Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Fading Fast]

I wore a 30s Mickey Mouse watch for the longest time.
Then one day, one of his arms fell off.
I don’t have the guts to take it to the watch repair guy and tell him
of my predicament!
What to do?
Sign me as...
"Lost in Time”


I sound like a nelly writing to “Dear Abby”

I'd march in proudly, ask him if he can fix it and not think twice about it. It's a cool vintage item / cool that you wear and nothing to be at all ashamed of. If we all just did what was expected of us, the world would be a boring place.

 

[ChrisB]

I'd march in proudly, ask him if he can fix it and not think twice about it. It's a cool vintage item / cool that you wear and nothing to be at all ashamed of. If we all just did what was expected of us, the world would be a boring place.

My former boss has for many years worn a Seiko Mickey Mouse watch to work.

 

[belfastboy]

I don't remember of I've mentioned it before, but when I was a boy shoe stores had fluoroscopes. These were x-ray machines that cast the image on a tv screen instead of on film. I could stand on it with my feet in the recess provided and look through the eyepiece and see my skeletal feet. I'd wiggle my toes and watch my little toe bones flex, which I found enthralling. The other side had two eyepieces through which one of my parents and the salesperson would peer and confer on the fit. I believe they were outlawed before the end of the '50s.

My doctor sent me in for x-rays and while he was writing up the order he apologized for subjecting me to this and assured me it was very low dose radiation. I replied as a child of the 1950's I used to go to the shoe store and have my feet x-rayed for fun (this was pre TV days). It was a marvel of modern technology. I thanked him for his concern but said if that did not get me one more x-ray surely would not hurt me. He was enthralled to actually meet someone who had direct experience of the shoe store x-rays. He had heard of them but thought perhaps they were an urban myth circulating through med school.

 

[2jakes]

Thank You!

I'd march in proudly, ask him if he can fix it and not think twice about it. It's a cool vintage item / cool that you wear and nothing to be at all ashamed of. If we all just did what was expected of us, the world would be a boring place.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Will do it!

 

[ChrisB]

My doctor sent me in for x-rays and while he was writing up the order he apologized for subjecting me to this and assured me it was very low dose radiation. I replied as a child of the 1950's I used to go to the shoe store and have my feet x-rayed for fun (this was pre TV days). It was a marvel of modern technology. I thanked him for his concern but said if that did not get me one more x-ray surely would not hurt me. He was enthralled to actually meet someone who had direct experience of the shoe store x-rays. He had heard of them but thought perhaps they were an urban myth circulating through med school.

Those devices were often poorly shielded and could put out far more radiation than needed. It was less of a problem for the customers than the sales staff who received a daily dose of X rays.

 

[Fading Fast]

Thank You!




Thanks for the encouragement.

Will do it!

Good man - a before and after repair shot would be neat to have.

 

[2jakes]

Not sure if this is considered vintage, but the act of giving back
your change in retail stores has disappeared.
At least the way it used to be done by counting the money instead
of just placing it on the table as it’s done today.
But I must say that I hardly pay with cash any more.
And only with a check on rare occasions.

 

[belfastboy]

Not sure if this is considered vintage, but the act of giving back
your change in retail stores has disappeared.
At least the way it used to be done by counting the money instead
of just placing it on the table.
But I must say that I hardly pay with cash any more.
And only with a check on rare occasions.

One of my winter jobs as a 16 and 17 year old was a cashier in a small grocery/convenience store. I would never think of giving change without counting it into the customers hand. If nothing else it was a safeguard against giving an incorrect amount and being short at the end of the shift.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Most cashiers today are under pressure to keep their lines moving -- "ring rates" are tabulated and the pressure to move the line ever faster takes precedence over every other consideration. That's why you don't get your change counted back to you anymore -- it slows down the line, depresses the ring rate, and managers don't want to see it.

 

[2jakes]

Very first job was at a department store in the camera dept.
The register was a huge heavy metal type with a crank on the
side.
I loved the huge key pads and the ringing sound it made.
A hand written sales slip was part of the transaction and the
money that was given to the customer was always counted.
Especially during the heavy Christmas season when con-artist
were at work, hoping that you would make a mistake by not
counting the change.
A “punch” time clock was used to check in and out for the
employees.

Was only allowed 30 minutes for lunch.
Walking downtown to enjoy a good meal
at favorite locations took time away from my lunch.
I soon got into the bad habit of punching out when I came back
from lunch and would punch “in” after 30 minutes had elapsed.

My time card always looked perfect with no late or tardiness
showing.
That I enjoyed more than 30 minutes for lunch, my tummy
was happy. I could sleep comfortably and not feel
guilty about it at all..

Belfastboy & Trenchfriend... I had no scrupples.
Take Care!

 

[scottyrocks]

I know I've posted this thought before, but it is funny how the cellphone has become, in one respect, a modern day pocket watch. I can remember some of my dad's older friends pulling a watch out of their pocket if they were asked the time (and some having to, then, click it open to the watch face). When I see kids today pull a phone out of their pocket to check the time (and sometimes they have to click the side of the phone to light it up), the motion echoes right back to my memory of my dad's friends doing the same with their pocket watches.

I'm gonna put a gold chain on my cell phone.

 

[scottyrocks]

One of my winter jobs as a 16 and 17 year old was a cashier in a small grocery/convenience store. I would never think of giving change without counting it into the customers hand. If nothing else it was a safeguard against giving an incorrect amount and being short at the end of the shift.

This was more necessary when a cashier actually had to do mental subtraction and then count the change back to double check. These days, the machine tells you how much the change is, so double counting after you've counted it out of the drawer is way less necessary.

Also, many people just don't give a futz anymore.

 

[2jakes]

I have a brass bell on my keys and I like the idea of
a gold chain on the cell phone.

Otherwise I have to call myself on the landline to locate
that S@#*# cell phone!

 

[scottyrocks]

The problem is that my waistcoat pockets are not big enough for a smart phone.

 

[2jakes]

The problem is that my waistcoat pockets are not big enough for a smart phone.

For the better part of my life, I never carried a smart phone and have
realized that I was more at peace or happy as things were back then.
Today, I won’t carry a smartphone anymore and it feels great again.

 

[Fading Fast]

This was more necessary when a cashier actually had to do mental subtraction and then count the change back to double check. These days, the machine tells you how much the change is, so double counting after you've counted it out of the drawer is way less necessary.

Also, many people just don't give a futz anymore.

Part of why people don't care anymore is that the change is worth so much less than it was because of inflation which all our betters tell us today we need more not less of (uh-huh).

As I try to explain to my mother, a dime when she was born would buy what $1.60 does today or, to bring it home, she'd need to find 16 dimes on the ground today to equal finding one when she was a kid. But since the change part of a transaction is still a fraction of a nominal dollar, change today is 1/16 as important as when she was a kid; hence, people don't give a futz 'cause it's worth so much less.

If being shorted 60 cents today was the same as being shorted $9.60, like it was when my mom was a kid, I'd bet people would pay a lot more attention to change.

 

[2jakes]

Part of why people don't care anymore is that the change is worth so much less than it was because of inflation which all our betters tell us today we need more not less of (uh-huh).

As I try to explain to my mother, a dime when she was born would buy what $1.60 does today or, to bring it home, she'd need to find 16 dimes on the ground today to equal finding one when she was a kid. But since the change part of a transaction is still a fraction of a nominal dollar, change today is 1/16 as important as when she was a kid; hence, people don't give a futz 'cause it's worth so much less.

If being shorted 60 cents today was the same as being shorted $9.60, like it was when my mom was a kid, I'd bet people would pay a lot more attention to change.

My Western-Flyer Super Deluxe X-53 was $69.95 plus tax.
That was mucho bucks back in ’55.
It was put on the “lay-away” plan from the Western Auto store &
ready for Christmas time.
Today, if you can find one, they start at $600.
More if it’s complete and in better condition.

 

[tonyb]

My Western-Flyer Super Deluxe X-53 was $69.95 plus tax.
That was mucho bucks back in ’55.
It was put on the “lay-away” plan from the Western Auto store &
ready for Christmas time.
Today, if you can find one, they start at $600.
More if it’s complete and in better condition.

The prices those bikes might fetch these days are defensible in my book, not that I would pay anything approaching that much myself. Such a bike is a survivor. It has dodged the landfill or rusting away to nothing.

 

[2jakes]

The prices those bikes might fetch these days are defensible in my book, not that I would pay anything approaching that much myself. Such a bike is a survivor. It has dodged the landfill or rusting away to nothing.

That it has dodged the landfill
or rusting away to nothing is something that I can relate to.
I am a survivor as well.

The joy and fond memories this piece of
wheeled metal brings to me is
priceless.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

The joy and fond memories this piece of
wheeled metal brings to me is
priceless.

Which explains why so many things from the past have so much collector value today. And why the value of many things fall as the generation that grew up with those items passes away.