10 old-school tricks that still work today

Newer is not always better; sometimes it’s just newer. There are little tips and tricks that have been around for years, sometimes even taught in school, to help people remember facts. For those who struggle with “Which month has how many days?” or “Is it ie or ei?” the 10 old-school tips below may be of great help to you. Check them out and see if any of these ring a bell.

1. Good Battery or Bad Battery?

Do you ever find a loose battery in the house and wonder if it’s actually any good? Drop a battery onto a flat, hard surface from one to two centimeters in the air. If it bounces and falls, it’s a dud. If it lands upright, it’s a winner!

2. Finding South Without a Compass

In case you ever get lost and don’t have a compass or smartphone with GPS that works, don’t despair. As long as you have an analog watch and can see the sun, you can figure out the directions. Place the watch flat on your palm with the hour hand pointing to the sun. Find a toothpick or piece of grass and place it across the face of the watch between the hour hand and 12. The end of the toothpick or grass that is closest to the 12 should be pointing due south.

3. Remembering Roman Numeral Values

Most people know what I, V, and X mean in Roman numerals, but you get much beyond that, and the letters look like just that—letters. An old-school mnemonic device to help people remember the values goes like this: “My Dear Cat Loves Xtra Vitamins Intensely.” The first letter of each word is a Roman numeral, and they appear in descending order starting with 1,000 and ending with 1 like so:

• M (1,000)
• D (500)
• C (100)
• L (50)
• X (10)
• V (5)
• I (1)

4. Multiplying by 11

Multiplication tables can throw students for fits. An old-school trick for 11s is that multiplying 11 with any number from 1 to 9 gives you an answer that doubles the number that was multiplied.

5. Waxing and Waning Moon

Are you trying to keep the waxing and waning moon straight? The waning moon looks like a C, and the waxing moon looks like a D.

6. I Before E, Except After C

For words that have i and e in them together, there is a saying to help you keep straight which comes first, the i or the e: “I before e, except after c; and in words that say a as in neighbor and weigh.”

7. Estimating Time Till Sunset

If you need a quick estimate of how much time you have before sunset, place your fingers under the sun. However many fingers it takes to fill the space between the sun and the horizon, count. Then multiply the number of fingers by 15 (for 15 minutes). This gives you how much time you have.

8. Disinfecting

In order to disinfect anything made of material or sponge, the old-school way, according to Modern Blogger Pro, is simply to boil it for 10 minutes.

9. Months with 31 Days

How many days are in September? You have two choices for figuring it out. First, consider using your knuckles on your hands. Start with the knuckle for your forefinger as January. The valley between the forefinger and the middle finger is February. Keep rotating between knuckles and valleys. The knuckles are the months with 31 days, and the valleys are 30. If that is a little complicated, you can go with the saying, “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31.”

10. Hand for Degrees

If you need a quick reference guide for degrees, you can use your hand. You can take your hand and form a 90-degree angle from the thumb to pinkie. If you spread the fingers out just slightly, then you have from pinkie to ring finger 30 degrees, pinkie to middle finger 45 degrees, and pinkie to forefinger 60 degrees.

With so many helpful ways to remember these tidbits, life just got a little easier. Yes, having smartphones means that all this knowledge is always at your fingertips; but when you can’t get a signal, knowing how to do it the old-fashioned way can still come in handy.

Old-school tricks have stood the test of time for a reason—they work! Whether it’s finding your way without GPS, remembering the values of Roman numerals, or disinfecting items without modern cleaners, these tips can be incredibly useful. They remind us that sometimes the simplest methods are the most effective. So, the next time you find yourself in a pinch, try one of these classic tricks—you might be surprised at how handy they can be.