# Old-fashioned things you'd like to see revived
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 13, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167 "2023-01-13T14:14:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/81 "2023-01-14T22:07:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> I’m plan on buying a Speed Queen washer later this year. Fortunately there is a local appliance dealer that stocks them.
Looking at the website, they are not cheap. The one I looked at was $1,500. You could buy two (or even three) conventional washers with electronic controls for that much money. So how important is it to avoid electronic controls?
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### Author:  [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/82 "2023-01-15T02:39:27Z")
> [@psychonaut](#):
>
> I remember toys in cereal boxes in the 1980s and 1990s, but I don’t remember any of them being cool. How far back in time do you have to go for that?
As far back as it takes for you to be eight years old again.
Come to think of it, I’d really like non-arthritic joints to come back.
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### Author:  [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/83 "2023-01-15T02:58:47Z")
Real, manual registers. I dislike scanners.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/84 "2023-01-15T03:13:35Z")
Akin to that, I’d like to see the return of those little books of stolen credit card numbers, that forced the store clerk to read fifty pages of four-point type to check if my credit card number was on the banned list.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/85 "2023-01-15T03:20:07Z")
> [@Tibby](#):
>
> I aim to please.
Speechless. 😵💫
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### Author:  [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/86 "2023-01-15T03:23:27Z")
I’m learning Morse code. There are some obscure arguments for using it, but I do it because it helps me step into the role of old codger/ living anachronism more easily. I use a dip pen, too.
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/87 "2023-01-15T05:01:52Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#):
>
> I would re-normalize letting kids play outside unsupervised with their peers, exploring the neighborhood and not spending large amounts of their free time in organized, adult-supervised activities.
So would I. I spent the better parts of my childhood climbing trees, riding my bike down rural routes for miles and playing in the big dirt piles at the local construction site (until we got caught.) Summers at the lake across the street from the local bar. You learn from experiences like that. Most importantly, you learn how to get on with neighborhood kids without one of you killing the other.
I believe there is an inverse relationship between anxiety in children and the amount of unsupervised play they get.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/88 "2023-01-15T07:10:21Z")
Are today’s kids _ever_ unsupervised?
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### Author:  [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/89 "2023-01-15T09:04:30Z")
Mummies.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/90 "2023-01-15T10:50:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Looking at the website, they are not cheap. The one I looked at was $1,500. You could buy two (or even three) conventional washers with electronic controls for that much money. So how important is it to avoid electronic controls?
It probably depends on how infuriating and shoddy they are. The washing machine that came with this house won’t allow you to set the minutes. There is one 20 minute setting, the rest are Very Dry, Dry, and Damp Dry. Nothing else. My mechanical dryer I left behind when I moved had a minute dial and a heat setting as well as a dampness sensor. So you could “fluff” clothes, or set it on low for ten minutes. This current dryer also has a feature which cannot be disabled, in which after it’s done, it cycles for about 30 seconds every ten minutes or so, indefinitely, I suppose to keep clothes from wrinkling. So you can’t leave the house until the dryer is finished, so you can manually turn it off. Similar story for the washer, the oven … instead of just washing and baking, they have complex computer settings which are infuriatingly more complex than they need be and moreover, are extremely easy to accidentally reset to some mysterious and pointless function which then has to be painstakingly tracked down and undone. I hate this, and it applies 10,000 times to my “smart” phone. My phone is not smart, it is just very poorly designed.
I went through multiple crappy new toasters which died until finally I bought a 1950’s refurbished Sunbeam, same model as I grew up with, from a guy in NYC whose business it is. It _just toasts_. It has a dark to light dial. That’s all. We’ve used it daily for ten years at least. I wish I could do this with everything.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/91 "2023-01-15T12:24:02Z")
Tibby, you know that your browser search engine and histrory will never forgive you for that.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/92 "2023-01-15T13:43:13Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> So you can’t leave the house until the dryer is finished, so you can manually turn it off.
Will the dryer stop if you open the door? (Just curious.)
* * *
* * *
> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> I bought a 1950’s refurbished Sunbeam [toaster], same model as I grew up with…_snip_… It _just toasts_.
I went through this when I wanted a radio. Just a plain radio with no CD player, no Bluetooth, no timer, no electronic features of any kind-- just an AM/FM _radio_ with an off-on switch. Finally found it at Sears and bought two. Probably the last two in the world.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/93 "2023-01-15T13:54:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> Will the dryer stop if you open the door? (Just curious.)
Yes. Don’t they all? Are you saying if I want to leave the house I should shut off the dryer and leave the damp clothes in there until I come home?
The saving factor is that I rarely dry clothes in the dryer, I normally hang them up outside or, in winter, on indoor racks.
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### Author:  [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/94 "2023-01-15T14:10:55Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#):
>
> As far back as it takes for you to be eight years old again.
Great answer!
I haven’t had crackerjacks for a billion years. Do they even come with prizes nowadays? What sort of things?
Maybe a piece of paper with one of those codes to take you to a website?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/95 "2023-01-15T15:08:31Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> Are today’s kids _ever_ unsupervised?
Is that even legal nowadays?
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/96 "2023-01-15T15:16:15Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> Yes. Don’t they all? Are you saying if I want to leave the house I should shut off the dryer and leave the damp clothes in there until I come home?
I guess I’m misunderstanding the situation. Not that it matters. I didn’t get much sleep last night. Just ignore me.
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### Author:  [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/97 "2023-01-15T15:26:58Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> I hate this, and it applies 10,000 times to my “smart” phone. My phone is not smart, it is just very poorly designed.
Hell yes. My suspicion is that with any product that has more features than can be reasonably used, they are mostly there to disguise the fact that it’s not made well. We now have a world where appliances come with a bazillion settings, features and options and they don’t last.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/98 "2023-01-15T16:56:27Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> I went through this when I wanted a radio. Just a plain radio with no CD player, no Bluetooth, no timer, no electronic features of any kind-- just an AM/FM _radio_ with an off-on switch. Finally found it at Sears and bought two. Probably the last two in the world.
NPR was selling these years ago, very well made too. We snagged one.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/99 "2023-01-15T19:46:07Z")
[Cloaks and capes.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capes-sensible-garment-or-fashion-statement/962524)
> [@Sam\_Stone](#):
>
> This year our neighborhood tried to get everyone to sign up for a digital ‘treat map’.
We have had an online a neighbourhood map for the past few years, but that’s because Halloween is a foreign import here so only about 15% of the households participate, or even think to.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-things-youd-like-to-see-revived/978167/100 "2023-01-15T19:54:22Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> Just a plain radio with no CD player, no Bluetooth, no timer, no electronic features of any kind-- just an AM/FM _radio_ with an off-on switch.
From time to time I think about getting a vintage AM/FM car radio and making a table radio out of it.
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