# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 51
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1001 "2026-10-24T23:34:50Z")
I used to use ice all the time. Now never. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1002 "2026-10-24T23:40:13Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Well now I’m confused because any time I’ve seen an icemaker it has been in the freezer part of the refrigerator. I believe that @ricepad is talking about stand-alone freezers, not the freezer compartments of refrigerators. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1003 "2026-10-24T23:59:14Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Well now I’m confused because any time I’ve seen an icemaker it has been in the freezer part of the refrigerator. Perhaps if I said “refrigerator/freezer”, that would make it more clear? Freezers without a refrigerator compartment don’t usually have icemakers. Refrigerator/freezers commonly do, at least starting in the mid-range and up. Not so much budget (or “rental market”) refrigerator/freezer units. I assumed (possibly in error) that @puzzlegal was talking about a standalone freezer without a refrigerator compartment. ETA: Yeah, what @kenobi_65 said. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1004 "2026-10-25T00:05:38Z")
Yes, i bought a stand-alone freezer during the pandemic. It’s an upright model, with lots of shelves and drawers, so it’s easy to get at everything. I love it. And having lots of freezer space, i now keep a spare of every flour i use (all purpose, bread, cake, corn meal…) in the bottom drawer. It’s thermal mass for the freezer, and i never run out of flour, nor do i get moths. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1005 "2026-10-25T01:22:35Z")
Racquetball. It was all over the place when I was back in college in the 1980s. I have not even seen anyone online or TV playing the sport much less in real life. What happened? And the more important question will the same fate befall pickelball? (I hope so) ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1006 "2026-10-25T01:44:58Z")
and handball seemed to be popular in 50-60’s–my uncle played it all the time, but don’t hear about it now ---
**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:** [October 25, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1007 "2026-10-25T01:53:31Z")
> [@sjankis630](#): > > What happened? AIUI, part of it was that a racquetball court takes up a relatively large amount of space in a gyms/health club, and the gyms found that they could make more profitable use of that space by converting those courts into other uses. Also, it’s a fairly physical demanding sport, and players probably aged out of it, and into lower-impact sports. Handball probably suffered a similar fate, for similar reasons, especially as the two sports used the same type of indoor courts. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1008 "2026-10-25T02:32:15Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > AIUI, part of it was that a racquetball court takes up a relatively large amount of space in a gyms/health club, and the gyms found that they could make more profitable use of that space by converting those courts into other uses. Also, it’s a fairly physical demanding sport, and players probably aged out of it, and into lower-impact sports. When I first got to the US (late 1980s) I was disappointed to go racket club after racquet club and find that they weren’t tennis clubs, but racketball facilities. And then by the mid 1990s it seems they had all been converted to cycling studios or aerobics studios and the like. There might be more squash courts around now than racketball courts. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1009 "2026-10-25T02:38:38Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > When I first got to the US (late 1980s) I was disappointed to go racket club after racquet club and find that they weren’t tennis clubs, but racketball facilities. Tennis, as a participation sport, had a massive growth spurt here in the U.S. in the '70s, in part due to the charismatic professional players of that time (Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, Billie Jean King, etc.). But, by the 1980s, the tennis boom had cooled down, and it was racquetball that was the booming racquet sport by then. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1010 "2026-10-25T06:31:05Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > There might be more squash courts around now than racketball courts. The irony of this is I used to play racquetball on what were old squash courts (open at the top - where our balls would sometimes end up) as no one played squash anymore back then. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1011 "2026-10-25T15:00:05Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Handball I think it’s still pretty popular with the incarcerated set! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1012 "2026-10-25T15:28:03Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Also, it’s a fairly physical demanding sport, and players probably aged out of it, and into lower-impact sports. Like pickleball. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderMagnolia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@LavenderMagnolia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderMagnolia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1013 "2026-10-29T02:03:55Z")
Have “tramp stamp” (lower back) tattoos been mentioned? I first heard the term in the early 2000s, but I don’t know when they became popular. They seem to be less popular since about 2010. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1014 "2026-10-29T02:08:02Z")
Only because the stigma of any tattoo has been superseded by volume. Tattoos are not just cool with contemporary youth, they seem to be required. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1015 "2026-10-29T02:17:05Z")
Yes, coincidentally the “young people” (23 to 32 years old) in our department were discussing ink today at lunch. The only guy who has no tattoos is Muslim (specifically Sunni Muslim) and is religiously forbidden from getting “inked”. Even the Chinese American one has small tattoos on her wrist and ankle. Her parents, in China, did not like this at all. As I understand it, most [Han] Chinese people still regard tattoos as VERY transgressive though that is slowly changing. My understanding may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderMagnolia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@LavenderMagnolia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderMagnolia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1016 "2026-10-29T15:44:23Z")
Yep. “Not having a tattoo is the new tattoo.” (I read that somewhere.) I am 38 and don’t have any. I would rather spend the time and money on something else, even if a small-ish tattoo would not be very expensive. Just not interested. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180.md?page=50)