What are some things you remember that just seemed to disappear?
Ashtrays in new cars and trucks. Even if you didn't smoke it was a good place to toss loose change.
I went to the party store to get some aspirin. The only had ibuprofen. But they did have BAYER aspirin in boxes.
I just realized I haven't seen aspirin in tins for quite a while.
I just bought this off ebay for $10. I figure it would come in handy for weed when traveling.
(https://i.imgur.com/LAh4cOe.jpg) (https://lunapic.com)
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Punks and hippies. Extinct like dinosaurs.
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Phone Booth.
This is pretty recent- but movie rental boxes. Like Redbox. There was a movie rental box in the local grocery store- but it was replaced by a lottery ticket box. There was a Redbox outside the Dollar Store outside of town- but it's gone. I reckon it's because of streaming.
As for phone booths- used to be 2 in Lawton. Long gone. One old payphone hangs on the outside of the same grocery store. Hasn't worked in years.
Punks and hippies. I'm both a hippie and a punk. I got long hair and wear a Black Flag T. But there was never a lot of punks or hippies in Lawton ever. It's a small farm town. In fact- there were more metalheads than anything. But that was back in the 80's and 90's.
They're lotsa punks left. They just don't wear s**t like you posted. Hippies too. Their just older. You may not see them where you live- but they're still here- alive and well.
It's not just punks. You don't see too many goths anymore either.
Other things you don't see?
Those little machine in stores that gave you cheap toys in a plastic egg for a quarter.
You don't see Arcade machines everywhere anymore.
Or comicbook racks in stores.
There's no more videorental stores.
Speaking of older punks and hippies though, I do want to mention one guy that's a regular customer where I work. He's gotta be in his late 50s, possibly 60s, but he dresses just like he walked out of an 80s rock music video.
Quote from: chainsaw midget on August 13, 2023, 09:10:07 PM
Those little machine in stores that gave you cheap toys in a plastic egg for a quarter.
They got 3 of them in the little grocery store here in Lawton. And a gumball machine too!
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Quote from: chainsaw midget on August 13, 2023, 09:10:07 PM
Or comicbook racks in stores.
I haven't seen comic books sold anywhere in decades. :bluesad:
Newsagent kiosks in my city centre: long gone.
So called "tea room bioscopes": all gone.
Mom and Pop corner shop cafes: almost all gone.
Video rental stores: all gone.
Shops where you could buy movies, CDs and vinyls: very rare now.
The owner of this site.
Quote from: ER on August 14, 2023, 09:07:28 AM
The owner of this site.
That is a sad thing indeed.
I was FB friends with Andrew's wife Katy for a long time while I was still on there and I remember her saying her youngest son was crying because he wanted a hippo from Africa for Christmas and couldn't get one. I offered to send one and Andrew told Katy "Please tell Trevor thanks but please also tell him not to send a BLEEP hippo" :teddyr:
I would really like to see him around here again.
Magazines.
Way back when, there were monster , true west, porn, detective, ufos, mags like Creepy or Dracula Lives, hot rods, MAD, music, sports- all sortsa magazines. You could find them in a newstand or grocery stores. I haven't seen a store with a magazine rack in years. :bluesad:
(https://i.imgur.com/OOWb4yx.jpg) (https://lunapic.com)
Quote from: RCMerchant on August 14, 2023, 10:19:02 AM
I haven't seen a store with a magazine rack in years.
We have supermarkets with magazine and book racks. Our town always had a magazine/newspaper store. None of that went away here.
My sister worked at a rest stop and they also sell adult magazines with DVDs included. That's still a thing apparently. She said mostly truck drivers bought those :teddyr:
We had a newsstand back in the 80's, but it was replaced by booze bottles. Now it's a "party" store. :bluesad:
You know, in the last conversation I had with my father in law, the final few minutes I ever saw him even, he mentioned you no longer see candy cigarettes or Big League Chew, that shredded bubblegum in a faux chewing tobacco pouch. Even when I was a kid those things were everywhere. Probably still exist but not common anymore.
^They still have both at the "party" store that used to be a newsstand. :bluesad:
Before I retired, at work there was an area outside, like a gazebo, where we could smoke and shoot the breeze on our breaks and at lunch. But smartphones were invented. Everyone would smoke- and no one talked. They just stared at their f**king phones. I will NEVER own a smartphone. I miss people talking to each other in public. You don't see that too much anymore.
Of course those beautiful old card catalogs in libraries are gone-gone-gone.
Heck, most malls that were around when I was little are gone too. Funny how a mall would sit in a spot and people quit going to it, but when they'd tear down the mall and put up a shopping center with many of the same stores, people flocked there.
Book stores. In fact when malls quit having book stores I lost all interest in them.
Know something else that's vanished? Remember the old glass-fronted nurseries in obstetrical wards in hospitals and you could walk up and there'd be all the babies in little blue or pink bassinettes? Those are mega-history and now getting in to see a baby is like entering a prison.
Quote from: ER on August 14, 2023, 04:19:26 PM
Book stores. In fact when malls quit having book stores I lost all interest in them.
The had a Walden Books in a mall in Kzoo back in the 70's. That's where I bought many of my horror movie books back then. That and the record store is the only reason I ever went there. Both long gone.
You would think with smart phones and ebooks nobody is interested in physical books anymore. In our town it is quite the opposite. Our local library put up a shelf in town where people can take books home for free. They also do monthly events inside the library. Whatever they are doing seems to work.
Most train stations here have magazine and book stores. A town next to ours has a comic book store and its been there since the 1970s
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^ They just aren't around anymore. :bluesad: There is a comic book shop in Kalamazoo- but they sell new comics, and I'm not interested in them. My comic book collection is all from the 50's, 60's, and 70's.
As for books- I buy those from second hand shops and flea markets. I get most of my comics and books on ebay now.
I just bought this on ebay last week.
(https://i.imgur.com/Z3YYslu.jpg) (https://lunapic.com)
Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Where'd it go? When I was a kid it was everywhere.
Ghetto blasters.
Something I thought of this morning was what there used to be a lot of space for in big box stores that's no longer there. Going to Best Buy 30 years ago and you'd have a few aisles of software in large boxes. Along with rows of CDs. Now as far as I can tell Best Buy no longer has any music CDs or other physical music media. It looks like they still have a few spots for some software but nothing like before. Same with places like Target and Wal-Mart too. When I worked for Wal-Mart there were a couple aisles of music CDs but not now. It appears to be the same for Target as well. These places still carry some DVD/Blu-Ray/4K/etc devices but even those are getting superseded by having the videos in the cloud. If I buy a disc for a movie I often get the ones where there's a 4K disk, a Blu-Ray, and a code to add the movie to my Apple library. And sometimes for older movies I'll just buy digital copies.
Quote from: ER on August 20, 2023, 06:48:55 AM
Ghetto blasters.
I always wanted one of those in the 80s 😊😊
Marijuana stashed inside a VHS case. You just never see that anymore for some reason.
^ Why hid pot anymore? It's legal. I got pot laying all over the place.
Quote from: RCMerchant on September 01, 2023, 06:51:11 AM
^ Why hid pot anymore? It's legal. I got pot laying all over the place.
That would be one of the reasons why you don't see it anymore.
Desk top radios.
I have 4. Of course, I collect antique radios.