Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
I've threatened to do this to a couple of cars I've had. Very nearly did it on one when the stalk broke.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Did this because it was easier than replacing the harness inside the column, but it was factory on my first car.
Real ice boxes.
They make a great backup when the power goes out. Just moving the stuff you plan to eat in the next few days from the freezer to the ice box will keep the milk fresh and the butter solid.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
You can still get these.
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
People look at me funny when I preheat electric soldering irons that way. I hate waiting for the darn thing to heat up.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.
That was a special time. I call it "last year."
1. Blackjack chewing gum
Preferred Clove.
2.Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
They still sell these at HEB. I've never thought to look for them anywhere else.
3. Candy cigarettes
So wonderfully non-PC in that they both glorified smoking and provided kids with a box of pure sugar to munch on.
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
There are still a few of these working around town. The barbershop comes to mind.
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes
I'm really disappointed that the local diner has been taking them out as they fail, and yet somewhat impressed that it's taken 60+ years for most of them to die.
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
Coals to Newcastle; the dairy was next door. If we wanted delivery, it would be in a bucket.
7. Party lines on the telephone
And the unfortunate lack of any delicate way to tell the neighbors that taking the phone off the hook to avoid being disturbed during sex had some side effects.
8. Newsreels before the movie
Beats the heck out of the "sneak previews" on a 20+ year old VHS tape.
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
Wow, some that I did actually miss.
11. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last
show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning.
(there were only 3 channels... [if
you were fortunate])
Living on a high ridgeline, we could fiddle with the antenna rotor and tune in a couple of extra UHF channels.
12. Peashooters
Nothing like a mesquite fork, an innertube and a pocketful of iron ore bits for turtle-smacking fun down at the stock tank.
13. Howdy Doody
Missed it by a few years.
14. 45 RPM records
I ran across a few of the center adapter discs in storage not too long ago. Like Garand clips, even if you don't need any right now, you hate to lose them.
15. S&H greenstamps
I have no idea how much crap we got with green stamps, but it was a lot.
16. Hi-fi's
Still wondering where ours ended up. It's a bit on the big side to be very lost, but it could be easily camouflaged in the storage buildings.
17. Metal ice trays with lever
My first apartment came with three of these...in 1996!
18. Mimeograph paper
One bit of nostalgia I refuse to miss.
19. Blue flashbulbs
I...hang on.
Yup; still got a pack of 209s. IIRC, there's also at least one company still producing them for specialty applications that need the unholy output that only one-time-use bulbs can provide.
20. Packards
Not new, but I remember helping restore a couple.
21. Roller skate keys
Probably a couple in the box with the 45 record adapters.
22. Cork popguns
And of course, lost corks. They were the Airsoft pellets of the day, finding their way into the most inaccessible places only to resurface years later.
23. Drive-in theaters
The Fiesta in Carlsbad NM is worth a trip. If they'd all had a snack bar like that, there would be more of them today.
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers
A couple more I missed. We did have a Rambler Rebel and an Opel Kadett, though, neither of which could go more than fifteen miles without adding oil.
