Boomeresque:Definition
1. Adj.: Describing a person born between 1 Jan. 1946 and 31 Dec. 1964
2. Adj.: Description of a person, place or thing possessing Baby Boomer je ne sais quoi
3. See also, Boomer, Esq.: A Baby Boomer who is also a licensed attorney (See, e.g., About).

You Know You’re Boomeresque if…….

by Suzanne Fluhr on March 27, 2012 · 39 comments

  • You are not positive what a blog is.
  • You know what “duck and cover” means and in elementary school you believed doing that would save you from a nuclear bomb. DuckandCover
  • Your lawyer, doctor and accountant are younger than you are.
  • Your eighty-something year old mother thinks you’re a genius about computers and wireless communication, but your twenty-something year old child thinks your technology questions merit eye rolling.
  • You have to be reminded that if anyone under 35 says something is “sick”, s/he means it’s cool—i.e. good.
  • Growing up, your home telephone wasn’t a “land line”….because what else could it have been.
  • You and your parents did not enjoy the same music, but your kids like “classic rock” (unless you are in the car dancing to it while you’re driving him/her somewhere).
  • Your pediatrician made house calls.
  • You had the measles, mumps and chicken pox, but not polio.
  • You watched TV in black and white, the TV was a piece of furniture and a TV repairman would come to the house to replace the tubes.
  • You know who Mr. Green Jeans was.
  • You had to watch a TV show when it was actually being broadcast.
  • Your father fought in World War II, but growing up, when you talked with him about  “the” war, it was Viet Nam and it’s possible that you were against it.
  • You had a transistor radio and maybe you even made it.
  • You remember where you were when President Kennedy was assassinated.
  • You remember Walter Cronkite describing astronauts returning to earth in a capsule that deployed a parachute and “landed” in the ocean.
  • You know where you were and who you were with when you watched Neil Armstrong’s “small step for man and giant leap for mankind”.
  • You knew how to jump double dutch in the school yard.
  • If you lived in or traveled through the South (in the U.S.), you had to use a bathroom and drinking fountain designated for your race.
  • You remember the United States Congress doing big things like passing the Civil Rights Acts and creating Medicare.
  • You remember that if you wanted a drink of water outside your house or a restaurant, you had to drink that yucky stuff that came out of a drinking fountain.
  • If you were out in the street and you wanted to call someone, you had to find a pay phone.
  • Your parents made a point of answering the home telephone so they would know who was calling you.
  • You took home economics (if you were a girl) and wood shop (if you were a boy).
  • When you were in the fourth grade, you didn’t know how to type—let alone keyboard.
  • You got grades for handwriting.
  •  Your school was so overcrowded that your assigned seat in chemistry class was on the radiator.
  • When you started high school or college, you were a fresh”man” even if you were female.
  • You coveted your college roommate’s electric typewriter and shower bonnet hair dryer.
  • You had to go to a library to do research for school projects unless your family was fortunate enough to own a set of encyclopedias.
  • You know what a card catalogue was.
  • u  know how 2 spell & punctu8—even if u dont always do it anymore
  • At some point you engaged in sex, drugs and rock and roll—not necessarily in that order—but perhaps simultaneously.
  • You inhaled.
  • There were urinals in the ladies room at your law school.
  • You thought your parents were old when they were fifteen years younger than you are now.
  • You considered your grandparents to be really old when they were the same age you are now.

If you can think of any other ways to know you’re Boomeresque, please scroll down and share it with us in a comment.

{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }

Perrie Naides April 25, 2012 at 5:02 pm

Still laughing about the one where your 80-something parent thinks you’re techno-savvy. In my case it’s the 90-something mother and the 20-something kids.

Here are some others that came to mind:
Your idea of a great way to get a tan when you were a teenager was to cover yourself in baby oil.

Since cars didn’t have air-conditioning, a good way for you to cool off on a long hot drive was to suck on ice and open those little window vents they had as part of the front windows to let some air in without getting blown away.

Route 66 was just a road and not a nostalgia trip.

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Just One Boomer April 25, 2012 at 7:12 pm

Thanks, Perrie. Good ones! Every time I see a dry spot on my wrinkly skin, that first one of yours resonates.

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Don August 31, 2012 at 10:02 pm

Here are are few more that come to mind:
There was no such thing as a calculator. You had to know the multiplication table.
There was no such thing as a GPS. If you got lost, you had to pull into the next gas station and ask where the heck you were.
Crack was a term used to describe the plumber’s butt showing from his pants while working on the old Norge refrigerator.
Clocks were not digital. They had hands.
The telephone was the size of a shoe box.
If a person was gay, they were a very happy person.
Google was just a REALLY big number that the math teacher told us existed.
There was no such thing as a remote. You had to get up and walk over to the TV to change the channel.

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Just One Boomer August 31, 2012 at 10:10 pm

The last one wasn’t that big a problem because there were very few channels and while you were up, you could adjust the rabbit ears antenna also ;-). Thanks for the additions.

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Joan October 20, 2012 at 1:35 pm

Using a coat hanger to get local TV stations
Having to be home before the street lights ‘went on’
There was no such thing as ‘a right turn on red’
Street Skating with Roller Skates attached to your shoes and using a special ‘key’ to tighten them.
Getting your news from a newspaper
Playing ‘half-ball’ with a broomstick bat
Having a “party-line” phone

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Just One Boomer October 20, 2012 at 9:01 pm

Can’t say I remember a party line, but all the rest—absolutely. Thanks for your additions.

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Joan October 22, 2012 at 7:32 pm

Just remembered a few others – but they might only apply to Philly
Street Sweepers who followed trash trucks to keep the streets clean
Elevator operators.
The Conductor at the side door of the street car. He not only opened that door but also collected carfare from people who entered from the side door.
Wednesday Noon Whistle that tested the Air Raid Sirens.
Tea at Wanamakers with Soup, Tea Sandwiches, and Ice Cream.
Riding the Monorail in Wanamakers Toy Department
If you misbehaved – your friend’s mother would call your mother to tell her about it
No one wore Jeans to school, and teachers dressed professionally everyday.

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Darnell December 6, 2012 at 5:17 pm

You might be a Boomer if:
-You feel better as part of a big group, and find identity and a sense of being ‘special’ as part of this group.
-You believe the garbage about your parents being the Greatest Generation. Talk about angling in on inheritances. Shamelessly.
-You are self centered, and the center of the universe.
-you act like you have empathy, but could care less.

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Just One Boomer December 7, 2012 at 12:55 am

Ouch. Someone got up on the cynical side of the bed this morning.

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Debbie January 11, 2013 at 4:44 pm

Too funny! Love this! 🙂 I’m definitely “Boomeresque”, because I can remember “never trust anyone over 30” and now I’m almost 58. Shock! LOL

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Just One Boomer January 27, 2013 at 9:19 pm

I know, Debbie. Sometimes I find I’m operating under the converse of our old mantra and now quite frequently question the judgment of anyone under 30 — especially that of males to whom I gave birth 😉

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Patti February 11, 2013 at 5:16 am

I love the list! So funny and fun to remember at the same time.

* i.d. bracelets – if a boy gave you one well… that was love!
* using dental floss to make your boyfriend’s class ring fit your finger
* no one knew how to french kiss, but you said you did
* the cafeteria lunch ladies actually cooked
* corporal punishment was practiced in school
* P.E. uniforms and required showers

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Just One Boomer February 11, 2013 at 6:01 am

Thanks for adding your memories. When I started 9th grade they took us on a tour of the school that included pink marble showers in the gym. (This was a Philadelphia public school!) That was the first and last time I saw the showers.

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Sharon February 12, 2013 at 6:18 pm

You remember when there were gas “wars” and gas was 15 cents a gallon.

You remember McDonalds opening and you could get 6 burgers for $1.

You remember when there were macings on college campuses, but no random mass murderers.

Males wore two shirts at the same time as part of the style.

Cigarettes were rolled up in your t-shirt sleeves.

Your parents would let you just play outside and they never chauffered you anywhere.

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Just One Boomer (Suzanne) March 30, 2013 at 2:04 am

I remember most of these ‘cept the cigarettes. Well, I remember the cigarettes too, but only rolled up in other people’s t-shirt sleeves. Then I married a lung doctor — so definitely no cigarettes.

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Bob Meade July 21, 2013 at 10:19 am

The idea of staying in the house during the summer was insanity. It was too hot inside because you didn’t have air conditioning. Even if you did, your parents wouldn’t let you use it except at night because they were convinced that turning it on during the day would overload the North American power grid. Not that you knew what that was, either. You stayed oustide all day and found activities to occupy yourself with that you made up all by yourself.

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Suzanne Fluhr September 14, 2013 at 1:33 am

Good one, Bob. On some really hot and muggy days this summer, I was wondering how I survived the summer in our Philly row house. We didn’t even have a window unit. School was also kind of dicey in the late spring and early fall. I’m not sure how much learning was getting done when it was 100 degrees and there was no air moving. Actually, I can remember studying for the Bar Exam by taking a shower, getting my hair wet and sitting in front of a fan.

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Guy Creese December 2, 2013 at 10:15 pm

A new TV season was a really big deal, and everyone you knew subscribed to TV Guide.

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Suzanne Fluhr December 3, 2013 at 7:31 am

Good one. We didn’t subscribe to TV Guide, but woe be it to anyone who had taken the TV listings section of the daily newspaper when my father was looking for it.

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alyson February 16, 2014 at 5:58 pm

Most of that applies to me despite being just outside the Boomer fold. I still don’t know how to type. Love it!

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Suzanne Fluhr February 16, 2014 at 8:22 pm

Alyson, but you’re a blogger—you’re not “hunting and pecking” are you???

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santafetraveler February 16, 2014 at 6:36 pm

What a great post- except for the urinals in the law school bathroom- I can totally relate. Big things for me were watching Howdie Doodie, Lassie on Sunday nights (with the original Timmy), hiding out behind the living room chair on Monday nights to watch I Love Lucy as it was on after my bedtime. Also, being in DC when MLK said, “I had a dream” seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan 50 years ago and living through (barely) the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also being a “Polio Pioneer” and getting to test the original Salk vaccine. Interestingly- the end Baby Boomers probably don’t share a lot of these memories.

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Suzanne Fluhr February 16, 2014 at 8:24 pm

Billie, you’re right. The last year of Baby Boomers weren’t even born when Kennedy was assassinated and were 4 years old for the “I Have a Dream” speech.

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Marlene M. February 16, 2014 at 8:16 pm

Your new petticoat was red and full and made a wonderful noise when you walked!

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Suzanne Fluhr February 16, 2014 at 8:25 pm

Hmm. Marlene, can’t say I ever had a red petticoat, but I definitely wore slips. I don’t even own one now. But, I do remember some friends with swishy petticoats 😉

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Darina Friedel February 17, 2014 at 9:03 am

I remember:
having to wear dresses to primary school and tuck them into pull-up snow pants on wintery days.
the first time we teachers were allowed (?) to wear pants suits to work.
our parents had “Danish modern” furniture in our living room and our basement was finished in knotty-pine paneling.
sneakers were white and flat and ugly.
owning and loving my “Mary-Janes”.
frozen dinners and the sweet apple “dessert” in the smallest compartment.
going to my grandparents’ house every Sunday and the whole family watching Ed Sullivan just before we went home.
loving the ice cream that was rolled-up in that white paper and we placed on a cone.
I remember, too, watching our parents “go out” all dressed up, my mother wearing flared skirt dresses and rhinestone jewelry.
I remember baby-sitting for 50 cents an hour and 75 after 12!!!
I can’t believe how much I remember…..I guess one image stirs up the next.

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Suzanne Fluhr February 17, 2014 at 12:12 pm

These are great. The snow pants. The rubber boots that you pulled on over your shoes—which always came off when you took off the boots. Watching Lawrence Well with my grandparents. And really—-the babysitting pay never went up all the years I babysat.

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Suzette Jackson February 17, 2014 at 11:27 am

Going to friends houses where the furniture was covered in clear plastic slip covers.
Drinking soda from a paper cone at a soda fountain through paper straws that would get soggy and collapse
Getting together with your friends on a Sunday and all riding the trolley for one fare (in Philly)

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Suzanne Fluhr February 17, 2014 at 12:20 pm

I remember sticking to those plastic slipcovers in the summertime because no one I knew had air conditioning at home in the living room. I don’t remember riding the trolley for one fare on Sundays, but I do remember the burning electrical smell on the trolleys or waiting for a looong time for one if there was a fire or accident on the line covering the tracks. I remember when the buses and trolleys were owned by the PTC—before SEPTA.

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Tim March 15, 2014 at 2:31 pm

I may not have grown up here in the states but I am comfortable with your entire list, very funny. Btw, I took Home Economics and Wood Shop. Home Ec had it’s advantages for a lad.

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Suzanne Fluhr March 15, 2014 at 3:23 pm

Indeed. Both our sons took cooking classes in high school and had to learn how to do laundry. They both left home ready to enter the world with clean clothes and a full belly. They don’t even have wood shop any more which is kind of too bad.

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Claudia Schmidt April 9, 2014 at 11:17 pm

This is such fun for a boomer like me. I can add: I remember when we had to stand up and turn the knob to change TV channels. I remember when we had a phone with a dial that was pretty darn slow, and very bulky compared to today’s iphones. I remember typing college papers on a typewriter and using white out to fix mistakes (it was horrible, took SO long). I remember ditto machines in High school (remember that smell?) Top Gigot on The Ed Sullivan Show. And those crazy people with the flying plates who played that Tarantella music in the background. Oh…..endless things that our kids will never know about. Fun walk down memory lane 🙂

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Suzanne Fluhr April 9, 2014 at 11:59 pm

These are great additions, Claudia. Thanks.

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Bob August 14, 2014 at 8:40 am

I remember listening to my crystal set at night under the bed covers, and watching the southern borialis from where I lived in southern Australia. And having a big bon fire on cracker night, our dog would hide under the kitchen table. Boy, those were the days, filled with fun and gay (no pun intended) abandon. I’d go back if I could But, alas, I’m a baby boomer.

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Laura Ehlers November 28, 2014 at 5:16 pm

How about getting that vaccine thing which used an AIR GUN to shot the medication into your arm. Oh, and it was given IN THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA!!!
And along the lines of new television season, Saturday Cartoon Preview special!

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Suzanne Fluhr December 3, 2014 at 1:10 pm

We never had an air gun, but I do remember getting the new polio liquid vaccine in school.

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Marilyn September 14, 2016 at 5:34 pm

Our phone was a party line of 22 families and our ring was a short – 2 longs – and a short. Grandma would listen in to neighbors calls to hear what was going on!

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Lenie January 21, 2018 at 4:55 am

Hi Michelle – I’m not technically a boomer since I was born in January ’45 but I grew up with all you boomers so I’m claiming part entitlement.
I’m Canadian growing up in the country so my memories may be somewhat different but I remember:
Memorizing multiplication tables and spelling bees;
Not allowed to wear pants to school and freezing our legs while waiting for the bus;
The lovely ‘bloomer’ gym uniforms – the ugliest things on earth;
Poodle skirts, sweater clips and Christmas decorative pins worn on coats;
Outdoor roller rinks;
Sock hops;
B & W TV if you were lucky to even own one – we didn’t;
The ‘father knows best’ TV shows – “just wait till your father gets home”;
Ironing everything – even hankies;
Women wore hats and gloves when out shopping;
and of course, where I was when Kennedy was shot – a tragedy not only in the States.
Love this post – great memories.

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Francine Rose June 18, 2018 at 6:35 pm

Sunday nights were reserved to watch Ed Sullivan at 8:00 on CBS.
We had dress codes.
People respected each other.
Extended families were more nuclear.
Coca-cola came in 6 oz green glass bottles for ten cents, and you got two cents back for returning the bottle to a participating vendor.
Hair rollers and bonnet-style hair dryers styled your hair.
Guys used cuff links and tie clips or tie pins.
Shoes were made in the U.S.A. mostly from leather, and had leather soles. Taps were sometimes used to protect the heels.
Going to the Five-and-Dime was a treat, as was eating at their ‘soda counters.’
Tennis racquets were made from wood.
Antiques were popular.

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