The time before...

avatar

So your computer crashes or there's a power failure and you have a deadline in the office?
Absolute disaster not so!

This would not have posed a problem in the sixties or early seventies as most of our vintage #silverbloggers know only too well.
I must admit though that when I started working in the early seventies, we had electric typewriters, so this old Corona would have been discarded in the back store room somewhere.

darya-kraplak-d34DtRp1bqo-unsplash.jpg
Photo by Darya Kraplak on Unsplash

I worked as a draftswoman in a land surveying office and all our plans were hand drawn; can anyone who uses CAD today ever imagine having to work like that?

We needed equipment like scales, slide rules, a compass, a protractor, flexi curves, drafting pens filled with various colour inks as well as nibs in various thicknesses.
The only way one could zoom into something was using magnifying glasses; remember those?
This is some of hubby's collection as he worked as a civil engineer and kept quite a number of hand drafting equipment which he needed in his career back in the old days!
Our plans were drawn on a clear film and if you made a mistake, we had special blades to scratch out the errors; then use an eraser to clean the film up and redraw that section.

20210812_222853.jpg

Some of our plans had to be drawn on blue linen drafting paper – yes a fabric that was covered with a waxy film and had to be used for certain maps.

blue linen paper.jpg
Source

The off-cuts were washed in hot soapy water to become a beautiful linen fabric, SO...you can imagine how this newbie learner draftswoman felt one day when I spilt a hot cup of tea ALL OVER MY ALMOST COMPLETED PLAN!
Yep, there were many tears but I had to start from scratch!

Those were the days when the best advice I was given, was by my dear old boss Mr Watt...
THINK TWICE AND DRAW ONCE!
He had a great sense of humour and if anyone asked him...
What is your name Sir?, Mr Watt would answer...
Watt, is my name! with a naughty glint in his eyes of course!

This was a Facit Calculator used from the fifities right through to the early seventies and certainly was a great advancement at the time! It had to be wound up instead of pressing an enter button!

Calculator_facit_hg.jpg
Photo by b Hannes Grobe


CAD - Computer Aided Drafting

We were simply aghast when CAD was first introduced, as we each had our own style and that would all be lost now.
Of course as soon as we saw how much easier our jobs would be, and I remembered that hot cup of tea that destroyed an almost complete plan, CAD became really exciting.


Can you imagine getting any office work done without your desk computer, or laptop for that matter and how would you feel if everything had to be done by hand again?

I know what my answer to that would be!

Heart page break.png

Liz Signature Jan 21.gif
Banner created by @zord189

Original Content by @lizelle
Thank you for stopping by
Copyright @lizelle – All Rights Reserved
Heart page break.png

Do you know this Badge?
Papilloncharity.png

It says "Thank you for partnering with the Papillon Foundation by participating in the
Weekly Hive Charity Giveaway."

Do you want this Badge?
If you like this badge and if you want to help too, you can learn more about @combination and the badge in their blog post:
Some Exciting News! Badge release!

Hive animated divider 1.gif

CLICK IMAGE IF YOU WISH TO JOIN SILVER BLOGGERS:



Banner created by @derangedvisions

JOIN Hive using my referral LINK



0
0
0.000
20 comments
avatar

Yuan and Amergin.jpg

I wrote my novel on a manual typewriter. I like the tactile-ness of writing that way. It helps me focus. Also, no checking Facebook or whatever on the same device. When I was done, I edited the paper, which is also easier to focus editing that way and not on a screen, and then I used an easel as my paper holder to type it all into Word on the computer. Printed it out, and edited it again.

I'm 42, it's just how my brain works. I don't do computer/phone calendars, either.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Your photo is so classic, I love it! I've heard that many authors preferred the old manual typewriters.
It's so true that one gets sidetracked by a quick visit to Facebook, YouTube and whichever other social media sites we visit!
Thank you for an awesome response.
Silver-Blond Lizzie 🤗

0
0
0.000
avatar

I still start many of what I call my "thinking" posts in my "journal", in pencil. For contract pieces, I also start with pencil and paper. I'm 58 and it took me ages to get beyond points and to mind maps. I will start some things with a blank screen but not many. That said, there are times that it just flows out of my brain into my fingers and through the keyboard...that is very rare but are some of my best pieces. Ever.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I can do it with blog posts, but usually those are a one off, topic wise, whereas a book requires going back to the same well over and over? I don't know if that's the difference in focus, but I think so. :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

I suspect you're right. I would and do prefer editing reports and long, long writing in hard copy. That said, over the years I've learned to focus on the screen...

0
0
0.000
avatar

I had to do drawing and a little cartography as part of my degree. I remember those pens, ink and scraping out mistakes! My long project includes some of those hand drawn diagrams and I typed it on my mother's 1960s "portable" typewriter. before liquid tippex...

All our assignments were handwritten...

I have a love-hate relationship with all this tech. Especially when it crashes. I lurve it when it works!

0
0
0.000
avatar

I'm the same, loooove my reliable desktop but get really frustrated with the old laptop which has to come on holiday with us in case I have to do a quote; it is very lazy and that lagging drives me nutty!
How things have changed in the office!

0
0
0.000
avatar

I only have a laptop now - with a separate monitor and keyboard. Better than any desktop I ever had... 😀

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

My laptop is well matured, time to be replaced with a younger model😅

0
0
0.000
avatar

What a wonderful post Lizelle - brought many smiles to my face - the good old days or not so good old days

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

One thing I just remembered - having to count the words in a line so that your typing could be justified. And now, we just press a button. I've often told my kids about all the things we needed to do in the old days

0
0
0.000
avatar

How technology changed things! We had to count words as well especially for our plan headings etc, sounds so funny now, I'd forgotten about that😅

0
0
0.000
avatar

It is funny to remember these things

0
0
0.000
avatar

It really is, just shows how the world has changed😉

0
0
0.000
avatar

I'm loving all the memories - well done for starting this channel.

0
0
0.000
avatar

This is a very wonderful one coming from you,I can't stop reading over and over again

0
0
0.000
avatar

Glad you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, thanks for stopping by!

0
0
0.000