Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[C-dot]

I would love to have beauty parlours back. Not day spas, beauty parlours. Imagine having your hair styled, your nails manicured, and your skin treated all in one lovely perfume scented place.

 

[Stray Cat]

Imagine having your hair styled, your nails manicured, and your skin treated all in one lovely perfume scented place.

I can imagine that.. and I'd like it.

 

[fortworthgal]

I see much mention of glass-bottled drinks that require an opener - those are popular around here. Coke & Dr. Pepper come in glass bottles. We also have Dr. Pepper made with real sugar. I believe there is a brand of orange & grape soda also in glass bottles, not to mention Jarritos (Mexican brand sold here). Plastics are in most gas stations, but grocery stores always have the glass bottles. Maybe a regional thing.

I also noticed that the smaller Kleenex boxes are getting harder to find. The ones that fit into the old bathroom tissue dispensers or the under-dash ones in 50's and 60's cars. I looked all over for them and only one place had 'em.

I've found them at Target locally. We have those wall dispensers in both bathrooms of our 1958 house.

 

[TidiousTed]

I would love to have the old petrol stations back. Those places where they checked your oil and cleaned your windscreen while they filled your tank. All you get on petrol station round here now is some bubblegum chewing teen who don’t know a car from a whole in the ground.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I see much mention of glass-bottled drinks that require an opener - those are popular around here. Coke & Dr. Pepper come in glass bottles. We also have Dr. Pepper made with real sugar. I believe there is a brand of orange & grape soda also in glass bottles, not to mention Jarritos (Mexican brand sold here). Plastics are in most gas stations, but grocery stores always have the glass bottles. Maybe a regional thing.

We've just recently started to see Mexican Coke, Fanta, and Pepsi in glass bottles here -- and considering that our total Latino population is less than 1 percent, it's clearly aimed at the mainstream market. People are sick of plastic and corn syrup, and are speaking with their wallets.

Our Coke distributor also carries American Coke in 8-ounce glass bottles. I asked for the real six-ounce refillable bottles when we did a special 50's promotion this summer, and was told that they haven't handled those in this territory since the mid-'80s. Time to bring them back.

 

[sheeplady]

We've just recently started to see Mexican Coke, Fanta, and Pepsi in glass bottles here -- and considering that our total Latino population is less than 1 percent, it's clearly aimed at the mainstream market. People are sick of plastic and corn syrup, and are speaking with their wallets.

Our Coke distributor also carries American Coke in 8-ounce glass bottles. I asked for the real six-ounce refillable bottles when we did a special 50's promotion this summer, and was told that they haven't handled those in this territory since the mid-'80s. Time to bring them back.

That's the thing that irritates me. They used to refill the bottles. Now they all get ground up and recycled into new bottles. People can correct me if I am wrong (and I hope I am) but it seems wasteful to buy them, grind them up, and then just remake them in the same shape again.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We had refillables here until about 1990, and then suddenly they disappeared -- literally overnight. Somebody somewhere must've been paid off.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

It's a sad state of affairs that it's like this. The only places you can get in at an entry-level position is in factories and retail. It's tough to move up in a Union Plant, too. It'll be years until I see first shift, because of seniority, if I'm here that long.

Entry-level positions. That is, actual, entry-level, start at the bottom and work your way up towards the level of your own aptitude, not "get a college degree before we even consider you for a data-entry position." On-the-job training and promotion from within, rather than hiring someone with an M.B.A. to fill a position in a company whose businesss they know nothing about.

I buy Mexican Coca-Cola. It's pricey, though. I pay over 10 dollars for a six-pack. I'm hoping if it gains popularity, and they produce more, the price will become a bit more reasonable. I don't like that they did away with returnable bottles. We haven't bought bottled beer in years, are those still available in returnables?

I see much mention of glass-bottled drinks that require an opener - those are popular around here. Coke & Dr. Pepper come in glass bottles. We also have Dr. Pepper made with real sugar. I believe there is a brand of orange & grape soda also in glass bottles, not to mention Jarritos (Mexican brand sold here). Plastics are in most gas stations, but grocery stores always have the glass bottles. Maybe a regional thing.



I've found them at Target locally. We have those wall dispensers in both bathrooms of our 1958 house.

I was checking my oil at the gas station the other day and people looked at me like I was nuts.

I would love to have the old petrol stations back. Those places where they checked your oil and cleaned your windscreen while they filled your tank. All you get on petrol station round here now is some bubblegum chewing teen who don’t know a car from a whole in the ground.

 

[Gene]

I am a huge fan and advocate of Mexican Coke, they sell it at the grocery stores here and in just about every Mexican restaurant.

And the "service station" by my house is actually a functioning garage, with full service like oil check, windshield washing, and fill-up! I used to be a pump jockey there for awhile.

 

[TidiousTed]

In Norway nearly all soda and beer bottles are refilled and Coca Cola is not alowed to use corn syrup in the production only real sugar

 

[Steven180]

Is there any ingredient or taste difference with the Mexican Coca-Cola in bottles like TediousTed mentions?

M.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I believe it's made with real sugar and I do like the way it tastes. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it tastes less 'harsh' to me than ours.

Is there any ingredient or taste difference with the Mexican Coca-Cola in bottles like TediousTed mentions?

M.

 

[PoohBang]

In Norway nearly all soda and beer bottles are refilled and Coca Cola is not alowed to use corn syrup in the production only real sugar

probably because Norway doesn't have a Corn Lobby.... Norway should start exporting their coke to the US...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Is there any ingredient or taste difference with the Mexican Coca-Cola in bottles like TediousTed mentions?

M.

I was very skeptical, but I'm convinced -- sugar Coke, either the Mexican or the Passover variety, has a sharper flavor and much crisper mouth-feel than the HFCS version, which has a very cloying, syrupy feel. Coke isn't supposed to be sweety-sweet, it's supposed to be tart, and the sugar-sweetened stuff has the correct balance. The first sip of the Mexican stuff I took was like meeting an old friend I hadn't seen in 30 years.

I *wish*, desperately, there was a way to get sugar-sweetened fountain syrup.

 

[Steven180]

I *wish*, desperately, there was a way to get sugar-sweetened fountain syrup.

Ditto!

But thanks for the insight AET and Lizzie, I'll have to track some down online now just to try it. Wouldn't that be something if the consumer drove the manufacturer by demands of quality and quantity? Still possible.

You guys have a great day,
M.

 

[dnjan]

We had refillables here until about 1990, and then suddenly they disappeared -- literally overnight. Somebody somewhere must've been paid off.

Or more likely it was one too many lawsuits about "stuff" in an inadequately-cleaned recycled bottle.

 

[jamespowers]

I was very skeptical, but I'm convinced -- sugar Coke, either the Mexican or the Passover variety, has a sharper flavor and much crisper mouth-feel than the HFCS version, which has a very cloying, syrupy feel. Coke isn't supposed to be sweety-sweet, it's supposed to be tart, and the sugar-sweetened stuff has the correct balance. The first sip of the Mexican stuff I took was like meeting an old friend I hadn't seen in 30 years.

I *wish*, desperately, there was a way to get sugar-sweetened fountain syrup.

I worked for Coke here locally for a summer in college. The Mexican and Chinese stuff was waaaaaaaay different. The Chinese stuff was gingery tasting.

 

[fortworthgal]

Our Coke distributor also carries American Coke in 8-ounce glass bottles.

That's what they sell here at the grocery stores I go to, American sodas in glass bottles - with the exception of Jarritos.

Mexican Coke in the glass bottles is available at only a few stores, like Fiesta & Carnival. I've never tasted it.

Dr. Pepper made with the original cane sugar formula is made in Dublin, Texas, not too far from me. Around here it is called simply "Dublin Dr. Pepper." There's some sort of strange distribution issue stemming from an original agreement in the 1920s for a 44-mile distribution radius, and not in areas franchised by other bottlers, so it definitely isn't available outside of Texas, and only occasionally outside of the metroplex area. You can buy it online, but the prices are nuts. Personally I think the sugar-sweetened Dr. Pepper does have a different taste, but it is also sweeter than the "regular" kind.

If you're ever in the DFW area, it is worth a drive to the bottling plant. They have tours & a neat gift shop, and an original 1940s style billboard outside. The town of Dublin is tiny, but has a couple of neat antique shops.

 

[PoohBang]

I can get the Dublin here in LA, but only in little glass bottles.

I thought I had heard that Dublin is not actually "Dr. Pepper" in the main company way, but since it was originally made there, they have an agreement to manufacture their recipe and sell it, but it must be called Dublin Dr. Pepper as the formula has changed since they first had it....

so in fact, the Dublin Dr. Pepper is more what Dr. Pepper use to taste like back when it was new.

 

[TidiousTed]

Since we are no discussing sodas, I wondered if the members of FL could do me a little favour. I have started a series on known and lesser known sodas on my blog and need comments and suggestions.

You’ll find the intro post here, the list of already posted sodas here
and the only comment I’ve received till now here

If you’re interested in suggesting sodas, I’m particularly interested in old products preferably still in production, or telling me what you think about the ones listed so far either post a comment on the post about the product or simply send me a mail