Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[ButteMT61]

I was raised on the philosophy that "life ain't for sissies". The world will chew you up and spit you out if you let it. So go out and make what you wish. Don't be afraid, don't be an Eyeore, and don't let other people make you miserable. Find the good and it will find you back. I guess that's the definition of optimism.

I tell my wife that's my problem. I was literally in a Brady Bunch world growing up - until my folks divorced out of the blue when I was 12. It hit me and my brother hard. We didn't have much, but somehow it was just a quaint and wonderful life. Don't think I had any adversity until 12 and then I was taken back because there was no groundwork for this in my brain.

My wife, OTOH, was abused by her dad AND stepdad and grew up in a pretty crappy place - in spite of there being lots of money and Hollywood fame there.
She has a great outlook, and we look at each other and wonder if we shouldn't have been more tough on the kids as that is the way the world is...

 

[HudsonHawk]

I tell my wife that's my problem. I was literally in a Brady Bunch world growing up - until my folks divorced out of the blue when I was 12. It hit me and my brother hard. We didn't have much, but somehow it was just a quaint and wonderful life. Don't think I had any adversity until 12 and then I was taken back because there was no groundwork for this in my brain.

My wife, OTOH, was abused by her dad AND stepdad and grew up in a pretty crappy place - in spite of there being lots of money and Hollywood fame there.
She has a great outlook, and we look at each other and wonder if we shouldn't have been more tough on the kids as that is the way the world is...

We learned early that adversity was everywhere. You can either let it run you over or not, but either way the world doesn't care, it just keeps turning, so how it affects you is your choice.

 

[staggerwing]

Hobby shops - used to be several within walking distance of where I sit as I write this. They're all gone now. Same with hardware stores. Home Depot and Lowes put them all out of business. Soda fountains (my first job was soda jerk). Kids playing outdoors - now they arrest the parents if the kids are outside unsupervised. Tape recorders, transistor radios (okay, net really vintage but gone), piston engine powered airliners, and for the other aviation buffs here, the A-N Radio Range navigation aid (there was still one active in the US when I started flying in the early 1970s).

 

[LizzieMaine]

We had a hobby shop right downtown here in the 70s and 80s, which was very convenient when I needed a bottle of Testors' paint for some household project or other. Now I can't find Testors' paint anywhere. Do kids even build model kits anymore?

The hobby shop, meanwhile, is an now an artisanal bakery where people sit and eat $4 baguettes while reading the New York Times Book Review.

 

[Fading Fast]

Hobby shops - used to be several within walking distance of where I sit as I write this. They're all gone now. Same with hardware stores. Home Depot and Lowes put them all out of business. Soda fountains (my first job was soda jerk). Kids playing outdoors - now they arrest the parents if the kids are outside unsupervised. Tape recorders, transistor radios (okay, net really vintage but gone), piston engine powered airliners, and for the other aviation buffs here, the A-N Radio Range navigation aid (there was still one active in the US when I started flying in the early 1970s).

Hobby shops and soda fountains are both big losses to the community feel of a small town. I grew up in a small town that had both (the soda fountain was also a bit of a candy shop and a bit of a not-perscription drug store) and they provided a nice place to meet others in the town and also the owners were both friendly and engaged with their customers. The stores were owned by members of the community - weren't chains and gave the town part of its character. You'd see Mr. Murray - the owner of the hobby shop - opening up and closing his store and walking to / from his house. You don't get that feel from a chain store that has its scheduled hours and hired workers.

 

[ButteMT61]

Ours were all hobby shops/pet stores. Sorely miss those as well as the "5 & Dime". A kid could take a couple bucks (big money) in there and get models, paint, Estes rockets, kites, balsa wood airplanes, candy - you name it. And the "Black Cow". I think those losses indeed make life in today's society so lonely in comparison. You surely rarely see kids out playing or riding bikes - which we did rain or shine or snow...

 

[nick123]

I was born in 1990. There were quite a few of them around until recently. Though probably not as numerous as before.

There is one in town here, and I found an original 1943 naval flight jacket there hanging on a rack. A gem within a gem!

There still seems to be an active modeling community on facebook, etc, but like everything else good in life, the scale of older to younger people is way unbalanced.

 

[nick123]

Oh and Estes rockets were pretty cool. Almost started a few wildfires with those as a kid.

 

[ButteMT61]

@nick123 - started a few. I also liked to attach them to model cars I made. The church parking lot had these great ramps - was a hoot to send them into the air!
And my Cox .409 gas engine-using cars/planes. Loved my childhood.

 

[Fading Fast]

Going a bit into the nuance here, I built models growing up and most were plastic, but I also built some Hubly models which were metal (you filed down the metal, painted it, assembled it with screws - had a bit more real car feel) - does anyone remember those metal Hublys?

 

[ButteMT61]

I made some of the planes with balsa skeletons and tissue paper coverings with dope to harden them. WE had all sorts of things to do by hand and school we had metal shop, wood shop, power mechanics (engines), home-ec (cooking) and sewing. Took them all. Had more skills at 15 than most adults today.
I truly miss hobbies and all the time spent on bikes and skateboards. And then football in the snow out front. We'd play until we were purple - from bruises and cold.
Just can't help but believe that this was a better way to grow up...

 

[2jakes]

Going a bit into the nuance here, I built models growing up and most were plastic, but I also built some Hubly models which were metal (you filed down the metal, painted it, assembled it with screws - had a bit more real car feel) - does anyone remember those metal Hublys?

I had an all-steel model kit to build the Lindbergh plane.
But I never did build it.

Already built & ready to enjoy !

 

[Fading Fast]

I had an all-steel model kit to build the Lindbergh plane.
But I never did build it.

It is a very different experience form the plastic models - I really liked the metal ones, but did build both.

 

[nick123]

I built a Guillow's Spitfire and a Piper Cub.

The tissue application always got me. I could never figure it out. There are modelers who instead of applying tissue will use thin sheets of balsa wood to cover the frame and then paint.

And with the plastic aircraft models, I used to use a screw driver to simulate bullet holes. Then hang the things from my ceiling! I didn't know what the heck I was doing, but those were the days.

 

[ingineer]

This was so sad
http://www.northjersey.com/news/hi-way-hobby-house-closing-ends-an-era-1.317788
dope had a different meaning back then paper route and trapline money boght me a balsa kit and a pair of chinos from the hardware store next door

 

[Zombie_61]

...Do kids even build model kits anymore?...

I frequent a couple of forums for us older kids who still build model kits. The majority of the members are people (mostly male) who built model kits when they were growing up in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and never stopped. There are some younger members--mostly the children of the older members who were influenced by their parent's fascination with the hobby--but they're definitely in the minority. And on those rare occasions when I take a trip to one of the not-so-local hobby shops still in existence, anyone under the age of 20 is usually there with their father and either mesmerized by their cell phone or utterly bored.

 

[nick123]

I consider hobby shops a substitute for an art museum. I get excited by the box art alone! Some very good artwork adorns model kits!

 

[nick123]

I tell my wife that's my problem. I was literally in a Brady Bunch world growing up - until my folks divorced out of the blue when I was 12. It hit me and my brother hard. We didn't have much, but somehow it was just a quaint and wonderful life. Don't think I had any adversity until 12 and then I was taken back because there was no groundwork for this in my brain.

My wife, OTOH, was abused by her dad AND stepdad and grew up in a pretty crappy place - in spite of there being lots of money and Hollywood fame there.
She has a great outlook, and we look at each other and wonder if we shouldn't have been more tough on the kids as that is the way the world is...

I'm about as lucky as could be. Sure, parental divorce, prison, missed child support payments. But there is still love to be found amongst this. Fortunately I never grew up in an abusive or household of neglect. Those people are the salt of the earth as far as I'm concerned. That's real adversity. Seems a lot of kids these days need a role model, hence why I'm planning to become a teacher. People need a source of affection to get by.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We learned early that adversity was everywhere. You can either let it run you over or not, but either way the world doesn't care, it just keeps turning, so how it affects you is your choice.

We were taught that no matter who you are, or who you think you are, everything you have can be taken away from you in the sweep of a second. Nobody's immune from disaster, from crisis, from tragedy, or from loss, so no matter who you are or how you live, don't ever, ever get cocky.

We learned this, not just from the realities of our lives, but from the Red Sox. You might be way out in the lead, but there's always a good chance that Galehouse will blow the inning, McCarthy will pinch-hit for Kinder, Lonborg won't last on two days' rest, Aparicio will fall down rounding third, Perez will hit the Leephus pitch, Johnson will pinch-hit for Willoughby, Dent will hit the homer, Schiraldi will wilt under pressure, Stanley will throw the wild pitch, and Mookie Wilson will hit the ground ball. 2004 changed a lot of things, but not the lessons learned by those of us who know what it really means to be humbled.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Army/Navy surplus stores seem to be a thing of the past, for the most part.

Also, the neighborhood bar. This is Wisconsin, there's still TONS of them, but it used to be every neighborhood had one at the end of the block. Heck, there was a brewery down the street from where I live.

Neighborhoods in general. People used to know everyone that lived closeby. I know one neighbor across the alley, because we work together, and the ones on either side, and another across the street because we work together. Besides that, I don't know anyone on my street. Very few people are friendly, or wish to chat, be neighborly etc.

Also pride in Community/Neighborhood. People don't mow their lawns very much, rake leaves, paint, clean their yards, or keep property up in general. I understand money doesn't always allow for all the bells and whistles, but a little elbow grease goes a long way.