Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[scottyrocks]

That was a ditto machine.

I think 'ditto' was a slang for any of these machines - mimeograph, rexograph, that made copies. Ditto refers to 'again' or 'same' or 'agreement.'

 

[Tango Yankee]

What I started to mention and got sidetracked - newspaper boys. I may have mentioned it earlier. But in any event - the neighborhood kid who delivers the newspaper to the neighborhood and collects the subscription dues every few months. It's one of the main reasons we no longer subscribe - delivery services have taken it over and scream through the neighborhood in the wee morning hours at break-neck speed, hurling papers that slam against the front door like a bomb going off. You didn't get your paper this morning? You call and leave a voicemail that's never returned. Same if it ends up on the roof or soaking wet because the baggie flew off mid-air.

I started delivering newspapers when I was seven years old, which would put it around 1966. I delivered The Daily Signal, a local newspaper that served Huntington Park, South Gate (where I lived), Lynwood, and perhaps a few other towns. (All Los Angeles suburbs.) It wasn't true daily in that it didn't have a Sunday edition. It was an afternoon paper, so deliveries were after I got out of school. Rode a Schwinn Sting Ray, with the canvas bags hanging from the handlebars so I could reach down and grab one and throw.

I counted myself lucky with the afternoon delivery, no Sundays, and it wasn't all that big compared to The Herald Examiner or especially The Los Angeles Times (AKA "The Whale" by the Examiner! )

Of course, there where things that went along with that job that wouldn't be allowed today, such as gathering up all the local delivery boys and sending them door-to-door selling subscriptions.

It was, IIRC, $1.75 per month for a subscription. You don't know how many times I'd try to collect and get "I don't have any money right now" from the subscriber! And I'd have to go back and get it later. One thing I don't think they realized was that we were in effect middle-men, independent contractors though I didn't know what those were at the time. We were billed for the number of papers we received to deliver to the number of customers we had on record. We paid that with what we collected, and whatever was left over was ours to keep. If a customer didn't pay me, it came out of my pocket. In retrospect I have no real idea how much that left me with each month.

I took pride in my deliveries. My goal was to put the paper on the porch without striking the door, a window, or anything on the porch and to ensure it was dry when delivering during the rain.

And I've drifted way fftopic: , and need to be heading out the door to work.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Shangas]

People need to be buying things like blotting paper, good writing paper (not copier / printer paper), fountain pens & ink, plus visit shops that carry niche-market products more than once a year or so. They need the business, the income, and to know the items are in demand and worth stocking. They disappear because people stop buying and they can't run a profitable business anymore.

I'm letting friends have it from time to time when they go to a local store to handle and try out things, and to suck all the knowledge and opinions out of the staff, and then say they're going to order it on the Internet because it costs less. "Why didn't you ask the Internet source answer your questions?" "Well, they don't answer the phone / email / respond or they don't know their products very well..." "And so then you waste someone else's time who helped you decide, someone who stands behind their products and you'll do business to save money from some faceless responseless electronic source."

With the gift-giving time of the year coming up - why not hit the local independent shopkeeper to buy some gifts, instead of going to some deep-discount, big box, corporately run megachain. Encourage the local businesses to keep the doors open, because once they're gone, nobody else will probably come in to fill the void.

Gee-whillikers, Mikey!

I actually went to my city's oldest pen-shop yesterday afternoon to enquire about buying a new fountain pen (the flagship store of this fine establishment has been around since like 190-something...so they obviously know what they're doing!). The man who helped me out, a very nice middle-aged gentleman, was very knowledgeable about his products (not something you see these days...at least, not in my experience), and after trying a couple of pens, I wandered off.

I hadn't even gone half a block before I started feeling guilty. I KNOW how hard it must be for people in those shops to feel as if their services and products aren't appreciated anymore...Plus I had already proven to him that I was a young chap with an appreciation for a good fountain pen...so I did a one-eighty and toddled back. I parted with fourteen dollars and left again with a bottle of Parker Quink fountain pen ink.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

I miss telephones that actually "ring" instead of chirp, or tweet, or something.

 

[Tango Yankee]

The Helms Bakery truck

Those of you who grew up in Southern California before 1969 may remember chasing after the Helms Bakery truck to buy a donut. I would have been only 10 years old when they stopped coming around, but that memory of those double doors on the back of the truck being opened and those wooden drawers laden with baked goodies sliding out... ahhhhhh. Of course, what I remember are the Chevy panel vans rather than the Divco coaches.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[1*Cool*Kitten]

Vintage disappearance

The "early food processor"!Mom had this "thing" Made In USA forged out of some type of lightweight metal (aluminum) that had a clamp on it at the base.It looked like a giant "C" on the top was this hollowed out tube that housed a spiral blade that when food was fed through the top of it it fed it through the small chamber and pushed it through a variety of cutting blades into a container.
I just asked dad where that old "food processor" of mom's is, he went right over to a cupboard,put his hands right on it!he informed me that it's not a food processor (although that what mom always referred to it as) but rather a MEAT GRINDER!The word on it is CLIMAX there is a number stamped or forged into the mouth exterior "51" and on the crank handle is written L.F&C.NEW BRITAIN,CONN.USA
What fond memories that brought back!every monday or tuesday we would sit in the kitchen with that thing clamped onto the breadboard (there's "one"[breadboard] for you!) while I 'worked the handle' mom would feed into the mouth of it our entire sunday dinner 'left overs',roast,potaoes,carrots,onions,then add in "fresh" celery stick,to "clean" the grinder.Next to it housed a medium sized TUPPERWEAR mixing bowl that had the "other" ingredients already in the bowl was mayonaise,mustard,salt,pepper, and about 10 saltines.mom would mix that all up it would be about the consistancy of tuna salad or egg salad spread.She'd take the bowl of the tablespoon,softly spread the whoel top out nice and smooth.Then she'd either place four or five slimy strips of pemmento on top to "make it pretty to look at when you open the top" or not,then put the lid on the bowl,place it in the middle shelf "so that all those flavors could marry over night" for tommrows lunches! YUMMIE!I've done made myself hungrey!think I'll go make me a sandwich of the stuff my brother made up yesterday.....not sharing!

Rita

 

[Lady Day]

Conventional onions bought at the grocery that made you cry when you cut them.

LD

 

[Hamilton_Honey]

Conventional onions bought at the grocery that made you cry when you cut them.

LD

These can still be found - just ask my hankie!!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I miss telephones that actually "ring" instead of chirp, or tweet, or something.

I am a fan of a real telephone ring myself...

 

[Warden]

Perhaps this is the future as lovely vintage items find a new use.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8385313.stm

Harry

 

[St.Ignatz]

Vent windows on automobiles. My YJ has them but the brides Subaru nope.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Vent windows on automobiles. My YJ has them but the brides Subaru nope.

The 1988 Lincoln Towncar has power "wing" windows that roll down, followed by the regular windows. Old school crossed with technology.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but "the guest room" seems to be left out of modern homes.

At least in southern California the need for the "coat closet" seems to have gone the way of the guest room.

 

[Hamilton_Honey]

Perhaps this is the future as lovely vintage items find a new use.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8385313.stm

Harry

That's just brilliant!

Still, I can't help wishing for working phone boxes sometimes.

 

[ScionPI2005]

Perhaps this is the future as lovely vintage items find a new use.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8385313.stm

Harry

That's awesome! A very good use for a vintage phone booth.

I'm with everyone on missing old fashion phone "rings". I've never used any other ringtone than an old fashioned bell ring on my cell phone.

 

[clubwitsend]

This is technically before my lifetime....but my grandmother used to write everything in shorthand. And I've never seen anyone else do it anymore!!! Maybe I can have her teach me!!

 

[Warden]

I heard a lovely story on BBC radio 4 that the then ‘new’ director general of the BBC gave his account of his vision of the future of BBC news to staff.

No recorders where allowed, but he forgot the older BBC news journalists could all write short hand and where able to quote back to him what he said word for word, when he tried to deny he said what he said.

Harry

 

[clubwitsend]

I heard a lovely story on BBC radio 4 that the then ‘new’ director general of the BBC gave his account of his vision of the future of BBC news to staff.

No recorders where allowed, but he forgot the older BBC news journalists could all write short hand and where able to quote back to him what he said word for word, when he tried to deny he said what he said.

Harry

Heehee! Thats fantastic!!

 

[Foofoogal]

this will be the last year for the J.C. Penneys Big Book. Due to online and saving money with printing. :eusa_doh:
http://www.theeagle.com/business/J-C--Penney-plans-to-terminate-Big-Book

http://sandysfancypants.blogspot.com

 

[Missy Hellfire]

I do miss a ringing telephone. I have a lovely looking replica of a 1930s bakelite phone that feels right and looks right but some bounder has put a modern ring into it. Very disappointing but it will have to do until the lottery comes up and I can afford the one I want! I do miss the old red phone boxes everywhere, too. There are one or two around where I live but not many and I think that blissfully the ones that are still around here are now listed and therefore safe.

Milkmen are a dying breed around our neck of the woods, too. Our milkman seems to serve the entire city now, so should we lose him that would be it As it stands though, we still get our milk every morning off the step in glass bottles. We still get bread in waxed paper wrappers too as certain bread companies here, Warburtons being one, still do certain loaves wrapped in paper. I find that the bread keeps a lot better in a paper wrapper than a plastic one, the plastic turning it to a mould farm in a very short time!

I am finding recently however that certain things are making a comeback - mainly as gimmicks, admittedly, but a resurgence nontheless. Things such as pop in glass bottles. It's only little things, but I find them delightful to see again nontheless!