Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[staggerwing]

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.

I'm in Northern VA also, at least for another two weeks (moving to West Virginia). There was a hobby shop at the intersection of Braddock and Backlick Rds. in Springfield I used to frequent as a kid because I could walk there from home (it was only about three miles - imagine even letting a kid walk three miles to and from a store today). Been gone for decades. I think there was another further down Backlick Rd. I didn't go there as much because it was too far even for me to walk, so I had to wait until the rare occasion when I could get a ride from a parent (parents didn't run a taxi service for kids in those days). It's gone too. Glad to hear there are some in your neck of the woods.

 

[Fading Fast]

I had my tonsils out in my early 20s after a few years of chronic infections (sore throat, fever, and general sick feeling). After several round of antibiotics - which worked for a month or so and then the infection came back - one doctor tried pouring silver nitrate (I think that was what it was) on them as an "old school" remedy. I can still feel the intense pain from that little even today - my God that hurt.

After that, surgery seemed like a great idea, which is what happened. I did catch a staph infection in the hospital so my recovery time was prolonged (and, yes, that required even more antibiotics). I know kids say they felt like running around the next day, but I did not as my throat really, really hurt for several days afterwards. I wasn't aware that there is a new philosophy around taking them out, but in my case there didn't seem to be much of an option as, otherwise, I was sick almost all the time.

 

[Retired EE]

I'm in Northern VA also, at least for another two weeks (moving to West Virginia). There was a hobby shop at the intersection of Braddock and Backlick Rds. in Springfield I used to frequent as a kid because I could walk there from home (it was only about three miles - imagine even letting a kid walk three miles to and from a store today). Been gone for decades. I think there was another further down Backlick Rd. I didn't go there as much because it was too far even for me to walk, so I had to wait until the rare occasion when I could get a ride from a parent (parents didn't run a taxi service for kids in those days). It's gone too. Glad to hear there are some in your neck of the woods.

Unfortunately, one of the hobby shops I was thinking of when I posted is now closed. The name of the shop was "Trains, Etc," and was on Backlick Road near the intersection of Backlick and interstate 95. It must have closed recently. I bought a "Carrera"-brand slot car set there. They had just about everything a hobby shop typically carried, from what I remember as a kid. They carried model trains, slot cars, model rocket kits, toy soldiers, and other hobby items. There is a toy store in Shirlington which carries some hobby-type items (e.g. slot car sets).

As to army-navy stores, there's one on Duke St, near the Masonic Temple, on the outskirts of old town Alexandria. It's not that big of a store, but they have a good variety of items. On a recent visit, I overheard the owner talking to a local high school teacher about renting military uniforms to re-enactors and stage performers.

For comic book collectors, there is a comic book store on Columbia Pike, in Annandale.

 

[tonyb]

Army/Navy surplus stores seem to be a thing of the past, for the most part.

Also, the neighborhood bar. This is Wisconsin, there's still TONS of them, but it used to be every neighborhood had one at the end of the block. Heck, there was a brewery down the street from where I live. ...

I still see stores calling themselves army/navy surplus sellers, but they sell little by way of actual military surplus. Camping gear and boots and hunting knives and whatnot.

I was born in Wisconsin, lived there until my early teens, and still have relatives and friends there. The neighborhood tavern culture there is indeed a wonderful thing. The tavern is a sort of community living room. I suspect it's something of a holdover from the Northern European cultures from which so many there sprang.

Used to be quite similar in the Ballard district of Seattle, which was settled by Scandinavian immigrants a century and more ago. But those little neighborhood taverns are mostly gone now, replaced by condo developments and fancy coffee places and yuppie "ale houses."

 

[tonyb]

There's still a few drive-ins in Maine, but they're pretty much coelacanths, surviving on the basis of novelty more than anything else. The days of $5 a carload are over though -- now it's more like $20 a carload.

Coelacanth trivia ...

A coelacanth's brain occupies only about 1.5 percent of its cranial capacity. The remaining space is filled with fat.

I half expect to see a coelacanth garner at least 20 percent in a presidential preference poll.

 

[dh66]

I had my tonsils out in my early 20s after a few years of chronic infections (sore throat, fever, and general sick feeling). After several round of antibiotics - which worked for a month or so and then the infection came back - one doctor tried pouring silver nitrate (I think that was what it was) on them as an "old school" remedy. I can still feel the intense pain from that little even today - my God that hurt.

After that, surgery seemed like a great idea, which is what happened. I did catch a staph infection in the hospital so my recovery time was prolonged (and, yes, that required even more antibiotics). I know kids say they felt like running around the next day, but I did not as my throat really, really hurt for several days afterwards. I wasn't aware that there is a new philosophy around taking them out, but in my case there didn't seem to be much of an option as, otherwise, I was sick almost all the time.

I think the key words here are "staph infection". The CDC estimates there are around 2 million cases of hospital acquired infections annually in the U.S., with about 20 thousand being fatal. I wish this same kind of reluctance to perform surgery as anything other than a last resort applied to grown up patients, too.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Old-fashion manual coffee-mills, I tell you!

None-worn, good quality-vintage-ones are rare, I think. But now, the requesting from younger people, seems HUUUGE!

In Germany, the coffee-fans seem to be the new pipe-smokers around the wine-experts.

 

[GHT]

Philistines. That's why I eat grits.

Can you explain, chapter and verse, to a non American, who has visited The States so many times that he's lost count, just exactly what grits are, from what are they made and when they are eaten. PLEASE!

 

[Fading Fast]

I think the key words here are "staph infection". The CDC estimates there are around 2 million cases of hospital acquired infections annually in the U.S., with about 20 thousand being fatal. I wish this same kind of reluctance to perform surgery as anything other than a last resort applied to grown up patients, too.

I was shocked at how sick I was from that staph infection - just another reason to avoid hospitals if one can. That said, I couldn't live with constant infection, so very glad they took them out.

 

[Stanley Doble]

No! I checked the box, it is labelled Cream of Wheat Original hot cereal.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Plain language on license plates.

Used to be the inscriptions on a plate were simple and to the point -- the state name, the year, maybe an innocuous slogan at the bottom, COM for "commercial," MUNICIPAL for "government", HIRE for a taxicab, etc. And, of course, "New Car Dealer" and "Used Car Dealer," which required no elaboration.

But no longer. I just saw my first "Pre-Owned Car Dealer" license plate. Is there no section of life that isn't befouled by the purulent touch of the Boys From Marketing?

 

[HudsonHawk]

Can you explain, chapter and verse, to a non American, who has visited The States so many times that he's lost count, just exactly what grits are, from what are they made and when they are eaten. PLEASE!

I'm the South, "grits" are ground hominy, which is corn that has been treated with lye. They are soaked in boiling water until it becomes basically a porridge. So in a sense, they are similar to oatmeal or cream of wheat, but made with ground corn.

They are most often eaten at breakfast, also at any other meal.

 

[Fading Fast]

Plain language on license plates.

Used to be the inscriptions on a plate were simple and to the point -- the state name, the year, maybe an innocuous slogan at the bottom, COM for "commercial," MUNICIPAL for "government", HIRE for a taxicab, etc. And, of course, "New Car Dealer" and "Used Car Dealer," which required no elaboration.

But no longer. I just saw my first "Pre-Owned Car Dealer" license plate. Is there no section of life that isn't befouled by the purulent touch of the Boys From Marketing?

Nice use of purulent. The imagery gave me the willies.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Grits usually form the starchy part of a meal, instead of rice or potatoes. When I was a boy in small-town Texas, grits were usually eaten with breakfast, with butter or gravy. There are many regional variants. Cheese grits are popular, with grated cheddar stirred in. On the southeast coast - the Carolinas - shrimp grits are a staple. In the poorer parts of the south grits with molasses or sorghum were eaten, but I believe that had died out by the '40s. It was always considered poor man's food even by the poorer people, and quickly became unfashionable once some semblance of prosperity returned after the Depression.

 

[St.Ignatz]

Can you explain, chapter and verse, to a non American, who has visited The States so many times that he's lost count, just exactly what grits are, from what are they made and when they are eaten. PLEASE!

American polenta.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Cheese grits are popular, with grated cheddar stirred in. ....

There are few foods on earth that aren't improved with cheese (says the man who about ten years ago made a commitment to cut his cheese intake down from a pound an hour to a normal human amount and, then, watched his cholesterol count fall back to a you-can-continue-to-live level).

 

[LizzieMaine]

And speaking of license plates, remember when long-haul trucks displayed five or six or seven or however many different plates, one from every state in which they traveled? It just occured to me that I haven't seen that in years. All the trucks now have "APPORTIONED" plates.

 

[2jakes]

Grits usually form the starchy part of a meal, instead of rice or potatoes. When I was a boy in small-town Texas, grits were usually eaten with breakfast, with butter or gravy. There are many regional variants. Cheese grits are popular, with grated cheddar stirred in. On the southeast coast - the Carolinas - shrimp grits are a staple. In the poorer parts of the south grits with molasses or sorghum were eaten, but I believe that had died out by the '40s. It was always considered poor man's food even by the poorer people, and quickly became unfashionable once some semblance of prosperity returned after the Depression.

Down south...
I recall a spicy dish of grits & tripe known as “menudo”.
Supposedly known to cure hangovers & whatever else was ailing you !

 

[Stanley Doble]

Can you explain, chapter and verse, to a non American, who has visited The States so many times that he's lost count, just exactly what grits are, from what are they made and when they are eaten. PLEASE!

White indian corn, or maize, ground into a coarse meal about the consistency of steel cut oats.

Cooked in boiling water like oatmeal. Can be served as a breakfast cereal with milk and sugar, but the real old fashioned way to eat it is with butter and salt.

 

[2jakes]

White indian corn, or maize, ground into a coarse meal about the consistency of steel cut oats.

Cooked in boiling water like oatmeal. Can be served as a breakfast cereal with milk and sugar, but the real old fashioned way to eat it is with butter and salt.

First time I tasted what you are describing was at Lackland A.F.B.
It was 4 AM breakfast @ basic military training.
Not sure if I could lift my sore arm to eat it.
Thanks to the medical butchers from the previous day, I was issued a
gadzillion shots to both arms.