Relics of the Past
From the simple pleasure of gathering around a jukebox in a diner to praying you don't make a mistake on a typewriter, there are many relics of the past that offer a fascinating glimpse into how much daily life has transformed. These items evoke instant nostalgia, especially if you were born during that era! But depending on how old you are, some of these might not even ring a bell. So, test your knowledge today with these 20 things your grandparents grew up with that aren't around much anymore.
1. Rotary Phones
Back in the day, rotary phones were the OG in every home. With making calls so easy nowadays, thanks to saved contacts or even AI assistants giving you a hand, we bet the circular dial which requires manual input would be too much for today's kids to wrap their heads around. No speed dial, no caller ID; it's completely foreign territory for most!
2. Milk Delivery
That's right, milkmen used to cruise around the neighborhood in their trucks, delivering glass bottles of milk to every doorstep. But with the rise of convenient living, with supermarkets and even online ordering prevalent these days, there's simply no need for this charming tradition anymore.
3. Typewriters
Clack, clack, clack. The sound of a typewriter is instantly recognizable to anyone who lived in this era.
While it was an impressive invention for its time, putting words on paper, it's hard to deny just how annoying it was when you made a mistake. Because unlike the computers of today, typewriters couldn't backspace!
4. Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Televisions
Compared to the flat and lightweight TV screens of today, the CRT televisions of yesterday were incredibly bulky and boxy. While images were low-quality and had a much smaller viewing area, it's important to remember just how amazing of a technological advancement this was. You wouldn't have your LED or OLED screens without it!
5. Physical Maps
Thanks to GPS and smartphones, navigating the world has never been easier. But you have to remember, there was a time before these existed! Physical maps used to be your best bet for finding directions, whether it's highways, roads, or even small streets. These clunky tools were definitely a hassle to deal with though - it was impossible to fold up neatly in one go.
6. VHS Tapes
Everything you want to watch is now available with the click of a button thanks to streaming services and digital platforms, but back in the day, VHS tapes were the reigning champs of movie nights. The main struggle? Having to rewind everything you watched when you were finished, which was a lot more time-consuming than it sounds.
7. Floppy Disks
If there's one thing we're happy to say goodbye to on this list, it's floppy disks! Once the go-to method for storing and transferring computer data, these were awfully fragile and could be easily damaged from dust, magnets, or even a light bend.
8. Coal Furnaces
When the weather starts getting cold, you're likely already thinking about turning on the heat. And while it can be quickly done without any effort on your part today, it wasn't always like that. In the past, older homes used coal furnaces for heating, which required adding in coal by hand and cleaning out the ash afterward. Staying warm took work!
9. Record Players
Before the era of tapes, CDs, and digital streaming, record players were the main way people listened to music. We absolutely love the vintage charm this has, from the collecting of vinyl records to the physical act of placing the record in the player. It's not hard to see why it's still so popular to this day with avid collectors!
Victrola Record Players on Unsplash
10. Payphones
With the advent of smartphones making payphones completely useless, you likely haven't seen one of these around in years. But when you needed to make a phone call on the go and cell phones were yet to be commonplace, these always came in handy.
Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash
11. Manual Car Windows
Need to get some fresh air while on a drive? Well, a few decades ago, it was a lot harder than just pressing a button! Manual car windows used to be the norm, with passengers needing to crank windows by hand if they wanted to open or close them. Amazing how such a simple design switch could improve quality of life so much, right?
12. Encyclopedias
Google is everyone's best friend for finding information these days, but it wasn't always this way. When you wanted to learn about something in the past, you'd have to hit the books. Encyclopedias were large sets of thick books that contained everything you needed to know at the time. They weren't the fastest method, but they got the job done!
13. Film Cameras
Thanks to digital cameras and smartphones, taking pictures are now an instant activity. But with the film cameras used in past generations, they took a lot more time. Developing the film was a long process, but an exciting one. There's just something so fun about having to wait until you can see the completed project.
14. Hand-Written Letters
With how digitalized our world is today, there's something incredibly romantic and thoughtful about hand-written letters. It's the simple idea of knowing someone took their time to send you something personal, purposely doing something more slowly in our fast-paced world.
15. Cassette Tapes
Just like vinyl records and VHS tapes, cassette tapes are another outdated item that used to be all the rage. Portable and tough, these weren't perfect and the tapes could get all tangled up, but they still offered a great way to enjoy music. Besides, making mixtapes with these were extra romantic!
16. Phone Books
If you needed to find someone's contact info back in the day, social media wasn't around to make things simple. You used to have to rummage through a gigantic phone book, packed full of names, addresses, and phone numbers for homes and businesses. It certainly was a long process trying to find someone.
© 2010 by Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com] on Wikimedia
17. Rabbit Ear Antennas
Used when watching TV to get better reception, we're just thankful we don't have to use these anymore these days. People in the past would have to endlessly tinker and move them around until they found the sweet spot, making watching your favorite show a hassle. After all, we all know how frustrating it is when we don't have a reliable signal!
18. Carbon Paper
Carbon paper used to be used to make quick copies of documents, but it was unfortunately very messy and only worked for a few copies at a time. The moral of the story? These were annoying to work with.
But thankfully, with our advanced photocopiers and scanners, this is just a concern of the past.
Pavel Krok~commonswiki on Wikimedia
19. Checkbooks
Now that we're able to pay with our phones, the idea of checkbooks just seem terribly outdated. Having to carry a pen and wad of paper around in your pocket just to pay? Doesn't sound too safe or convenient in our minds! But with credit cards and online banking apps, paying is simply a breeze.
20. Diner Jukeboxes
Diners and soda shops were the hot spots to be in back in the day, and one common item you'll likely find at every place were jukeboxes. Nothing quite beats drinking a delicious milkshake or chowing down on a tasty burger to some of your favorite jams! It was a communal, old-school way of bringing people together to music.
