What childhood memories can reveal about our age?

[BobG]

I don't have any memories from my childhood.

No really.

So it's kinda fun, and sad, reading other people's.

Well I do have some memories, but they're either trivial or creepy

Take your pick.

Couldn't you just acquire some childhood memories? And just eliminate the ones you don't want?

Ads can alter memory claim scientists. In these experiments, participants remembered a childhood in which they shook Bugs Bunny's hand at Disney World (something that couldn't possibly have happened, since Bugs Bunny is a Warner Brothers cartoon character, not a Disney cartoon character).

http://www.protomag.com/assets/the-ethics-of-altering-memory . Researchers learn how to reduce post traumatic stress disorder by administering drugs that dull the strength of unpleasant memories. Which raises questions about the ethics of erasing painful memories (think of all the great literature that would be lost).

 

[Astronuc]

I still have scars to remind of interesting events, though one wouldn't know that my nose was reattached.

 

[elect_eng]

I'm wondering if we can guess the age of members by what they remember of their childhood?

One of my first memories was seeing the original old Star Trek series when first aired.

I remember, 4-track tapes (yes 4-track, not 8-track) being played on my fathers stereo system.

I remember being given a little handheld transistor radio. Of course, I opened it. I still have the vision of
all the electrical parts on the circuit board. I didn't know what they were then, but my memory is so clear,
that I can draw a picture showing the location of each transistor, resistor, capacitor and coil. I think that
moment established the direction of my career, although I had no idea at the time.

I remember my Father buying a 10-speed bike with funny loop shaped racing handles. He called it an "English Racer",
but it was later known to us Americans as the "10-speed bike".

 

[joelupchurch]

I remember buying a 6oz Coca Cola for a nickel.
I remember watching Mighty Mouse on Saturday mornings.
I remember voting for Richard Nixon in 72. I had just turned 18 the month before and 72 was the first year 18 year olds could vote.
I remember doing calculations with a slide rule.
I remember programming computers using punch cards with FORTRAN code.

 

[Astronuc]

I've been listening to and occasionally watching a nostalgic retrospective of Carol Burnett. She is a great comedienne. Her program (with Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and Vicki Lawrence) was clean and corny, but it was wonderful entertainment from 1967-1978.

 

[RazorRose]

I Remember.

-Playing Pokemon.

-Hating the Back street boys and n-sync

-N-64! And sega genesis. dreamcast.

-lord of the rings.

-my first tape

-being the first on my block to have a dvd player.

 

[BobG]

I've been listening to and occasionally watching a nostalgic retrospective of Carol Burnett. She is a great comedienne. Her program (with Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and Vicki Lawrence) was clean and corny, but it was wonderful entertainment from 1967-1978.

I've never been obsessed with TV and, while I've watched most of the most popular shows enough to at least know what they are, there aren't many I've actually missed (mainly because I probably wasn't still watching them when they went off the air).

The Carol Burnett Show is one show I really miss. They managed to inject just a little more of a personal touch into their show beyond just the comedy (which was great in itself!). I wound up actually liking the people on the show instead of just liking their work.

 

[Astronuc]

The Carol Burnett Show is one show I really miss. They managed to inject just a little more of a personal touch into their show beyond just the comedy (which was great in itself!). I wound up actually liking the people on the show instead of just liking their work.

Burnett and the team were great. I just got too busy to watch TV. I was either going to school or working from about 10th grade on, so I just didn't have time for TV. By the time I got to uni, I rarely watched TV, so I missed most of the late 70's and 80's. I did watch the news programs - primarily Nightly Business Report and the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour (now just The News Hour) on PBS. I did watch CNN for a bit in grad school, but I got frustrated and more or less quit.

 

[RonL]

I've been listening to and occasionally watching a nostalgic retrospective of Carol Burnett. She is a great comedienne. Her program (with Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and Vicki Lawrence) was clean and corny, but it was wonderful entertainment from 1967-1978.

Not sure if it would be as funny today, the episode that made me laugh until my side ached and tears came, was when Tim Conway was a dentist and Harvey Korman was the patient, Tim hit himself with the needle over and over, you could see Harvey in the chair unable to maintain composure.

 

[dlgoff]

I've been listening to and occasionally watching a nostalgic retrospective of Carol Burnett. She is a great comedienne. Her program (with Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and Vicki Lawrence) was clean and corny, but it was wonderful entertainment from 1967-1978.

Thanks for bringing this up Astronuc. I had forgotten about her and my enjoyment from watching the show.

 

[Evo]

Thanks for bringing this up Astronuc. I had forgotten about her and my enjoyment from watching the show.

My mother and grandmother loved this show, but personally, I found the antics of Tim Conway so irritatingly vaudeville that I couldn't bear to watch him. It's only funny up to a point, a point that Conway couldn't perceive and often painfully crossed.

Other than that, I enjoyed the show. My favorite was Burnette's take on "Gone with the wind" a classic.

 

[TurtleMeister]

I remember the Mickey Mouse Club. I remember Howdy Doody. I remember a lot of TV westerns like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, and others. I remember Sky King.

Don't forget The Rifleman. The 60's were awesome.

My parents had a tube type radio that was out of it's case. It was up high on a cabinet where I could not reach it. I remember being fascinated by it's glowing tubes and wondering what kind of magic made it work. Later, after I entered elementary school I somehow obtained a germanium diode and a capacitor. I built a crystal radio set using my toy slinky as the antenna and a copper water pipe as ground.

My dad took me to watch the Apollo 11 launch. Even though we were many miles away I could feel the ground shaking as the Saturn V rocket slowly rose into the sky. And after it gained some altitude there was a crackling popping sound. I was so excited that I lost my glasses (I would take them off to look through my telescope).

 

[lisab]

I have a very, very sketchy memory of a childhood toy that maybe others here can help me fill in. It was a candy making machine, and the candy was in the shape of bugs, I think. It wasn't hard candy, but soft like a gummy bear...sort of a proto-gummy.

What I remember so clearly is the candy had a distinctive smell.

Does this ring any bells with anyone?

 

[Evo]

I have a very, very sketchy memory of a childhood toy that maybe others here can help me fill in. It was a candy making machine, and the candy was in the shape of bugs, I think. It wasn't hard candy, but soft like a gummy bear...sort of a proto-gummy.

What I remember so clearly is the candy had a distinctive smell.

Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Creepy crawlers candy?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250494641159&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WVI7&GUID=4aba91561240a04371604170ffce5777&itemid=250494641159&ff4=263602_263622

 

[lisab]

Creepy crawlers candy?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250494641159&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WVI7&GUID=4aba91561240a04371604170ffce5777&itemid=250494641159&ff4=263602_263622

No, I don't think so. I think the mold was a large metal block.

But that doesn't make sense...why would it be a big metal block? Hmm, I don't trust my visual memory...the smell is imprinted on my brain, though. I'd recognize it immediately.

 

[hypatia]

I had one of these. I remember it not tasting so good, but I sold them to siblings and friends for a penny each, 2 pennies if it was a big one or multi colored.

http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/IncredibleEdibles.html

I also made these. And fondly recall the smell of the plastic goop cooking.

http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/Thingmaker.html

 

[turbo]

My mother and grandmother loved this show, but personally, I found the antics of Tim Conway so irritatingly vaudeville that I couldn't bear to watch him. It's only funny up to a point, a point that Conway couldn't perceive and often painfully crossed.

Probably the worst example was the skit in which he got out of a hospital bed and shuffled oh so slowly (baby steps) to the other side of the room, then noticed that he had forgotten his slippers, shuffled all the way back to put on the slippers ... The gag was overdone by that point, but he kept going.

 

[lisab]

I had one of these. I remember it not tasting so good, but I sold them to siblings and friends for a penny each, 2 pennies if it was a big one or multi colored.

http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/IncredibleEdibles.html

I also made these. And fondly recall the smell of the plastic goop cooking.

http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/Thingmaker.html

Ah thanks hypatia...I think it's the first one, Incredible Edibles !

 

[Astronuc]

Newswise - I fondly remember Walter Cronkite, Huntley & Brinkley, John Chancellor, Frank Reynolds, Howard K. Smith, Harry Reasoner.

I bet Evo remembers Marvin Zindler, Eyewitness News (ABC affiliate). I couldn't stand the guy.

 

[Evo]

Newswise - I fondly remember Walter Cronkite, Huntley & Brinkley, John Chancellor, Frank Reynolds, Howard K. Smith, Harry Reasoner.

I bet Evo remembers Marvin Zindler, Eyewitness News (ABC affiliate). I couldn't stand the guy.

Ahahaha, MAHVIN Zindler, EYE witness news.

 

[Astronuc]

Ahahaha, MAHVIN Zindler, EYE witness news.

Yep - That's him. I would occasionally through a slipper at the TV. I didn't want to break it with a shoe.

 

[Evo]

Yep - That's him. I would occasionally through a slipper at the TV. I didn't want to break it with a shoe.

Did he wear a toupee?

 

[turbo]

Did he wear a toupee?

I had to Wiki him to find out who he was, and in the Wiki photo, he is apparently wearing one of the least-convincing rugs ever.

 

[Kronos5253]

I remember Disney channel when it didn't have commercials when they played movies.

I work with someone who remembers no disney channel.

I remember listening to my walkman on long trips.

I remember playing outside and sparring with my cousin with thick sticks.

I remember riding my bike as fast as I can and seeing how long of a skid mark I could make with my tire :D

I remember putting cards in the spokes of my bike to make it sound like a motorcycle (cans work pretty good too).

I remember walking a few miles to my cousins house to play.

I remember playing street hockey in the neighborhood culdasac, and drivers not minding, and even waving or making polite comments about it.

I remember tricking out my bike helmet with stickers or markers.

I remember waking up at 6am to watch cartoons, before my parents even woke up.

I remember my mom asking me to climb up on the counter to get stuff out of the top cabinet because she couldn't reach.

I remember being hit with a flyswatter when I was bad and deserved it, and people understood that (once with a belt).

I remember eating at a resturant called "Bonanza".

I remember dial-up internet, and how much it SUCKED! But still thinking it was the greatest thing on Earth.

I remember before the internet.

Fraggle Rock. N'uff said.

I remember getting hurt and having people tell me to brush it/walk it off

I remember before pills were the answer to everything.

I remember when parents wern't afraid of their kids.

I remember metal tonka trucks and metal hot wheels.

I remember using tracks for hot wheels cars that you had to clamp onto a shelf and let it roll down the hill you make for it to run along the track. None of those crazy motors that keep the car going.

I remember building forts in the living room out of sheets, pillows, chairs, and anything else that would work!

I remember holding my arm out of the window when we passed big rigs and doing the universal sign for them to blow their air horn.

I remember skip-it.

I remember the Crossfire board game.

I remember having green army men, and losing them to "friendly fire" (magnifying glass :D... Or a BB gun)

I remember legos and lincoln logs.

I remember when my mom still had to cut my fingernails.

I remember sitting down on the couch with my mom to read a book at night.

 

[Astronuc]

Did he wear a toupee?

Yeah - the one that looked like a bleached white mop. Occasionally it moved - while he was on camera.

His "MAHVIN ZINdler EYE WITness Nyooz" really irritated me. One of those few times when I wanted to heel-kick the TV.

He's one of the better known alumni from the high school I attended in 10th grade. Jaclyn Smith and nobel laureate Robert Woodrow Wilson (of Wilson and Penzias) are two others. I knew about Zindler and Smith, but not about Wilson. Wilson also went to Rice U.

 

[BobG]

I remember when John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.

Actually, I remember watching Alan Shepard's launch with my Dad, as well.

The Shepard launch made enough of an impression that I remember it, but I didn't really appreciate the significance of it. All of us in the entire neighborhood were excited about John Glenn.

 

[Astronuc]

I remember when John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.

Actually, I remember watching Alan Shepard's launch with my Dad, as well.

The Shepard launch made enough of an impression that I remember it, but I didn't really appreciate the significance of it. All of us in the entire neighborhood were excited about John Glenn.

We watched the later Gemini missions and the Apollo missions. We stayed up all night for the first moon landing. I remember Walter Cronkite choking up when he announced it.

 

[Zantra]

I remember:

cabbage patch kids
garbage pail kids
when google was just a noun, not a verb
lawn darts! (amazing my friends and I didn't get impaled)
slip and slide
axis and allies
Tranzor Z
The first MTV music video
The fall of the Berlin Wall

And of course:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6dXFWL7l7A0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6dXFWL7l7A0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

[BobG]

I remember Jack Lalanne ... and how he always used a chair for his workouts. Well, not for this particular workout, but for a lot of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isLJ024EdMA


"Open your mouth and close your eyes"? Uh, what?

Ah, anyway, Jack Lalanne and Carol Burnett were my two favorite shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dIs4RdHF0c

 

[lisab]

Jack Lalanne rocks!

Speaking of exercise, my mom had one of these:

For PFers below a certain age...it's a vibrating belt machine. You stand on the platform, wrap the belt around your waist, and the belt would vibrate. It was supposed to slim the waist, lol.

 

[Proton Soup]

For PFers below a certain age...it's a vibrating belt machine. You stand on the platform, wrap the belt around your waist, and the belt would vibrate. It was supposed to slim the waist, lol.

just how old are you? I've only seen those in old black & white films.

 

[edward]

Jack Lalanne rocks!

Speaking of exercise, my mom had one of these:

For PFers below a certain age...it's a vibrating belt machine. You stand on the platform, wrap the belt around your waist, and the belt would vibrate. It was supposed to slim the waist, lol.

I thought the belt went around the derriere.

 

[lisab]

I thought the belt went around the derriere.

Oh I suppose it could be used that way, too. If it doesn't work at slimming the waist, it could easily not work at slimming the hind quarters, too .

 

[edward]

Oh I suppose it could be used that way, too. If it doesn't work at slimming the waist, it could easily not work at slimming the hind quarters, too .

Thats true. I don't think anyone ever lost a pound using one of those things.

 

[Astronuc]

Hula hoops are more effective for exercising
http://www.lightupandjuggle.com/store/images/hula_hoop.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hula_hoop

http://www.wham-o.com/default.cfm?page=ViewProducts&Category=8