Have any of y'all lived during the first coming abouts of any of these inventions? If so...?

Question

Polio Vaccine
Portable Calculator
Smoke Detector
Fridge
Microwave

If so, can you tell me a little something (maybe just one or two sentances) about their coming about in your life?

Answer 1

was born in late 1960. Polio vaccine was around already, but I remember getting shots in grade school and the mark it left on lots of kid's upper arm.
I was one of the first kids to get a calculator, in 6th grade. It was a Texas Instr., and had a red led display. It made homework faster, but I already knew how to do it on paper.
I don't really think about smoke detectors.
I remember the fridge we had at home as a boy was always frosting up in the freezer section - every few months you'd have to chip it out with an ice pick after putting a pot of hot water in there for a while.
I didn't see a microwave until I went to college in 1980. We were worried about putting something in it that would make sparks. I remember it was neat how you could soften up stale bread by microwaving it a few seconds.
Good luck on the assignment.

Answer 2

I am 52 so I remember all the above except fridge. I was one of the first to receive polio vaccine because my father was in the Military. For years after when we needed our boosters we would line up at the local school and they would give us a sugar cube with the vaccine in(on?) it.
In 1975 the State of CA had collected too much money in taxes so they sent every family a rebate of $35. We took ours and went to Sears and splurged the entire amount on a 4 function calculator (the kind you get for $1 now) We were the envy of all of our friends. We lived on less than $500 a month so that $35 was equal to hundreds in todays dollars.
First person I ever heard of getting a microwave was Mike Nesmith of the MONKEES. It was written up in a Teen magazine how he had this special oven that could make a cupcake in 30 seconds. I think we got one a few years later and we were the first family in our neighborhood. People kept telling us we were going to die from the radiation.

Answer 3

When the polio vaccine first came out it was administered in shots. I was in the 6th grade in 1956 when they came to our school to give them and my girlfriend fainted at the sight of the needle.
In 1970, my boss got a portable calculator that was the size of a dictionary and cost $300!
Smoke detectors, unheard of in the 60's, probably could have saved my brand new 1966 Ambassador which burned up when our garage caught on fire while we were asleep.
When I was a kid in the 50's we had an ice box where we kept our food and everyday the iceman drove through the neighborhood delivering large blocks of ice that were placed in the bottom of the "ice box". Some people still call it that instead of refridgerator!
I got my first microwave oven in 1983 when I inherited some money. It still amazes me that it can cook so fast without burning the dish!

Answer 4

I can remember when Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine. Before that, all parents were deathly afraid we children would contract the disease. Parents would avoid all kinds of things so we wouldn't be exposed to it. One of my favorites was swimming and going to the beach was one activity that was often curtailed. When it came out, I can remember standing in line at the school nurse's office waiting on the shots.

Answer 5

I remember the first Texas Instruments calculators that kids bought for high school classes back in 75 were around 200.00 and a year or so later, they were like 20.00. I was always good at math, so I didn't bother..plus, I couldn't afford one anyway. But they sure beat slide rules. Microwaves were pretty expensive too at first and many people didn't think the food tasted right cooking that way...still don't, but it is a lot quicker.