# Obsolete traditions and customs you'd like revived **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074 "2004-09-20T01:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/1 "2004-09-20T01:54:40Z")
Things that you never or almost never see anymore, but have heard about and thought “Gee, too bad they don’t do that anymore”. My entry is Caroling: The Christmas equivalent of Trick or Treat, where people go door to door singing Christmas favorites and getting a refreshment as a reward (hot chocolate for kids, maybe something a bit stonger for adults 😉 ). Of course this would only work if you could NUKE NUKE NUKE the omnipresent canned music you hear everywhere at Christmas. Which is probably why it died out to begin with. Another Christmas possibility would be the F-You stocking gift, to express our opinion of people we don’t like. It used to be coal, but if I understand correctly that was meant to be an insultingly cheap and utilarian “gift”. Maybe plain cotton underwear would be the modern version. 😃 (You know, I get the impression Christmas wasn’t always a “joy and light” holiday. Witness the tradition of “Christmas ghost stories”, which inspired _A Christmas Carol_. More like Halloween actually 😛 ) How about betrothal? I don’t know what exactly it’s purpose was, or why it died out. But maybe it would be fine for formalizing a live-together arrangement. Sort of “We’re going to get married and start a family, as soon as his oversea assignment is done and I finish my internship”. How about the old cinema tradition of cartoons and a newsreel? It could be done again if theaters move to digital projection, and can splice in cable channel feed. Maybe five minutes of CNN headlines before the main feature? Any others? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/2 "2004-09-20T01:56:22Z")
AARGH! WHY isn’t this in MPSIMS like I thought it would be? Moderator please move. Thanx. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/3 "2004-09-20T01:59:32Z")
An obsolete custom I’d like to see revived is public hanging. Carried out within 7 days of a guilty verdict. Hey-you asked. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/4 "2004-09-20T01:59:55Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > My entry is Caroling: The Christmas equivalent of Trick or Treat, where people go door to door singing Christmas favorites and getting a refreshment as a reward (hot chocolate for kids, maybe something a bit stonger for adults 😉 ). Of course this would only work if you could NUKE NUKE NUKE the omnipresent canned music you hear everywhere at Christmas. Which is probably why it died out to begin with. Many groups in my city **do** still go caroling at Christmas. The choir director of my own church organizes groups to go out the week before Christmas, and although we do concentrate on visiting home-bound church members and nursing homes, we also go door to door in the immediate neighborhood of the church. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/5 "2004-09-20T02:14:49Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > My entry is Caroling: The Christmas equivalent of Trick or Treat, where people go door to door singing Christmas favorites and getting a refreshment as a reward (hot chocolate for kids, maybe something a bit stonger for adults 😉 ). Of course this would only work if you could NUKE NUKE NUKE the omnipresent canned music you hear everywhere at Christmas. Which is probably why it died out to begin with. My church choir has been doing this for years. We wander around the neighbouring streets at night, singing our repertoire. Everyone loves it. Of course, it’s easier for us because it’s summertime and the evenings are light and warm. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/6 "2004-09-20T02:17:46Z")
Flogging. There would be a lot less vandalism if offenders were publicly flogged instead of being slapped on the wrist and “understood.” ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/7 "2004-09-20T02:18:35Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > How about betrothal? I don’t know what exactly it’s purpose was, or why it died out. But maybe it would be fine for formalizing a live-together arrangement. Sort of “We’re going to get married and start a family, as soon as his oversea assignment is done and I finish my internship”. Still out there. There are even some people not living together until after they get married. (I recently attended the wedding.) > [@Lumpy](#): > > How about the old cinema tradition of cartoons and a newsreel? It could be done again if theaters move to digital projection, and can splice in cable channel feed. Maybe five minutes of CNN headlines before the main feature? > > Any others? When’s the last time you saw a croud in the theatre sing along folloing the bouncing ball? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/8 "2004-09-20T02:21:58Z")
> [@hammerbach](#): > > When’s the last time you saw a croud in the theatre sing along folloing the bouncing ball? Yes! We must bring this back! I’ve got to hear a theater full of people singing “I’ll keep rolling along Deep in my heart is a song Here on the range I belong Drifting along with the tumbling tumble weed” yet again! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/9 "2004-09-20T02:23:10Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > AARGH! WHY isn’t this in MPSIMS like I thought it would be? Moderator please move. Thanx. OK, moved as requested. One custom that I’d like to see start up is the habit of sending a mod some chocolate whenever s/he does something as requested. Hey, we don’t get paid, you know! I think I could do without the carolers at Christmas. I’m an athiest, and I sleep odd hours, so I don’t like random people showing up at my doorstep, wanting me to interact with them…especially if it means I have to have the door open for any length of time (my Siamese cat is an escape artist, and has delusions that she can take on the neighborhood dogs) and I don’t like to be involved in religious ceremonies. I’d love to see cartoons preceding a movie, though. Heck, I remember when it was customary to show a cartoon and TWO movies for the price of an admission. Of course, that was back when theaters only had one screen, and usually only one or two showings of each movie per day. I doubt that the theaters will ever go back to showing some freebies, not when they can show ads instead. I also wish that theaters would use coconut oil for their popcorn again, instead of the stuff that’s healthier, but doesn’t taste as good. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/10 "2004-09-20T02:23:55Z")
**Dish Night!** ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/11 "2004-09-20T02:24:50Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > An obsolete custom I’d like to see revived is public hanging. Carried out within 7 days of a guilty verdict. Hey-you asked. In the same vein, what about a good stoning? Put them in a pit and throw rocks at them until they die. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/12 "2004-09-20T02:27:17Z")
Going into a store and having the employees actually know what they are doing. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/13 "2004-09-20T02:33:39Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Yes! We must bring this back! I’ve got to hear a theater full of people singing > “I’ll keep rolling along > Deep in my heart is a song > Here on the range I belong > Drifting along with the tumbling tumble weed” > yet again! If you listen to Garrison Keilor long enough, you’ll get it. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/14 "2004-09-20T02:34:19Z")
How about a flogging, stoning and a hanging while Caroler’s sing? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/15 "2004-09-20T02:36:13Z")
At the rate of being thoroughly mocked by my fellow Detroiters, I’d like to see affordable, well made, inexpensive, reliable cars. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Yeah, I know, That tradition is gone out the window. I blame the Germans for bombing Pearl Harbor. Damn kraut burning cars. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/16 "2004-09-20T02:40:32Z")
I wish hats would still be a requirement for men when they go outside. I think the hats from the 20s are really cool and I would look dashing in them :mad: ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/17 "2004-09-20T03:07:24Z")
I’d be wearing a fedora every day if I could just find someone who could do a bit of hat sizing… it got too floppy. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/18 "2004-09-20T03:17:14Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I wish hats would still be a requirement for men when they go outside. I think the hats from the 20s are really cool and I would look dashing in them :mad: So wear one. **Gunslinger** does. I think it’s better to wear a hat because you like it and it looks good on you than because it’s a “requirement.” ---
**Author:** ![Carcosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@Carcosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carcosa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/19 "2004-09-20T03:25:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Flogging. You’re just not hanging out at the right nightclubs. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074/20 "2004-09-20T03:50:47Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Maybe plain cotton underwear would be the modern version. 😃 I don’t know about other guys, but a woman in plain cotton underwear works for me. Ahem, anyways… Mistletoe used to be popular at Christmas parties. I haven’t seen it for years, though. Is it still common anywhere? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-traditions-and-customs-youd-like-revived/265074.md?page=2)