What were times like when you were 18?

[jp the roadgeek]

November, 1993:

The conversion of CT 291 to I-291 was well underway.  CT 9's completion to I-84 was a novelty

PC's and Mac's were not compatible.  I had a PC at home, school only had Macs.  Any homework required going to a computer lab, as laptops hardly existed.

The CD was just about to take over cassettes as the preferred musical medium, but computers did not have CD burners yet.  VHS was still the dominant method of watching movies.  The short lived LaserDisc fad was a year or two away.  No such thing as streaming music or videos; you wanted a song, you either bought the tape or CD, or waited for it to come up on the radio and record it.

Had my Compaq 8088 with a 4 inch green screen and double 5 1/4" floppy drives.  Had a separate 4 color monitor and a 2400 baud dial-up modem to call BBS's.  The internet was still a concept known as the World Wide Web, and email was only available for work and through school (was known as QuickMail in my circles).   Also had to call 900 numbers if you wanted some information.

Payphones had just gone from 10 cents for a local call to 25 cents.  Long distance cost more the longer the distance a call (often $1.50 for 3 minutes).  Collect calls were still common if you didn't have the $$.  Only had to dial 7 digits for local calls.

Cable was only 36 channels (went to 60 or so the next year).  Watching Friday night Cinemax was the preferred method of accessing adult entertainment unless you ventured to a newsstand to buy a magazine.  Reading a physical newspaper was still common, and unless you caught the late scores on TV or the radio in the morning, you were out of the loop.

MLB had just expanded to 28 teams.  Expos were still in Montreal  NFL also had 28; Rams and Raiders were in LA (Rams for the first time), and the original Browns were still in Cleveland, with some guy named Belichick coaching them.  NBA also had 28.  NHL had 26; Whalers, Nordiques, and the original Winnipeg Jets still existed.  Only 9 MLB stadiums, 8 NFL stadiums, 6 NBA arenas, and 4 NHL arenas that are in use today were in use then.

Restaurants still had smoking sections.  Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.  Security patdowns were only performed if you tripped a metal detector.  EZ Pass usage was the exception rather than the norm.  Most cars still had cassette players as standard equipment.  "Car" phones were a novelty (pagers were common), and features such as twilight sentinel headlights were rather new. 

Music:  Meatloaf's I'd do Anything for Love (but I Won't do That) was at the top of the charts.  Rudy had just been released in theaters and Mrs. Doubtfire would be released later in the month.  CNN was the only cable news source (and still trusted).  OJ was still a beloved figure.       

[bandit957]

Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.

They need to bring this back. I don't see what problems this creates.

[kphoger]

People chewed bubble gum a lot more back then.

This is true!  Heck, remember gum commercials on TV?  You never went a day without seeing one.

So you called someone, some people had answering machines, and some did not. Knowing that nobody really hung around their phone for very long, you went about your business.

I miss that.  People expecting me to be immediately available all the time is annoying.

Usually, we subscribed to magazines and stuff. Or picked up books in the library if you wanted to know more about something. It sounds obvious, but you had to take that a bit for granted. Now you can say "I need to know about this now...and go do it." Back then, you physically searched for it, and sometimes you still had to do more research.

I was going to post something about going to the library to find information, so I'm glad you did.

[Henry]

The year was 1988. Among the things I remember from then:

I was a high school senior in Chicago, ready to make the big move to CA, as I was to go to college at UCLA. Originally, I intended for the move to be only for four years, but I ended up staying longer, as I met my future wife on campus (she's from San Diego, and had absolutely no desire to live in colder Chicago). My high-school graduation gift was a new Calais (no Cutlass).

The Dodgers won the World Series, although the Cubs also stuck around in the pennant race before ultimately fizzling out in the end. The Lakers also won the NBA Finals that same year, so Los Angeles had the distinction of having two championships in '88.

What would become I-88 west of Chicago was signed as IL 5. The NMSL was still in place, but modified to allow 65 MPH on rural Interstates.

George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis in the election to become the 41st President of the United States. Prior to that, Bush had served as Vice-President under Ronald Reagan since 1980; Dan Quayle assumed that role when Bush became President.

Cassettes replaced vinyl as the preferred music choice, although CD's were also beginning to rise in popularity. Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston dominated the charts, may they both rest in peace.

GM's new W-body cars debuted in coupe form, with the Regal, Cutlass Supreme and Grand Prix being first, and the Lumina joining them the next year (the Lumina was the first W-body sedan, with the other three also using that body style by 1990-91). However, the G-bodies were also available at the same time, with the Monte Carlo and Cutlass Supreme Classic being the only offerings.

We still had the Big Three TV networks (NBC, CBS and ABC), although Fox was just starting out. IMHO, they didn't become the Big Four until 1994, when Fox aired the NFL for the first time.

Rain Man and Cocktail were the two films I remember most, and they both starred Tom Cruise.

[1995hoo]

If you wanted to know the ongoing score of a game on TV, you had to sit patiently until some team/player scored, or a team took a time out, or the inning/quarter/half/period ended and then you knew who was winning...

They didn't show the score at the bottom of the screen?

Look at and old game on YouTube from the early-1990s or before.

I could be wrong about this, but it didn't seem commonplace until 1995 or so. Certainly no superimposed first down line across the field!

Was the tech not advanced enough?

The "Fox Box" was introduced to the US in 1994 when they first won the broadcast rights to NFC games.

FOX started doing it after it was used during the World Cup that summer when it was held in the USA. The score boxes, often with sponsors' logos, were common elsewhere in the world because the clock doesn't stop in soccer, but US broadcasters were wringing their hands about not having commercial breaks during the World Cup and at one point they were pushing to split games into four 22.5-minute quarters. FIFA declined, the score boxes were used, and FOX picked up on the idea for their football broadcasts.

Back then the "FOX Box" was much simpler than today and just showed the score, quarter, and time remaining. If I recall correctly, NBC held out the longest of the four broadcast networks because they feared allowing instant display of the score would cause people to change the channel more quickly instead of watching for a while. (Really, what's the first thing most people say when a game is on? "What's the score," right?)

The first-down line is a legacy of the "FoxTrax" glowing puck from when said network aired NHL games in the late 1990s. It's basically similar technology. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.

They need to bring this back. I don't see what problems this creates.

Certainly wouldn't help with the speed of modern security screenings....not mention more people generally equates to higher risk factors that airports aren't willing to take.  Back in those days you just passed through a quick metal detector and that was really it.  Really at the end of the day is it necessary to clog up gates with family members waiting for people to get off a plane?  I remember my parents would do stuff like that when it would be infinitely faster for me to walk through the terminal to the baggage area.  Eventually my Dad figured that out and would just wait a predesignated baggage claim since he got tired of walking to the gate.  Incidentally do airlines actually let younger kids still travel alone these days?  I seem to recall doing it as early as 11-12ish?

[jeffandnicole]

It is incredible to think that the 'basic' info of the score and clock weren't on the screen at all times until relatively recently.

And when they did show the time, it was actually an exclusive camera facing the timeclock, which they would crop and show on occasion, usually in the bottom right of the screen.  Today, the network's graphic department connects directly into the timeclock used in the stadium, and the network can use its own font and display to show the time. 

Occasionally though, if you look carefully, you'll notice the timeclock is different for a short period of time on the screen.  That's due to that connection I just mentioned not working, and they go old-school, showing the clock via a fixed camera.  Since most displays in stadiums are LEDs now, the camera shot often times looks very clear and similar to the network's graphics.  A small sign they went old-school though - the clock will shake slightly due to the camera shaking in a loud, boisterous stadium, or a windy day.

They do keep modifying these graphics each year.  Showing the entire 40 second clock in football is fairly new (they had shown it when only 5 seconds were left).  In baseball, the pitch count is more important than ever in many people's minds, so you're seeing that quite often now.

Since today's TVs are lightyears clearer than the old tube TVs, they can put a lot more info in a smaller area.  Doesn't help if your eyesight isn't great though!

[jeffandnicole]

I remember back in 1996 when the Baseball All-Star game was in Philly. I was a volunteer at the airport greeting people.  We had the run of the place helping out there.  We even asked if we had to go thru the security screening every time we went into the terminal.  They considered it but told us even pilots had to be screened, so we had to wait in what was probably a 30 second line to walk thru the metal detector.  Wouldn't even dare ask that question today!!

Totally different now.  I could've volunteered at the airport during the recent Democratic National Convention, but volunteered as a driver instead.  I did get to go thru the taxi line at the airport, so that in itself was a little different.

Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.

They need to bring this back. I don't see what problems this creates.

Certainly wouldn't help with the speed of modern security screenings....not mention more people generally equates to higher risk factors that airports aren't willing to take.  Back in those days you just passed through a quick metal detector and that was really it.  Really at the end of the day is it necessary to clog up gates with family members waiting for people to get off a plane?  I remember my parents would do stuff like that when it would be infinitely faster for me to walk through the terminal to the baggage area.  Eventually my Dad figured that out and would just wait a predesignated baggage claim since he got tired of walking to the gate.

Families can request gate passes at the check-in counter and they'll provide them to allow you to go thru security and be with your family member until they board the plane.

When arriving at the airport, with cell phones, it's way easier now to meet up outside.  Back in the day I would park and go up to an area usually just outside security, or in the baggage pickup area, when picking up my parents.  Of course, they made it a point to be as slow as possible going thru the terminal. 

Incidentally do airlines actually let younger kids still travel alone these days?  I seem to recall doing it as early as 11-12ish?

Yes, but there's a fee for doing so. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

July 2008. I pretty much blot it out because 17-20 were the most miserable years of my life.

[formulanone]

Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.

They need to bring this back. I don't see what problems this creates.

Spoiler Alert: Bad people hid razor blades in chewing gum, and the rest is history.

Also: Some smaller-sized airports allow this for minors/elderly/disabled on a case-by-case basis (but still have to go through a checkpoint). Other airlines/airports sell this as a "service" by which usually some third-party representative aids things.

Usually, we subscribed to magazines and stuff. Or picked up books in the library if you wanted to know more about something. It sounds obvious, but you had to take that a bit for granted. Now you can say "I need to know about this now...and go do it." Back then, you physically searched for it, and sometimes you still had to do more research.

I was going to post something about going to the library to find information, so I'm glad you did.

Fast forward to the mid/later-1990s, and web searching was a bit of a lottery on obscure stuff. You might juggle Yahoo, Altavista, Lycos, et al; and get different results.

(With the exception of in-depth research, does anyone go past the first page of Google results anymore?)

[jeffandnicole]

Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.

They need to bring this back. I don't see what problems this creates.

Spoiler Alert: Bad people hid razor blades in chewing gum, and the rest is history.

Also: Some smaller-sized airports allow this for minors/elderly/disabled on a case-by-case basis (but still have to go through a checkpoint).

PHL allows this, so it's just not smaller-sized airports.

[thenetwork]

- My VCR's remote was on a "leash".
- Gas was hovering around $1.00 a gallon.
- ATM's were becoming a common thing.  Finding an ATM that accepted your bank's card system was a different story.
- There were "coinless" Charge-A-Call phones -- you needed a credit card in order to make & pay for a call.
- "The Simpsons" was not yet invented, but "The People's Court" was.
- Minimum wage was around $3.45/hr.
- Major missing freeway links were still not completed in Detroit (I-696) and Cleveland (I-480, I-490 and SR-176)


-- Now get off my lawn!!!

[kphoger]

Incidentally do airlines actually let younger kids still travel alone these days?  I seem to recall doing it as early as 11-12ish?

Yes.  My daughter flew as an unaccompanied minor back in 2007 or 2008, so she would have been about eight years old at the time.  I think I can even narrow it down to Christmas 2007, so her 8th birthday wouldn't even have come yet.  Anyway, you have to fill out paperwork, stating exactly who will be picking the child up at the other end, the child has to have legal photo ID, and the child also gets a special badge and an escort onto the plane.  I actually screwed it up for my daughter back then.

My daughter is legally the child of her mother and step-father, and she was flying back home from Wichita (where my wife and I live) to Chicago (where they live).  When the three of us got to the airport, we saw that the plane was running late, so we stayed down in the waiting area playing dots and boxes until closer to the new updated departure time.  When that time was drawing near, the two of us got up, went through security, and walked down the hall to the gate.  Well, apparently, the plane was no longer running late.  Literally everyone else was already on board, and the plane was about to pull away.  I gave her a quick hug goodbye, and the staff rushed her onto the plane.  Unbeknownst to me at time, in the frenzy, the staff had left her paperwork at the gate.  So I got a call a few hours later from her mother, saying the airline was refusing to release her daughter to her at O'Hare.  Talk about a mother panicking!  Fortunately, I immediately figured out what must have happened, the one airport called the other, and it ended up being OK.

[formulanone]

Incidentally do airlines actually let younger kids still travel alone these days?  I seem to recall doing it as early as 11-12ish?

Yes.  My daughter flew as an unaccompanied minor back in 2007 or 2008, so she would have been about eight years old at the time.

I think some of the regional carriers do not let unaccompanied minors under the age of 8-10 on board. The mainlines are actually slightly less strict about it (must be a liability thing).

Despite the traveler's worst fears, I've noticed they tend to behave themselves quite well on flights...probably because they can have anything they want at the push of a button, short of alcoholic beverages.

Back in 1982, my brother and I flew without our parents on Eastern Airlines, and we had to wear orange buttons. Knowing how badly airline employees can kludge things due to a wide-range travel disturbance...I don't think I'd let my 10 & 6 year-olds fly alone, short of a made-for-TV-movie emergency. They've flown enough to know what they're doing, especially my daughter, who's fascinated with the whole process.

[kphoger]

I don't think I'd let my 10 & 6 year-olds fly alone, short of a made-for-TV-movie emergency. They've flown enough to know what they're doing, especially my daughter, who's fascinated with the whole process.

What about Amtrak?  Children over 12 can travel unaccompanied on Amtrak (with the proper paperwork) as long as both stations are staffed, there is no transfer required, and it's not an overnight train.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

Well, as it stands, I am 18 and I -49 isn't yet complete and I-57 is still 3/4 of a 'pie in the sky'. Maybe in 40 years I can finally say that Fort Smith and Texarkana got connected.

[kphoger]

I am 18

Which makes me ask:  What are times like now?

[formulanone]

I don't think I'd let my 10 & 6 year-olds fly alone, short of a made-for-TV-movie emergency. They've flown enough to know what they're doing, especially my daughter, who's fascinated with the whole process.

What about Amtrak?  Children over 12 can travel unaccompanied on Amtrak (with the proper paperwork) as long as both stations are staffed, there is no transfer required, and it's not an overnight train.

We don't have Amtrak in northern Alabama.

I looked up unaccompanied minor info again, and it looks like some airlines only allow the service for direct flights (to or from a hub) and some allow a connection by the carrier. They all charge a fee of around $150 (for each way). Similarly, they don't permit red-eye flights, nor the last flight in/out to a destination.

[kkt]

Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.

They need to bring this back. I don't see what problems this creates.

It takes time to screen people.  The line for security checking is usually the longest line people face checking in.  Now imagine that half the people flying would have someone seeing them to the gate, and another person meeting them at the gate when they arrive:  the line for security checking would double.  TSA would need more security people, and the line would also take longer for everybody.  Also, with ticketed passengers, TSA gets a look at the passenger list and can clear some of them for precheck; that can't happen for nonticketed persons.

I remember back in 1996 when the Baseball All-Star game was in Philly. I was a volunteer at the airport greeting people.  We had the run of the place helping out there.  We even asked if we had to go thru the security screening every time we went into the terminal.  They considered it but told us even pilots had to be screened, so we had to wait in what was probably a 30 second line to walk thru the metal detector.  Wouldn't even dare ask that question today!!

Totally different now.  I could've volunteered at the airport during the recent Democratic National Convention, but volunteered as a driver instead.  I did get to go thru the taxi line at the airport, so that in itself was a little different.

Non-passengers could walk with passengers to the gate in an airport without a ticket.

They need to bring this back. I don't see what problems this creates.

Certainly wouldn't help with the speed of modern security screenings....not mention more people generally equates to higher risk factors that airports aren't willing to take.  Back in those days you just passed through a quick metal detector and that was really it.  Really at the end of the day is it necessary to clog up gates with family members waiting for people to get off a plane?  I remember my parents would do stuff like that when it would be infinitely faster for me to walk through the terminal to the baggage area.  Eventually my Dad figured that out and would just wait a predesignated baggage claim since he got tired of walking to the gate.

Families can request gate passes at the check-in counter and they'll provide them to allow you to go thru security and be with your family member until they board the plane.

When arriving at the airport, with cell phones, it's way easier now to meet up outside.  Back in the day I would park and go up to an area usually just outside security, or in the baggage pickup area, when picking up my parents.  Of course, they made it a point to be as slow as possible going thru the terminal. 

Incidentally do airlines actually let younger kids still travel alone these days?  I seem to recall doing it as early as 11-12ish?

Yes, but there's a fee for doing so. 

Minors flying unaccompanied under 13 must be signed into the custody of an airline employee, then to a flight attendant, then to a person on a short list at the destination or another airline employee, hence the extra charge.  Minors flying unaccompanied ages 13 and up CAN use that service and get charged the fee, but their parents/ticketbuyers can waive it if they think the kid can handle it.  That's for Alaska Airlines, there's some variation between airlines, and depending whether there's a change of planes, whether it's a redeye flight, or international.

Airlines now discourage gate passes unless there's some special reason - passenger who's a minor but not using the unaccompanied minor escort service, limited mobility, etc.

[GaryV]

1975.

College registration was done by computer, sort of.  You were given an assigned time to show up, based on your class standing (seniors first, etc.)  You went down the line of tables for each department, and asked for a 80-char card for your class.  When all the cards in the box were gone, the class was full.  You put your identifying punch card on the top of the deck, and later they read them in and printed out your schedule.

When gas prices shot up over $1.00 a gallon, the pumps couldn't handle it.  They could only go as high as 99.9 cents.  So someone figured out that they could switch it to liter measuring, and they had to show the equivalent gallon price on a placard on the pump.

What's an internet?  What's a home computer?  Telephones sat on a desk or hung on the wall.  All "stereos" had turntables, some had tape players.

[Beltway]

1972

January 5 — U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.
March 2 — The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made satellite to leave the solar system.
May 15 - Okinawa is returned to Japan after 27 years of United States Military occupation.
June 14—23 — Hurricane Agnes kills 117 on the U.S. East Coast.
November 14 — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.
December 14 — Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th Century.
December 19 — Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.