Vintage Things that are Still in Common Use

[Missy Hellfire]

Inspired by LizzieMaine's thread about vintage things that had disappeared in our lifetimes, it got me thinking about vintage things that are still around and in common use (perhaps even so much so that people don't regard them as 'vintage').

Milk delivered by milkmen in the UK still comes in glass bottles with foil tops and some brands of bread here still come in waxed paper wrappers. Certain brands of food and drink such as Bird's Custard and Marmite still have packaging that very much resembles their original vintage incarnations, as do many brands of alcohol.

Can anyone else think of any other vintage things that are still making their way into modern life? (Not antiques still in use, but things still being practiced or manufactured and are in the mainstream consumer market.)

 

[Shangas]

Coca-Cola is still sold in glass bottles here in Australia (and, I imagine, in other countries).

 

[Elaina]

Sewing machines: while the quality sucks they still make them, and belts for treadles (pre-electric days) are still made and sold. So are treadles, but mostly for the Amish market.

Feather dusters, vanities, wardrobes, Safeways...

While I figure you mean things that are somewhat true to their vintage counterparts, like Mickey Mouse watches (sans mechanical movements), Morton Salt, Altoids, and the like.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"Camp Coffee"

"How can something in such a pretty bottle taste so utterly nasty?"

 

[Missy Hellfire]

What I am noticing from what has been said so far is that it appears to be mainly foodstuffs and their packaging that has emerged more or less 'intact' as it were. I wonder is this because a lot of the food market relies on people recognising something as being good, tasty or reliable in order to remain in the market?

Elaina - Yes, I am pertaining specifically to things that are still pretty much true to their vintage counterparts. There are many, many household objects (in fact most of them) that are technically vintage survivals but they exist (like sewing machines, radios, cookers etc) in an evolved form as it were be it either due to technological advances, fashion or both. Good thought with the Mickey Mouse watches!

P.S. BinkieBaumont - I absolutely adore Camp Coffee and always have a bottle of it in the cupboard! Mmmmm, chicory coffee goodness!

 

[Elaina]

I have both a mechanical and a quartz movement Mickey Mouse watch from the 50s and 70s which is why I was thinking of it. I kill the quartz ones, so I tend to keep to a mechanical. While I don't wear either of these often, I happened to have on the older one when I typed it.

 

[Shangas]

Vintage things which are still in common use...

Record-players, radios, records? Fountain pens? And related to that...rocker-blotters & blotting-paper...Blotting-paper is still manufactured for fountain pens - I've got some in my desk right now.

 

[Elaina]

Zippos. I have one of the early slim models (late 50s) and then realized it looks exactly the same (sans size) as the one I just bought my dad for Father's day.

I never think of it being "vintage" since I've had this one since I was 15 and have used it almost constantly since, and I bought it because it was 50 cents versus the 15.95 they wanted in 1990.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"The humble egg slice hasn't really changed in decades"

" At the risk of seeming mean spirited, I hope someone lost their job over this contraption?"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Fels-Naptha Soap.

If they ever pull it off the market, I shall surely die.

 

[Diamondback]

In aviation:

Douglas DC-3/C-47/C-53-family "Gooney Birds"
Grumman TBF Avenger and Martin JRM Mars (both as waterbombers in Canada)
Lockheed C-130 Hercules (Still the most common military airlifter in the Western world after 50 years, and still spreading!)
Now if you need a yardstick for those lifespans, consider that the early-model F-15s that were just entering service when I was born are now mostly spoare-parts or scrap-metal... makes a pre-WWII design still in active use really impressive by comparison, doesn't it?

I wouldn't be surprised if there are still a few old Maritime Commission C2, C3, Liberty and Victory ships still steaming the miles away as tramp-freighters...

Fels-Naptha Soap.

If they ever pull it off the market, I shall surely die.

Never know when some punk's gonna need a mouthful, huh? lol

----------------
Now playing: John Williams - Rescuing Sarah
via FoxyTunes

 

[Marc Chevalier]

'Trojan' brand condoms.


.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Some people just love to stir up trouble .

 

[BinkieBaumont]

'Trojan' brand condoms.


.

"How come you get to mention Condoms, and I am castigated for mentioning "Swine Flu Cocktails, prey tell?"

 

[Missy Hellfire]

Vintage things which are still in common use...

Record-players, radios, records? Fountain pens?

I chiefly mean things that are still in their original state but still in common useage, so things like radios and record players are out because although their functin remains the same their style has changed.

Elaina - Zippo lighters are a fantastic example! And as you said, nobody would think of them as being ''vintage" or even old fashioned and yet the design has barely changed over all these years.

I love spotting these little glimpses of the past that are still going strong today, to me it gladdens the soul!

 

[Senator Jack]

'Trojan' brand condoms.


.

How vulgar and unpatriotic. I suggest they now be called Liberty Letters.

 

[C-dot]

Heinz Ketchup, the Globe and Mail, Woman's Day magazine, Archie Comics, Pond's, Palmolive, Esteé Lauder cosmetics...

 

[Jay]

Lava Soap

Yesterday:

and today:

 

[tuppence]

Where do you find that Binkie

"How can something in such a pretty bottle taste so utterly nasty?"

.

I've never seen that available Binkie. I would love to try it.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"Tuppy it's available in any of those "Specialist UK food" places, Here in the swan River colony, they sell it in a little shop called "Sweets of London", in Ye Merry olde London Court"