In a similar vein, visible smog (in the US) has diminished dramatically since the 60s. When some folks complain about regulations, it’s hard for them to argue that would have been possible otherwise.
Have you met some folks? They find it easy to argue things that are complete nonsense. In this case, it’s libertarians who argue that the government shouldn’t regulate businesses because it would be better for the public good if businesses were allowed to regulate themselves.
That’s hilarious.
I haven’t. What I have seen is an increase in pinball machines and video games at adult eating establishments and also an increase in really small mini-arcades obviously aimed at small children in shopping malls. I haven’t seen anything like the video game parlors catering mainly to teenagers in malls, such as the ones seen in Terminator 2 or Wreck-it Ralph and its sequel. I suspect these were pretty much done in by home gaming consoles, which finally got as good as or better than arcade-quality machines.
There still are a few arcades that feature pinball and video games like in the old days, but these tend to be stand-alone items that aren’t in malls but at resort areas – I’ve seen them at the Jersey shore, Hampton Beach in NH, Lake George in NY, Weirs Beach in New Hampshire (especially the awesome Funspot near Weirs beach, home of the three-story American Classic Arcade Museum, nd where you can still play arcade video games going back to “Pong”.
There is a very large (they claim to be the largest in the US) stand-alone video game arcade a few blocks away from me in suburban Chicago. However, it’s not in a shopping mall. It also primarily features restored older game consoles, so I suspect that its primary audience isn’t teens, but adults who are still fans of the games which they grew up playing.
Yeah, it’s been over a decade since I’ve played in a regular sized arcade in a mall. Some stand alone pinball places I’ve gone to, and I’ve seen those small child oriented crane game places in malls a few times, but the classic mall arcade is a dead breed as far as I can tell
I don’t buy it. I drove through southern Minnesota last summer and the amount of bugs on the windshield and hood was staggering! Every so often I had to pull off the highway and through a car wash. It was nuts.
As far as car bras go, one problem with them is if you drove in the rain eventually the soft fuzzy stuff would leave black stains on your car paint that wouldn’t come off. This happened to me on a '94 Ford and an '07 Mustang GT. Never again.
It seems, at least to me, to be more variable now. I drive from suburban Chicago to Green Bay every few weeks, and even in the height of summer (and at night), it seems like the number of bug splatters on my windshield and front grill are far less than they used to be (I’ve been doing this drive regularly for almost 40 years).
On the other hand, I drove home from Cleveland this past Monday, in the middle of the day, and by the time I got home, I did have an impressive collection of bug hits on the windshield.
Re: car bras
I vividly recall them, mostly the mid-80s. I always had this mental tug of war in my head: the question of protecting the front fascia of the car from bugs or nicks…at the expense of an ugly tarp. Sure, I could see using one for short term purposes, such as if I had to drive through the Everglades while traveling. Many disagreed IIRC, as some people I remember actually regarded them as a car fashion accessory of sorts.
I guess that mentality still remains today, judging by the how many Dodge Challenger/Charger drivers run around with those bright yellow rubber strips on their front splitters that were designed to protect them during shipping.
monthly magazines such as Look, Saturday Evening Post, et al
The OP is looking for things that became ubiquitous in your lifetime.
I’m 78–growing up there were at least a dozen monthly magazines we could subscribe to or buy at any store, which are now rare; doesn’t that make them ubiquitous? then why are you challenging me?
Were they not popular when you were a young child, then become ubiquitous at some point in your life? And then mostly disappear?
you don’t get my point–they WERE popular for much of my early life and then starting disappearing later say 70-80s. Am I clear?
Exactly! That is the point. They were popular when you were a child.
Read the OP
There’s a chain like that in NYC too called Barcade. Several locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, though as you can tell from the name it caters to adults as it’s a video game arcade/bar.
Re: more car bras
I’m reminded that I also had a bra on my beloved 1979 Fiat X1/9 — my very first car. This picture was with my brother in 1983 as we were leaving San Francisco on an epic cross-country road trip to Colorado Springs, Chicago, Niagara Falls, Latham NY, West Hartford CT, NYC, Washington DC, Columbia SC, St. Petersburg FL, Key West FL, Santa Barbara CA, then back home to San Francisco.
That ugly bra helped protect the front end paint on my car through over 10,000 miles.
What this thread is looking for are things that weren’t ubiquitous when you were a kid, became ubiquitous during your lifetime, but are no longer ubiquitous anymore.
The monthly magazines fail on that first criterion.
Hopefully that makes it clear.
Sorry for being off-topic, but I find it remarkable: I had never seen or heard about car bras before this thread. Don’t seem to be a thing here in Germany.
Born in '61.
Cassette tapes had a pretty specific span, from 1970 to 1995. Their disappearance was gradual, but definite. Every other popular music format has risen, disappeared, and reappeared thanks to ironic hipsters (and whoever keeps buying 8-track tapes), but not cassettes.
Kenny Rogers Roasters. That was some good eating in the 80s-90s, especially those chicken dinners! I think the chain still exists in Southeast Asia (I saw one in Manila about 12 years ago), but not in America. I think Steak ‘n’ Ale had a similar trajectory.
I had a pager for work in the mid 90s. When cell phones became cheap enough for average citizens to afford, there just wasn’t a need for them any more.