Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Big Man]

DuMont TVs with FM bands embedded in the tuner.

Hey, I still have a Dumont TV. Sadly, it hasn't worked in years (but it looks like new). [huh]

 

[Helysoune]

Woolworth's - I have very fond memories of ordering grilled cheese sandwiches at the lunch counter.

Tasteful clothes that fit properly

Wearing underwear as underwear, not outerwear

Silence - I don't get to appreciate the simple absence of noise but on very rare occasions. Even at home, with the TV and radio off, the computer, refrigerator and air conditioner seem to constantly be humming, not to mention the everpresent traffic out on the highway.

Attention spans

The art of conversation

The ability to wait for anything for more than five seconds - This is such a big deal to me. Everything these days seems to revolve around instant gratification and people become INFURIATED when they actually have to wait for something.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Flit guns. Just the thing to rid the air of mosquitoes, blackflies, and other summer plagues.

Plus, they had really great ads.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Hey, I still have a Dumont TV. Sadly, it hasn't worked in years (but it looks like new). [huh]

I have a not (currently) working Dumont TV in the same state, looks like new (1949)......someday I'll find a person to get it working again.

I remember when it did work when my Grandmother had it, I was fascinated that you tuned it like a radio, complete with green tuning eye.

 

[NDW76]

Glass pop bottles that you returned to the grocery store. (We still have milk delivered in glass bottles)

Houses with no hot water.

Hello all. This is my first post so first a quick hello. My name is Nathan and I live in Bangkok.

Here in Bangkok we still have the thick glass soda bottles and plenty of houses with no hot water.

Every day you can see trucks driving around picking up and delivering those glass bottles. They also have workers riding on top of the truck.

As for the houses with no hot water, there are many here in Bangkok. This is for two reasons. In the tropics hot water isn't a luxury and also with the shoddy wiring Thailand is known for, electric hot water heaters can kill you.

 

[FountainPenGirl]

I couldn't help but chime in. I'm sure this was probably mentioned but I really miss the drug stores with a lunch counter and soda fountain. I love my real ice cream chocolate malts and it's hard to find a place to get a good hand made malt. Most places want to give you some soft serve slop out of a machine. There was just something special about sitting on that stool at the counter watching it being made. The thick richness of it so thick you can't get it through the straw. The cherry on top of the homemade whipped cream. Yum Yum. Oh yes and a good cup of coffee to end it with.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

We bought an old pharmacy years back, and all the old soda fountain gear was still in the basement from the 40's or so, as well as tons of old apothecary items from the 1860's until present day. It was like going through history digging through 4 stories worth of old pharmaceuticals.

I couldn't help but chime in. I'm sure this was probably mentioned but I really miss the drug stores with a lunch counter and soda fountain. I love my real ice cream chocolate malts and it's hard to find a place to get a good hand made malt. Most places want to give you some soft serve slop out of a machine. There was just something special about sitting on that stool at the counter watching it being made. The thick richness of it so thick you can't get it through the straw. The cherry on top of the homemade whipped cream. Yum Yum. Oh yes and a good cup of coffee to end it with.

 

[John in Covina]

We bought an old pharmacy years back, and all the old soda fountain gear was still in the basement from the 40's or so, as well as tons of old apothecary items from the 1860's until present day. It was like going through history digging through 4 stories worth of old pharmaceuticals.

***
Keep an eye out for fountain pens!

 

[Puzzicato]

I miss the old ladies! When I was a little girl in the late 70s, early 80s, all old ladies had beautiful long white hair up in buns, and they wore lovely hats and gloves and powder and rouge. I always used to wonder if you turned 60 and were issued with instructions on how to do your hair like that. Now women of that age seem to wear jeans and tracksuits and it just isn't the same.

 

[Shangas]

I miss the old ladies! When I was a little girl in the late 70s, early 80s, all old ladies had beautiful long white hair up in buns, and they wore lovely hats and gloves and powder and rouge. I always used to wonder if you turned 60 and were issued with instructions on how to do your hair like that. Now women of that age seem to wear jeans and tracksuits and it just isn't the same.

Before her mind went south, my grandmother was like that. She had pepper-grey-and-white hair that she occasionally (although not regularly) did up in a bun. She wore beautiful hats and dresses and the prerequisite thick, chunky "little old lady" spectacles (which she occasionally changed for handsome, thin, gold-rimmed specs on special occasions).

My grandmother is also the only person alive who I know of, who at any time in her life, regularly used face-powder. She didn't own a powder-compact, she had a plastic bowl full of loose face-powder on her desk in her bedroom with a circular, padded powder-puff on top and a plastic lid over the top. I remember as a young boy, I used to love playing around with gran's powder-bowl...she wasn't happy about it, of course...but it's one of my fond memories. I think I was attracted to the smell of the powder. It reminded me so much of her. I remember my gran used to put powder on her face and she'd smell of talcum all day. It was a nice, musky grandmotherly smell that I liked when she cuddled me.

I don't know another lady today who regularly used or uses face-powder like my gran did.

 

[scottyrocks]

I miss cars that didnt require computers to operate the most mundane of tasks. When these units fail, its mucho dinero just to buy the part. Who needs a computer to work the windows and door locks, anyway? :rage:

 

[Wally_Hood]

I miss cars that didnt require computers to operate the most mundane of tasks. When these units fail, its mucho dinero just to buy the part. Who needs a computer to work the windows and door locks, anyway? :rage:

Along that same line, remember the wing windows that you could open independently from the regular window-

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I love wing windows. I have one car that has them, and my brother's truck does. Wish they'd bring those back!

Along that same line, remember the wing windows that you could open independently from the regular window-

 

[swinggal]

I miss $1 and $2 notes in Australia. Sorry, but I hate the golden schrapnel I have to carry in my bag. Sometimes you have can $20 in there and not even know about it. Notes were better, less weighty and felt like you acutally had MONEY in your wallet.

For those Aussies who weren't around when they were removed (1 in 1984 2 in 1988) here they are.

 

[MisterCairo]

I miss $1 and $2 notes in Australia. Sorry, but I hate the golden schrapnel I have to carry in my bag. Sometimes you have can $20 in there and not even know about it. Notes were better, less weighty and felt like you acutally had MONEY in your wallet.

Ditto for Canada's lost one and two dollars bills. Now it's like walking around with a bag of coins in each pocket, waiting for a highwayman to lunge out shouting "Stand and deliver!".

 

[lolly_loisides]

I miss $1 and $2 notes in Australia. Sorry, but I hate the golden schrapnel I have to carry in my bag. Sometimes you have can $20 in there and not even know about it. Notes were better, less weighty and felt like you acutally had MONEY in your wallet.

I miss them too. The other thing I miss about Australian currency is proper paper money. Polymer bank notes were first introduced in Australia in 1988 and by 1994 paper money was phased out entirely. I remember the way a crisp new bank note felt, you just don't get the same sensation with the plastic notes. I also miss seeing Henry Lawson on the $10 notes.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I miss cars that didnt require computers to operate the most mundane of tasks. When these units fail, its mucho dinero just to buy the part. Who needs a computer to work the windows and door locks, anyway? :rage:

Not only is it mucho dinero to buy the parts I also find it quite disturbing that this "drive by wire" trend in automotive engineering does not include mechanical backups. For example, most, if not all, newer cars only seem to have power windows. It's like Titanic on wheels! Hello??? Where's the lifeboats???

Sometimes I think the real purpose of the over-computerization of cars is to provide continuous employment for professional auto mechanics. At one time if you took Auto Shop in high school you could do most of your own repairs. Nowadays many high schools don't even have shop courses anymore! I wouldn't put it past auto makers to strategically place certain components so that an auto mechanic can charge $500 or more just to replace a computer chip because they had to pull out the engine or transmission in order to get to it!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Today's auto shop is a joke. My brother drives an 86 Dodge Ram, and he took it to the auto shop to see if his shop teacher could shed some light on it. Him, my father, and myself had looked at it. The teacher didn't know what to do because the truck was carbureted and he could not plug it into a diagnostics computer. The older shop teacher, who had been teaching since he got back from Vietnam even called this guy a joke and said he shouldn't be an auto teacher.

Not only is it mucho dinero to buy the parts I also find it quite disturbing that this "drive by wire" trend in automotive engineering does not include mechanical backups. For example, most, if not all, newer cars only seem to have power windows. It's like Titanic on wheels! Hello??? Where's the lifeboats???

Sometimes I think the real purpose of the over-computerization of cars is to provide continuous employment for professional auto mechanics. At one time if you took Auto Shop in high school you could do most of your own repairs. Nowadays many high schools don't even have shop courses anymore! I wouldn't put it past auto makers to strategically place certain components so that an auto mechanic can charge $500 or more just to replace a computer chip because they had to pull out the engine or transmission in order to get to it!

 

[NDW76]

One thing I think has disappeared in my life time is the respect younger people have for older people. I think it disappeared some time around early 1980.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Not only is it mucho dinero to buy the parts I also find it quite disturbing that this "drive by wire" trend in automotive engineering does not include mechanical backups. For example, most, if not all, newer cars only seem to have power windows. It's like Titanic on wheels! Hello??? Where's the lifeboats???

Sometimes I think the real purpose of the over-computerization of cars is to provide continuous employment for professional auto mechanics. At one time if you took Auto Shop in high school you could do most of your own repairs. Nowadays many high schools don't even have shop courses anymore! I wouldn't put it past auto makers to strategically place certain components so that an auto mechanic can charge $500 or more just to replace a computer chip because they had to pull out the engine or transmission in order to get to it!

More like continuous employment to the "tech-guy."


As for the power windows. Just make sure you secure it somewhere you can get to it.

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