Do you ever feel like everything has changed too much around you? The gadgets you used to use are gone, and kids are using slang terms you've never heard of! What is a "fleek?" I'll never know.
Sometimes it can get overwhelming, but you can always take comfort in knowing that if the internet was to cease existence, we will know how to go to a library and look things up!
These items are something you would recognize in a heartbeat, but ask anyone under the age of 30 what they are and you're guaranteed to get blank stares.
1. Pager
Pagers were THE thing to have if you were a businessperson. It would receive your voice messages and essentially was the original form of texting. Crazy, right? People could communicate through talking not texting!
2. Cassette Tapes
My niece recently asked me what a mixtape is. That's how I knew I was old. Remember rewinding these with a pencil? Or being devastated when the tape would get caught in the cassette player? Those were real struggles.
3. VHS Tapes
I was at a thrift store the other day and there was a VCR with a bunch of VHS tapes with a "vintage" sign on them. VINTAGE. Kids today will never know how horrific it was to accidentally tape over one of your favorite shows with another one of your favorite shows. Plus, waiting five minutes to rewind the entire movie felt like an eternity.
4. Skate Keys
Before people sat at home watching Netflix all day, we actually went and did things with our friends. One of those things was heading to the roller rink, and you were pretty out of luck unless you had some tricks up your sleeve. How else were you going to tighten those skates?
5. Camera Flashes
To actually own a camera was pretty cool, and to have one with a decent flash was exceptional. The flash was elaborate, just like the rest of the gadget, and you definitely couldn't fit this in your pocket!
6. Floppy Disk
When I was in grade school, one of our school supplies requirements was a floppy disk! We had to save assignments on it and if we forgot one, it cost 10 cents to buy one from the teacher. You couldn't even find a slot for one today if you wanted to.
7. Film Canisters
There used to be a time that you had to actually frame and ration your pictures. You couldn't snap 1,000 shots of the same thing and pick the best ones. You had on average 24 pictures per roll of film, and if you open the back where the film is held? Well, I hope you didn't want to see those pictures.
8. Church Keys
I remember getting cans of apple juice and having to use one of these to open them! You'd poke a big hole on one side and then a smaller one on the other to let it flow a little better. It's hard to imagine that we had to use these on pop cans, but we did!
9. Record Adapters
Kids today definitely know what records are, as they're making a bit of a comeback. But the record adapters are pretty much nowhere to be found. If you wanted to play a seven-inch single record, you needed one of these so it would fit with your record player.
10. Library Card Catalogs
This was the original system we had to use before computers were around in order to find a book at the library. Send a kid in today to try and use one and they'd be lost for hours! I do think the computer is a better system, but it's always good to know the old fashioned way of doing things.
11. Credit Card Imprinter
Credit cards weren't as common as they are now, mainly because each transaction required calling your bank to complete it. Or if you were unlucky, the cashier would flip through a big book of "bad" credit card numbers. In both cases, an impression of your card was taken. It wasn't a quick or easy process.
12. Typewriter Eraser
You needed a tough eraser for tough typewriter paper, and this did the trick! The brush was to get rid of any little rubber bits left behind, because the last thing you needed was a jam in the machine.
13. Green Stamps
Green stamps were essentially a points program, but instead of being exclusive to one store it was multiple. Any store that said "we distribute Green Stamps" was guaranteed to have good business. You could save up the stamps to buy yourself things, though it did take quite a few.
14. Milk Chute
Now it's probably a safety hazard because kids would get locked in it, but the milk chute was a necessary addition to any house. Milkmen would put your order in the chute to keep it safe while you were out. Obviously there are no milk men anymore, but these chutes can still be seen in older houses!
15. Tube Testers
When your vacuum tubes were on the fritz, you'd bring them to one of these machines and test which ones were broken. They're what made old TVs work, so it was kind of a big deal!
