Little things that have just faded away...

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by TeleBluesMan

I remember when the free matchbooks had the striking part on the front. At some point after too many people accidentally lit the entire book on fire the striker part was switched to the back.

Also, AFAIK, it is still against the law for the driver to pump his own gas in New Jersey. An Attendant must do it! But they don't offer free full service.

That's true... and it's still 45-75 cents cheaper than New York!

As far as matchbooks, I learned how to strike a match from a matchbook 1-handed as a kid (saw someone do it and thought it was cool.) It was easier to do with the striker in front, but required more dexterity to do it with the striker in the back. One of the many useless talents I picked up!

[worshipvertical]

Originally Posted by WmRob

Black Diamond strings

Soda fountains in pharmacies and department stores.

Cafeterias

We actually have some black diamond strings in stock! LOL! I found them in a box in a rather neglected corner of our warehouse. I didn't open a pack out of fear that they might simple disintegrate in my hands.

[worshipvertical]

Originally Posted by callouses

my wife always washes off tops of cans before we use them...says mice and other varmints pee on them in the warehouses.

I read that this was debunked. The sodas sit cartoned in large stacks and don't sit for very long since they could go flat so there isn't opportunity for the can to get defecated on and test have shown it is an urban myth.

You know something I never see anymore are the small kiddie rides that used to pervade the exterior of grocery stores and inside entrance of shopping malls.

[callouses]

Originally Posted by worshipvertical

I read that this was debunked. The sodas sit cartoned in large stacks and don't sit for very long since they could go flat so there isn't opportunity for the can to get defecated on and test have shown it is an urban myth.

You know something I never see anymore are the small kiddie rides that used to pervade the exterior of grocery stores and inside entrance of shopping malls.

mice were peeing on them

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by TeleBluesMan

I remember when the free matchbooks had the striking part on the front. At some point after too many people accidentally lit the entire book on fire the striker part was switched to the back.

Then came the first Bic lighters.
You could turn them up and the flame would go out 12 inches.
One of those and a pocket knife.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Fatstrat

Places to air up car tires. Every service station had them 24/7 back in the day. Now only a few do.

Most of the gas stations around here still have air, but none of them have a pressure gauge built into the air line, which makes the whole operation a colossal PITA.

[gjd100]

Originally Posted by TBman

How about a 15 cent slice of pizza.

...and 5c candy bars that were 3x's bigger than the dollar bars of today...

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by buddyhu

Doing "long division" on paper.

Who needed paper?

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Earwitness

It's probably okay that logarithms faded away....

You do realize that if all the logarithms fade away, all the slide rules stop working? How will we ever get to Mars?

[Bogie54]

We still have the milkman and either my city or county requires gas stations to provide free air........

I miss letters written in an individual's distinctive longhand....emails lack the personal and physical aspects that made letters special. In school I did not have a phone, and wish I had saved some of the letters I received from my folks. Dad had kept a few letters he received during the war, they were very special to him.

[ahorsewithnonam]

Originally Posted by fazool

That's just another urban legend and doesn't even make plausible sense.

Totally wrong. 48 hours did a study of this using some kind of UV light detection. Urine! Same with hotel bedspreads etc.

[Steve DeRosa]

Drive-in movies
Drive-in restaurants with car-hop service
Department store lunch counters/restaurants
"Railroad car" roadside diners (still a great one in business, Jennie's just outside Lancaster, PA on US 30 - every Eastern seaboard trucker and his Cousin Bubba eats there)
Luncheonettes
Kosher delis (it's a New York thing - you probably wouldn't understand)
Appetizing stores (see above)
Trolleys/elevated trains (same - although the former seem to be making a comeback as "light rail" and Boston/Philly/et al. never gave them up)
Stickball/punchball/stoopball/boxball (ditto)
Bonomo's Turklsh Taffy (my wife's fave - and they just started making it again )
Mrs. Wagner's Pies (yes, Paul Simon fans, they really did exist - I used to eat them as a kid)
Schoolyard/church hall dances (the "trenches" for musicians of my generation)
Cheek-to-cheek dancing (unless you're over 55)
2000+ seat "first-run" movie houses
"Second-run" movie theaters (if you could wait a couple weeks you could see a current flick for half the price of the "big" houses)
Friday/Saturday night "double features"
TV Westerns
TV variety shows other than late-night
TV family sitcoms where Dad wasn't a total jackass
100% American-made consumer electronics
100% American-made automobiles
100% American-made toys/games
Non-specialist family physicians
Family physicians who make house calls
"Mom-&-Pop" music stores/music schools/dance schools
"Mom-&-Pop" grocery/butcher/produce stores
"Mom-&-Pop" clothing/shoe/linen stores
"Mom-&-Pop" hardware stores
"Mom-&-Pop" drug stores
"Pop-&-Sons" local businesses/services
Marital longevity (unless you're over 55)
Mom/Pop/kids stable two-parent families
Living wages for unskilled/semi-skilled non-union workers
Affordable, non-substandard housing for the above
Ethnic/working-class neighborhoods, when they were considered a positive thing
Correct English spelling/grammar/structure
Invocations at all public school assemblies/graduations
The terms "brat" and "juvenile delinquent"
High regard for local educators/clergy
An innate sense of right vs. wrong, not dictated/influenced by prevailing social trends
Drug/alcohol/weapon-free public schools
"Reform Schools" for public school students who did use drugs/alcohol/weapons
Justifiable community contempt for/avoidance of said students

Respect, as per Webster's definition...

[Kilgore Trout]

I go to an old school barber shop. It's like stepping into the 50s. Old barber pole out front, 50s/60s tv shows playing on an old tube tv, coat rack, etc.
My regular gas station is full service with free air, too, and a big bucket of matchbooks on the counter.
My sister lives about 40mins from me and gets her milk delivered by a creamery. She's also in a local food co-op.
We have a drive-in movie theater, too.
Maybe some of you should just move to pennsylvania.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

... drugs/alcohol/weapons
Justifiable community contempt for/avoidance of said students

Respect, as per Webster's definition...

I think job stability could be added to that list. My father's generation pretty much had a job for life if they wanted it. The appalling "at-will employment" ethos had yet to take root.

[Chicago Sandy]

Originally Posted by duff beer

How is that not plausible? People go to the bathroom before leaving a restaurant, don't wash their hand, and grab mints on the way out.

Which is why restaurants that still wanted to give out mints put them in some sort of giant fishbowl contraption with a long-handled spoon or gumball-chute thingy. But if you ever go to an Indian restaurant, at the cash register there’s always a tiny open dish of mixed fennel and coriander seeds and tiny little sugarcoated mint “pearls” to cover up the inevitable curry and garlic breath. Usually, there’s a little espresso spoon, but I wonder how many people (probably non-Asians) just dig in?