Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Flivver]

I was riding home from work tonight and passed an excavation pit in the middle of the street with flashing LED pylons around the perimeter to keep the unwary from falling in -- and I had a flashback to when I was little, and they used to ring such pits with these round black metal things about the size of a cantaloupe with a flaming wick in the top. I used to think they were bombs, but they were just a very old form of safety light. I haven't seen these, or even thought about them in ages, but when they came to mind it got me thinking about other vintage things that just seem to have quietly disappeared in the past 45 years or so --

QUOTE]

Around here, those were called "smudge-pots". As a kid, I had a strange fascination with them!

I really miss the weekly pictorial magazines like Life and Look. As a kid, I looked forward to these every week for their coverage of news items and the personal interest stories. I learned *so* much about world events and pop culture from these magazines.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A few more things I've thought of --

Non-dial telephones. My mother was a "number please" operator in Belfast, Maine until 1965, when they finally went dial. There were towns right around here that hung on until the seventies before giving up on manual exchanges -- and the last manual exchange in the entire United States was in Bryant Pond, Maine -- and didn't shut down until 1983! (The Bryant Pond switchboard is now on display at the Maine State Museum)

Downtown dime-stores. Woolworth's, Kresge's, Newberry's, McCrory's, McLellan's -- all gone now. Our local Newberry's was one of the last of that chain, lasting into the early '90s before finally giving up.

Tire chains. Does anybody use these anymore? The worst seat on the school bus was always the one with the chains piled up underneath.

Pilot crackers. Big, thick rectangular crackers you crumble up into chowder. They were discontinued in the '90s and there was such an outcry that Nabsico was forced to bring them back, but now they're gone again and this time it looks like they're gone for good.

 

[flat-top]

Two things I remember from my youth, that were already ancient then, and long gone now: the soda delivery truck, which was this huge open air truck filled with clanking bottles of seltzer and flavored syrups. And the knife sharpening truck, which had the most distinctive "ding...ding...ding" bell that used to ring to signal it's arrival. He would park on the corner and all the neighborhood women would line up with their knives.

 

[scotrace]

Ever heard the 30's pop tune "The Old Umbrella Man?"

When things are dull, and there's a lull, he sharpens knives for all the wives in the neighborhood, and he's really good."

 

[flat-top]

Ever heard the 30's pop tune "The Old Umbrella Man?"

When things are dull, and there's a lull, he sharpens knives for all the wives in the neighborhood, and he's really good."

I'm glad my mom never had sharp knives then!

 

[Lefty]

I miss hand drawn cartoons with orchestral music. There's still a bit of it from what I've seen (though I admit that I don't really look), but none of the modern cartoons will familiarize watchers with classical music like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry. Before I ever knew that it was opera, it was the background to Bugs shaving Elmer, and Elmer wearing a viking hat with braids. (Wait, maybe modern cartoons are less twisted.)

I also miss danger. Kids are such wimps these days. I left more skin and blood on the ground while doing bike tricks, jumping from monkey bars, and other such nonsense that, even if a kid today could escape his or her "helicopter parents" (yes, I heard it on Oprah), a helmet, gloves, knee/elbow pads, and a call to the insurance agent would be required for any such activity.

 

[Miss Caroline]

A few more things I've thought of --



Downtown dime-stores. Woolworth's, Kresge's, Newberry's, McCrory's, McLellan's -- all gone now. Our local Newberry's was one of the last of that chain, lasting into the early '90s before finally giving up.

we still have Woolworths in the UK!

 

[KittyT]

Sunday blue laws. Around here this meant no stores larger than a certain size allowed to be open at all on Sunday, so the corner groceries always did a booming business.

This isn't a bad thing. MA finally did away with their liquor blue laws a few years ago and I've never met anyone who thought that the change didn't come years too late.

-Phone booths and pay phones.
-Full service fuel stations: free air, someone to wash your window & pump the gas. Also, leaded gas (for the better).

Oregon state requires all gas to be full service, and there are still many full service stations all over the Northeast. At my current residence, there are 3 within a 5 minute drive. At my old place in Cambridge, there were 3 within a 4 block radius of my house. I stopped at an Interstate service station in CT this past weekend that also had full service.

There has been a recent resurgence in vinyl Folks are rediscovering the quality of their sound. I have some 1/2 speed masters that are incredible

Vinyl may have been replaced by digital media, but it's never going to die. Most rockabilly bands still release vinyl, and vinyl is extremely popular in Europe and Japan. There are still a number of DJs out there who will only spin vinyl. Yes, they're becoming replaced with jerks who "DJ" off of an ipod, but there will always be a contingent of music fanatics of all genres who will continue to demand vinyl.

Slide rules.

HAHAHA I hear abacuses went out a few years back as well My dad uses a slide rule!

Tire chains. Does anybody use these anymore? The worst seat on the school bus was always the one with the chains piled up underneath.

Yes! Many parts of the country have banned them because of the damage they do to roads, but it is still pretty common in the Northwest (and I imagine Colorado, as well) to see someone putting chains on their car when crossing a mountain pass during a winter snowstorm. Most people now use cable chains though - they are easier to handle, lighter and less bulky than traditional chains.

 

[Ace Fedora]

Someone has already said this, but I really miss the single-screen movie theatre. We lost our last one in the late '80s -- now it's all multiplexes and stadium seats.

One of my favorite memories from childhood was the family going downtown to see a movie at the Metropolitan, one of the last-standing palaces in Winnipeg. Back then (circa 1982 or 1983), going to a movie was still an event, like going to a hockey game -- not something done on the spur of the moment, but a planned event.

Of course, this is my experience only, filtered through childhood lenses...

 

[retrogirl1941]

fftopic: For LizzieMaine and ShoreRoadLady:
Belt kits can be purchased at the PA Fabric Outlet in Lemyone,Pa. I have a whole box of them b/c of this place.

Sorry back to your reguarly scheduled thread.....

Lemon snaps - There used to be a company that made lemon snaps as well as ginger snaps. I hated the ginger snaps but loved the lemons! They stopped making them a few years back.


Samantha

 

[Fletch]

I keep thinking afternoon newspapers, clove gum, milk in glass bottles, etc., have disappeared, and then I remember they're still hanging on in places. The Ames Tribune is and has always been an afternoon paper.

So I'll say the two-paper town. One morning, one evening.

 

[CherryRed]

How about Social Tea cookies? They were similar to Lorna Doon's. I last saw them in the 80's.
Cash registers that you don't scan the bar code but actually key the price or item in.
Knobs on TV's and about to go out, being able to see channels with a TV antenna.

 

[The Shirt]

I miss old fashioned playground equipment. It's all been replaced with plastic safety stuff. We had a fort and wagon made of metal and wood that were the coolest for playing cowboys and Indians. Further away was the giant pirate ship creation. They have all been dismantled. Sigh. Plastic play houses will never ever grace my yard. Yuck.

 

[Flivver]

I miss AM radio DX-ing (fishing for distant stations) when the clear channels were really clear. I logged over 600 AM stations in the 1960s.

Come to think of it, when the switch to digital TV happens next February, TV DX-ing will likely be a thing of the past as well. I don't think summertime skip occurrs on the UHF band where most digital TV broadcasting takes place. Low band VHF, which is being eliminated, was always best for DX-ing.

 

[AmateisGal]

Downtown dime-stores. Woolworth's, Kresge's, Newberry's, McCrory's, McLellan's -- all gone now. Our local Newberry's was one of the last of that chain, lasting into the early '90s before finally giving up.

In my tiny hometown of Bridgeport, Nebraska (pop. 1600), we had a dime-store called Bert's 5 and 10. I loved that place. It had everything you needed - and the service was the friendliest in town. I was so sad to see it go.

 

[AmateisGal]

How about old-time radio shows?

I remember one Sunday night we were driving home and my parents turned the radio station to an AM radio show. It was some detective drama, and I can still remember looking out at the stars of the vast Nebraska sky, listening to the story, waiting for the detective to solve the case.

 

[Fletch]

Downtown dime stores.

There's still Ben Franklin, altho it's probably circling the drain in the Walton family bathtub. Some small-town outlets are still located downtown - no doubt because the BF name is franchised (and always has been).

Irony Corner: Sam Walton started in retailing in 1945 as owner-operator of a BF store.

 

[StraightEight]

I'm a bit younger so I'll say:

--live televised space shots

--black and white TV

--card catalogs

--typewriters

--neighborhood baseball games in the front yard

--the warm-toast smell of a leaded gas car warming up on a cold morning.

--cold mornings

--lunchboxes

--old time hobby stores

--free time

 

[rumblefish]

Mercury Methialade- I have no idea if I spelled that right. It was an antiseptic that my Mom used to use on particularly bad cuts and such. It stung something awful, but the mercury in it would kill anything. (Probably including me!)

I remember this stuff! Burned like crazy when it touched your cut, made it feel like it's doing something. Not like today's Betadine, you barely feel a tingle.

Tire chains. Does anybody use these anymore? The worst seat on the school bus was always the one with the chains piled up underneath.
.

Yep, and the snow tires. The big knobby jobs that stayed in the garage until winter.

 

[Miss Crisplock]

Chains and snow tires are gone?

When did this happen? I left the NW 3 years ago for Pete's sake and had chains, T-bar chains, and Studded snow tires when I left. As a ski instructor I was up on the pass maybe 5 times a week. Granted I got away with the snow tires most of the time, but what are people using now?