Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[rue]

the rolodex...
I wonder what happened to mine...hmmmm....

 

[MariantheLibrarian]

Rue, did you have one of the flat ones or one of those big wheel ones? I used to play with my grandmother's wheel Rolodex. That and her adding machine. There's another thing I haven't seen in a dog's age.

 

[draws]

Green Stamps

 

[rue]

Rue, did you have one of the flat ones or one of those big wheel ones? I used to play with my grandmother's wheel Rolodex. That and her adding machine. There's another thing I haven't seen in a dog's age.

I had one of the wheel ones
It's funny you mention the adding machine... my mom still has the one she's used since the 70s that you have to plug in.

 

[MariantheLibrarian]

It's funny you mention the adding machine... my mom still has the one she's used since the 70s that you have to plug in.

I have fond memories of my grandmother balancing her checkbook on hers, and it making that wonderful "k-chaka-chaka-vrrrr" noise. The only better mechanical noise, imho, is a Teletype machine

 

[rue]

I have fond memories of my grandmother balancing her checkbook on hers, and it making that wonderful "k-chaka-chaka-vrrrr" noise. The only better mechanical noise, imho, is a Teletype machine

Yep, I know the sound well
My mom is only 59 though lol

 

[Kahuna]

mimeographed copies - I always liked the smell of those in school
carbon paper

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have fond memories of my grandmother balancing her checkbook on hers, and it making that wonderful "k-chaka-chaka-vrrrr" noise. The only better mechanical noise, imho, is a Teletype machine

I used to work with the very last vintage UPI Teletype machine in Maine, or so the tech guy said when he came to the radio station to disconnect it in 1985. I never warmed up to the dot matrix printers that replaced them, even though I never had to untangle a mess of fouled type bars, purple ribbon, and mangled paper at 5 am on one.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Vinyl tops on cars.

 

[Feraud]

These two bring back memories!

Metal bandaid boxes. I still have 2 of them. When I need new bandaids, I refill the metal box. I don't remember when I got these, must be at least 25 years ago.

mimeographed copies - I always liked the smell of those in school

 

[Danny Ocean]

~Televisions you actually had to get up off the couch to turn (unless you had kids to do it for you).
~8-track tapes and cassette tapes
~Vinyl records 45s & LPs
~Rotary phones
~Full service at the gas station that really was full service - wash you windows? check your oil? thank you for your business.
~The old steel type cash registers that you had to punch the button on to ring up your purchases (a friend had one of these when I was a kid and I loved playing with it)
~Customer service provided by people who cared about doing a good job rather than texting their friends and acting like you're annoying them because you actually expect them to help you
~Lunch counters located inside the stores like Newberry's and Woolworth's
~Five & Dime stores
~People dressing up to go shopping
~The fashion rule of not wearing white before Easter or after Labor Day
~Children being taught manners and respect rather than that the whole world revolves around them
~Good manners in general
~Referring to elders or people we really didn't know well as Mr., Mrs., or Miss whatever their last name was rather than calling them by their first name as soon as we're introduced
~Women wearing hats and gloves when they went out
~Civility in politics and politicians
~Men opening doors for women
~Gentlemen and ladies not cursing in public

TimeWarpWife,

That's a great list you've put together there! There are more than a couple that, unfortunately, really should never have disappeared; civility, good manners, cursing in public, and I whole-heartedly agree with you, on children being taught manners and respect. Respect is something that is sadly lacking in today's society.

Does anyone remember Telex machines?

Danny O

 

[Wally_Hood]

There has been a change in the waiting room of your doctor, vis a vis, the nurse calls for you by your first name, not Mrs. Jones, or Mr. Brown. I don't know you, Ma'am, and I would address you as Nurse as a sign of respect for you and for the office you hold.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The virtue of *punctuality.*

There was a time when, if you said you were going be somewhere at a particular time, or were expected and required to be there at a certain time, you *were there.* No excuses were accepted, and if you sauntered in the door ten minutes or half an hour late, you'd get the rough end of it.

Now, nobody seems to live by the clock anymore. If you show up at all, we're expected to be grateful. (I'm waiting right now at work for someone who had an appointment to be here 45 minutes ago, and has made no effort to check in. I will *not* be grateful when and if they finally arrive.)

 

[AtomicEraTom]

This is so true. I always make a point to be early. I am always a half hour early to work, and it never went un-noticed by management no matter where I've worked.

The virtue of *punctuality.*

There was a time when, if you said you were going be somewhere at a particular time, or were expected and required to be there at a certain time, you *were there.* No excuses were accepted, and if you sauntered in the door ten minutes or half an hour late, you'd get the rough end of it.

Now, nobody seems to live by the clock anymore. If you show up at all, we're expected to be grateful. (I'm waiting right now at work for someone who had an appointment to be here 45 minutes ago, and has made no effort to check in. I will *not* be grateful when and if they finally arrive.)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I used to work with the very last vintage UPI Teletype machine in Maine, or so the tech guy said when he came to the radio station to disconnect it in 1985. I never warmed up to the dot matrix printers that replaced them, even though I never had to untangle a mess of fouled type bars, purple ribbon, and mangled paper at 5 am on one.

I remember when the news broadcasts always started with the sound of the whirring teletype machines in the background.

 

[ortega76]

The virtue of *punctuality.*

There was a time when, if you said you were going be somewhere at a particular time, or were expected and required to be there at a certain time, you *were there.* No excuses were accepted, and if you sauntered in the door ten minutes or half an hour late, you'd get the rough end of it.

Now, nobody seems to live by the clock anymore. If you show up at all, we're expected to be grateful. (I'm waiting right now at work for someone who had an appointment to be here 45 minutes ago, and has made no effort to check in. I will *not* be grateful when and if they finally arrive.)

Try to hold someone accountable for their tardiness by not seeing them or canceling their appointment, and they get huffy. Like how dare you make them reschedule. Today, my kid's pediatrician refused to see someone who was in for something non-critical (a school physical based on the screaming) and was over 30 minutes late for their appointment. You would have thought the doc refused to treat bullet wounds. But others are on time for their appointments, so why make others late for your inability to get it together?

 

[Effingham]

Today, my kid's pediatrician refused to see someone who was in for something non-critical (a school physical based on the screaming) and was over 30 minutes late for their appointment. You would have thought the doc refused to treat bullet wounds.

The irony here is the number of times *I* waited in a doctor's waiting room -- half an hour, 45 minutes, more -- beyond the time I'd scheduled an appointment with the doctor....

Tony

 

[John in Covina]

At the regular doctor's office i come a little early but 4 out of 5 times I will be taken in 10-20-30 or more minutes later than my appointment. I don't begrudge them the time as the office handles a lot of people and they try to be both efficient and thorough. I have had where I have spent the night and or woken up really sick or mom was ill where we needed to show up when they opened and they would squeeze you in. Last time we squeezed in mom the doctor spent about 8 minutes and then called ahead to the emergency room to get mom in for a battery of tests. (Brain tumor)

 

[Effingham]

Eep! Hope mom is doing okay!

Have you ever heard of anyone billing a doctor's office for wasted time? I hear jokes about it from time to time, but I don't think I actually know of any instances where it's actually been done.

 

[John in Covina]

Unfortunately mom did pass away sometime ago. She was going to survive and recover well from the surgery but during the recovery she wound up getting some dreaded hospital based infections that eventually lead to her death. Hospitals do kill people.