Things Ain't What They Used to Be.

[Port Said Red]

A bit of fun for those of us of a certain vintage. The things we took for granted you find yourself explaining to the youngsters of today.

These cold mornings had me thinking back to the days of "manual chokes" and the danger of "flooding it" when starting the car in the morning, I mentioned it to my neighbour who is in his mid twenties and of course he had no idea what I was on about. 

Some things are hard to explain because looking back they made no sense anyway. Circular dials on phones, which took an age to dial a number, and why, given that, was the emergency number 999 not 111?

Party line phones, we lived in number 10 and were on a party line with number 20, which meant having to wait to make calls because the phone was being used in another house! 

[southside]

23 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

A bit of fun for those of us of a certain vintage. The things we took for granted you find yourself explaining to the youngsters of today.

These cold mornings had me thinking back to the days of "manual chokes" and the danger of "flooding it" when starting the car in the morning, I mentioned it to my neighbour who is in his mid twenties and of course he had no idea what I was on about. 

Some things are hard to explain because looking back they made no sense anyway. Circular dials on phones, which took an age to dial a number, and why, given that, was the emergency number 999 not 111?

Party line phones, we lived in number 10 and were on a party line with number 20, which meant having to wait to make calls because the phone was being used in another house! 

Not too bad then if you were living in Downing Street

[Open End Numb Legs]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

[AppyDAZE]

Double de-clutching.

 

Today's motorist:

You what?

Edited December 13, 2022 by AppyDAZE

[Port Said Red]

5 minutes ago, AppyDAZE said:

Double de-clutching.

 

Today's motorist:

You what?

To be honest, that might be before my time too, but memory fades. Apart from the occasional trip out in my wife's car, I haven't driven a car with a clutch for 17 years.

[PHILINFRANCE]

1 hour ago, AppyDAZE said:

Double de-clutching.

 

Today's motorist:

You what?

Wasn’t that just for lorries?

[Red-Robbo]

Dad's Hillman Super-Imp still had a crank handle for difficult starts on cold mornings. 

[Port Said Red]

5 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

Dad's Hillman Super-Imp still had a crank handle for difficult starts on cold mornings. 

I am not sure that wasn't a legal requirement up to a certain age, we had one on one of our cars (Vauxhall?) but it didn't actually do anything.

[PHILINFRANCE]

2 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

A bit of fun for those of us of a certain vintage. The things we took for granted you find yourself explaining to the youngsters of today.

These cold mornings had me thinking back to the days of "manual chokes" and the danger of "flooding it" when starting the car in the morning, I mentioned it to my neighbour who is in his mid twenties and of course he had no idea what I was on about. 

Back in the early 1980s, I returned to the UK after several years working overseas, where I drove modern American or Japanese cars.

Upon starting with my new company, I was provided with a temporary company car whilst my permanent car was on order, a quite basic Ford Fiesta.

For weeks, I had horrendous problems trying to start it first thing in the morning, so much so that I resorted to parking on a hill close to where I lived in order to get a form of bump start.

The problem became so much that I took it to the company’s garage.

The mechanic checked the car over, declared he could find nothing wrong with it, but suggested to perhaps use a bit less choke in the morning to avoid flooding it.

I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, so asked him to show me.

You can imagine my embarrassment when he pulled out this little knob by the steering wheel, and suggested I only pull it out half way when starting the car in the morning.

I had often wondered what that little knob was, but had never used it!

[Super]

Always remember listening to the radio to find out if my School was shut 

[Red-Robbo]

7 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I am not sure that wasn't a legal requirement up to a certain age, we had one on one of our cars (Vauxhall?) but it didn't actually do anything.

 Possibly. I can't remember him ever having to use it.

 

[Red-Robbo]

5 minutes ago, Super said:

Always remember listening to the radio to find out if my School was shut 

 

Yes! 

Well remember, tuning into Invicta Radio when the door outside our house was blocked by a 12ft snow drift.

The cops made a statement: "Kent Police are aware it has been snowing...."

Nice one, Taggart! Not much got past them.  

[Port Said Red]

Rediffusion TV is another thing that sometimes takes a bit of explaining even to people of my generation. 

It was like an early form of cable TV, the tv itself was rented and we didn't get a colour one until the 1974 World Cup. Changing channels was done by a switch on the wall like this one.

You got both TV and BBC radio channels on each letter, and it was pretty random as to which letter corresponded to which channel and it would frequently change presumably on the whim of some technician at the other end. We also would get additional channels for no apparent reason, Midlands TV which would have programmes that weren't shown in the HTV area like, Jasper Carrot's folk/comedy show, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel and the local soccer show instead of The Big Match, so we could choose better games. They also dabbled with their own local channel which I sometimes felt I was the only one watching, especially when I wrote in and won a quiz three weeks running.  They used to show Bristol City Reserves highlights, but the camera's were so poor, you could often just see red blurs moving around the screen.  

Around the house we also had these radio receivers on which you could listen to the radio and the sound from which ever TV channel you had on. These even worked throughout the Power blackouts of the 1970's, so I discovered that for some shows like Dads Army or Steptoe and Son for example, you didn't really need pictures a lot of the time. My dad apparently paid a little extra for the radios, but one year when he went to renew his subscription, the staff said they didn't know there were any still in operation and had stopped charging for them years before, so they gave him a few quid back. They were quite handy if you wanted to nip out and make a drink during a BBC TV programme, as you could still follow it.

[BS2 Red]

1 hour ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

I had often wondered what that little knob was, but had never used it!

I know the feeling

[stephenkibby.]

1 hour ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Wasn’t that just for lorries?

My first car was a Ford Prefect and had to double de clutch when changing down, forth to third.

Something to do with no Synchro Mesh in the Gear Box.?

[PHILINFRANCE]

28 minutes ago, stephenkibby. said:

My first car was a Ford Prefect and had to double de clutch when changing down, forth to third.

Something to do with no Synchro Mesh in the Gear Box.?

Obviously before my time , although my late father had a Prefect back in the late 1960s - it was probably a later model, as I have no recollection of him having to do anything so complicated.

I first heard the term from a friend of mine in the late 1970s, when he passed his test to drive lorries and was explaining some of the differences.

[Northern Red]

My Mum had a Mini Metro and the choke on it wouldn't stay out when you pulled it, so she used to have a clothes peg to hold it in position.

[stephenkibby.]

7 minutes ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Obviously before my time , although my late father had a Prefect back in the late 1960s - it was probably a later model, as I have no recollection of him having to do anything so complicated.

I first heard the term from a friend of mine in the late 1970s, when he passed his test to drive lorries and was explaining some of the differences.

this was in 74, was an old banger cost me 50 quid. had 4 gears and modern indicators, i think most of them had 3 gears.

I must of had the top of the range model. 

[Midred]

2 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

Dad's Hillman Super-Imp still had a crank handle for difficult starts on cold mornings. 

It was a regular for my dad's Singer Gazell in the early 60s!

[Ronnie Sinclair]

My first car (a 1979 Ford Escort) had a manual choke, also had to be wedged to keep it out.  I also had an attachment on the keyring which was some heating device that would defrost the lock in winter (almost like a heated key).

Also car related, I remember my grandad was really into CB radio in the early 80s, he had the bendy aerial on the car, receiver in the glove box and a huge aerial in the garden

[PHILINFRANCE]

3 hours ago, stephenkibby. said:

this was in 74, was an old banger cost me 50 quid. had 4 gears and modern indicators, i think most of them had 3 gears.

I must of had the top of the range model. 

I can’t remember how many gears there were, but there were certainly four doors and proper indicators.

[exAtyeoMax]

7 hours ago, AppyDAZE said:

Double de-clutching.

 

Today's motorist:

You what?

my mum used to have to do that up Redcatch. I don't know what it means.

[exAtyeoMax]

5 hours ago, Super said:

Always remember listening to the radio to find out if my School was shut 

yes my first thought yesterday…tune into Radio Bristol…Wellsway School will be open today 

[italian dave]

7 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Wasn’t that just for lorries?

Noooo! Had to do it my first car, a Ford Anglia. Only to change down as I recall. No idea why.  Great car: £200, got me all round the country following City in Division 1!

[italian dave]

1 hour ago, exAtyeoMax said:

my mum used to have to do that up Redcatch. I don't know what it means.

That would make sense; you had to do it when changing down in low gears so Redcatch would be a perfect example.

As I recall it meant that you had to put the gears into neutral, then let the clutch up, then down again, into first gear, then release…..and hope you hadn’t gone backwards down the hill by then. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

Flip out indicators or, sticking your arm out the window for right and moving it in a circle for left.

[exAtyeoMax]

1 hour ago, italian dave said:

That would make sense; you had to do it when changing down in low gears so Redcatch would be a perfect example.

As I recall it meant that you had to put the gears into neutral, then let the clutch up, then down again, into first gear, then release…..and hope you hadn’t gone backwards down the hill by then. 

Thanks. Apparently my dad was really impressed that she could do it…

[Renaissance Williams]

11 hours ago, AppyDAZE said:

M.O.T.

1960's motorist:

You what?

We were lucky to survive!

[Open End Numb Legs]

1 hour ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Flip out indicators or, sticking your arm out the window for right and moving it in a circle for left.

My grandmother used to cycle everywhere back in the 60s. She knew she had to indicate with her arms before turning left or right, but she had no confidence holding the handle bars with just her left hand so when turning right she would indicate with her left arm across her chest, just the wrist and hand maybe in view of the drivers behind.....

[nebristolred]

Honestly I'd never heard of party line phones. Had no idea that was a thing.