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Original poster

Which things seem so antiquated now that were only a few years ago...

393 replies

Rosewaterblossom · 23/12/2021 21:03

Programming the TV to record on VHS..

Ipods..

Renting a dvd from the shop..

Decorating a room and having one colour at the bottom with a paler version at the top separated with a pretty boarder..

What are yours?

OP posts:
Exhausteddog · 23/12/2021 23:18

I still call for a take away and go and collect it.Blush
I don't even live rurally!

RoyalFamilyFan · 23/12/2021 23:20

I have so many of the things mentioned on this thread!

RoyalFamilyFan · 23/12/2021 23:21

And no phone contracts are not all unlimited. The cheapest still restrict the number of phone minutes.

CockSpadget · 23/12/2021 23:21

@Idontgiveaf324 I think they meant when it changed to the Euro, not joined the EU.

CassTheFox · 23/12/2021 23:21

Randomly, husband and me were discussing the Speaking Clock the other day. Can you still ring the speaking clock?!

maryzx · 23/12/2021 23:26

I am proud to say that I have a CD player, CDs, foil Christmas decs, a phone where you have to type each letter individually in a text, and about 100 Christmas cards. I also use cash to pay for things.

I hate the idea of apps, and all the creeping technology. Ditto social media.

If I want to order something, I ring the company up.

I quite like it - it's all more personal.

Ericaequites · 23/12/2021 23:27

How do you manage bits and pieces without a purse? As a purse carrying lesbian, I am asked often if I have a spare tampon, for example.

WasgijGods · 23/12/2021 23:28

@elQuintoConyo

Sending texts, actual SMS texts, not WhatsApps, and having to count the characters so you didn't accidentally write two messages and be charged twice.

Pagers - an 18yo student of mine recently asked me what one was, as he'd seen it in an "old" film.

Landline. Haven't had one for around 9 years.

MP3 player - I really miss mine.

Foil Christmas decorations you hung from the ceiling.

One fat BIC biro with four different colours - I haven't seen one in years!

I use my 4 colour BIC daily and currently have foil decorations hanging from my ceiling. I'm only in my 30s so not old! I still send texts too but don't worry if it goes over 1 text as they're all free.

Bitofachinwag · 23/12/2021 23:29

@CassTheFox

Randomly, husband and me were discussing the Speaking Clock the other day. Can you still ring the speaking clock?!
Yes
maryzx · 23/12/2021 23:31

My only issue is the car, which expects me to have technology, so has no CD player. So I can only listen to the radio in my 2021 car, which is a bit like going back to the pre-cassette days.

I also use a landline and a purse, and only use a desktop Mac (no other devices).

JuneOsborne · 23/12/2021 23:31

My mom and dad were always skint. All bills were quarterly. A new business took over a shop front on the high street, called Secure Homes.

We went in and it was a service that meant you could pay your bills weekly. So you took a year's worth of bill in. They figured out how much it was a week and you went in every week and paid that amount and they paid your quarterly bills for you!

The pools man. He also doubled up as the insurance man. My nan would have the money lined up on the has fire every Thursday ready for him. She paid £1.50 a week for 4 funeral policies, until they were paid off. God love her. I used those policies to pay for her funeral, my dad's funeral and my mom's funeral. I had to top it up by a couple of hundred quid, but, bloody hell, she had her head screwed on. Fair play, nan. Fair play.

Ericaequites · 23/12/2021 23:33

Polishing shoes seems to have gone by the wayside. A cousin’s teens never heard of the stuff. I learned to clean shoes at Brownies, and shoes last so much longer thus.

NorthSouthcatlady · 23/12/2021 23:35

@Gingerkittykat do you remember the trick for opening bottles of wine with a yellow pages? That makes me feel old, especially as most wind is screw top. In the old days that just meant it was cheap and nasty!

RampantIvy · 23/12/2021 23:36

Living rurally we don't get much choice for food deliveries, so have to collect, and some of our take outs can't be ordered online but by telephone.

I still wear a watch. I CBA to look at my phone every time I want to know the time. We still have a landline, but don't use it a lot since the much older family members are no longer with us.

Our local pub still accepts cash.

Notatwite · 23/12/2021 23:36

Using teletext to find out what was on tv
Recording programmes on a video machine to watch later
Looking phone numbers up in the phone book/yellow pages
Paying bills by post or in person
When the only takeaways were Chinese, Indian or fish and chips.
Suitcases without wheels.
Rolls of Zinc oxide tape which was cut in strips and put in a cross shape over cut knees.
Taking broken electrical items to be repaired.

MrsDeaconClaybourne · 23/12/2021 23:37

I work in a school and we love the 4 in 1 bic pens. Pink and green for marking and other colours for post-its, to-do lists etc!

mogkat · 23/12/2021 23:40

@Echofallen

Happy New Year texts being sent to friends and family at the bells and getting delivered hours later because the service jammed up. Nobody bothers doing it now.
Lol I'd forgotten about this. Brilliant! You'd get texts at 10am New Year's Day morning saying happy new year Grin
RoyalFamilyFan · 23/12/2021 23:43

I have a landline, CD player in the car, DVD player, record player, a purse, send and receive Christmas cards, have a purse, polish shoes, use cash, wear a watch. Does this mean I am now old fashioned?

Otherpeoplesteens · 23/12/2021 23:43

Phone books.

Looking at a watch.

Pressing buttons on a phone.

Y-fronts.

LittleMysSister · 23/12/2021 23:45

Carrying a proper camera, even digital, with you.

Such a shame really as I rarely print photos for albums now, but I should. I probably never look at most of the pics I take again because they're in my phone.

ImALittlePea · 23/12/2021 23:45

My latest car doesn't take CDs... It's not new and certainly not state of the art... But had to relinquish them to other owners as a result. Gutted.

thatsallineed · 23/12/2021 23:46

@GoodnightGrandma

I miss silk wrapped baubles.
I miss mercury glass baubles, and tinsel - proper real tinsel that smells lovely. I still have a few bits and my family look at me as though I'm round the twist when I sit there sniffing it instead of draping it on the tree.
mogkat · 23/12/2021 23:47

-Setting the VCR to record tv programs

-Using teletext to check the premium bond numbers, I remember sitting at my nans as a kid and she'd spend hours watching the pages go round looking for her bond numbers!

-Only having 160 characters in a text message and being on an old Orange phone plan called "Everyday 50"

-Needing the right change for the bus, the driver wouldn't let you on if you had a £10 note for example as he'd have to use up all his change

-Index catalogue, if Argos didn't have it you could check Index

-Ordering from the Kay's or Gratten catalogues and waiting weeks for something to arrive

-Having to call peoples landlines and if there were out then you'd have to wait to call them again later!

Agadorsparticus · 23/12/2021 23:47

I was explaining to DD about phone boxes and the pips which signified the money and time was running out so you had to put more coins in.

MrsBerthaRochester · 23/12/2021 23:48

I still buy dvds and cds and I still use cash as I have a basic bank account. It pisses me off when people assume everyone is ok using contactless. There are lots of folk who still have no choice but to use cash and its by far the most disadvantged in society. The goverment are doing it on purpose. Wankers.