"Dying Traditions of boomers"

[easyrider]

me too

View attachment 101136

That's probably the coolest picture I've seen for a while. Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal .

Bill

 

[Greg G]

I don't know if all the physical cards (greeting, birthday, funny, etc) you see in stores can be accessed online and sent via electronic means instead? (and no I'm not talking about buying the card and taking a photo of it and then sending if via email). Google AI indicated some are not but take that for what it's worth. I always like to look over the humorous cards in the store since there can be some real gems that make you burst out laughing.

 

[susieq]

As someone who worked at the Hallmark Cards Production Center in Topeka, KS, for 29 years where we made all the Christmas cards, I still send Christmas cards. I used to send more than 120, but have now dwindled down to 50-60. Not only are the cards more expensive, the cost of stamps is outrageous. Even with my retiree discount, 60 cards with stamps will cost me about $120. I always write a little update to put in it. This may be my last year to do so. I can put something together and email it like so many others do.

I've cut way back too ..... I actually keep track of the cards I get & they're the ones who get them the following year, (plus a few others). I buy boxes of cards the week after Christmas ~ usually 50 - 75% off or more. Can't really do too much about the price of stamps. Any (or most) gifts that are sent are gift cards that go right in with the cards.

 

[clifffaith]

I don't know if all the physical cards (greeting, birthday, funny, etc) you see in stores can be accessed online and sent via electronic means instead? (and no I'm not talking about buying the card and taking a photo of it and then sending if via email). Google AI indicated some are not but take that for what it's worth. I always like to look over the humorous cards in the store since there can be some real gems that make you burst out laughing.

Cliff always scours the card racks at the car wash for a fart card to send his brother. He had to settle for a booger card this year (nose-less snowman complaining the carrot cake tastes like boogers). He always gets the same in return from Jerry.

 

[clifffaith]

I've cut way back too ..... I actually keep track of the cards I get & they're the ones who get them the following year, (plus a few others). I buy boxes of cards the week after Christmas ~ usually 50 - 75% off or more. Can't really do too much about the price of stamps. Any (or most) gifts that are sent are gift cards that go right in with the cards.

I’ll send twice without getting one in return. No third attempts at keeping in touch. I could not find half off cards after the last holiday season. We were in Michaels in April to get something framed and they had Christmas decor at 90% off and I found a few boxes then.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

This discussion is now making me rethink our holiday cards. We send about 70 but it is a slog and costly Perhaps cut down to only elders who do not have email and those who always send a card and email the rest. We like to send a photo but can send via email instead.

 

[rapmarks]

An IBM Selectric typewriter, that used white typing paper, one sheet of paper at a time; now that is a boomer item. LOL
Do you also remember when you made an error typing ; you could used that white inked paper tape or white out ink to correct your mistake.

Hey when I started teaching we used to keep a razor blade next to an old fashioned typewriter. The razor blade was to scrape off typing errors on the mimeograph page. Then get to school bright and early to run them off for your class with that unforgettable aroma and large ink stains on your fingers

 

[stmartinfan]

I worked in the college computer center when I was in school in the late 60s. Spent lots of time keypunching to create that huge box of cards to run through the very large IBM computer. But to me the giant printer was more interesting. It had a large circuit board for each project that needed to be programmed using plug in wires to tell it where to print on the page the data on the cards. We did projects like print the actual report cards sent to students each term. The printer couldn't feed individual sheets, so you had large boxes of preprinted forms that were perforated to separate later with “feeder” edges that the printer grabbed to feed the roll of forms along. Students in the one programming class would drop their boxes of cards off for us to run through the computer to see if their programs would work!

 

[jp10558]

I suspect younger generations don’t use paper calendars. We’ve taken two classes on using our iPhones, including the calendar. Nope, can’t do it. I prefer to have a nice day planner with big squares spread open on the end of my kitchen counter so I can see what’s going on for the month, and months forward, at a glance. CVS has a nice two year one for less than $10. Also have a decorative paper calendar on the wall near my desk. I prefer those to be free or half off.

The problem with phone calendars is they don't really provide a yearly view. I've found exactly 1 that does - and only on Android AFAIK. The problem with paper calendars is you basically are tied to one location (at a time, but if it's large I'm not taking it to every doctors office, jobsite, trip, etc either) for booking or checking bookings. In my life we are scheduling based on at least 2 or 3 people, who are not in the same house all at the same time. So using online calendars we can share across our computers and phones wherever we are is quite useful. Though my mom does have issues remembering to bring up the calendar and look at it...

IDK, it's the same for her with a shared shopping list. I guess she prefers complaining that people don't remember to text her or call her every time they're booking or have booked something when it's shared with here (same for shopping)...

 

[dioxide45]

and some "boomer traditions" were dead then they came back to life -

--- vinyl records and disposable film cameras - millennials love them !

I wouldn't say they have really come back. While we are seeing vinyl and film showing back up, they are very niche. The one hour photo stores aren't popping back up again in strip malls across America. I doubt we will ever see mass appeal of these now or in the future.

 

[jp10558]

I wouldn't say they have really come back. While we are seeing vinyl and film showing back up, they are very niche. The one hour photo stores aren't popping back up again in strip malls across America. I doubt we will ever see mass appeal of these now or in the future.

Yea, they've come back enough to still have some film and vinyl production runs, but last I heard, no one is making new vinyl pressing machines for instance, so there's a bit of a run on the still workable ones laying around. But it's not something masses of people are using or even know about. The only reason I've ever bought a record is nostalgia, and maybe to display the album art. Masses are on streaming for music and cellphones for pictures. Heck, separate cameras have mostly died off outside of niche applications.

 

[DrQ]

... The one hour photo stores aren't popping back up again in strip malls across America. ...

If I were going back to film, I would choose Ektachrome E6 slides. You can develop them at home with a minimum of equipment and examine the developed slides to determine which you want to send out to be enlarged and printed.

There are other chemistries which you can develop at home, but you have to scan the negative and then reverse it digitally.

When you get further into the hobby, you can build a darkroom and go wild. Black and White is simple as you can work under a red light, not so with color.

When I worked at Wurlitzer, I was friends with the corporate photographer who did all the B/W stuff in house and he taught me how to develop E6 slides. You can develop them in the kitchen sink.

 

[ScoopKona]

but last I heard, no one is making new vinyl pressing machines

I could link about 30 more on top of these...

SoCal has a new record pressing plant. Can it meet Swiftie-sized demand?

With pop acts like Taylor Swift cutting multiple editions of LPs and pricy back-catalog reissues, Fidelity pressing plant in Oxnard says it is ready to help the vinyl boom stay in the groove.

www.latimes.com

New south Minneapolis vinyl pressing plant aims to make records for local artists and labels

A new vinyl pressing plant is set to open in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis this year.

www.mprnews.org

Inside Denver’s New Vinyl Record Pressing Plant

Vinyl Me, Please, the Denver-based record-of-the-month club, will open its own record pressing plant in RiNo this year. We go inside the art and science of making LPs and how the new facility will complement a burgeoning music district in the Mile High City.

www.5280.com

Thankfully, the vinyl fad peaked years ago. People still don't take care of their records. So they have fallen out of favor for the same reason they fell out of favor in the 1980s.

 

[DrQ]

... People still don't take care of their records. So they have fallen out of favor for the same reason they fell out of favor in the 1980s.

This is why I transfer mine to other media. Makes it easier to make mix playlists.

 

[ScoopKona]

This is why I transfer mine to other media. Makes it easier to make mix playlists.

Lots of people make this mistake.

 

[DrQ]

--- vinyl records and disposable film cameras - millennials love them !

Speaking of vinyl AND CD's AND tape, I toured SiriusXM's DC facility. In addition to having studios (some large, some small) they have the library where ALL the media of the content they play is archived and has also been ripped and stored digitally for access by the DJs and content creators. The collection is massive and is second only to the Library of Congress in content.

All the original media must remain on file and be available to maintain copyright and licensing.

 

[jp10558]

If I were going back to film, I would choose Ektachrome E6 slides. You can develop them at home with a minimum of equipment and examine the developed slides to determine which you want to send out to be enlarged and printed.

There are other chemistries which you can develop at home, but you have to scan the negative and then reverse it digitally.

When you get further into the hobby, you can build a darkroom and go wild. Black and White is simple as you can work under a red light, not so with color.

When I worked at Wurlitzer, I was friends with the corporate photographer who did all the B/W stuff in house and he taught me how to develop E6 slides. You can develop them in the kitchen sink.

I think all the chemicals are kind of dangerous though - or people claim darkroom stuff isn't that good for you.

 

[jp10558]

Speaking of vinyl AND CD's AND tape, I toured SiriusXM's DC facility. In addition to having studios (some large, some small) they have the library where ALL the media of the content they play is archived and has also been ripped and stored digitally for access by the DJs and content creators. The collection is massive and is second only to the Library of Congress in content.

All the original media must remain on file and be available to maintain copyright and licensing.

That's kind of insane, but also cool.

 

[DrQ]

I think all the chemicals are kind of dangerous though - or people claim darkroom stuff isn't that good for you.

E6 is just pouring from the bottle into the film developing holder then back into the bottle.

Developing Holder:

B/W uses silver as part of chemistry.

 

[dioxide45]

If I were going back to film, I would choose Ektachrome E6 slides. You can develop them at home with a minimum of equipment and examine the developed slides to determine which you want to send out to be enlarged and printed.

Thankfully reviewing digital images is so much easier.

 

[DrQ]

Thankfully reviewing digital images is so much easier.

If I wanted to go back to film, I would choose 120 mm because of the finer detail you can capture, but you are correct, digital start to finish is easier.

The guy that taught me used a large format bellows style camera which was really cool.

Bellows (photography) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bellows allow movements that can be used to correct distortion in a photograph and to avoid converging or diverging verticals. Use of a bellows-based camera can ensure that parallel elements in a scene remain parallel in the final photograph.​

​

In some cameras, the photographer can change the angle of the film plate with respect to the optical axis of the lens, providing alterations of perspective distortion and of the object plane of focus. Bellows may be part of a camera or come as an optional accessory.​

 

[tombanjo]

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away is pretty boomer. It does have the nice greens of summer

 

[jp10558]

If I wanted to go back to film, I would choose 120 mm because of the finer detail you can capture, but you are correct, digital start to finish is easier.

The guy that taught me used a large format bellows style camera which was really cool.

Bellows (photography) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bellows allow movements that can be used to correct distortion in a photograph and to avoid converging or diverging verticals. Use of a bellows-based camera can ensure that parallel elements in a scene remain parallel in the final photograph.​

​

In some cameras, the photographer can change the angle of the film plate with respect to the optical axis of the lens, providing alterations of perspective distortion and of the object plane of focus. Bellows may be part of a camera or come as an optional accessory.​

I'm not sure, but at least some of that can be done with tilt-shift lenses. Canon made a number of EF mount ones which work on digital too.

 

[dlpearson]

Hey when I started teaching we used to keep a razor blade next to an old fashioned typewriter. The razor blade was to scrape off typing errors on the mimeograph page. Then get to school bright and early to run them off for your class with that unforgettable aroma and large ink stains on your fingers

Ahh, I loved that smell as a kid/student! Takes me back!

 

[pedro47]

Thankfully reviewing digital images is so much easier.

My 35mm Nikon cameras collections & lens are not collecting dusk because of the new Apple I phones and Apples I pads.
I do enjoy the editing function on both devices.