I completely blew my kids' minds tonight.

[Terabith]

They both simultaneously screamed, "WHAT?" at the top of their lungs and then were convinced I was making it up when I told them that when I was a kid, there was a phone number you could call that gave the time and temperature, and that we called it on the regular (and had it memorized) because it "was something to do."

I hadn't realized how much of a dystopian wasteland the 80's and 90's were, but there you have it.  

[Carol in Cal.]

Popcorn.  Time only, though, I thought.

[eagleynne]

We still have that here. If you want to blow their minds give it a call. 812-232-0300. It's been the same number since the mid-80s.

[Jean in Newcastle]

You can also call 202-762-1401.  It's the US Naval Observatory that still gives the time. 

[katilac]

We called time and temperature on the regular, lol. We also fed dragonflies bits of tobacco to get them high, and played the card game Knucks, which ended with the loser getting their knuckles whacked and scraped with the winner's playing cards. 

My childhood was 70s and I was a teen in the 80s. My kids are like why and I'm like because there was no internet, that's why! Walking 'up front' to the excitement of Shoe Town and TG&Y only consumed so much time. 

[Terabith]

17 minutes ago, katilac said:

We called time and temperature on the regular, lol. We also fed dragonflies bits of tobacco to get them high, and played the card game Knucks, which ended with the loser getting their knuckles whacked and scraped with the winner's playing cards. 

My childhood was 70s and I was a teen in the 80s. My kids are like why and I'm like because there was no internet, that's why! Walking 'up front' to the excitement of Shoe Town and TG&Y only consumed so much time. 

Yeah, I literally said the words, "Well, there was no internet.  We were BORED."  

[cjzimmer1]

And I was just telling my kids tonight how when I was a kid we had 5 tv channels and the extent of kids programming was cartoons on Saturday morning and Mr. Rogers and Sesame street.  

[footballmom]

I recently had to make a call on my cell and didn’t want the call receiver to have my cell #.  I hit # and two numbers that I thought would block my number from appearing.  Nope.  I hit the two numbers that would FORWARD my calls to the number I dialed.  So, I’m on the road, I’ve pulled over and I frantically called my oldest to have him google how to unforward call forwarding.  You should have heard his annoyance at my ignorance “that you can’t forward calls, mom.  That isn’t a thing”.  I went from zero to screaming in 10 seconds so I could hurry up and reverse the call forwarding that I had just set up for a practical stranger to receive all my calls. Sigh....

[Farrar]

32 minutes ago, katilac said:

We called time and temperature on the regular, lol. We also fed dragonflies bits of tobacco to get them high, and played the card game Knucks, which ended with the loser getting their knuckles whacked and scraped with the winner's playing cards. 

My childhood was 70s and I was a teen in the 80s. My kids are like why and I'm like because there was no internet, that's why! Walking 'up front' to the excitement of Shoe Town and TG&Y only consumed so much time. 

Gosh. I haven't thought of the TG&Y in DECADES.

[Catwoman]

When I was young and single, I used to go to a payphone and call Time when I wanted to get out of a boring date early and go meet up with my friends at a club instead. 

Poor Grandma was in the hospital, see, and I had to call and see how she was doing. And oh dear, she had taken a turn for the worse so I should really get right over there...

Yeah, I know. Lying is bad. Sue me. 😉 

[Faith-manor]

49 minutes ago, Terabith said:

They both simultaneously screamed, "WHAT?" at the top of their lungs and then were convinced I was making it up when I told them that when I was a kid, there was a phone number you could call that gave the time and temperature, and that we called it on the regular (and had it memorized) because it "was something to do."

I hadn't realized how much of a dystopian wasteland the 80's and 90's were, but there you have it.  

Epic!!!

[katilac]

5 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Gosh. I haven't thought of the TG&Y in DECADES.

An exciting variation was to try to sneak in barefoot without the cashiers spotting you. Then we would buy that plastic balloon stuff and alternate between actually blowing balloons with the tiny straw and just chewing the plastic goo. It's a miracle we survived. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by katilac

[Farrar]

2 minutes ago, katilac said:

An exciting variation was to try to sneak in barefoot without the cashiers spotting you. Then we would buy that plastic balloon stuff and alternate between actually blowing balloons with the tiny straw and just chewing the plastic goo. It's a miracle we survived. 

So, the TG&Y was a staple of life at my grandmother's. And there, it seemed to be widely believed that children could go about without shoes. I remember my cousins just going places barefoot - including the TG&Y and the Pool Hall and even Belk's. No sneaking necessary! And every once in awhile, I'd join in and feel very rebellious. But it was clear that they - since they lived there in the small town - believed this was just totally normal behavior.

[Ali in OR]

I can still recall the Time lady's voice perfectly: "The time is Eight fifty eight...and 50 seconds! Beeeeeeep"

Edited November 11, 2021 by Ali in OR

[history-fan]

My kids couldn’t imagine when I told them at midnight the tv would play the national anthem with a picture of the flag blowing in the wind and when the song was over it was just static till the next morning! No tv channels after midnight!!  It was the worst!!

[theelfqueen]

Forget the time call... MOVIEPHONE. 

[SKL]

Same here.

Of course, when I tell my kids things about my childhood, their comment tends to be "well wasn't that back before the civil war?"

We were also talking about prank phone calls.  Can you believe kids still do that today, but with their iphones and caller ID?  Do you worry about our future??

[theelfqueen]

I'm gonna say it .. we were way better liars in our day. 

[SKL]

Remember when you had to have a TV guide to know what was going to be on TV?

[SKL]

And I was telling my kids what we had to do if we wanted to know the exact lyrics of a song.  Which is why I am still learning what some of those lyrics actually are.  😛

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, cjzimmer1 said:

And I was just telling my kids tonight how when I was a kid we had 5 tv channels and the extent of kids programming was cartoons on Saturday morning and Mr. Rogers and Sesame street.  

We had three channels and no daytime TV apart from one hour for little kids in the mornings - Watch with Mother.

When I was home sick  from school, I lay on the sofa and watched the two documentaries that played intermittently for TV engineers to use whilst tuning telly sets. One was on the internal combustion engine and the other was on trout farming... when those weren't on, this screen was up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Card_F

[*****]

Tell them about party lines, that’s even better. 2 or 3 households shared the same phone line. (From what I remember), each house had a different ring, so you knew when someone was calling your home. and could answer it.   The mind-blowing part was…you could pick up your receiver (what’s a receiver?!) and listen in on someone else’s conversation. And I think there was an operator involved at some time.  As a little kid, this was becoming obsolete in our area, so I don’t remember the particulars, but it was still common knowledge.

(But mind-blowing too, was that if you had 2 or 3 phones in your house, you could listen in on your siblings’ conversations too if you were really quiet in picking up the receiver. ) There’s that word again!😉

[J-rap]

4 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Popcorn.  Time only, though, I thought.

Yes!  That's the first thing I thought of too.  I grew up in California, and I'm sure we used to dial POPCORN once/week at least, just for something to do!  😄 

[J-rap]

2 hours ago, ***** said:

Tell them about party lines, that’s even better. 2 or 3 households shared the same phone line. (From what I remember), each house had a different ring, so you knew when someone was calling your home. and could answer it.   The mind-blowing part was…you could pick up your receiver (what’s a receiver?!) and listen in on someone else’s conversation. And I think there was an operator involved at some time.  As a little kid, this was becoming obsolete in our area, so I don’t remember the particulars, but it was still common knowledge.

(But mind-blowing too, was that if you had 2 or 3 phones in your house, you could listen in on your siblings’ conversations too if you were really quiet in picking up the receiver. ) There’s that word again!😉

We had a weird experience many years ago...  We once picked up an antique phone for fun, and at the time we lived in a very old inner-city apartment building.  We randomly found a very old, way out-dated, unused phone jack still attached to a wall of our apartment that the landlord had never removed.  For kicks, we wondered if our antique phone's cord would plug into it, and it did.  Then when I picked up the receiver, I could hear someone's conversation!  Turns out it was still wired to some kind of a main phone line, like the old party-lines.  I picked up the receiver again the next day, and this time I talked, to see if they could hear me.  Well, they could, and they were pretty freaked out!  I didn't listen in anymore after that, but my dh and I thought it was pretty cool.  We never thought to report it, so it could be that line is still connected today.

[MEmama]

When I told DS about spending endless hours waiting for a favorite song to come on the radio so I could tape record it, and then how we would play the song back a bazillion times to figure out all the lyrics, I think he just felt very embarrassed for my generation. Lol. 
 

[MEmama]

2 hours ago, J-rap said:

We had a weird experience many years ago...  We once picked up an antique phone for fun, and at the time we lived in a very old inner-city apartment building.  We randomly found a very old, way out-dated, unused phone jack still attached to a wall of our apartment that the landlord had never removed.  For kicks, we wondered if our antique phone's cord would plug into it, and it did.  Then when I picked up the receiver, I could hear someone's conversation!  Turns out it was still wired to some kind of a main phone line, like the old party-lines.  I picked up the receiver again the next day, and this time I talked, to see if they could hear me.  Well, they could, and they were pretty freaked out!  I didn't listen in anymore after that, but my dh and I thought it was pretty cool.  We never thought to report it, so it could be that line is still connected today.

That is cool!

We still phone jacks in our house…now I wonder if they work. 

[Elizabeth86]

Oh yes, I remember calling it often just for fun. Was it the same for everyone? 844 1212 was what I called. 844 was not a local number to me and you didn’t have to dial an area code. I also remember my local library that you could call and listen to a recorded story. 😂

[Elizabeth86]

A bit off topic, but I was telling my kids how when Netflix first started, you selected your movie online and they MAILED you the disc. They thought this was nuts. It’s crazy to me how that was just oh you know a decade ago!! How quickly things change!! The Mail in Netflix felt futuristic as all get out back then. Heck we didn’t even have access to high speed internet then! 

[MEmama]

11 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

A bit off topic, but I was telling my kids how when Netflix first started, you selected your movie online and they MAILED you the disc. They thought this was nuts. It’s crazy to me how that was just oh you know a decade ago!! How quickly things change!! The Mail in Netflix felt futuristic as all get out back then. Heck we didn’t even have access to high speed internet then! 

We still have a Netflix box at the grocery store and I’m dumbfounded that anyone still uses it. Lol

[historically accurate]

48 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Oh yes, I remember calling it often just for fun. Was it the same for everyone? 844 1212 was what I called. 844 was not a local number to me and you didn’t have to dial an area code. I also remember my local library that you could call and listen to a recorded story. 😂

Ours was a local number 544-2424. I think I recall it was a service provided by the bank because it said "Brought to you by X City Bank" at the end of the call. 

We had the Netflix mail service. DH also dropped our phone line sooner than most people (maybe 2000?), and I remember my mom being so worried that our phones would die and we wouldn't be able to call 911.

My two office-mates do not have home internet. One is taking a class at the local community college, and she had to get a laptop and hotpot through the school's program. Last month, she upgraded to a smart phone. The other comes in on her day off to do any printing or emailing she needs to do. DH is a computer guy, so we have always had top of the line internet. It's just not negotiable for us to go without it in his mind. 

[J-rap]

1 hour ago, Elizabeth86 said:

A bit off topic, but I was telling my kids how when Netflix first started, you selected your movie online and they MAILED you the disc. They thought this was nuts. It’s crazy to me how that was just oh you know a decade ago!! How quickly things change!! The Mail in Netflix felt futuristic as all get out back then. Heck we didn’t even have access to high speed internet then! 

I think they still have their mail service-- I can't imagine it's very popular though!  And it makes you wonder how we'll be watching movies in another 10 years!  

[RootAnn]

I called time & temp for the temperature or to reset the clocks on the oven/microwave after the circuit breaker reset. You couldn't trust anyone's watch because everyone in my house set their watch forward/ backward depending on their personal preference.

I remember calling the movie theaters to hear which movies were showing at what time that day. My kids wouldn't understand this because 1) we only have one screen at the one movie theater in town where the movie is clearly shown on the front of the building and the time the movie shows is always the same and 2) you can look up online the schedule for what movie will be there for the next two weeks. The first time their aunt took them to a multi-screen movie theater, they were very impressed.

[kirstenhill]

14 minutes ago, J-rap said:

I think they still have their mail service-- I can't imagine it's very popular though!  And it makes you wonder how we'll be watching movies in another 10 years!  

There are still rural areas where broadband is non existent.  Until about a year ago, the only option my MIL had for internet was a satellite internet service that was "metered" so if she watched streaming videos it would use up her whole allotment for the month in an hour or two.  I think DVD by mail would still be useful in underserved areas like that.  

[J-rap]

10 minutes ago, kirstenhill said:

There are still rural areas where broadband is non existent.  Until about a year ago, the only option my MIL had for internet was a satellite internet service that was "metered" so if she watched streaming videos it would use up her whole allotment for the month in an hour or two.  I think DVD by mail would still be useful in underserved areas like that.  

Great point!

[history-fan]

There was the information line where you would dial their 3 digit number and a person would answer and you could ask for a person or company phone number and they would give you the number.

This is still available for $2.00 or free with certain disabilities

so I just looked and 411 is still available even for cell phones according to Verizon and you can get info on: local national directory assistance, international assistance, reverse look up, yellow pages, and movie look up.

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by history-fan

[J-rap]

4 minutes ago, history-fan said:

There was the information line where you would dial their 3 digit number and a person would answer and you could ask for a person or company phone number and they would give you the number.

I believe that still exists: 411.  But of course that's for landlines only.  

ETA:  I wonder if it's still a live person though, or all computerized?

Edited November 11, 2021 by J-rap

[2_girls_mommy]

8 minutes ago, history-fan said:

There was the information line where you would dial their 3 digit number and a person would answer and you could ask for a person or company phone number and they would give you the number.

My grandmother was a phone operator her entire career from right after she graduated high school until she retired at age 63. That job doesn't exist anymore.

[2_girls_mommy]

We called the time and temperature number, Tommy, because one of us thought our dad was saying, "Call Tommy Temperature." So we always called Tommy, lol. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by 2_girls_mommy
Typo

[Terabith]

9 hours ago, SKL said:

And I was telling my kids what we had to do if we wanted to know the exact lyrics of a song.  Which is why I am still learning what some of those lyrics actually are.  😛

Oh heck yes.  There are a LOT of songs that I just had the wrong words in my head for DECADES.  

[Terabith]

1 hour ago, J-rap said:

I think they still have their mail service-- I can't imagine it's very popular though!  And it makes you wonder how we'll be watching movies in another 10 years!  

I'm not sure they did.  About 14 years ago, I started giving a Netflix subscription to my parents as a Christmas gift, since they were downsizing and didn't want more stuff.  There were a bunch of years where I had to call and fight with Netflix to get it so they could still get the discs in the mail, because they couldn't figure out how to stream to their television; we lived eight hours away, and even if we came to visit and set it up, they always got flustered and they were just mad about the whole thing.  But a few years ago it stopped being an option.  Or possibly they just switched over to the streaming like everyone else because they moved to the town where my sister is and she does constant technical support for them.  

My kids actually knew about party lines, because my mother in law had told them about it, but they hadn't realized that archaic stuff lasted so long.  

There was actually a HUGE kerfluffle when I was 8 and Bob Green published a column in the paper about all the national phone numbers you could call for weird stuff, like stories in Spanish, and something about ocean tides, and all kinds of whacky stuff.  And I, being 8 and a child who didn't really understand the difference between 1-800 numbers, local numbers, and long distance numbers, called them all.  My parents FREAKED OUT.  They were convinced the phone bill was going to be in the hundreds of dollars.  It was something like $5, but my mom still doesn't remember that part.  I mean, they were all like less than a minute calls, so I'm not quite so sure why her panic was so huge.  

[WildflowerMom]

Our library had a number like this except it was a story line.  It was usually a fairy tale and I'm guessing the librarian read it?  Idk.  I called quite a lot when I was little.  

[kbutton]

7 hours ago, J-rap said:

We had a weird experience many years ago...  We once picked up an antique phone for fun, and at the time we lived in a very old inner-city apartment building.  We randomly found a very old, way out-dated, unused phone jack still attached to a wall of our apartment that the landlord had never removed.  For kicks, we wondered if our antique phone's cord would plug into it, and it did.  Then when I picked up the receiver, I could hear someone's conversation!  Turns out it was still wired to some kind of a main phone line, like the old party-lines.  I picked up the receiver again the next day, and this time I talked, to see if they could hear me.  Well, they could, and they were pretty freaked out!  I didn't listen in anymore after that, but my dh and I thought it was pretty cool.  We never thought to report it, so it could be that line is still connected today.

Crossed lines are a thing. We had our lines crossed with a neighbors for a while. If we weren't on the phone at the same time, you wouldn't necessarily know. 

We still have a landline, and we keep a non-electric phone in the basement for emergencies. 

[Jenny in Florida]

12 hours ago, katilac said:

Walking 'up front' to the excitement of Shoe Town and TG&Y only consumed so much time. 

Ahhh, TG&Y. Just reading that sent me back to my own childhood.

[AbcdeDooDah]

Either me or my boyfriend would call the "time lady" and listen to her until tbe other called through on call waiting. That way our parents wouldn't hear the phone ring in the middle of the night.😂

[2_girls_mommy]

1 minute ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

Either me or my boyfriend would call the "time lady" and listen to her until tbe other called through on call waiting. That way our parents wouldn't hear the phone ring in the middle of the night.😂

That is brilliant!! My the time I had a boyfriend, my dad had finally invested in a phone line upstairs for us teens- there were six of us kids in the house, 4 teens at once by then, lol. It worked too though, when I got caught leaving campus during a closed campus lunch one time though. They made each of us call home so they could talk to our parents. I called my bedroom line. It put off the inevitable got a bit, lol. 

[theelfqueen]

4 minutes ago, 2_girls_mommy said:

That is brilliant!! My the time I had a boyfriend, my dad had finally invested in a phone line upstairs for us teens- there were six of us kids in the house, 4 teens at once by then, lol. It worked too though, when I got caught leaving campus during a closed campus lunch one time though. They made each of us call home so they could talk to our parents. I called my bedroom line. It put off the inevitable got a bit, lol. 

When I was in high school i changed my home number to the secondary line so my parents didnt get the automated attendance calls when I ditched classes. 

[Terabith]

I'm feeling like my kids are not getting enough practice in duplicity and sneakiness.  Say what you will, but it cultivated independent thought and action!

[gardenmom5]

Did you tell them about dialing your own phone number, hanging up, and the phone would ring?

or party lines . . .  (each line having a different ring.)

[Jaybee]

Yes! We called time and temp every morning to see what we should wear that day. Friends sometimes gave boys from out of town that number in order to keep from giving their home numbers. There were party lines, but we didn't have one because my dad was a doctor and we needed the line accessible. In our town, phone calls had a time limit. I think it was three minutes. After a certain about of time, there would be a long warning beep. You'd have a certain amount of time to wind up your conversation. Then a short beep and your call would be cut off. My parents allowed us to call back once, then that was it. I have no idea if that applied to long distance too--I kind of doubt it. It was really pretty convenient as far as keeping people from long phone conversations. I can't remember when that changed--maybe when I was in high school?

I just called that number, even though it has been more than 40 years since I called it--I could immediately recall it when I read the OP. Sadly, it is now a number for the city offices, which are closed for Veterans' Day, by the way!

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, gardenmom5 said:

Did you tell them about dialing your own phone number, hanging up, and the phone would ring?

or party lines . . .  (each line having a different ring.)

That never worked for me, and party lines weren't a thing for me.  My mother in law had party lines when she was a kid, so they've heard of them from her.  

My kids have never even heard a dial tone.