Of Sears and more

published March 8, 2012

in the Stockton Sentinel

Stockton, Kansas

     Since my story last week about the endangered species many of us have known as Sears, I have heard from several people who also have fond memories of the Sears (and J.C. Penney) catalog. It wasn't just me who loved pulling the large catalog out of the mailbox; many of you have similar stories of delight. I also received confirmation from some of you that, yes, the catalog did indeed make it to the outhouse, but not for its entertainment factor.
     So that got me to thinking about some other cool things that are no longer good for anything but determining that I'm older than dirt. Here's a list to check your own age:
     Headlight dimmer switch on the car floor
     Ignition switch on the dashboard
     Using hand signals when driving the car
     Crank-style telephone (we were something like 'one long and two short')
     Telephone switchboard operators who connected your call
     Neighborhood party line for the phone
     Diners with tabletop juke boxes
     Stingray bicycles with banana seats and sissy bars
     Candy cigarettes
     Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
     Returning soda pop bottles for "return" change
     Bronze- and silver-colored, metal ice trays with a lever to pop out the ice
     Blue flashbulbs
     110 cameras
     Mimeograph machines (and the smell of the copies)
     S&H Green Stamps
     Sprinkler stopper to put in pop bottle (used to 'sprinkle' clothes when ironing)
     Home delivery of milk in glass bottles
     Blackjack chewing gum
     45 rpm records
     Hi-Fi (rhymes with, but had nothing to do with Wi-Fi!)
     TV test patterns that came on after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning
     Only three TV channels (if you were lucky!)
     The 'Star Spangled Banner' played at midnight, or whenever the TV station went off the air
     Drive-in movie theater
     Washtub wringers
     Metal drinking cups
     Pong game