Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Fading Fast]

Let me put it this way, if you needed any of the 4 items, you probably needed them all.

But not necessarily in that order.

 

[Zombie_61]

Let me put it this way, if you needed any of the 4 items, you probably needed them all.

Probably. But if you're going on a date and planning to rely on the restaurant to provide those items, I think you're doing it wrong.

 

[basbol13]

Probably. But if you're going on a date and planning to rely on the restaurant to provide those items, I think you're doing it wrong.

All depends on if you're paying for the "date". Usually "dates" don't care as long as they receive just compensation. For them, order is of no consequence. I'm wondering if they take Bitcoin?

 

[Marilla Brown]

Long time lurker, first time poster here! Some things that are endangered or just plain gone that I would like to see make a comeback:

• Structured clothing for women. Everything in the shops today is sloppy and oversized as heck; no darting, no princess seams, nada.
• Full service shoe stores. None of this DSW nonsense where you have to pull the shoes off the shelf by yourself, search for some bench down the never-ending aisles then try on the shoe while you juggle your handbag, your shopping bags, etc. Can we go back to being civilized where we have a shoe salesman who pulls the shoe you requested and some alternative options and can accurately describe the shoe (where it's made, what it's made of, etc.) while you wait in a chair. In addition, most shoe shops or shoe departments only carry medium widths these days. You used to be able to get all sorts of widths at the shoe store.
• Handbags. I am looking for a handbag in a shop and the clerk points me to these monstrously big shopper totes or shoulder bags. I say, "I wan't a handbag not a shoulder bag. A bag with a handle I can hold in my hand." They look at me like I have two heads. I do not need to put everything but the kitchen sink in my bag. I need one that can hold my lipstick, wallet, tissues, sunglasses, and cell phone. That's it.
• Spring coats. Usually in a pastel color. No one seems to wear spring coats anymore.
  
• Neat hair. Do women no longer feel the need to brush their hair? It always looks wind-blown, like they just woke up or they put it into this ridiculously messy top-knot.
• Trick-or-treating. I never see any kids trick-or-treating in my neighborhood, they all go to the malls to go trick-or-treating or do this new awful thing called trunk-or-treat which involves parents driving to a parking lot with candy in their trunks and kids go car to car getting candy from the trunks.
  
• Supper clubs. Dinner and dancing (real dancing, not this stuff today) with a live band (not a DJ).
  
• Train travel. Train stations are in the middle of the city. Airports are on the outskirts of the city many times requiring at least a 30-45 minute taxi ride into town. Another reason I love train travel: I've arrived at the train station 15 minutes before the train was scheduled to leave and made it to my seat in the nick of time. Try doing that at the airport.

 

[tonyb]

Grease jars. Or tins, or cans, or whatever was used in any particular home to hold bacon grease and other fats for later use. Such things were in just about every home of my familiarity when I was a kid. Not so anymore.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Grease jars. Or tins, or cans, or whatever was used in any particular home to hold bacon grease and other fats for later use. Such things were in just about every home of my familiarity when I was a kid. Not so anymore.

Old Sanka Coffee can on the back of the stove. As much a part of my childhood as summer impetigo.

 

[Fading Fast]

Old Sanka Coffee can on the back of the stove. As much a part of my childhood as summer impetigo.

My parents drank a lot of coffee - after every meal, between meals and, sometimes, it was breakfast (and nothing else) - and this ⇩ or something that looked almost like this was always out and almost always on in my house growing up. I am comfortable I loaded and clean that thing thousands of times in my childhood (and I never drank coffee as a kid - do kids drink it today?).



Do people use those anymore?

 

[sheeplady]

What do modern people do with their fat today? Do they dump it down the drain?

We have two kinds of fat... Drippings (good fat, goes in canning jars) and Bad Fat (not good enough to keep for cooking) which goes in whatever type of tin we have for the freezer and later tossing.

 

[tonyb]

Percolator coffee is good fresh, provided you got the right variety and roast and grind. Those brands of canned coffee we used in percolators back then, before most folks switched to auto-drip coffeemakers, fit the bill nicely.

 

[Fading Fast]

Percolator coffee is good fresh, provided you got the right variety and roast and grind. Those brands of canned coffee we used in percolators back then, before most folks switched to auto-drip coffeemakers, fit the bill nicely.

Most of the time it was Chock Full 'O Nuts in my parent's house. I'm sure today's Starbucks crowd wouldn't go for it, but it was big back then.

 

[tonyb]

What do modern people do with their fat today? Do they dump it down the drain?

We have two kinds of fat... Drippings (good fat, goes in canning jars) and Bad Fat (not good enough to keep for cooking) which goes in whatever type of tin we have for the freezer and later tossing.

Pouring grease down the drain is a fine way to get a clogged drain. I typically pour excess grease out of the pan or pot into the garbage can. And when I wash those pots and pans, I use water as hot as the tap will give me and let it run for at least a few seconds afterwards to carry whatever remaining grease there might be through my plumbing and out to the municipal sewer line.

The little pucks of finely ground coffee that are the leftover waste from my wife's espresso machine often get broken up and washed down the drain with hot water. I was told many years ago that used coffee grounds can help keep drains clear because they pick up grease on their way through pipes and carry it away. I don't know if that's ever been scientifically demonstrated, but it seems plausible to me.

 

[tonyb]

Most of the time it was Chock Full 'O Nuts in my parent's house. I'm sure today's Starbucks crowd wouldn't go for it, but it was big back then.

We used Folger's or Maxwell House until moving out West in '68, when we switched to MJB ("There's Only Enough for the West," was their slogan), which really was a cut above.

 

[green papaya]

1. The sight of a woman wearing a dress, or real ladies clothes,

the way your elementary school teacher use to dress, remember ladies wore dresses, guys wore slacks / jeans

back when I was a kid it was mandatory for girls to wear a dress or skirt, if a girl wore boys clothing they would send you home.

2. Back when the teachers / school principle could touch a student and use a paddle and actually slap a kid on the face for misbehaving, I remember teachers would slap a kid on the face if you made them angry or disrespected them. They use to scold me and shake me like a rag doll and I would get whiplash.

They use to humiliate a student for misbehaving, sometimes they would make you stand in front of the class and make you say something out loud 50 times or tie you to a chair in the corner or tape your mouth shut , and sometimes the teacher would mark the chalkboard and make the student touch his / her nose on it the entire day or until they said you could sit down.

3. When people use to actually respect the LAW, these days people protest and complain about the most miniscule things and think they are entitled to everything, our society has turned into a bunch of cry babies & snow flakes.

4. Back when people resolved matters out of court, these days people file law suits and try to sue everybody for everything and anything, the coffee was too hot and scalded my lips = sue for damages / loss of work / distress, etc

what really sounds ridiculous that happens more these days are family members suing their own father, mother, brother, sister, etc. Back in the old days they didnt do that kind of thing.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A society where people do a lot of complaining usually has a lot going on that deserves to be complained about. Violent rioting was common thruout the 1930s, and for good reason -- people were willing to fight and die in the streets for what The System had denied them.

People in the 1930s were not unabashed supporters of the Boys In Blue, not when they could open their morning paper and see innocent people being shot in the back by cops for exercising their right to free speech. Look up the Memorial Day Massacre of 1937, and see what kind of brutal, fascistic "law enforcement" was common then. There's a difference between "respect" for the law and being terrorized into submission by it.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

When it comes to dating I am almost completely convinced that there is no one out there for me. I have been on two dates in my 33, almost 34 years of life, the last one being 10 years ago. Both of those dates were set up for me. It is almost like I have no attraction to anyone anymore. I have basically given up on finding a significant other and I'm pretty sure that when I die it will be days, if not weeks before my body is found because I don't get invited to do things because I don't have any "real life" friends. i have tried to set up get togethers in the past and no one came so or canceled at the last minute flaking out so I don't even try anymore.

Another problem that comes from having no social life is if I was accused of a heinous crime I would probably be better off pleading guilty and throwing myself on the mercy of the court.

And those dates I went on ten years ago weren't even full dates. On the first one we met and she ordered a glass of wine and then excused herself to use the restroom. 6 hours later she hadn't come back. The second we had dinner and drove separate cars to the theatre but she never showed. At this pint in life I just want companionship. I couldn't care less about a physical one.

 

[tonyb]

Another problem that comes from having no social life is if I was accused of a heinous crime I would probably be better off pleading guilty and throwing myself on the mercy of the court.

And those dates I went on ten years ago weren't even full dates. On the first one we met and she ordered a glass of wine and then excused herself to use the restroom. 6 hours later she hadn't come back. The second we had dinner and drove separate cars to the theatre but she never showed. At this pint in life I just want companionship. I couldn't care less about a physical one.

Are you serious? I come from a long line of ill-mannered toads with bad breath and severe acne and we somehow managed to extend that line.

You're pulling my leg, right? But if you aren't, it sounds to me like you just gotta learn to pick up on when a woman is sending you signs. FWIW, you aren't alone. I've seen friends be oblivious to being hit on. I'm sure I've been equally clueless myself, although my radar has sharpened with age, as has the proportion of available women to men.

 

[2jakes]

Another problem that comes from having no social life is if I was accused of a heinous crime I would probably be better off pleading guilty and throwing myself on the mercy of the court.

And those dates I went on ten years ago weren't even full dates. On the first one we met and she ordered a glass of wine and then excused herself to use the restroom. 6 hours later she hadn't come back. The second we had dinner and drove separate cars to the theatre but she never showed. At this pint in life I just want companionship. I couldn't care less about a physical one.

I believe I've only been on a date twice.
First time was in high school and the second time was after I got out of the military.
First time we were too young and awkward to enjoy having a good time .
Second time was great, but she was a older women. And we knew it was only for the moment.

That was it as far as "dating".

What I have done is join clubs or leagues like tennis/cycling where I
have fun and meet people with similar taste. Afterwards if we hit it
off really good, we go to events or places that we know we both enjoy.

Doesn't have to be tennis/cycling. Anything that you have an interest and
can share with others is fine.

 

[2jakes]

It was made locally. My grandmother would use the coffee grinds afterwards
in her garden plants. I never asked her why she did this.

 

[2jakes]

Bread and milk delivery trucks. Mostly one seat for the driver.
I stood on the passenger side while we made house to house deliveries (milk)
when I was in school. Milk route was on Saturday early mornings.
After school, I worked as a "package boy" at the Piggly Wiggly.
I got paid about $1.12 an hour. Cool !

Another thing I don't see anymore are the various soda water trucks.
Coke in glass bottles at times because of the bumpy roads, heat & carbonation,
would pop. I was lucky that they never burst when I carried them in those
wood cases into the local mom & pop stores throughout the city.
Talking about nice humid 100º summer days.

 

[ChrisB]

It was made locally. My grandmother would use the coffee grinds afterwards
in her garden plants. I never asked her why she did this.

Coffee grounds are good fertilizer, high in nitrogen.