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.

Penny sweets
2p sweets

10p sweet bags

Bubble gum that tasted like antiseptic and gave uba tattoo of a yelliw neon smily face

Pick and mix still in Wilko and the range. Not cheap though..

My dad has a string picture of a hot air balloon but it no longer has pride of place in the lounge.

Brown things, teapots, crockery, curtains, clothes even.

Coloured bathroom suites.

Boxes of matches, I haven't seen any for ages.

The disappearance of bug splatter (and night time 'moth snow' in your headlights) is one of the most visible manifestations of the rapid climate catastrophe we're currently living through. Insect (and bird) life has declined massively since I was a girl 😢

Terry nappies hanging on a washing line!

Silverfish
Pale blue ‘invalid carriages’
Large weighing scales outside chemists
Headscarf wearing ladies (has a conversation about their disappearance just the other day OP)
Japanese paper water flowers - played with them as children and were sold in a little paper envelope in a lot of shops - gone
Playbox biscuits
Red white and blue plastic strip fly curtains

I remember the blue cars that disabled people drove. My parents had a friend with one, his cat traveled with him on the parcel shelf. I thought it was a special car for cats.

@N2986 I know but it’s all jelly sweets and fizzy things, same in Tesco. I want all the different wrapped chocolates and toffees.

terriblyangryattimes
I remember the giant swan and naked man picture! He was standing on an enormous chess board and the light was very moody. Last time i saw one was in a brick lane curry house.

Those nodding dogs on the parcel shelf of a car.
Also the cushions and/or a box of tissues on said parcel shelf, maybe there was a connection but I was too naive to realise!
The black bands or black fabric diamond sewn onto the sleeves of coats to denote that people were in mourning.

Manners!

I grew up with carpet on the walls in my bathroom. My parents' friends them got it done too. I thought that was quite commonplace. Was it ? (Also had bidet, double sinks and avocado suite) . The carpet was a think pile rust colour. wtf?

Every birthday/Xmas card I got as a child was either a Forever Friends bear or Ann Geddes baby. They were everywhere. I even had a poster of an Ann Geddes baby on my wall! Hardly see them anywhere any more

Elderly people riding their bikes to the shops. I guess it got too dangerous a decade or so ago when everyone got individual cars instead of the one family car and the roads are just too treacherous now.

People with pigeon toes. You just don’t see that anymore.

Salt boxes on the side of the road (it maybe it's more about where I live now as it's not hilly lol

Oh and flock wallpaper 😵

Yes to manners - common sense

Elderly people still ride their bikes to the shops in Germany. Every shop has a massive bike rack outside. However there are also cycle paths everywhere, it's only small residential streets you cycle on the road. People also cycle with umbrellas.

My late MIL (who died a couple of years ago in her mid-nineties) never left the house without a plastic rain 'bonnet' and used to carry a spare. When offered to a younger woman during a downpour she could never understand why they preferred to get wet.
That's something you rarely see - an older woman with a horrible tight perm. It was the style of choice whether it suited them or not. Yuck.

onefootinthegrave we always had oranges in Xmas stockings and I always put one in DD stocking too along with the essential chocolate coins! Although last year they all seemed to be 'free from' coins, I actually struggled to find normal ones

Athena ... hours spent choosing posters.

The white ceramic plant pots from M&S that were shaped like animals - I remember an elephant.

Sitting for HOURS in the travel agent while parents chose and booked summer holiday.

Pretty lightweight cotton handkerchiefs.

All the toys you used to play out with - not just skipping ropes, but those ball and rope things that went on one ankle and you spun around. And space hoppers and those balls that had a disk around that you stood on and bounced (looked like Saturn). You hardly see kids with roller skates/blades or even skateboards now, skateparks are full of scooters instead.

The harikrishna people dressed in orange chanting and dancing up and down oxford street. You always used to see them and I haven’t seen one now for years.