Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[jamespowers]

My son is in cub scouts now and I make sure that he's made up according to their class A uniform guidelines (which, yes, can include blue jeans instead of boy scout trousers, though I typically have him wear khakis as I think it looks better). He always wears his shirt, hat, neckerchief with holder, tied, and belt with all the belt loops. He has to be tucked in and buttons strait with his belt buckle and zipper (old military uniform habit of mine), and dressings on the shirt in order. But it also seems that he's the only one in the pack that dresses appropriately. The boy scout pack is a little better, but not much.

This is sad to know. When I was in both boy scouts and cub scouts, you came with your uniform on.
I don't get it. It wasn't like you could use the uniform for anything else. What are they saving it for? Use it!

 

[scottyrocks]

I remember when I was in grade school we used to have assemblies every Tuesday morning. The whole school gathered in the auditorium (assigned seats) for a special program or show. Mandatory was a white shirt, red tie, blue pants (no jeans), and shoes (no sneakers) . . .

EXCEPT if you were a scout. You could come to assembly in full uniform. I can't tell you how envious I was of those uniforms.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

This was the private school I went to. Though these aren't my class pictures (I went there a few years later), this is the uniform that we wore.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Jeans were allowed when I was in Boy Scouts, but only if your pants weren't hemmed, washed, etc. It wasn't to be a habit though.
Also, when camping you could wear your jeans, as long as they weren't full of holes, faded out, etc.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The phrase "Coke Bottle Glasses" is now meaningless to a good percentage of the adult population.

I was talking to a co-worker the other day, and referred to a patron as "that guy in the coke-bottle glasses" and she had no idea what I was talking about. Then I realized that she has spent her entire life in a world where Coke is primarily sold in thin molded plastic bottles, and has never actually seen a thick-bottomed bottle such as would suggest thick lenses.

 

[jamespowers]

The phrase "Coke Bottle Glasses" is now meaningless to a good percentage of the adult population.

I was talking to a co-worker the other day, and referred to a patron as "that guy in the coke-bottle glasses" and she had no idea what I was talking about. Then I realized that she has spent her entire life in a world where Coke is primarily sold in thin molded plastic bottles, and has never actually seen a thick-bottomed bottle such as would suggest thick lenses.

Now it is wine bottle bottom glasses---unless she only knows wine in boxes.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Nowdays that would make it hard to see, with the new design and all.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Now it is wine bottle bottom glasses---unless she only knows wine in boxes.

And a lot of them would be green lenses, which would be so 60's and 70's.

 

[jamespowers]

And a lot of them would be green lenses, which would be so 60's and 70's.

:rofl: Wire rims too.

 

[Shangas]

I still use the phrase "Coke-bottle glasses". You can still buy coke in old-fashioned contour bottles, but they're not as common as they used to be.

I think the last Coca-Cola bottling plant in the 'States, which still produced the old-style glass bottles, stopped manufacturing them earlier this month.

 

[Miss Sis]

Down under we used the phrase 'Milk Bottle Glasses'.

But then, milk doesn't come in glass much these days either.

 

[Gregg Axley]

I still use the phrase "Coke-bottle glasses". You can still buy coke in old-fashioned contour bottles, but they're not as common as they used to be.

I think the last Coca-Cola bottling plant in the 'States, which still produced the old-style glass bottles, stopped manufacturing them earlier this month.

Ah, now that you mention it, we can still get coke in a glass bottle, but they come from Mexico.
Costco Warehouse sells them, and they have real sugar in them, not corn syrup.
Not the same formula though, so it tastes close but not quite to the old one.
Thanks for the reminder on the bottling.

 

[Touchofevil]

Ah, now that you mention it, we can still get coke in a glass bottle, but they come from Mexico.
Costco Warehouse sells them, and they have real sugar in them, not corn syrup.
Not the same formula though, so it tastes close but not quite to the old one.
Thanks for the reminder on the bottling.

We call it "Mexican Coke" up here. Kind of a novelty thing. The bottles are smaller than I remember tham to be as a child, but then I too was smaller.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

We can get Mexican or American Coca-Cola in glass, here.

 

[Touchofevil]

We can get Mexican or American Coca-Cola in glass, here.

As can we although I rarely drink soda.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The bottles used are similar to the traditional but not quite the same -- the original Coke bottle had a bottom that was almost half an inch thick, and was extremely heavy. They were so substantial that the Signal Corps sometimes used them as emergency electrical insulators during WW2. Modern glass bottles, by contrast, are flimsy things about half as thick as the originals -- they aren't intended to be refilled over and over again, as the originals were, so they don't need to last.

Coke bottles from the Era have a date code molded into the lower portion, and when we had our Coke machine at the gas station it was still common, as late as the late '70s, to get bottles dating to the 40s. They were scuffed and chipped and sad looking, but they were still intact and usable.

They also had the location of the bottling plant that owned them molded into the base -- and because returnables floated all over the country you could get a bottle from anyplace in the US. It was the thing to do, after you had your Coke, to turn the bottle over and see where it originated -- at one time I had bottles from 49 of the 50 states. Only one I never got was Alaska.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I have quite a few of the old deposit-type bottles.

Sad that this month marked the end of the returnables for Coca-Cola, though only available in Minnesota/Wisconsin, it still marks the end of an era. I always liked returnables. Felt like by reusing them over and over that it was doing a part for the environment, even if it was a small part.

 

[kiwilrdg]

Boy Scouts are even worse -- when you see them in the parades they might be wearing a uniform shirt and a neckerchief with blue jeans, which is a hideous combination. And the shirt is usually untucked.

This weekend I was working an event with the Sheriff in an area that was a decaying neighborhood a few years ago. The local Scouts do a BBQ as a fund raiser at the event each year. The scouts who were cooking were wearing informal work wear but all the others, and the Scoutmasters were all in impeccable uniforms. The adults were very respectful to the Scouts and they had a sense of pride like the old days. It was an old troop that most of the long-time residents had been associated with at some point. My Sheriff was even a member.

I do see hope for society at times.

 

[Earl Needham]

Boy Scouts are even worse -- when you see them in the parades they might be wearing a uniform shirt and a neckerchief with blue jeans, which is a hideous combination. And the shirt is usually untucked.

This weekend I was working an event with the Sheriff in an area that was a decaying neighborhood a few years ago. The local Scouts do a BBQ as a fund raiser at the event each year. The scouts who were cooking were wearing informal work wear but all the others, and the Scoutmasters were all in impeccable uniforms. The adults were very respectful to the Scouts and they had a sense of pride like the old days. It was an old troop that most of the long-time residents had been associated with at some point. My Sheriff was even a member.

I do see hope for society at times.

Uniforms are set by the individual troop, and can indeed have blue jeans instead of the "official" BSA trousers. Anything "official BSA" is EXPENSIVE! In a lot of troops where the community doesn't have a lot of money, you will see blue jeans, or some other trousers, with a uniform shirt. Or perhaps with a troop T-shirt - the troop sets the uniform. Neckerchiefs are optional, too, and might be the red one from the catalog, or a customized troop neckerchief, or something else entirely. Perhaps even a necktie, for a Court of Honor.

Now, with that in mind, let me add that when I was a Scoutmaster, OA assistant, Assistant Cubmaster, or just a Committee Member, I made sure to have the actual "official BSA" trousers, and I made sure to have my shirt squared away, such that my Marine Corps Drill Instructors would have been hard pressed to find anything wrong with it. I tried to set the example.

And any Scouts I was involved with had BETTER have their shirts tucked in!

Proper uniforms are a great morale booster, but you can't do that and bankrupt the family.

The function kiwilrdg speaks of is a great thing to do, too. And as I said earlier, good uniforms are a great morale booster and even generate respect.

Now -- where is that BBQ? I sense a road trip coming on!!!

 

[LizzieMaine]

In my Girl Scout days we had a "uniform exchange" kind of thing where you could bring in outgrown uniforms and have them available for new girls coming in. I always wore my cousin's hand-me-downs and passed them down to my little sister when I was done. Anyone who needed a full uniform had one -- they weren't always the current right out of the catalog style, but they were official.

Another thing we had was what were called "make up kits." These had nothing to do with cosmetics, but were packages containing a pattern, fabric, and buttons to make your own regulation uniform. This was much cheaper than buying the outfit in the store, and you could get badge credit for doing it. The Boy Scouts likely didn't have such a program, but it worked great for us.