# Things you just don't see much anymore. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895 "2005-04-30T22:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/21 "2005-05-01T23:16:01Z")
Typewriters. Phones with just 12 pushbuttons and round ear and mouth pieces (let alone dials…_forget_ dials). Phones with light-up transfer and hold buttons in addition to the above. Soft drinks in 16oz glass bottles. Kennedy 50c pieces and Eisenhower silver dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/22 "2005-05-01T23:21:34Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Wall Mounted Pencil Sharpeners–the crank kind That is all that exists at my Junior College. I never used em though, I’m strictly a mechanical pencil person. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/23 "2005-05-01T23:22:44Z")
I don’t spend any time around children anymore, so I don’t know for sure, but it seems like they never just take off running just because it feels good, or even because they want to get somewhere fast. I saw a kid do that in a 70s movie recently and it made me realize that I never see that anymore. Do kids still run for the fun of it? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/24 "2005-05-01T23:30:19Z")
Honest politicians. Common sense. Lawyers with a conscience. Businessmen with ethics. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/25 "2005-05-01T23:38:55Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Haven’t seen a **dirt road** in a while. When I was a kid, getting behind another car on a dirt road in a dry summer led to oxygen deprivation highs and an additional layer of dust skin. Holy poo. come to my neck of the woods. My dirt roads are utter and complete shit thanks to the big ass snow storm that hit last weekend and melted on MOnday. Two of the three directions I take to get somewhere are near impassable. I see a dirt road every day. And usually I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/26 "2005-05-02T00:10:43Z")
Okay, my dad found a Thing You Just Don’t See Much Anymore this afternoon when he was cleaning out the basement. It was a big rectangular piece of clear plastic, tinted blue along one edge, green along the other, and kind of orangey in the middle. This (he explained) is what people used to put over the screens of their black and white TV sets to give the illusion of color. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/27 "2005-05-02T00:41:55Z")
Metal roller skates. (The four wheeled kind that clamp to your shoes) Jacks Kids playing hop scotch Playing cards in bycicle spokes I think I’m showing my age! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/28 "2005-05-02T00:52:04Z")
Alpha-Bet cereal, or was it Alpha-Bits? . Were’d they go. I’ve looked in may stores for months and they are just _gone_. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/29 "2005-05-02T01:00:37Z")
Raincoats. I seldom ever see people wearing raincoats anymore. Umbrellas aplenty, poking and gouging other people but no one seems to care about getting their lower bits wet. Either that or they just dash from building to car to building when it rains. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/30 "2005-05-02T03:39:15Z")
Maybe this is a regional thing but, _See-Saws_ are the things y’all are talking about, (big plank with handles, goes up and down). _Teeter-Totter’s_, are the 2-seats with handles, things that swing back and forth, usually found on a swingset. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/31 "2005-05-02T05:04:51Z")
Cloth diapers. New moms these days shake their heads in disbelief when I describe getting up at 5 am each day to wash 3 dozen and hang them on the line before heading off to college. Plus they make dandy cleaning rags when the babies are thru with them. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/32 "2005-05-02T05:12:55Z")
> [@Nicodemus2004](#): > > Alpha-Bet cereal, or was it Alpha-Bits? . Were’d they go. I’ve looked in may stores for months and they are just _gone_. Check [this link](http://www.kraftfoods.com/postcereals/cereal_alphabits.html) as it may be regional, but it looks like the product is still made. ---
**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/33 "2005-05-02T05:27:03Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Cloth diapers. New moms these days shake their heads in disbelief when I describe getting up at 5 am each day to wash 3 dozen and hang them on the line before heading off to college. > > Plus they make dandy cleaning rags when the babies are thru with them. > > 🆒 They’re making a comeback now. People are realizing they’re much cheaper in the long run. And there are diaper services so you don’t have to do all that washing. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/34 "2005-05-02T05:30:37Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Cloth diapers. New moms these days shake their heads in disbelief when I describe getting up at 5 am each day to wash 3 dozen and hang them on the line before heading off to college. > > Plus they make dandy cleaning rags when the babies are thru with them. > > 🆒 I used cloth nappies. My baby turns 21 in two months and I’m still using those ole nappies as dusters. Of course, that may say more about how much dusting I do than the quality of the cloth. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/35 "2005-05-02T10:36:32Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > Soft drinks in 16oz glass bottles. They still have them in Thailand, battered almost translucent from years of recycling - I actually brought back a couple of the old “nekkid lady” Coke bottles, one empty and one full, as souvenirs. You see those things in antique stores now, but I remember a misspent childhood pinching from people’s gardens and taking them to the dairy to exchange for lollies. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/36 "2005-05-02T10:55:14Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > BRING BACK SEE-SAWS DANGNAMBIT!! Funny when some things come up on here… I was camping over the long weekend and we came across a playground while on an evening stroll, so of course we tested all the equipment. There was a seesaw, to our great delight! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/37 "2005-05-02T11:27:33Z")
The “Happy Mac” icon. Console game controllers shaped like a rectangle, with a four-direction pad, and one or two buttons, tops. Steel Pot helmets. Action heroes who didn’t only dress in black trenchcoats. Having a guy in the White House who didn’t do anything; as opposed to having a guy who does things I don’t like. All the “big four” networks running hours of original Saturday Morning Cartoons. “Micro” things being a staple of science fiction and technothrillers; as opposed to “Nano” things. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/38 "2005-05-02T11:49:14Z")
White dog shit. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/39 "2005-05-02T12:24:42Z")
Men wearing hats (fedoras, pork pie hats, knit caps) with suits and other “nicer” clothes. I say this because I’m looking for a nice hat, and nobody has any for sale, not even the men’s sections in the larger department stores. I hate ball caps, and I think people look stupid wearing them if they’re not playing sports or at a tailgate party or something. On that note, suspenders (braces) with suits. Kids reading comic books. Boo Berry cereal. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895/40 "2005-05-02T12:34:44Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Maybe this is a regional thing but, _See-Saws_ are the things y’all are talking about, (big plank with handles, goes up and down). _Teeter-Totter’s_, are the 2-seats with handles, things that swing back and forth, usually found on a swingset. Nah…that’s a glider. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-just-dont-see-much-anymore/301895.md?page=3)