Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Fading Fast]

When's the last time you ate limburger cheese?

It was one of the most common comedy tropes of the Era -- Harry Langdon or Snub Pollard or Joe E. Brown or somebody like that is on a crowded trolley or bus or elevator and breaks out a jar of Limburger cheese and everyone reacts with wrinkle-nosed dismay. We've all seen the gag, and understand what it means -- Limburger cheese has a strong and flatulent aroma -- but when's the last time you saw a jar of it in the store, let alone had some on a sandwich? Has it gone the way of canned sardines and round bombs with a fuse? Is it just an old joke no longer having any real-world frame of reference?

I don't ever once remember eating it, but as you note, I am familiar with and completely understand the gag as it was popular for a long time.

But then I'm just a kid from the 1970's suburbs of NJ - Kraft singles were cheese, a package of sliced Swiss was exotic and a wedge of Jarlsberg was all but out of reach for us unwashed masses.

Growing up, I don't remember there being any of the variety of cheeses I now see, not only in the "good" stores, but in the average not-fancy supermarket of today.

 

[3fingers]

Kraft singles were cheese

My mom wouldn't buy Kraft singles because my dad didn't like them for some reason and they were too expensive.
Cheese at our house was Velveeta.

 

[BobHufford]

When's the last time you ate limburger cheese?

Never ate it, but the last time I recall seeing it was in my Grandmother's refrigerator in the 1960s. The smell did not attract me to it at all.

I do remember feeding my little sister a "tiny pickle" from the small jar in the same 'fridge. It was actually a pepper. I knew that and the whipping I received was worth it!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Our local First National grocery store usually carried some deli-type cheese: I remember trying and liking Muenster as a kid, and once spent the better part of a dollar on a good-sized brick of it, which I ate, in its entirety, on the way home. There were digestive consequences of this binge, but I still like Muenster cheese.

"Government Cheese" was also pretty good -- it was real American cheese, not process-cheese-food-product, and it made the foundation for an excellent Welsh rabbit.

I still buy Kraft singles, and have the habit of eating a couple of them right out of the wrapper when I feel peckish at night. They are, however, not the same as they used to be -- they're much gooier than they once were. Probably more carrageenan in them or something.

 

[3fingers]

They are, however, not the same as they used to be -- they're much gooier than they once were. Probably more carrageenan in them or something.

I've thought that too, but hadn't figured out why. The newer plastic wrap stinks too. I'm sure it's cheaper for them, but it tears when you try to unwrap it.

 

[Cornshucker77]

I don't ever once remember eating it, but as you note, I am familiar with and completely understand the gag as it was popular for a long time.

But then I'm just a kid from the 1970's suburbs of NJ - Kraft singles were cheese, a package of sliced Swiss was exotic and a wedge of Jarlsberg was all but out of reach for us unwashed masses.

Growing up, I don't remember there being any of the variety of cheeses I now see, not only in the "good" stores, but in the average not-fancy supermarket of today.

Ha, Kraft singles were the cheese of small town Nebraska in the 70's too.

 

[Fading Fast]

My mom wouldn't buy Kraft singles because my dad didn't like them for some reason and they were too expensive.
Cheese at our house was Velveeta.

Oddly, we didn't have Velveeta in our house (only had it at friends house). My guess is my dad didn't like it - that pretty much determined what made it in or out of our house. But Krafts couldn't have been expensive in our region or they wouldn't have been a staple in our very tightly budgeted house.

I've thought that too, but hadn't figured out why. The newer plastic wrap stinks too. I'm sure it's cheaper for them, but it tears when you try to unwrap it.

That drives me nuts too. Growing up, they were easy to unwrapped, now it's like surgery - you have to be delicate and thoughtful. Stupid Redi Whip has done something similarly idiotic with its cap as you have to very carefully pull the tab off or it will break before the cap comes off. I remember giving that tab a tug without thought for years and never having a problem. Grrrr to all of it.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Things titled "Victory." It was a WWII thing, but it lingered for the better part of a decade after the war. In the little Ohio town where I was born, the local A&P was renamed the Victory Market. There was also a Victory Theater. There were Victory motels across the country. Gradually, it was dropped and things went back to their original names.

 

[tonyb]

When's the last time you ate limburger cheese?

It was one of the most common comedy tropes of the Era -- Harry Langdon or Snub Pollard or Joe E. Brown or somebody like that is on a crowded trolley or bus or elevator and breaks out a jar of Limburger cheese and everyone reacts with wrinkle-nosed dismay. We've all seen the gag, and understand what it means -- Limburger cheese has a strong and flatulent aroma -- but when's the last time you saw a jar of it in the store, let alone had some on a sandwich? Has it gone the way of canned sardines and round bombs with a fuse? Is it just an old joke no longer having any real-world frame of reference?

I haven't smelled, let alone eaten, Limburger in half a century. Cheese of many kinds were just a part of life in the Wisconsin of my early years, especially for those of us descended from and still closely related to dairymen.

As to Velveeta ...

I'm certainly no food snob (microwave burritos are a staple of my diet), and no offense intended to those who actually like the stuff, but Velveeta only vaguely resembles cheese. It has a cheese-like flavor in the way that I have an Adonis-like physique.

"Government cheese" was referred to as "Not For Resale" brand among the millionaires of my acquaintance back in the day. Our family never received such largesse -- not as I recall, anyway -- but lots of people in our circle did.

 

[3fingers]

As to Velveeta ...

There is from time to time a bit of it here only because a few of my wifes recipes call for it. I ate far too many Velveeta sammiches as a kid to willingly consume it as a stand alone snack.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Things titled "Victory." It was a WWII thing, but it lingered for the better part of a decade after the war. In the little Ohio town where I was born, the local A&P was renamed the Victory Market. There was also a Victory Theater. There were Victory motels across the country. Gradually, it was dropped and things went back to their original names.

We had a Chevron gas station in the middle of town when I was growing up with a giant sign on the roof in which the "V" was larger than the other letters and had wings. I didn't understand the point of it until I realized the "winged V" was a WWII Victory thing that had for some reason stuck around beyond the point of relevance.

 

[vitanola]

Gosh! To have grown up with nothing but Velveeta! My grandparents' First Avenue ( Yorkville) background assured that we always had a good variety of delicatessen in the ice box.

I still eat limburger, but dearly miss that delight of delights which was made extinct by the Kraft company some thirty years since: Liederkranz cheese. Oh, to taste once again Liederkranz on a Uneeda Biscuit...

 

[3fingers]

^^^ It seems the cultures passed through multiple hands, but were not lost.
http://www.wacheese-gifts.com/P/389/LiederkranzCheese

 

[scottyrocks]

I've heard of Velveeta but don't really know what it is.

I do remember what we used to call 'spray cheese.' I don't remember the brand name. It came in a can. You would turn it upside down, press the nozzle sideways, and you'd get a ribbon of cheese(?), usually for me on a Ritz cracker.

 

[Zombie_61]

When's the last time you ate limburger cheese?

Except for it's use in movies for comedic effect as has been mentioned, I've never even seen Limburger cheese, let alone smelled or eaten it. It must surely exist somewhere here in southern California, but I've never encountered it.

 

[3fingers]

I've heard of Velveeta but don't really know what it is.

I do remember what we used to call 'spray cheese.' I don't remember the brand name. It came in a can. You would turn it upside down, press the nozzle sideways, and you'd get a ribbon of cheese(?), usually for me on a Ritz cracker.

There have been several incarnations of cheese in a shaving cream can. Kraft has one that they call Easy Cheese. A similar thing that I have not had for many years is a cheese product in a jar called Cheese Whiz

 

[1967Cougar390]

How about the busy signal on a telephone. Now that a lot of people have cell phones everything has voicemail. No more beep-beep-beep-beep when you make a phone call and someone is already talking to the person you called.

Steven

 

[tonyb]

Except for it's use in movies for comedic effect as has been mentioned, I've never even seen Limburger cheese, let alone smelled or eaten it. It must surely exist somewhere here in southern California, but I've never encountered it.

Think outhouse of some long standing on a hot summer day.

 

[vitanola]

^^^ It seems the cultures passed through multiple hands, but were not lost.
http://www.wacheese-gifts.com/P/389/LiederkranzCheese

Are you serious?

What news!

For many years the cultures were thought to have been lost. Kraft Foods certainly claimed so.

 

[scottyrocks]

There have been several incarnations of cheese in a shaving cream can. Kraft has one that they call Easy Cheese. A similar thing that I have not had for many years is a cheese product in a jar called Cheese Whiz

Maybe that was it.