DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I was never good at penmanship but I have done all the other things. But before we had a rotary phone we had a stick phone with a separate receiver on a hook. To call someone you lifted the receiver and listened. A person (operator) would come on and ask you for the number (4 digits). If you wanted to call out of town you told them the number and the town and either waited for them to connect or you hung up and they would call back when the call was connected. This was in suburban Philadelphia. Further out people had party lines (which I never experienced). My grandparents had that and to call from home to 40 miles away might take 20 minutes. At least it seemed that long to a kid. My father owned a hardware store. He bought it from a guy who retired. In the office there was some old stationery for the store. The phone number on the stationery was 2. At least it appeared that he had someone else to talk to (whoever had number 1).

One thing we could do was to simulate a rotary phone. When you pick up the phone it completes a circuit and you get a dial tone. When you dial a number, the dial returns to its original position and along the way it interrupts the circuit briefly each time it passes a number. Dial 1 and you get 1 interruption. Dial 0 and you get 10 interruptions. Then you dial the next number, etc. When I was in college we had access to the underground passages that held the power and telephone lines. (There were no data lines in those days). We had a handset with a 4' cord with clip leads. We could clip the phone onto a telephone block, then take one of the leads and rapidly disconnect and reconnect it to simulate the dialing. With a little practice we could dial a phone call manually.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

We also had a no-dial phone that hung on the wall, and to make a call we had to tell the operator the number we wanted. Everything outside our local town (even a road over to the south for us) had a long distance charge. We were on a party line--eight other houses, with four on what they called a side. Four people's numbers (including ours) rang into our house. We counted to see if it was ours, which was ring three. I still remember our phone number: 812 ring 3. “Nibbing” was rampant--other people listening to your conversations. Our first tv was a black and white nine-inch model that brought in two fuzzy stations, in 1954 if I remember correctly. At least they were free.

Ah, those were the days!

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

No problem with all 10 - and more!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

lbjed Loc: New York

10 for 10 and still have a VCR and cleaner tape and a rotary wall phone working in my garage in avocado green. :)

How many took the tubes from the TV set to be tested and/or replaced. I went to the local drugstore.

We are quite a mature group. LOL

riderxlx Loc: DFW area Texas

I got all 10. The library card catalog system I believe it’s called the Dewey decimal system.
Bruce

Burtzy Loc: Bronx N.Y. & Simi Valley, CA

Printing is still penmanship, so you're okay.

folkus

Correct - not to be confused with Morse Code...

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Piece of cake... all of them!

camerabuff58 Loc: Ontario, Canada,

Penmanship is the only thing I would find the hardest, due to Parkinson's

Dannj

I could still do all of these if the opportunity presented itself. How about adding defrosting a refrigerator? When’s the last time anyone took on that task?

Rich2236 Loc: E. Hampstead, New Hampshire

I found ALL 10 and also can do ALL of them...
Rich...

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

There are two card catalog systems. The old one, the one we grew up with, is the Dewey Decimal System. The newer one, the Library of Congress Classification system (LCC) was designed in the late 1800s and is now used in practically every library of significance in our country. There are some small libraries that still use the Dewey system, as do most other countries. Having done a lot of library research as an English and history major in both undergraduate and graduate school, I can attest that the LLC system is a much more streamlined cataloging system. Not arguing, just fyi.

raypep

Why would anyone care about these , now, useless, skills. I think the title would be better stated as “Ten Things People No Longer Have to Do “

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

I'm old enough that I could - and could still - do all of them. My cursive writing is horrible tho, even I can't read what I write sometimes. I flunked cursive writing in the 4th grade, the only course I ever flunked although I wasn't ever a great student.

Bayou

11) Sing