this, with America about to enter the World War, Congress stressed National Unity and declared Thanksgiving would be on the fourth Thursday every year, even if it is not the last Thursday of the month..
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Wow, what a bunch of idiocy....LOL
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You think that's idiocy look into what the time zones were like in this country before Congress made them official. There weren't any. You could make the time whatever you wanted it to be in your particular county or city. For instance in Iowa it might be 12:30 p.m. when you entered the state on a train and in the next town it would be 1:15. Trains were never on time because they never knew what time it was. Congress changed all that.

Before the railroads, time was flexible. Noon was when the sun was directly overhead. A human on foot, horse or bicycle couldn't outrun the sun , so it didn't matter if noon was a few minutes different in towns, as you couldn't be in two places at once. Local time was all anyone needed.
It took a person on foot over a day to travel from Bisbee to Tombstone and hours by horse so a slight difference in clocks between the two towns didn't matter. With a train, the time was cut to about a half hour so you could leave Bisbee at noon and arrive in Tombstone before the sun was directly overhead, which was noon in Tombstone. That is a made-up example, exaggerated for effect.

Quote: billryan

Before the railroads, time was flexible. Noon was when the sun was directly overhead. A human on foot, horse or bicycle couldn't outrun the sun , so it didn't matter if noon was a few minutes different in towns, as you couldn't be in two places at once. Local time was all anyone needed.
It took a person on foot over a day to travel from Bisbee to Tombstone and hours by horse so a slight difference in clocks between the two towns didn't matter. With a train, the time was cut to about a half hour so you could leave Bisbee at noon and arrive in Tombstone before the sun was directly overhead, which was noon in Tombstone. That is a made-up example, exaggerated for effect.
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The biggest problem was the times made no sense. It could be 12:30 in one town in the very next town it would be 12:47 They did not get together and agree on anything they just did whatever they wanted.

Well, in all fairness, prior to industrialization, did you really need to be on time for anything down to the minute anyway? Most people probably never even left their local area for their entire lives.

Quote: TigerWu

Well, in all fairness, prior to industrialization, did you really need to be on time for anything down to the minute anyway? Most people probably never even left their local area for their entire lives.
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Before the arrival of trains it didn't matter. Who cared what time it was. And that's true most people worldwide never traveled more than 20 miles from where they were born in their entire lives. Of course there were people who did travel but they were not the majority at all. Most people did not own horses, everybody walked. And 20 miles would be a trip but you would only take once in a great while and why would you do it. I remember when I lived in Hawaii, I lived on Oahu but on the outer edge of the island. I was sitting at a bus stop one day with an older native Hawaiian woman and she asked me where I was going. I said Honolulu, and she said I visited there once when I was very young. She had to be 70 years old and I was shocked. I said to her, you've only been there once your entire life? She said she never goes anywhere, why would she, everything she needs is right there in her neighborhood. This is how people lived for thousands of years.

Quote: EvenBob

And 20 miles would be a trip but you would only take once in a great while and why would you do it

Is it still true that 65% of people still live within 30 miles of where they grew up? I can't even imagine. My parents told us kids that they would pay for our college expenses if we went to school at least 500 miles away. Both of my sisters and myself all took advantage of that. I tried it with my daughter but I buckled and gave in when she went 430 miles away.

Quote: DRich

My parents told us kids that they would pay for our college expenses if we went to school at least 500 miles away.
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In your case was it the tater tot and fried chicken bill your parents had to pay every month when you lived at home? My parents didn't say that to me but my dad did say as soon as you turn 18 if you're going to live here you're paying rent. Which I did, I got a full-time job and paid for college and rent with that job. Try and do that now, not possible. And I'm not talking about her paying for a college loan, I paid for college as I went along cuz it wasn't expensive. We're talking 55 years ago.

For boomers...

Remember when you timed your love making activity to the length / duration of the LP you were listening to?

You had to stop briefly and flip it over or put on a new one.

Ah, those crazy college days...

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: DRich

My parents told us kids that they would pay for our college expenses if we went to school at least 500 miles away.
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In your case was it the tater tot and fried chicken bill your parents had to pay every month when you lived at home?

No, but I did live on hot dogs, Ramen, and Baco soup in college. I doubt if my daily food expenses were over $1 most days. In retrospect it is kind of funny because I was one of the few kids that had a decent amount of money as I worked as a computer programmer all five years of college. I just didn't waste it on food. I wasted it on 3 motorcycles, a car, and very large bar bills while going to school. I had saved over $20k when I graduated and moved to Las Vegas.

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: billryan

Before the railroads, time was flexible. Noon was when the sun was directly overhead. A human on foot, horse or bicycle couldn't outrun the sun , so it didn't matter if noon was a few minutes different in towns, as you couldn't be in two places at once. Local time was all anyone needed.
It took a person on foot over a day to travel from Bisbee to Tombstone and hours by horse so a slight difference in clocks between the two towns didn't matter. With a train, the time was cut to about a half hour so you could leave Bisbee at noon and arrive in Tombstone before the sun was directly overhead, which was noon in Tombstone. That is a made-up example, exaggerated for effect.
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The biggest problem was the times made no sense. It could be 12:30 in one town in the very next town it would be 12:47 They did not get together and agree on anything they just did whatever they wanted.
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That sounds like what you did with your time, made up whatever you wanted.

Quote: DRich

Quote: EvenBob

And 20 miles would be a trip but you would only take once in a great while and why would you do it

Is it still true that 65% of people still live within 30 miles of where they grew up? I can't even imagine. My parents told us kids that they would pay for our college expenses if we went to school at least 500 miles away. Both of my sisters and myself all took advantage of that. I tried it with my daughter but I buckled and gave in when she went 430 miles away.
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In my case it is but in the interim I have lived hundreds then thousands of miles away.

I find a big difference between those who never moved away and those who did. Those who move away tend to adapt to change and challenge much better. When you never literally leave the neighborhood you never figuratively leave it, either.

There is a gender difference in leaving. Men leave to find their fortune. Always have. Army to old west to job transfer. If they know it will be better somewhere else they pick up and go. To a man this kind of move is a life adventure.

Women rarely leave on their own. They tend to leave because they are either following the man above or they meet the man above in the small town or improvised country they grew up in. I have met guys who married women because of this. The "someday a handsome prince will come" thing.

Going away to college is useful, expensive, and life changing all in one. The decline in the value of college will lessen the numbers here and I will not go into that at this moment. But even that first semester away changes you. Part of the reason I went away was to get away from the nonsense of my friends at home. It worked. For some people, though, it doesn't. Some parents send their kids away for freshmen year and find they are grandparents by spring. Some kids call home crying they want to come back. Some were popular in high school but nobody in college, other the reverse happens.

The military is not talking about the draft. But I have heard that they are starting to "talk about whether we will have to talk about it" phase. The only good part would be that it would "slap the childhood" out of our 18 year olds and give then some of these experiences.

Quote: Hunterhill

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: billryan

Before the railroads, time was flexible. Noon was when the sun was directly overhead. A human on foot, horse or bicycle couldn't outrun the sun , so it didn't matter if noon was a few minutes different in towns, as you couldn't be in two places at once. Local time was all anyone needed.
It took a person on foot over a day to travel from Bisbee to Tombstone and hours by horse so a slight difference in clocks between the two towns didn't matter. With a train, the time was cut to about a half hour so you could leave Bisbee at noon and arrive in Tombstone before the sun was directly overhead, which was noon in Tombstone. That is a made-up example, exaggerated for effect.
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The biggest problem was the times made no sense. It could be 12:30 in one town in the very next town it would be 12:47 They did not get together and agree on anything they just did whatever they wanted.
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That sounds like what you did with your time, made up whatever you wanted.
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Watches and clocks were rarities and luxuries most people couldn't afford or even need.
You worked from sunup to sundown, ate, went to sleep and did it all over again the next day.

.
Crazy Eddie Antar - 80s - was an owner of a chain of electronics stores -
he did a lot of shady stuff and was eventually convicted and jailed

but his over the top commercials were a lot of fun to watch and became pretty legendary

the actor is Jerry Carroll not crazy Eddie himself - crazy Eddie himself in pictured in the mug shot beneath the yt vid

below that is SNL's hilarious (to me) spoof of the commercials - Joe Piscopo as a discount Psychiatrist - Crazy Edelman - offering great deals on treatment of Psychosis












.

If you remember having one of these in your house, you're officially old. I'm cleaning out my basement for the first time in 25 years I found this and I cleaned it up and I'm putting it in my display cabinet. From the 1950s, every house had one, the black dial telephone. Didn't come in colors, just black. Like Henry Ford said you can get the Model T in any color you want as long as it's black. I dialed a couple numbers and it's amazing how long it takes. But because it was all we knew we didn't think about it.

Remember when you could still read fine print? You know you need your glasses when you thought a thread here said, "Will God take off."

I was gonna answer, He might if things get bad enough.

My dad used to give me something he couldn't read. Now I need someone to do that if I don't have my glasses with me.

Rotary phones were common well into the late '80s, maybe even into the early '90s. I know my family had one at least up until maybe '87 or so...

Quote: rxwine

Remember when you could still read fine print? You know you need your glasses when you thought a thread here said, "Will God take off."

I was gonna answer, He might if things get bad enough.

My dad used to give me something he couldn't read. Now I need someone to do that if I don't have my glasses with me.
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I just started wearing glasses last year and now I am helpless without them. Probably will need a stronger prescription very soon.

Quote: TigerWu

Rotary phones were common well into the late '80s, maybe even into the early '90s. I know my family had one at least up until maybe '87 or so...
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When we moved my Grandmother out of her house in 1996, she still had a rotary phone that she was renting from the phone company! I think it was $5/mo. At the time that you could buy a phone at a retailer like Home Depot for about $10.

As the phone company didn't want it returned, I kept it and used it in my apartment. Not sure whatever happened to it.

Quote: Joeman

Quote: TigerWu

Rotary phones were common well into the late '80s, maybe even into the early '90s. I know my family had one at least up until maybe '87 or so...
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When we moved my Grandmother out of her house in 1996, she still had a rotary phone that she was renting from the phone company! I think it was $5/mo. At the time that you could buy a phone at a retailer like Home Depot for about $10.

As the phone company didn't want it returned, I kept it and used it in my apartment. Not sure whatever happened to it.
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My parents were still renting their phone in the late 1990s. The pone company called and said, "keep it, it's yours, we no longer rent phones." IIRC they also forced my dad off pulse to tocuh-tone at the same time.

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: AZDuffman

The day after is Black Friday, which makes me embarrassed to be an American.
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Black Friday is a good day to get some of the streaming services really cheap last year I got Hulu, peacock and one other one for 99 cents a month for an entire year. I want to see what I can get this year. I think if I use a different email address and a different credit card they won't know that I already did it last year.
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Interesting considering how you bashed me for the return stuff. Perhaps not quite the same, but there are plenty of people who would find it comparable.

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1213902200 22:04.