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This is a thread like the "Do You Realize...?" thread, except for those of us too young to remember how different things were 60, 50, 40, 30 or maybe even twenty years ago.
There are a lot of things us young'uns take for granted and wonder however people did things without certain tools.
For example, searching for books in libraries. Nowadays, you can search for all kinds of key words, authors, titles, and cross-reference all kinds of subjects in order to find the books you want in even the largest library. How did "they" ever find books without the magical computer database? Research must have been much harder in general. Now, if you don't know something, you look it up on the internet and you'll know it in a few minutes at the most. In the past, you had to visit records offices or talk to experts. Information was cumbersome and more difficult to acquire on such a wide scale. Was it more treasured once it was found, then?
I can't imagine a time when men hadn't walked on the moon or seen the planet from above. I take it entirely for granted that photographs exist of the planet and we have a reasonably up close and personal knowledge of the moon. It's hard for me to conceive of a time when the earth was something only imagined from above.
Going further back, music is so easily ubiquitous now that it must have been quite different when recorded music was rare or largely non-existent. If you wanted music for a party, you had to hire a musician or a set of musicians. The same goes for photographs back when cameras were rare pieces of equipment or, again, not yet invented. If you wanted an image of yourself or anything, you hired somebody to paint or take one and it was a big occasion. Taking time to set the image up was important because you didn't get many shots at this.
Everyone can play. You may even not be able to conceive how you yourself managed to find books with a card catalogue.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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When my mom was growing up my grandma did not have a refrigerator. They had an ice box and got ice delivered 2 or 3 times a week. That's where they kept the milk that was delivered every day during the day, and some of the vegetables or leftovers. But they went shopping every day for fresh meat and often vegetables for dinner. My grandma walked to the store (since they had one car) with two little girls, who were 11 months apart, and walked back, with the groceries! Every day! (Except Sunday.)
They also did not have a vaccum cleaner; they had a carpet sweeper, and they had brooms. Vaccums were expensive and didn't work that well anyway.
They had a wringer washing machine, and no dryer. I can't imagine a wringer washing machine! But that was an improvement to my grandma; she didn't have any washing machine until she got married!
Going back another generation, my grandma's dad got her mom an electric iron. She left it down on the ironing board and it burned through and burnt the rug! He never let her buy another one, she used her iron-- made out of iron-- that you heated on the stove for the rest of her life!
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My great grandparents didn't have electricty or running water until the late 1960s (my uncle that graduated from high school in 1968 thinks they got it about the time he started driving). I can't imagine that.
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I can't imagine how people got by without air conditioning. I have a low tolerance for humidity, it just makes me miserable.
Posts: 1080 | Registered: Apr 2006
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It took me forever to find that. The discussion made me think of it immediately, but I was looking for it in XKCD.
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quote:Originally posted by Teshi: For example, searching for books in libraries. Nowadays, you can search for all kinds of key words, authors, titles, and cross-reference all kinds of subjects in order to find the books you want in even the largest library. How did "they" ever find books without the magical computer database?
There was a card catalogue, with actual cards. It was a piece of furniture with lots of small drawers that held the cards, arranged by title and author. Let's see if I can find a picture. OK -- here's one. Every book in the library had a corresponding card in the card catalogue. And there were (and still are) librarians who could help you find what you needed.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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we had a card catalogue at our university. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty certain they still do.
Posts: 5700 | Registered: Feb 2002
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We had a wringer washer when I was 4 (I'm 47). It was probably cheaper to buy than a regular washer, or a regular washer wouldn't have worked in the very old farmhouse where we were living. I played with it when I wasn't supposed to and got my arm caught. I have a scar from the friction burn on the inside of my left elbow.
My parents got a "real" washer and dryer when we moved after the house burned down. IIRC the only heat came from a wood stove, which overheated the chimney one bitter February night and the roof caught fire. It was all over after that. But we all survived, and found a new place to live and had a more modern washer and dryer, so it's not all bad.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Oh, the old Twin Tub Dexter! They were designed to have a double rinse basin behind them. You put the clothes in the first tub (Hot soapy/w bleach), adgitated for five minutes, then fished them out with the wash stick and wrung them into the second tub (hot,soapy/wo bleach)for five minutes, fished them out with the stick and wrung them into the first rinse (cool/w bluing) and stirred them with the wash stick, wrung them into the second rinse (clean water) stirred and wrung them out put them in the basket and carried them into the yard to hang on the clothes line. You started with white shirts and unmentionables, one load followed the other until you finished with levis. If you lived in the city you ran all the water down the floor drain. In the country, you ran it into a bucket and carried it out to water the bushes. Yup, been there, done that.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Re the library. In '64, I was a library page in the Weber College library. To access a book, the patron had to look it up as described by rivka, and write the dewey system number on a call card. Then they gave the card to a page. We retrieved the book from the stacks and gave (or checked it out, if it were marked for circulation) it to the patron. When you were finished you returned it to the page, and I put it away. I could walk right to almost every book I ever put away (weird photokenitic memory, don't ask me what month it is) and I had a pretty good idea of what they contained. But, I wasn't allowed to answer questions. Only a REFERENCE LIBRARIAN could do that. I was given a written reprimand once for telling a patron that there had been an article on Calamity Jane in a bound issue of the American Hertage Magazine. However, if you came during the dinner hour, I could probably save you a lot of time.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Sean Monahan: I can't imagine how people got by without air conditioning. I have a low tolerance for humidity, it just makes me miserable.
posted
Yeah, really. And some of us still do live without air conditioning. Heck, I lived without indoor plumbing this summer. Technically. The septic system still worked. (Supply line broke and landlady kept trying to fix it herself, with an inner tube and twine. But at least I could get water directly out of the pressure tank, in the shed. I'm very grateful for that. Thing is, I got used to it. Life moves on.) And in the winter, I have to heat the house with a really old cast iron stove. Yes, really. And I love it. I love getting up at five when it's dark and freezing and going out to the wood pile. It's one of my great joys. I also don't have t.v.
I think the thing I feel most spoiled for is modern medicine. Antibiotics and laparoscopy are miracles to me.
Oh, and anime. I don't need AC, indoor plumbing, or cable TV, but I gotta have my anime. Pretty sad, huh?
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I grew up without AC in a part of the country where it reliably gets to 104 for a few days in August (ie not the hottest part of the country, but not Alaska either). If your house is well shaded, air draws well through your house, and you use fans, it's really not so bad. Of course, part of the reason I didn't have a huge problem with the heat was because I was a kid, and didn't know anything else; that was just part of summer.
I've definitely gotten used to having an AC. I'm sure that I could wean myself of it, but it would take me a little while to acclimate.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I've been through different eras of no AC, and I can say that it was a lot easier as a child to deal with. Of course, I spent 90% of my waking hours at school or outside back then, so, ya know.
(Random info: I lived in Georgia back then. Now I live in Texas. Similar heat, but different levels of humidity.)
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: heh she doesn't know how to use the three seashells.
I can imagine that would be a problem....
Heh. One of my favorite movies. And I've always wondered what they did with the shells. Though I think I don't want to know.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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We have no AC in our house or either of our cars. Of course, we live in the Pacific NW. We don't have cable either and we have free dial up. No dishwasher either.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I grew up without air conditioning, in the foothills in SoCal, where we routinely have 101+ temps for days on end in the hottest days of summer (sometimes spiking up to 120 or even above.)
I really don't know how my mom did it. We were kids, but she was going through menopause!
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Oh wait, now I remember. That's the miracle appliance they have in apartments.
---
Actually, regarding Internet, the only reason I have that is because the landlady had it put it. Around the same time that she wasn't getting the plumbing fixed.
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Dishwashers? There was just a big square thing in my kitchen, I used to keep books in it...until there was a slight flood incident. Posts: 681 | Registered: Feb 2004
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About 6 or 7 years ago I took a trip to India and lived with some folks there.
Two weeks without most of the "necessities" that are mentioned here.
The Internet was only in the cafe, a 20 minute walk.
The AC, in the 110 summer weather, was a large fan in the window with a hose running in front of its screen.
And those only came when the electricity and the water were both running.
The bathroom was a hole in the ground. Seat? No seat. Put a whole new meaning to diddly-squat.
And these folks had it better then many others in the same towns.
Know that many of the things you can't imagine doing without, people all around the world are doing without right now.
Posts: 1941 | Registered: Feb 2003
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On a slightly different note, when I came here I was shocked to find bathrooms - in houses of wealthy people - that didn't have heated floors. Student housing, ok, but homes of the professional middle class? Dreadful! Also very cold on my poor feets! Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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If the floor wasn't cold how could you properly appreciate the feeling of stepping into a hot bath?
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:And some of us still do live without air conditioning.
If you can call it "living."
I grew up just south of San Francisco, where heating was barely ever needed, and air conditioning was never needed. The Bay area is made up of micro climates, some of which have near perfect weather all year, that is, the best possible qualities of summer, and the best possible qualities of winter. It really was an amazing place to live.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Artemisia Tridentata: Re the library. In '64, I was a library page in the Weber College library. To access a book, the patron had to look it up as described by rivka, and write the dewey system number on a call card. Then they gave the card to a page. We retrieved the book from the stacks and gave (or checked it out, if it were marked for circulation) it to the patron. When you were finished you returned it to the page, and I put it away. I could walk right to almost every book I ever put away (weird photokenitic memory, don't ask me what month it is) and I had a pretty good idea of what they contained. But, I wasn't allowed to answer questions. Only a REFERENCE LIBRARIAN could do that. I was given a written reprimand once for telling a patron that there had been an article on Calamity Jane in a bound issue of the American Hertage Magazine. However, if you came during the dinner hour, I could probably save you a lot of time.
I worked in a library as a page from 2001-2004. Now I didn't have to get books for people (I did have to put them away), but I knew the books and their locations the same way you did, and also got in trouble for answering questions.
It was particularly painful watching the reference librarian search for the knitting books on the computer. I almost said something, but left the stool under the right shelf instead and went back to putting other stuff away.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by PSI Teleport: Actually, regarding Internet, the only reason I have that is because the landlady had it put it. Around the same time that she wasn't getting the plumbing fixed.
The theory being that if y'all were distracted by Teh Intarwebs, you might not care as much about the plumbing?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Recorded music. I couldn't imagine a time when the only time I could hear real music was going to the symphony or a church service.
(I'm not denigrating symphony or church service music - I just can't imagine not being able to hear actual music in my home any time I want to.)
Posts: 1080 | Registered: Apr 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Sean Monahan: Recorded music. I couldn't imagine a time when the only time I could hear real music was going to the symphony or a church service.
For that matter, I'm unhappy if I have to spend an hour without my ipod.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by PSI Teleport: And then there are those of us who wear socks.
This merely flaunts your ignorance of the finer things in life. A heated bathroom floor is a delicious treat with or without socks.
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Re. Music: There used to be something called "live music". Our little town, which now boasts only one stop light and is 72 miles from the nearest tree used to have three or four professional bands. I inherited the sheet music for one that played several times a week from about 1890 to 1920. The range of the music is suprisingly broad. (including one recorded recently by Snoop Dog) Most people had access to some live music. It was even better in the city. As late as '65 there were aprox. 500 tenor sax players listed in the San Franscisco musicians union directory. I don't think there are 500 instrumentialists listed today.
And there was always the Piano in the parlor. Hot songs sold sheet music in millions of copies. Your sunday paper probably came with a sheet music suplement. You could buy a piano out of the Sears catalogue for less than 100 bucks, and a guitar would be less than five.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote: This merely flaunts your ignorance of the finer things in life. A heated bathroom floor is a delicious treat with or without socks.
Oh no, I quite agree with you. Acquiring a heated bathroom floor is one of my great ambitions in life, and I'm not joking. Actually, my husband would like heated, hardwood floors in the whole house, but I'm not sure how well that would work. Would the heat warp the wood over time?
Oh, and a heated toilet seat. I'd love something like that.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I can't believe no one has said "books".
What did common people do before books were cheap, plentiful and available to everyone?
Make friends with rich folks and borrow theirs? I wonder if people dog eared other people's books back then.
When I lived in Malaysia a major power transformer blew at the plant and most of Malaysia, Singapore, and parts of Indonesia all blacked out. Some folks had backup generators, but my family essentially went without electricity for 2 weeks. I can confirm that those without air conditioning are NOT in fact "living."
I have never understood why people in old Western movies dress the way they do. Why are they not sweating their guts out and hating every second of their lives? Why didn't those societies just get together and agree that suits and long dresses were just bad news for everyone and work shorts, caprices, and t-shirts into their rotations. Oh...right...THEY DIDN'T HAVE THOSE BACK THEN! INSANITY!
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I can't believe no one has said "books".
What did common people do before books were cheap, plentiful and available to everyone?
Make friends with rich folks and borrow theirs? I wonder if people dog eared other people's books back then.
When I lived in Malaysia a major power transformer blew at the plant and most of Malaysia, Singapore, and parts of Indonesia all blacked out. Some folks had backup generators, but my family essentially went without electricity for 2 weeks. I can confirm that those without air conditioning are NOT in fact "living."
I have never understood why people in old Western movies dress the way they do. Why are they not sweating their guts out and hating every second of their lives? Why didn't those societies just get together and agree that suits and long dresses were just bad news for everyone and work shorts, caprices, and t-shirts into their rotations. Oh...right...THEY DIDN'T HAVE THOSE BACK THEN! INSANITY!
That is something I have absolutely railed about when it comes to western movies... how is it possible that a man would ride around in the dessert in summer in a black suit and chaps? It's freaking crazy.
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