Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Joonie]

Library Card Catalogues

 

[Elaina]

French fries made with lard. Man I miss fries.

 

[Shangas]

Reading a few of these posts has made me realise something else that has gone out of the world since I was a child.

Chalkboards at schools!

When I was a schoolchild in the early 1990s, I distinctly remember all the classrooms in our school having chalkboards. Our school was founded in 1851, but our current campus came into being in the mid 1920s (Yes, I went to jazz-age school!). As such, a lot of the classrooms still had the traditional chalkboards. And I remember so well, seeing our teachers writing on them. The clack-clack of the chalk as it bumped against the board, the 'sheeek' of it being drawn across, the occasional 'screeech!' that would make us cover our ears and the strange, musky smell of powdered chalk.

And yes, amazing as it may seem, I am old enough to remember the task of taking the chalk-dusters, going outside, and clapping them together to clean them!...Boy that was fun!

Every now and then, our teachers would take damp rags and wipe down the chalkboards in the classrooms, to give them real good cleans, then they'd have to dry them before they could use them again, and our teachers always had white, blue, red and yellow chalk-dust on their fingers.

Boy I miss chalkboards...Who here had a chalkboard to play on as a child? **Puts up hand**

Who here has a child or grandchild or younger sibling who loves playing with chalk? Either on a board, or doodling on the driveway?

 

[Foofoogal]

oh yeah, I can't sleep till I add this one, the aluminum Christmas tree and color wheel. My best friend had one,. I think it was the most beautiful tree I had ever seen.

Shirin,
I lived down the street from hubby as a child. His dad worked for Alcoa for eons and of course they had the setup of an aluminum tree and wheel. I so wanted that as a child.
When I married hubby he will not allow one in the house. Seems he hated it every year. Perspective is everything. lol

 

[Cigarband]

We had real live trees until I was 8, then my parents bought the Aluminum tree and color wheel. That was "my" tree. I got to put it up every year by myself. I thought it was so much better than the trees my friends had, smelly things that dropped needles all over and never changed color. Then at 18 I went away to college and my parents bought a fake "Real Tree" and trashed "My" tree. When I came home for Christmas vacation, I was crushed. I've looked ever since, but have never been able to find the same tree.

 

[Warbaby]

 

[analiebe]

so much of our architectural heritage... the beautiful deco building lonsdale house in melbourne is about to disappear due to our arrogant and greedy government and council... so so sad - there's an online petition if you care to sign...

http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/lonsdale-house.html

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

The milkman. When I was a kid in Scotland he still used a horse & buggy.
The rag and bone man too used to come around with his horse and buggy to collect old rags in exchange for a balloon or small toy.

 

[klind65]

The public telephone box! I especially admired the attractive red ones in England. In my youth we had the blue and grey steel and plastic ones, but before my time the wonderful wooden ones which I've seen in the old motion pictures were my favorites. They even had seats. They were cozy and quiet and the perfect solution for making a phone call in public. Dignified and civilized. I miss them. I especially miss them since I refuse to get a mobile phone!

....another one: books that were made with ribbons inside - as bookmarks. What a great convenience. I cannot understand why they stopped making them. Now, one has to find a separate bookmark which is inclined to fall out as often as not or to be lost if left someplace inadvertently. A real annoyance.

....and another: elevator operators. I loved them. No danger of having the door shut on you. No need to run for the lift. Some few places still have them: Tiffany's flagship store in NY, for one. I find them charming.

.....I remember going to the grocery years ago and having the boy who bagged the items take them out to the motorcar for me. Very nice. I had almost forgotten this.



.......Full service petrol stations. What's become of them? Why is everything self-service? Gee, but I HATE this. One day soon "service" will probably disappear altogether. What if one is dressed for the evening or in something gorgeous but impractical? Pumping gas in a mink stole??!! Very awkward.

 

[Murph351]

The public telephone box! I especially admired the attractive red ones in England. In my youth we had the blue and grey steel and plastic ones, but before my time the wonderful wooden ones which I've seen in the old motion pictures were my favorites. They even had seats. They were cozy and quiet and the perfect solution for making a phone call in public. Dignified and civilized. I miss them. I especially miss them since I refuse to get a mobile phone!

They were the best!
I found this one when they were being replaced in the Biltmore and put it down in the Tiki Room.
Lights, fan and payphone still work.
Everyone loves making a call from it.

 

[John in Covina]

Brings back some vague memories of the phone booth that was somewheres in McSorley's Ale House in lower Manhattan - NYC.

 

[skyvue]

Some enterprising bar or restaurant owner should revive those booths for cell phone use. They wouldn't make any money off them, but they'd score points with the customers.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you ever come up here to Maine, stop into Moody's Diner, on Route 1 in Waldoboro -- which still has its original 1927 built-in wooden phone booth, fully intact and functional and entirely un-ironic.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Some enterprising bar or restaurant owner should revive those booths for cell phone use. They wouldn't make any money off them, but they'd score points with the customers.

Cicada Restaurant / The Cicada Club has 2 of them, both dating back to 1928.

.

 

[klind65]

Floor walkers in department stores! But this raises one of my major complaints about life today - the demise of service. Mother tells me in her day that when one entered a shop of any sort - from hardware to the most upscale boutique one was always approached by someone offering help. And what's more, these folks actually knew about the products they were selling - imagine that!

Conversly, a typical shopping experience today involves first having to search high and low for someone to help, then once located, he or she knows next to nothing about the items in the store. And fundamentally, the erstwhile conception of service is gone. Who was it - one of the very first department store entrepreneurs who said that "the customer is always right"! Nowadays the trend seems to be to defer to the clerk and to heck with the customer.


LizzieMaine, this is one of the best threads because there are just so many things one could list!
.....But I'll end with this last: What I miss most in addition to Service is Dignity - in dress, in word, in manner....everything.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Floor walkers in department stores! But this raises one of my major complaints about life today - the demise of service. Mother tells me in her day that when one entered a shop of any sort - from hardware to the most upscale boutique one was always approached by someone offering help. And what's more, these folks actually knew about the products they were selling - imagine that!

Conversly, a typical shopping experience today involves first having to search high and low for someone to help, then once located, he or she knows next to nothing about the items in the store. And fundamentally, the erstwhile conception of service is gone. Who was it - one of the very first department store entrepreneurs who said that "the customer is always right"! Nowadays the trend seems to be to defer to the clerk and to heck with the customer.


LizzieMaine, this is one of the best threads because there are just so many things one could list!
.....But I'll end with this last: What I miss most in addition to Service is Dignity - in dress, in word, in manner....everything.

What I do not miss is the opportunity to pay extra for people to simply walk around. I research the products I will purchase, otherwise, I am simply deferring to someone whose job it is to sell me a product that I may ultimately find inappropriate.

However, the more upscale stores where I shop there is always someone there who knows me and me preferences; also with a nice touch ... when they see me they automatically get me bottled water and greet me by name. Great service, dressed nicely together with excellent product knowledge.

 

[LizzieMaine]

However, the more upscale stores where I shop there is always someone there who knows me and me preferences; also with a nice touch ... when they see me they automatically get me bottled water and greet me by name. Great service, dressed nicely together with excellent product knowledge.

But good service is not exclusively a high-hat thing -- you can still find it humble surroundings if you look for it. There's a little lunchroom downtown where I go to breakfast every Saturday morning, and have for years -- and I never have to order. As soon as I take my seat, the waitress brings me my tea and a couple minutes later my meal arrives, along with a bit of cheerful conversation.

The trick, I think, is to be sure you treat the staff the way you'd like to be treated. No matter what kind of establishment you're shopping in, deal with the staff courteously and don't swagger around like you own the place, and they'll respond likewise. The service industry is the most thankless business there is, and people who work in it consistently see humanity at its most obnoxious -- so it's a real treat for them to be treated courteously by a customer. And they'll remember those who do.

 

[klind65]

so much of our architectural heritage... the beautiful deco building lonsdale house in melbourne is about to disappear due to our arrogant and greedy government and council... so so sad - there's an online petition if you care to sign...

http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/lonsdale-house.html

I love beautiful architecture too ( former Art History major). Thanks for the petition. I just signed. Let's hope we can make a difference.

 

[klind65]

But good service is not exclusively a high-hat thing -- you can still find it humble surroundings if you look for it. There's a little lunchroom downtown where I go to breakfast every Saturday morning, and have for years -- and I never have to order. As soon as I take my seat, the waitress brings me my tea and a couple minutes later my meal arrives, along with a bit of cheerful conversation.

The trick, I think, is to be sure you treat the staff the way you'd like to be treated. No matter what kind of establishment you're shopping in, deal with the staff courteously and don't swagger around like you own the place, and they'll respond likewise. The service industry is the most thankless business there is, and people who work in it consistently see humanity at its most obnoxious -- so it's a real treat for them to be treated courteously by a customer. And they'll remember those who do.

Absolutely. I've seen customers behave obnoxiously and the best term for them is "ill-bred"! Mother always taught me to treat everyone - from the garbage collector to the Mayor with respect and dignity. It was simply, as you mention, the "golden rule" which used to be taught in grammar school if not at home. I don't know if it is taught much any more...

Maybe part of the cause of the objectionable behavior can be traced to our increasingly youth oriented society in the sense that youngsters TEND to be more self-centered and immature ......the concern for others and what they go through increasing as one ages. Of course there are exceptions, but generally speaking.

I also love the quote from Plato which goes something like this: Always be kind to everyone you meet because each of us is fighting a battle of some sort.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I also love the quote from Plato which goes something like this: Always be kind to everyone you meet because each of us is fighting a battle of some sort.

Exactly. Especially in this economy, there's a lot of masters' degrees out there slinging hash and selling shoes who never, ever imagined they'd end up in such a job, so it's a good idea to keep that in mind. There but for the grace of the economy goes you.