Oh, the Memories

by Little Miss Attila on August 8, 2011

. . . that this brought back!

I am getting so old. Old and wicked.

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

tomg51 August 8, 2011 at 5:49 am

A good read. Thanks.

Leaving me wondering (once again) do we remember how to maintain nuclear weapons, build a spacecraft or simply do anything that is hard.

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Glenn Mark Cassel AMH1(AW) USN Ret. August 8, 2011 at 12:22 pm

And now I am an airplane mechanic!
I learned to type on a Smith Corona in 1969-1970.
Calculators were unheard of and spell check was by Webster’s!

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retriever August 8, 2011 at 5:07 pm

Memories….you said it! I would come back from a show or gallery opening and write a review in one draft on yellow paper on one of those horrible newsroom typewriters. A point of pride NEVER to cut and paste, tho I might cross out some…And then I’d proof the galleys of other people’s pieces down in the basement while Pat the press guy would tell us to get a move on. We’d put the paper to bed at 2 or 3 am if we were lucky.

But the worst was having to write term papers and a thesis on those old machines. My parents got me a Smith-Corona with a correcting cartridge you could plug in when you made a mistake (big deal back in the Dark Ages). But it was such a total pain doing re-writes and cutting and pasting. People would often do that, then pay a typist to type a final draft (I couldn’t afford to, tho I did spring for one for my senior thesis). I suspect that people might produce better work now when it is a less onerous process to edit and rewrite.

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Mike August 9, 2011 at 7:40 pm

Well, I’m a ‘two finger’ typist whether it’s a computer keyboard or a vintage Underwood typewriter, so I type equally slow what ever technology I use. I do remember developing film in the darkroom back in the day in a graphic arts class – Black ‘n White, though because our jr. high school couldn’t afford the color developing chemicals.

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