I think it’s fair to say whenever your children/grandchildren hear the words, “When I was your age,” you can almost hear their eyes roll in anticipation of an impending upcoming lecture. Fact is, things are so different today than when we were kids, the pre-cellphone days, we just want to share things we ate, played with, wore, and did back in our day making for a pretty good life with far less.

Thinking of this, and many Voice from the Bullpen quizzes presented in this forum for those from our generation, the thought of coming up with one for our generation to give to our children and grandchildren sounded intriguing. So in lieu of the lecture, maybe this can help them understand what things were like in our day. Hopefully, they’ll find it somewhat interesting.Try asking the following questions to your children and grandchildren.

1. What’s Spam?

2. What’s Vienna Sausage?

3. What’s a test pattern?

4. What are bomb shelters?

5. What’s government cheese?

6. What were paper, metal, and rubber drives?

7. What were/are encyclopedias?

8. What’s a rotary phone?

9. Who’s Dick Tracy?

10. What’s a Chunky? Hint – edible treat

11. What’s a party line?

12. What were Green and Red Stamps?

13. What are Mallo Cup cards?

14. What’s Red Rover? Hint – game

15. What’s a skate key?

16. What’s a Veg-o-Matic?

17. What’s a roll of film?

18. What were madras shorts?

19. What was “American Gothic?”

20. What was the “Saturday Evening Post?”

21. What’s a church key?

22. What’s an LP?

23. What’s a Poodle Skirt?

24. What were PF Flyers?

25. What’s Old Maid? Hint – game

26. What’s a clothes pole?

27. What’s a milk box?

28. What’s a tongue depressor?

29. What’s a house call?

30. What’s a dark room?

31. What’s Maypo?

32. What’s a bologna boat?

33. What’s a jitney?

34. What’s a mood ring?

35. What were Jarts? Hint – game

36. What’s a full service gas station?

37. What’s a Five and Dime?

38. What were waxed lips?

39. What’s a Nehru Jacket?

40. What’s a Pitch Back?

41. What were Pixie Stix?

42. What were Skippy Cups?

43. What were Red Ball Jets?

44. What were fountain pens?

45. What were bicycle clips?

46. What’s cleanser?

47. What’s Jiffy Pop? Hint – snack

48. What were Charles Chips?

49. What’s Black Jack? Hint – a treat of sorts

50. What’s a Saturday Afternoon Matinee?

Bonus: What was Univac? 5 pts.

When we were our kids’ and grandkids’ age, these were things that were part of life and growing up. Amazingly kids, there were no video games, video recorders, cell phones, or microwaves. There was no texting, and only a couple fast food places. There was no pizza delivery, answering machines, not much of anything disposable, and there were only two choices of meals in many homes — take it or leave it.

I think many from my generation lived through the same, yet here we are. We’ve had fairly good, hopefully healthy, lives. We had pretty happy childhoods, and most with whom I attended school, and played, ended up having productive lives, now enjoying our children and grandchildren. Some of us have had health issues, sad times, tragic times, we’ve made mistakes, and haven’t always made the best decisions, but we’ve had a good life in spite of those things. Our hope, and want, is for you kids, and grandkids, to have even better lives than we’ve had, or good as ours was, and still is. Sometimes, in order to make our point, we need to share what things were like when we were your age.

I’m sure no one sharing this quiz with their kids and grandkids, will need the answers. I know you already know, but just in case, I’ll give them anyway.

So there it is, an alternative way to share our past with our children and grandchildren without using the dreaded opening, “When I was your age.” Hopefully, you’ll make your point without having to hear the eyes roll. Good luck!

ANSWERS:

1. Canned spiced ham used for different kinds of meals. There was a special key attached to the bottom of the can to open it. It’s still available on store shelves.

2. A can of hotdog-like links, about two inches in length, some with a sauce added.

3. What was on your TV screen when programming was off the air.

4. Underground shelters promoted during WWII times for protection from bomb attacks.

5. Part of food supplements given by the government to people needing assistance.

6. The original recycling projects sponsored during wartime.

7. Books of information used to research information for school reports and such.

8. Telephones with dials to spin with your finger.

9. A comic strip character detective, whose fictional “wrist radio” preceded today’s Smart Watches.

10. A thick candy bar shaped like a pointless pyramid.

11. A phone line shared by multiple homes allowing you to use your phone, only if the other homes weren’t using theirs.

12. Stamps received after purchases at local businesses, collectable and redeemable for items at catalogue stores.

13. Cards with play money value in each wrapped Mallo Cup candy bar, savable and redeemable for prizes. These are still included with the candy treat and are still redeemable.

14. A playground game where someone from one team is selected to run through two members of the other team attempting to break their chain.

15. What we used to adjust our metal roller skates.

16. The original gimmick food chopper that diced, sliced, and made fries a number of different ways.

17. What was needed to take pictures back in my day.

18. Plaid shorts worn in the 60s. You had to wash them separately the first time because they bled.

19. Famous painting by Grant Wood of an elderly couple, the man holding a pitchfork.

20. An American Magazine published six times a year which included prints by Norman Rockwell.

21. A beer/soda can opener.

22. A long playing, hence LP, vinyl disc that played at a speed of 33 and a 1/3 rpms, played on a turntable record player.

23. 1950s/60s skirts with cutouts of a dancing poodle sewn on them.

24. Sneakers

25. Childhood card game.

26. What people use, even today by some people, to keep the clothes line from sagging when clothes were hung outside to dry, preventing the laundry from touching the ground.

27. Where the milkman put dairy products and juice he delivered to individual houses.

28. The wide wooden stick doctors used to hold your tongue down while checking your throat.

29. When the doctor came to your home to examine you. “Open your mouth and say, Ahh.”

30. Where No. 17 was developed into pictures.

31. Hot breakfast cereal.

32. Slice of fried bologna with a scoop of mashed potatoes, topped with sprinkled cheese.

33.A borrowed word, some from my generation used to describe a motor-less go-cart many of us built in our garages. It’s also another word for jalopy or bus. Jitney cabs still exist, are illegal, but still operate in places.

34. A ring worn which supposedly changed colors as the bearer’s mood changed.

35. Large lawn darts tossed toward a hoop on the ground.

36. A station where gas was pumped for you, oil was checked, and windshields were cleaned by the attendant.

37. It was an inexpensive department store. They were also called five and ten cent stores.

38. Lips made out of wax that were worn, later able to be chewed, and still sold in some stores today.

39. A hip-length jacket with a mandarin collar, a garment worn by the prime Minister of India.

40. A net at which you threw a baseball and it sent the ball right back to you.

41. A flavored sugar treat in a sealed straw wrapper.

42. Plastic cups of ice cream accompanied by flat wooden-type spoons.

43. Gym shoes.

44. Pens needing to be filled with ink.

45.Clips attached to rolled up pant legs, keeping pants from getting caught in bike chains.

46. Powdery abrasive cleaner in a can.

47. Popcorn in its own aluminum pan that you shook over the stove flame or fireplace.

48. Potato chips delivered to your house.

49. Officially named Beemams Black Jack, it was a licorice flavored chewing gum.

50. Saturday afternoon movie at movie theaters.

Bonus: The first commercial computer produced in the United States.