Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[BobHufford]

USED CAR LOTS. Growing up and into my early adult years, there were independent used car dealers almost everywhere. I lived in Cleveland, Ohio back in the day (forties through eighties) and used cars were available everywhere. Good and newer cars were generally in the front rows, and clunkers, rust buckets, and fixer-uppers were in the back. Something for everyone. Now, it's almost impossible to find any independents. Carvana with their fancy elevators and some other national chains like Edmunds and new car dealerships are the mainstays of where to purchase a used car. I liked the independents because they were easy to haggle with on price.


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COVID and the shortage of used cars did in a lot of the independents. We leased out an old gas station to three generations for 40 years and they had to call it quits. There is a window tinting place in there now.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
I recall a poster circa 1970 featuring a photo of a then-prominent political figure wearing a cheesy grin with a caption reading “Would You Buy a Used Car from this Man?”

It was time when used cars were suspect almost by default. And the people in the used car business? Well, let’s just say you’d rather your sister wasn’t dating one.

But then, cars were much less expensive then, even in adjusted dollars.

 

[BobHufford]

I passed a Pontiac Solstice yesterday and it got me to thinking about the car companies or divisions that had disappeared in my lifetime. This is just U.S. companies and only the ones I recognize — there were quite a few startups that died quickly.

American Motors (1954–1987)
Avanti Motor Co. (1963–2007)
Checker Motors Corporation (1922–1982)
DeLorean Motor Company (1975–1982
DeSoto (1928–1961)
Diamond T (1905–1967)
Eagle (1988–1998)
Edsel (1958–1960)
Excalibur (1965–1997)
Fiberfab (1964–1983)
Geo (1989–1997)
Imperial (1955–1975, 1981–1983)
International Harvester (1907–1980)
King Midget (1947–1970)
Mercury (1939–2011)
Merkur (1985–1989)
Oldsmobile (1897–2004)
Pontiac (1926–2010)
Rambler (1958–1969)
REO Motor Car Company (1905–1975)
Saturn (1991–2010)
Studebaker (1902–1963)
Stutz (1968–1987)
Willys (1916–1918, 1930–1942, 1953–1963)

 

[LostInTyme]

Plymouth automobiles (they used to make trucks also)
Sears Roebuck (an essential department store for the average American family last century)

 

[BobHufford]

Plymouth automobiles (they used to make trucks also)

Wow — I just plain missed that one. Thanks.

Plymouth (1928–2001)

And I used to own one many years ago (me on the left). A ‘41 sedan delivery that I co-owned with my brother. One of 3,235 built. We got it drivable, but let it go after several years. It was fully restored by someone and last seen advertising a tattoo shop.

 

[LostInTyme]

I found one in a bone yard (junk yard to some) and scavenged the horn and seats out of it and installed them into a 53 Plymouth Cranbrook so I could have "bucket seats". This was 1963 or 1964, I'm not sure, but bucket seats were just coming into fashion. I even put seat belts in, because I was so safety conscious. The Cranbrook had a flathead six cylinder motor, very little torque and even less power. It was a tank of a car and not as cool as the cars some of my other buddies drove. It was a four door, and none of my friends would ride in it.

 

[tonyb]

Graffiti on restroom walls.

I can’t say the near death of it isn’t to the better on balance, seeing how most of it was unoriginal or just plain vulgar without any redeeming virtues, such as wit or artistic merit.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Graffiti on restroom walls.

I can’t say the near death of it isn’t to the better on balance, seeing how most of it was unoriginal or just plain vulgar without any redeeming virtues, such as wit or artistic merit.

867-5309 Jenny

 

[Havotnicus]

Graffiti on restroom walls.

I can’t say the near death of it isn’t to the better on balance, seeing how most of it was unoriginal or just plain vulgar without any redeeming virtues, such as wit or artistic merit.

Social media has replaced this. People anonymously writing ridiculous things they would never dream of saying in person

 

[rogueclimber]

867-5309 Jenny

My girlfriend of that era was Jenny, the song is forever burned in my memory

 

[Hurricane Jack]

My girlfriend of that era was Jenny, the song is forever burned in my memory

Now I’ve got an ear worm for sure!

 

[LizzieMaine]

It seems that express checkout lines, hardly a vintage thing in the sense that we understand the term here, but apparently vintage enough, are a thing soon to be extinct everywhere. Both of our local chain supermarkets -- the "choice" we have is simply bountiful -- have deleted theirs since the first of the year, "to reflect how our customers tell us they prefer to shop." So if, as I do, you shop in small daily increments, your choice is to stand in a long, slow-moving line behind people trying to figure out how to make the se;f-checkouts work, or stand in a long slow-moving line between people buying an overheaped cartload of groceries suitable for a family of six. Aaaaaah, choice, abundant choice.

Aside from this irritation, though, is the displacement of actual staff. There are people I have seen at the checkout counters at my neighborhood store for close to forty years. I don't see them now. Did they die on the job or were they thanked for their service and sent packing so the shiny robots could take over? And don't let me forget the camera that beams down on me from above the self-checkout, recording every delicate salute I flip its way as I run my boxes and cans and packages over the scanner. Where's my employee discount. Mr. Hannaford, I'm doing an employee's work.

Yeah, I have had all of the twenty-first century that I care for, thanks.

 

[GHT]

Aside from this irritation, though, is the displacement of actual staff. There are people I have seen at the checkout counters at my neighborhood store for close to forty years. I don't see them now. Did they die on the job or were they thanked for their service and sent packing so the shiny robots could take over? And don't let me forget the camera that beams down on me from above the self-checkout, recording every delicate salute I flip its way as I run my boxes and cans and packages over the scanner. Where's my employee discount. Mr. Hannaford, I'm doing an employee's work.

Yeah, I have had all of the twenty-first century that I care for, thanks.

Don't forget to use your loyalty card. Created as a way for retailers to understand their customers' behaviour.
Despite their popularity, there has been growing criticism about the privacy implications of handing over reams of data about who you are, and what you buy, to supermarkets and big name retailers.

For years, willing shoppers have been giving big retailers a window into their life in exchange for points.
But as the cost of living bites, the cards have become harder to avoid, as supermarkets are now not only offering points, but also deep discounts on certain products to loyalty card holders.

If you're not comfortable with your supermarket linking what you buy, where, and when with your personal details, and allowing it and potentially other retailers to market products to you accordingly, then you are probably going to be spending more at the checkout. Get used to it, profiling is here to stay.

The High Street Banks have been profiling ever since the dawn of the credit card, and what the credit card missed, the debit card replaced. You and your spending habits are bought and sold as your profile grows ever bigger.

When George Orwell wrote 1984 that featured the fictional Big Brother character, the dictator of the totalitarian empire of Oceania, his presence permeates Oceania's bleak society. Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of the future where the powers that be will do anything to control the narrative, is timelier than ever.

 

[tonyb]

At an antique mall last week I saw a sign telling of their layaway policies — how much down, how long to pay off the balance, etc.

I hadn’t heard of layaway in decades. It was common when I was a kid and the Santa Clauses of modest means (pretty much all of ’em I ever knew) used it starting in September.

So I just now looked into it, and it turns out it’s still offered by some major retailers, although nowhere near as many as there used to be. And some who had been offering it in recent history are now using services such as Affirm, by which consumers make installment payments.

The beauty of layaway is that the buyer didn’t take possession of the merchandise until s/he had paid for it in full. I strongly suspect this served as a brake on spending habits in ways credit cards don’t. Indeed, credit cards do just the opposite: they encourage profligate spending.

 

[Fifty150]

The vintage rumor that a microwave causes cancer, or sterility, has disappeared in my lifetime.

When I was a child, it was common to hear that you'll get cancer from using a microwave. Or, "you won't be able to have any kids".


Conservatively guessing, without any science what-so-ever, I would guess that more than 9 out of 10 households in 1st world nations, have a microwave. And most of us did not die from using it.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Conservatively guessing, without any science what-so-ever, I would guess that more than 9 out of 10 households in 1st world nations, have a microwave. And most of us did not die from using it.

Not yet, anyway. Or modern medical science just hasn't found a provable link between death and microwaves. "Well, Dr. Stone, during Mr. Deadman's autopsy we observed his Pineal Gland seemed to have quite literally been cooked into being completely useless, but we don't know what could have caused it."

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
I clearly recall signs posted at entrances to restaurants reading “microwave oven in use.” It was meant as a warning to people with implanted cardiac pacemakers, the thinking being that leaked microwave radiation could mess with the devices’ functions.

I’ve heard of no such concerns in decades. Is it that microwave ovens are safer than they were? Or is it that the ICD’s (implanted pacemakers/defibrillators) are no longer troubled by that little bit of leaked microwave radiation? Or is it that the concern was overblown back then? Beats me.

 

[Fifty150]

867-5309 Jenny

My girlfriend of that era was Jenny, the song is forever burned in my memory

I wish that I had Jessie's Girl.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Don't forget to use your loyalty card.

When George Orwell wrote 1984 that featured the fictional Big Brother character, the dictator of the totalitarian empire of Oceania, his presence permeates Oceania's bleak society. Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of the future where the powers that be will do anything to control the narrative, is timelier than ever.

Las Vegas rewards patronage. Orwell himself would solicit its comps and cash savings.
Check in at the Venetian, ask about a suite upgrade for extended stay; play six hundred hands of poker or Texas Holdem; grab a steak, chase skirt, visit Pawn Stars shop.

 

[Fifty150]

The bank book. No bank uses passbooks anymore. Remember how you had to have it when you went to the bank? Remember when banks wouldn't allow you to withdraw your money without it? I can vividly recall telling the manager, "I have the account number, you see my driver's license, and you know who I am. What's wrong here? Why can't I deposit my paycheck?"

"5150, you have a Passbook Account. You must have the book with you. All transactions have to be logged into the book."