Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[Senex]

No, really. The gas lamps were replaced by electric lamps in the mid/late 1950s with the columns in slightly different positions. The gas lamps ran on a clockwork timer which lit them at the correct time and turned them off in the morning. A council man wound the clocks up once a week and checked that the mantles were in order. I can still remember the slight hiss they made when lit — it's amazing what a 10 year old observed and can still remember.

I too remember exactly that. And then came the year when the gas lamps on their elegant posts were replaced by electric lamps on rather crudely designed concrete posts installed at more frequent intervals. More light, but certainly less style!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Aug 2024 ==

This still happens - if the GP has time at least

Don't you need to be almost on the point of death to get a house-call now? We seem to have moved from those family doctors of the past who really knew their patients to an East European polyclinic system without any public debate about such a change. (But the move away from the GP's desk with its full ash-tray has to be good!)

 

[dangie]

The school nit nurse and the resulting purple heads.

 

[McRhu]

Getting Fry's Five Boys chocolate bars from machines on station platforms (or chocolate-covered raisins).

 

[Western Lord]

Many people will recall having milk delivered (some may still have it). We had two pints from the Co-op first thing in the morning and three pints from the UD (United Dairies) around lunchtime ( I am old enough to remember when the UD used a horse drawn float). However there was also the Co-op bakers roundsman coming to the front door with his big wicker basket full of bread and cakes On the subject of the Co-op there was the divi number to recite when you paid, ours was 639477. Once a week a chap came round in a Austin Three Way van selling fruit and vegetables. Home delivery is not a new concept!

 

[Ken X]

Many people will recall having milk delivered (some may still have it). We had two pints from the Co-op first thing in the morning and three pints from the UD (United Dairies) around lunchtime ( I am old enough to remember when the UD used a horse drawn float). However there was also the Co-op bakers roundsman coming to the front door with his big wicker basket full of bread and cakes On the subject of the Co-op there was the divi number to recite when you paid, ours was 639477. Once a week a chap came round in a Austin Three Way van selling fruit and vegetables. Home delivery is not a new concept!

This subject raised its head a few years ago when chatting to one of my elderly aunts. She was in service to "the big house " all her working life.

She was mulling the fact that when she started work in her teens, cook would send off lists to the butcher, greengrocer, baker etc and soon a boy on a bike or a small cart would deliver said goods.
Then small shops would pack things as you walked around and you paid and collected your items at the cash desk. This was followed by small supermarkets where you took your shopping to a till for processing. Big supermarkets appeared and conveyor belted tills handled huge shops.

Now she says I write a list of my shopping, a young person delivers it to my door in a small van and they call it progress.

 

[DarloRich]

my word you lot are old! mind you I started work in an office with no computers and certainly no internet.......................

 

[87electric]

Many people will recall having milk delivered (some may still have it). We had two pints from the Co-op first thing in the morning and three pints from the UD (United Dairies) around lunchtime ( I am old enough to remember when the UD used a horse drawn float). However there was also the Co-op bakers roundsman coming to the front door with his big wicker basket full of bread and cakes On the subject of the Co-op there was the divi number to recite when you paid, ours was 639477. Once a week a chap came round in a Austin Three Way van selling fruit and vegetables. Home delivery is not a new concept!

Yes, the Co-Op divi number. Etched in my mind from my mother reciting it. 15709.

 

[D6130]

Yes, the Co-Op divi number. Etched in my mind from my mother reciting it. 15709.

Speaking of the Co-op, I can remember certain of the larger city- and town- centre Co-op department stores which had what was to me a fascinating overhead 'railway' system.

When you took your purchases to the till, your cash - accompanied by an invoice completed by the assistant - was placed inside a plastic ball. The assistant then placed it in a tube and pulled a lever which caused the ball to shoot up a vertical tube and onto a horizontal three rail track on which it rolled across the ceiling at high speed through a hole in the wall and into a hidden upstairs cash office.

A short time later the ball would return the way it had gone and the till assistant would unscrew it and present you with your change and receipt, having packed your goods in the meantime.

 

[LYradial]

Sweets being “on rations”, who remembers ration books.

there must be someone on this forum older than me

 

[McRhu]

Sweets being “on rations”, who remembers ration books.

there must be someone on this forum older than me

I'm sure I remember petrol rationing books being issued (by mistake?) in the early 70s.

 

[LYradial]

I'm sure I remember petrol rationing books being issued (by mistake?) in the early 70s.

petrol rationing was reintroduced in I think 1957 during the Suez crisis and again in nov.1973 during the miners strike.

in the 1940s most things were rationed with different coupons for each commodity, much abused on both sides, I remember
asking for goods “under the counter” in a quiet voice.
my uncle had eggs concealed in the cistern of the outside lav.

 

[DelW]

Yes, the Co-Op divi number. Etched in my mind from my mother reciting it. 15709.

I clearly remember my mother's six digit Co-op number, but I'm not quoting it on here as I use as the basis for PINs. I also use old family car registration numbers as passwords.

I'm sure I remember petrol rationing books being issued (by mistake?) in the early 70s.

petrol rationing was reintroduced in I think 1957 during the Suez crisis and again in nov.1973 during the miners strike.

I think the early 70s issue was because of the "oil shock" and supply threat resulting from the 1973 Israeli - Arab war. IIRC the ration books were issued to be ready, but rationing wasn't implemented, other than via price increases.

 

[Tester]

I'm sure I remember petrol rationing books being issued (by mistake?) in the early 70s.

Not by mistake - as a precaution.

I got mine from the post office in Thurso, because, why not?

I'll still have it somewhere, complete with Thurso stamp.

 

[3141]

Chemists selling “things” to make your own fi…works to ten year olds.

Also, being able to go into a shop to buy fireworks for use at home. We always had our own bonfire and made our own guy, or shared them with neighbours, and provided our own fireworks, or pooled them. A rocket, placed in a milk bottle as its launching pad, was the climax of the show.

Moving off topic, I think the reason why Trick or Treat on Halloween has become popular among children is because that offers them something to take part in. and set-piece fireworks displays do not.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Aug 2024 ==

Jumping onto the open rear platform of a Corporation bus, sitting down and paying your fare to a roving conductor.

The last time I was on a tram at Crich, getting off at an intermediate stop, the conductor earnestly warned me not to alight until the tram had completely stopped. I told him that was definitely not authentic.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Bronco and Izal the "jaggy" toilet paper brands often dispensed in schools and occasionally also used as tracing paper.

Stamped - "Now wash your hands" ..

 

[simonw]

Tea ladies in offices.

 

[GordonT]

Outdoor weighing machines sometimes associated with seafronts.
Some versions spoke your weight as if folk would appreciate advertising their weight to passing folk.

Seaside donkey rides along the beach.

 

[Buzby]

Stamped - "Now wash your hands" ..

...and just above Izal Medicated!

 

[Mike99]

Many people will recall having milk delivered (some may still have it). We had two pints from the Co-op first thing in the morning and three pints from the UD (United Dairies) around lunchtime ( I am old enough to remember when the UD used a horse drawn float). However there was also the Co-op bakers roundsman coming to the front door with his big wicker basket full of bread and cakes On the subject of the Co-op there was the divi number to recite when you paid, ours was 639477. Once a week a chap came round in a Austin Three Way van selling fruit and vegetables. Home delivery is not a new concept!

Until I was furloughed in the summer of 2020, I delivered Milk mainly to Care Homes, Factories etc but my round in Leicestershire included some private house addresses that had been long standing customers.

Have Luncheon Vouchers been mentioned? My first wife received them monthly form her employer, one of the big banks in the City of London.

 

[Senex]

A bit later than the rationed sweets etc (and I remember handing over the books to have the points cut out clearly enough), but who else remembers the change back to the different brands of petrol and the various companies handing out key-rings — very collectable, and with a number of quite scarce ones?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Green Shield Stamps and the small books you put them in.

 

[Trackman]

Outdoor weighing machines sometimes associated with seafronts.
Some versions spoke your weight as if folk would appreciate advertising their weight to passing folk.

Seaside donkey rides along the beach.

Weighing machines: used to see them in pub toilets.
Are beach donkey rides still not a thing these days? Blackpool springs to mind.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Seaside donkey rides along the beach.

This still happens but rules around animal welfare have certainly made it less common.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Office typing pools for those not high enough up to have a personal secretary. One had to be very nice and diplomatic to cajole / beg priority at times.

BR of course had a splendid internal mail system which was pretty good - apart from "OCS" parcels - there were dispatch bags flying all over the network in "charge of the guard" (who could sometimes lighten their journeys by reading unsealed correspondance. Trusted customers could avail themselves of this service)

Freightliner trains often carried green and orange pouches - like larger versions of token carriers - conveying customs / shipping documents - again c/o the guard when they were non DOO. They were frequently mislaid / overcarried etc causing frantic searches till Crewe Basford Hall or somewhere might ring in and say they had them - when they should have been at say Stratford , sparking mad efforts to recover them. Eventually - metal , lockable boxes were welded into out wagons for said document bags. TOPS consists had an extra line on the printouts saying - for example - "Tilbury dox in 621234 for example." - saving some work and better than searching loco back cabs.

 

[GordonT]

Green Shield Stamps and the small books you put them in.

Also pink stamps. Sometimes garages had promotions offering double or treble the usual quantity of stamps for the quantity of petrol purchased (in gallons).

 

[StoneRoad]

Private Manual Branch Exchange - PMBX - for internal telephone systems ... and plugging in the lines [used one of those in the ROC]

Punching in and out on your "clock card" - and getting docked pay for being "late"

Various unpleasant substances being rubbed into people as initiation ceremonies [at least, I hope that's a dim and distant memory]

 

[Amos]

Sterilised milk,used to hate the taste,but was fascinated by the bottle.

 

[LowLevel]

Office typing pools for those not high enough up to have a personal secretary. One had to be very nice and diplomatic to cajole / beg priority at times.

BR of course had a splendid internal mail system which was pretty good - apart from "OCS" parcels - there were dispatch bags flying all over the network in "charge of the guard" (who could sometimes lighten their journeys by reading unsealed correspondance. Trusted customers could avail themselves of this service)

Freightliner trains often carried green and orange pouches - like larger versions of token carriers - conveying customs / shipping documents - again c/o the guard when they were non DOO. They were frequently mislaid / overcarried etc causing frantic searches till Crewe Basford Hall or somewhere might ring in and say they had them - when they should have been at say Stratford , sparking mad efforts to recover them. Eventually - metal , lockable boxes were welded into out wagons for said document bags. TOPS consists had an extra line on the printouts saying - for example - "Tilbury dox in 621234 for example." - saving some work and better than searching loco back cabs.

One thing that still happens at my TOC is the guard carrying internal paperwork, parcels, catering stock etc though not on the same scale

 

[StoneRoad]

Also pink stamps. Sometimes garages had promotions offering double or treble the usual quantity of stamps for the quantity of petrol purchased (in gallons).

Co-op did "divi" stamps for a while, including the 40 for a full page stamp.

My old man did quite the mileage OCS but he got to keep the stamps, so lil bro and I competed to stick them into the relevant books.

Anyone remember the Festiniog trying to get enough stamps for a specialised type of mini-excavator for the Deviation / Moelwyn Tunnel ?

 

[coppercapped]

Speaking of the Co-op, I can remember certain of the larger city- and town- centre Co-op department stores which had what was to me a fascinating overhead 'railway' system.

When you took your purchases to the till, your cash - accompanied by an invoice completed by the assistant - was placed inside a plastic ball. The assistant then placed it in a tube and pulled a lever which caused the ball to shoot up a vertical tube and onto a horizontal three rail track on which it rolled across the ceiling at high speed through a hole in the wall and into a hidden upstairs cash office.

A short time later the ball would return the way it had gone and the till assistant would unscrew it and present you with your change and receipt, having packed your goods in the meantime.

I well remember those. There were at least two old established shops in Reading which had these, one was a shoe shop (which also had an X-ray machine to see how well a pair of shoes fitted one's feet!) and the other was Jacksons department store. Although Jacksons used a vacuum tube system the concept was exactly the same.

Sweets being “on rations”, who remembers ration books.

there must be someone on this forum older than me

Yes, I can remember going into our local sweet shop the next day and buying some sweets with my pocket money. Normally I never bought sweets...!