Old things youngins might like to know

[ChrissyRyan]

Yup, things sure have changed!  Sometimes you actually received back with your monthly account payment stub for your credit card account one of those copies made when your sales transaction was processed.  That was typically for oil company gas station brand credit card accounts.

Of course, my grandpa told me about all these old things, we on here cannot really be that old to remember all of this, can we?  Yeah, right.   

Remember the newer Walkmans as a portable CD player?  Those have gone out of fancy.

[Julia1996]

I can recall the days when nobody shredded receipts or old bills, because nobody was concerned about anyone else using that information. Back then, we still used galvanized steel trash cans, instead of the big plastic roll-away minidumpsters we have now. Guys used to ride on the back of garbage trucks, and dump your trash in the back by hand.

People rode on the trash collection trucks and dumped the cans into it?  Steel garbage cans? Wow. Were the recycling bins metal too?

[Faith]

People rode on the trash collection trucks and dumped the cans into it?  Steel garbage cans? Wow. Were the recycling bins metal too?

no curbside recycling at all. If it had a deposit, you saved it and cashed in. If not, it hit the dump.
In our case, we lived so far out, we had our own landfill about 1/2 mile from the house. We burned what we could, the rest just sat there and rotted/rusted away.

[Lady Sarah]

no curbside recycling at all. If it had a deposit, you saved it and cashed in. If not, it hit the dump.
In our case, we lived so far out, we had our own landfill about 1/2 mile from the house. We burned what we could, the rest just sat there and rotted/rusted away.

Children back then could actually earn some money from finding cans and bottles, and taking them to the corner store for the deposits. My adoptive mom would have a cow, since I was not allowed to have any money, and it was hard to explain how I got a Hershey bar.
We actually did fairly well for kids locked out of the house on hot summer days.

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[Julia1996]

Children back then could actually earn some money from finding cans and bottles, and taking them to the corner store for the deposits. My adoptive mom would have a cow, since I was not allowed to have any money, and it was hard to explain how I got a Hershey bar.
We actually did fairly well for kids locked out of the house on hot summer days.

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Homeless people still collect aluminum cans. We have one guy who comes into our neighborhood looking for cans in the recycle bins. I always keep the aluminum cans separated for him so he won't have to dig through the bin.

[Lady Sarah]

Homeless people still collect aluminum cans. We have one guy who comes into our neighborhood looking for cans in the recycle bins. I always keep the aluminum cans separated for him so he won't have to dig through the bin.

Back then, we didn't have aluminum cans. They were made of steel, and we could get two cents for every can. Bottles had five or ten cent deposits. That's when money was much more valuable. A Hershey bar cost 10 cents back then. You could get an ice cream cone for 20 cents.

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[Deborah]

People rode on the trash collection trucks and dumped the cans into it?

They still do that here in Georgia.  The trash collectors are from the state prison here in town.  You can tell who they are because they wear prison uniforms, white with a black stripe on the pants.  It's the modern version of the old chain gang.



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[Cassi]

They still do that here in Georgia.  The trash collectors are from the state prison here in town.  You can tell who they are because they wear prison uniforms, white with a black stripe on the pants.  It's the modern version of the old chain gang.



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That's actually a good idea - trustees picking up trash.

[Deborah]

That's actually a good idea - trustees picking up trash.

They also do upkeep of all the public parks and government buildings.  It gives them something useful to do and gets them outside all day.


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[Cassi]

They also do upkeep of all the public parks and government buildings.  It gives them something useful to do and gets them outside all day.


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I can only imagine it saves a lot in tax dollars.  Housing inmates cost so it probably breaks even.

[KathyLauren]

Some folks would dig through the trash to get the carbon paper from the recipes and copy your number and signature.

Has anyone explained carbon paper yet?

With no computer printers and, at one time, no photocopiers, the way you made multiple copies of a document was with carbon paper in a typewriter.  Carbon paper was flimsy paper coated with carbon on one side.  You'd load the typewriter with alternating sheets of plain paper and carbon paper.  When you typed a letter the impact of the key on the top sheet of plain paper would make an impression through the carbon paper and transfer some carbon to the next sheet of plain paper.  You could write on the top sheet with a ball-point pen and accomplish the same thing.

You could make two copies plus the original this way.  Sometimes you could make three copies, but that last copy would be getting pretty fuzzy, because the intervening layers of paper dulled the impact.

[Julia1996]

Has anyone explained carbon paper yet?

With no computer printers and, at one time, no photocopiers, the way you made multiple copies of a document was with carbon paper in a typewriter.  Carbon paper was flimsy paper coated with carbon on one side.  You'd load the typewriter with alternating sheets of plain paper and carbon paper.  When you typed a letter the impact of the key on the top sheet of plain paper would make an impression through the carbon paper and transfer some carbon to the next sheet of plain paper.  You could write on the top sheet with a ball-point pen and accomplish the same thing.

You could make two copies plus the original this way.  Sometimes you could make three copies, but that last copy would be getting pretty fuzzy, because the intervening layers of paper dulled the impact.

Wow. Typewriters and copy paper. How sad. How did office work ever get done like that? 

[DawnOday]

Remember the mimeograph from grade school. I remember cranking that thing for an hour.

[DawnOday]

Wow. Typewriters and copy paper. How sad. How did office work ever get done like that? 

On index cards and file cabinets like at the library. Oh wait they don't have those anymore either.

[Cassi]

Wow. Typewriters and copy paper. How sad. How did office work ever get done like that?

How about a lithograph or stenitype machine?  You'd use what was something that was like carbon paper but when you typed on it it cut holes into the paper. You'd then place it on a drum that was part of a machine and as you turned the drum, the machine fed paper into it and ink would be placed on the paper that was being fed.

[DawnOday]

They still do that here in Georgia.  The trash collectors are from the state prison here in town.  You can tell who they are because they wear prison uniforms, white with a black stripe on the pants.  It's the modern version of the old chain gang.



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Reminds me of the people released into the neighborhood from Metropolitan State Hospital. All wore blue pants.

[Julia1996]

I thought chain gangs were just in the movies. I have seen people in orange vests picking up trash along the highway for community service. How totally embarrassing that must be.

[DawnOday]

I thought chain gangs were just in the movies. I have seen people in orange vests picking up trash along the highway for community service. How totally embarrassing that must be.

They are quite common in the south. Louisiana as I understand use convicts the most.

[DawnOday]

no curbside recycling at all. If it had a deposit, you saved it and cashed in. If not, it hit the dump.
In our case, we lived so far out, we had our own landfill about 1/2 mile from the house. We burned what we could, the rest just sat there and rotted/rusted away.

Remember incinerators. In LA we had them until the 60's. We had incredible smog too. There were days when I could not see the utility pole in the backyard from inside the house. A distance of maybe 40 feet.

[DawnOday]

I don't know, when this thread was addressed to Julia, it seemed like we had a lot less talk about the potty . I do love the educational fulfillment I seem to be achieving hearing all the facts about outhouses. Can't wait for the symposium of different words for pooping. lol Guess that is number 2 on the list though.

Monica  This is for you    http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/2014/1/6/f38108ec-d1ba-4bc1-8b51-73ebd1bff8ce.jpg