Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[LizzieMaine]

I "bark" in front of the theatre some nights, when business is slow and it's warm out side. "TWENTY DEGREES COOLA ONNA INSIDE! AWARD WINNIN MOOM PITCHA ONNA BIG SCREEN! IN A HURRY MISTA? WE GOT POPCORN TO TAKE OUT!" In show business, dignity and decorum are for chumps.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@LizzieMaine
Got you alcohol-free beers or kids-maltbeer, there??

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nope, just root beer and ginger beer. The latter will also take the paint off boats.

 

[vitanola]

I was starting up the Plodge one cold night after work and it let out a bang that absolutely terrified a young couple walking along the sidewalk. Too much choke.

Be careful, Miss McCleod. Not too many years ago a couple was riding in an old car (a 1979 Chevrolet, as I recall) on the street in Cleveland. The car backfired, a police officer assumed that he was being shot at, and a massive police chase ensued, with sixty cars driving down the streets of Cleveland at speeds of up to 105 MPH. The fiasco ended in a circular firing squad, where officers fired off 137 rounds at the driver and passenger and incidentally at each other and local houses. Apparently backfires kill these days.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/12/cleveland_police_shooting.html

 

[LizzieMaine]

Rebuilt Carburetors Save Lives.

 

[Bigger Don]

Where is the blue food? We want the blue food! Probably bestows immortality!

Blue cheeses, Maryland Blue Crabs, and Adirondack Blue Potatoes.

Funny thing: When I searched for blue foods I found a bunch of links claiming blue foods are good for you.

 

[2jakes]

If my bank loan is approved,
I’ll be able to attend the theater plus
buy refreshments at the concession stand this weekend.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ We did the math and bought a decent-sized (not crazy) Samsung flat panel TV, Sonos soundbar and a pair of Sonos speakers and will have paid for all that by not going to the movie theater 50 times (probably less).

Since we bought that stuff, we haven't been to the theater once - my guess, we'll have paid for it in under four years by forgoing the theater. And that doesn't count that - even if we still went to the theater - we would have had to buy something to watch TV on at home as our 25 year old TV was done.

The economics of the theater are what they are as Lizzie has explained to us - they have to pay staff, movie rights, etc. - but for my girlfriend and me, it just isn't worth it when the home experience is so good today.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

Be careful, Miss McCleod. Not too many years ago a couple was riding in an old car (a 1979 Chevrolet, as I recall) on the street in Cleveland. The car backfired, a police officer assumed that he was being shot at, and a massive police chase ensued, with sixty cars driving down the streets of Cleveland at speeds of up to 105 MPH. The fiasco ended in a circular firing squad, where officers fired off 137 rounds at the driver and passenger and incidentally at each other and local houses. Apparently backfires kill these days.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/12/cleveland_police_shooting.html

Seems to me if the people in the car had simply pulled over, they probably could have avoided being shot and killed. It's not rocket science - you pull over when the police are behind you with their sirens and lights going and you treat the officer(s) with respect, do what they tell you, and everyone is going to walk away alive.

 

[2jakes]

Driving “news” vehicle to go cover huge building on fire.
Moment I saw the flashing lights, I pulled over.
Had my license ready & both hands out the window so that the officer could see them.

Officer says., “ Son....you’re not with the fire dept. Follow the speed limit.
I notice that it’s your birthday today on your license,
I’m going to let you go with a warning.”

I thanked him & promised that I would never speed again.
I ‘ve kept my promise ever since.

 

[tonyb]

⇧ We did the math and bought a decent-sized (not crazy) Samsung flat panel TV, Sonos soundbar and a pair of Sonos speakers and will have paid for all that by not going to the movie theater 50 times (probably less).

Since we bought that stuff, we haven't been to the theater once - my guess, we'll have paid for it in under four years by forgoing the theater. And that doesn't count that - even if we still went to the theater - we would have had to buy something to watch TV on at home as our 25 year old TV was done.

The economics of the theater are what they are as Lizzie has explained to us - they have to pay staff, movie rights, etc. - but for my girlfriend and me, it just isn't worth it when the home experience is so good today.

It's an observation I and many others have made countless times before, but wotthehell, I'll say it again ...

If I were in the multiplex business, I'd be looking to get out of the multiplex business, for reasons you pretty well enumerated above.

I suspect there's a future for art houses and places such as Ms. Maine's charming tourist town venue that shows films and hosts live performances. And those venues that serve food (real food, as contrasted with concession stand fare) and drink (think hooch) along with the movie might find a good foothold.

But for the run of movie theaters? The ones that aren't selling the tourist experience or a trip down Nostalgia Lane? If what a person wishes to do is just see a movie, well, home screens these days rival what you get at the theater. And they aren't prohibitely expensive, even for folks of modest means.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'll admit to being fond of showing movies at home on my own "big screen" -- a 16mm projector with a one-inch lens gives a very impressive image on a short throw. Projectors which cost hundreds of dollars new are available for free from schools, military bases, and at your local dump. And 16mm prints of great and not-so-great films from the 1910s to the 1980s are very easy to find at relatively reasonable prices on eBay. Nothing beats real film on a real screen, even in your own living room. I've got several of my favorite pictures on 16mm, and a number of interesting shorts, and getting out the projector makes for a pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon. Just don't trip over the speaker cable.

 

[vitanola]

Seems to me if the people in the car had simply pulled over, they probably could have avoided being shot and killed. It's not rocket science - you pull over when the police are behind you with their sirens and lights going and you treat the officer(s) with respect, do what they tell you, and everyone is going to walk away alive.

You don't know Cleveland, do you?

That said, leave the actions of the driver and his passenger ( a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who was living in a halfway house) out off the situation. The actions of the police put large numbers of innocent civilians at risk. Their actions put fifty police officers at risk, for remember that the police surrounded the car in a circle and shot into it. Many of those shots either passed the car or went through it. It is a miracle that no police officer was killed by friendly fire. This is a situation where one officer was so stupid that he could not identify a backfire, and other officers were so Gung-ho on getting into a fracas that they disregarded all rules and standing orders and put the public at great risk. A deplorable situation indeed!

 

[2jakes]

Perhaps this police officer needs to take a break.
The sound of gunfire and being shot at can put stress
to the point that you can’t id the differences,
at least for some.

I know that when we got back from patrol, we were removed of
our weapons and isolated when we took a break.
But this was in the military.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Train depots (usually no longer in use) in small towns. Many have been rehabbed as restaurants, historical society offices, stores, etc., but so many more no longer stand. I used to see them, and wonder how many left for college, for the armed forces, for a honeymoon, etc., from their platforms.


Along with that: no longer utilized land telegraph lines along railroad mainlines. Many lasted into the 21st century, but they're disappearing rapidly.

 

[2jakes]

Still standing but now the place is used for civic/social events.

When I left to join the military, this place was thriving.
Wood swivel chairs, benches, ticket offices with brass bars on the windows,
conductors in full uniform, nice leather luggage and trunks.
Wood telephone booths, shoe shine stands, and vending machines of all kinds.

 

[Fading Fast]

The incredible architecture of these old train stations - from the behemoths in the big cities to the incredibly impressive ones like this ⇧ in the smaller ones - tells us how successful and important train travel was for a period.

That is an insanely beautiful station. I've been in a decent number of airports - and a few have some interesting and even uplifting architecture (in spots) - but none compare to the presence, elegance and thoughtfulness of that ⇧.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Our station, built in 1917. When passenger service was terminated on the Maine Central in 1959, it was remodeled into a new City Hall to replaced the one demolished for a parking lot. That ended in 1996, when City Hall moved to the outskirts. It was revived for passenger service in the late '90s for excursion trains, and there was some talk of re-linking it with Amtrak for the Boston run, but that came to nothing, and the excursion service ended in 2015. Only tenant now is a hipster nightclub/restaurant called "Trackside." The rail line itself is still active for freight, mostly raw materials being shipped to the cement factory, and the line runs directly thru many backyards in that part of town.

The main historical distinction for the building is that it's where, in 1941, President Roosevelt caught a train back to Washington after coming ashore here following his secret meeting with Winston Churchill in Newfoundland over the terms of the Atlantic Charter. There are still quite a few reisdents over 85 who'll tell you how they stood around the station waving as the President was helped to his coach. It's the last time a President visited us.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ that is a very cool connect to WWII history.

 

[2jakes]

Not exactly vintage and before my lifetime, nevertheless this has disappeared.

A directory of various activities .
Including a red-light district in the early 1900s.
Established by the city council to manage prostitution in the city.
For a time it was one of the nation’s largest vice districts with venues ranging
from brothels to gambling halls.
During WW1, soldiers upon arriving at the train depot nearby would proceed to
pay their respects to the ladies of pleasure.

The area was officially shut down in 1941 and the buildings are now used as law
offices, retail shops and cafes.