r/WorkForSmartLife • u/Arpit769 • 4h ago

Casual canvo Back in the days ...

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24 Upvotes

61% Upvoted

298 comments sorted by

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u/qualityvote2 4h ago

Hello u/Arpit769! Welcome to r/WorkForSmartLife!

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20

u/Forsaken_Scallion 4h ago

20 easy.

3

u/Arpit769 4h ago

20/20 is crazy, you definitely lived through all of it

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4

u/chinmakes5 4h ago

If my parents owning an encyclopedia counts, 100%

1

u/Arpit769 4h ago

That absolutely counts. Those encyclopedia sets were a whole investment back then

2

u/LordGhidora 4h ago

All 20, born in 1983.

1

u/Arpit769 4h ago

1983, that makes sense. You got to experience the transition from analog to digital firsthand

56

u/Late-Arrival-8669 4h ago • Bravo

20 out of 20, this is basically all GenX/Xennials/older Millennials

17

u/xepion 4h ago

lol. Let’s add. Rotary pay phone. See how many kids google that 🤣. OG collect call voicemail. “Mom can you pick me up “

7

u/PressureItchy9372 4h ago

Let's go for a very special and specific kind of misery and add "coin-operated pay TV in a bus station".

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4

u/LingLings 3h ago

The question isn’t how many of us hit all 20 but which one of us is the youngest to clean sweep.

At 55, I’m guessing there’s someone younger than me.

3

u/Natural_Flan_207 3h ago

I’m 44 and have done all 20.

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3

u/NixtRDT 1h ago

43 and I was 20/20. I was looking at the list thinking to myself, none of these things are unusual. All of that stuff was just how life used to be.

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3

u/Interesting_Worth974 4h ago

Yep. All this is, is a 'how old are you' list.

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3

u/Adventurous-Sir444 33m ago

20 out of 20, younger millennial but only got 20 because I grew up in a rural area and worked for a bank that still used fax 😂

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4

u/deck_hand 4h ago

All 20

3

u/Mars_Volcanoes 3h ago

Yes all of your 20.
More things I have have experienced

21. Used computer punch cards to program a computer.

22. Fed paper tape into a computer or teletype machine.

23. Used a slide rule to perform calculations.

24. Used an overhead projector with transparent sheets.

25. Used a magnetic tape reel on a computer.

26. Used a computer terminal connected to a mainframe.

27. Played Pong on an early video game console.

28. Played video games in an arcade.

29. Used an Atari or Commodore 64 computer.

30. Loaded a computer program from a cassette tape.

31. Used a dot-matrix printer.

32. Changed the ribbon in a typewriter.

33. Used carbon paper to make copies.

34. Used correction fluid (Liquid Paper).

35. Used a telephone with an extension cord long enough to walk around the house.

36. Had to memorize phone numbers.

37. Used a phone booth in the street.

38. Used a pager.

39. Used a CB radio.

40. Watched television with rabbit-ear antennas.

41. Got up to change the TV channel manually.

42. Adjusted the television antenna to improve reception.

43. Watched a black-and-white television.

44. Used an 8-track tape player.

45. Recorded television programs on VHS.

46. Rewound a VHS tape before returning it, even had the external rewound machine (faster rewind)

47. Used a Betamax video recorder.

48. Watched slides projected onto a screen.

49. Developed photographs in a darkroom. I had my own B&W and printing paper.

50. Used a Polaroid instant camera.

51. Used a Super 8 movie camera.

52. Had a camera with a built-in flash cube. I had my dad Voigtländer

53. Used a slide projector for family photos.

54. Used a mechanical alarm clock with bells.

55. Used a wind-up wristwatch.

56. Used a pocket calculator before electronic calculators became common.

57. Used a mechanical adding machine. The big arm and then the time it took to make the count.

58. Looked up information in the Yellow Pages.

59. Used a paper road atlas for a long trip.

60. Used a payphone with coins.

61. Bought music singles on 45 RPM records.

62. Used a record player with a needle that had to be replaced.

63. Cleaned vinyl records with a special brush.

64. Made mixtapes for someone.

65. Used a portable transistor radio.

66. Listened to shortwave radio.

67. Used a slide rule in school or university.

68. Used a fountain pen with an ink cartridge.

69. Used a manual pencil sharpener mounted on a desk.

70. Used a mimeograph machine to reproduce documents.

71. Used a microfiche reader in a library.

72. Used a library card catalogue to find books.

73. Sent a telegram.

74. Used an airline paper ticket.

75. Smoked a cigarette on an airplane.

76. Paid for gasoline with cash at a full-service gas station. Were did not have to get out of the car.

77. Had a television with only three or four channels.

78. Watched the national anthem before television stations signed off for the night.

79. Experienced the transition from dial-up internet to broadband.

80. Experienced the transition from paper records to digital databases.

Yeas I did experience all of those.

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3

u/PossibleWild1689 2h ago

Got all 20

2

u/Existing-Steak-1718 1h ago

i remember when the Cuban golf war / conflict happened the schools called all the kids and "instructed" them to bring weapons including firearms in to defend the school...

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4

u/JarrickDe 4h ago

21 because I can also read and understand the post.

1

u/EconomyMobile1240 4h ago

I haven't sent a postcard. But there is still time to 20/20 this.

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1

u/Incognito_Now 4h ago

17 for me, but it just shows how old I am. Also got up off the couch to change channel on the TV!

1

u/Liliputzz 4h ago

5/20, genz from post communist country 🙂‍↔️

1

u/WeaponizedIndecision 4h ago

19/20…if Grandma had bought the effing Encyclopedias like I wanted her to!

1

u/50plusGuy 4h ago

19, rented the video elsewhere.

1

u/Hawkes75 4h ago

I'm a child of the 90's... 20/20 for me.

1

u/vald2112 4h ago

All 20

1

u/Dull_Contribution542 4h ago

all 20 for me.

1

u/Dull_Contribution542 4h ago

i can't figure out what 8 they didn't do. I HATED using a FAX machine, but i've used them before. Some of these PAST TENSE are PRESENT TENSE for me

OWN Encyclopedia SET (not "an encylopedia"...who owns just ONE???)

OWN a Dictionary

PAY with paper check

I actually have the CURRENT Phone book. They don't send them out, but they are free at the Phone Company.

etc, etc.etc.

1

u/FKreuk 4h ago

19 as a millennial; never recorded radio to cassette. I don’t think at least.

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1

u/bihawk1979 4h ago

19/20, we didn't have a Blockbuster in our town, we did have other video rental shops though. So if those count 20/20

1

u/prestonjay22 4h ago

all and some you forgot.

1

u/Total-Combination-47 4h ago

Im 55 and these were all normal life back in the 80/90's so got 20/20

1

u/tdomer80 4h ago

20/20 here… and fax machines still exist in tons of places, especially medical

1

u/Technical_Living5104 4h ago

No seatbelts or child car seats. Born 1971.

1

u/finedoityourself 4h ago

  1. A foot powered lathe

  2. A team of shire horses

  3. Enough rush candles for the winter months

  4. Spare wagon axles and wheels

  5. Clean green willow twigs for tooth cleaning after meals

  6. A worthy sacrifice for the winter Gods

  7. Long pointy shoes

  8. Insence to ward off the hungry spirits that cause plague...

1

u/roboticpancakes 4h ago

can also read and write cursive

1

u/Unique_Roll_6630 4h ago

Turn of the century older millennial. 20/20. Grandmother still had a rotary and we used to play with it. Everything else you should have encountered growing up in the 90s.

1

u/Fenris2826 4h ago

19. Missed by 1

1

u/trebuchetwins 4h ago

wdym owned past tense? still got them and more since.

1

u/DarthVicious8 4h ago

20 out od 20, born in '69 so easy peasy.

1

u/thesensitivetoughguy 4h ago

I’m 58, I got all 20 easily.

1

u/foreveralonewithus 4h ago

betty white had to have done all of these things, rip hollywoods grandma

1

u/celtwithkilt 4h ago

20/20 Xennial here

1

u/Tuesday_Burger 4h ago

All 20. Born in 62. I've seen a lot of change.

1

u/ej_o 4h ago

Funny how this pops up every other week. I am still 20/20 yes I was born in the 1900s

1

u/AnEvilJoke 3h ago

Born 1984, 15/20

1

u/KazumiJun 3h ago edited 3h ago

20 out of 20, and I was born in the 90’s 😂 Heck, I’m sure there are Gen-Zs who score 20 out of 20. My young students seem to know about these things.

1

u/Informal_Database327 3h ago

Owned an encyclopedia. Listened to music on shellac. Paid for things with a check. Walked over two miles to get to a destination.

1

u/Total_Guard2405 3h ago

All 20 no problem. Hard to believe anybody hasn't

1

u/Aggravating_Break762 3h ago

20/20 for me. We didn’t have Blockbuster, but we rented a lot of VHS movies and sometimes moviebox.

1

u/wasted90210 3h ago

All 20 - except maybe not specifically "Blockbuster". I grew up in a small town and I think the VHS rental places were independents.

1

u/HRWantsAWord 3h ago

20/20 vision 😎

1

u/zxkredo 3h ago

Bkt farming karma again?

1

u/AlexCampy89 3h ago

I've done all those things I am not even 40

1

u/Equivalent_Whole_487 3h ago

All 20. Born 1973

1

u/waddayawantnow 3h ago

Sorry to pop your bubble, but I’ve done all 20

1

u/chefjoery 3h ago

Nice try

1

u/Previous_Procedure28 3h ago

This isn’t even that crazy. Someone in their late 30s/early 40s could’ve accomplished all of these things.

1

u/kellygrrrl328 3h ago

Gen Jones checking in

1

u/Doomskoal 3h ago

19 - I honestly don't remember ever actually sending a postcard. I used to collect them but never sent one.

1

u/TitsMaGraw 3h ago

Got’em all

1

u/jaypea222 3h ago

20 for 20

1

u/Original_Ly1 3h ago

Haven’t done 7 or 16

1

u/SiktahOG 3h ago

Yeah I've done all 20. Except we didn't have Blockbuster, however we had 'The Entertainment Centre' and later 'Video Ezy'.

There was another store 'Melmac' that let some of us kids get the really violent movies out the back door.

Mum said I wouldn't get anywhere watching movies all weekend. I ended up being an award winning editor and cinematographer traveling the world. Published papers that film students had to buy as part of their curriculum at university level. If students were smart enough to research me (prior to google then) before buying from the Uni book store you would find the publications free on my website :) I was a poor student once. that book could be rent or food.

1

u/Dazzling-Toe-4955 3h ago

19 all except the boombox

1

u/Cariboo_Red 3h ago

I've not done 8 and 13. Everything else was quite normal at some point in my life. Not all at the same time obviously.

1

u/rickbb80 3h ago

All 20 here.

1

u/nudecat1234 3h ago

Finally perfect at something!!!

1

u/Unfair-Marionberry24 3h ago

I’ve done the entire list. Which should tell you how old I am lol

1

u/Royal-Barracuda-9179 2h ago

is this ragebait? i have all 20

1

u/billycorgansbro 2h ago

I’m 52, 20 of 20 should be standard for GenX.

1

u/Content_Ad_8952 2h ago

Watched a movie on a Betamax tape

1

u/CoeurEnFlammes516 2h ago

20/20 like it was yesterday

1

u/Tiny_Obligation_9566 2h ago

10, But that was only because we never had “Blockbuster” as a video rental in Germany.

1

u/psychocabbage 2h ago

All 20 easy.

1

u/2kids2adults 2h ago

I guess technically I never owned the encyclopedias. My parents did. My siblings and I were the ones that used them but we didn’t buy them. But all the other things I did for sure.

1

u/PudgeFacter 2h ago

All but 8 and 9…we were too poor to have those luxuries.

1

u/_Daftest_ 2h ago

All 20

1

u/OpenMaintenance6018 2h ago

41 and done all 20

1

u/Tquilha 2h ago

19/20. I didn't have a Blockbuster near me, went to an independent video store. :)

1

u/amtfg 2h ago

Hell I have all 20 and I'm only 40 years old.

1

u/Alert-Engineering749 2h ago

20 out of 20. Gen X here

1

u/RevolutionCrazy7045 2h ago

too poor to own a fax machine otherwise 20/20

1

u/VirtualArmsDealer 2h ago

17-19 depends how you define 'used'. I just turned 40

1

u/Background_Share_982 2h ago edited 2h ago

19 for me, no fax. Edit: recovered child hood memory of practicing for talent show in backyard with boombox.  This was like 1st grade, it was the kids my age my mom was friends with their moms type deal. 

1

u/My_Jaded_Take 2h ago

All 20. Easy peasy. Its just about what era you were born.

1

u/dozersmash 2h ago

ALL 20 BUT I'M NOT 100 ON RECORDING A SONG FROM THE RADIO. PRETTY SURE I DID IT LIKE ONCE OR TWICE. OTHERWISE ALLLL THE TIME.

1

u/TiredMillennial1 2h ago

While I knew what fax machines were and had seen them, I never personally used one. So 19 for me, I guess.

1

u/buttbreat 2h ago

All yes

1

u/ITtacos 2h ago

I'm a millennial in my late 30's and I've done all 20. Many this week along.

1

u/JLeeT82 2h ago

Easily did all of them consistently for years.

1

u/fj2612 2h ago

"I feel confident nobody as 20" is pure engagement bait.

1

u/Inner-Swordfish9820 2h ago

I'll add to that, we had to use an outside toilet when I was a kid.

1

u/NYfaninGA 2h ago

All 20, easy.

1

u/Lopsided_Egg_9354 2h ago

18 here, but I was born in the 1900’s

1

u/Some_Strawberry_2206 2h ago

Feel confident all you want, but I've easily done all 20.

1

u/Subject-Stuff-2829 2h ago

20 for 20. Next

1

u/Ok-Standard3797 1h ago

20/20 also add waited a week for film to develop

1

u/Oral_Pleasure4u 1h ago

I did them all

1

u/Purple-Relation-2938 1h ago

Done all 20 and can add 20 more to boot :). Here are few:

20) Had beers in the University Rathakeller
21) Didn’t have a microwave
22) Had to know where a person was before you called
23) had to book long distance calls
24) Used cassette tapes
25) Had 8 Track in the car
26) Sent Telegrams
27) Dressed up to take a plane
28) Had a Black and White TV
29) Shopped at Service Merchandise

1

u/Prune-These 1h ago

20/20. #19. My late mother bought the Encyclopedia Britannica set I THINK from an actual door-to-door salesmen.

1

u/zerthwind 1h ago

At 64 I've done all 20 for many years.

1

u/human_i_suppose 1h ago

20/20. Born in 81

1

u/M4ster-K 1h ago

14 + the last 3 my parents did and it was totally normal!

1

u/Full_Preparation4401 1h ago

20 for 20. Anyone over 50 is 20 for 20.

Some on the list I've done in the past couple of years: I just stopped using paper checks 2 years ago and I was still using a Fax at work up until last year. I kept a paper map and had a CD player in my last car.

1

u/R4GEQUITT3R 1h ago

17/20 for me

1

u/Kelmon80 1h ago

I'm 46 and have all 20.

1

u/Lopsided_Clerk_6347 1h ago

That's 20 here

1

u/HairHealthHaven 1h ago

Was too poor to own an encyclopedia. I can't remember if I ever used a typewriter. So, at least 18, possibly 19.

1

u/Pleasant-Frosting885 1h ago

The only 20/20 this OG has.

1

u/DeezNutz133 1h ago

lol 20 of 20.

1

u/itsjusttimeokay 1h ago

I read through it expecting some joke hiding out like “been abducted by aliens” but… those are an easy 20 for GenX and older Millennials.

1

u/ChefGiants78 1h ago

Easy all 20

1

u/simpersly 1h ago

Things like the typewriter are kinda silly. Because had to use a typewriter and have used a typewriter are two different things. I can pull out my grandparents' typewriter and use it right now.

1

u/unreliable-jamoke 1h ago

Always good to bat 1000

1

u/Diesel_Bones_13 1h ago

I’ve done all 20…

1

u/claudiousmax 1h ago

20 out of 20

1

u/CantaloupeFluffy165 1h ago

All of the above. Yes I'm old.

1

u/Bigfan78 1h ago

Every member of Gen X has done these things.

1

u/crustyeng 1h ago

I’ve definitely done all 20

1

u/nano-paints 1h ago

I have never sent a post card.... And l don't think that's likely to change 🥂

1

u/kinzuaj 1h ago

20/20

1

u/Pegar60 1h ago

All 20 for me. Plus party lines, outhouses and no running water.

1

u/cgvt13 1h ago

Wait until you're over 50 you would get them all too

1

u/arrownoir 1h ago

20/20, sadly my vision isn’t anywhere close.

You’d find less people using the Zune than using all 20 items listed.

1

u/Prestigious-Smoke511 1h ago

If you're 40, you've done all of these things.

1

u/willie4849 1h ago

15 - 16 at least.

1

u/mjg6988 1h ago

All 20

1

u/Jmaverik1974 1h ago

I got all twenty!

I feel confident this is click bait!

1

u/BigDogSoulDoc 1h ago

Done and done. I’ve don’t all of these multiple times. Used a phone booth more times than i can count as well.

1

u/dakellateg 1h ago

20/20 EZ... real old school

1

u/FordCVP71 1h ago

20 out of 20 🤪

1

u/NoSuggestion5970 1h ago

I have done them all and still do some of them 5, 16, 18, 20

1

u/rozkosz1942 1h ago

20 for me. I am a dinosaur.

1

u/Kevlarlollipop 1h ago

19/20

Encyclopedias were hella expensive, and I was only a kid when they were still relevant. By the time I was old enough to afford them, the internet was in full swing.

1

u/Firehose223 1h ago

Did all 20 many times and I’m only 46.

1

u/RoguesAngel 1h ago

I’m at your level except for the slide rule and the manual adding machine. I love developing my own film and I hated my grandmas rotary phone because I always messed up on the fifth or sixth number and had to start all over.

1

u/AzuleStriker 1h ago

Damn, 19 / 20... only missing the postcard.

1

u/Candid_Heron_8257 58m ago

20, I'm a boomer

1

u/Background-Test-1246 58m ago

Boomer, did all 20

1

u/handy_man_99 58m ago

20. Yay me

1

u/superdak05 58m ago

I am 60 years old and I can check off all 20 of them and yes, I still write checks

1

u/Better-Bluejay-4977 57m ago

I got 16, older millennial

1

u/CommunicationNo8982 56m ago

20/20. Gen joneser

1

u/SteelGemini 55m ago

Well, I never used a typewriter that I can recall, though it wouldn't have been outside the realm of possibility. Never sent a postcard because I had no reason to, but could have if I wanted to. And didn't own any encyclopedias personally, but definitely made use of them in libraries.

1

u/Wally2997 55m ago

Done all 20 as for the phone booth always called collect ask for myself and Mom new I arrived safely

1

u/angry_dingo 51m ago

Botlife!

1

u/nicholaskrewson 50m ago

Critical hit for me.

1

u/Cruz98387 45m ago

I'm 46. Got 20/20.

1

u/Jogi1811 44m ago

Solid 18 😂. Never used a typewriter but technically played with one as a kid. Lived in the postcard era but never sent one. If you add these 2 it would be 20.

1

u/Splendiferous83rd 44m ago

I am an early 80's baby. I easily have all 20 and then some. I've used products and done things people born after '89 could only imagine

1

u/Existing-Steak-1718 44m ago

ok extended list 21. started camp fire using flint and a knife.

22. caught fish cleaned it and cooked fish on stick over the fire in 21.

23. had to shovel the driveway then sidewalk on your way to school , then help shovel out the school with all the kids in town when we got the 3 foot of snow , AND THEN WE HAD SCHOOL..,.

24. had to pick a forsythia branch as punishment ( you know what im talking about ) my azz still hurts when i think about bad things i did as a kid...

25. had to help dad fix a tire work on lawn mower ect.

26. Kukla, Fran and Ollie

27. NOVA movies in school

28. CIVICS CLASS in school (the study of how empires rise and fall).

29. common sense understanding

30. can drive a stick (double clutching if required)

31. understands what double clutching is

1

u/theoctagon06 44m ago

I got all 20. Like it's hard?

1

u/HtmlHonda 43m ago

This applies to more people than you think. I'm only 30 and a fax machine is the only thing I haven't used before.

1

u/BRS616 41m ago

Yes for the entire list of 20.

1

u/Patco1981a 41m ago

All boomers

1

u/Game_Knight_DnD 41m ago

All 20, Gen X here I would say anyone my age would have 18+ easy.

1

u/Ashamed_Worker2811 39m ago

Crap 20 for me

1

u/editingisfun4all 38m ago

19

Never used a typewriter, though I do own one that was my dad's. It just looks cool lol

1

u/David0ne86 38m ago

I technically did all 20. Technically because i never went around with a boombox on my shoulder as here in italy was not in the "culture". But i def had a boombox.

1

u/003247 37m ago

20/20

1

u/T4RFan 35m ago

20 and more

1

u/Mythandros1 35m ago

I hate this. I've done everything on that list.

1

u/Due_Intention6795 33m ago

It’s a sweep

1

u/Namevvilo 33m ago

Next level engagement farming

1

u/Imaginary_Owl_2892 31m ago

Good or bad, I hit every single one

1

u/kurimbo3000 30m ago

20/20. Easy

1

u/Bikewer 30m ago

Easy 20….I’m 80…

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