# Things that you just don't see anymore. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 12, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705 "2005-02-12T04:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/1 "2005-02-12T04:01:49Z")
Commercials for aluminum siding from Sears. They used to be on TV all of the time, but I have not seen one in well over a decade. I do not even know if Sears even does aluminum siding any more. What else? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/2 "2005-02-12T04:03:31Z")
Playpens for little kids, or big kids playing out in the streets after school or on the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/3 "2005-02-12T07:44:25Z")
Rotary dial phones. ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/4 "2005-02-12T07:46:32Z")
My feet. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/5 "2005-02-12T08:37:14Z")
Women calling me, asking if I’m doing anything tonight. Wait, they never did that. Never mind. Or… commercials for (cue singing) Salad Shooter!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/6 "2005-02-12T08:55:22Z")
Tube testers. They used to be in all kinds of places: hardware stores, pharmacies, etc. Haven’t seen one in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/7 "2005-02-12T11:58:13Z")
Fluoroscopes Radium numerals on watch faces 2 ply tires Column mounted stick shifts Flathead engines Zoot suits Elk tooth watch fobs ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/8 "2005-02-12T11:58:27Z")
Returnable 16-oz glass bottles of pop. I _miss_ those!!! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/9 "2005-02-12T13:10:27Z")
Epiladies hair removers. I heard someone say using them was more painful than giving birth. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/10 "2005-02-12T13:24:10Z")
30 second TV commercials. Or ones with only two or three cuts from scene to scene. Original VW Beetles. Dune buggies and / or Baja bugs made from same. Cops with revolvers. 12 year-old girls without breasts. Local department store companies. Boeing 707s. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/11 "2005-02-12T13:25:55Z")
Metal ice cube trays. Remember the fun those were? _AIIIIIGGGGH! My fingers are stuck to the frozen metal!_ I miss the good times of trying to outsmart a kitchen instrument. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/12 "2005-02-12T13:27:21Z")
Whilst on the subject of **Kitchen Stuff** , i’d like to nominate some something I haven’t seen in awhile: **A toaster that actually toasted well.** There are two settings on toasters: Barely warm or Burnt. Or is this the way it has always been? ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/13 "2005-02-12T13:46:51Z")
Penny candy $2 bills I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever see a regular quarter again; between the millenium sets and the recent poppy quarters, they seem to be getting rarer by the day. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/14 "2005-02-12T14:02:56Z")
It seems that SAMSUNG has come up with a WEB-Capable toaster! You can surf the net whilst waiting for your toast to brown. What a stupid idea! ---
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/15 "2005-02-12T15:02:27Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Metal ice cube trays. I have four metal ice cube trays in my upstairs refrigerator, and I believe my mother has three or four, herself. Yes, they still yank skin off just about every time they’re handled. To the OP: Leisure suits. (That’s really a good thing, though…we shouldn’t have ever been subjected to them in the first place.) Glass blenders. I mean the actual unit you put things into to be chopped, blended, or whatever. The last couple I bought were plastic. While they’re easier on the wrist for pouring, I just like the glass ones better. I imagine you can still obtain the glass ones, but I also am pretty sure they cost a whole lot more, too. Quality does, as a rule. In fact, glass _everything_ has slowly been replaced by plastic over the years. I know it’s cheaper and all that, but I just like glass containers (most of the time) better than plastic. Percolaters. Sure, you can still get them, but hardly anyone uses them anymore. I think the next time I have to get a coffee maker, I’m going back to a percolater. Coffee made with drip-makers just don’t taste as good, IMO. 501 Levis. Of course styles and fashions change, but 501 Levis for women were just so 80’s-great. Although I can safely bet once the bell-bottom trend fades away, we’ll be seeing a new emergence of these, even if they’re renamed. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/16 "2005-02-12T15:09:01Z")
[Slide rules](http://www.sliderule.ca/). ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/17 "2005-02-12T15:09:48Z")
Weeping willows. I used to see them all the time as a kid and my friend had an enormous one on his front lawn that servec uas well for all sorts of games. THey used to be all over town – I haven’t seen a single one in _years_. Even more or less regionally, it’s rare for me to see them. I love those trees! ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/18 "2005-02-12T15:27:00Z")
Drugstore soda fountains. I think the last time I saw one was around 1976. I still have a rotary dial phone, though. It’s confusing as all get out to kids who want to use it–they have to ask me how it works. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/19 "2005-02-12T16:17:51Z")
Lawn darts. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705/20 "2005-02-12T16:38:15Z")
> [@El Zagna](#): > > [Slide rules](http://www.sliderule.ca/). I still have some of mine. It’s funny when I hear “what’s that thing”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-just-dont-see-anymore/289705.md?page=2)