Watching The Changeover

At one point, the covering on cars’ parking lights was white. Then I noticed the new models were yellow. I watched over the next few years as the number of yellow increased and it became harder to find a white parking light cover. I don’t think I’ve seen one in ages and maybe a car with Antique plates on it might be the only place to go.

Then came the separate brake lights. Before, especially at night, the rear lights were normally red, and redder when the brakes were on. Someone got the bright idea to have a separate light just for the brakes so it was obvious the vehicle was at least slowing. I don’t know when they started coming into use, but I haven’t seen a car without one in quite a while.

I watched the 10” pop music 78 record give way to the 45. It took a while, but eventually the thick acetates disappeared. I also saw the 12” multi-disc classical music 78 album go to music heaven and be replaced by the vinyl disc which was, in turn, sent its way by the compact disc. Mention 78rpm records to college students today and you will get the standard blank stare; bring up a 45rpm record and it doesn’t get much better. If you are dealing with a high school student (or even college folks), forget about even mentioning the 33 1/3 rpm albums that we thought were the greatest thing since, well, since 78’s.

I watched electric typewriters come into common use for families and students. I saw them go out of common use. Smith-Corona, which started making the family-size machines, gave up on them a few years ago. They seemed so new, so great.