Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[ButteMT61]

I miss hitchhikers...
As kids, we crossed the country many times with my parents, and they were part of the landscape. Probably best that they are not allowed, but it was a neat thing to see in some odd way.
I had a job outside of town (~10 miles) from my home in early high school, if I didn't have a ride, I'd hitchhike. Never had anything bad happen, but I was also surprisingly able to get rides and be on time 98% of the time...mid-70's.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

My granny...

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I still see them in & around the truck stops in Gary.

 

[Stearmen]

Before my time, but, talking to older guys I have known, in the 40s through the 50s, if you were in uniform and put your thumb out, you would be picked up immediately! Plus, people would go, some times, way out of their way to get the serviceman close to his destination. That went away after Vietnam!

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Lucky rabbit's foot charms. They used to sell them everywhere, often dyed bright colors, on a keychain. Made with real rabbit's feet. I don't remember when I last saw one. You'd probably have PETA all over you for selling them now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I never liked those. "Wasn't very lucky for the rabbit."

 

[2jakes]

Hitch hiking !

Hitch hiking ?

 

[Trenchfriend]

Yeah yeah yeah!

And finally, you have to flush your nose from rubber!

 

[2jakes]

I never liked those. "Wasn't very lucky for the rabbit."

I never liked & felt sorry for the live baby chicks that were dyed in different yucky colors,
baby turtles & tiny goldfish that were sold at Woolworth’s 5 &10.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I never liked & felt sorry for the live baby chicks that were dyed in different yucky colors,
baby turtles & tiny goldfish that were sold at Woolworth’s 5 &10.

Agreed. They gave out baby ducks one year at Sunday School at Easter time, and I refused to take one because I knew my mother wouldn't let me keep it and the thought of just turning out to fend for itself made me sick. Another kid I knew did take one, though, and trained it to walk down the street on the end of a string. Not much of a life for a duck.

 

[Harp]

Before my time, but, talking to older guys I have known, in the 40s through the 50s, if you were in uniform and put your thumb out, you would be picked up immediately! Plus, people would go, some times, way out of their way to get the serviceman close to his destination. That went away after Vietnam!

In the 1970s-particularly in the South, a soldier could hitch or catch a solicit ride. Girls often asked if I needed a ride back to post.

 

[2jakes]

Agreed. They gave out baby ducks one year at Sunday School at Easter time, and I refused to take one because I knew my mother wouldn't let me keep it and the thought of just turning out to fend for itself made me sick. Another kid I knew did take one, though, and trained it to walk down the street on the end of a string. Not much of a life for a duck.

I’m a very easy person to get along with. But I see red whenever there is any harshness or cruelty to any animal.
I’m not unique.
How was the Lobster tree lightning ?
I hear it’s one of the largest of it’s kind.

Sorry for sliding off topic,
Sending Holiday greetings to you & your Mom !
J

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I'm dictator, animal abuse will be a capital crime.

The Lobster Trap Tree lighting is harder than it used to be now that the lobster traps aren't made of wood anymore. Hard to keep the metal ones burning.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Woohoo!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Which reminds me, wooden lobster traps no longer exist, except as gimmicky decor items for people from away.

Wooden lobster *crates* are still around, but they're fast being replaced by plastic, and the old ones are being sold off to tourists for more tacky nautical decor.

Makes a great coffee table, if you don't mind furniture that stinks ever so slightly of seafood.

 

[tonyb]

I hitched quite a bit as a youngster, around town and croos-country. Went coast-to-coast when I was 18.
My dear old mom tells me that in her childhood she and the kids her age hitch-hiked to the nearby fields to put in a few hours work. They often rode in the backs of farmers' pickup trucks.

 

[2jakes]

Which reminds me, wooden lobster traps no longer exist, except as gimmicky decor items for people from away.



Wooden lobster *crates* are still around, but they're fast being replaced by plastic, and the old ones are being sold off to tourists for more tacky nautical decor.

Makes a great coffee table, if you don't mind furniture that stinks ever so slightly of seafood.

Found on feebay.
Genuine vintage wooden East coast Lobster Crate

Has been washed in Murphy’s Oil .

 

[ButteMT61]

I hitched quite a bit as a youngster, around town and croos-country. Went coast-to-coast when I was 18.
My dear old mom tells me that in her childhood she and the kids her age hitch-hiked to the nearby fields to put in a few hours work. They often rode in the backs of farmers' pickup trucks.

Yeah - that too - the pickup truck rides. Grandpa had a big shop in Tacoma/Puget Sound. Used to ride in the back of his trucks and cross the Narrow's bridge. Every day we'd walk as far as we could and meet him so we could jump in the back to get a ride home (for the summer visits there). That is one thing I miss most.

 

[2jakes]

Yeah - that too - the pickup truck rides. Grandpa had a big shop in Tacoma/Puget Sound. Used to ride in the back of his trucks and cross the Narrow's bridge. Every day we'd walk as far as we could and meet him so we could jump in the back to get a ride home (for the summer visits there). That is one thing I miss most.

I miss that too.
On weekends, I drive my 1946 pickup to local favorite spots taking the back roads.
The distinct odor of metal, rubber, oil, grease & gasoline and I’m taken back to the
Elysian Fields of my youth.

 

[tonyb]

There is nothing at all hypocritical in advising against hitchhiking and riding in the backs of pickup trucks and drinking alcohol to the point of undeniable intoxication and any number of other potentially dangerous things I did myself and really don't regret. (There's another list of things I do indeed regret, but that's a whole 'nother matter.)