Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[BeBopBaby]

Lye soap is GREAT! I used to use it to clean the dirty, pomade-caked collars of my ex's undershirts and it's incredible, though a bit labor intensive. It definitely requires scrubbing. You can buy it at (surprise, surprise!!) the Vermont Country Store.

There are gentle lye soaps that ladies used to use on their skin as well, since they leave no residue. My mom has been using lye soap on her skin and she loves it.

Even though lye itself is caustic, properly made lye soap is actually very gentle because it's mostly made from rendered animal fat. But, you have to get the mixture correct in the soap because too much lye and the soap will burn your skin.

I've made lye soap from scratch in the past. I've even made my own lye from wood ashes. When done properly, the lye soap makes your skin very soft.

 

[Nick D]

-Full service fuel stations: free air, someone to wash your window & pump the gas.

These aren't completely gone. At a station in Gwinn the attendant checks the air and the oil, pumps the gas, and washes the windows.

 

[magnolia76]

-Gathering around the radio after dinner to listen to "Little Orphan Annie"
-Being able to go into Boston by train at any age because it was simply much safer
-Seeing a cartoon, the news, and a motion picture twice in one day for 10 cents
-Only going out to eat on special occasions
-Seeing the characters having a smoke in old Disney cartoons. A huge no no now!

 

[brylcreem boy]

This a little one that came to mind when I saw this thread. When I was a little kid in the 70's I used to always look forward to an ice cold pepsi at my grandmothers house- she always served it in those nice "Metal Tumblers" that stayed so cold- not sure that's what you call them, they were metal and came in colors like Red, Blue, Green. I never see those anymore- wish I could find some.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

This a little one that came to mind when I saw this thread. When I was a little kid in the 70's I used to always look forward to an ice cold pepsi at my grandmothers house- she always served it in those nice "Metal Tumblers" that stayed so cold- not sure that's what you call them, they were metal and came in colors like Red, Blue, Green. I never see those anymore- wish I could find some.

like these?


http://www.comforthouse.com/tumbler.html

 

[KittyT]

This a little one that came to mind when I saw this thread. When I was a little kid in the 70's I used to always look forward to an ice cold pepsi at my grandmothers house- she always served it in those nice "Metal Tumblers" that stayed so cold- not sure that's what you call them, they were metal and came in colors like Red, Blue, Green. I never see those anymore- wish I could find some.

Like these?

You can get a set of 6 for $20 at http://www.taylorgifts.com/prodetail~itemNo~20447.asp

 

[Ace Fedora]

Taking the train because it was cheaper than flying.

I haven't been on a train since 1998, during an airline strike. I loved every minute of it -- from seeing the backside of cities to talking with strangers in the dome car.

Now? Almost twice the price of a plane ticket, and much less convenient. The hassle of living in a country with one national passenger railroad...

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Like these?

You can get a set of 6 for $20 at http://www.taylorgifts.com/prodetail~itemNo~20447.asp

Giggles.....great minds think alike Kitty!...although the site I saw has them on sale for 15.99

 

[KittyT]

Giggles.....great minds think alike Kitty!...although the site I saw has them on sale for 15.99

I <3 Google.

 

[olive bleu]

Cigarette lighters in cars.

 

[tuppence]

Mercurochrome

In the upper midwest it was likewise known as mercurochrome. It was tinted a horrible orange-red and was already losing ground when I was a wee sprog in the early '70s to newer preparations such as Bactine. If you got scraped or cut in the presence of an elderly relative, it might still have been treated with iodine (iodoform), which as it turned out really wasn't any great shakes as a germ killer.

We had it in Australia too.

 

[Caroline]

not so much "things", but more like states of mind


The neighborhood tv store: I really miss having one of these. They would leave all the teevees on and in the wintertime, when the sun set early, the street would glow with tv goodness.

Boxing on tv: I know someone will say that it is on cable, but it's not the same as watching it on a static filled screen with rabbit ears.

Smoking in the bowling alley: Ours still has the ashtrays, sealed up I don't even smoke, but somehow I miss it.

 

[Scuffy]

I miss hand drawn cartoons with orchestral music. There's still a bit of it from what I've seen (though I admit that I don't really look), but none of the modern cartoons will familiarize watchers with classical music like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry. Before I ever knew that it was opera, it was the background to Bugs shaving Elmer, and Elmer wearing a viking hat with braids. (Wait, maybe modern cartoons are less twisted.)

I also miss danger. Kids are such wimps these days. I left more skin and blood on the ground while doing bike tricks, jumping from monkey bars, and other such nonsense that, even if a kid today could escape his or her "helicopter parents" (yes, I heard it on Oprah), a helmet, gloves, knee/elbow pads, and a call to the insurance agent would be required for any such activity.

Preach on, preach on! Boy is that the truth! I to did my fair share of bodily harm while out on adventure! One of my lady friends has a son and a daughter, 9 and 11 respectively, and they are afraid to walk in the woods! Daddy long leg spiders are LITERALLY what they consider to be tarantulas! They're afraid to walk under mercury vapor (street) lights at night because they are afraid that the bats that are feasting off the bugs up there might swoop down and attack them. Kids really are wimpy nowadays!

Personally I miss Blackjack, Beemans, and Clove gum. Beemans was my favorite. And occasionally one can still find a box of these at a mom and pop shop. Although I don't know where it comes from as it's normally quite fresh. Time warp maybe? Are they even in production any more??

I miss quality in everything! Nothing is made to last any more. It's a throw away society. How much can we make on the cheap and take in maximum profit?!

I miss parents that spend time with their kids instead of pawning them off to be babysat by a television or video game or dropped off at the mall (Friday nights fill the mall I work at with 12-17 year olds just wandering aimlessly for 4 or 5 hours!).

I miss dads that would teach their sons how to fix things around the house, basic skills, and even hand down their tools in hopes of seeing the boy off into manhood.

I miss moms that know how to cook! Shoot. I miss families that know what a balanced meal is!

I miss respect. Very few people any more, young or old, hold doors for people, use "please" and "thank you"... It's not like there is a technology that can replace this one folks! What happened to manners?!

I miss actual ice cream and frozen custard. I'd take those over the ice milk and bastardizations that are around any day! In saying that I have to recommend a shop just on the eastern outskirts of Meadville, PA- they still have the old churning machines and they make several different flavors of custard all through the summer. It's worth the 45 minute scenic drive to get some!!!!

Okay I'll shut up now!!! I could go on and on and on and on and...

 

[Fletch]

When's the last time anyone used an interoffice envelope?

 

[Scuffy]

Wait! I thought of one more!!! Does anyone still carry/supply canned bacon? There used to be a company that imported it to the States from Sweden or a country in that general vicinity. It was salty as anything could be but it was goooooood! I love it!! And my parents still have a can that they keep in the back of the pantry.


And Fletch- I know here in Ashtabula County, OH they still use them. Or at least in the county seat. They're transferred within the buildings and between the buildings. Delivered them to the different offices of the County many times- auditor, engineer and road dept.- all over!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Hydrocollator moist heat steam packs.

I still have mine in an original box and mom still also has one.

Made by the Chattanooga Pharmacal Company, these packs are cloth with some magic heat and water absorbing middle. You boiled them for a while and then wrapped in a towel they offer long term moist heat for things like sore muscles.

Unceremoniously replaced by the electric heating pack, which is not the same at all.

If you google hydrocollator today, all you get are references to the machines that massage and physical therapists use to keep their hot packs hot. Made by the same company and the packs for them are the same, but since not -widely- available....I count as vanished.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

When's the last time anyone used an interoffice envelope?

Last week?

Although ours are Lighter blue with dark blue print.....to make sorting them from actual manilla envelopes requiring US postal service processing, easier.

I have zero idea how an envelope I address with a name and a 5 digit code actually -gets- to St. Louis, Houston, or Seattle,....but they do. Maybe we have standing mail bags on UPS flights...or someone in a small plane flies around a lot.... Not a clue.

 

[Fletch]

OK, interoffice mail is alive, if not well.

This is what I get for not working in an office in many years.

 

[Dr Doran]

I was taught growing up that you only called your peers by their first name --people your own age or younger. Everybody else was Mr. or Mrs. or Miss or Doctor, or Reverend, or whatever the title might be, *especially* teachers and other authority figures. This wasn't a sign of kowtowing, it was a recognition that they were entitled to a certain level of respect, that different people in society held different degrees of authority, and it was only appropriate to grant that recognition to them. Adults maintained a certain distance from kids then -- they didn't try to be peers or pals, because they *weren't* such and the Mr/Mrs. stuff was an acknowledgement of that. By contrast, my niece habitually calls her teachers by their first names -- and even hangs out with them after school, which makes no sense to me at all.

To this day I still call authority figures by titles rather than first names -- old habits die hard.

Some of my students call me Mr Doran, but I am only a grad student so I would feel very unusual about insisting on that. The custom here is to have the students call you by your first name if you are only a graduate student. I called all my professors Professor (last name) when I was an undergrad, but when I got to grad school the professors asked me to call them by their first name, since we are now "colleagues," which I thought was sweet of them. I agree that last names are generally better, though.

Lye soap is GREAT! I used to use it to clean the dirty, pomade-caked collars of my ex's undershirts and it's incredible, though a bit labor intensive. It definitely requires scrubbing. You can buy it at (surprise, surprise!!) the Vermont Country Store.

There are gentle lye soaps that ladies used to use on their skin as well, since they leave no residue. My mom has been using lye soap on her skin and she loves it.

Of your EX's shirts? That's so thoughtful. What an unusual ex-girlfriend you are. None of my exes are still washing my shirts.

 

[Scuffy]

OK, interoffice mail is alive, if not well.

This is what I get for not working in an office in many years.

lol No biggie Fletch! I'm still fairly certain that most in their mid 20's and younger have no clue what they are and in all reality they'll probably be gone in the near future!