What would you miss most?

[Blackthorn]

It would be a love/hate affair; I would miss fast international travel. I would love the slow going elegance of ocean liners and early airlines (especially if I could afford travel in First!) but I would really miss being able to get to Europe or Africa within 24 hrs start to finish.

Yeah, that would be high on my list, too.

Also, I'd miss The Lounge.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yeah, that would be high on my list, too.

Also, I'd miss The Lounge.

I could take the slower travel times in exchange for the comfort of first class travel then, but I'm not that stupid, I probably couldn't afford to travel at all in that era.

What most of us only half like to admit to ourselves is that airlines are buses today not because the airlines are being meanies; it is the airlines giving us exactly what we are willing to pay for. Airlines are not long-term profitable businesses - they go bankrupt every so often, have horrible long-term returns on their capital and compete to their death. The occasional quarter or even year or two of profitability is simply a ledge to the next fall.

If we the public would pay more for travel, the airlines would gladly deliver. I know most people think the airlines charging for every service / extra is an example of them being mean or profit hungry, but it really is, in economic term, the airlines simply disaggregating their prices so that we can all choose, individually, what we are willing to pay for ($50 for more a bit extra room, $6 for a sandwich, etc. - it all used to be bundled and averaged, now it is individually driven).

When travel was elegant in the 30s, only the very rich could afford it - now that it is affordable, it is bare-bones, but that is what we the flying public wants.

With that out of the way, yes, I would love to travel like the rich did in the '30s, but I'd be taking the train at best. That is something I could adjust to and love - real passenger train travel (which would be an improvement over Amtrak). All of my not-rich relatives tell stories of train travel in the 30s and 40s (most didn't own cars or not ones reliable enough for long trips). But train travel was available, somewhat affordable (they saved up, but could do it - they weren't flying or going on cruise ships) and it was much nicer than train travel today.

So maybe it would be okay, but not if I wanted to go to Europe or Africa (no underwater trains). Last thought, maybe the lack of easier travel is one of the ways the world was less hectic. We fly home to my girlfriend's family every Christmas and it is great to see them, but it is also hectic as can be (flight arrangements, getting to and from AND through the airports); we simply wouldn't have done that in the 30s if they lived far away. We would have saved up, made an insanely expensive phone call on Christmas day. Not as nice as seeing them, but not as hectic either.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Modern airline travel is the bunk. It's one step up from mailing yourself to your destination parcel post, and give it another twenty years and that'll be a better option. There's no place on earth I want to go badly enough to put up with that.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Modern airline travel is the bunk. It's one step up from mailing yourself to your destination parcel post, and give it another twenty years and that'll be a better option. There's no place on earth I want to go badly enough to put up with that.

Depends on where you're going and who's plane it is. If you're on a US airline, heaven help you. US airlines are the worst in the world, by orders of magnitude. But, as mentioned above, it's because that's what we, the US ticket buying public, demand. We gladly sell our comfort and sanity for a few bucks.

Now, all of that said, the biggest problem with airline travel is the passengers, not the airlines. People are selfish in general, but airline travel brings out the worst in people. For some reason, people demand to be treated as if they're the only passenger on the plane.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Modern airline travel is the bunk. It's one step up from mailing yourself to your destination parcel post, and give it another twenty years and that'll be a better option. There's no place on earth I want to go badly enough to put up with that.

I've said it before but I daresay that Third Class/Steerage that brought great-great-great granddad to Ellis Island in 1924 was probably a bit more luxurious than taking a flight today where you're regarded as somewhere between a potential terrorist and cargo.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I rode a Greyhound bus cross-country non-stop in 1982 and was more comfortable than on any airplane I've taken in the last twenty years.

 

[Dragon Soldier]

As alluded to in many other threads of the same nature, I would simply curl up in a ball and die if transported to the golden era. There are things I like about it, I pick & choose them.

In answer to the question though, the microprocessor.

 

[filfoster]

To the OP, sulfa drugs and everything I now take as a heart attack survivor. I suppose I'd miss life most since I would not have survived my last heart attack without a cath lab and stents.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I rode a Greyhound bus cross-country non-stop in 1982 and was more comfortable than on any airplane I've taken in the last twenty years.

The never ending argument in my house: my dear wife always wants to fly, and I prefer to take the train- even if it takes days to cross the country on Amtrak. I never want to ride coach on the train, so it's always either business class for day trips and a roomette or bedroom for overnight travel. The plane is not only faster and cheaper, so guess who usually gets her way?

I did score a bit of a coup on a trip to Canada last week, however. We took the VIA corridor train between Toronto and Montreal and return, and she was flabbergasted by the quality of service we had in business class. The food was quite good, the service very attentive, and both of our arrivals were on time to the minute. Next challenge: getting her to take a transatlantic crossing on the QMII.

 

[Edward]

The one thing I'd miss most? Definitely modern medicine. It's probably that my appendix would have burst before my emergency surgery back in the day; recovery would have been much, much harder. Not to mention the fact that in those pre-NHS days, I'd have been financially crippled by the cost. There's also a high chance that my clinical depression, finally diagnosed in my mid thirties, would simply have led to suicide without modern treatment and modern, much more enlightened, views on mental illness, not least on the part of my employers.

As others have said, the level of open prejudice would have been difficult to stomach, and likely I'd have gotten my share of broken noses by objecting to it. I'd also have been a direct recipient, being Irish and assuming I lived in London then as now. From first hand experience I can tell you that being followed round shops and assumed to be a likely terrorist is not a lot of fun - I feel for my Muslim chums who now bear that particular albatross.

Even as a recreational pipe-smoker, I'd miss the modern-day smoking ban.

I'd miss rock and roll, and punk rock, and many other forms of music I love as they wouldn't have happened yet.

I'd miss the absence of conscription, and the freedom to speak out against my own government without unpleasant consequences.

There are plenty of others things I'd miss, though I'm sure I could learn to do without them. Now, if you're talking about a Dieselpunk fantasy version of the forties where I could have everything I'd otherwise miss but in a much classier form, count me in!

Frankly, though, I'm much happier living now and retaining what I will from the past while selectively benefitting from the 'new' that suits me. Modernity in Moderation, as we say in Chappism...

I would miss the iPod, or similar portable music devices. However, I would find it much easier to find music, since back then music was real music, unlike today, where 99% of music is garbage.

Ah, youth.... 99% of all music in any era is pure tripe. The only difference between now and then in that respect is that the worst of it has been forgotten.

I also think we would all be shocked by the accepted level of racism, chauvinism and general antipathy to non-WASP people and values. Sometimes, it shocks me just seeing it in movies even though I know that was the cultural norm of the day.

Yes, that's easily forgotten. Of course prejudice is still around, but I count it a huge advance that those who hold such opinions don't feel able to be so open about them as often any longer. That suggests we're winning.

 

[1mach1]

I'd miss my wife........and my Mustangs.

 

[1930artdeco]

Mach, just take her with you. Once there, you could make up some hot rods of your own.

 

[1mach1]

Mach, just take her with you. Once there, you could make up some hot rods of your own.

I like the way you think!

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

On honest balance, I don't think there is anything I would really miss if I were to fall back through time. I would much prefer, however, to go a bit further back, somewhere near 1900 would be good. I would get a job in automobile design and testing. I think I could be good at that.
I would like to say that I would miss my friends. I have quite a number of wonderful friends. But life has not treated me very well, so for reasons beyond my control, I don't get to see them nearly enough anyway. They are active and do so much of what they enjoy doing. I babysit my mess of a wife. Since I miss them already, how much worse would 1900 be?
One thing would be race and religious relations. It is a matter of degree. Anytime from 1900 till 1940 would be far worse than today. But things I have seen? Since 1990, I think things have gotten a lot worse. Twenty-five years ago, I knew many blacks and whites that were good friends, co-workers that were real buddies, neighbors. I saw people besides me treating Muslims like real friends. For twenty-five years, I have watched it getting worse again. How much worse can 1900 be? (I have a pretty good idea, I have studied history a lot)
Medical? Between the lawyers and the insurance companies, doctors being trained in medical school on how to "maximize your return from the insurance company or Medicare", patients get lost in the mess and healthcare suffers while costs skyrocket. My wife has real problems and we can't get anywhere with medical care around here. I think I would prefer 1900. I don't seem to need to go to the doctor's much anyway. (But that may change soon)

With close to 80 percent of our economy based upon a Ponzi scheme, I don't like where this nation is heading. I wonder if I can get the model T Boat-tail roadster to do 88 mph?
I'm sorry, new here, I promise not to drift down that dark road often.
W2

 

[herringbonekid]

i'd miss a modern washing machine. that's about all.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's not that hard.

 

[Big J]

I rode a Greyhound bus cross-country non-stop in 1982 and was more comfortable than on any airplane I've taken in the last twenty years.

Never heard of business class?
Seriously, if people are still flying economy, they're getting what they paid for.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Never heard of business class?
Seriously, if people are still flying economy, they're getting what they paid for.

I simply don't fly at all, and save even more money.

 

[Big J]

I simply don't fly at all, and save even more money.

Ahh, that's where you're going wrong then.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Not really. Anywhere I feel like going is within about 160 miles of home. Anything outside that radius I can take or leave.