Old ideas

[Enzo]

Looking at stuff...

Same year I was born, so were:

the transistor

the microwave

the atomic time clock

the LP record

the Frisbee

the Air Force (as a separate branch of military)

and last but certainly not least:
SILLY PUTTY


CHuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in the X1.

[Jazz P Bass]

How about the Slinky?

[Enzo]

Oh, we had Slinkys, I used to send them down the staircase until my mother yelled at me. They were a HUGE deal in the 1950s. But the Slinky is a few years older than I am.

[Mick Bailey]

Do modern kids 'get' the Slinky? If it came out today I don't think they'd sell too many. At least not as many as when they came out. Like Hank Marvin.

[Enzo]

They still make and sell them, but of course they are not new and won't be a fad.

Kids are jaded today, simple toys like slinky, yoyos, spinning tops don't excite them. And why would they? For cheap, you can buy them toys that learn their name and talk to them. I was at a buffet this afternoon, and a family walked by the table. Mom was fiddling with her smart phone, one of the three kids was fiddling with a smart phone, and dad was thumbimg something along on his. Any of those devices will entertain more than a slinky. On the other hand, for the love of god, can't you set the eye toys down long enough to EAT?

[Mick Bailey]

My wife and I were sitting at a table in a crowded cafe last year in Skiathos, a Greek island. We made room on our table for a family of four. They sat down, pulled out their tablets and phones and sat there, each in isolation. My wife and I chatted away, but the family never said a word. They could barely spare the attention to order. The teenage lad had a face so sullen he could turn milk into yoghurt, just by looking at it. We had two rounds of coffee and snacks, and theirs went cold. We left them to it - said goodbye but no-one looked up.

[J M Fahey]

You made me think about it, so I checked 1952 .... WOW !!!!!!
A few pearls:

Kent sold cigarettes with an asbestos filter claiming it was healthier than regular smoking, until 1957.

"The Great Smog" of London, UK was a severe air pollution event that lasted 5 days and killed an estimated 12,000 people in December of 1952. It led to Parliament passing the first Clean Air Act in 1956.

On March 21, the first rock and roll concert, The Moondog Coronation Ball of 1952, also became the first rock and roll concert to be shut down by authorities

When Sammy Davis Jr. took a swim in the pool at the New Frontier hotel & casino in Las Vegas, they drained the pool when he was done.

Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver recieved the first patents for optical bar codes on October 7.

The British Hypnotism Act prevents the broadcasting of hypnosis procedures due to the risk that people watching the broadcast are hypnotised and cannot be brought back.

George Reeves, the actor who played Superman (Adventures of Superman 1952-1958) was cautious about his young fans after a boy pulled a pistol on him to test Superman's invulnerability. Reeves convinced the boy to give him the gun by telling him that someone else could be hurt when the bullets bounced off.

On May 2, the first commercial passenger jet flew from London to Johanesburg, inaugurating the age of jet travel. The trip carried 32 passengers and stopped 5 times en route.

Mr. Potato Head (You had to supply your own poatato, plastic bodies were included starting 1964. Mr PH was also the first toy advertised on American TV) , Slinky Dog, PEZ candy dispensers

Les Paul started selling his classic electric guitar. (well, actually Gibson did)

and so on and on

[Dave H]

They sat down, pulled out their tablets and phones and sat there, each in isolation.

Sad isn't it? I've seen groups of people "socialising" in the pub like that.

[Enzo]

We have local Michigan State Univ here, so we see lots of college age people. And I often see groups sit at a table in restaurants doing exactly that. They might as well have stayed home. Four people sitting insilence poking at a little screen.

SOme time ago, I went into a family restaurant chain place. A waitress I'd never met, came to my table, and sat in a chair across from me. (In some places they do that like they are your friend). I noticed as I was ordering, she was looking down past the table edge into her lap. She was texting. Really? You JUST met me, and you are already taking me for granted?

[52 Bill]

Do modern kids 'get' the Slinky? If it came out today I don't think they'd sell too many. At least not as many as when they came out. Like Hank Marvin.

Are we talking about the same thing here?

[Leo_Gnardo]

A waitress I'd never met, came to my table, and sat in a chair across from me. (In some places they do that like they are your friend). I noticed as I was ordering, she was looking down past the table edge into her lap. She was texting. Really? You JUST met me, and you are already taking me for granted?

If she was texting her friends instead of taking your order I'd say "you're fired." OTOH she may have been sending your order to the cooks, it's the modern way of getting everything done. At the local music pub I sometimes attend, it takes forever to get waited on, every order must be documented in detail. Long gone are the days when the bartender poured you a beer then put a buck in the register and a quarter in the tip jar, quick & efficient. Food orders have to be typed into terminals then read by cooks standing not 20 feet away. No shouting over the service bar "burger & fries, burn'em!" I swear they could serve 3x as much if they did away with the blasted digital terminals. Maybe even, make a profit! Perish the thought...

[Enzo]

No, she was socializing.

[Leo_Gnardo]

No, she was socializing.

You can vote with your feet and your wallet.

The look on their face when you up and walk out = priceless!

"NO TIP FOR YOU!"

I've done it. There's a couple places around here I just won't go to because of rotten service.

[nosaj]

They still make and sell them, but of course they are not new and won't be a fad.

Kids are jaded today, simple toys like slinky, yoyos, spinning tops don't excite them. And why would they? For cheap, you can buy them toys that learn their name and talk to them. I was at a buffet this afternoon, and a family walked by the table. Mom was fiddling with her smart phone, one of the three kids was fiddling with a smart phone, and dad was thumbimg something along on his. Any of those devices will entertain more than a slinky. On the other hand, for the love of god, can't you set the eye toys down long enough to EAT?

My grandson and i today built one of those cheap balsa wood planes built a kite and flew it around for a while rode the four wheeler cut grass. We even saw three deer we scared with the 4wheeler. This is the kind of things he shares at school and remebers and tells. We never hear of him talking about any of his video games later. He is 7yrs old and lives with us and my video game days are long behind me.
I plan on getting a young electronics experimenter kit as both grandsons love going in the shop when I hook a microphone
up to the oscilloscope.
nosaj

[rjb]

Are we talking about the same thing here?

I'm puzzled too. When did Hank Marvin "come out"?