Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Fading Fast]

We were taught that no matter who you are, or who you think you are, everything you have can be taken away from you in the sweep of a second. Nobody's immune from disaster, from crisis, from tragedy, or from loss, so no matter who you are or how you live, don't ever, ever get cocky.

We learned this, not just from the realities of our lives, but from the Red Sox. You might be way out in the lead, but there's always a good chance that Galehouse will blow the inning, McCarthy will pinch-hit for Kinder, Lonborg won't last on two days' rest, Aparicio will fall down rounding third, Perez will hit the Leephus pitch, Johnson will pinch-hit for Willoughby, Dent will hit the homer, Schiraldi will wilt under pressure, Stanley will throw the wild pitch, and Mookie Wilson will hit the ground ball. 2004 changed a lot of things, but not the lessons learned by those of us who know what it really means to be humbled.

Same message was delivered loud and clear in our household. My Dad's family lost all-but everything in the depression and my Mom's father's small diner got wiped out, so they had lived the losing-nearly-everything scenario growing up and worried everyday of their lives that it would happen again. That fear was so ingrained in me, that I have it and think about it everyday (every single day, no exceptions).

I am always surprised when I meet people and they don't think that way. I'm don't me cocky people (I have no interest in them), I'm referencing good, hard working, honest, charitable people who don't worry about losing everything as they just have confidence (consciously or subconsciously - in most cases, subconsciously) that the fundamental economic, government and political structures that their success and modest savings is based on will always be here. That comfort and confidence is so foreign (and seemingly peaceful) to me, that I am truly amazed by it.

 

[HudsonHawk]

We learned this, not just from the realities of our lives, but from the Red Sox. You might be way out in the lead, but there's always a good chance that Galehouse will blow the inning, McCarthy will pinch-hit for Kinder, Lonborg won't last on two days' rest, Aparicio will fall down rounding third, Perez will hit the Leephus pitch, Johnson will pinch-hit for Willoughby, Dent will hit the homer, Schiraldi will wilt under pressure, Stanley will throw the wild pitch, and Mookie Wilson will hit the ground ball. 2004 changed a lot of things, but not the lessons learned by those of us who know what it really means to be humbled.

There is now a whole generation of New England kids who for them the Red Sox have always been World Series winners.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And they're wondering what the hell happened the past two years. Everything you have can indeed be taken away from you in an instant of time.

 

[ButteMT61]

@LizzieMaine - not a Sox fan, but a Vikings fan. So your post applies nicely to me. I was never cocky, but I think I was lost in youth where by default, one feels immune to **it going badly. Funny how 50 sneaks up on you and then all of a sudden, you realize nobody taught you how to cope with aging parents and a world where old people aren't desirable as employees.
Sorry to have been a bummer on this thread. It was not my intent. A symptom of sadness, so forgive me.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nobody ever gets old voluntarily, but one way or another it's compulsory for all of us. My biggest nightmare is living beyond the point where I'm employable, which has happened to my mother. But there are lots of little nightmares, too -- my vision has been deteriorating over the past few years, and I work in a field where being able to see reasonably well is part of the job description.

I used to also have a photographic memory, but it's getting harder and harder to find film for it, if you know what I mean. We're all the sum total of our memories -- and losing those is another possibility that terrifies me.

I work with people who are half my age -- my boss could be my daughter, which is jarring -- and I go to doctors who came of age in the '90s or '00's. It doesn't happen suddenly, but one day you realize and understand that the world isn't intended for you anymore.

 

[Fading Fast]

^ I've noticed how many teenagers to mid-twenty year olds simply don't see me (I'm 51). I can be standing in line at a drug store where a twenty year old is on the register, he is animated with the two customers before me - in his age group or ten years older, but not ones he knows - and then he gets a distracted blank look when I check out (not rude, I'm just off his radar or something). Its a kind of distracted look where you can tell they are thinking about something else. I sincerely am not angry - it is what it is, to them, I'm 150 years old - but it was shocking as it slowly dawned on me this was happening the last five or so years. I was raised by older parents an taught to respect my elders in general and my grandparents specifically, so I never had an "old people don't count" attitude, but it is really out there. I also see it when I watch people interact with my 82 year old mother - to many she is hardly there. To be fair, this is really a small but not insignificant subset of the population - many people of almost every age are engaged with her, but some see right through her.

 

[ButteMT61]

Cant' find film for your photographic memory...that's the truth. I've always been like that but I sense it being underexposed as time goes by. If I get the big AZ, I'm jumping. Not going to go through that and not putting anyone else through it.
It's hard being so "invisible" at the old age of 54.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Neighborhoods in general. People used to know everyone that lived closeby. I know one neighbor across the alley, because we work together, and the ones on either side, and another across the street because we work together. Besides that, I don't know anyone on my street. Very few people are friendly, or wish to chat, be neighborly etc.

Also pride in Community/Neighborhood. People don't mow their lawns very much, rake leaves, paint, clean their yards, or keep property up in general. I understand money doesn't always allow for all the bells and whistles, but a little elbow grease goes a long way.

I think a big part of the problem is that so many people don't think in terms of putting down roots anymore. It used to be when you bought a house it symbolized a committment not just to a piece of property but to the whole idea of being a part of a community. The idea of a "starter house" wasn't something the prewar generation thought about -- more often than not when you bought a house it was with the expectation of that being your home and your neighborhood indefinitely. You valued those ties because they were a centerpiece of the entire structure of your life. The idea of continuously "upgrading" because you were expected to do so wasn't something most people cared about -- stability and a sense of community were more important.

My family lived in the same neighborhood in the same town from the time they first came to this country at the turn of the century right up to the present day -- my mother still lives on the same street she grew up on, next to someone who's been a neighbor since they were both six years old. I was the first member of the immediate family to live outside the county in eighty years, but my roots are still there on that street. That's weird and unusual nowadays, but it used to be very much the norm.

 

[ButteMT61]

My Mom is in the same house "we" bought 45 years ago.
She still owns her parent's home in Seattle.
We've been in our home for 19 years.
Dad - he's lived in more places than Charlie Sheen has been with women.
It's sometimes hard not to try to compete with people (fiends, neighbors) for the bigger home and the new cars, but we don't. When I'm down, I sometimes look at the monetary success of my collective friends/neighbors and feel low. But my goal was always family first, so with that, the reality that I did in fact do that and it's likely too late to make loads of money sometimes smacks me in the face...

Speaking of what @AtomicEraTom said - we bought all of our clothes from "Jim's Army-Navy" when I was a kid. Mist stuff cost like $1-$3. I was shocked to find that although it moved, it's still in town, albeit a tiny little place and likely nothing like the one I remember.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Speaking of what @AtomicEraTom said - we bought all of our clothes from "Jim's Army-Navy" when I was a kid. Mist stuff cost like $1-$3. I was shocked to find that although it moved, it's still in town, albeit a tiny little place and likely nothing like the one I remember.

My Mom took me to the Army Navy store for clothes growing up. Dusty bins, shelves piled high, really good prices - I liked going as it had a neet vintage feel (not that I knew that word then, but I always loved "old" things, even as a kid). I guess they were the discount stores of their day and were probably replace by the outlets malls and Targets, etc. Shame so many are gone.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

20 years ago there was 4 army/navy stores within an hours drive. Now if I need some mil-spec clothese or gear I have to go online. One opened up in the next county seat over but it closed up after a few months.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Tonsillectomies.

I had my tonsils out when I was four years old, as did just about every other kid I knew. It was as much a childhood rite of passage as going to the Stride-Rite store for new shoes every August, but no young person I know today has had the experience. I know a lot of young adults who suffer often from tonsillitis, but the idea of having them lopped out is inconceivable to them. I certainly haven't missed mine a bit, nor my adenoids either.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Tonsillectomies.

I had my tonsils out when I was four years old, as did just about every other kid I knew. It was as much a childhood rite of passage as going to the Stride-Rite store for new shoes every August, but no young person I know today has had the experience. I know a lot of young adults who suffer often from tonsillitis, but the idea of having them lopped out is inconceivable to them. I certainly haven't missed mine a bit, nor my adenoids either.

I had my tonsils and adenoids taken out when I was five. In the early fifties when they used ether, with the promise of ice cream after surgery. They took me in the operating room, strapped my arms down and pressed a piece of cotton gauze soaked with the stuff over my nose and insisted that I take deep breaths (yeah, right). The nurse finally taped the gauze down to my cheeks and with a smile reiterated 'breath in young man'. Even today, I remember that unique gawdawful 'fragrance' of the ether. Of course, I had that lingering taste the rest of the day sickening my stomach with absolutely no desire for ice cream. Yet the next day I was ready to play outside with only a slight sore throat.
Now the doctors do seem to be reluctant to even suggest removing them and wait until or if there are future problems. My Grand Daughter had them taken out a few years ago at sixteen, was not totally sedated and had a much rougher time recovering.
HD

 

[LizzieMaine]

That ice cream thing was the bunk. All they gave me afterward was oatmeal. Bleah.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Bought a box of Cream of Wheat yesterday and was shocked and horrified at what I found. When I opened the box this morning it contained a dirty looking whole wheat substance not the pure white Cream of Wheat I expected. It even tastes different.

God Dammit if I wanted Red River Cereal I would buy Red River Cereal. I want Cream of Wheat not cracked wheat.

They can't leave anything alone. I predict as big a disaster for the Cream of Wheat company as New Coke was for Coke. They better get busy back pedaling on this one and fast.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Philistines. That's why I eat grits.

 

[Stearmen]

I frequent a couple of forums for us older kids who still build model kits. The majority of the members are people (mostly male) who built model kits when they were growing up in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and never stopped. There are some younger members--mostly the children of the older members who were influenced by their parent's fascination with the hobby--but they're definitely in the minority. And on those rare occasions when I take a trip to one of the not-so-local hobby shops still in existence, anyone under the age of 20 is usually there with their father and either mesmerized by their cell phone or utterly bored.

That is probably the reason the kits cost so much now days. Back when they had millions of us baby boomers, they could keep the price low. Speaking of inexpensive kits, the balsa wood and tissue planes were so cheap, you could afford to build them, then wind up the rubber-band, light it on fire and send it flying! If a kid did that today, the fire department and SWAT team would be there, followed by years of psycho therapy!

 

[Stanley Doble]

Philistines. That's why I eat grits.

So would I if I could get them. I'm a hot cereal man from way back. Oatmeal, Red River Cereal, grits, Cream of Wheat, semolina, I could eat it every day in the winter.

 

[Retired EE]

As a long time lurker, and a new member as of this morning, I've enjoyed reading the responses to this topic. Many have mentioned the disappearance of hobby shops, army navy stores, drive-ins, et al. I've observed the same general decline, as well. However, in the northern Virginia region the old shops are stubbornly hanging-on, and are fairly successful. For example, there are numerous family run hardware stores, several army-navy stores and hobby shops, and smaller variety stores. One of the variety stores, which is like stepping back thru a time portal, is a local store named Ayer's Variety, located in Arlington. I live in Arlington, and the development trend seems to be towards a village model (outside of the main business corridor of Rosslyn to Ballston). As one drives thru the different communities (villages), each has small shopping plazas with specialty shops and family restaurants. An example would be Westover (can be seen by Googling "Westover Arlington, VA"). There are, of course, the chain stores, but there seems to be a reappearance of the kinds of shops that I remember in my youth.

 

[Zombie_61]

Bought a box of Cream of Wheat yesterday and was shocked and horrified at what I found. When I opened the box this morning it contained a dirty looking whole wheat substance not the pure white Cream of Wheat I expected. It even tastes different...

Are you sure you didn't get the "Whole Grain" version by mistake?

That is probably the reason the kits cost so much now days. Back when they had millions of us baby boomers, they could keep the price low...

The prices have certainly increased in the 46 years I've been building model kits. Part of the reason is simply inflation, just like everything else. But some of it is because the smaller American styrene kit producing companies are sub-contracting the production of their kits overseas (mostly in Asia) and have to factor in the costs of shipping the kits to the U.S. once they're complete. And, according to them, that's still less expensive than having them produced here in the U.S..