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Friday, April 18, 2025

15 pics of 'Damn, I'm old'

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97 comments:

  1. At my advanced age I've see e'em all,

    However:

    #3: My mother doused my cuts with Iodine not the pussified, no-sting mercurochrome.

    #9: Back about 65 years ago my father thought all his Birthday had come together when he got one of them electric carving knives just before Thanksgiving.

    #12: Them's clackers not Ben Wa balls.

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    Replies
    1. I have seen/used almost every item. I made coffee in a perculating pot this morning and shave most every day with a "safety razor" (grossly misnamed).

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    2. Safety razors were great as long as you had a 1/2 roll of toilet paper and a septic stick nearby

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    3. Styptic stick, not septic. I still use one, it gives a much better shave, and doesn't get clotted with shavings as easily.

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    4. I still shave with #7.

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    5. How'd you use the Wolfman?

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  2. The rich kids had mercurochrome. We had merthiolate.

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    Replies
    1. That stuff stung like fire. We used the last of our Mercurochrome in 1969 and could not replace it. My mother had bought 10 bottles of it before we moved to Germany in '66 after my father got orders.

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    2. Nothing like putting mercury on your skin.

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    3. Much better to just skip the miniscule amount to mercury and end up with a massive infection. Metallic mercury is biologically inert.
      -Just a chemist

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    4. True enough, metallic mercury is biologically inert. Merbromin, however is ORGANIC divalent mercury. As is thiomersal. I don't - personally - believe either one is much, if any, risk compared to their value as an antispetic, but, really, a chemist ought to know the difference between elemental mercury and these - an not imply that these are Hg(0).

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    5. We called it "Monkey Blood" when I was a kid.

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  3. That's Wolfman Jack

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  4. wow, I identified each instantly.

    Wolfman Jack was a hoot.

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    Replies
    1. Clap for The Wolfman, he's gonna rate your record high...

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    2. Or “American Graffiti.”

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    3. I heard his last WORDS as he was out doing the publicity rounds, don't recall what he was promoting. When I was a teen in the 70s I used to listen in. He seemed bored but was a professional and the jock interviewing him (Mr. KABC/KFI) was a big fan too.

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  5. I'm familiar with all of them except #2 and #12... please enlighten me. Maybe #2 has something to do with laundry?

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    Replies
    1. #2 is a clothespin bag that hangs on the clothesline, #12 are those clackers that were a fad with kids back around 1970 that drove everybody within earshot berserk.

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    2. Also a great place to put the kittens when mowing the lawn.

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  6. I still use #1, 7, and 8.
    And I aint even that old
    Oh wait...fuck

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  7. #8 - my clock radio had rotating flaps with numbers on them. Those fancy clock radios with lighted numbers came later.

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    Replies
    1. Flaps for the next number like the clock in “Groundhog Day” ?

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    2. I had one of those and they were a little noisy when the plates would flip.

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  8. When Gillette went woke and I ran out of refills, I ended up buying a safety razor made by a company named Hanson (Hansen?). Best shave I have ever had.

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    Replies
    1. It's Henson: https://hensonshaving.com/collections/henson-razors (I haven't bought one yet, but I've been strongly considering it. I still use the DSC razor).

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    2. There was a slot in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom in my childhood home to put the old razor blades in and they would fall down between the wall. God bless the remodelers when the redid that bathroom.

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    3. Same here. Ended up with Viking Razor and blades. Except when I travel. I found my grandfather's old travel razor. The handle unscrews into three pieces and the whole thing fits into a 2 in. square by 3/4 in. metal box.

      Better shave than any electric or multiblade disposable I ever used. Wish I hadn't shaved for 30 years before changing. Cut the crap out of myself the first couple times. Then learned to take it slow, short strokes, with a light touch. Only time I get cut now is if I hurry. And even then, the cuts are small, heal quick, and not nearly as painful as razor burns from the other options.

      Unfortunately the previous owner of our 90 year old house remodeled the bathroom and we don't have a medicine cabinet with a blade disposal slot any more.

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  9. #6 Did you ever figure how to call a number without using the dial? As a young kid I figured out that if you listen to the dial tone you push down on the hanger quickly the amount of times you want for each digit wait a short pause then the next number etc.

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    Replies
    1. Ha!! I discovered that too!

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    2. That method could also be used on a pay phone if one didn't have a dime.

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    3. We all did that at the high school phone to call our parents to pick us up after an extracurricular activity. Well, some of us did. I had to walk home every day.
      I didn't feel bad because one guy on our football team had to walk home about 7 miles after each practice due to his family being farmers. He only did it for less than a week before all of the parents got together and took turns driving him home after football practice.
      Thinking about him, I remember he had one of those old plastic facemasks on his helmet. I tackled a kid in a game my freshman year, and so did he. We hit heads and I broke his facemask and his nose at the same time. He had blood all over himself and me and a couple of other guys in the ground during the play.
      That was before I had gotten the first of my 6 concussions in football. I have since gotten 2 more. Now I never would have been allowed to play football after the first two.

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  10. 2 caught hell mor'n once for shooting the spring type clothes pins off the line.
    3. Merthiolate for us too, but mostly learned every scrape was t a big deal and to get over it and get back to work.
    6. Looks like our first dial phone back in the 60s, except ours was black.
    7. Still use one
    9. Got it out for Thanksgiving and Christmas
    12. I was very good with them. They disappeared one day and never saw them again
    15. Hand my card over, she'd look me over, up and down, pull the book of dead beats and stolen from under the counter, seemed to give a sigh of disappointment when she couldn't find my number, then put book away and pull out the printer.



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    Replies
    1. Those spring close pins made a great trigger for a rubber band gun. That was that era too.
      Eastwood

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  11. i must be really old. i have, and frequently use, #4. and i have and frequently use#4s daddy, a windup 78 rpm upright Victrola.

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  12. I've seen them all, have used them, and still know to use them; but i never had any use for Wolfman.

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  13. #14: Here in the back woods of Whitelandia (aka Connecticut) there are still families in houses that use the trusty Outie. Its 2025 ffs, hard to believe.
    And yes, I have seen/owned/used all of them; still use #1 when camping.

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    Replies
    1. A farmer north of me finally got indoor plumbing. As a joke he put a for rent sign on the privy. A few days later, there was a knock on the door. A kid wearing a red sweatshirt emblazoned with an N wanted to rent it. The farmer said $200 a month and the kid agreed. A few days later, there was a satellite dish on the roof. Kids gotta have entertainment the farmer thought.
      A week later there were two dishes though and the farmer was curious so he asked the boy about it.
      " I rented the downstairs to a KU grad", he replied.

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    2. Either fix that split board or install a toilet seat. If not, your arse WILL get pinched, and not in a good way.
      Been there.

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    3. There are still plenty of dry cabins in my area with outhouses, I have one at my cabin.

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  14. #8 I received one as a graduation present from high school. Still have it ,still works . On the night stand next to my bed.Has nine volt battery back up.. made in new jersey..

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  15. All the above. Dittos on the iodine comments. We never used electric knife though. I still prefer the percolator as it help infuse coffee grounds into the finished product for long lasting effect. I had one going 24 hours on the diesel stove

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    Replies
    1. The best code I ever had was from one of those percolators.

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  16. I looked at all these pictures and now I'm going back to bed.

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  17. Still have the coffee percolator and the toy horse. Percolator comes in handy during hurricanes. Both my kid’s favorite toy was the horse even though it was my toy as a toddler, So it was dated then. My daughter named it “Lulu” and grieved for two weeks when we put that thing in the attic because she was too big to ride it.

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  18. #7
    My dad is 84 and still uses the same razor I saw him shave with 55 years ago..................

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  19. That's a big ass console stereo. These days that McDonalds ashtray (if they still had them) would probably be the healthiest thing in the building. The harvest gold Western Electric wall phone, at least ours was touch tone. Still have that exact electric carving knife. It gets used for the Thanksgiving turkey, the Easter ham,, and maybe a couple of other times a year. The spring loaded hobby horse, with pinch points at all four corners. And the credit card imprinter, still used these (rarely) for hand entered cards in the early 90's if the computer system was down at the store I worked in.

    That GE clock radio almost doesn't make the cut, it's so new by comparison to the other items in the list (1984ish)

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  20. We had most of those though my folk's coffee pot had three parts. The pot, a container for the grounds, and a top container where boiling water was poured in. Still some of the best coffee ever. We had indoor plumbing but we also had an outhouse that got used when it was too far to go to the house. Flies, wasps and other assorted creatures inhabited that in the summer time and in the winter it seldom got used because putting your backside on cold wood wasn't real popular. Still have a clock radio and Mom's stereo that looks much like the one shown.

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  21. Seen all of them, used most of them. Still used #7 until I decided to grow my beard out about two years ago.

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  22. Still use seven and eight, and have
    Used all.

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  23. #1 I was still perking coffee up to about fifteen years ago. Then I discovered the French Press. I really like it. I grind the beans in a burr grinder. Makes a great cuppa Joe. I like it black no sugar. I've had people take a sip and say, Whoa, that's cowboy coffee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used a French Press from the time I was in the army until just a few years ago. It makes a great cup of coffee.

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    2. Cowboy Coffee? If you want real Cowboy Coffee you get an old enamel wear coffee pot, put eggshells, a handful of coffee grounds, and a horseshoe in the pot and fill with water. Put it on the fire, and when the horseshoe floats, it's ready.

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    3. My battle buddy uses a French press, which is fine because we are French (Cajun). I enjoy the quality but my Cuban wife has me use to quantity

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  24. Uchuck the TuchuckApril 18, 2025 at 7:55 AM

    We boiled out cuts with hydrogen peroxide, or, if we were working at the meat store that day, rubbed cure salt (flake salt, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, dextrose, and sugar) into a cut. Fold up a paper towel and strap it down with duck tape and you had a fairly waterproof wound dressing that would NOT get infected.

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  25. I still use my safety razor and still use that alarm clock.

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  26. I have the updated #4 in my living room now: Came with 8-track player.

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  27. I woke this morning feeling pretty good, kinda like a young man, then I saw these and remembered and used most of not all of them... Suddenly I feel tired and need a nap..
    JD

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  28. I use a peculator every weekend. And safety razor to shave my bald head. Also that is the exact alarm clock next to my bed, HAHAHA and use a few other things on list. I am 62 Been thinkin bout diggin out the electric carving knife ;)

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  29. I had that rocking horse. Well, one like just like it.

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  30. #9) Electric knives are great for filleting a mess of crappie in no time.

    - Red Alert!

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  31. I don't shave often (wear a beard) but when I clean up my cheeks and neck, I use a safety razor. A Merkur razor, and a box of 100 blades will last me the rest of my life. $50 or so.

    Take that, you plastic razor pussys!

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    Replies
    1. Meh. Never quite got the hang of those newfangled things.

      Great-grandpa bought a good fancy-steel straight razor way back when. It's still good, though I did go out and buy a spare for something like 30 € the other decade just in case.

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    2. Think about it. Only one blade of those multiblades is cutting the hair.
      The others are redundant.

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  32. I've still got #2 & #8. #7 Those are now sold as "vintage" razors. The blades are much cheaper than the disposable multi-blade heads. My son in law uses one.
    Stonyground.

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  33. OLD is not the proper descriptive word. EXPERIENCED is far more appropriate.

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  34. I just left the rodeo on springs when we moved house a few months ago. Was saving it for grandchildren that never happened 😢

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  35. Back in the 70’s, my mom’s cousin and my mom would alternate inviting the other family over for Thanksgiving. My mom’s cousin had an electric carving knife just like #9. Even as a kid, I got the job of carving the turkey though. I personally liked my mom’s thin blade, flexible, carving knife, which I kept sharp enough to shave a patch on my forearm, over the electric carving knife. With the manual carving knife, I am able to carve the turkey and put the meat back on the frame. With the electric knife, it is nearly impossible to get the precision to do so.

    I recognized all of those except the clothes pin bag. My parents always had a clothes dryer. And we were merthiolate users.

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    Replies
    1. About 60 years ago, #13 launched my sister across the room and head first into the trash can. We guffaw about to this day.

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    2. I have a clock radio similar to #8. Mine is a Sanyo that was bought new and it has been in continuous use since 1983.

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  36. Can It Be? I still have about half of those ! It's just So Strange being the same age as old people.

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  37. So how did you enter a zero?

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    Replies
    1. I was wondering that too, so I looked it up on the interwebs. Zero is 10 times on the hang-up buttons.

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  38. My outlaws console stereo is 7 feet from me right now. Gonna fix er up once I get a round TOIT.

    Spin

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  39. #7 - need to have a pic of the razor sharpener that you dropped the blade into, then rotated the handle both clockwise and counterclockwise. It let you use the blade several times before you had to buy another one.

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  40. All familiar.

    80 years old today.

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  41. We still make coffee at the ranch in a percolator...

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  42. Mercurochrome is good stuff, it's still sold here.

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  43. #4. Our rural neighbor lady was downsizing and begged me to take her "record player that works perfect". I showed up and it was this cabinet son-of-a-bitch. Still sits in one of my sheds with mouse shit on it.

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  44. #3 Peroxide
    #9 (elec. knife) hated
    #10 (sifter) never seen one painted
    #13 Toddler me was afraid of it so they removed the springs
    #14 First use, pre-school age "Did you flush?" went back, searched, and came out almost in tears "I can't find it"... they laughed. (I left home at 17)
    #15 Our state Driver's license had "credit card" raised lettering. Cops had these for "imprinting" your info to paper. Our hunting/ fishing licenses were also "imprinted" with our DL info with the same machine.

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  45. Had or used all of them. Dad worked for the gas company and brought home Mercurochrome in tiny crushable ampules with a cotton end for application. Pain applicator for sure.

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    Replies
    1. My dad (now 87) worked for Ma Bell and had similar ampules that I think only got used for bee stings.

      My old alarm clock/radio that I got around 1988 when I was in high school finally died last year. I couldn't find a new one with a radio in any of the local stores.

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  46. #1 I still use a similar 5 cup percolator to make coffee. Mine was manufactured by SEARS.

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  47. I still have a clock radio a lot like that one on my nightstand. Wakes me up every morning for work (rat bastard).

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  48. dang man!
    looks like you grew up in My home!
    I’m sure I’d remember you though.
    🤔

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  49. The electric knives are great for slicing loaves of homemade bread fresh from the oven. I recently got one at a thrift store to replace the one that broke when my wife accidentally dropped it.

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  50. That was fun, Kenny...tears of joy!

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  51. I know what they all are and have used them.

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  52. I'm ancient enuff to know 'em all! Still use my Gillette, too. Actually met the Wolfman at his joint in Kissimmee one Saturday with my goilfriend back around '89-'90. Way cool!

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  53. #14. Went to the Indy 500 for a few years and the party the night before the race was on the street on the West side of the track. But, there was nowhere to piss except for a row of bushes that the cops would run you out of. Someone had an outhouse in their side yard and even put a light in it. Was a little bit hidden but if you knew where it was you could drink beer to your hearts content.

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  54. 1: Threw out a giant percolator a few years back. It belonged to my grandparents and the knowledge of how to use it died with them. It was huge and required a huge coffee filter, and I remember people gushing about how good the coffee that came out of it was. I've had a Keurig since 2013 so my coffee is always 30 seconds fresh now.
    4: My grandparents had one of these too. They just used it as a piece of furniture.
    6: My dad worked for the phone company. We had lots of phones. I actually still have a box of wire that he borrowed from them in the 70s.
    8: I still have one of these. I think my grandmother bought it for me when I was about 10, in the early 80s. It works and I see no need to replace it.
    9: I remember my dad had a hatred of electric knives, but he also liked using one to cut foam to fit into upholstery. Haven't thought about that in years.
    15: My latest replacement credit card can't even make an impression, which makes sense because I don't think anybody has a machine that would even work without the chip now.

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  55. Recognize all and used most in my lifetime, had the radio and still have & use the electric knife.

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