I wasn't from the city of Syracuse, but I grew up about 15 minutes north of the city. Some of these are just hilarious! Many seem geared for the old-timers; I grew up in the area in the 70s and 80s.

How do you rate?

You Know You're From Syracuse When...

1. You know every possible cat-related Solvay joke. [I knew people from Solvay, but no cat jokes. Hmm, what's this about?]
2. During your morning drive, you can accurately forecast how warm the day will become judging by the intensity of the stench wafting off Onondaga Lake. [I remember the agonizing construction days of the late 70s in the area... was this 81 being built? I was pretty young. I'll never forget that putrid smell of Onondaga Lake, though. Barf]
3. You know the correct pronunciation of "Pompey." [got it]
4. You no longer need to brace your eardrums when exiting the pressurized Carrier Dome. [I've never been in the Carrier Dome.]
5. You take out-of-town friends on drives past developer Bob Congel's house on Woodchuck Hill Road. [Gosh, I remember Woodchuck Hill Road!]
6. The word "iniquity" inspires images of a bejeweled hand gesturing from the edge of a grainy black-and-white television screen on Channel 5's Monster Movie Matinee. [LOL, you bet I remember that hand! And the guy with the eye-patch, too! Wasn't that guy also Salty Sam on TV??]
7. You call the intersection of Salina and Jefferson streets "Downcity." [I think my parents called it that]
8. You can tell all the Hafner establishments apart. [no idea]
9. You know the name of the guy who does all the voice-overs for WCNY-Channel 24. [I don't know his name, but I remember his voice]
10. You go to Sainte Marie Among the Iroquois and amuse yourself by asking the 17th-century "re-creators" what they think of the ongoing waterfront redevelopment project. [We haven't been there yet, I do so want to go! Last time we tried, they were closed]
11. You still refer to 500 S. Salina St. as the Chimes Building and Sainte Marie Among the Iroquois as the French Fort. [YEP!]
12. Your children dream of being on WIXT-Channel 9's "Storm Team." [Well, I did, my kids don't]
13. You saw Vanessa Williams when she made local appearances as Miss Greater Syracuse. [Oh yeah, I recall this....]
14. Your chest bursts with pride when Syracuse's climate runs as the top story on cable TV's Weather Channel. [Yeah, especially when everyone says "How can you drive in that stuff?!]
15. You know the three women cited by the name of the now-defunct but once-delicious Caroma Restaurant. [no idea]
16. You have the time and temperature number memorized. Extra points if you recall it as GR4-8481; double points if you know GR stood for Granite. [This number must go way back, before telephone numbers changed to 7 digits? I remember the old extension of my part of Cicero was 676]
17. You're beginning to suspect that the time and temperature lady actually died years ago and her voice is now computer-generated and preserved for all eternity. [no idea]
18. You know where to find parking spaces in Skaneateles. Extra points for finding free parking spaces anywhere in downtown Syracuse. [I can always find free parking spaces. Necessity is the mother of invention, you know]
19. You're surprised that people from other parts of the country know nothing about lacrosse. [They don't know what lacrosse is?!?!]
20. Your snowblower gets stuck on the roof. [When I was a kid, only the rich folks had snowblowers (same with air conditioning). So no one in my neighborhood had a snowblower. But a couple of us lost a few mittens up there...]
21. You miss Bowling for Dollars and its host, Bud Hedinger. [Yes!!!]
22. You are intimidated by the waitresses at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, instead of vice versa. [I know about the restaurant, but have never been inside]
23. You recall the days when Tobe's Cherry Street smoker was the only bona fide barbecue in town. [no idea]
24. You remember the key to open the door of local TV's Magic Toy Shop. [This is vaguely familiar... does anyone remember Miss Merrily, by the way? Believe it or not, when I had to audition for drama school in the 80s, she was the judge, lol. My mom, who had worked in Syracuse TV, recognized her and the two chatted endlessly]
25. You know that Onondaga Lake Parkway is really Route 370, which used to be Route 57 and is called Second Street in the village of Liverpool, and you know that Tulip Street, Morgan Road and Euclid Road are actually one and the same roadway.[I remember]
26. Your idea of fun is to pack a picnic lunch and go watch the mosquitoes get sprayed in Cicero. [I don't remember this, although I grew up in the area]
27. You know what a "spiedie" is and pronounce "coney" like it has two o's. [You bet! And those Syracuse Jewish delis... ooooo so good. Hey that reminds me, anyone remember Mr. Food?! "Oh, isso GOOD!" My grandpa used to call him "Mr. Fool." lol. I loved Mr. Food]
28. You automatically give speeding cars with Canadian license plates the right of way on I-81. [not me]
29. You think that they really don't have enough weather coverage on TV and radio. [Amen!]
30. You remember when Armond Magnarelli had a real head of hair and Stan Colella was skinny as a rail. [no idea]
31. You've eaten clams surrounded by the clamshell-covered walls at McCarthy's on South Salina Street or Cap'n Mac's Clam Snug on Erie Boulevard East. [no idea]
32. You remember doughnuts at Abe's and burgers at Tarbe's Grill. [no idea]
33. You think they could squeeze in a few more parking spaces downtown if they'd only get rid of that pesky Jerry Rescue monument. [no idea]
34. You can determine how much a person's house is worth by the way he or she pronounces "Skaneateles". [haha! I have relatives there...]
35. You know in your heart that before the apocalypse, the yin-yang sign at Marble Farms ice-cream shop will start revolving again. Extra points if you remember when it did revolve. [no idea]
36. When the wind blows just right, you can tell when steel is being poured at Crucible Specialty Metals. {Syracuse was always full of stinky smells. How could I tell if it was the lake, the gefilte fish, or the factories?]
37. You can explain to visitors what salt potatoes are. [LOVED those]
38. You remember when the original Phoebe's served soul food. [no idea]
39. You heard Chuck and Gap Mangione perform at the 800 Club as the Jazz Brothers. [no idea]
40. You already feel kind of nostalgic about the slowly disappearing tank farms of Oil City. [Are they gone yet? *sigh*]
41. You remember Fairmount Fair. Bonus points for remembering it before it expanded at the western end; double points for remembering it before it was enclosed. [Score!]
42. You've shopped at the Penn Can Mall. Bonus points if you remember its jingle or know that it's named Penn Can because of its location between Pennsylvania and Canada. [I loved Penn Can-- went there almost every weekend as a teenager.]
43. You define summer as three months of bad sledding. [Although, I liked swimming in Oneida Lake during the summer]
44. You remember a Democratic congressman being elected from Onondaga County. [Has this changed?]
45. You know not to drive through Baldwinsville's Four Corners between 3 and 7 p.m. [gosh, riding through Baldwinsville gave me car sickness]
46. Your favorite memory of former Mayor Lee Alexander is of him strolling into a Hotel Syracuse elevator with a blonde on one arm and a brunette on the other. [no idea, although his name is familiar...]
47. You've attended a Syracuse Firebirds game. [Uh, no. We never went skiing at Whiteface, either]
48. You held season tickets to both Syracuse Blazers hockey and Syracuse Scorpions soccer games. [Nope. We did go sledding one time... what was that hill? It was fabulous, just fabulous... somewhere in the city....]
49. You attended a Syracuse Chiefs game at MacArthur Stadium. Bonus points if you attended a Chiefs game at Municipal Stadium. [no. We weren't into sports at all. Except boxing which my dad always watched on TV]
50. You've shopped at Switz's novelty store in North Syracuse. [OH I remember Switz's!!! I drooled over their TV ads every Christmas! My mom would not DARE take us kids, she'd never get us out again. It wasn't until I was an adult that I finally went in.. and so much had changed. The place was a shadow of what it had once been... Switz's closed shortly after that]
51. You know how to decode the weather star on top of the MONY Tower. [I remember MONY!]
52. You found out that Post-Standard political correspondents Gus and Luther F. Bliven were not two different people. [no idea]
53. You design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit. [yeah. I hated Halloween then as I hate it now, though.]
54. The mosquitoes in your yard have legal landing lights. [Hate mosquitoes! Here in the Utica area, it's black flies everywhere.]
55. You have more miles on your snowblower than your car.
56. You still harbor mixed feelings toward Peter Andreoli for prosecuting John Mulroy and other local Republicans for political fund-raising shakedowns. [no idea]
57. You saw the Police and the Romantics at the Firebarn Tavern before they had any hits. [no idea]
58. You've eaten a frittata at Poodle's and Jim's on South Salina Street or Mario's Little Gem Diner (now known as Doc's Little Gem Diner). [no idea]
59. Your favorite radio talk show host will always be Corny O'Leary. [That name rings a bell...]
60. Attending the State Fair is a family tradition, and you go more than three times during the 12 days it's open. [I have never been!! Can you believe it! But my dad said the Fair was no place for a young lady.]
61. You remember when the limebeds broke and oozed out everywhere. [Wow, when was this?]
62. You've shopped at the Tri-County Mall. [yes!]
63. You owe more money on your snowmobile than your car.
64. The mayor greets you on the street by your first name. [I'll bet that doesn't happen anymore]
65. You characterize the four seasons as winter, still winter, almost winter and construction. [Yeah... I remember loads and loads of construction...]
66. Your idea of a seven-course meal is a six-pack of Genny Cream Ale and a bucketful of Buffalo wings. [lol-- this why older Syracusians are either on nitroglycerin or apidexin. :S ]
67. You have experienced frostbite and sunburn in the same week. [Nearly]
68. Half the change in your pocket is Canadian, eh? [I do remember having a lot of Canadian pennies and nickels!]
69. The pungent smell once emitted from the Corenco rendering plant on Erie Boulevard East still lingers in your mind's nose. [Lots of stuff lingers...]
70. You keep the snow tires on your truck all year because it ain't worth taking them off for only two months. [SO TRUE]
71. You know that Speach, Curtis, Goudy and Knapp are actually Italian names. [I didn't know Speach was!]
72. You remember when Doug's Fish Fry had only one location, and you remember when owner Doug Clark actually liked the First Lady. [I never knew Doug, but I knew a few of those fish sandwiches very well. Good eating in the Syracuse area, I'll tell you that]
73. You know that anybody named Tarolli either hails from Solvay or has relatives there. [no idea]
74. You still think of Channel 9's Mike Price as Baron Daemon. [I remember Mike Price well]
75. You've noticed that True Value Hardware on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores at Christmas. [no idea]
76. You think driving is better in the winter because the potholes get filled with snow and snowbanks protect you from the guardrails. [No potholes was a plus, but I liked to see the lakes and the greenery]