Vintage Things that are Still in Common Use

[Aristaeus]

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.

I had not known that Singer still made the old treadle sewing machines untill I was deployed to Kenya in 2000 with the U.S. Navy and my unit spent a whole day putting those things together.

 

[Tiller]

Although not exactly a "product" I'd say that many "vintage" comic book characters from the Golden Age are still around today. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Captain America. Are all from the 30's and 40's. I only really know about American comics, though.

And of course there are the cartoons of the Golden Age that still entertain children. Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Popeye, and the rest.

 

[Elaina]

fftopic:

I had not known that Singer still made the old treadle sewing machines untill I was deployed to Kenya in 2000 with the U.S. Navy and my unit spent a whole day putting those things together.

I sew on a Singer from 1927, but I knew they never really went off the market. Where I live in Tennessee, we have a lot of Amish, and the gentleman that does most of the repairs gets in all kinds of nifty things for them most of us aren't aware of, but very few would use anyway and they have some very old vintage roots. Elna and a few others make them too, and some of those women have machines I would love to have.

I go to their flea market and get stuck at his stall (his wife sells quilts while he works on machines brought in) usually helping/hindering him. Occasionally I look up things for him online and return it to him, saving him some time since he would have to rely on the mail system to get the information, and I do help service some of the older Singer machines since I do it to my own, and I have learned so much from pestering him. He and I share a true love of the machines, and it has been many a pleasant Saturday I've been there coated in kerosene and grease alongside him and his wife, who doesn't understand the love of them at all. And I am aware it is very odd friendship we have, not only in religious differences, but in the gender one as well. Just from the friendship, there's a wealth of things that are aimed at the Amish (and I promise I won't get on the soapbox about how they get gouged frequently) in regards to sewing machines that you can't find in a general sewing store.

While the modern Singers are considered repros, they are also no where near the quality of the old Singers, but Elna makes the same machine in electric models able to be put into a treadle table, where the quality is not compromised at all.

Sorry, one of my passions. [huh]

 

[Shangas]

I think I have to agree with sewing-machines. When I was younger, my grandmother used to use an old Singer sewing-machine. My grandmother was a seamstress for 30-odd years and ran her own tailor's shop. She used that Singer to make all her clothes...and mend a fair number of mine! Granny was a whizz with a needle and thread. And that sewing machine was her pride and joy.

It was a damn heavy pride and joy, though. We don't have it anymore, but I do remember it was jet-black, it was made of metal (iron?), it was electric, it had a wooden case, and the whole flipping thing weighed a bloody TON! I know because in her old age, gran was getting too weak to carry it around, so she left it to ME, her favourite grandson, to carry it for her when she wanted to put it up on her desk to repair clothes and that thing was HEAVY! Especially for a ten-year-old boy! And I used to help her thread the needles and all that and plug it in for her and then sit back and listen to the steady thrumming of the motor...

I can't find an exact picture of it, but granny's Singer looked VERY similar to this one:

Complete with the heavy, wooden, curved cover!

The chief difference between this one and my gran's was that grandmother's Singer was electrically powered instead of worked by hand. Otherwise, they were completely identical.

 

[Elaina]

Shangas, I'm going to PM you so I don't bore the rest of the lounge with sewing machine talk.

 

[Shangas]

Hi Elaina,

I recieved your message. It looked more like the first one you showed me. Only gran's Singer never had a built-in light-source, that I know for sure. The motor was inbuilt into the machine and it was operated by a foot-pedal. Pressing on the pedal drove the machine for gran to do all her sewing.

If she was still in her right mind today (damn you, Alzheimers), I'd be able to ask her...but unfortunately not. Granny's 95 now. She was in her mid 30s when she started her tailoring business.

 

[Elaina]

It's likely she bought a 201 in any event, and used at that since that model was hard to come by for a time in the WWII when it seems she started. Some of the very early models didn't have the light, but look just like that with a really flat, almost art deco back.

It is also considered by people that sew, and many in the industry to be the best sewing machine made, with a straight stitch that is incomparable to any other machine.

ETA: When talking of eclectics, I don't think of the pedals. I know some had a knee bar in tables to use, but all the 201s I've seen had an actual pedal they put on the floor, and most were upgraded in the 50s-60s to an all metal one from a button one (very early models have this style, and most knee bars require this to operate).

 

[Pera.T]

It was a damn heavy pride and joy, though. We don't have it anymore, but I do remember it was jet-black, it was made of metal (iron?), it was electric, it had a wooden case, and the whole flipping thing weighed a bloody TON!

lol that sounds like our one!

Very heavy, and the leg pedal took a while to get used to, but our Singer is so much better than these modern ones! Very reliable, you can sew through anything with it! They don't make them like they used to

 

[Shangas]

lol that sounds like our one!

Very heavy, and the leg pedal took a while to get used to, but our Singer is so much better than these modern ones! Very reliable, you can sew through anything with it! They don't make them like they used to

THAT'S IT! That's granny's sewing machine! Oh I haven't seen it in years! I still wouldn't swear to a light at the back, though. I don't ever recall seeing one, but that's probably just my memory. But that's it alright. Gran started up her business in the 1930s, around the time she got married. WWII came along and totally screwed up her life, but she battled through it, and that Sherman tank of a sewing-machine she had came through it with her.

Apart from the weight, the colour and the wood, I remember that this thing was amazingly powerful and VERY noisy. You're very right, Pera.T, these things sewed through just about anything! No wonder grandmother loved it so much!

 

[Foofoogal]

I have an old vintage ice cream scoop I use. Never found a new one that worked as well. Strong.

 

[*Schatzi*]

Vicks Vapo Rub

I love this stuff and it is the exact same. Even the packaging has barely changed. The smell brings me back to my childhood.

Old small Vicks containers and new small Vicks.

Vicks collection.

I found out recently it has camphor it it. Crazy! And it is still my fave thing to use when I have a cold.

 

[Edward]

In musical instrument terms, there are very many inproduction now that wouldn't have been out of place back in the thirties. Even the guitar... many, if not most, acoustic guitars in production today harken back to the 1930s, while the most popular electric guitars are still heavily based on 1950s designs - in many cases, popular models are built entirely to the original 1950s specifications by companies such as Gibson and Fender. Some concessions to modern health and safety legislation aside, valve-based amplifiers very close in design to those produced since the late 1940s still abound, their sound being preferred by many guitarists today over subsequnt, more modern technologies.

 

[Paisley]

3-IN-ONE oil.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

There's the hit of 1937 - Fiestaware china

 

[DBLIII]

Edward - since you mentioned guitars, I have a copy of a 1920s or 1930s tri-cone resonator guitar. While I am sure there are differences like an original would be built better, mine does match photos of the old ones.

And definitely fountain pens since some are direct copies of models made earlier, so one can pretty much go back to whenever. The fountain pen on my desk is a Conklin Crescent Filler, which was the design that Mark Twain used.

While there have been a lot of changes in holsters for firearms, it's still possible to get many of the same holsters that were used through the early 1900s.

Ohio blue tip strike anywhere matches - yes, still produced though sometimes hard to find.

How about a yellow #2 pencil?

I got another because I spent last week hunting one -- a seam ripper.

I have run out of suggestions, so I'll go have a >>> non-filter cigarette.

 

[Elaina]

Sewing notions have changed radically since the 60s. While similar, I scour for the older ones since they're better.

A bodkin from the early 60s

One from today:

The one from the 60s has a safety pin like head to anchor the item you're wanting to thread through a casing. It is also steel, instead of aluminum. I've had the vintage ones (these are mine BTW) for about 6 months and I still use them, the dritz one I got last month has already been bent and used beyond redemption.

My hem guage is also a plastic ruler for the purpose from the 50s. Beats the little thin metal ones from now.

 

[Coopsgirl]

I love vintage movie mags and since they were bought mostly by women they have ads for things like Midol, Feen-a-Mint, Kotex, and Lysol (which was then also used to clean your delicate lady parts – ouch!). I’ve seen ads for these from the early and mid 30s which is the span of most of my mags with some also being from the mid to late 20s but I can’t remember if I’ve seen any of these products in the 20s ones or not.

Eyelash curlers are also the same as they were in the 30s.

 

[sfend002]

How about:

The comb, simple classic black plastic comb
The newspaper
Shave creams
A toaster
Coffee pot
Briefcase
The tie
The wallet

All of these I use everyday.

 

[ClothesHorse]

Pocket knives

I carry a 3 blade Medium Stockman- Just like Grandpa's. I'll inform the young men that want to date my daughter to the spey blades intended purpose. "See ya at nine, Have a nice time."

Emory Boards, leather bound books.

CH

 

[TraderRic]

The morning shave...

Shaving soap, mug and brush are still readily available in most stores that carry personal items. To a lesser extent straight razors are still available, though found in more in specialty cutlery shops (at least in the US). I still use all of these. I bought my straight razor new in the late 80's.

Also, much of the equipment on Navy ships hasn't changed much in 65 years. I feel just as at home on a WWII Battleship as I do on my current ships that were commissioned in the 70's and 80's.