# On things that are not as good as they used to be.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-things-that-are-not-as-good-as-they-used-to-be/511484>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 25, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-things-that-are-not-as-good-as-they-used-to-be/511484 "2009-09-25T04:43:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-things-that-are-not-as-good-as-they-used-to-be/511484/41 "2009-10-02T16:32:09Z")

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[QUOTE=ThirdOne]  
There was once a gas-powered refrigerator. They quit making them because they never. ever. wore. out.  
[/QUOTE]

There still are gas fridges - very popular in RVs and manufactured homes. And yes, they do last a long time - mine’s 25 years old and has needed nothing more than a new door gasket after the original rubber rotted away.

Wildly counter-intuitive, though. Somebody must have been eating funny mushrooms to ever come up with the idea that burning propane and making heat could be applied to ammonia to produce cold.

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**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-things-that-are-not-as-good-as-they-used-to-be/511484/42 "2009-10-02T17:04:22Z")

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I have a Toshiba rice maker bought in Japan in about 1960 that we use several times a week.

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