Going back a little further, most towns had a ‘grocers’ shop where the roasted and ground the coffee. The grinder was a huge red thing like a n overgrown mincer. The beans were stored in box drawers behind the counter with labels on (often with exotic names).
The other common item in the grocers were sides of bacon hanging on chromed racks, choose your bacon and the thickness that you wanted, all bone dry not oozing liquid brine.😢
Elcarajillo I think, with “progress”, we have lost a lot. It would be great if we could preserve what’s good and improve what’s not.
Almost exactly the same story as mine! My Dad did the soldering on the kit and cocked up the TV RF bit somehow. Took him days and days to figure it out, with me pestering the life out of him to get it up and running. Got there in the end. Ah the joys of 1K programming, and the sheer excitement of getting 16K expansion pack. From the ZX81 I went to an Atari 400, then the one with the proper keyboard (bliss!!!) before jumping ship to Amiga 500.
Lake_M Ah the joys of 1K programming
Forgot to mention that the chirps and squeecks sounds to and from the cassette tape when saving and uploading a program to the zx81 were probably not dissimilar to a facsimile, but it was a good few years before I first saw a fax machine - a miracle in its own right. 📠
Doram fax machine, but it was a good few years before I saw a fax machine for the first time - a miracle in its own right. 📠
I always thought the fax was invented in the 80s, Imagine my surprise when I found out it was in the 1840s.
I used to love the show “The secret Life of”…
Another shocker was to realise the first video recording was done by Eddison.
To have your mind really blown as mine was when I first heard about these recordings…first TV recorded for later viewing…1927. The only problem was, a playback device had not been invented and wouldn’t be for 70 years.
My mate at GT Audio has a handful of Edison cylinder recordings. Not sure he has anything to play them on mind you! They were used as ornaments on his Voight corner horns.
DavecUK I always thought the fax was invented in the 80s, Imagine my surprise when I found out it was in the 1840s.
Quite amazing this. Other extraordinary things where invented ahead of their times. I Just saw something about an in-car navigation system in 1909…
Sat nav is another one. The military had it since the early 1980’s, but we mortals used maps till the new millennium. Personally I have no sense of direction. My wife used to be in charge of the atlas, but when I was on my own it was a always a nightmare. First time I travelled with a borrowed sat nav from my dad (cost him a fortune) I was in total awe. This was a game changer for everyone, but for people like me it was a life saver.
We still remember driving all over GB for our daughter’s table tennis matches having printed directions. We always had hard copies of the GB map and London map!
I thought we had a better understanding of directions at that time than now. It was equally difficult if we lose our way as there were no auto redirects. We have had to pull over and desperately working out the how. The nightmare of dealing with strangers putting us on the wrong foot! 😂
Yes, technology is absolutely fantastic and saves time as we no longer have to look up the physical map.
Doram The US military started using sat nav in the early 1960’s I think. The 1980’s were when they started to allow civilian use. I worked with the Ordnance Survey in the 1980’s and 1990’s and used GPS kit then, it was a massive backpack and was deliberately hobbled - although it had the capability to accurately plot to, I think ,10cm, that live of accuracy was restricted to military use. Civilian use accuracy was limited to 2m from memory. It was still remarkably impressive.
Gagaryn In 1979 thru to 1981 I worked for Amoco Europe in Seismic Data Processing. When the ships all went out to shoot a seismic sections (air guns, water guns, or dynamite in the early days), Decca was used for positioning. Accuracy was pretty good when 3 stations were used…I think 50m, which at the time was remarkable. Obviously required for the oil industry, as it cost a lot to pop a wildcat out and check for oil.
I never thought about it much at the time, it was just normal to have accurate coordinates. The fact that we can now pinpoint our location within a few feet, is incredible…let alone be navigated to our destination, something that was the subject of a “Tomorrows World” program. I used to love that show….du, du, du, deeeeeee, de dada 🙂
Yup, I love Sat Nav. I bought one of the first Tom Tom’s in about 2000 as I was having to drive to random NHS and Council office buildings in towns all over Scotland for my job at the time - it was remarkably stressful trying to follow printed directions in the dark in the car on my own to arrive somewhere on time. I still habitually use satnav in the car now - even when I know the way!
The fax machine was a great invention but totally redundant until someone else bought one…………back in the late 1980’s I was an HGV driver. I remember on a Friday night trying to get to a builders depot before 4pm in South London but I cannot remember where exactly. I arrived at 3.30 and they still refused to unload me. This meant a really short day (paid by the hour) and it meant a long day on the Saturday to get home cutting down time with my family. I asked where the hell I could park up and they directed me to a municipal car park. it was £16 to park over night which was a lot of dosh in 1988. It was a Friday and I only had a few quid left anyway.
A lorry pulled up next to me me and we chatted. He said being a Friday, he doubted any officials would come round checking for tickets but during the week they definitely would. I mentioned that I had not had the chance that week for a shower and he pointed out Municipal Baths on the other side of the road. I paid by money (cannot remember how much) and was shown to a wooden cubicle where the assistant ran a really deep bath, put some strongly smelling but pleasant powder in, closed the door and said stay as long as you want!
Believe me, for a driver this was absolute luxury! some time later I emerged out with clean clothes on feeling champion. Found a pizza restaurant where I ate well for a couple of quid. I often wonder if the Municipal Baths still exist but a definite reminder of days gone by
“Feeling champion” not heard that from anyone other than my late mum.
Down memory lane indeed 👍
dfk41 . I often wonder if the Municipal Baths still exist but a definite reminder of days gone by
A mate and I were in Brighton and under one of the causeways I think it was, there was a public baths..
A long corridor, rooms left and right, you got shown in, locked the door. In the room was a massive (I mean huge), cast iron enamelled bath with a teak surround for soap and bits n bobs.. The attendant shouted it’s our last day today we’re closing down after you guys, so you can have extra time and extra hot water, just ask. There were foot levers outside which he must have kicked on and a huge spout started filling this bath….the flow rate was as huge as the bath and literally in minutes this thing was half full of lovely hot water. I took my soap, placed it on the wide wooden teak rim, hung the towels up, put the mat down and stepped in. The bath was at least 3.5 ft deep the water was almost 2.9ft and I literally floated around the thing…most incredible experience. Water was just right first time too.
I thought public baths were going to be naff, but it was very clean and the best bath I ever had in my entire life. We left, tipped the guy and as the building doors closed, that was it…we were the last 2 people ever to bathe there, a great shame!
Now you embellish upon my story and having a far better memory!) the baths I used were the same. Wooden surround on the bath, the feeling of floating and scrupulously clean!
Lefteye I remember he upgraded the car aerial to a remote one with a switch he’d wired into the dash. Took about 2 minutes for the aerial to go up and down.
The marvels of modern tech back then….although, in fairness, I was listening to A Dab+ station on the radio, turned on rear screen heater, no radio station, turned it off, back it came….My car a BMWi3, shocking really, that 45 years later, and I can’t listen to the radio with the rear screen heater on!!
DavecUK shocking really, that 45 years later, and I can’t listen to the radio with the rear screen heater on!!
Same on other cars. In my cases, the aerial is part of the rear screen heater lines. Often the first two at the top. The engineers, in their infinite wisdom, never thought of the very likelywood of interference. On DAB, it completely dies. On FM, unless you are listening to a strong signal, it becomes very patchy.
Lefteye Every time radio 5 goes to the news my car dab radio loses signal for a couple of seconds
Radio 4 is exactly the same. If you quickly switch between the FM and DAB counterparts, you find that for the news they are actually in synch. Not necessarily during other programs.
PS: I only listen to BBC Radio4. So I have no idea about other stations. 😉
That’s really interesting. Thought it was some issue with switching to different masts for bits but that makes sense!!
When I were a nipper back in 1968, I wanted Scalextric so bad I could taste it, come Christmas day and I got this.
You can imagine the crushing disappointment, but we were poor, and my parents couldn’t afford it. I still remember what was written on the box “To David for Christmas for being a good boy, Love Mum and Dad”. I didn’t show my disappointment for a moment and tried to make the best of it, actually it was pretty good for what it was. I played with it a lot because I know they struggled to even afford this, which was a major present. It was a racing car that took a C-cell battery, you switched it on, and it drove the wheels, but only forwards, no radio control, wires or anything. 2 years later **I finally got a Scalextrics set…but I always remember the Trick Trak more fondly, funny eh..**Video below, I didn’t have the daredevil set, I had the cross country road rally.
I had a similar Xmas thing. I wanted and Atari console and got a knock-off called a ‘Rowtron’ with 50 versions of Pong-type games on a cartridge. I managed to disguise my tears of disappointment as tears of joy.
I had rose tinted memories of sneaking into the kids room 25 years or so ago and trying to play Sonic on what was then the most advanced Megadrive. I was never a gamer and always gave up after 10 minutes or so. Last Xmas I saw a new version of the Megadrive with a whole shed load of games built into it, with wireless controllers. I bought it with the intention of spending hours in front of it. I used it once for 5 minutes before realising that what we thought was advanced technology then, certainly is not now!
Trik-Trak doesn’t look too bad! I had Airfix which was fine. Later bought second hand Revell from someone at school. Much better! Still have it somewhere. As an aside, slot car racing became a bit like high end coffee. If you wanted the fastest cars for the local raceway the prices tended towards the stratospheric! Only the rich kids could afford to keep up. I certainly couldn’t. Had a lot of fun out of them though.
What about the stick on Smith’s foil heated elements for the car’s rear window?
Spyrograph! If you did it too hard you’d go through the paper. Everybody did an owl.
Chopper Bike with the central gear stick gear change - I had an orange one.
Kids TV in my time - Watch with Mother, The Woodentops, Andy Pandy, Crackerjack, Animal Magic, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Banana Splits, The Double Deckers, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and of course not forgetting Dr Who. Hartnell ,Troughton and Pertwee being the Doctors of my youth.
I was thinking back to my eating habits as a kid and my favourite food. I remembered with absolute shock that for about 3 years, I would pretty much eat only a plate of chips with tomato sauce every day. I would put a dribble of sauce across the chips, then toss them to get an even and very light coasting of ketchup….then put far too much salt on them.
Bless my poor old mum who used to have to make them almost every day…she tried so hard to get me to eat something else. Nowadays, I wouldn’t even think about eating that.
Did what to them?!?!?!!? 🤣
DavecUK Oh dear lord, you called that right….B&W tv with a single channel that came on at 5pm and off again at 11.30pm (NZ), Aniseed balls, wine gums 4 for a penny, that pneumatic tube system in department stores, the first car of Dads I can remember was a Vauxhall 14, then a Vanguard (big leap forward, lol), the neighbours had a “Beverley Hillbillies” style Model A Ford - way before the tv show - as their only car… and yes, eye level gas grills, heck yes. Mum had a Ford Popular as a second car…the post War model, lol.
Thinking about how naff it was that people would pay to see Elvis’s car when it was on tour - just the car, mind.
My first motorcycle was a 1949 Matchless 500 single, thought I was Christmas. You’ve unleashed a veritable torrent of memories, lol.
Playing Beatles records on Dad’s suss little portable record player with the speaker in the lid - and Beatles wigs, lol
Pompeyexile Chopper bike, oh yes, very flash - had to settle for metalflake purple banana seat on my bike, lol
Pompeyexile Oh lordy, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea…or Bathtub as we smartass young’uns referred.
Gunsmoke, Laramie, Lost In Space..Banana Splits in those cool buggys..Vintage Coro St with Ena Sharples, Get Smart, Early Dr Who and the Daleks with William Hartnell, the Man from UNCLE, McHales Navy, StingRay, Thunderbirds et al.
Rob666 Oh heck, more memories…I started with a Minic HO set, moved to Scalextric before hitting the “hard stuff” - scratchbuilt 1/24 scale racers with hand built “floating” chassis, ridiculously huge rear tyres, stupidly powerful motors and weighing about as much as a sparrow…even using Magic Marker with hairspray as paint on clear plastic bodies…probably ugly as sin but so much fun.
Recently tried to recapture a bit of it with the Ninco range, but in the end it was all best left in the past, lol - still managed to get my investment back out this time round though, lol
CafeNoir Wow, I didn’t realise it was still a thing…not a cheap hobby. I used top love it as a kid and when I was about 13 I actually went to Tehran (Iran) and in the evening people used to go out and slot race on massive tracks, about 8 or 10 cars wide. It was a big thing over there at the time….
CafeNoir Oh lordy, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea…or Bathtub as we smartass young’uns referred.
Gunsmoke, Laramie, Lost In Space..Banana Splits in those cool buggys..Vintage Coro St with Ena Sharples, Get Smart, Early Dr Who and the Daleks with William Hartnell, the Man from UNCLE, McHales Navy, StingRay, Thunderbirds et al.
Richard Basehart, can’t remember, Man from Laramie….song, Billy Mummy, Tralala, lalalala, lalalala……, Hair net…, didn’t watch it, Just remember Hartnell, then guy with flute, Pen like radios, nah didn’t watch it, whoooo, oooo ooooh ooh ooo Marina, The first lip fillers…esp bottom lip (one of my favourites).
Brings it all back…and you forgot the “Cannon Ball Express” another favourite of mine.
The Lucy show, Betwitched (always thought Samantha was a 10 and Darren was a 1),
BBC Model B…….Many a happy hour playing chuckie egg and elite on mine. We had an eprom burner at work so I blagged a copy of DFS and an old floppy drive which was like going from 56K to broadband. Finally sold it and bought a pair of Rogers LS2A speakers which I still have in the outbuilding. Tandy TRS 80 at college - my first exposure to computers - being so impressed with classmates who could get the screen to fill with their name with just two lines of basic. My first binatone calculator with a memory button - how did that work ? Mustve been the work of the devil. That smell of new electronics back in the day. Log tables - remember learning how to use the things and then, a couple of years into comp school being able to use a calculator instead. It felt like allowable cheating. Black Night pinball machine at the local corner shop that took loads of my pocket money.
5 famous Si Fi movies…..see if you can get it.
Marina, lol - pioneering “trout lip look”, decades ahead of her me…+1 for Samantha in Bewitched, lol.
Later stuff also very good..The Frost Report, At Last The 1948 Show, Pythons, Goodies, Not the 9 O’Clock News…so much outstanding talent
I’m a little bit of a science fiction enthusiast but I’m not terribly good with the cryptic…
Perhaps HAL for #2?
CafeNoir I’m a little bit of s science fiction enthusiast but I’m not terribly good with the cryptic…
Perhaps HAL for #2?
Out of 5 you have 0 right, and you would have to name the movie e.g, 2001 a space oddity etc..
Well, it’s 6am here, I’ll plead lack of caffeine
#4 Mother/Android.
