Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[1961MJS]

...Some men would start drinking and disappear for anywhere from a week to 6 weeks and stay drunk all that time. In the end they would turn up, broke, and looking and feeling like hell. They would sober up and go back to work and not touch a drop for 6 months, a year or more then away they went again.

I don't know anyone who does this and have not heard of it for years but have the impression it was not uncommon at least into the forties. Any comments?

Hi

I think the part that's more uncommon now, is the sobering up and going back to work part. I knew several men (all now dead) who drank large amounts of booze every night after work. I have a neighbor in Illinois who sat in the backyard every night after work smoking Camels and drinking a 12 pack of Schlitz. It snows in Illinois. I had a boss who drank more than a fifth of Scotch EVERY night and at least he DID die of Liver failure. I've never known a binge drinker who didn't sober up at least every other day. I didn't know a few people who started Friday afternoon and stopped Sunday Morning at about 6:00 AM. Both my neighbor and my old boss were in good shape by noon.

takes all kinds I guess.

 

[jamespowers]

It still goes on around here -- all those bottles of Five O'Clock Gin and Allen's Coffee Brandy you find in the gutter aren't being served at distinguished cocktail parties, and with drugs added in it's even worse. And the glamorization of college binge drinking is just starting a whole new generation off on the same foot.

In the Era they had things like the Keeley Cure, where binge drinkers would be locked up and *forced* to drink at regular intervals until they couldn't stand the sight of the stuff. Film comedian Buster Keaton -- who went on a horrendous bender in 1933 and came out of it married to a woman he didn't recognize -- was one of the most famous graduates of the Keeley program.

One vintage thing you don't hear so much about anymore is "Temperance," the idea that avoiding alcohol altogether or taking it only in extreme moderation is the best way to live. Generally if you don't partake of "social drinking" nowadays people look at you funny.

Moderation in many forms has disappeared.

 

[reetpleat]

I agree. In fact, one of the vintage things that have disappeared is the ability to tell one year vehicle from another. They all look Jellybean---the same. As opposed to:

If you can look at this and hate it then I can't help you.
That and the 1958 Buick are my favorites:

Even the stationwagon was sleek:

I tend to think the same way. But I assure you, to a young guy who is into new cars, a glance at a car going by t 40 mph is enough to identify make, model, year, and package sometiimes. iT is all a matter of what you notice. Many people look at me in a 1939 belted back suit with pinstripe and hollywood waist reverse pleated slacks and say'Why are you wearing a suit? Do you have a job interview?"

 

[reetpleat]

It's funny that in the good old days the guys played extraordinary baseball but they also played hard and alot. There are pitching records that can't be broken because the prevailing theme is to pull a pitcher after 100-120 pitches. I think there was one guy that pitched in 4 games in one world series. You probably won't see that in a long time.

YOu must keep in mind though, that the performance is much higher. have you seen a photo of a pitcher mid pitch. His arm is doing things it was never meant to do. No pitcher could do that for a whole game.

 

[LizzieMaine]

YOu must keep in mind though, that the performance is much higher. have you seen a photo of a pitcher mid pitch. His arm is doing things it was never meant to do. No pitcher could do that for a whole game.

That's an interesting point -- pitching motions today tend to be much more "aggressive," trying to turn every pitcher into a power pitcher, even when they don't have the inborn talent to be one. Contrast this with the most powerful pitcher who ever lived, Walter Johnson -- who routinely threw in the high-90mph range for over twenty years with a *sidearm* motion. If he were alive and pitching today, throwing in the modern overhand style, he'd be over 120mph, and probably be banned from the game.

[video=youtube;imwUHeuVqME]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imwUHeuVqME[/video]

The Big Train in action. He didn't have an arm, he had a whip.

 

[jamespowers]

That's an interesting point -- pitching motions today tend to be much more "aggressive," trying to turn every pitcher into a power pitcher, even when they don't have the inborn talent to be one. Contrast this with the most powerful pitcher who ever lived, Walter Johnson -- who routinely threw in the high-90mph range for over twenty years with a *sidearm* motion. If he were alive and pitching today, throwing in the modern overhand style, he'd be over 120mph, and probably be banned from the game.

[video=youtube;imwUHeuVqME]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imwUHeuVqME[/video]

The Big Train in action. He didn't have an arm, he had a whip.

Not to mention Ruth 's pitching and hitting winning his own games. Warren spahn's delivery was something no one can reproduce today:
[video=youtube_share;gIZpWB256e4]http://youtu.be/gIZpWB256e4[/video]
That crazy leg kick nailed in the pitches.

 

[CodeRed]

Lucky rabbit's feet...haven't seen one of those in quite awhile.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

All beautiful cars. The late 50's was the golden age for cars, in my humble opinion. Love that wagon, but I'm a wagon guy through and through!

I agree. In fact, one of the vintage things that have disappeared is the ability to tell one year vehicle from another. They all look Jellybean---the same. As opposed to:

If you can look at this and hate it then I can't help you.
That and the 1958 Buick are my favorites:

Even the stationwagon was sleek:

 

[jamespowers]

All beautiful cars. The late 50's was the golden age for cars, in my humble opinion. Love that wagon, but I'm a wagon guy through and through!

I figured you would like the wagon. That wagon is so rare and in demand that they cost nearly as much as the Eldorado. So I suppose you aren't alone there.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I know they do, it's one of my favorite non-woodie models. However, I'd still take the Eldorado Biarritz over it!

I figured you would like the wagon. That wagon is so rare and in demand that they cost nearly as much as the Eldorado. So I suppose you aren't alone there.

 

[jamespowers]

I know they do, it's one of my favorite non-woodie models. However, I'd still take the Eldorado Biarritz over it!

You sure?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Positive. If I could have any car, it'd be a '59 Eldo Rag Top.

You sure?

 

[jamespowers]

Positive. If I could have any car, it'd be a '59 Eldo Rag Top.

You mean a 1959 Eldorado Biarritz Convertible?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

You know I do, Jimmy! Sorry I wasn't specific enough for you.

Those styles were long gone before my lifetime and I think it's time that they bring them back!

You mean a 1959 Eldorado Biarritz Convertible?

 

[rocketeer]

I havn't had time to read every post so please pardon if these have been covered:
Air cooled VWs thank God. Still around but not made anymore(Yes I had one of those old gutless wonder busses)
The Click clack of a mechanical typewriter. Even my computer keyboard is deathly silent.

Oh yes the 1959 Vs 1960 Cadillac, almost a debate going on here. I had the latter for a short while, it was the model I searched for, everyone has 1959s if they can get them but I AM one of those who prefers the 1960 model year, even though I don't think of it as 'Classic' in the true sense of the word.
Johnny T

 

[rue]

The Click clack of a mechanical typewriter. Even my computer keyboard is deathly silent.

My friend bought a vintage typewriter the other day at a flea market and when he showed it to his 5 year old daughter she asked what it was. I know it shouldn't have shocked me, but it did.

 

[HardBoiledMarlowe]

"If you can look at this and hate it then I can't help you. "

It's not that I hate the '59 Cadillac, there's just something about the way the fins suddenly jut up that looks goofy to me. I feel the same way about earlier model years and prefer the gradual incline and pointed tip on the fins of the 1960; they look more aerodynamic and streamlined. Perhaps the '59 is like a rocket booster and the '60 is more like a spacecraft. That said, I certainly recognize how unique and iconic the '59 is and do appreciate it.

To be fair, one could argue that some of my favorite vehicles are goofy looking: 1950-51 Studebaker, Edsel, Nash (and later, the Rambler), Ed Roth's show cars, etc. Many of my favorite cars come from the late 50s: '58 and '59 Buick, '58 Pontiac Bonneville, '58 Studebaker Hawk, '59 Impala, and so on and so forth.

 

[rocketeer]

I never took any photo's that came out but my 1960 Cadillac was a flat top model, it was white and just for fun painted some 'shark' teeth on it just behind the front wheel arch in a similar fashion to a P40 fighter. I then took it to a car show but was not allowed in as I did not take the show organisers meaning of 'Classic' car seriously enough.(The water based paint washed off later in the month

As for cars of this era being different and instantly recognisable, for 1959-60 all the glass, the front doors and many other parts are interchangeable between makes and models across the GM range except the limousines. That is to say a front screen from a 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville will fit a 1960 Chevrolet Impala also a Buick or Pontiac. Come to think of it I think the convertibles screen will even fit the flat top series. The higher screen from the 1960 Sedan de Ville also fits the 1959 Biscayne.(And so on)

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Speaking of which, that's something else that's gone, wrap around glass, and pillarless 'hardtops.'

 

[sheeplady]

My friend bought a vintage typewriter the other day at a flea market and when he showed it to his 5 year old daughter she asked what it was. I know it shouldn't have shocked me, but it did.

I was told a story once about a 9 year old who didn't know how to use a landline (push button) telephone. I don't know if I totally believe the story or if the kid was pulling the story-teller's leg. Didn't the kid ever see any movies?