Anyone else remember when...

[Tequila Revenge]

This weekend I attempted to buy a stereo for our front room. For years I’ve wanted a really nice stereo I can drop in a few CD’s and just sit back and let music take over my house. I’m ready to move up from the boom box! I found out that they don’t make stereos any more. You can buy home entertainment units, you can buy components; receivers, CD players, amps, you gotta have multi channels too, but they don’t make stereos. So my son the electronics wiz kid took me down to Circuit City just to affirm I am getting old and life as I used to know it is passing me by. Did any one else know your speakers should be at LEAST 7.1 something and 8.1 are better? Did you know your stereo should be HDMI or something like that? My old amp is no good because is only plays in stereo? “Dad, speakers are smart today. They aren’t like when you were a kid.” Thanks their junior. We, actually he told me the good one, bought a home entertainment theatre system and brought it home, a drive of about 50 miles from the store. This AM when we went to install the home entertainment theatre systems, we found out the main speaker that’s supposed to be right in front of your TV would not fit properly in the entertainment cabinet. In fact, I completely over looked the fact the entertainment cabinet doors would end up blocking the tower speakers too. Boxed the super deluxe entertainment theatre systems back up and returned it to Circuit City. I walked around the store for about a half an hour determined I would bring home the goods that would release my front room into the musical rapture only second to Carnegie Hall. I left empty handed and on the 50 mile drive back home I started thinking about the good old days;

Entertainment centers were made from bricks and 1 X 12’s you bought at the lumber yard for about $25.00 in total material, AND they doubled as a plant stand too. If you could afford 2 X 12’s your records did not bow the wood. They were easily modified to fit where ever you needed them to fit.

Stereo speakers doubled as end tables in the front room.

You needed the plants to hide the antenna wire cleverly attached to the wall with thumb tacks. That was as i-pod ready as you needed to be, unless you count your favorite record on the turn table.

Your down sleeping bag doubled as your bed’s comforter.

Your water bed “mattress” and all was only about $200.00

None of your sheets or pillow cases matched and it was OK. That was before we started using the term, “eclectic.”

You had Levis for work, dress Levis and if it was REALLY a dress up event, there was always your Levi cords.

What's an iron?

With a little varnish and polyurethane finish, that wood wire spool made a darn nice coffee table.

Bean bag chairs ROCKED! MUCH cheaper than the matching sofa and love seat combo. Oops, almost forgot about the ottoman. Back in the good old days before they invented ottoman’s we called them footstools.

Wooden field boxes that were used to pick apples made great shelves when screwed to the wall. Put a pillow on them and they could double as a footstool.

Who DID NOT steal a milk crate or five for storage?

A good pair of wool socks converted your Birkenstock’s into winter shoes. Yes, they are still in the bottom of my closet along with my tube of Barges Contact Cement.

Tonight I’ll somehow find a way to drift off to sleep without my i-pod ready, Sirius and XM Compatible, 8.1, HDMI, Bass effect, super charged Binford 2000 stereo. Cause I’ll be thinking about all the extra crap I now have and how simple life was, and still could be.


Anyone have any other memories of the good ol’ days?

[Dutch Harbor PH]

My earliest rememberance of gas prices was when I was about 10 on base....it was $0.10/gallon.....

[Moonie]

I remember all of it TR......and

I still wear sox with my Birks in the winter; still have the stolen milk crates that I use quite fashionably ...

my computer is the only thing that even comes very close to be high-tech..isn't that quite an out dated term itself...

[Wino you know]

I not only remember when gas was cheap, but also when cars were built like Fort Knox.
Top of the list was my grandfather's 1949 Packard with a "straight-8" Allison built engine under the hood with an overdrive transmission.
Sometimes it cost as much as SEVEN DOLLARS to fill the gas tank. (In the late 1950's, that is-prior to that, it was around $5.00-$6.00).

[Conolulu]

Entertainment centers were made from bricks and 1 X 12’s you bought at the lumber yard for about $25.00 in total material, AND they doubled as a plant stand too. If you could afford 2 X 12’s your records did not bow the wood. They were easily modified to fit where ever you needed them to fit.

And you could really make them pretty if you painted the cinder blocks and stained the wood...

Yep, Dan....I remember ALL of that...and also had a spool table..

So many times, I think I was a lot happier then....so now, I have learned to want what I have...instead of trying to have what I want....Life seems to work out ever so much better for me when I live like that.....


Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane!!!

[mommar]

I sooooooooo feel your pain TR................I tried just a few weeks ago to hook up son's stereo up here..........not having much luck, I know I tried to plug some ?component into the computers speaker thingy and the jacks were different sizes Research will continue when I have more free time.

I still have my $200 waterbed, and still go to bed everynite saying "Ahhh I love my waterbed." we are on our second water mattress though.

Saw a spool this winter on the side of the road, and thought about taking it, but I'm holding out for a lobster trap instead, I think it's a little lighter and smaller.

And I HATE remote controls...........you can never find them!!!!!!!!!!! You didn't need 3 of them for the tv/dvd player cause your cable got hit by lightning, and you didn't need a gazillion batteries because there's always a time when one of them is going to need new batteries.


Do I sound like an old grouch

[ScarletB]

Been there friend.

Like you, I'd like a really nice entertainment system that would sound good when I watched a movie and carry multiple CD's at a time, and like you said "fill my house with sound" But every time I go into Circuit City or the like I start looking at the e systems and I break out into a cold sweat.
Thensome 12 year old employee comes up and starts explaining everything to me (or trying to) In lieu of dropping to the floor in fetal position and sucking my thumb and twirling my hair, I just say "Just looking thanks" and escape back to my car. So for now I have my iPod speaker thingy and that suffices. It's just nuts. I remember buying a receiver, a turntable and two speakers and you were DONE. *sigh*

[Dezdmona]

I feel your pain, too.

I remember when "stereo" receiver's would last for years and years.
Now your lucky if they last 5 years.
(I'm currently in the market to replace one )

...and I'll call them "stereo's" forever.

[phjrsaunt]

I definitely understand.

I'd be tickled **itless if I could just figure out how to turn my TV on/off without turning some other gizmo on/off at the same time.

[Carolinadreamin']

When my Dad passed, I got his "stereo system" and I was really excited and then my kids about rolled on the ground laughing.

I now have the Bose speakers for my iPod and it sits in the den.

Funny, we have a Bose speakers throughout the basement (there when we bought the house)but we can't afford the freakin' system to hook it all up!

[Longboardn' ASEL&S]

When I watch video we shot of our boys toddling around the living room around 16 years ago, the cinder blocks are still there!!!!!!
Here I was in possession of the newest Sony 8mm Handycam, while other parents were hefting a huge VHS camcorder on their shoulder,
but the boards and blocks were still in the living room!!
My wife forced me to ditch them finally.

Still have two functioning STEREO receivers in use daily though.
The big speakers also have an important function-
something has to hold the rabbit ears
since they no longer mount to the T.V!!!!!

I'm probably the only person running my Sirius docking station into an old stereo receiver.

I miss alot of the days TR wrote about,
but have learned to embrace PARTS of new tech as needed!

[chippewa]

In college, our room had a kick-ass stereo, but we couldn't turn it up too loud because the speakers would shake the turntable and it would start to skip.

We had to struggle thru with no microwave, cd player or Internet. And a small B/W TV. (yes, color was invented by then, we just didn't have one.)

My old vinyl is still in milk crates downstairs.

[ToplessRideFL]

I get it.......


I got a electric typewriter for Hs graduation to take to college. I was so excited...it had a correction cartridge!!!

[Ambition At Bay]

Entertainment centers were made from bricks and 1 X 12’s you bought at the lumber yard for about $25.00 in total material, AND they doubled as a plant stand too. If you could afford 2 X 12’s your records did not bow the wood. They were easily modified to fit where ever you needed them to fit.

And you could really make them pretty if you painted the cinder blocks and stained the wood...

Yep, Dan....I remember ALL of that...and also had a spool table..

So many times, I think I was a lot happier then....so now, I have learned to want what I have...instead of trying to have what I want....Life seems to work out ever so much better for me when I live like that.....


Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane!!!

Spool Tables were the best!!!...and free!!!
I've still got my 8 track player from my car, wonder if still works

[Tequila Revenge]

Entertainment centers were made from bricks and 1 X 12’s you bought at the lumber yard for about $25.00 in total material, AND they doubled as a plant stand too. If you could afford 2 X 12’s your records did not bow the wood. They were easily modified to fit where ever you needed them to fit.

And you could really make them pretty if you painted the cinder blocks and stained the wood...

Yep, Dan....I remember ALL of that...and also had a spool table..

So many times, I think I was a lot happier then....so now, I have learned to want what I have...instead of trying to have what I want....Life seems to work out ever so much better for me when I live like that.....


Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane!!!

Sheryl Crow has a song ".... it's not getting what you want, it's wanting what you have..." Lyrics always sort of stood out.

[pbans]

My first few apartments (and really, this house when I first bought it) were decorated in "Thrift Store Chic"......we called it "Early American DI" (the DI is a Utah thrift store). My husband and I still laugh about stopping and picking up a lamp that was poking out of someone's trashcan....he rewired it and we used it for years.....
The things we have now are "nicer".......the big screen TV is "nicer" than the 19" I bought before we got married.....but I remember saving the and the extreme pride I had when I saved enough for that stupid 19".....which honestly cost more than some big screens now!

I remember when we took the kids on picnics because we couldn't afford to go to movies.......
We didn't go on elaborate vacations, we went camping......in a TENT....with a little coleman stove to cook on....
We drove a 1969 Ford pick-up.......okay....can't think of anything good to say about that.....it was a POS and drove like a tank.....I'm glad that's improved.....
BUT.....I agree, Dan.....things have gotten 'easier' and things have gotten 'nicer'.....but that doesn't always translate in to 'better'!

[Tequila Revenge]

My first few apartments (and really, this house when I first bought it) were decorated in "Thrift Store Chic"......we called it "Early American DI" (the DI is a Utah thrift store). My husband and I still laugh about stopping and picking up a lamp that was poking out of someone's trashcan....he rewired it and we used it for years.....
The things we have now are "nicer".......the big screen TV is "nicer" than the 19" I bought before we got married.....but I remember saving the and the extreme pride I had when I saved enough for that stupid 19".....which honestly cost more than some big screens now!

I remember when we took the kids on picnics because we couldn't afford to go to movies.......
We didn't go on elaborate vacations, we went camping......in a TENT....with a little coleman stove to cook on....
We drove a 1969 Ford pick-up.......okay....can't think of anything good to say about that.....it was a POS and drove like a tank.....I'm glad that's improved.....
BUT.....I agree, Dan.....things have gotten 'easier' and things have gotten 'nicer'.....but that doesn't always translate in to 'better'!

69 Ford sound like a new truck compared to my 63 Chevy I sild my 62 VW to buy it too... what a HUGE mistake. We still have the Coleman stove too, a three burner

[pbans]

My first few apartments (and really, this house when I first bought it) were decorated in "Thrift Store Chic"......we called it "Early American DI" (the DI is a Utah thrift store). My husband and I still laugh about stopping and picking up a lamp that was poking out of someone's trashcan....he rewired it and we used it for years.....
The things we have now are "nicer".......the big screen TV is "nicer" than the 19" I bought before we got married.....but I remember saving the and the extreme pride I had when I saved enough for that stupid 19".....which honestly cost more than some big screens now!

I remember when we took the kids on picnics because we couldn't afford to go to movies.......
We didn't go on elaborate vacations, we went camping......in a TENT....with a little coleman stove to cook on....
We drove a 1969 Ford pick-up.......okay....can't think of anything good to say about that.....it was a POS and drove like a tank.....I'm glad that's improved.....
BUT.....I agree, Dan.....things have gotten 'easier' and things have gotten 'nicer'.....but that doesn't always translate in to 'better'!

69 Ford sound like a new truck compared to my 63 Chevy I sild my 62 VW to buy it too... what a HUGE mistake. We still have the Coleman stove too, a three burner

We just replaced our coleman stove last year....upgraded from a white gas stove to a propane cylinder stove....we still tent camp several times a year....I still love that!

[Tequila Revenge]

My first few apartments (and really, this house when I first bought it) were decorated in "Thrift Store Chic"......we called it "Early American DI" (the DI is a Utah thrift store). My husband and I still laugh about stopping and picking up a lamp that was poking out of someone's trashcan....he rewired it and we used it for years.....
The things we have now are "nicer".......the big screen TV is "nicer" than the 19" I bought before we got married.....but I remember saving the and the extreme pride I had when I saved enough for that stupid 19".....which honestly cost more than some big screens now!

I remember when we took the kids on picnics because we couldn't afford to go to movies.......
We didn't go on elaborate vacations, we went camping......in a TENT....with a little coleman stove to cook on....
We drove a 1969 Ford pick-up.......okay....can't think of anything good to say about that.....it was a POS and drove like a tank.....I'm glad that's improved.....
BUT.....I agree, Dan.....things have gotten 'easier' and things have gotten 'nicer'.....but that doesn't always translate in to 'better'!

69 Ford sound like a new truck compared to my 63 Chevy I sild my 62 VW to buy it too... what a HUGE mistake. We still have the Coleman stove too, a three burner

We just replaced our coleman stove last year....upgraded from a white gas stove to a propane cylinder stove....we still tent camp several times a year....I still love that!

It's hard to start a campfire with a bottle of propane, especially if the wood's a little wet

[TheBlondeStranger]

We of the younger generation really feel like we missed out on the Good Ole Days.

How did you survive college without cell phones, plasma TVs, surround sound, 500 cable channels (ha, more than my parents), instant internet gratification (buffett bootlegs at 3 gigs each), and MP3 players? What did you do on road trips without in-dash DVDs? Was the cooler and an 8 track really the only source of entertainment? And what did you do with your time? Learn?

I will say, if I didn't have so much stupid s*** sitting around, I wouldn't appreciate a good mountain/lake/beach weekend the way I do, when you can just turn off your cell phone and leave it in the car and tell time by the sun because you've got no where to go and, even if you did, you're too drunk to drive there anyways.