TIMES change and tech moves quickly, but one thing you can guarantee is that the save icon will still be a floppy disc in the next millennia.
That example aside, kids these days are clueless to vintage tech, so prove you’re older than a Commodore 64 by smashing our quiz.
Results
Congrats old timer! You know your outdated shiz. Well done you.
Congrats, you failed this spectacularly which can only mean that you are most likely a young’un.
#1. What the heck is this?
It is of course a toaster!
This particular one is a Hotpoint/Edison toaster, model 117T23, patented 1914, but probably sold a few years after that.
Image: Litlnemo
#2. What the heck are these?
They are of course Flashcubes!
The Eastman Kodak Flashcube featured a rotating cube which housed a small flashbulb in each of its four mirrored compartments – it revolutionised indoor amateur photography in the mid-1960s.
Image: Sylvania
#3. What the heck are these?
They are of course Green Shield Stamps!
Green Shield Stamps, initiated in 1958 by Richard Tompkins, was a UK sales promotion programme that provided shoppers with stamps as rewards. These stamps could then be redeemed for gifts from a catalogue or at affiliated retailers. Tompkins drew inspiration from the well-established success of Sperry & Hutchinson Green Stamps in America.
Fun fact: In 1973 Tompkins thought accepting cash for the catalog items would be a good idea and he started rebranding Green Shield Stamps as… Argos. This was named after a Greek city where Tompkins thought up the idea and because it would feature high up in alphabetical listings.
Image: www.Carter Collectables
#4. What the heck is this?
It is of course a Tamagotchi!
Japanese for ‘Egg Watch’ Tamagotchi was a handheld digital pet released by Bandai in 1996 in Japan which quickly became one of the biggest toy fads of the late 1990s and the early 2000s.
Image: Nxr-at
#5. What the heck is this?
It is of course a LaserDisc!
LaserDisc was first available on the market in 1978, two years after the introduction of the VHS VCR. Despite it being better quality than VHS and Betamax it failed to really take off due to the cost of the machine and the fact that it couldn’t record.
Image: Windell Oskay
#6. What the heck is this?
It’s a bed warmer of course!
Containers for warming beds were first used in the 16th century. The earliest versions contained used embers from the fire, and these bed warmers were put into the bed to warm the sheets before getting into it.
Image: Wlad074
#7. What the heck is this?
It is of course a pencil sharpener!
This particular model is the Apsco Vacuhold Pencil Sharpener, a hand-cranked planetary sharpener mounted on suction cup from 1950-60s made in the Chicago by the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co.
Image: Coyau
#8. What the heck is this?
It is of course a Furby!
25-years ago, shoppers eagerly sought out Furby, the chatty and fuzzy doll that became a major revenue hitter for Hasbro, emerging as the must-have toy during the 1998 Christmas season.
According to CNN Furby’s were ‘a threat to national security’ and were banned it from National Security Agency premises in Maryland believe that they would would record and possibly repeat confidential material.
Image: Amanda
#9. What the heck is this?
I’ll be cross if anyone got this wrong! It is of course the original Walkman.
The pioneering Walkman TPS-L2, clad in a metal case with a striking blue-and-silver design, hit the Japanese market on July 1, 1979, as the world’s first affordable personal stereo. Priced at approximately £120, Sony’s initial projection of selling around 5,000 units monthly was swiftly surpassed, with over 30,000 units sold within the first two months.
Image: Dalay-lamma
#10. What the heck is this?
It is of course a credit card imprinter!
The first credit card imprinter was launched by American Express in 1959. The device enabled sellers to quickly imprint credit card details via carbon paper onto a document, subsequently signed by the customer, thereby eliminating the necessity for manual recording of transactions.
Image: Kings Access
