Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Fading Fast]

I recently stayed in a hotel belonging to a major chain and it struck me that hotel stationery has disappeared. I don't remember the last time I saw any. There used to be sheets and envelopes in the bedside tables or the desk if the room had one, all of course bearing the hotel's name. Phone books have pretty much gone as well. They still have ball-points, though. I came home with several.

What I noticed is that the writing pads are still there (at least in the very few hotels I've been, in the last several years), but they have four or five pieces of paper and are not a full pad by plan. I assume people take these and they cost the hotel money, but it feels really cheesy that the pad only has a few sheet of paper.

 

[Fading Fast]

Here's a quirky vintage thing that has disappeared (I think): milk as a snack.

Growing up, my dad would, occasionally, have just glass of milk as a snack and would say to me, once in a blue moon, if I said I wanted a snack, "get a glass of milk." But it was a rare occurrence - as I avoided interaction with my usually cranky dad - which is why I forgot about it all these years until yesterday when I said to my girlfriend, "you know, milk is very filling." She said that's why it used to be considered a snack and that brought back the lost memory of my father's actions and comments.

So, (1) do others remember milk as a snack or if an older generation thought of it that way and, if so, (2) any idea why it isn't thought of that way any more? My guess is because we, overall, are a richer country with so many more snack options that milk just faded from the category.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Milk is also less filling now than it was, with the dominance of the lowfat/skim varieties. "Milk" used to mean "whole milk" as the default, but nowadays even 2 per cent milk is considered fatty by many. I notice now that, in this area, you can no longer buy 2 per cent milk in the pint-size bottles -- the choices are 1 per cent, skim, and whole, in that apparent order of popularity.

When I was a kid and would complain about being hungry before suppertime, my grandmother would tell me to have a "small glass of milk" to tide me over.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ Makes sense as fat is filling, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if you are spot on that the change in view came as the low fat / skim part of the market expanded.

Another thought / observation. We had skim milk in my house growing up and a normal sized glass was (guessing) 10-12 ounces. But when I went to my grandmother's house, the milk was definitely heavier (don't remember what it was as I was pretty young when she passed away) and she put it in much smaller glasses, probably 6 ounce ones.

 

[MisterCairo]

Here's a quirky vintage thing that has disappeared (I think): milk as a snack.

Growing up, my dad would, occasionally, have just glass of milk as a snack and would say to me, once in a blue moon, if I said I wanted a snack, "get a glass of milk." But it was a rare occurrence - as I avoided interaction with my usually cranky dad - which is why I forgot about it all these years until yesterday when I said to my girlfriend, "you know, milk is very filling." She said that's why it used to be considered a snack and that brought back the lost memory of my father's actions and comments.

So, (1) do others remember milk as a snack or if an older generation thought of it that way and, if so, (2) any idea why it isn't thought of that way any more? My guess is because we, overall, are a richer country with so many more snack options that milk just faded from the category.

Milk is our supper beverage, and is often a snack for ourselves and our girls. They also have milk at school twice a week.

 

[Fading Fast]

Milk is our supper beverage, and is often a snack for ourselves and our girls. They also have milk at school twice a week.

Skim, low fat, whole?

We have skim, but I am a fan of U-Bet Chocolate Syrup or Ovaltine in mine.

 

[MisterCairo]

My wife's a skimmer, our daughters and I drink 1% (in Canada, we grade from 0.1% skim to 1%, 2% and homogenized which is curiously shortened to "homo".

Really:

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

The talk of litter in the "ticks you off" thread reminded me of another thing that has disappeared. Small towns used to have a public employee who went around with a large canvas bag picking up trash. He was armed with a nail-ended stick with which he speared paper trash and dropped it into the bag. Most litter was paper back then, before plastic took over.

 

[Fading Fast]

The talk of litter in the "ticks you off" thread reminded me of another thing that has disappeared. Small towns used to have a public employee who went around with a large canvas bag picking up trash. He was armed with a nail-ended stick with which he speared paper trash and dropped it into the bag. Most litter was paper back then, before plastic took over.

Oddly, that still goes on in NYC Parks. Park employees walk around or drive golf carts and get out and pick up trash with the nail-end stick. It is also done on the regular streets by young men who are in a program to help them transition from prison to the workforce. It is all very throwback looking. In the Park, it seems very consistent, on the city's streets, it seems on again off again - maybe depending on the program's size at the time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We still have that, but it's mostly done in the drainage ditches outside of towns rather than in-town itself. Sometimes it's city or state DOT workers that do it, and sometimes it's convicts.

 

[BobHufford]

We have Adopt-A-Street and Adopt-A-Highway programs that allow a business or individual to be tasked with the litter gathering several time a year in exchange for a small sign touting their adoption. The does not come close to covering everything though...

 

[ChiTownScion]

We have Adopt-A-Street and Adopt-A-Highway programs that allow a business or individual to be tasked with the litter gathering several time a year in exchange for a small sign touting their adoption. The does not come close to covering everything though...

My lodge does that twice a year. The guy who organizes it treats everyone to pizza and beer/ soft drinks after a few hours of policing our 1.25 mile of highway. If we get a decent turnout, it's about 2 hours of work, tops.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

The old-fashioned milkshake machine. The person behind the counter would take a big stainless-steel beaker, drop ice cream, milk, flavoring and stuff into it and jam it up onto a machine from which descended a shaft with propeller thingies on it to whip the mixture into the correct emulsion , which was then poured into your glass. Now milkshakes, where you can find them, are extruded from a mysterious device. I prefer the old ones.

 

[belfastboy]

The old-fashioned milkshake machine. The person behind the counter would take a big stainless-steel beaker, drop ice cream, milk, flavoring and stuff into it and jam it up onto a machine from which descended a shaft with propeller thingies on it to whip the mixture into the correct emulsion , which was then poured into your glass. Now milkshakes, where you can find them, are extruded from a mysterious device. I prefer the old ones.

We were in Brigham City, Utah a few years back and it was Peach Festival weekend. The night before the Peach Queen Parade the main street was already lined with lawn chairs, everyone having staked out their spot. We found a real honest to god soda fountain place that made the shakes the old way. It took forever for the guy to make us two peach milkshakes but I don't think I have ever had a better shake. It is almost worth the trip and if ever in the neighbourhood again we will drop in for another.

 

[tonyb]

Just last night I had a shake at a place that uses what is pretty much the same thing as a blender -- heavier duty than the Oster on my kitchen counter, probably, but a blender nonetheless. The young man driving the thing added all the ingredients by hand, eyeballing the proportions. Came out good. Five bucks.

I go through periods when my blender gets used regularly for frozen concoctions -- some with dairy products, some without, but all with fruit. What blenders have over milkshake mixers is the blades that chop up frozen fruit.

 

[tonyb]

What I noticed is that the writing pads are still there (at least in the very few hotels I've been, in the last several years), but they have four or five pieces of paper and are not a full pad by plan. I assume people take these and they cost the hotel money, but it feels really cheesy that the pad only has a few sheet of paper.

Heck, I ALWAYS take the pens and writing pads. I figure that's mostly their reason for being. Advertising, you know. The chains, especially, got pennies at the mist into those pens. The maid carts got containers holding hundreds of 'em.

And those pens have a person considering channeling his inner Mencken and inscribing the Gideon's Bible in the nightstand.

 

[Fading Fast]

Just last night I had a shake at a place that uses what is pretty much the same thing as a blender -- heavier duty than the Oster on my kitchen counter, probably, but a blender nonetheless. The young man driving the thing added all the ingredients by hand, eyeballing the proportions. Came out good. Five bucks.

I go through periods when my blender gets used regularly for frozen concoctions -- some with dairy products, some without, but all with fruit. What blenders have over milkshake mixers is the blades that chop up frozen fruit.

Our blender, too, has either a very busy life or a very lonely life, but when it comes out, it is usually for something that has alcohol in it. Frozen margaritas are a mainstay, but we'll mix it up (teehee) now and then. We finally bought a decent blender, but still don't get the consistency like you do from a professional machine and, overall, our milkshakes are never as good as ones from those professional milkshake machines talked about above.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The old-fashioned milkshake machine. The person behind the counter would take a big stainless-steel beaker, drop ice cream, milk, flavoring and stuff into it and jam it up onto a machine from which descended a shaft with propeller thingies on it to whip the mixture into the correct emulsion , which was then poured into your glass. Now milkshakes, where you can find them, are extruded from a mysterious device. I prefer the old ones.

Still lots of places around here to get an "old fashioned" milkshake like that. And that's kind of how a Blizzard at Dairy Queen works. Except the DQ by my house. It makes the worst Blizzards in the world. They're more like shakes. Which isn't bad, except I want a Blizzard. If you can't hand it out the window upside down, then you've made it completely wrong.

 

[MisterCairo]

The old-fashioned milkshake machine. The person behind the counter would take a big stainless-steel beaker, drop ice cream, milk, flavoring and stuff into it and jam it up onto a machine from which descended a shaft with propeller thingies on it to whip the mixture into the correct emulsion , which was then poured into your glass. Now milkshakes, where you can find them, are extruded from a mysterious device. I prefer the old ones.

We're fortunate in having several places within reach that still use those great mixers, even serving proper malted shakes.

 

[sheeplady]

I miss tan M&Ms.

We drink whole milk. Kids under 2 need whole milk, the fat helps brain development.

We have an ice cream place near here (a shed out in the middle of a cow field) that makes the best shakes. My favorites use blueberry or orange icecream.