Ok, this one is worth half a billion

[exiledforcefreak]

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current
events.
The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings
at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandfather replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born
before:

' television

' penicillin

' polio shots

' frozen foods

' Xerox

' contact lenses

' Frisbees and

' the pill

There were no:

' credit cards

' laser beams or

' ball-point pens

Man had not invented:

' pantyhose

' air conditioners

' dishwashers

' clothes dryers

' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and

' man hadn't yet walked on the moon

[Image Removed]
Your Grandmother and I got married first, . . And then lived together.

Every family had a father and a mother.

Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir".
And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a
title, "Sir."

We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycare
centers, and group therapy.

Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and
common sense.

We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to
stand up and take responsibility for our actions.

Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a
bigger privilege.

We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.

Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your
cousins.

Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening
breeze started.

Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and
weekends-not purchasing condominiums.
[Image Removed]
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters,
yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches
on our radios.

And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to
Tommy Dorsey.

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk

The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.

Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and
10 cents.

Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were
all a nickel.

And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on
enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . But who could afford
one?
Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day:

' "grass" was mowed,

' "coke" was a cold drink,

' "pot" was something your mother cooked in and

' "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.

' "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,

' " chip" meant a piece of wood,

' "hardware" was found in a hardware store and

' "software" wasn't even a word.
[Image Removed]
And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed
a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused"
and say there is a generation gap... And how old do you think I am?




How old is this person? Everyone gets one guess. If no one can guess his age within a week I'll give only 100k points to whoever came closest.
To clarify, what is the youngest this person COULD be?
To clarify, you have to actually give a number, not a general age range.

 

[djp952]

This man is 79 years, 8 months, and 4 days old.
He was born on August 6, 1927.

(If I'm actually right, I'll be the first to fall off my chair. That's a relatively wild guess based on only 2 or 3 of your facts.)

 

[DaGuyWitBluGlasses]

His grandfather is delusional since the information is wrong, there is no way to guess his age, a selection:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=coke

' "coke" was a cold drink,

The soft drink name is a shortening (first recorded 1909) of brand name Coca-Cola, trademark from 1887. As a shortened form of cocaine it dates from 1908, Amer.Eng.

" chip" meant a piece of wood,

"chip" as in potato chip appeared in 1859.

' "software" wasn't even a word.

1851, "woolen or cotton fabrics,"

 

[Maruno]

The problem here is that most of the "information" gives things that were around "in his day". That's decades. All that stuff is meaningless. So let's look at the solid facts (i.e. what wasn't around when he was born).

Dishwashers were invented in 1886, and he was born before then.

An interesting fact. The oldest person on record is (or rather, was) 122 and nearly a half, so the grandfather is younger than this. Assuming the conversation is happening in present day, he could not have been born before 1885. But he was born before dishwashers, in 1886.

Knowing me, knowing you. Aha.

He was born around 1885 or 1886. Now is 2007. The grandfather is a ripe old age of 121. That's the youngest he could be, and he couldn't be much older (otherwise he'd be in the Guinness World Records).

That's my answer. He's 121 years old.

 

[exiledforcefreak]

I don't know about this dishwasher thing. The age I have is younger then 121. Maybe is refers to dishwashers as a household appliance? Maybe they hadn't been put into widespread use till a certain point and he didn't know about them... anyway, the number I have is less then 121!

 

[Maruno]

Modern dishwashers are descended from the 1886 invention of Josephine Cochrane, also hand-powered, which she unveiled at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

(Modern) dishwashers were invented in 1886. It is accepted as a fact that man had not invented dishwashers when the grandfather was born.

But is that a play on words? "Man" didn't invent dishwashers at all; a woman invented it. Do you mean "man" the gender, or "man" as in "mankind"?

 

[Jathro]

The man is no younger than 53.

 

[Digital Jedi]

His grandfather is delusional since the information is wrong, there is no way to guess his age, a selection:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=coke

The soft drink name is a shortening (first recorded 1909) of brand name Coca-Cola, trademark from 1887. As a shortened form of cocaine it dates from 1908, Amer.Eng.

Well, in context, I don't think people were very familiar with the vernacular up until the late 20th Century. Lots of phrases exist now, but may not become commonplace or familiar to me until more people start using it. "Bad" as a slang term for something good, has been around for nearly a century, but not commomly used until the last few decades.

"chip" as in potato chip appeared in 1859.

But here he's reffering to a computer chip, not just the general usage of the word.

1851, "woolen or cotton fabrics,"

Again, I don't think this was a very common term. Certainly not common enough for him to be considered dilusional for not knowing it.

An interesting fact. The oldest person on record is (or rather, was) 122 and nearly a half, so the grandfather is younger than this. Assuming the conversation is happening in present day, he could not have been born before 1885. But he was born before dishwashers, in 1886.

And again, that presumes this guy was watching every single world event and invention to know precisely when a Dishwasher had been invented. When I'm telling my grand kids someday about my childhood, I'll say we didn't have computers when I was a child, even though that would be technically untrue. The first one was invented around twenty years before I was born. But that doesn't make me wrong in the context I'm using, it just means I'm referring to the common, familiar use of them in modern times. Not to the precise moment of their invention. Dishwashers didn't become a commonplace item in the US until sometime around the 40s and 50s.


If I remember correctly, Jack Benny was on the air for nearly twenty years starting around the 30s before going on to TV. So that's a rather large margin for him to have been listening to him. But the 5 and 10 store comments and the mention of the Chevy Coupe are dead giveaways. This guy was born no later then 1920 and no earlier then the mid 1930s in order to refer to these casual comments on life in the 1950s. Just about every thing he's referred to is the same things my dad used to say about life back then. So I'm going to place him at my dad's age, or what he would be this year, the age of 75.

 

[Maruno]

And again, that presumes this guy was watching every single world event and invention to know precisely when a Dishwasher had been invented. When I'm telling my grand kids someday about my childhood, I'll say we didn't have computers when I was a child, even though that would be technically untrue. The first one was invented around twenty years before I was born. But that doesn't make me wrong in the context I'm using, it just means I'm referring to the common, familiar use of them in modern times. Not to the precise moment of their invention. Dishwashers didn't become a commonplace item in the US until sometime around the 40s and 50s.

So what? The invention of something is a very specific event. Just because it took a while to get something into circulation, doesn't mean it hadn't been invented before they go for sale. You'll tell your grandkids that computers weren't around when you were young, but you won't say they hadn't been invented.

Since practically everything the grandfather says is "in his time", it's meaningless. If he said, "at the age of 30 you could buy a Coupe for etc. and petrol (because that's what you should call it) for etc.", then that would have been better. As it is, all the information he gave could have come from any point in his lifetime, and so is useless.

The only points to concentrate on, then, are the events that happened before and after his birth. The dishwasher invention was one that happened afterwards, giving a lower bound to his age, and the Guinness World Record gives an upper bound (which is practically identical).

Yes, we assume he knows exactly when the dishwasher was invented, but it's better than basing guesses off things like, "in my day I paid taxes", or, "in my day I took the dog for a walk", because that could have been anywhen.

 

[DarkLogicianOfCaos]

I will put him at 86. Why? Why not?!

<edit> Oh, and by 86, I mean that sometime during 2007 he has his 86th Birthday (important, because he might not have had his birthday yet--or do you want that to?)

 

[EmeraldDragon]

the guy is 59 years old.

 

[Digital Jedi]

So what? The invention of something is a very specific event. Just because it took a while to get something into circulation, doesn't mean it hadn't been invented before they go for sale. You'll tell your grandkids that computers weren't around when you were young, but you won't say they hadn't been invented.

Since practically everything the grandfather says is "in his time", it's meaningless. If he said, "at the age of 30 you could buy a Coupe for etc. and petrol (because that's what you should call it) for etc.", then that would have been better. As it is, all the information he gave could have come from any point in his lifetime, and so is useless.

The only points to concentrate on, then, are the events that happened before and after his birth. The dishwasher invention was one that happened afterwards, giving a lower bound to his age, and the Guinness World Record gives an upper bound (which is practically identical).

Yes, we assume he knows exactly when the dishwasher was invented, but it's better than basing guesses off things like, "in my day I paid taxes", or, "in my day I took the dog for a walk", because that could have been anywhen.

I think you taking it far too literal. This is an "in my day" conversation between a young man and his Grandfather. The specific dates of the invention of somethings are going to be meaningless, as the comments are all casual. He's going to be referring to what "was around" in his day, not what was invented by the time he was born. Most people don't keep track of that kind of stuff, and especially in this type of conversation, which isn't intended to be a riddle, is he going to be far more general about the times. They'll refer to the things of their era that were in wide circulation or that were widely heard of. Not from Wikia entries on specific dates and times.

He's also not just referring to a random time in his life, he's referring to the most memorable years of his adulthood. Again, an "in my day" conversation isn't going to be random decades, it's going to be about the formative years of ones adulthood, probably about the very start of it. So for a man from the early twentieth century, he's going to have begun a family right around the 1940s and 50s, right around his high school graduation or college years. It doesn't make sense for him say that he was born before dishwashers were invented, but to comment on the cost of a Chevrolet from the 1950s or on the existence of stores from that same decade. Those years would have been the time that the cost of items was far more memorable, being that it would have just started to matter to him, and that he would of been buying things he never bought before having just started a family. To talk about how cheap gas was (the American term for it), how cost effective Five and Dime stores were, how cheap a Pepsi was, but to put his birthdate before the 1880s, is to place him in his 40s and 50s by the time all that stuff was commonplace. That would be like me telling my grandson how cheap gas was 2007, when I certainly be more inclined to talk about how cheap gas was when I actually considered it cheap, in the 1970s and 80s. Not some random decade where the price, for me, was already starting to go up. It certainly kills the impact of that kind of speech for an old timer to not pick the most extreme memory of a thing. If you go by the specific invention dates, then your number is gong to be insanely high, which EFF already pointed out, is too high.

 

[Maruno]

Most people don't keep track of that kind of stuff,

Right, I forgot we were talking about Joe Everyman. Some people DO learn little things like that, just so they can say they were born before those things happened/were invented. It's a little interesting piece of information. Wouldn't you want to say you existed before the invention of mobile phones (hypothetically), simply because they're so common that everyone has one, and saying you were around before them makes you seem impressive (or old)?

Again, an "in my day" conversation isn't going to be random decades, it's going to be about the formative years of ones adulthood, probably about the very start of it.

Approximations. And we're supposed to be guessing a specific age here. I'd like to think it was possible to do so, and that we weren't doomed to failure before we even started.

If you go by the specific invention dates, then your number is gong to be insanely high, which EFF already pointed out, is too high.

It's not "insanely high", because it's within the limits of acceptability. Okay, it's considered high by the average person, but you tell those really old people who have managed to survive to such ages that they're insane. Go on.


Apparently I'm not allowed another guess anyway, and I'm not that well versed on America so I won't try.

 

[Digital Jedi]

Right, I forgot we were talking about Joe Everyman. Some people DO learn little things like that, just so they can say they were born before those things happened/were invented. It's a little interesting piece of information. Wouldn't you want to say you existed before the invention of mobile phones (hypothetically), simply because they're so common that everyone has one, and saying you were around before them makes you seem impressive (or old)?

I was born before the common use of cell phones. And I'd likely say that to my grandchild. But I'm not really up on when they were specically invented, because most things commonplce to my young adulthood would have been around prior to their common use.

Approximations. And we're supposed to be guessing a specific age here. I'd like to think it was possible to do so, and that we weren't doomed to failure before we even started.

You can use approximations of one thing else to guess the specifics of something else. It's called process of elimination.

It's not "insanely high", because it's within the limits of acceptability. Okay, it's considered high by the average person, but you tell those really old people who have managed to survive to such ages that they're insane. Go on.

What I mean, is if you use all the information and go specifically by when stuff was invented, then your going to get an insane number. Look through it again and use all the stuff he said "wasn't around" in his day and take that to mean he wasn't born yet, and you could place the guy's birthday somewhere before the 3rd Millenium BC.

 

[Maruno]

I was born before the common use of cell phones. And I'd likely say that to my grandchild. But I'm not really up on when they were specically invented, because most things commonplce to my young adulthood would have been around prior to their common use.

Exactly. You'd say just that. "Most people didn't have a mobile phone when I was born." The grandfather didn't say that about dishwashers. He said he was born before they were invented. This is very specific, and as long as we can trust the old man to have not lost his mind, we should accept this as a solid fact.

If, at some point in your long life, you happened to discover you were born before microwave ovens were invented (an an example), you'd remember that, and tell everyone else as a point of interest. And you're more likely to hear about the invention time of the microwave than the 11-dimensional theory of the Universe. Microwaves are more popular.

You can use approximations of one thing else to guess the specifics of something else. It's called process of elimination.

Yes, overlapping margins of error and all that. But there's too many of them to work with.

As I said, I'm not familiar with American history. One of the first things I happened to look up was dishwashers, and that gave me an almost perfect answer, so I went with it.

What I mean, is if you use all the information and go specifically by when stuff was invented, then your going to get an insane number. Look through it again and use all the stuff he said "wasn't around" in his day and take that to mean he wasn't born yet, and you could place the guy's birthday somewhere before the 3rd Millenium BC.

pantyhose
air conditioners
dishwashers
clothes dryers

They're the only things I looked at, because they're the only "I was born before these were invented" items listed. And dishwashers happen to be the oldest. And this gives an acceptable answer.

 

[Dasher]

I would guess 83

 

[Digital Jedi]

Yes, overlapping margins of error and all that. But there's too many of them to work with.

Only if your going by specified invention dates, not by the general attitude of a given decade.

As I said, I'm not familiar with American history. One of the first things I happened to look up was dishwashers, and that gave me an almost perfect answer, so I went with it.

Which might have a lot to do with it. The conversation is indicative of an American male of that generation. If your not real familiar with them, you'd miss some important clues.

pantyhose
air conditioners
dishwashers
clothes dryers

They're the only things I looked at, because they're the only "I was born before these were invented" items listed. And dishwashers happen to be the oldest. And this gives an acceptable answer.

Even if your going only by that first list, your going by hard data, and not what someone reminiscing would referring to.

 

[somewan]

The youngest this man can be is 69 years.

The longest a reply can be in this thread is 54 lines.

The quickest someone has corrected another person's reply in this thread is 13 minutes.

 

[exiledforcefreak]

500000000.00 points donated to EmeraldDragon successfully!

59 is indeed correct

 

[roadhouse007]

I just have to ask, even though I didn't bother trying to figure this one out myself.......

How did you figure out the answer emerald dragon?