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ANSWER: Ford Thunderbirds built before 1958 did not have a back seat. Some have guessed that the double-feature wouldn’t have been over by 11pm, and this might well have been the case (especially in the summer, when drive-in theatres were more popular), HOWEVER, the gent made it obvious that neither he nor his companion were paying any attention at all to the movie that was playing, so the curfew would have affected them either way.
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Nevermind the thunderbird…1956 was 52 years ago. Married for 50 years would mean he married at 2 years of age. Doesn’t exactly leave much time for the “courtin years”
posted by William on 8-21-2008 at 7:35 am
William: Just to clarify, nothing says he was born in 1956, or 52 years ago. He’s just reminiscing about going out on those dates with his girlfriend (and future wife) back then.
He was old enough to drive in 1956, so he was probably born before 1940.
posted by Sandy on 8-21-2008 at 7:43 am
William, they were courting in 1956. It doesn’t say anything about when he was born.
recaptcha – in outings
posted by kbar on 8-21-2008 at 7:44 am
It never says that he is 52 years old. It just says he has been married for 50 years. He and his wife are probably in their 70’s.
posted by Dustin on 8-21-2008 at 7:45 am
Oye. Yes, I shoulda known better than to hit post so soon after waking up. But I tell you it made PERFECT sense to me then.
posted by William on 8-21-2008 at 7:48 am
also, it’d be hard to catch a double feature at a drive-in AND be home by 11. Movies don’t start at the drive-in until after dark, which wouldn’t leave enough time for 2 feature films and the drive home – unless features were much shorter in the 50’s?
posted by Clotho on 8-21-2008 at 7:59 am
Features were a bit shorter in the 50s, Clotho — particularly the types that they showed at drive-in theatres.
Mind you, it’s rather obvious they didn’t go there to WATCH the film anyway, so it wouldn’t really have mattered!
posted by Sandy on 8-21-2008 at 8:25 am
Hooray! I got this one.
posted by Mattyi on 8-21-2008 at 8:28 am
It’s because they didn’t have “Friday” in 1956 – that was invented in 1959 to confuse the commies. Duh.
posted by Qui on 8-21-2008 at 8:46 am
A double feature at the drive-in would start when the sun went down and it was sufficiently dark…putting them home(if they stayed for both features)closer to 12:30 than 11:00.
posted by Daryl Campbell on 8-21-2008 at 8:49 am
Have we moved away from logic and into Trivial Pursuit, then?
posted by DaviMack on 8-21-2008 at 8:54 am
I figured this would be an anachronism question, so I hopped over to Wikipedia to check out when the Firebird was made… drat, the first model was 1955!… I was about to navigate away when I noticed how short it looked and realized the no backseat thing.
However, I do like the more logic based ones… or insanely small crosswords.
Recaptcha: Custard Courtyard… now I’m hungry.
posted by Kevin on 8-21-2008 at 10:02 am
I’ve been in a ‘56 T-bird. There was no back seat. Not sure what year his car was, but would have to assume it was built the same way.
posted by Sue on 8-21-2008 at 10:16 am
Didn’t read the other posts yet -wanted to get my answer out untainted.
The TB didn’t have a back seat until 1958. It was a 2 seater so no “getting busy in the back seat”
posted by SDK on 8-21-2008 at 12:24 pm
Well, it’s quite obvious that he’s lying:
He’s not real. We’re just pretending that he is. As a mere logical construct, it is impossible for him to have actually existed in the 50’s, let alone to have actually partaken in the activities he claims.
;) How’s that for usin’ yer noggin?
posted by Josh on 8-21-2008 at 12:59 pm
the fib lies in the old man’s existence itself. because anyone who uses the unfathomably lame ‘getting busy’ instantly forfeits his or her right to exist in this universe.
at least to me.
posted by evh on 8-21-2008 at 12:59 pm
Sure, you can nitpick the car — but I got two other things that were more obvious:
1. If it’s his 50th anniversary and they dated in ‘56, might it really be his 51st or 52nd anniversary?
2. More to the point, what old geezer really talks about “getting busy”?
posted by M on 8-21-2008 at 3:49 pm
Perrry’s Place burned down it 1954.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 8-21-2008 at 10:22 pm