[ConstantSkeptic]

We still use our 35-year old Amana Radarange. It's great! My husband has done some basic repairs, and last month we sent the control panel to a fellow in Iowa who repaired it.

My husband hates to get rid of things which still work. That's partly why we still own his first vehicle - a 1956 Chevy pickup which he bought while in high school (about 1971). That's the first vehicle I ever saw with a starter button. On the floor, no less!

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Indoor plumbing, central heat, ball point pens and warm socks that are not scratchy.

[lurk]

Nutella.
Jalapeno cheddar tater tots and jalapeno cheese puffs.
Laser surgery.
Ice and water dispensers on refrigerator doors.
Frost-free refrigerators.
Kindle.
Arthroscopic surgery.

[central_va]

These things occupied a lot of my time.

[a fool in paradise]

6. Video Games - Home video games did not achieve widespread popularity until the release of a home version of Pong sold by Sears during the Christmas of 1975. Those of us who were lucky enough to receive one for Christmas that year hooked the primitive consoles up to our TV sets (often black and white TVs) and wasted entire days mesmerized by the back and forth ping pong action...

[a fool in paradise]

9. Pocket Calculators In the mid-1960s calculators were large, heavy desktop machines that used hundreds of transistors on several circuit boards and required an AC power supply...

[a fool in paradise]

10. Video Cassette Recorders In the 1970s and early 1980s we could have never imagined the concept of the DVD, let alone something as complex (and convenient) as streaming video. We went to movie theaters or waited for the movie of the week on ABC, NBC, or CBS if we wanted to see something other than a sitcom or a game show. The “modern” VCR did not begin to gain mass market traction until 1975 when the systems were standardized and movies became available to consumers. Of course, the “format war” between VHS and Betamax threatened to derail the whole thing, but VHS ultimately prevailed (the die hard Betamax fans eventually fell in line) and remained the top dog in the world of home entertainment until the technology was toppled by the success of DVDs. In addition to giving us the ability to watch movies we had rented or purchased, we suddenly had the ability to record television shows so we were no longer at the mercy of the programmers — and for the first time we could fast forward through the commercials, freeing us from having to sit through the unwelcomed messages in our homes.

The whole issue is now moot. Big Hollywood lost the Betamax decision and now that the market has moved to DVDs, they snuffed out the DVD-R/DVR hybrid machines (you can readily find one or the other but not both in one unit, the Panasonic model I had was forced out of the marketplace and discontinued in the USA). People have gone back to refusing to go out because they might miss some damn tv show.

[fredhead]

Two of the items listed:

We had a Hotpoint B&W TV that had “Power Tuning.” An electric motor was connected to the tuner. You set the channels you wanted it to stop at on the back, and (according to my dad) it had a wired remote with two buttons. One button made it rotate clockwise, the other counterclockwise. It also had buttons on the front of the TV that did the same. Of course the remote was gone by the time I remember that TV. Ended up in my bedroom when we got a color set.

Typewriter - Typed my senior year research paper on an old L.C. Smith typewriter that was my mom’s. You almost needed a hammer to press those keys. Mom typed up many a church bulletin onto mimeograph stencil on that typewriter.

[AU72]

Believe it or not, there was a time when human beings had to stand up and walk across an entire room to change the channel or adjust the volume on a TV set.

And you had channels to choose from. Plus you had to adjust your rabbit ears for some channels.

[TruthWillWin]

We had a TV with a remote in the 50’s. 58 or 59 I believe. Had a wire that attached to the TV and an electric motor rotated the tuner to change channels.

[familyop]

"...we ate the toxic paint chips because they tasted sweet and some kids couldn’t resist gnawing on window sills and picking up stray chips that peeled off of the porch railing."

Let's research the "we" demographic.

America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print

The Fragmenting of the New Class Elites, or, Downward Mobility
http://volokh.com/2011/10/31/the-fragmenting-of-the-new-class-elites-or-downward-mobility/

Environmentalism and the Leisure Class
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2835601/posts

The New Upper Class and the Real Reason We Dislike Them
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2843575/posts

Are you a member of the political class?
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/08/are_you_a_member_of_the_politi.html

Downton’s Class System — and Ours: We have a ruling class that despises the free market and does all in its power to restrict its scope.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3024119/posts

[Ditter]

Air conditioning! I grew up without air conditioning, please don’t make me do that again.

The only item on the list that I would have difficulty giving up is my cell phone. I don’t even have a smart phone just an old flip phone but I love it. Just for making calls any time and any place.