Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[scottyrocks]

Interestingly many of the books on my want list whose prices have gone through the stratosphere are books on military history, aviation and some automotive books that were published within the last thirty years. One example is a book on the Porsche 917 racecar that was published in 2006. On Amazon the prices range between $195 and $500!

There is a certain, probably definitive, out-of-print book, of the same era, on the VW Beetle that I want that is in that same price range these days, and it's not even in English, making it even more difficult for me to pull the trigger.

 

[Just Jim]

Those are what I call yard sale books which are typically the aforementioned bestsellers, self-help books (by the ton), 15-20 year-old textbooks, unremarkable cookbooks (Microwave Magic 2000) and childrens books of very recent vintage that the kids have outgrown. The kind of books that after you've read them once you're done with them.

And yet yard sales can still be a good source for books, if you live in an area where folks read a lot. My copy of Darwin's Descent of Man was picked up at a yard sale by a kid I was tutoring: he recognized the author's name and snagged it for a couple bucks. Not bad for a first edition (no dust jacket though).

There are still a couple of used book stores in Lincoln--one I've been shopping at for > 30 years--but the rise of internet book dealing pushed several out of business. Last I knew at least one had gone to online sales only. Best bet locally for car books is the annual automotive flea market held in conjunction with one of the car shows; gun shows for military history (weak market but every once in a while you find someone disbursing his collection or selling off an estate). Aviation. . . nothing local, but a trip to Oshkosh might be worthwhile if it is a major interest.

 

[Bugguy]

Those are what I call yard sale books which are typically the aforementioned bestsellers, self-help books (by the ton), 15-20 year-old textbooks, unremarkable cookbooks (Microwave Magic 2000) and childrens books of very recent vintage that the kids have outgrown. The kind of books that after you've read them once you're done with them.



And the prices for some of those books online are insanely ridiculous. I've seen books that are realistically worth $25-30 or maybe $50-60 at most with an asking price of $250-300, and even as much as $500! By unfortunate coincidence they tend to be the books I'm looking for -- military history, aviation, automotive, etc.

I can't speak to the price differential. but given the cost of maintaining a static inventory, listing and fulfillment, I can understand why I'm only paid 50 cents for my used books. Garage sales are a much better outlet.

I can count the number of on-line book orders I've bought in the last 20 years on two fingers: 1 Life back-issue (I owned the previous 2 in the series) on speculation about the future or organ and tissue transplantation, and a clean set of Fantasy & SF with the original serialized Deathworld by Harry Harrison (deceased).

 

[Bugguy]

Soon to be extinct, the large, brown-paper bags used at the supermarket. Remember the transition... paper or plastic? Then only plastic. Seems like a trade-off between the perceived preservation of the environment, renewable pulp paper trees, recyclable paper, and cheap plastic that trashes the landscape and until recently, would take years to degrade. The only sure answer is to bring your own durable shopping bag(s). I guess as with most things, follow the money.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

And yet yard sales can still be a good source for books, if you live in an area where folks read a lot. My copy of Darwin's Descent of Man was picked up at a yard sale by a kid I was tutoring: he recognized the author's name and snagged it for a couple bucks. Not bad for a first edition (no dust jacket though).

There are still a couple of used book stores in Lincoln--one I've been shopping at for > 30 years--but the rise of internet book dealing pushed several out of business. Last I knew at least one had gone to online sales only. Best bet locally for car books is the annual automotive flea market held in conjunction with one of the car shows; gun shows for military history (weak market but every once in a while you find someone disbursing his collection or selling off an estate). Aviation. . . nothing local, but a trip to Oshkosh might be worthwhile if it is a major interest.

For military books we have the gun show which is every other month, a model kit collectors show that's held in March, June/July and November, and finally, a militaria show that's held every month.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've picked up a surprising number of good books in the swap-shop at our local dump. You get a lot of encyclopedia sets, reference books, "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf" type things, and advanced non-fiction in places like this: "Grampa died, and nobody wants his moldy old books." Often, I do. and I have no qualms whatsoever over dump-picking. I've been cheerfully doing it all my life.

 

[Harp]

I've picked up a surprising number of good books in the swap-shop at our local dump...

My local used bookshop is a swap-or-new bistro that recently expanded out of cramped digs. Preferred the old place-the more the mess the merrier
with me and I could always scrounge around for just what I was looking for whether it was Schopenhauer or Spinoza, a Ted Williams bio or a bit
of Chicago folklore. Loved that place. Swaps are few and far between these days.

 

[tonyb]

My bookseller friend observed years ago that he has no worries whatsoever over what the "digital revolution" might bode for him and his enterprise.

When the ebook supplants the dead tree variety, he figured, genuine paper books he has difficulty selling for anything at all today will become collectible artifacts, and he has many thousands of them.

As to Ms. Maine's observation on books headed to the dump ...

Old encyclopedia sets can be had for literally nothing. A person who has storage space for which s/he has no better use might wish to snap up every such set while s/he still can, for it's a safe enough wager that someday in the not too distant future interior decorators will pay serious scratch for 'em.

EDIT: An almost serendipitous coincidence: Just now my email inbox has a missive from Architectural Digest featuring "35 Home Library Ideas." Not a Kindle nor Nook nor iPad to be found.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I picked up a 1937 "14th Edition" of the Britannica at the dump maybe forty years ago, and I still use it. You won't learn about WWII -- although I've got the Books Of The Year from 1938-45 for that -- but there's still an astonishing amount of quality information on thousands of topics that still tops anything you're going to get on Wankipedia. Plus it's fun to just grab a volume at random on my way to the bathroom.

 

[BobHufford]

Plus it's fun to just grab a volume at random on my way to the bathroom.

Not tearing out the pages I hope...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nah. I get the Atlantic monthly for that. As long as they continue to publish Caitlin Flanagan, I'm all set.

 

[Fading Fast]

I picked up a 1937 "14th Edition" of the Britannica at the dump maybe forty years ago, and I still use it. You won't learn about WWII -- although I've got the Books Of The Year from 1938-45 for that -- but there's still an astonishing amount of quality information on thousands of topics that still tops anything you're going to get on Wankipedia. Plus it's fun to just grab a volume at random on my way to the bathroom.

Beyond the still-valuable information, it's incredibly interesting to see how 1937 thought about the Civil War or Darwin or whatever. Sure, it's supposed to be facts, but we all know that everything has bias, context, etc.

 

[Zombie_61]

Not tearing out the pages I hope...

Boy, talk about getting your reading material at the dump...

 

[Trenchfriend]

Longboots, needing a second person to get out?

 

[Fading Fast]

I am not commenting on whether or not this is good or bad - purposely not touching the political angle.

Just noting that it is something that was common in the GE (through the '70s), but is disappearing (according to the stats in this article).

(Separate note - wouldn't this thread be more appropriately placed in the "Golden Era" section?)

From MarketWatch:

There are (almost) no strikes anymore

The death of unions is not a new story, but recently released data put into perspective just how much the dynamic between workers and management has changed.

According to the Labor Department, work stoppages involving at least 1,000 workers fell in 2017 to the second-lowest level ever.

There were just seven work stoppages in 2017, involving 25,000 workers. The Labor Department counts both strikes and lockouts in its data.

As recently as 2000, there were 39 major work stoppages. In the 1970s, there were hundreds per year.

Full article here:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/p...-slump-to-second-lowest-level-ever-2018-02-13

 

[Bugguy]

Finally sold my 1930's coffee percolator today for $20 - with creamer, sugar bowl and tray. (Posted pics in another thread) It got me thinking... I haven't seen a double-bowl glass vacuum percolator for 50+ years. I don't know what my mother ever did with hers. Probably broke and wasn't replaced.

I'm afraid these are gone:

 

[scottyrocks]

Katharine Hepburn used one of those^ in the last scene in Woman of the Year (1942).

Wonderful picture, btw.

 

[vitanola]

Katharine Hepburn used one of those^ in the last scene in Woman of the Year (1942).

Wonderful picture, btw.

I have a dozen or so, some of which are new in their boxes. New rubber seals are available for the more common Silex and Corey glass vacuum pots, as well as for the ubiquitous stainless steel Sunbeam Coffee Master automatic.

 

[redlinerobert]

Looks like somebody missed!

Not tearing out the pages I hope...

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

I may have written this before, but I'm not going to comb 300+ pages to find out. I don't remember when I last saw a train towing a caboose. They were still common in the '60s, but I don't know when they disappeared.