# What became ubiquitous then went away in your lifetime? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180 "2026-04-10T22:01:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/461 "2026-05-19T00:04:11Z")
No, probably from the BBC. The UK has a license fee for TV sets to financially support the BBC. Some people say they don’t have a TV set when they actually do [to avoid paying the tax]. The trucks with the antennas on top were designed to catch these people. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/462 "2026-05-19T00:12:35Z")
I’ve never seen so many bleeding aerials! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/463 "2026-05-19T01:43:21Z")
It was spelled that way on the van! ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/464 "2026-05-19T01:46:02Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > So long as they rent the rights to a particular song. When some bean counter decides it’s no longer cost-effective – poof – it’s gone. If you treat the channel like a radio station and not a music collection you’re fine. …and so long as you are in a place with reliable internet. Again, ripping music from your own CD to your own device provides the tunes anywhere. Everyone going toward streaming was, to me, a step past optimal. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/465 "2026-05-19T04:14:16Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > ripping music from your own CD to your own device provides the tunes anywhere. So does the offline mode for every major music streamer. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/466 "2026-05-19T10:01:52Z")
How does that work? Is it like YouTube, where you have to tell it to download the stuff you will be listening to? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/467 "2026-05-19T10:25:29Z")
Not sure if childhood fads work for the OP, but… Marbles Yo yo Bubblegum cards all had a brief flare of excitement in my junior school life. My kids are into Pokémon, which I am hoping will lose the surprisingly long allure, because those stupid cards are very expensive. And they just collect, they don’t even play the game! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/468 "2026-05-19T13:37:15Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > And what about those mini satellite dishes? It seems like those started popping up on every other house in the 2000s, as an alternative to cable. They’re not completely gone, either, but they don’t seem to be as common as they once were. They’ll be around for a while. If you don’t have access to cable, it’s your only choice really. I had one. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/469 "2026-05-19T19:06:06Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Not sure if childhood fads work for the OP, but… > > Marbles > Yo yo > Bubblegum cards > > all had a brief flare of excitement in my junior school life. At least two of those three predate you, and had waves of popularity before you were born, unless you are extremely old. So, they don’t really fit the OP’s description. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/470 "2026-05-19T19:09:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > So, they don’t really fit the OP’s description. Fads come and go. I don’t need to be old to have played marbles as a kid. I would need to be much younger to have gotten into Pickachu cards. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/471 "2026-05-19T19:41:09Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Fads come and go. I don’t need to be old to have played marbles as a kid. Quoting the OP: > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > What are things that weren’t there when you were a child, but became ubiquitous or very popular, and then went away? Marbles and yo-yos were _there_ when you were born, and were a young child, but may have been in between surges of popularity. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/472 "2026-05-19T20:15:14Z")
Trading cards are older than anyone here and have not gone away; it is the individual ones that come and go (unless they remain really popular: baseball cards?) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/473 "2026-05-19T20:29:28Z")
As far as fads go, I wonder if cinnamon toothpicks count. Obviously toothpicks have existed for a long time, but I never saw a cinnamon infused toothpick before the fad in my school in the 80s, and I don’t think I’ve seen one since. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/474 "2026-05-19T20:32:13Z")
There is a large mall here in Seattle WA, Alderwood Mall, that is doing very well and is always very busy. I suspect it is all of the anchor stores and satellite restaurants and theater that keep the people sustaining the mall proper itself. The mall concourse almost mainly serves as an indoor path to walk between the various anchor stores, while the concourse stores themselves are constantly in various stages of boom/bust rotation. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/475 "2026-05-19T23:38:49Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > cinnamon toothpicks There are more than I would have thought: [cinnamon toothpicks - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=444d208f15739471&sxsrf=ANbL-n4u4RxLMh6_zPcj4nORIANelxuGUA:1779233754238&udm=2&fbs=ADc_l-aN0CWEZBOHjofHoaMMDiKp9lEhFAN_4ain3HSNQWw-mMGVXS0bCMe2eDZOQ2MOTwnRdx8cTjotWVyC2QMTVww_vaHXBxa7ot9-YjQnl-NYsG9i6HtOxgLRm7s1GWxOQSnYpDdYH66w7pqFqVIA6Jrb8XChpCTFKRz8LgVOZVTGRD_1PKl_nbDT60E4A10Ld0_eujueeqoZN9e8N4YlkGWkZuiNpg&q=cinnamon+toothpicks&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj58JKfwsaUAxWNnysGHdfCGzIQtKgLegQIEBAB&biw=1272&bih=601&dpr=1.5) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/476 "2026-05-19T23:52:52Z")
At my school they were gone by the late seventies. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/477 "2026-05-20T00:05:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Marbles and yo-yos were _there_ when you were born, Marbles are at least 4,500 years old and definitely don’t count for this thread. > **[Marble (toy)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_(toy))** > > A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. These toys can be used for a variety of games called marbles, as well being placed in marble runs or races, or created as a form of art. Sizes may vary, but usually range from about 0.5 to 3.5 cm (0.2 to 1.4 in) in diameter. They are often collected, both for nostalgia and for their aesthetic colors. In northern England, the game and objects are called "taws", with larger marbles being called "bottle wa In... ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/478 "2026-05-20T00:30:35Z")
I figure toys and similar fads are not in the spirit of this thread. Otherwise we’d be listing Tickle Me Elmo or Tamagotchis or Space Invaders or something. That’s another thread. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/479 "2026-05-20T02:10:57Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > How does that work? Is it like YouTube, where you have to tell it to download the stuff you will be listening to? It might be a little different depending on which service you subscribe to but in general yes, you just tap on the download icon for whichever songs, albums, favorites, playlists, etc you want. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/480 "2026-05-20T02:33:26Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I figure toys and similar fads are not in the spirit of this thread. Yes, as well as dance crazes like the Macarena. Interesting things, but for another thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180.md?page=25)