Diaper Services, Milk Boxes, and Other Bygone Things

No home hair dryers. The only hairdryers were in beauty parlors. Then came these bonnet contraptions.

http://www.bookofjoe.com/images/p123531bbbb.jpg

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I can remember the grocer cutting off a piece of butter or cheese from a huge block of the stuff.

If you lived in NY, you could get a "nickel pickle", The pickles were kept in a huge barrel. The smell of the pickling spices wafted through the air. The pickles were so sour, that your mouth would pucker when you bit into it.

Secretaries took dictation, and wrote it on a pad with a pencil.

Each week, the school had a assembly. Both boys and girls wore white shirts to that event.

Come to think of it, men wore what they called "white on white" shirts for business. Men did not wear colored shirts to work. "Casual Fridays" would have been unthinkable.

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How about these...

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Linkat- Ohmygawd. I sure do. I also remember the Comptometer, and the computer that needed an entire room for itself.

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Phoenix32890 wrote:

I can remember the grocer cutting off a piece of butter or cheese from a huge block of the stuff.

If you lived in NY, you could get a "nickel pickle", The pickles were kept in a huge barrel. The smell of the pickling spices wafted through the air. The pickles were so sour, that your mouth would pucker when you bit into it.

That's how the stuff is still sold here, even in supermarkets (though the butter only in quality markets).

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linkat :
those punched-cards were also great for making notes , shopping lists ...
before the name "information systems" became the norm , the department handling billing etc. was often called "IBM-Department" - such was the influence of IBM until the 70's .
hbg

i operated one of these : "IBM tabulating machine" - huge monsters weighing about 2,000 pounds - and if one was not careful it would shred punched cards quicker than a paper shredder

http://www.tietokonemuseo.saunalahti.fi/images/kuva15.jpg

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Hamburger- I can remember when stores did not even HAVE paper shredders for home use!

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Linkat wrote:

How about these...

I hope you didn"t "fold, spindle, or mutilate"

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Back on the post offering "homo milk" is another item: "Beep." What is/was beep?

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No idea about that.

But you Americans most certainly don't know (as do only very few Europeans) that long wave radio was transmitted as well over power lines or telephone lines using LW frequencies. These systems were known variously as Linjesender, Telefonrundspruch, Drahtfunk* or Wire Broadcasting.

* RIAS, the Radio In the American Sector [of Berlin] started originally in 1946 as DIAS ('D' for "Drahtfunk") because no frequencies and antennas were available.

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Don't forget that once upon a time, Coke came in glass bottles, that we didn't have to pay a deposit on!

And don't forget what the first computers looked like!!

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oh yes , long wave radio !
during the war when an air-raid was expected , the positions of the allied bombers would be broadcast over the "wire-radio" system ("draht-funk" in german) . a wire was attached to the telephone and plugged into the radio , so one could make educated guesses whether it would be prudent to go into the air-raid shelter - or hope that the bombers would fly on - perhaps to berlin - in that case one had to be concerned of any "left-over" bombs being dropped before they would fly back to the base .
hbg

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Flakbunker-Heiligengeistfeld-Hamburg.jpg/800px-Flakbunker-Heiligengeistfeld-Hamburg.jpg

this is a picture of an "above ground" bunker in hamburg - converted into a warehouse after the war by putting openings/windows into the sides .
the official capacity was 18,000 people ! but when an airraid was imminent even more people would crowd into it .
i didn't like the above ground bunkers since anti-aircraft guns were placed on top of them making inviting targets .
i preferred simple underground air-raid shelters , allowing one to stick the nose out for a breath of fresh air .
hbg

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We didn't have to pay a deposit on coke bottles?? I remember carrying bottles back to the store in order to be able to then afford a Fudsicle or Popsicle, and am pretty sure they were coke bottles. Hmmmm....

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growing up in germany there was a deposit on of 20 "pfennig" (cents) , i believe , on wine , liquor and beer bottles .
20 pfennigs was a lot of money and since i had the "concession" for our house Very Happy

, i was always flush with money - and had plenty of "really good friends" always ready to give me a hand pushing the loaded cart to the stores for a return of the deposit Laughing

hbg

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hamburger wrote:

oh yes , long wave radio !
during the war when an air-raid was expected , the positions of the allied bombers would be broadcast over the "wire-radio" system ("draht-funk" in german) . a wire was attached to the telephone and plugged into the radio , so one could make educated guesses whether it would be prudent to go into the air-raid shelter - or hope that the bombers would fly on - perhaps to berlin - in that case one had to be concerned of any "left-over" bombs being dropped before they would fly back to the base .
hbg

If you have the time, hamburger, could you elaborate on the wire-radio-telephone system? Wouldn't that have compromised the actions of the allied bombers? Thank you.

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realjohnboy :
i'm not very familiar of the technical aspects of the ""wiere radio" , so i fished out this article :

...WIRE RADIO...

essentially it was like "cable TV" , you could not receive it unless you had an actual wire-connection to the transmitting wire - the telephone .
all regular radio transmission was blacked out during impending air-raids , so that radio broadcasts could not be used as beacons .
hope this makes sense .
hbg

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When I was a kid, the deposit on Coke bottles was two cents. My brother and I would routinely go trolling for Coke bottles, accompanied by our dog and some neighborhood dogs. None of whom were on leashes. I don't recall there being Pepsi bottles back then. Coke was it.
Did I ever mention that, when I was at UVA getting my MBA, there was a guy in my study group (six or so of us) who met every night to discuss the next day's classes? He went on to become the President/CEO of Pepsico. He just retired this past year.

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Miller wrote:

And don't forget what the first computers looked like!!

ENIAC, the first computer:

http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/mauchly/img/eniac3.jpg

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after returning to america in the 50's I lived with my grandparents on the farm. the local grocery market had a coke machine which required a nickel which you dropped in a slot and pushed down a lever. (I was not allowed "coke' at home) so one day I went with grandma to the market and brought my nickel but the price had gone up to 6 cents and you had to go pay the penny to the cashier. I didn't have the extra penny so grandma had to pay it. I got a lecture all the way home about over-spending.

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Diaper Services, Milk Boxes, and Other Bygone Things

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