This week, we launched our exciting new project ‘Remember When We Used To,’ an archive of memories showing how energy has transformed our lives. Below are just a few ‘Remember How’ memories that have been shared with us:
Work
Card Catalog Inside the Covington Library, 1980.
Do you remember how we used to look for books with a card catalogue? This photo of a student inside the Covington Library in Kentucky, pinned by the Kenton County Public Library, demonstrates the concentration required to search for books manually before computers became common search tools. I especially like the fun detective drawing helping kids to find books by author and title.
Finding books used to be a more engaging process; the searching was certainly an event in itself. I remember our teacher taking us to our school library and showing us how to search for books in the card catalogue, and making up games to see who could search for the right book the fastest. There was also always that one trouble-maker in the class who would mix up all of the cards in the drawers, making it a nightmare for the poor librarian to reorganise.
With computers as commonplace search tools, studying in the library or browsing for books in a bookstore is now less about the work involved in searching and more about the varied results one can get in a short amount of time.
Do you remember those pesky card catalogues? Share your memories with us here!
Celebrate
Cambridge United vs. Burton Playoffs, May 2008.
User Richard Nurse recently shared his favourite celebratory moment, of a pitch-invasion moment at Abbey Stadium, Redditch, UK in 2008. Here he captures the moment after his team, Cambridge United, beat Burton Albion in the semi-finals to get to Wembley Stadium in the Conference Play-Off Finals. It’s a great shot that captures a cherished personal memory.
For my fellow sports fans out there, you will know that some of the best celebratory moments are the ones when your home team celebrates a crucial win; whether its a family football game or professional match, whether player or spectator, the pride in bringing home a victory is something that can stick with you for a long time.
Did your home team ever grab a win after trailing? Have you or someone you know score the winning point? Share them with us and let us know how you celebrated afterwards.
Play
Saturday Night Fever, June 1978.
Now technically this photo is not of people playing, but I believe dancing can definitely fall under this category. User AndyT shared this great photo memory of a campus dance demo at the University of York in 1978. As with many universities today, York had a special day when people were encouraged to visit the campus. In June 1978 the attractions on offer included what AndyT describes as “very cool” students showing off the latest dance moves, seen here outside Central Hall. Anyone familiar with the disco dances of the 1970′s will know that the style above was best-demonstrated by this guy:
John Travolta on the Saturday Night Fever (1977) film poster.
Everyone wanted Travolta’s cool dance moves, so it’s no wonder young people all over the world took them up on their school campuses. My own university open-day didn’t feature disco, but there were many other ‘current’ styles on offer like hip-hop; changing dance-styles are a reflection of the times, and is also one of those things that can immediately trigger memories (some not so great) of how we used to ‘play.’
If you have some dance-filled university memories, or evidence of some now-dated moves, share them with us here.
We would love to see your personal memories of how we used to work, play, watch and listen, keep warm, celebrate. Visit the project page here.
