Remember When

Quote: zippyboy

Remember when you got a new license plate every year for your car instead of the sticker? When did the sticker start?

In California the first sticker was in 1957. Before that, some years you got a metal tab which served the same purpose, as far back as 1917.

Quote: Wizard

In California the first sticker was in 1957. Before that, some years you got a metal tab which served the same purpose, as far back as 1917.

PA for one used metal tabs IIIRC in 1944 to save steel for the war effort, but they went back to new plates the next year with the war still going on. I don't know when but stickers here seem to have started in the late 1960s. Can't add much for other states.

Quote: AZDuffman

PA for one used metal tabs IIIRC in 1944 to save steel for the war effort, but they went back to new plates the next year with the war still going on. I don't know when but stickers here seem to have started in the late 1960s. Can't add much for other states.

In 1945 California didn't even waste a little metal for a tab and went to a windshield sticker. I have one of them.

Quote: Wizard

In 1945 California didn't even waste a little metal for a tab and went to a windshield sticker. I have one of them.

Now that sounds like a rare item as how many would not have been used?

Quote: Face

They still use them in the NHL? I'm actually surprised. I can't remember seeing one this decade. Or the last.

Hooboy, I must be wrong. I see them break their sticks all the time. I assumed this meant they were wood. What are they made of?

The sticks have been made of carbon fibre for many years. More flex equals harder shot. Also means much more fragile than wood. They cost several hundred dollars a pop, doesn't matter to the NHL players but a significant expense for the older minor hockey players whose parents have to pay for them.

Quote: odiousgambit

Hooboy, I must be wrong. I see them break their sticks all the time. I assumed this meant they were wood. What are they made of?

Carbo-graphi-compo-tanium, of course. I thought I mentioned that earlier? ;)

They're made of wood, fiberglass, titanium, aluminum, Kevlar, or carbon fiber, sometimes a mix of several. It's not entirely a strength thing; some of these are worse in terms of durability than wood. Rather it's a uniformity thing.

As said, no two wood sticks are alike, even if it's the "same" stick. It's wood, the grains are unique. It also deteriorates with use as the fibers break up, whereas a composite either holds or breaks entirely.

And as much as it's awkward to argue a Canadian about hockey, more flex doesn't necessarily equal a harder shot. The flex rating states the amount of pounds needed to flex the stick one inch. A 40 would flex more than my 87, but with my 210lbs behind it, it would be a noodle. There is zero chance I could slap shot period, let alone get off a hard one. On the flip side, my 70lb kid couldn't flex my 87 at all, giving him the opposite problem. The flex IS where you get your power, but it's gotta match your frame.

Mine is carbon fiber. I like it better than my last attempt at compo's, but it's still missing something. I'd rate it better than a season old wood, but still nowhere near fresh lumber. I've been thinking of filling it with something soft, like a silicone grout. Something to give it weight and sort of "dull it out".

maybe this thread is more appropriate than "random thought" for this

Remember all the frustrating things about the older typewriters? You really needed to use a typewriter a lot, too, handwriting a letter in, say, even a mundane business correspondence was pretty much not a good idea.

some stuff I remember being frustrating:

*loading the paper right could drive you nuts

*often the keys would strike too lightly and you'd have to go back and hit again. Sometimes this and erased mistakes meant putting the paper back in after removing it already. Good luck!

*a clump of keys could easily be hit and jam up

*replacing the ribbon typically left your hands filthy. As I remember, it took a certain amount of talent to even get it done

*choosing the margins incorrectly made your letter look like you were an idiot

*you were constantly having to split up a word using a hyphen as you realized you were approaching the margin; this had to be done on the syllables, so you needed a dictionary too

*correcting mistakes by erasing looked like crap, so if you made more than about 2 mistakes, most of the time you just threw the sheet away and started over

*at first there were no easy way to make copies. You used carbon paper. It was awful.

I still have a typewriter, haven't used
it in over 20 years. Why do I keep it.

Quote: odiousgambit

maybe this thread is more appropriate than "random thought" for this

Remember all the frustrating things about the older typewriters? You really needed to use a typewriter a lot, too, handwriting a letter in, say, even a mundane business correspondence was pretty much not a good idea.

When I watch "Mad Men" it makes me think how different things were back then. Women would get hired into a "typing pool" to work their way into an office job. It was a relatively skilled job even if a lower paid one.

When I examine deeds from 1900-1980s I marvel at how much time it must have taken to type all of it out and how few errors I find. I was told that at least in one county they had a roomful of women typing deeds by night so they could be examined by day. Many of these are "ledger" sized paper. It had to be very hard work.