There is an interesting thread discussing the continued availability of dial-up Internet access.
It looks like it is still technically possible to send a telegram to someone, although most, if not all, of the customers are probably doing it for nostalgia’s sake rather than as a primary means of communication.
I have traveled in rural areas and it is still possible to find shops that make, sell, or fit saddles, horseshoes, and other paraphernalia related to horse transportation. There may not be any factories that churn out buggy whips full time, but you can certainly still find one if you look hard enough.
What other “obsolete” services still exist in a meaningful sense?
For example, does your town (or, any old town) still have a photo development shop where you can get prints made off of pictures you took with grandma’s old camera? How easy is it to find a physician who will do a “house call” for a non-emergency reason? Yes, I expect that you would probably pay more for that, but how easy is it to find a doctor who does that?
There is a small typewriter sales and services shop here. I know some typewriters are still used but I didn’t think enough that it would allow a business solely dedicated to typewriters to be profitable.
I was staying at my cousins house in Sheboygan about 2 years ago. At 7 in the morning he stepped out his front door wearing his robe. I thought he was out to get the morning paper. But he came back in with a 1/2 gallon of milk, and a carton of eggs. I said “where the hell did you get those?” He tells me the milk man left them.
Saddles, horseshoes etc. aren’t just related to horse transportation, they’re also related to the many popular equestrian sports. I’m far enough from the Big City that I suppose it would be considered a fairly rural area, and around here I see horse trailers on the roads everywhere, and there are many popular competitive equestrian events.
I think a good example of a product that is totally obsolete yet widely available and still widely used is coal.
I think landline phones were a poor example. As the article noted, “nearly 25 percent of Americans have ditched their landlines for a cell phone”. Okay, so that means 75% of Americans still have landlines (assuming these statistics are limited to people who have a phone). A technology still being used by three quarters of the population has hardly disappeared.
There are no strict/hard and fast rules. This isn’t a Logical Reasoning and Taxonomy 101 exam. I’m more or less interested in products or services that:
Are noticeably or notoriously obsolete, or at least notably old-fashioned. E.g. telegrams, dial-up internet, buggy repair services, rotary telephone manufacturing, phone booths, combat sword manufacturing (not sporting equipment, show pieces, or ceremonial swords, but actual combat-grade swords), and things like that.
Are interesting. Pretty much anything that you think might be interesting enough to post here is probably interesting enough to count.
Support some minimal level of industry. E.g. there is at least one company out there that will actually send a telegram.
Have at least a theoretical utility. A buggy repair shop still has theoretical utility because a buggy, properly serviced (even if old), could be used for transportation. The fact that most people wouldn’t normally use it for transportation makes it obsolete or old-fashioned.
These are all great examples, thanks. They are products or services that have some utility, but have been significantly pushed aside by new practices, technologies, or social trends.
I heard an episode of ‘Planet Money’ where they cited an economist who made the claim that everything ever made by humans is still made today.
They specifically found extant use of carbon paper (in India’s bureacracy). They also found a new version of an old farming implement set out as a challenge find (although not an exact copy, it had a different number of prongs/wheels/whatever).
I was thinking of things like flint arrowheads and whatnot, and sure enough, there is a lively tradition of modern flint knapping.
There’s one by my house as well (it might have closed up a year ago, I’m not sure). My brother got a pair of Berkinstocks re-soled. When I asked him why he’d do that, he said that they’re expensive enough that’s it’s cheaper to do that. From what he said, it’s pretty common to do that with Berkinstocks.
So? If someone buys a $200 pair of shoes or boots, the expectation is that you can get them resoled and/or repaired. Even much cheaper shoes can be resoled several times.
For example, I had a pair of Justin cowboy boots for some 13-14 years and probably 6-7 resolings.
The problem with the OP’s question is that just about anything is still available in some fashion; you can almost certainly find a buggy whip maker even today, although there are probably no more than a handful nationwide. Similarly, you can still get a American hand-made straight-razor if you so desire and are willing to pay.
I’d be willing to bet that the super-niche producers are probably doing better in the age of the Internet than before.
Last Sunday’s Boston Globe magazine had an article on “Jobs of Yesteryear” that were still marginally around. It included typewriter repair, hatters, milkman, cobbler, and tailor.
I can still get a Shure V15 Type III phonograph stylus, not that I need it every day . . . or every month . . . or every year. But it’s nice to know I can still buy one if I ever need it.
To give one counter-example, nobody has released a movie on VHS since 2006. The last company distributing VHS movies closed its doors in 2008. And while you can still buy a VHS/DVD combo player, the last solely VHS player was manufactured in 2008.
