Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Zombie_61]

I've posted this previously in the "Vintage Roadside" thread, so it might look familiar to some members:

This is the Southern Pacific Railroad depot in my home town of Whittier, California. On the left, as it looked in 1896; on the right, as it looked in 2009 (and how it looks today) after restoration and preservation. Built in 1892, it was closed down in 1967 due to changes in the Southern Pacific Railroad's routing. The building was occupied by various industrial tenants until the mid-1980s when the land it sat upon was scheduled for development. The building was eventually moved to it's current location a few miles southeast of it's original location, restored, and repurposed as the City of Whittier Transportation Center (whatever that is).

The house I grew up in (and currently own) is right next to the rail line that led to and from this depot. I would speculate it was used for passenger trains at some point in time, but I've only ever seen freight trains pass our house since I came into existence in 1961.

 

[Fading Fast]

There was a lot of talk here about bringing back rail service into Boston via a connection to the Brunswick-to-Portland run -- we have an active freight line here that runs to and from the cement factory, and about fifteen years ago they refurbed the tracks for a summertime excursion service to Brunswick. They had a ratty hodgepodge of old Amtrak cars, but there seemed to be enough interest in a Boston connection to seriously talk about doing it -- and then last year the contract ran out and the state took a higher bid from a big Canadian company that refused to continue passenger operations rather than awarding a renewal to the small-time operator that had put so much work and effort into it. There were obvious suspicions of collusion and chicanery and payoffs afoot, but whatever the story was, the passenger operation is now completely defunct.

Which is a pain because I would have enjoyed being able to take the train into Boston, given how much I absolutely despise driving there.

Is the Boston-Portland passenger line still running? (If so, I guess you could drive to Portland and train it from there - but still not the same as taking a train from your local station.)

I took that several times when they first re-started service about (I'm guessing) the late '90s. It was a very nice line as you could tell they put some effort into generating interest in the "new" service as the cars were clean, service nice (overall) and it was (mainly) on-time.

There was talk then, about extending it up to Acadia (I think) - shame that it seems to be dead for now. With all the emphasis on bring back train service in general, this one seemed like a natural for more funding and effort.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Boston to Portland is still running -- "the Downeaster" -- and there's an extension into Brunswick. But who wants to look for a parking place in Brunswick?

 

[Fading Fast]

Boston to Portland is still running -- "the Downeaster" -- and there's an extension into Brunswick. But who wants to look for a parking place in Brunswick?

It's funny you say that. I have a friend who lives out on Long Island and when she comes into NYC she drives and complains about the traffic. So I asked her why she doesn't take a train in - Long Island has a lot of train service into NYC. She says because she first drops her kid at school, she is too late to get a parking space at any of the nearby train stations and, at that point, she rather just drive in than try driving to farther away stations in hopes of getting a place to park.

 

[GHT]

The station in the town where I was born (Bradfield in Essex) closed the same year I came along (1956), although I don't think the two events were related.
We often travelled on that line over the years and for quite a long time the old station building was in use as a private house. No idea if that is still the case.

Living in a former Railway Station, what a fantasy fulfilled that would be. About 20 miles from where we live, somebody has done just that. In the summer it's open as a cafe serving traditional cream teas. They also put on weddings and other various functions. We went to a wedding there a few years back, the ceremony had a wartime theme and the station owners got into the spirit of it by taping the windows, crisscross fashion.

 

[Fading Fast]

What happened to the real metal can with a metal lid that Planters Cocktail Peanuts used to come in? They now come in a can that looks like the old one (I think), but is really an amalgam of cardboard (for the sides), very, very thin metal (just firmer than aluminum foil) for the bottom and pull-off top and a plastic reseal lid.

My guess is this "can" is cheaper to make and (maybe) better for the environment and, if so, okay, but it sure doesn't feel as solid as the old one. Even though I eat these every day*, it's been so long since they came in the old-style can that I don't remember it exactly other than that it was meaningfully more substantial that the current one.

*For those keeping score, yes, in addition to the insane amounts of peanut butter I consume, I also eat peanuts as a snack - I am fully confident that an autopsy of my body would show I am composed of, at least, 25% peanut now.

Edit add: I have to admit, I expected Lizzie to come back with at least a paragraph on the can itself and another one on how it tied into the history of the Planters company.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Cars that come with a spare tire. Full size or compact. Makers are not installing them to save weight and increase fuel economy. Instead you get a can of fix a flat and an air compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have a few of those old cans that I use to store small parts in, and they're about twice as thick as the modern ones -- most likely because the metal needed to be that thick to withstand vacuum packing. I don't think modern peanut cans are vacuum packed -- they don't seem to "whoosh" like the old ones did when you turned the key on the side to open them -- so they wouldn't need to be particularly substantial.

Coffee cans used to be the same way -- the old key-wind vacuum cans were much more solid than the coffee cans that exist today. Most of which seem to have been supplanted by plastic containers anyway.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

I'd forgotten about those key-wind cans. Sardines used to come in them, too. You broke off the key and peeled a strip of metal to open them. It was easy to cut yourself on the thin metal of the strip or the can itself. That may be a reason why they were abandoned.

 

[2jakes]

Something that doesn’t appear to have changed much in the way it
is suppose to function.
With the exception of the graphics & perhaps the metal parts.

New trap is on the left side & appears to be slimmer.
Perhaps todays rodents are more health conscious.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Hauling out a big stack of newspapers today, I was reminded of how much I miss Boy Scout paper drives.

 

[Fading Fast]

I have a few of those old cans that I use to store small parts in, and they're about twice as thick as the modern ones -- most likely because the metal needed to be that thick to withstand vacuum packing. I don't think modern peanut cans are vacuum packed -- they don't seem to "whoosh" like the old ones did when you turned the key on the side to open them -- so they wouldn't need to be particularly substantial.

Coffee cans used to be the same way -- the old key-wind vacuum cans were much more solid than the coffee cans that exist today. Most of which seem to have been supplanted by plastic containers anyway.

They definitely don't have the "whoosh" but it does feel like "something" happens - some kind of seal is broken when I pull back the tin foil top the first time. Also, if they aren't vacuum packed (and the ingredients don't list any preservatives) how do they stay fresh?

And I remember those key opening cans - as a kid (pre all the stuff kids have today), they were fun to open.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Now you've got me curious -- I may just go out and buy a can of peanuts so I can dissect the can and see exactly what's going on. If they are, in fact, vacuum packed, perhaps there's some sort of space-age thin plastic liner between layers of cardboard to contain the vacuum?

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ It's tough to say as it definitely isn't the full-on whoosh we all know, but it does feel to me like some sort a seal gets broken. The good news is that you not only get to investigate the can, but you also get to enjoy one of the best simple foods there is.

I look forward to your analysis. I, too, will now take my current can apart and inspect when I finish it (but have much more confidence in your analytical abilities than mine). Just for clarity, this is the can I'm referencing:

 

[GHT]

Cars that come with a spare tire. Full size or compact. Makers are not installing them to save weight and increase fuel economy. Instead you get a can of fix a flat and an air compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter.

Just one can?

 

[GHT]

It won't be long before someone will say:
"I can remember when a car, looked like a car.

Serious or ridiculous, you decide.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

It's just occurred to me that, when I was a kid, there was always a boy or girl in your grammar-school class who had a hoarse, almost basso-profundo voice. These kids were usually cruelly nickname something like "Froggy"or "Foghorn." It happened because of a botched tonsillectomy. Numerous public people had this condition, from General Lucian Truscott to gangster Frank Costello. They could speak barely above a whisper and it came out as a croak. Right about the time I started school they stopped doing tonsilllectomies except for extreme cases. My brother, two years older, had his tonsils out. When I got tonsillitis, they treated it with antibiotics and otherwise let it run its course, as they have done ever since.

I have to say, though, that in high school I knew a girl who had such a voice, and it was sexy as hell.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Had my tonsils out when I was four, and emerged from it able to do all sorts of different voices. It stood me well in radio for a long time, which kind of makes up for the crappy oatmeal and *no ice cream* I got in the hospital.

 

[HudsonHawk]

When I was a kid, it was rare to find another kid who *hadn't* had their tonsils removed.

On a side note, my niece had hers removed last week at the age of 25.

 

[tonyb]

It's just occurred to me that, when I was a kid, there was always a boy or girl in your grammar-school class who had a hoarse, almost basso-profundo voice. These kids were usually cruelly nickname something like "Froggy"or "Foghorn." It happened because of a botched tonsillectomy. Numerous public people had this condition, from General Lucian Truscott to gangster Frank Costello. They could speak barely above a whisper and it came out as a croak. Right about the time I started school they stopped doing tonsilllectomies except for extreme cases. My brother, two years older, had his tonsils out. When I got tonsillitis, they treated it with antibiotics and otherwise let it run its course, as they have done ever since.

I have to say, though, that in high school I knew a girl who had such a voice, and it was sexy as hell.

My folks got a package deal on tonsillectomies: we three boys, ages 6, 7 and 8 at the time, had our tonsils removed on the same day, at St. Mary's Hospital, the very facility in which we had been born.

I was the junior member of that trio. I hated the entire experience, vivid memories of which scar me still. I swear, heart surgery was easier on my psyche.