Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[St.Ignatz]

What? No Bosco?! :eusa_doh:

Easy there John.
http://www.boscoworld.com/

 

[Foofoogal]

KMart is disappearing fast. Blue light specials used to be so much fun. lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

World Series that end by the middle of October. Who wants to read about "Mr. November??"

 

[Shangas]

Telephones with the circular dial....where here in the UK, the emergency number 999 took the longest time to dial !

Erm.. design flaw....

Aaah, rotary-dial telephones. I know a few folks who still have those. They're so much fun to use.

...Also...

Perhaps not something that's gone vintage in MY lifetime...well...maybe; it's debatable, but...

1. Watchmakers who can actually fix a watch.

Finding someone who can do this is almost impossible these days.

2. Stationery shops which actually sell stationery.

Stamps, envelopes, blotting-paper, notepads, sealing-wax...These days all I find is newspapers, wrapping-paper, 3M post-it notes and bloody highlighter markers. In my entire city, I know iof only one proper stationery shop. The proprieter's nice and young, so hopefully it'll be around for a good few decades. He's also very polite, I had a chance to meet him last year and visit his shop.

3. A pen-shop where the people behind the desk actually know how to sell pens and know what they're selling.

The number of shops I've been into where people don't know about the things they sell (I'm sure this isn't just for pens), seems to be a recurring thing in the 21st century. Product knowledge, I suppose you'd call it, now seems to be a thing of the past.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

We still have a rotary phone; I really ought to get a photo of it on the little stand, wired up to the computer and answering machine.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Let's hope that stops! I am a manager at ours! They have brought back the bluelight special, they have them on Saturdays and Sundays.

KMart is disappearing fast. Blue light specials used to be so much fun. lol

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Who doesn't Love rotary phones? I have a couple...

And a couple more since I took that photo.

We still have a rotary phone; I really ought to get a photo of it on the little stand, wired up to the computer and answering machine.

 

[Mirinda]

Who doesn't Love rotary phones? I have a couple...

And a couple more since I took that photo.

Oh my, those look fantastic!
I'd love to buy an old fashioned rotary phone, but they're expensive here.

I remember several of my friends having rotary phones when I was a kid (around 20 years ago), but they're not that common anymore- at least not in Spain.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Do any kids today go to "subprimary" instead of "kindergarten?" I went to the former, and happened to refer to it in conversation with a friend, and she didn't know what I was talking about.

 

[univibe88]

Do any kids today go to "subprimary" instead of "kindergarten?" I went to the former, and happened to refer to it in conversation with a friend, and she didn't know what I was talking about.

I went to kindergarten in 1984 and have never heard it referred to it s subprimary.

 

[fortworthgal]

I haven't seen a cigarette vending machine in quite a while. That is, except the one I saw in an antique store recently.

Not that I frequent bars, but there is a bar/restaurant near our house that has one, and I've seen them in at least a couple of other bars around town. At least, last time I was there, which was probably about a year ago... lol

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I found a lot of great deals on eBay, sometimes in lots. Shipping would be pricey, but if you hold out for the right deal, the shipping may be worth it.

Oh my, those look fantastic!
I'd love to buy an old fashioned rotary phone, but they're expensive here.

I remember several of my friends having rotary phones when I was a kid (around 20 years ago), but they're not that common anymore- at least not in Spain.

 

[Audrey Horne]

Do any kids today go to "subprimary" instead of "kindergarten?" I went to the former, and happened to refer to it in conversation with a friend, and she didn't know what I was talking about.

Maybe it's also a regional thing? I've never heard of subprimary and my parents referred to their time as kindergarten too. Interesting though!

 

[Mirinda]

I found a lot of great deals on eBay, sometimes in lots. Shipping would be pricey, but if you hold out for the right deal, the shipping may be worth it.

offtopic: Thanks for the tip! I'll move to London soon so maybe it'll be easier to find a rotary phone on Ebay UK )

 

[23SkidooWithYou]

I remember glass soda bottles too. Soda was a treat in our house and never served with meals unless it was a rare pizza night. My Gram kept the big wooden soda crate on the landing to the cellar to keep them cool. I also saw the evolution of the liter size glass Coke bottle. I remember because my Gram left one near her lit votive candle from church and the heat made it explode.

I also remember canvas window awnings that they installed on the house exterior every summer to help keep the home cool. I don't think anybody goes through that trouble anymore.

Not quite golden era, but I vaguely remember adults open beer with a can opener as there were no pull tabs. I also remember pull tabs that pulled completely off in the ring/teardrop shape.

I've seen the demise of the family owned local department store. Gone are the notions department, the candy department, the toy department (hello, Toys R Us didn't exist) and the bargain basement. My Mom worked in lingerie in the late 50's and they kept one sample out for the customer to view and the sales girls brought the item out of the stockroom neatly displayed in the customer's size for her to see/purchase. (Try finding a pair of britches that haven't been groped, folded, tossed, dropped and handled by everyone these days. )

Going to "Town" used to be an experience. My Gram and I took a nice, clean public bus with polite patrons, wearing our best clothes to go shopping. It's how I learned your purse and shoes should match and your hat and gloves (although hats and gloves were dying at the time). Sadly, our Downtown area is a ghost of it's former self with everything in strip malls these days.

Speaking of my Mom...Nurses Uniforms and Caps. When was the last time you saw those. Our neighbor was the head nurse and had fancy stripes on her cap to prove it.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

They did have flat-top cans (which is the ones that open with an opener, called a 'church key') in the 1930's. Also they had cone-top cans which had a cone-top, with a bottle cap on them and were advertised as 'the can that opens like a bottle'.

Not quite golden era, but I vaguely remember adults open beer with a can opener as there were no pull tabs. I also remember pull tabs that pulled completely off in the ring/teardrop shape.
.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

1. Watchmakers who can actually fix a watch.

Finding someone who can do this is almost impossible these days.

2. Stationery shops which actually sell stationery.

Stamps, envelopes, blotting-paper, notepads, sealing-wax...These days all I find is newspapers, wrapping-paper, 3M post-it notes and bloody highlighter markers. In my entire city, I know iof only one proper stationery shop. The proprieter's nice and young, so hopefully it'll be around for a good few decades. He's also very polite, I had a chance to meet him last year and visit his shop.

3. A pen-shop where the people behind the desk actually know how to sell pens and know what they're selling.

Luckily I still known places where I can find all three of these things in Hampshire (South of England). My wife used to work in a pretty neat stationary shop (that's where she gets her typewriter ribbons from).

 

[Shangas]

Hi Ethan!

That is a relief to know! As a relative youngster, I find it a bit tricky to find the institutions which would service or accesorise any of my broken vintage doohickies. I know you can still buy blotting-paper, for example, but I find it so darn tricky, I just use paper-towels most of the time. Or I pinch a whole heap of advertising blotters (anyone remember those?) whenever I go to pen-shops or pen-shows.

I'd be dead without good blotting-paper.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Have shoe horns disappeared? I spied some vintage ones over the weekend, and realized I hadn't seen them (the standard metal ones, sometimes printed with a shop's info) since my childhood.

I have spent time the last week looking for a decent shoe horn. I've been forced to use a serving spoon since the last one broke.

I have an assortment as I do not want to damage my shoes .I use several depending on the shoe I am wearing

 

[Warden]

But for us Great Britain folks it is Janet and John

A whole generation bought up with Janet and John.