The musings of a juggling mother

Rants & raves about life as a woman today, juggling work, home, kids, family, life the universe & everything.

© Mrs Aginoth. The right of Mrs Aginoth to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988

Sunday, November 06, 2005

A century!

This is my 100th post! wow. When I first started I was sure it was going to be a passing fancy. All my previous attempts at keeping any kind of journal (even in very interesting times of my life) have never managed more than one or two entries. So thank you to all of you people, as it is the comments & feedback I recieve that make this so much more interesting than a paper diary. Keep them coming:-)

In honour of my century, and in view of my coming birthday, I was thinking about how the world has changed during my lifetime. When I was a child, i was sure my mother was so old that she could remember dinosaurs (no, really. Children have a strange perception of time!), but, when chatting to Mstr A today I realised how many things he will take for granted that I never had:

I remember when......

  • There were no mobile phones, faxes, email or SMS. In fact, only a select few had a phone at all
  • There were no CD's, Car stereo's, IPods, 'Ghetto Blasters', or Midi sets.
  • Not only were there no DVD's, Sky + or internet downloads, there were no Video's either.
  • There were only three TV channels. AND they only ran about 6 hours a day.
  • You had to scrape the ice off the inside of the car windscreen as well as the outside.
  • In the summer, everyone had 2nd degree burns from the vinyl car seats.
  • All dinners were cooked from raw ingrediants, and eaten off plates.
  • The milkman delivered to every house in the country before 7am
  • The post was the most reliable way of sending information, and was delivered twice a day.
  • "seasonal vegetables" changed, depending on the season
  • There were no lap-tops, palm-tops, or even home computers
  • Libraries were open all day, every day, in every community
  • Having a car was a luxury. The two car family was unheard off
  • It was considered right and normal to put 8 children into a family hatchback


I can think off loads more, but these are the ones that seem to really surprise the young. Sometimes I feel ancient just by talking to them, but I'll be 33 in a few weeks! Think what will have happened when I discuss this with my grandchildren!

What do you think have been the biggest changes/innovations in your lifetime?

19 Comments:

  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 7:37:00 pm, Blogger MaR said…

    I think of cell phones. To keep track of my teenager. Although he can still tell me what he wants on the phone, I am not going to know if he is telling the truth or not.
    I am thankful for the microwave, the drier and all the domestic appliances I didn't have during my childhood/adolescence. Most of all I am happy to have the net, in order to communicate with family and friends who are miles and miles away. And happy about my blog, which has opened a window to the world, allowing me to meet interesting people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Here via Michele's !

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 7:37:00 pm, Blogger me said…

    Great post. :-)
    Congrats on it being your 100th!
    I must be getting pretty close myself - *runs to look* - Hmm I am on 75 and strangly enough you are referenced on my last post, which I posted yesterday shortly before my 2 year old decided that it was a good idea to tip a glass of coca cola all over (and sadly) in my keyboard. :-)

    Here from Michele's today.

    I can't really think of any inovations in my lifetime - but then I have an awful memory for a 25 year old!

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 7:39:00 pm, Blogger ribbiticus said…

    for me, probably the microwave. just zap food for a couple of minutes and you're good to go. in the words of scarlett o'hara, we shall never go hungry again...:)

    michele sent me today.

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 7:41:00 pm, Blogger MaR said…

    I am here again because Michele sent me!

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 7:46:00 pm, Blogger Kate B. said…

    most of the above, plus: we only had 3 TV channels, sweets cost a penny (flying saucers, remember those?), free milk at school, Wham!, salmon as a treat not an everyday meal, wholemeal bread was for hippies...

    The biggest single change in my lifetime has definitely been the Internet. It makes communication and the accumulation of knowledge so much quicker, comprehensive and allows us to access opinions etc that we couldn't have seen before.

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 7:52:00 pm, Blogger Juggling Mother said…

    Oh yes - I'd almost forgotten free milk at school (sitting out in the sun all morning as I remember it).

    The loss of free milk is the first thing I remember having Maggie Thatcher to thank for!

    I used to be able to buy three teddybears (the gummy sweets, not the stuffed toys) for a ha'penny!

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 8:06:00 pm, Blogger Aginoth said…

    Congrats on 100 posts dear.

    I remember we recently explained Black and White Television to Aginoth Junior and he didn't understand...

    Oh Michelle sent me {chuckle}

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 8:22:00 pm, Blogger utenzi said…

    Ribbiticus added a good one. Microwaves are wonderful!

    Michele sent me over to your side of the Atlantic to say Hi!

    I'm 11 years older so there's a few more things on my list but being in a different country changes things a little also. I only had 2 TV channels but they did run for something like 16 hours a day. And pretty much everyone had a phone though they were on party lines. I don't remember how many families shared a line tho.

    Home computers really didn't get started until I was in high school with the Apples--it's amazing how fast they caught on tho it wasn't until IBM entered the market a decade later that the change really happened.

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 8:28:00 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Mstr.A thinks Nanny A has a realy cool car because I use a key to open the doors.He obviously thinks the norm is to press a zapper, which of course it is these days.

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 8:37:00 pm, Blogger Juggling Mother said…

    Ah well, the retro look is the in thing you know

     
  • At Sunday, November 06, 2005 10:05:00 pm, Blogger CyberKitten said…

    I remember all that... 'cept I remember when they only had TWO TV channels.... Both in Black & White....

    Oh, Blogrolled you BTW - rotflmao..

     
  • At Monday, November 07, 2005 7:26:00 am, Blogger Juggling Mother said…

    Oh you're so old, you must remember "old" money.

    Actually, I remember Ha'penny's, shilllings & pound notes, as well as the invention of the 20 piece & £1 coin, and the miniturisation of the 5p & 10p coins!

    Thanks for the link:-)

     
  • At Monday, November 07, 2005 9:36:00 am, Blogger Paste said…

    How about the threepenny bit and 10 bob notes, but the biggest change must be that anyone as young as '33 next birthday' feels anywhere near old!

     
  • At Monday, November 07, 2005 11:02:00 am, Blogger Juggling Mother said…

    Only sometimes - like when I interview (for a job!) people who were born after I left school, and when collegues can't imagine life without mobile phones!

    Or when 10pm seems like a late night and 8am an unimaginable lie-in:-)

     
  • At Monday, November 07, 2005 1:16:00 pm, Blogger CyberKitten said…

    Mrs A said: Oh you're so old, you must remember "old" money.

    I do indeed.... I remember when it changed over... Giving in 'old' money and getting shiny 'new' money back.... and having to explain it to people.....

    That was 1970 or was it 1971....

     
  • At Monday, November 07, 2005 9:52:00 pm, Blogger Aginoth said…

    Started in 1971, finished in 1974. It was a condition of joining the common market.

     
  • At Wednesday, November 09, 2005 5:13:00 pm, Blogger Unknown said…

    I even remember the milk cart being pulled by a horse as a very small child!! The rag and bone man ditt. And a very cold and shivery outdoor loo!

     
  • At Wednesday, November 09, 2005 5:20:00 pm, Blogger Unknown said…

    And congrats on your 100th post!!! :-)

     
  • At Thursday, November 10, 2005 12:03:00 pm, Blogger surly girl said…

    i wonder when you stop counting down to your next birthday? around twenty-two i suspect.

    i too am 33 next birthday. booo....

    we had a telly with big sticky-out buttons and when you switched over from "Magpie" to watch the Wombles the ITV one would pop out when the BBC one pushed in.

    mmm, and sweets by the quarter, and funny-foot ice creams. and bazooka joe bubblegum.

    we had a bbc B computer at school and played Chuckie Egg on it at lunchtimes....

     

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