Remember When Life Had a Rewind Button?

There was a time—not that long ago—when life came with fewer buttons and more knobs. You know, back when cars had cassette decks, gas was a buck a gallon, and your favorite mixtape was a declaration of both musical taste and mechanical engineering skill. Because let’s be honest—getting that tape to play without the player eating it, required finesse worthy of NASA.

Remember those days? The dashboard was a work of minimalist art: a speedometer, a fuel gauge, maybe a clock that was never right, and the crown jewel—a Delco AM/FM radio with two speakers that sounded like someone singing through a tin can. You didn’t need surround sound. You just needed to be moving fast enough for the wind noise to drown out the static. Car seats weren’t heated; they were vinyl, and on a hot summer day, you had to peel yourself off them like a Fruit Roll-Up.

If you were lucky, your car had a manual transmission, preventing most of your friends from asking to borrow it because they couldn’t drive it. Nothing said “I know what I’m doing” like smoothly shifting from third to fourth gear while sipping a gas station coffee in a Styrofoam cup. It was a dance between clutch, accelerator, and gearstick—one that occasionally ended with a crunch loud enough to make you question your life choices. But you kept at it, because driving wasn’t just transportation. It was participation. And to make matters worse, you had to conduct this automotive dance while leaning to your right in what we called a “gangster lean," though we were far from real gangsters - but we looked cool.

Gas was around $1 a gallon, which meant you could fill up your car and still have enough left over for a burger, fries, and a 64-ounce soda that came in a cup big enough to bathe a small dog. There were no LED screens to tell you your mileage or remind you to breathe. Your car didn’t care if you were stressed; it just wanted a little oil and maybe a kick when it wouldn’t start.

Music discovery didn’t come from an algorithm; it came from your buddy who swore his cousin knew a guy who worked at the radio station. Making a mixtape was a sacred ritual. You waited by the radio, finger poised on the “record” button, praying the DJ wouldn’t talk over the intro. And when that tape finally popped out—complete with your handwritten track list—you had something money couldn’t buy - pure, analog pride.

And let’s not forget the car antenna—tall, flexible, and capable of pulling in exactly one clear station... if you were parked under a cloudless sky, facing north. If you were feeling fancy, you might splurge for one of those retractable antennas—just long enough to make you feel like James Bond.

Of course, those were the days before every car became a rolling computer. Back then, “Bluetooth” was something you got from eating a snow cone too fast, and “hands-free” meant letting your passenger hold the map while you argued over whether you’d missed the turn.

Yes, times have changed. Cars now practically drive themselves, music streams from invisible clouds, and gas costs more than your first date. But every now and then, when you hear that faint hiss of tape or catch the smell of old vinyl, you can’t help but smile.

Because once upon a time, life had fewer pixels and more personality.

And if you’re lucky, you still have that old cassette deck tucked away somewhere waiting for Side B.

So, here’s to the days of cassettes, crank windows, and clutch pedals. To Delco radios that had more static than sound, to gas that didn’t cost half your paycheck, and $50 bought a week’s worth of groceries.

And to the people who remember the past, not because it was easier, but because it was ours.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find that old cassette mix that I made in ’88. I just need to find a pencil first because I know the cassette wheels will be stuck.

Happy 2026.