Things that disappeared, without you realising?

[jennymanara]

What things have disappeared in society, and you did not notice until much later?
So when I was young in every shopping street you would see old women wearing coloured polyester macs and headscarves. And then one day I suddenly realised that I had not seen a woman wearing this kind of clothing for a long time.
The same with plastic rainhoods. You used to see these for sale in newsagents, and elderly women would wear them when caught unaware by the rain. Again disappeared.

@cms1972 😂 omg look at them!! I can't believe I used to clomp around wearing the wooden ones. Gripping my toes to keep them on. Oh thanks for that you've made my day 😄.

I did think of some others last night.
Camay soap
Flex conditioner
Liquorice comforts. You could lick the colour and put on as lipstick haha.
Puff crisps beef flavour delish.

Ajax and Vim
Blaze spray...but like the original impulse.
My boyfriend's aftershave...Paco Robanne and Aramis.
Also remember the fountain lens and Quink ink...with green blotting paper 😂

Hiding from the 'loan man'.
50p meter tv from Rumbelows.
The clear plastic runner on the new hallway carpet.

Oh I've absolutely loved this thread. It's certainly been a walk down nostalgia/memory lane!!

thenightsky i can't find it anywhere, you can get top coat but not clear

Oooh thanks lenzi !

PhillisPearce
Rimmel clear gel nail polish is £2.99 in Superdrug.

Hi Sweetpeanuts, you're right about the Scholls... I remember my sister wearing Scholls for the whole of her teenage years, and she did have to "grip" them with her feet to keep them on. She has claw toes to this day!! I assumed at the time that their wavy wooden soles made them 'good for your feet', but I'm not sure what the evidence base for that was! I love them though... was even tempted to order that red pair

I love the Superman song my parents bought it for me-good times

The wash boiler and ringer. With wooden tongs for lifting the boiled nappies out into the sink, steam billowing round the scullery. Would be considered a health and safety nightmare nowadays.

@cms1972. Oh no really, well, I'm not surprised they were awful things to keep on. Clogs weren't much better and made your feet proper sweaty haha.
I've been on eBay looking myself but won't risk it as could do myself damage if wore them now. They do look nice though. You should treat yourself, but just be cautious when wearing.
I also remember proper Terry towel nappies and the rubber pants you put on top. My mum had two under 2s to wash nappies for on stove. Until she got her twin tub and spin dryer...blimey that thing bounced all round the kitchen, she used to make one of us sit on top of it to make it stop 😂😂 that was fun...probably class that as child labour/ abuse nowadays!!

PhillisPearce . Avon also do clear polish.

Thank you for this thread - love looking back to my childhood but goodness I feel positively old - I'm not quite 50!

I had a flatley dryer when I first moved in with DH. It was my mum's who brought it second hand when she got married in 1968. Finally replaced with a tumble dryer 10 years ago, but it was still going strong. I really miss it, but it did steam up the whole house.

I also remember the frozen orange juice in a cardboard tube. My parents used to have it as starters at dinner parties!! So 1970's!

I still have a Milkman. 'Milk and More' is the place to look for one in your area. They deliver lactose free milk too now.

Liberty bodices. I blame my claustrophobia on my mother still forcing me into the ones I’d outgrown. 😂

Pot Pourri seems to be making a comeback, I spotted loads of it in glass jars when I was in sainsburys yesterday.

Just remembered- Burton’s Potato Puffs. I loved them. Haven’t seen any for years 😢

Nice to be a fine vintage **#AlexaAmbidextra! This thread has give me that bittersweet sadness of times that are gone - must be a sign of age but also that we had lots of happy times.
On the other hand (and I apologise to those who liked it) but I am not sorry if Imperial Leather has bitten the dust. I never liked it's smell because it was my piano teacher's soap of choice and it reminds me of waiting nervously for my lesson knowing I was about to be ticked off again for not practicing!

Ha, I was thinking of Imperial Leather, it was my grandparents soap of choice, positive associations for me!

Other things that have occurred:

Posters in the cinema, it seems to be all digital now, same with menus in fast food places.

The hard plastic tabs to seal bread packets.

One I'm quite pleased about - Bratz. They were everywhere and seem to have totally disappeared.

@PhillisPearce you're not wrong about clear nail polish! Depending on where you live, it can be incredibly difficult to find.

Mavala do a lovely clear one (looks pink in the bottle). Otherwise it's like gold dust. I've travelled around the country so I should know

To the PP who mentioned Scholls - all my friends wore them but they were lethal! I regularly used to give my ankle bone a sharp knock with the other sandal - it was agony!! I don't really miss them!

I loved coloured tissues! When I went abroad, I used to buy boxes of Kleenex in the colours which you couldn't get here and save them for 'best'!!!

Lolipop people

@Jsmith99 On interviewing Harold Wilson, Richard Whiteley's verdict was:

Very civil, used to take great puffs on a pipe which would let you get in with a question.

Grapes with pips in.

Callard & Bowser toffees.

Lots of lollipop people round here.

Mushroom-shaped light bulbs.

Ink erasers - I use one, along with a fountain pen, to my pupils' amusement.

Traffic lights on black and white poles, with the word "Stop" in the red light.

Backless trainers - weren't they fashionable in the late 90's?

Blind man's buff being the children's game of choice: so many old children's stories reference it. "Let's play blind man's buff while we wait!"

Spin driers.

Boots fuzzy peach scent. It came in a teeny bottle with a dropper in the lid.

Earth star lipstick by Rimmel

The collagen in my face

Sweetpeanuts - I couldn't wear Dr Scholl sandals any more, those wooden soles would play havoc with my metatarsal syndrome. I'd be hobbling around & clutching at the furniture! They do look great though.
One thing I really miss & I only realised it had gone recently - used to be able to get a small pot of sweet-smelling, pink, greasy cream to buff your nails with. Mother, sisters & I would sit watching "Flambards" (remember "Flambards"? We're talking 1980) - and buffing away. You only needed a tiny bit and you could use a leather buffer or just a cloth to polish them. It was excellent, mirror shine on nails if you used it regularly! Does anyone remember what it was called?

I can't understand why this is no longer available... if anyone knows of a similar product, please let me know.
Lastly but not leastly, remember the (equally pink & greasy) GERMOLENE in the flat cream-coloured tins? What a fabulous smell & it was so good on spots! I wish they'd bring back real Germolene.

Overalls for housewives. My mum had tabard style ones and my grandmother had a brat that was like a coat she put on and covered her to below the knees.
Even paid cleaners don't often wear them these days - it's often just trousers and a t-shirt with the logo of the sub-contracted company.

The queen still often wears a headscarf and I think it's still done in that generation, just that there aren't as many 'common' women of that age still out and about doing their own shopping.