Things young people have never seen

Friday, February 23, 2024 11:32 PM
At age 57, I remember some things that don't exist anymore. A few of you guys are older than me and probably would come up with more interesting memories of commonplace items that are no longer around. Some that come to mind: Chap-Stick in a metal tube. Looked and worked pretty much the same as today, but metal instead of plastic. Sometimes the cap would get bent out of shape and you had to squeeze it back into round to get it on the base. Similar would be the metal toothpaste tubes that would almost always develop a small hole with toothpaste coming out from where you didn't want it to. Phone booths. Nowadays any kind of pay phones are almost non-existent. But I'm talking about real phone booths with a door that closes. The older ones had rotary dials. Adjustable windshield washer nozzles. They didn't spray out in a nice fan-shaped pattern like today. Each one shot a single stream of washer fluid. For whatever reason, they would sometimes lose their aim and start squirting up over the roof or off to the side, not hitting the window at all. But you could adjust them with a pin or a paper clip to get them back on track. Add to that cars without seatbelts, and cars with analog radio adjustment knobs. "Automatic" push-buttons that would physically move the indicator across the dial. To set them you had to turn the knob, get a station tuned in, then pull the button out and push it all the way back in. Refrigerators with latch handles. The doors opened and closed like a car door. And the freezer was inside the fridge with a spring loaded cover. Those damn things lasted FOREVER though. When my mother died 6 years ago she had one that was still working perfectly. I would guess it was at least 70 years old because I remember as a small child it was already old as shit and had been moved to the basement as a secondary fridge. What are some things that, for better or worse, aren't around anymore?

58 comments

Rotary phones of course. Eight track tapes/players. Carburetors. Milk men. Lawn mowers where you mix the oil with the gas (which lasted forever). Girdles. Burger Chef. Encyclopedias (as in a set of books). Slide rules. Pet rocks. Streaking.
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
Cleaned out my garage this morning and actually threw out a functional 8-track player, which I bought new sometime in the mid-70s. For those that had 8-track players in their cars, how many had a folded piece of cardboard to jam under the 8-track to get the tape aligned with the heads on the player? Cassettes? CDs? Fuck em, I am loving this streaming world!
azdd
3 months ago
Milk man, that's a good one. We had milk delivery up until sometime in the late 80's. Heavy glass bottles and you put the empties out in the box for pick-up.
misterorange
3 months ago
More phone stuff: dial tone... busy signal... long distance calls... phone books... Yellow Pages...
EastCoaster
3 months ago
How about "parents that didn't helicopter or overly protect them from the world?" I might be the last generation that was left to play outside unsupervised and told to come in when the streetlights came on.
PuddyTat69
3 months ago
Seltzer delivered Diapers delivered Howard Johnson’s The Automat put in a quarter get a meal Rooftop antennas for TVs And if your automobile had a choke you’re old as dirt.
twentyfive
3 months ago
I also remember playing with my brother in a coal chute at my grandparents house in Brooklyn getting filthy sliding from the side yard to the basement Another thing that was at my grandparents house was the trolley cars used to go down the middle of Atlantic Ave.
twentyfive
3 months ago
One hour photo service My parents had a AMC station wagon where the fold down rear seat faced out the back window.
the mighty quinn
3 months ago
The "have lunch, get change back from your dollar" McDonald's ads. $0.25 per gallon gas.
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
No ATM’s. Having to go to the bank in person to get cash out, and on Friday afternoons hoping you’d budgeted correctly for the weekend. No remote controls, as a kid that was your job to change the channel.
DCB
3 months ago
shit. My refrigerator was bought brand new in 1982 and my freezer my ex wife bought (with her ex-husband) in 1972. both working much better than my actual ex-wife.
Jascoi
3 months ago
Full service gas stations TV stations signing off Using a map to go somewhere
gobstopper007
3 months ago
a couple of years ago I gave a co-worker a AM FM cassette radio that was still new in the box. stuck it in his 40 year-old toyota pick up. I don't know if he's got any tapes but I wouldn't be surprised. says the radio works great!
Jascoi
3 months ago
Magazines Cars with CD players - almost all new cars don’t even have those anymore.
shailynn
3 months ago
@gobstopper007 - Here in NJ we still have full service gas stations. In fact, it's technically illegal to pump gas yourself. That's never really been enforced, but some of the modern pumps here now require a swipe from the attendant's ID card before the gas will come out, so you might as well just sit on your ass and wait for him. I think we're now the only state in the country with full service. Jersey is also known for full service strip clubs. Lol. Not as many places as there used to be, but still fairly easy to find.
misterorange
3 months ago
More phone stuff: party lines - you couldn't even make a call if your neighbor was on the line, but they could ease drop on any of your conversations. Plastic "colorizers" that taped to the front of your TV that had 3 color bands. Blue at the top for sky, pink in the middle for skin and green at the bottom for grass. Going to the store to get vacuum tube replacements for your TV set. Your home breaker panel had screw in fuses. YOU COULD HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX AND THE ONLY THING YOU EVER WORRIED ABOUT WAS PREGNANCY!
datinman
3 months ago
young ones under 25 most likely never have actually seen: -bus/subway coined token -a juicy mcdonalds quarter pounder. last time i had this was around 2002-3. they also made changes with the french fries around 10 years ago. -laminated library card -pong video game console -nedicks orange soda -schaefer beer -80's hairdos
rattdog
3 months ago
^the party lines. the 976-fuck numbers - yeah i forgot about those. long before there was tinder or eharmony back then there was a phone line called the night exchange. no pics with this, so voice, conversational skills and personality were all a must to get the girls' numbers. then there was always the anticipation of what she'll look like. i met 5 of them. 3 were low 7's, a 5 and a kathy bates lookalike.
rattdog
3 months ago
Buying a case of old Milwaukee or Pfeifers returnable bottles of beer. In college it was $2.40 case as long as you had all of the returnable bottles included. Along those same lines with the returnable beer bottles, I had an old church key to open them.
Mate27
3 months ago
DJ's actually played discs called vinyl records that were played on a record players. Incinerators in our back yard for burning trash.
shadowcat
3 months ago
Hah! The milkman who served our neighborhood had a horse-drawn wagon! The horse was smart, and would reliably stop at houses where milk bottles were out, while the milkman would walk alongside with a basket of milk, eggs and butter and refill as needed from the wagon. Another thing no longer seen - a milk door built into every house on the block, with inner and outer doors. "Supermarkets" not much larger than a lot of today's convenience stores. Speaking of which, A&P groceries. Sunday blue laws. My grandparents still had a wall mounted phone with a mounted microphone and a separate large wired earphone. It did have a rotary dial, but accessing long distance on any phone required an initial connection to an operator! Exterior visors on cars - my family owned one for a while, a '49 DeSoto. Later, extravagant tail fins. Single speed bikes with coaster brakes, actuated by pressing the pedals backwards. Heck, we learned math without calculators including long division. I still have a slide rule that I occasionally bring out just to prove I can still use it. Know this, when we run out of fossil fuels and the power goes out, we old time engineers will rule the world! Bwahahaha.
ATACdawg
3 months ago
Three on the tree gear shifters.
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
Crank-operated car windows.
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
Back in the pre-microwave days, I had this thing that would cook a hot dog by running an electric current through it.
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
Pull off tabs on drink cans. Drink cans that were as thick as soup cans. They younguns must be stumped with the beer can versus styrofoam cup crushing scene in Jaws. Assume they ever watch Jaws.
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
I don't smoke but ashtrays on airplanes and the Marlboro Man come To mind
mike710
3 months ago
Rubbers behind the counter and cigarettes in front.
Huntsman
3 months ago
Politicians that actually had common sense and wanted to do what they thought was best instead of just following the party talking point while trying to beat the other party regardless of the consequences for regular people.
whodey
3 months ago
shit. even ashtrays are a rare thing now unless you got an old car.
Jascoi
3 months ago
People using the right restroom
Context22
3 months ago
When I think about it, packaging has really changed a lot in my lifetime. Toothpaste came in metal tubes you rolled up. Coke came in glass bottles you had to return for a deposit. The only orange juice I had as a kid was frozen concentrate. I remember Tropicana being available at some point in glass but it never seemed popular. Cold breakfast cereal may be the only packaging that changed little.
motorhead
3 months ago
^^ motorhead - Yeah, cereal hasn't changed much, but I remember the bag inside the cereal box was made of wax paper and you had to be careful or it would tear all the way down and cereal would spill into the cardboard box. Can't remember when it changed to the plastic, but it works better now.
misterorange
3 months ago
Home milk delivery; free parking at the beach; a dumbwaiter; Elevator operator; Paper lift tickets; soaking a towel in cold water, draping it over a clothes rack and putting a fan behind it (a/c for the poor); Dunkin Donuts throwing out everything 4 hours old and baking fresh in individual stores; Minibike with 3 hp Briggs and Stratton lawnmower engine; Zarex; Saccharine; No zip codes; house call from your doctor, no access to money after 5 or on weekends; patriotism; being a victim not being a source of pride; immigrants who weren't total negatives; pond hockey; pick up baseball and football games; T-bars; Rolodex; IBM Selectric; The paperboy; Kids moving other people's lawns for money; Families eating dinner together; Sunday dinner; Cops walking the beat; Pride in your country; Working hard;
skibum609
3 months ago
leaded gasoline. I remember when I was a kid it still existed and you had to specifically select/ask for unleaded if that's what you wanted/needed.
crosscheck
3 months ago
More on phones. Call waiting on a land line. And dialing ‘0’ for an operator and asking them to do an ‘emergency break through’ when you are getting a busy signal on the person you are calling. We’d do that in junior high when making social plans. The operator could jump on the line with the person you are trying to reach and say ‘emergency break through from Diamond, should I connect the call?’
captainfun
3 months ago
I guess call waiting probably still for exists. Haven’t had a land line for 10 years.
captainfun
3 months ago
Today it's microwave popcorn but remember Fiffy Pop? "FUN SNACKING IN A JIFF As much fun to eat as it is to make"
elmer
3 months ago
+Library card catalogs. +Carbon paper to make copies. +Turkish Taffy. +African-American families with married parents. +Woolworth's and Kmarts. +Mood rings. +Mr. Rogers. +Lava lamps
Lockjaw
3 months ago
Sears, Montgomery Wards, Blockbuster, numerous other companies. @Lockjaw, I have a cousin who still owns and uses a lava lamp
DandyDan
3 months ago
My child also has a mood ring she keeps as a souvenir from our trip to the ocean.
Mate27
3 months ago
Do they still teach the Dewey Decimal system in school? Betamax 5 1/4 floppy discs Transistors Walkmen The green monochrome pc displays Daisy wheel and dot matrix printers, plus the paper with the tear hole tracks on the side Rabbit ears on TV and the antennas on rooftops The high-tech expensive casios with the calculator keypad A blackberry phone (if you had one, you know)
gammanu95
3 months ago
*^ casio watches
gammanu95
3 months ago
Damn the milkman is old school as fuck!
Muddy
3 months ago
^ in addition to the milk man there were guys who delivered eggs (little truck van stacked with nothing but trays of eggs), bread delivery man, chips and pretzels delivery (rich people down the street were the only ones with that) .everyone had insulated metal boxes on their front steps for the deliveries. When my big brother and sister were tikes they got into the back of the unlocked egg van and broke dozens and dozens of eggs. The egg man wanted my mom to pay for it but when she told my dad he went apeshit on the egg man and told him he ought to beat his ass for not locking his van. The was the end of our egg deliveries.
Studme53
3 months ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elzEOs2pY38
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
You'd think going homicidal on the eggman would be a stripper, not a PL, daddy issue.
ilbbaicnl
3 months ago
Home delivery of cases of returnable bottles of beer. My Dad's beer of choice was PBR, generations before it became trendy.
59
3 months ago
Hair on the top of my head.
drewcareypnw
3 months ago
For those from Boston/New England: Bradlees Caldor Lechmere
crosscheck
3 months ago
@shadowcat: "DJ's actually played discs called vinyl records" I was one of those DJs while in college in 1977/1979.
mogul1985
3 months ago
@ilbbaicnl: "They younguns must be stumped with the beer can versus styrofoam cup crushing scene in Jaws." Ah yes, John "Bluto" Belushi crushing a can in "Animal House". I just re-watched this last week - priceless movie. A must see.
mogul1985
3 months ago
@shadowcat: As a DJ, I still have my Technics 1100 (not quartz) direct-drive turn table and it works fine. And the reason I appreciate McIntosh amps and Klipsch La Scala speakers as I used them.
mogul1985
3 months ago
Yugo: Translation from Russian or Yugoslav: Piece of Shit Americans will buy Pay Phones: with the individual slots for Nickles, Dimes and Quarters, and they had paper phonebooks Phone: you could dial a 3-digit number (free) for Time and Weather Saving Passbook: Before ATMs, you had Savings and Checking Accounts. For saving, you had this pocket-sized booklet that the bank stamped so you could keep track of your deposits. The Internet: Developed in 1974 by DARPA to keep the military-industrial-government-university complex connected in the event of a nuclear war, not for social media, shopping, Zoom and porn. The primary developers of TCP/IP (IP was the packet protocol, TCP guaranteed packet delivery if the end node was reachable) were Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn: when you “surf” the Internet you are really “Cerf’ing” the Internet. Lobster was $1/pound on Cape Cod in the 1960s, and steamers/corn were common at county fairs in NY - and cheap. HoJos was known for its sherbert Carvel invented soft-serve ice cream – common ice cream drive-up in the 1960s/1970s in New England Space Invaders video game: The thump-thump-thump sound would slowly speed up as the Invaders were killed off increasing your adrenaline. Without that sound, the game would get boring. Original Zip Codes: Single digit. I have a John Glenn signed postcard sent to Syracuse, 5, NY (that was the order) - see next Project Mercury: Astronauts couldn't get life insurance. My dad was big in aerospace at GE. For John Glenn's Mercury space launch as the first to orbit the Earth, you could send a self-addressed card to Cape Canaveral, John Glenn signed it (no auto-pen shit), and NASA mailed it back with a special date stamp: Feb 20 1962 3:30PM "First Day Issue" - I keep it on my desk in a sealed display container. Also, while at GE, my dad was able to get original 14"x20" Gemini space and Apollo moon landing photos from the original negatives. My brother and I would take them to "Show and Tell" in elementary school - this was way before "Mikey has 2 Mommies" and "Why Porking Your Buddy is Fun". Battlezone arcade tank game: The Army actually hired Atari to develop one for Abrams’ tankers and Bradley gunners for target training. Some Atari developers refused to work on it as it was for the Army – candy ass wimps. East German Women’s Swim Team 1970s: The USSR had these women so jacked-up on ‘roids that they were about as close to men as you could get Miracle on Ice – Men’s USA Hockey Team: This team was a quickly assembled of college hockey players from all over, went to the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics and beat the professional USSR Hockey Team. In the Cold War decades, this was a HUGE defeat for the Soviets. This was a bad as Jesse Owens getting 4 Gold Medals in the 1936 Germany (Nazis) Olympics. TV: 3 VHF channels via rabbit ears, and PBS on UHF via that funky loop antennae Klipschorns (or Khorns) were developed by Paul Klipsch in Hope, AR in the late-1940s, and are still one of the most sought-after speakers today. People know about them, just not that the folded-horn design dates back almost 80 years. And, Klipsch still makes them – about 170 pounds each, and they need to be placed in a corner of the room; La Scalas are a great alternative not needing corner placement. COBOL: COmmon Business Oriented Language 1959 (still in use today actuially). Based Navy Admiral Grace Hopper FLOW-MATIC programming language using common English, not formulas, and was one of the primary developers. CompSci students today have no clue who Grace Hopper was, and she has Rock Star status with computer historians. People make a huge deal about “Girl Power” and crap, she is largely ignored by the #MeToo crowd. So is Radia Perlman, MIT Physics/CompSci, who developed IS-IS Link-State Routing Protocol in the early 1990s used today by global enterprise and Tier-1 Internet providers based from her work on Spanning Tree for Ethernet LANs in the early 1980s – she too is Rock Star in Computer Science, and a woman at that who is largely acknowledged by the Woke #MeToo Mob.
mogul1985
3 months ago
"Carvel invented soft-serve ice cream – common ice cream drive-up in the 1960s/1970s in New England" Hate to break it to you, but my folks opened the seventh Dairy Queen in Canada when I was 5 in 1956. I think that Tastee Freeze may have even beaten FQ.
ATACdawg
3 months ago
The first DQ® restaurant was located in Joliet, Illinois. It was operated by Sherb Noble and opened for business on June 22, 1940. Tastee-Freez was founded in 1950 in Joliet, Illinois, by Leo S. Moranz and Harry Axene (formerly of Dairy Queen). Moranz invented a soft serve pump and freezer ... I was incorrect.
ATACdawg
3 months ago
kids today will 'never' know about: * watching non-stop music videos on MTV, BET, VH-1, after school * watching daily video countdown shows on MTV and BET * local mom-and-pop VHS / DVD video stores with an Adult / XXX section behind a curtain * playing pick-up football games after school with fellow kids from the neighborhood * hanging out at an arcade with a pocket full of quarters * Cereal commercials for a wide array of different morning cereals * floppy disks for computers * non-electric typewriters * public city bus daily paper transfers tickets * white correction tape for typewriters
gothamyte
3 months ago
A peer with strong work ethic.
funonthaside
3 months ago
@gothamyte - Video store is a good one. And the typewriter. I remember in middle school typing on my mother's Royal brand clickity-clack typewriter with the manual spring arm to return the carriage. It was a slow four-finger process because I didn't have a typing class until high school, and that was on an IBM Selectric. Do kids really not play pick-up games anymore?
misterorange
3 months ago
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