Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[LizzieMaine]

We had an excellent miniature golf course here until the 90s --- the owner died, his heirs sold off the land and that was that.

Mini golf was a full-scale national craze in 1931 -- it was especially popular indoors, as an adaptive re-use for abandoned neighborhood theatres killed off by the arrival of sound. Building a mini-golf course in the front yard was also considered a last-ditch effort by homeowners who had lost their jobs to keep afloat. Most of these enterprises died when the fad cooled.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

WTF has happened to miniature golf and go-cart rides???

Wish we had a machine gun place out here.
We still do have quite a few miniature golf and go cart places out here, including one right near my house.

 

[dh66]

Wish we had a machine gun place out here.
We still do have quite a few miniature golf and go cart places out here, including one right near my house.

Go out and enjoy them before they're gone!!

 

[ChiTownScion]

I was always partial to Bringing Up Father ("Jiggs and Maggie"). The premise that a former hod carrier would come into money by winning the Irish Sweeps, but still remain a regular guy despite the best efforts of his social climbing lace curtain Irish wife... well, it hit a chord with my grandparents and other first generation Irish Americans of the 20's and 30's.

They "actually knew people like that." They were urban apartment dwellers who'd nickname the neighbors that they'd watch out of their kitchen window. The moniker "Maggie and Jiggs" was earned by a taller woman and her sawed off husband.

 

[tonyb]

Judging from what Ms. Maine has told us, I'm left to conclude that miniature golf waxes and wanes. I recall having a choice of putt-putt places back in the early- to mid-1960s. But now I know they were a fad some 30 years prior to that. I don't know of one nearby at present, but then, I haven't gone in search of one either.

I recall in the 1990s there being "portable" putt-putts. They'd set up on college campuses and the like for fundraisers. I played on 'em a time or two. Three Mulligans per round.

 

[Stearmen]

WTF has happened to miniature golf and go-cart rides???

[video=youtube;nShslbbvSYE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nShslbbvSYE[/video]

 

[GHT]

There was a report in the press recently that 45rpm records were making something of a comeback. Could it be that young buyers, so used to downloading, perhaps prefer, having seen their older relatives record collection, a tangible form of musical ownership?
Yesterday, my wife bought four old 45's from a vintage store. The store assistant expressed surprised that we still have our record player, and more surprised, delightfully shocked even, when my wife said that the records would grace our jukebox, showing the assistant a picture of the Wurlitzer, that she had on her phone.
For the record, (pun intended) we know of at least one DJ that still plays 45's on record decks.
Vinyl may have peaked but t's far from the: "Do you remember drawer of your brain."

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have a 27-year-old friend who is an avid listener to vinyl -- not a "collector" in the maniacal discographic sense of endlessly accumulating and cataloguing records, but a listener in the sense that whenever she has a choice of formats to acquire the music she likes, and there's an LP available, she buys the LP. Increasingly often, there are LPs available.

She's never actually seen a 45, but I have acquainted her with 78s. Shellac forever.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

I haven't gone through all the preceding 410 pages, but this is a subject dear to my heart. Some of the things that have vanished in my lifetime, or were at least common at one time and rare now:
Half dollars
sugar cubes
cigar counters at the cash register
backyard incinerators
slide rules
turtle speed bumps
life insurance vending machines at airports
travelers' checks
street signs with glass marble reflectors (kids used to pry the marbles out with screwdrivers)
coke machines that mix syrup and carbonated water in a cup
Vacuum tube testing machines
Tv antennas
typewriter noise in offices
wooden fruit crates
rubber pick-gum massagers at the bottom of toothbrush handles
rotating airport beacons - you used to see them every few miles on long night drives cross-country.
candy cigaretttes
paper matchbooks with advertising on the covers
Dentist office spit basins
strike-anywhere matches
sunlamps
whitewall tires
crying rooms in theaters for mothers with babies
tabletop juke boxes
This could go on and on. There's always that moment when you think: "When did I last see one of those?" and you realize it's been years.

 

[Fading Fast]

I haven't gone through all the preceding 410 pages, but this is a subject dear to my heart. Some of the things that have vanished in my lifetime, or were at least common at one time and rare now:
Half dollars
sugar cubes
cigar counters at the cash register
backyard incinerators You can see one in a few episodes of "Father Knows Best"
slide rules
turtle speed bumps
life insurance vending machines at airports Even as a kid, I thought this was depressing
travelers' checks
street signs with glass marble reflectors (kids used to pry the marbles out with screwdrivers)
coke machines that mix syrup and carbonated water in a cup And the metal "sleeve" in which the paper cup slid into and was held during the mixing
Vacuum tube testing machines Corner of the hardware store
Tv antennas both rabbit ears and the roof ones
typewriter noise in offices Very evocative of the era
wooden fruit crates
rubber pick-gum massagers at the bottom of toothbrush handles
rotating airport beacons - you used to see them every few miles on long night drives cross-country.
candy cigaretttes
paper matchbooks with advertising on the covers A real loss from a pop art perspective and just a fun to get perspective
Dentist office spit basins
strike-anywhere matches Always worked better for characters in movies than the ones I bought
sunlamps
whitewall tiresAs a kid cleaned them with brillo pads for a local garage for money
crying rooms in theaters for mothers with babies
tabletop juke boxes Plays a central roll in a "Twilight Zone" episode with William Shatner
This could go on and on. There's always that moment when you think: "When did I last see one of those?" and you realize it's been years.

--------------------

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Cabooses. Modern trains don't carry crews anymore. I can't remember when I last saw a caboose.

 

[Stearmen]

I haven't gone through all the preceding 410 pages, but this is a subject dear to my heart. Some of the things that have vanished in my lifetime, or were at least common at one time and rare now:
Half dollars
sugar cubes
cigar counters at the cash register
backyard incinerators
slide rules
turtle speed bumps
life insurance vending machines at airports
travelers' checks
street signs with glass marble reflectors (kids used to pry the marbles out with screwdrivers)
coke machines that mix syrup and carbonated water in a cup
Vacuum tube testing machines
Tv antennas
typewriter noise in offices
wooden fruit crates
rubber pick-gum massagers at the bottom of toothbrush handles
rotating airport beacons - you used to see them every few miles on long night drives cross-country.
candy cigaretttes
paper matchbooks with advertising on the covers
Dentist office spit basins
strike-anywhere matches
sunlamps
whitewall tires
crying rooms in theaters for mothers with babies
tabletop juke boxes
This could go on and on. There's always that moment when you think: "When did I last see one of those?" and you realize it's been years.

Actually, whitewall tires are very popular with the young Rat Rod drivers. We still have the rotating airport beacon, and on cloudy nights, the search lights. TV antennas are making a big come back, with the cut the cord crowd! Although they don't look the same as the old brass rabbit ears.

 

[Zombie_61]

Cabooses. Modern trains don't carry crews anymore. I can't remember when I last saw a caboose.

I rather fancy a nice caboose myself.









What?

 

[LizzieMaine]

The basic principle behind cup-mix soda dispensers is still in use in many fountain situations at restaurants, theatres, fast-food joints, and similar types of places -- these units mix syrup from a tank or bag-in-box container with water carbonated by an internal carbonation unit and dispense it into a paper cup. The old coin-vend dispensers worked the same way.

The big big problem with those dispensers, was that they required constant maintenance and cleaning. They were popular from the late fifties to the early seventies -- before the widespread use of bag-in-box -- and so the syrup tanks had to be refilled manually, by pouring the syrup into the internal tank by hand out of a big glass jug, and this had to be done individually for each flavor choice offered by the machine. This was a very messy and clumsy job to do, and it resulted in frequent spills into the internals of the machine -- which in turn made for a feeding frenzy for roaches, flies, and ants, all of which love soda syrup like nothing else on earth.

The dispenser lines and spout had to be kept scrupulously clean as well -- they had to be disassembled and soaked in a bleach solution regularly to prevent the growth of slimy black mold, and most operators of these machines couldn't be bothered to do this often enough. The result was a drink which often tasted "off" and sometimes boasted something extra for the customer in the cup.

 

[Fading Fast]

The basic principle behind cup-mix soda dispensers is still in use in many fountain situations at restaurants, theatres, fast-food joints, and similar types of places -- these units mix syrup from a tank or bag-in-box container with water carbonated by an internal carbonation unit and dispense it into a paper cup. The old coin-vend dispensers worked the same way.

The big big problem with those dispensers, was that they required constant maintenance and cleaning. They were popular from the late fifties to the early seventies -- before the widespread use of bag-in-box -- and so the syrup tanks had to be refilled manually, by pouring the syrup into the internal tank by hand out of a big glass jug, and this had to be done individually for each flavor choice offered by the machine. This was a very messy and clumsy job to do, and it resulted in frequent spills into the internals of the machine -- which in turn made for a feeding frenzy for roaches, flies, and ants, all of which love soda syrup like nothing else on earth.

The dispenser lines and spout had to be kept scrupulously clean as well -- they had to be disassembled and soaked in a bleach solution regularly to prevent the growth of slimy black mold, and most operators of these machines couldn't be bothered to do this often enough. The result was a drink which often tasted "off" and sometimes boasted something extra for the customer in the cup.

I had to fill those regularly when I was a bartender and, yes, hateful job. Especially as they were in the basement under the bar built into a convoluted wooden support structure that made pouring even more difficult as it was not only tight, but you had to pour it at about your head's level - very hard to do. Fortunately, the "dishwasher" guys had the job of cleaning the lines (an even more hateful job).

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

When I began college in fall of '65 there was one of those machines in my dorm in an alcove off the rec room. It was not frequently cleaned and the smell remains etched on my cerebellum to this day.

 

[2jakes]

I usually shy away from chain-food eateries. Being late & the only one opened at night,
I went in.

A kid comes in from the back carrying a bucket of “fresh-made” tea.
Opens the top lid & starts pouring it in.
He spills some & stops to go get a towel from the back.
Meanwhile the flies are flying around on top.
Kid comes back & finishes pouring the rest & closes the lid.

I asked the lady taking my order if I can get a refill if there’s a fly in my tea.

She said: “No Problem!”.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Fresh made tea in my favorite restaurant: they bring the jar to your table and mix it up in the cup while you watch.

 

[2jakes]

Fresh made tea in my favorite restaurant: they bring the jar to your table and mix it up in the cup while you watch.

Where's this restaurant?

I want to tell them over here how it should be done.

thanks.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Actually, whitewall tires are very popular with the young Rat Rod drivers.

On Friday, I took my wife's car to my friend's shop to replace a front wheel hub bearing. There on the lift next to it was a 1953 Willys Aero Falcon...one owner...with a brand new set of white walls being put on it.