# Little things you remember, now consigned to the past **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256 "2007-07-26T17:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/121 "2007-07-30T07:51:19Z")
Pneumatic systems in stores. The cashier would put your payment in a little cylinder and feed it into a pneumatic tube whence it would shoot off into the ceiling somewhere. A few minutes later down would come your change and receipt. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/122 "2007-07-30T08:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=missred] Kool-aid sweetened with cyclamates cork lined bottle caps Teem soft drink (Pepsi’s version of 7up) Marathon candy bars [/QUOTE] Ah, yes. Cork-lined bottle caps. Removing the cork carefully, putting the metal cap on the top of your shirt pocket and then keeping it in place with the cork carefully jammed back in place behind the fabric. Soft drink badges so made granted instant authority in any game that required cops, soldiers or the Forces of Good generally, IIRC. In the hierarchy of cool, they easily trumped paper hats and warpaint made with crayons, but were sadly outgunned by playing cards in the bicycle spokes. But if you added to the Coke sheriff’s badge a folded paper cracker which made a bang when appropriately wielded so that you had a faux gun as well, though, you just might gain the upper hand in the eternal playground war of upmanship… ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/123 "2007-07-30T13:41:34Z")
Was it Kit-Kats that had the aluminum-waxed-paper wrapping? I used to expend a great deal of time separating the two. ---
**Author:** ![8675309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ea5d25/32.png) [@8675309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8675309)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/124 "2007-07-30T13:57:47Z")
^ That reminds me, absolutely nothing had a safety seal on it when I was young. ---
**Author:** ![Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/das_glasperlenspiel/32/2944_2.png) [@Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Das_Glasperlenspiel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/125 "2007-07-30T13:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Quote: Originally Posted by Das Glasperlenspiel Tube testing machines at the local drugstore - and my father bringing in a wooden mandarin orange box (remember those - back when “mandarin” oranges had a less politically-correct name?) full of tubes to check. Noel Prosequi] Wha…? In my part of the world those citrus fruits with the crumpled orange skin, that was extremely easy to remove, and the easily-segmented flesh (just to make sure we are talking about the same thing) are still called Mandarins. What are they called elsewhere? [/QUOTE] Where I come from (BC coast), we used to call them “Jap” oranges :o - there would be great excitement - and a front page news story - when the first shipment arrived just before Christmas. They came in by freighter to Vancouver. IIRC the ship was usually the “Martha Bakke” - don’t know why I remember that. Anyway, they were “Jap” oranges, they were only available for a little while around Christmas and they came in cool and useful wooden boxes. And they grew only in Japan. Now they are “mandarins” or “Satsumas”, they come from California and are available nearly year-round. Things change . . . ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/126 "2007-07-30T14:25:44Z")
[QUOTE=bathsheba] Pneumatic systems in stores. The cashier would put your payment in a little cylinder and feed it into a pneumatic tube whence it would shoot off into the ceiling somewhere. A few minutes later down would come your change and receipt. Weird. [/QUOTE] These systems aren’t completely a thing of the past yet. When I moved here, I was surprised to see them in service at the drive-throughs for a pharmacy chain, and a couple of banks. I hadn’t seen anything like it since I was a very young kid. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/127 "2007-07-30T14:45:31Z")
## [QUOTE=Hampshire] -A&W rootbeer that could be bought in a gallon jug from the restaurant to take home. [/QUOTE] You can still get that at the A&W near me… ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/128 "2007-07-30T14:49:56Z")
I remember when TVs and stereos were major pieces of furniture in their own right. My uncle had a (Hi-Fi!) stereo that was a top-opening console. It was just as much a quality piece of furniture as it was an electronic item. But you couldn’t put anything on it or you couldn’t open it. A design flaw that made putting on a record into an act of some significance. I also remember the crushed metal bottle caps. But for me, the memory is of caps pressed into the asphalt in front of gas stations. I also remember that some people would have a bottle open screwed onto the side of the kitchen counter. Sitting in front of the radio with my fingers on the record button waiting to see if it was a song I wanted to record on my cassette deck. All my tapes had songs with the DJs at the start and end. A home run would be two songs in a row that I wanted without the DJ or a commercial. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/129 "2007-07-30T18:34:17Z")
Rubbers. No, not the ones you wear on your Unit, guys, the ones you wear over your shoes when it is raining so that the shoes stay dry. I ran across a picture of a par of these teaching one of my students today, and had to explain to him what they were for and that I used them when I was his (7) age… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/130 "2007-07-30T19:21:46Z")
[QUOTE=Noel Prosequi] Wha…? In my part of the world those citrus fruits with the crumpled orange skin, that was extremely easy to remove, and the easily-segmented flesh (just to make sure we are talking about the same thing) are still called Mandarins. What are they called elsewhere? [/QUOTE] I would call them “tangerines” (unless that’s a different fruit). There’s a trademarked brand name of the same (I think) fruit now called “Clementine” and it looks like “clementines” might be their new name around here soon. I’m older than the gum-wrapper chain crowd, but we used to make rings with gum wrappers. There was some oragami by which you could make a little square silver “jewel” and silver band , but I don’t remember what it was. We also used to make “boingy strips” from the tear off paper from the edge of dot-matrix printing paper. Two strips were folded over and over and over and would end up in a sort of double squared off spiral with would “boing” and bounce very well. Most of the time, we’d just shoot them at one another like paper snakes out of a can (also before my time), but occasionally enterprising art teachers would put them to use as silly springy legs on construction paper figures. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/131 "2007-07-30T20:51:10Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] My mother sometimes makes housecalls for elderly, housebound patients. I’m not sure how she transports her doctor stuff on a regular basis, but I know she has one of those black cases – I’ve seen it. [/QUOTE] Oh, good. I was imagining that it would be terribly disappointed to finish med school and find out you weren’t going to get to have an official black bag. Does she have one of those reflector thingies you wear on your head, too? That would also be important ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/132 "2007-07-30T21:53:01Z")
Chewing tobacco ads painted on the sides of barns Burma Shave signs Bikes with low pressure tires and coaster breaks Those coffee cans with keys soldered to the lid Portable record players with fold out speakers The Sunoco/ Sohio Five Star News at 5:45 PM – a/k/a John Cameron Swasy brings you the Korean War Kukla, Fran and Ollie Check row corn fields that lined up in straight rows no matter what way you looked at them The Studebaker Commander – the second ugliest car in the world Fourth of July Parades with guys marching who had actually gone ashore in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and uncounted Pacific islands and whose uniforms more-or-less fit Along the same line, men who would throw themselves flat on the sidewalk every time a car backfired and spend their evening drinking the shakes away afterwards Polio ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/133 "2007-07-30T23:39:58Z")
[QUOTE=Spavined Gelding] The Studebaker Commander – the second ugliest car in the world [/QUOTE] I gotta ask–the ugliest is? I also remember back when actors/models/sports stars used to have to film anti-drug PSAs whenever they got caught with drugs. See the movie _Gia_ for an example. ---
**Author:** ![SpiceTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SpiceTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpiceTea)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/134 "2007-07-31T01:20:51Z")
Most of mine are food related…I’ve been dieting for a month now, so that must be it, but here’s my list. TEAM cereal…I absolutely loved this cereal! It didn’t get soggy as quickly as Wheaties did. QUAKE cereal…I actually liked this cereal better than Quisp. It had the most unusual taste for a cereal I’ve ever tried, and I loved the shape of the pieces; they were fun to crunch! SPECIAL K- Original…I loved the original size of the curved flakes; they were slightly larger than today’s cereal and were more fun to eat. ORIGINAL CORN DORITOS…I could not get enough of the original flavor of Doritos…plain CORN…no added flavors. They had the best corn flavor I’ve ever tried in a chip. The last time I had them was in the 70’s. My non food memory is: All girls were required to wear dresses in school. The first year we were allowed to wear pants UNDER our dresses was in 1968, when (here in Minnesota), the temps were like -70 degrees below zero that winter. It was brutal waiting for the bus in the morning with bare legs showing! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/135 "2007-07-31T01:56:49Z")
[QUOTE=SpiceTea] TEAM cereal…I absolutely loved this cereal! It didn’t get soggy as quickly as Wheaties did. [/QUOTE] Curse you for remembering this! TEAM was indeed awesome, and now I’m sad that it’s gone. I was shampooing carpet today and remembered when wall-to-wall carpeting was something new, and expensive. Most everyone had area rugs, painted wood floors, or linoleum – sometimes in designs intended to look like an area rug. “Venetian” blinds were also expensive, and a bitch to clean. The “drapes” in my first apartment were plastic. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/136 "2007-07-31T02:27:52Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] Oh, good. I was imagining that it would be terribly disappointed to finish med school and find out you weren’t going to get to have an official black bag. Does she have one of those reflector thingies you wear on your head, too? That would also be important [/QUOTE] No, I’m pretty sure she uses an otoscope: more nimble, and you don’t need an external source of light. If it makes you feel better, there’s still no substitute for the good old stethoscope. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/137 "2007-07-31T03:52:52Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] Anybody ever heard of Muehlebach Beer? [/QUOTE] Not specifically, but I figured by the name it must have been brewed in Kansas City, which has a Muehlebach Hotel. I first learned of that hostelry when my dad bought me a scorecard at my first baseball game (Cleveland Indians, 1969 – my “perfect” school report card had entitled me to “Straight A tickets”). There was a page which listed the Tribe’s “homes away from home” – another hotel I remember from that feature was the then-thriving [Book-Cadillac](http://members.tripod.com/~Rappollo/cadillac.html) in Detroit. It was appropriate that the Indians stayed at the Muehlebach, as the family had also lent its name not only to [the brewing company,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Muehlebach_Brewing_Company) but to the old Muehlebach Field which had become the Municipal Stadium used by the Kansas City Athletics (before they moved to Oakland) and then, in '69, by the expansion Royals. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/138 "2007-07-31T04:07:13Z")
[QUOTE=SpazCat] I gotta ask–the ugliest is? [/QUOTE] The Crosley Metropolitan. It may have been a Nash. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/139 "2007-07-31T20:26:37Z")
[QUOTE=Spavined Gelding] The Crosley Metropolitan. It may have been a Nash. [/QUOTE] It was [a Nash](http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/garage/7896/metropol.htm) – actually, a car built in Britain by Austin to specifications of the USA’s Nash marque. The Metropolitan was available from 1954 to '62. Crosley had stopped producing automobiles [in 1952.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosley) ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256/140 "2007-07-31T20:42:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Not specifically, but I figured by the name it must have been brewed in Kansas City, which has a Muehlebach Hotel. I first learned of that hostelry when my dad bought me a scorecard at my first baseball game (Cleveland Indians, 1969 – my “perfect” school report card had entitled me to “Straight A tickets”). There was a page which listed the Tribe’s “homes away from home” – another hotel I remember from that feature was the then-thriving [Book-Cadillac](http://members.tripod.com/~Rappollo/cadillac.html) in Detroit. It was appropriate that the Indians stayed at the Muehlebach, as the family had also lent its name not only to [the brewing company,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Muehlebach_Brewing_Company) but to the old Muehlebach Field which had become the Municipal Stadium used by the Kansas City Athletics (before they moved to Oakland) and then, in '69, by the expansion Royals. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the additional info. I read a little about the brand after I posted that and got as far as to see that Schlitz bought them out. I was doing some plumbing under my dad’s house once and found a few old tin Schlitz cans under there, but don’t remember him being much of a Schlitz drinker. I can’t remember ever hearing of Muehlebach to be honest. Found a Coors can opener (pointy triangle one end/bottle opener other end) in the same nook that the Muehlebach church key was in, I do remember Coors around there when I was a kid. These both came from my grandparents stuff though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-remember-now-consigned-to-the-past/413256.md?page=8)