[penguicon-general] Programing

[Catherine Olanich Raymond]

On Tuesday 10 July 2007, Garry Stahl wrote:

> Entertainment and Communication:  No computer, no VCR, three channels of
> TV if you are lucky, open broadcast reception only, and B&W at that.

UHF existed when I was a kid in the late 1960s, but our set couldn't receive 
it reliably.

[snip]

> Cars?  Yea, I remember in the late sixties my Dad getting then brand new
> Michelin radial tires with a stunning 10,000 mile warranty.  The '66
> Galaxy 500 big enough to raise a family in, and he added after market
> seat belts.

I never got to ride in a car *with* seat belts until I bought my first car in 
the late 1980s.

> Bias belted low mileage tires drum brakes, not likely to 
> have power anything including steering and brakes.  And believe me
> horsing a 1960s car around with no power steering is work.  The first
> car I got to drive was a '65 Ford 500 with no power.  Makes you
> appreciate cars you can steer with one finger.

Yes, it does indeed.  On the other hand, you could at least push-start a car 
with a standard transmission.


>
> Kitchen:  Range, plumbing, and fridge is about it for most kitchens.
> The woman would be lucky to have a power mixer.  I remember my mother 
> using a wringer washer nearly into the 70s.  

So did mine.


> And hanging clothes out to 
> dry.  The arrival of the automatic washer and dryer was big news. 

Agreed. 

> Food 
> is all of the kind we now call "fresh". 

Kraft Mac 'n Cheese already existed, though.  Don't know if I'd call 
that "fresh."  ;-)


> No microfiber mops or anything 
> for that matter.  No filter on the vacuum that mainly made a lot of
> noise and redistributed the fine dust onto higher surfaces, to be dusted
> of course.
>
> I could go on and on.  1960 might have only been 47 years ago, but in
> terms of technology it was an eon.

Not that home cleaning has gotten *that* much easier since then.  
Communications, cars are noticeably different, but except for modern washers 
and dryers, housecleaning, even with vacuums with filters, is still the same 
kind of pain it was 40 years ago.



-- 
Cathy "sighing with disgust" Raymond <cathy at thyrsus.com>

"You've got to have the proper amount of disrespect for what you do."  
-- George Mabry