What item did you use as a kid, but today's kid would go what is that? (wife, playing)

[Miss Blue]

Outhouse. Seriously,

Dad had some pink paint and painted the inside of it and from then on it was called "the pink room"

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by highway29south

TV antennas. I remember wrapping aluminum foil around the ends for better reception on our four t.v. stations!

Encyclopedias (or even going to the library for research)

My very frugal sister in law only has over-the-air TV. When she went to the big box electronics store to get new "rabbit ears" the kid who was helping her had no idea what she was looking for. A more "mature" person was able to find the antenna; they did carry it.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by Miss Blue

Outhouse. Seriously,

Dad had some pink paint and painted the inside of it and from then on it was called "the pink room"

Fancy. I've seen some that had the inside covered with pages from a magazine...can't say I ever saw, or used, one that had been painted pink.

[annabanana123]

A home phone. My 6 year old was at his grandparents and asked what "that weird thing plugged into the wall" was. It was a rotary style phone...

[Mattie]

A dust rag, spray starch, Brillo, heck, even a vacuum cleaner. My sons have learned what they do now that they are adults, but as kids? They were clueless.

[C24L]

a VCR

[Mattie]

I thought of another one, Simplicity and McCall's sewing patterns. I haven't seen them in years, and haven't used one since high school Home Ec.

[Shira_k]

I was talking to my son today about the really cool transistor radios we had as kids, shaped like a Pepsi can. We thought it was *the* coolest thing.

Other things that others have mentioned, phones that you dial (and that stay on the wall!), record players, tape recorders, Walkman, discman, and do people still use those mp3 players?

[suzy_q2010]

How about a hand cranked home made ice cream churn?

Or, not something a kid could point at and say, "What is that?", but a telephone party line.

[Shira_k]

Originally Posted by suzy_q2010

Or, not something a kid could point at and say, "What is that?", but a telephone party line.

Or for that matter, a switchboard and a telex /telprinter machine (my first job I worked on a telex machine, a typewriter, mimeograph, switchboard, and the paper for the photo copier came in rolls.)