As we enter a new year, I reminisce about the changes that have come in my lifetime and throughout history. With The Christmas Season in our recent past, I am thinking about the trends in acquiring gifts for that holy season. It, historically, has morphed from parents making one gift for each child, to parents buying modest gifts at the “Dry Goods” store, to shopping in a busy “Downtown” with many stores to choose from, or ordering from the “Sears, Roebuck and Company Gift Catalog” then came driving to the nearby shopping mall and, most recently, shopping on-line. I used to save one gift purchase for Christmas Eve each year. I enjoyed the hustle and bustle of last-minute shoppers desperately trying to complete their yuletide chores. I have been disappointed the last couple of years because Christmas Eve crowds and the accompanying hustle and bustle, just weren’t there. Telephones are another area where obvious changes have come about, many of them in our lifetimes! Before I was a twinkle in my father’s eye, a telephone call required requesting the operator connect you with the party you hoped to speak to. Next, calls were made by “dialing” the number of the party you wanted to speak with by cranking the rotary dial on your phone. “Party lines” were common back in the 40’s to 60’s.  A party line occurred when the phone company issued two separate telephone numbers a connecting line. This resulted in potential callers putting the handset to their ear to initiate a call and hearing a conversation already in progress instead of a dial tone. When this happened, the second caller needed to hang up and be patient, waiting for the first call to end. The first caller was expected to end their call quickly- this was usually done because of “common courtesy” and the knowledge that they may be the second caller the next time. Pay telephones were common in drug stores, post offices, gas stations, on busy corners and many other locations. Prior to the invention of “cell phones” pay phones were a necessity for people who needed to make a phone call when they were away from their home. The cell phone was invented and this, combined with the propensity of drug dealers to use pay phones as a way to keep their business stealth, ended the use of, and need for, pay phones. Telephones were improved in other ways as well. Pushbutton phones were invented and replaced many of the dial phones in households throughout the country. The next advancement was cordless phones that entered many households prior to the cell phone. The invention of color TV’s came about between 1946-1950. The first color TV broadcast was in June of 1951. When newspapers were the main source of news it was not unusual for a major paper to have a morning, afternoon and evening printing with changes and updates in each edition. Now, many newspapers have folded, and the industry itself is fighting to survive. Cars that started off with “crank start” models morphed through many stages- including a starter button on the floor, then the starter automatically activates when the key is turned. “Any color, as long as it was black” to numerous colors. Automatic transmissions as an accessory- now common; vent windows on the front window, many variations of the vent window, now, it is almost obsolete. Engines have been changed in many ways at many times. I have heard of 3, 4-, 6-, 8- and 12-cylinder engines. All cars, at one time, had drum brakes; those have been replaced by disc, which are more efficient. Car windows have varied from push open, to crank, to automatic. And, amazingly, we are on the cusp of “self driving” cars- WOW!!! We have moved on from full-service to self-service gas stations. Cigarette machines, which were a great gift to 16-year-old kids who had developed a yearning for tobacco, are gone. Typewriters have gone from manual to electric- of course! Hasn’t everything? Thanks for reading. Please comment about what you liked, what you didn’t, or anything you would like to add.