Follow
Share
Read More
This discussion has been closed for comment. Start a New Discussion.

148 Comments

Newest
First Oldest
First
1 2 3 4 5
Here's a few more "old" people things: We had TV, but not color TV. I remember when cable was new and only a few friends had it (AND they had color TV)! School crossing guards were 5th and 6th grade student volunteers (now all crossing guards are paid adults). Long distance phone calls were a rarity - and we were told to talk fast and "be ready" with what we wanted to tell whomever we were calling. Canned goods had the price stamped in blue/purple ink on the lid of the can. It was somewhat common for women not to drive. Fast food restaurants were few and far between - I only remember 3 McDonald's and one of them was in the next major city. I remember when Wendy's was new to my area of the country. The family doctor delivered your baby - not an OB. Everyone got the chicken pox - it was routine and expected. We never had a TV remote.
(3)
Report
I looked at a house, once upon a time, that had red flocked wallpaper and gold veined mirrors. I thought it was so cool. Showed it to my mom, she nearly died. I laugh now thinking about it.

😆😳
(5)
Report
Sendhelp, The Queens Gambit is a fictional story. The only factual thing in it is that there's a game called chess. Still, a very entertaining piece of work and one does learn some interesting stuff about chess.
(0)
Report
In your opinion, Geaton. I did not think it was a true story, whatever gave you that impression? I will change my statement to read:
"No document, no statement could have better shown the fictional freedom of a U.S. citizen in Russia than her actions." imo.

The movie industry calls it "artistic license", when inspired by unnamed factual characters like chess player Bobby Fischer. The story is about much more than a chess tournament. Even though it is said to be fictional.

Your comment to me feels like a put-down.
(1)
Report
Oh for goodness sake wallpaper hasn't gone away, it's just changed through the years. Plaster and lath construction in old houses isn't suited to being painted, aside from the probability of cracks both big and small it just isn't as smooth as modern drywall.
(2)
Report
I used to love to wallpaper a room and did lots of that in the 70s. Matching patterns at corners satisfied all my OCD tendencies lol. When we bought this house in '83 there were crazy murals in two bedrooms. I think they were mactac and very difficult to remove. I finally wallpapered over them with a neutral paper as otherwise the dry wall would have had to be replaced, which it was some years later. Fun and games!!! Wallpaper had been around for a long time. it will probably come back.

ETA - I googled it and apparently wallpaper IS back in again
(3)
Report
Googled Vintage wallpaper, and there was a pattern that I had used, so I must be old! I have removed lots of wallpaper back when I was younger, and even used the heater with the flat metal panel held up to the wall for a few minutes.
Maybe it used steam and heat. It was rented from an equipment rental.

Putting wallpaper up was another story. I paid to have it installed in a bathroom. The trim regularly came off when someone showered.

Today, the computer screens and cell phones use 'wallpaper' as a background.
(6)
Report
I live in a house that was built in 1853. I’ve lived here my entire life except for time in college. Every room had layers of wallpaper. When I started trying to restore the house I spent hours trying to find wallpaper authentic to the period. By the time I finished I never wanted to handle wallpaper again.
(4)
Report
Oh, remember the wallpaper edging 4" to 6" wide that went around the top of the walls?

How about the 12"x12" mirrors that had gold flecking that some people would put in the powder room to fill one wall, to make the powder room appear larger? We had that in one house where the previous owner had installed it. Nothing like using Windex on a bathroom wall :P
(3)
Report
Flyer - yes, I remember those borders that went around the top of the walls. The ones we had were kind of recent generation ones and were marketed as self-adhesive (which only meant that they never quite adhered 100% correctly to the wall). No glue, so at least they were easy to take down when the time came. Those crazy bathroom mirrors sure startled me a few times at other people's homes when I didn't realize right away that the person in the mirror was ME.

Let's see.... how about portable dishwashers (I still use one), ice cube trays with levers (that one might be on our list already), milk chutes on homes. Does anyone remember a "dress form?"
(1)
Report
MS,

Portable dishwasher? How does that work?

When I was younger I rented older homes that didn’t have a dishwasher. Never heard of a portable dishwasher. Do they take up much room?
(1)
Report
Milk chutes?! My mom had to crawl through ours after a bad date one night. So bad, she had to leave her purse with her keys in it. She had some rough ones.

Dress forms? Still have one with one of mom's coats on it. I might get inspired to list them on eBay or a clothing site one day.

I also have a form, paper mache, that mom made of her upper body in a college textiles class.😊
(2)
Report
Portable dishwashers are still available too for those whose kitchen hasn't been upgraded since the 50's or 60's.
One thing I miss about my parent's home is the kitchen, IMO it had the ideal layout - tons of counter space, more cupboards than we really needed custom made out of sturdy plywood, the perfect work triangle, and my mother insisted it be seperate from the dining room and entry instead of one big room as was common in many farmhouses. What it didn't have was a dishwasher or room for a modern, monstrous sized fridge, a 14 cuft was all that they ever had/needed.
Speaking of refrigerators - remember having to defrost??
(5)
Report
Need Help - The portable dishwasher I have is the same size as a built-in one with the same setup on the inside of it, etc. There are wheels so that it can be rolled in front of the kitchen sink where I attach it to the kitchen faucet to run it. It then empties into the sink and the waste water goes down the drain. It does make more noise than a built-in (that's for sure). It does a great job with the dishes. When not in use, dishwasher has a parking spot in the kitchen. The top of it is usable counter space (but sometimes only clutter accumulates there....).
(3)
Report
My parents bought our house in the mid-seventies. The bathroom had a pink toilet and sink and the wallpaper had red flocked roses on a pink background.
(2)
Report
Firstof5, oh my gosh, I love those bathrooms that had pink or green or blue sinks/toilets. Love the wall tiles of those colors, too.

I still remember one bathroom in a house my then hubby and I had owned that had pink wall tile with a black tile border. The wallpaper above the wall tile was a shiny blue/pink strange design. The walk-in shower was the size of a telephone booth and pretty dark in there as there was no overhead light.

Also that house had a room that had jealousy windows all around [today would be called a sun room], and orange/black shag carpeting. Much to our surprise and delight, under that carpet was beautiful blue stone flooring. That carpet was history the next day :)
(2)
Report
I remember those colored bathrooms.   And does anyone else remember the colored kitchen appliances?  I had a pale yellow frig (still have it, it's now 40 years old and ready to retire) and similar pale yellow stove and small oven above the stove, all part of one unit.

I think those huge, contemporary, pure white or pure black with no colors rooms are so devoid of character, and too institutional in style.

This subject reminds me of an interview I had to tutor a rich family's children way back a few decades ago, when I was out of work and desperate for a job. The house had so much black, it was so dark, with only a few vases of light colored flowers.  

There was such an odd sensation of being someplace other than a house, until they gave me the tour and I saw large posters of scantily clad women in each of the 2 sons' rooms.   I decided then I really didn't want to tutor those guys.

But the house and its darkness was a factor as well; I felt like I was in a Edgar Allen Poe scene.
(3)
Report
I remember the kitchen appliances. A friend of mine had a yellow/goldenrod fridge. A cousin had green ("avocado" she called it) appliances. I believe I remember being able to change the front panel of our dishwasher door to different colors (such as yellow or green).
(3)
Report
Before I was married I rented a fantastic old home with a pedestal sink and claw foot tub. I loved sinking into that tub!
(3)
Report
Love the old-school tile bathrooms.

My childhood home had brown(!) tile on the lower 2/3 of the bathroom walls and beige tile on the upper 1/3.

Bathroom in a rented apartment (in my 20s) had 2/3 blue tile and 1/3 peach tile.

Bathroom in a rented apartment (in my 30s) had white subway tile walls, tiny white hexagon floor tile, old-school pedestal sink and giant claw foot tub.

The home I currently own has salmon-colored tile walls and black tile trim in the bathroom & powder room. Along with the classic medicine cabinet/lighting combo: mirrored door flanked by vertical fluorescent lights.

Each medicine cabinet has a slot for discarded razor blades. The fluorescent tubes stutter a little bit before they turn on. And they give off a faint hum. 😃

This house also has coal chute. 😳 Glad those days are over!
(1)
Report
We still have the original pink tile with black trim in our bathroom that my dad put in and it is still in great condition and I would never change it. My fathers work is all over the house from hardwood floors to a beautiful sunny front porch all wood even the ceiling. He made a manger years ago that we display every Christmas and it looks like a real stable. He was a great craftsman and carpenter. We had pale yellow appliances in the kitchen. Our old dishwasher was at least thirty years old and was still working great but I got a new one when we got new appliances. Appliances back then were well made. Now they break down frequently. We had the repair man 4 times so far, the dishwasher is only three years old.
(3)
Report
Oh, Earlybird, the PINK WITH BLACK. My bro had a little bungalow with the pink with black and a bit of green in it too. It was I think from the 40s. While he was a collector of Monterey Furniture, he would never have changed that. It was really quite wonderful. That little bungalow had the best layout, and the way they lived them was so simple and spare. It was in San Diego. I just loved that place and cherish looking at pictures of it still.
(1)
Report
At one time saddle oxfords were pink and black.   I of course had to have a pair.
(1)
Report
I wore black and white saddle oxfords to Catholic school everyday!

GA,

Did you have penny loafers?

Go go boots because of Nancy Sinatra?

Micro mini skirts?

Or fishnet stockings?

Bell bottoms?

Halter tops made from a scarf?

A mod watch?

A mood ring?

I hated patchouli oil! I did like the vanilla scent as a teen.

Make book covers from paper grocery sacks?

Who had those bungee cord straps to hold books onto your bicycle with? I rode my bike or walked to school everyday.

If I was walking and it started to rain, my friend, George would ride me the rest of the way to school on his handlebars. All the kids did that then.
(1)
Report
Me too, NHWM. I loved those white and black shoes. I tried wearing a Holter top with a little skin showing but dad made me take it off and put something decent on. At the time I thought it was pretty decent. I was not aware it was sexy looking. I was a little naïve teenager at the time. I am a conservative dresser. Wore skirts and dresses never jeans up to senior year in high school.
(2)
Report
This is a fun Thread. It brings back good memories of days gone by. I used to make book covers from paper bags. I used to sell chocolate bars for the sisters at Catholic school but ate most of them and had to come up with the money from babysitting.
(3)
Report
Does platform shoes count????



"earlybird,"

"I used to sell chocolate bars for the sisters at Catholic school but ate most of them and had to come up with the money from babysitting," - ROFL!!!
(3)
Report
ROFL what in the world does this mean, NobodyGetsIt? Never heard of it before.
(1)
Report
If you still read books in hard or soft cover. Loving my Kindle!
(1)
Report
"earlybird,"

It means "Rolling On the Floor Laughing" - the problem when I use it is I usually type "ROLF" almost as if a dog was barking.

So a couple weeks ago I was texting my cousin and said "ROLF" and she asked "what does ROLF mean?" and I just burst out laughing as we had been talking about her cats and my dog so it just came out that way. Now, I have to s l o w l y and methodically type it R O F L!
(2)
Report
1 2 3 4 5
This discussion has been closed for comment. Start a New Discussion.

Recent Questions


Popular Questions


Related Questions

Start a Discussion
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter