Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Bruce Wayne]

70 days until Christmas.

 

[Trenchfriend]

German 24.12., don't ask... I think, many many people "can tell you a thing or two about it", especially from their own childhood.

And the curious thing since many years, seemingly not only in my family:
"Mess" doesn't happen the correct way, on first christmas-day 25.12. in the morning, with presents under tree, but rather on the holy evening 24.12., with all the stress with the impatient kids, the whole dishonest, hateful atmosphere and so on.

If you ask the people, why they handle it that way, they don't know it.

But, the correct way does happen on "Nikolaus", 6.12., with the presents in your boots, in front of your apartment-door. Good day, because the kids got their presents and there is no stress.

 

[sheeplady]

If I lived in your town, Lizzie, I'd give them a heart attack. On purpose. I'd buy 15 of those inflatable horrid things. For every holiday.

The only outside decorations we've ever done is to put candles in the windows and wreaths on the door. Right now we have pumpkins, but once those come down I put in candles. I change the bulbs for every holiday on out... in January they go blue (a nod to my grandmother who used blue candles for christmas/New Years) then red (Valentine's), then green (St Patricks), then purple (Easter). Then they take a break until the 4th of July, when I do red, white, and blue bulbs.

Year's and two residences ago I had a neighbor comment once my candles looked "trashy" so now I do it 50% out of spite.

Also, come March, you find out who your proud Irish neighbors are, because they tend to think it's the coolest thing ever.

 

[scottyrocks]

Couldn't find a clip, but the best Christmas tree-decorating scene in a movie is in "The Bishop's Wife" when Cary Grant uses his angel powers to decorate with just a sweep of his hands and the tree goes from bare to beautifully decorated in seconds. I think about that scene every year when we decorate ours.

Probably faster than we go from this

to this

 

[Fading Fast]

Probably faster than we go from this

to this

Finally found a partial clip of Cary Grant decorating the Christmas tree in "The Bishop's Wife -" the full scene is more impactful, but this gives you an idea:

https://vickielester.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/giphy.gif

 

[Zombie_61]

...And that pattern holds up unto the McMansions, which tend to have none or tastefully nice ones or full extravaganzas (which only differ from the full extravaganzas of the modest homes in scale and the intricacy of some of the light displays / nativity scenes). Also, more of the McMansions relative to the modest homes will have whatever is the current "hot" decorating item (like when the ice crystals were big several years back)...

For two or three years a while ago, the "hot" decorating idea in some of the affluent neighborhoods here was to hire a company to decorate your house for you; apparently, part of the deal was that those companies were allowed to post signs in the front yards to advertise their services. On one of the McMansions these "designer" decorations consisted of nothing more than vertical strings of white lights that ran up the front of the building to the roof, then up the roof to the peak, spaced about 18"-24" apart. Yep, illuminated white stripes. How Christmassy! Upon seeing this, my wife and I came to the same conclusion--if the homeowners gave that company more than a case of beer for their services, they overpaid.

 

[belfastboy]

We have a company around here named "Yard Monkeys". They specialize in stringing Christmas lights but also do gutter cleaning/repair and anything requiring them to hang off a roof.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Ma was not a particular fan of Christmas -- it was always a time of particularly high stress for everyone, and she was of the opinion that the sooner it was over the better. I think my own utter ambivalence about the holiday stems directly from that.

From all you've said in the past it sounds like the woman had more stress on her plate than any human really deserves. The Christmas holiday would only seem to make more stress for a single parent trying to do her damndest just to see that her kids get fed and clothed. Who in her shoes wouldn't want it over?

After what my dad had to deal with (after a pretty miserable, motherless childhood, part of it spent in an orphanage) after he had just turned 20 during the Battle of the Bulge during the bitter cold Christmas of 1944, I think that any Christmas was seen as a time for some peace and joy... even on those Christmas Eves when he was on duty as a Chicago firefighter and wouldn't see his family until 9 the next morning. The neighborhood where his firehouse was located was predominantly Jewish, but a Christmas Eve or Day never went by without some neighbor, or business owner in the area, seeing to it that the firemen (and they were all men back then) all had a hot meal. And if they didn't have a run at the time they'd actually get to finish that meal! He was never a religious man, but he had an appreciation for the Goodwill Toward Men aspect of the holiday based upon the kindness that others displayed when he needed it most. Those subliminal parental messages about things like Christmas really become part of our own lives, more than we realize, methinks.

 

[sheeplady]

When we lived in the neighborhood where my decorations were called tacky, we lived across the street from a huge 1940s house. Easily 4 bedrooms upstairs and a finished basement on a double lot with a two stall garage. Compared to The rest of our houses, which were nominally 3 bedrooms, one bath deals where you could touch your house and your neighbors at the same time, it was a monster.

The assistant coach for the basketball team lived there... And if they didn't waste money like they did they would have been able to live in a better neighborhood. They hired their snow removal, their lawn care, and the hanging of their Christmas lights.

With 3 able bodied teenagers at home, two boys and a girl. I could understand all of this if they didn't have able bodied kids, if one of them had been ill, they had been older, basically anything. But they weren't.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

I was in a post office today, and in need of a stamp, but the office was closed, and it occurred to me that it has been years since I've seen a stamp vending machine.

 

[Zombie_61]

I was in a post office today, and in need of a stamp, but the office was closed, and it occurred to me that it has been years since I've seen a stamp vending machine.

We still have one in the lobby area of our local post office. Whether or not it's properly maintained, I have no idea; I rarely see anyone use it.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Benzedrine inhalers: screw-top plastic tubes containing a tampon-like roll of cotton soaked in, I suppose, benzedrine. They were for clearing stuffed sinuses. They must have been banned long ago, though it seems like an odd way of getting high.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I was in a post office today, and in need of a stamp, but the office was closed, and it occurred to me that it has been years since I've seen a stamp vending machine.

My local post office has one but it is more advanced. You can weigh & ship packages too.

 

[scottyrocks]

I was in a post office today, and in need of a stamp, but the office was closed, and it occurred to me that it has been years since I've seen a stamp vending machine.

I get my stamps at CVS. They're open longer, more often, there's more of them around, and the wait is shorter.

 

[2jakes]

Took awhile before my arms got over the itching after putting it on the tree.

 

[2jakes]

Monkey blood!

 

[2jakes]

Something that has disappeared,,,thank goodness!

Rushing in the bathroom because you’re in a hurry to go out and play
but catching the tip of your “weenie” on the blue jean zipper.

Ranks up there with getting hit between the legs!

 

[Zombie_61]

^ Two words: "Button fly".

 

[2jakes]

^ Two words: "Button fly".

Two words.: “Too late!”

 

[3fingers]

While not entirely a vintage thing, there was a regional bakery/ bread company, now defunct, that made sweet rolls. They had apple, cherry and cinamon. I remember eating them with breakfast when visiting my grandparents as a child. I had introduced them to my own children and they enjoyed them as well. We would split them and turn the top upside down onto the bottom and grill them in a skillet. They are gone now and no other company chose to resurrect them from the ashes.