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

[Rosewaterblossom]

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?

I miss proper glass baubles for Christmas trees rather than plastic. I only have a few left, they do break easily. But they were really cheap. If I had known they would suddenly disappear, I would have bought more. They are much nicer looking, although I know not great around young kids.

Roaming charges on cell phones. I remember how upsetting it was to have to make a call when you were "out of area."

The car choke.

[quote NorthSouthcatlady]@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![/quote]
Nope, never heard about that trick but want to know more.

The car choke was brilliant. Better than an automatic one.
Also cars that were easy to repair yourself. My dad showed me as an 18-year-old how easy to was to get to spark plugs, take them out and replace them. It wasn't really any harder than changing batteries on some toys. Now not possible as it is all sealed units.

Using a telephone box to ring people when out in town.

Sending in postcards with your answer to tv shows competitions etc

Whilst travelling in Asia early nineties using post restante at the local post office to get post from family. Each letter home I would say which city I expected to be in 3 weeks so my family could address it to my name, post restante, name of town. The thrill when there was post waiting.

Getting the negatives developed of your holidays snaps in town then waiting a week to pick them up.

Having to wait a full week for the next episode of your favourite show

@Ericaequites

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.

I'm presuming you're American? In the UK a purse is the thing you put your money and cards in (like a wallet but more roomy). What Americans call a purse, we would call a handbag or just a bag.

I still love my ipod, even bought a new one this year when the old one packed in. I hate having my phone memory and battery used up with thousands of songs and podcasts, and I definitely don't want to have to keep data on all the time to stream it. And I don't like having something so heavy as my phone out all the time. The advantage of the new one is that it downloads new podcasts automatically without me having to plug it in to the laptop. It'll be a good few years yet befire I'm ready to relinquish it!

But you still need a purse or wallet for your cards. And personally I always carry some change, even if it is just a £1 for the trolley.

Haven't read through the whole thread, but feel the need to point out that landlines continue to work in a power cut. I'm keeping mine after storm Arwen. Also my stand-alone dvd player (rechargeable).

I do some of these:

• Ring for takeaways. Live in a city and I can't justify paying Deliveroo prices if I can call and collect instead. Can be a lot more for some places.

• The foil stars and garlands are going up tomorrow.

• Have a landline (but no working handset for years).

• Christmas cards, but fewer thankfully

• Occasionally go into a specific travel agent to book a holiday, when it's the type of holiday I know they do well.

I was thinking recently about that time when ringback services on BT landlines suddenly became widely available - you could also do 3-way and multiple calling and different ring backs that did different things - around the early/mid-2000s I think? And then suddenly everyone had a mobile and no-one used any of those features any more pretty much overnight.

Football results being called out on a Saturday teatime on the telly and we all has to be quiet whilst dad checked them against his pools coupon

Spot the ball competitions

Half crown coins - in fact, all pre decimal coins

Free milk in school

I have been surprised that travel agents have made a bit of a comeback amongst my well off friends. Not for beach holidays, but for planned touring holidays. They don't want to do what I do and spend ages planning it on the internet. And yes, they use physical specialist travel agents.

Phone credit

Going on holiday and sending postcards to people. Ditto bringing back souvenirs from countries.

Ashtrays - where do you buy them?

Pot pourri - in the 1980s we would always have a bowl of the stuff around.

Pyjama cases.

Flicking through photo albums.

Shoe shops - actual shops that sold nothing but shoes. Freeman Hardy and Willis, Dolcis, Ravel, Mansfield, Sacha, Cable & Co. Where the hell are they all?

One of the many reasons I like old films and vintage TV series is exclaiming over things that have changed.

The evolution of mobiles, from when you had to pull the ariel out of the brick, then when you could actually type messages, then when they were like Captain Kirk communicators, then the shift to thin flat screens …

Rushing around trying to find a phone box …

Dad fiddling with the TV ariel to stop the screen fizzing ...

Leg warmers, socks with multicoloured toes, towelling headbands, cheesewire-like high cut leotards and footless tights for aerobics …

Sticking a pencil in a cassette to salvage the tape …

Breaking the tabs off a video to preserve the recording …

Cinzano and Martini ...

Everything brown and orange in the 70s ...

Was watching Die Hard 2 with DS last night and the woman at the airline desk was explaining this new fangled fax technology to Bruce Willis. DS said "why doesn't he just take a photo on his phone and WhatsApp it". Oh my sweet summer child

currently have foil decorations hanging from my ceiling Congrats- these are apparently v hip in an ironic way. Lots on insta.

I was just saying to DH how texts just died out in favour of WhatsApp. Texts are for delivery companies and spammers now.

I do love a lot of modern technology (basically everything on my phone from money to music to supermarket shop to learning a language) but I still wear a watch.

Also, I was musing when phones will stop being called phones because they're really not- they're small computers.

@Insert1x20p

Also, I was musing when phones will stop being called phones because they're really not- they're small computers.

It's apparently easy to tell old people" as they (I) say MOBILE phone, whereas the young and modern, like you, simply say "phone"!

@Doodar

Going into the Gas showroom to pay your bill, then the Electric one. Wages in cash, in a packet. Traveler’s cheques. Booking a call home on a foreign holiday. Smoking upstairs on a bus Smoking at the back of an airplane Smoking on the tube Renting a tv, had a coin slot on the back. Putting coins in the electric meter Dogs roaming the streets in packs. Going out drinking with your mates, aged 13, tallest/oldest looking would buy all the drinks. 1/2 pence coin Sixpence coin God, I feel old.

Great list. Like going back in a time machine

Having ONE extra Tv service which was usually sky!

I was trying to explain pre digital cameras to ds(15) this week, and taking the film in to be developed with no way of previewing the pictures. I think it cost £6.99 and included a new roll of film. That would be what? £10-15 now? For 24 pictures!
Phone boxes.
Early sms text messages.. 10p each and 150 characters.
Physical newspapers, I went to the shop every morning for my paper as a young sahm, can’t remember when I last bought one.

Getting told to get off the Internet when someone wanted to use the phone, going to the video shop to rent a film. Listening to the top 40 on the radio & recording your favourite songs. Sony Walkmans, Ghetto blasters, I still have mine, I must have had arms like Popeye, I took it everywhere & it cost a fortune in batteries. Portable televisions with a dial to change the channel & a built in aerial. Sinclair ZX Spectrums where the games were on cassettes, ours was 128k. Imagine what we would have said if we had known we would have a device we could keep in our pockets that could call, text, do our banking & shopping, read books, listen to music & watch films on? Anyone who had suggested it would have been told they were crackers.

Not having a phone at home, I can remember my brother being really poorly & my parents having to wait until our neighbour got up to ring for the doctor. Doctors doing home visits, now they won't come unless you are dying.