Things growing up have fallen by the wayside

[MuirWannabe]

Or the opposite. When we were very young, we would get up early on Saturday morning and watch the “test pattern” until the cartoons came on.

Your parents must’ve been thrilled with that.

 

[lucky penny]

And the weekly TV Guide for 15 cents, which provided a nice summary of all the shows.

The daily newspaper also had the schedule of what was on TV that day. This seemed essential -- how else would you know what was on?

In high school I did a lot of babysitting to earn $$ for college (at 50 cents an hour). The Saturday night TV shows were my companions on many nights as I did homework & imagined my future: Perry Mason, The Defenders, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke.

 

[ncbill]

Typing class.

7th or 8th grade...on manual typewriters, even though most of us had used electronic typewriters or computer keyboards by that age & the age & condition of the typewriters meant a lot of force was needed to move the keys.

The only thing I remember is the teacher instructing us: "a...a...a...space...semi...semi...semi...space"

When I got to college the classrooms had terminals hooked up to the school mainframe & I remember the foreign students pounding the h*** out of their keyboards, occasionally breaking them.

So I always presumed they learned to type on manual typewriters.

 

[street]

Typing class.

7th or 8th grade...on manual typewriters, even though most of us had used electronic typewriters or computer keyboards by that age & the age & condition of the typewriters meant a lot of force was needed to move the keys.

The only thing I remember is the teacher instructing us: "a...a...a...space...semi...semi...semi...space"

When I got to college the classrooms had terminals hooked up to the school mainframe & I remember the foreign students pounding the h*** out of their keyboards, occasionally breaking them.

So I always presumed they learned to type on manual typewriters.

Oh, I remember the typing class on those old typewriters. I was not good at it but did okay. I have a middle finger that is missing from first joint (fingertip and joint) that is missing and ring finger was attached after my two year of age accident.

Typing wasn't an easy thing for me when it came to speed. So, I never won any races in that class.

 

[Rocket Man]

Your parents must’ve been thrilled with that.

LOL! Somehow, I do not think so! That is probably why I had to get glasses in the third grade!

 

[thod]

Typing class.

7th or 8th grade...on manual typewriters, even though most of us had used electronic typewriters or computer keyboards by that age & the age & condition of the typewriters meant a lot of force was needed to move the keys.

The only thing I remember is the teacher instructing us: "a...a...a...space...semi...semi...semi...space"

When I got to college the classrooms had terminals hooked up to the school mainframe & I remember the foreign students pounding the h*** out of their keyboards, occasionally breaking them.

So I always presumed they learned to type on manual typewriters.

I also had typing class in 6th or 7th grade, with an electric typewriter however, but it reminds me of a funny story.

My dad is an electrical engineer and used a computer at work, but no formal training, he was just proud of his hunt and peck capabilities.
Anyway, my sisters and I would always beat him at all the video games in the 70s/80s. So, when we got a computer with a keyboard and it had a typing game, he was expecting to finally beat me. He let me go first and I put my fingers on the home keys and proceeded to type like a pro. He was dismayed. He never did take his turn to see if he could beat me.

 

[Marita40]

Do they still do speed reading? I took such a class. A little machine kept your eyes quickly moving down the page. That was truly a helpful class as I’ve been a fast reader/ skimmer all my life.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Ah yes, Saturday morning cartoons! DB and his wife used to put the cereal, bowls, and spoons in a low cabinet, and the milk on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so his kids could get their own breakfasts without bothering mom and dad. I remember being as quiet as I could on Saturday morning because there’d be hell to pay if I woke mom and dad.

Today’s cartoons are on a dedicated channel available on demand, I suppose. And the computer generated 3d toons just look creepy to me.

 

[Koolau]

Oh, I remember the typing class on those old typewriters. I was not good at it but did okay. I have a middle finger that is missing from first joint (fingertip and joint) that is missing and ring finger was attached after my two year of age accident.

Typing wasn't an easy thing for me when it came to speed. So, I never won any races in that class.

Ah, yes. Typing class. I think we had 40+ people in my class and 3 of them were males. The teacher assigned seats and placed all 3 boys in the very back. Since my HS was old, the heating system was pretty much on or off. If a room became too warm, teachers opened windows to cool things down. Guess where our teacher opened windows? Yep, in the back of the room. SO the 3 boys sat there with their fingers frozen, trying to type (after all, what the heck are boys going to do with typing?)

IIRC our kids were required to take (they called it key-boarding.) Back in '64, only girls learned to type. Clearly, my typing class was demonstrably the single most important class I took. YMMV

 

[timbervest]

We used to have typing class in 7th grade with manual typewriters where they had blank caps on all the keys (so you couldn't see the letters) and the teacher liked to play Schubert's "March Militaire" and we had to type to the beat.

 

[Montecfo]

Anyone else have to taking dancing in gym class? We did alot of old style group stuff like the Virgina Reel and Square dancing.

In first grade yes. This was in private school in Dallas. We also had an Easter parade.

 

[Montecfo]

I recall that right before they signed off at night, the TV station would show a film of the US flag and play the national anthem.

Yes. Then a profile of one of FBIs Ten most wanted. That was a bit spooky. I specifically remember Benjamin Hoskins Paddock being profiled as "armed and extremely dangerous".

His name came back to me when I heard the name of the Las Vegas concert mass shooter a few years ago. It was Paddock's son.

Eerie...

 

[Koolau]

Yes. Then a profile of one of FBIs Ten most wanted. That was a bit spooky. I specifically remember Benjamin Hoskins Paddock being profiled as "armed and extremely dangerous".

His name came back to me when I heard the name of the Las Vegas concert mass shooter a few years ago. It was Paddock's son.

Eerie...

Thanks. I did not know that.

Just referred to Wikipedia to get (most of) the rest of the story. What a great family. Tying to come up with something like "The family that slays together, stays together" (but that one doesn't quite work - anyone come up with a good one?)