I always think of drive in movies in the summer. I remember how much my boys loved going to them. I’m not sure if it was even the movie they liked, or the playgrounds they all had for the kids to play on until the movie started or it might even have been the concession stand. I’ll bet if you asked them both where they saw ET, they would say at the drive in. Think how many movies we didn’t see saw at drive inns as teens. Back in my day anyway.
My first job was at The Frost-Top drive in for food. No, we didn’t wear skates but we sure had a good time. All the boys who came to them and all.
So Sunday night on the news this list of things we don’t use anymore really caught my eye. This is 25 years and 25 things we don’t use anymore. There are some things on this list that I had completely forgotten about. Some things not on this list that are longer than 25 years that come to my mind are colored TVs, air conditioners and my grandparents didn’t have running water and we had the good old out-house, which probably is a good thing.
Take a look and see if you can think of any more things that have gone by the wayside.
Us Girls..Our Views 
I, for one, am sad to see that Mtv lost its roots. when it first came out it was ALL we wanted to watch. It was so cool! 🙂
Remember UHF and VHF? Whoa, I am OLD! But, pretty soon they won’t even have “picture tubes” any more.
How about non-motorized push lawn mowers? You’d think they would make a comeback with the “green” movement. I haven’t seen one in years.
Let’s not “date” it. Put what you can remember.
Floppy disks
Cassette players
When was the last time you wrote a letter by hand and “mailed” it using a mailbox?
Anyone still have a wind-up clock or watch? A wind-up train or toy car?
Player piano?
Coffee percolator?
Tin cups?
A time of night when there was literally NOTHING on TV?
By the way, I still roll up my windows manually in my 2003 car. I do have electric locks though – remember the golf tee ones we used to have in the cars?
What about 8 track tapes?
Popcorn made on the stove? Remember when Jiffy Pop was the latest and greatest?
Roller skates that used a key?
Ha ha, Jiffy Pop!!
My dad used to make popcorn every Friday night before we watched late-night movies on TV. We had this beat-up old nasty pot that was good for nothing other than making popcorn. Getting nearly every kernal to pop was a true art!
We shared 16-ounce glass returnable bottles of Pepsi to go with the popcorn. That brings back another memory – getting empty pop bottles for our allowance – we had to carry them several blocks to the store to cash them in on Saturday mornings. Occasionally we’d drop them and break a few. Lord, I can’t imagine what today’s parenting community would say about that! Little kids walking alone through the city, carrying breakable glass that they would exchange for candy! Call CPS!!
Just a mom, my grandp still makes his popcorn on his stove, thats funny!!! Its taste so much better.
I still make my popcorn on a stove too. I do make microwaved every once in a while but not very often. I like it better that way.
SKL…I loved Pepsi and Orange Crush in the bottles. They used to keep them in a cooler full of cold water. They were neck deep in the water and ICE cold. It was so good.
Sanitary pads that you needed a belt to wear.
Rotary dial phones and party lines. My grandparents had a phone and their ring was one 1 long ring and 5 short. They shared their phone with 7 other families.
Hey Joy thanks for making me feel young today. I’ve never seen a checkered cab. I don’t remember American Band Stand or the Baltimore Ravens I mean Colts. I do however still have a car,well it’s jason’s but, that has a hand cranked window. And I remember my oldest sister, 10 years my senior, having Michael Jackson posters and t-shirts. And I do miss when MTV was actual video’s, now it’s just reality shows. I vaguely remember glass pop bottles. And as for the popcorn, my mom had a popcorn popper. I’ve thought about getting one for Bailey b/c he LOVES popcorn. I lost that love of popcorn when I got pregnant with him. I can’t even stand the smell now. Smells like stinky feet to me:)
Roller skates with keys????!!!! Now that’s just crazy!!
Oh yeah, you had to have the key. There was even a naughty (by old-time standards) song that started:
“I’ve got a brand-new pair o’ roller skates,
You’ve got a brand-new key . . . .”
I think it’s time for me to start scoping out old folks’ homes . . . .
SKL….LOL! I love that song. Maybe we can get a room next to each other!!!
I love popcorn on the stove! That’s the only way we made it! I remember our rotary phone and the party line. Anyone remember ringer washers? Sewing machines that were NOT portable? Wood windows that needed sticks to stay open? I can’t tell you how many times my fingers got smashed in those!!!!
I remember watching American Bandstand every day after school and on Saturday mornings watching, Saturday Morning Cowboy, Fury, Sky King and My Friend Flicka. A little later on when I got my driver’s license gas was .32 a gallon and a stamp was a nickel. Milk was .99 a gallon and a dozen eggs was .60 and my favorite song was Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys. Is my age showing yet?
LOL Joan!! I remember American Bandstand too. Sat morning was the best one.
Gosh, I remember a lot of these! Soul train. Godzilla movies. Grape Nehi. The Muppet Show. The Gong Show. Manual TVs with no remote control. Headphones as big as your head. Phone cords that twisted into a big annoying wad. (Whoops, guess some folks still have those.) 🙂
And going along with the glass Pepsi bottles, remember the vending machines for them? The bottles were all lined up in a row, cap-side-out, and you had to rake the skin on your fingertips to pull them out of the machine.
Sash cords!! They never worked like they were supposed to. And does anyone still have those blinds that retract when you pull them down a little?
Remember “rec rooms”? With fake wood paneling? Does anyone still call part of their basement that?
Booger green carpeting. WHY???
3-seat station wagons with the third seat facing backward. (Fond memories of keeping plenty of spitwad ammunition in the storage bins for shooting at the cars behind us, while dad drove along in blissful ignorance . . . .)
Backyard carnivals for muscular dystrophy? Do they still do those?
I am totally entering my second childhood.
If any of you miss any of this stuff come visit Africa, we are still in the dark ages!
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This was great to read. I’m going to show my parents it tonight. They’ll have more to add I’m sure.