Things that used to be common place in people’s homes

[Logan Carroll]

Artex ceilings

Good Riddance!

Whoever owned my house previously had the bright idea of artex cupboard ceilings which stab your hands getting anything from the top shelf.

 

[Non Multi]

Artex ceilings

Who doesn't want a decorative ceiling finish that contains asbestos? Fabulous stuff!

 

[AshBod]

Do people still have those digital photo frames?

Not sure about the desktop computer suggestion, what about all those gamers out there, think most non console gamers would be on a desktop as opposed to a laptop. I guess they are less popular now you can just use a tablet etc for most tasks.

cd racks
And them paintings of the crying boy that every house in the 80s used to have.

 

[Stan63]

My gran had a gas powered fridge. I'm not sure how long they were available for.

Stan

 

[Rob F]

Any Betamax VCRs still around?

 

[AshBod]

Toilet roll doll
Doiley
Teasmade

 

[MotCO]

And going outside a bit, again on the TV front larger round satellite dishes as used with analogue satellite

Anyone remember the 'squarials'?, a satellite dish which was square rather than round?

 

[PeterY]

I have some - and they're much better than a duvet. Don't get tangled up in them for a start, and much faster and easier to change...

I live in sheltered accommadation and it's very warm in my flat. even in the winter. So a sheet and a blanket suffices. It's just too warm for a duvet.

Lava Lamps

I've a lava lamp. I only switch it on when I have guests. Not that I've had many since COVID.

Also my electric meter is the old fashioned type with the dials that go clockwise and anti clockwise. I think it should be in a museum .

 

[birchesgreen]

Surprised no-one's mentioned cameras - does anyone use Polaroids now? What about Instamatics, 110s etc? Do most people use their phones for photos rather than cameras?

There is a hobbyist scene who use 110 film and cameras like Instamatics. I did do this for awhile but unfortunately dropped the camera and it went a bit funny.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2021 ==

How about blankets and bedspreads rather than a duvet?

I have banned duvets in my house, they are an abomination. We have blankets.

 

[xotGD]

The whole family sat in front of the TV to watch a programme together.

 

[eoff]

Deep fat fryers. They still exist of course but from my vague childhood memory it felt like every kitchen used to have one.

Filled with Lard.

 

[ComUtoR]

A Wife

 

[GusB]

Also my electric meter is the old fashioned type with the dials that go clockwise and anti clockwise. I think it should be in a museum .

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Trying to explain to a customer over the phone how to read one when I'd never ever seen one before was a bit of a headache.

There is a hobbyist scene who use 110 film and cameras like Instamatics. I did do this for awhile but unfortunately dropped the camera and it went a bit funny.

I was once given a Disc camera as a Christmas present - Halina or some such long-gone brand. Used in conjunction with the 10-flash bars that used to slot into the top.

 

[Gloster]

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Trying to explain to a customer over the phone how to read one when I'd never ever seen one before was a bit of a headache.

I don’t find any difficulty in reading the one I have in the garage. However, I do always tell the meter reader that it is one to this design after I got a quite extraordinary bill (“Yeah, it does look a bit high.” said the chap on the ‘phone when I rang up).

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Confused me for a minute. Not least because my family have always called the tumble drier the "spin dryer". I've only ever seen actual spin dryers as part of a twin tub

I have a separate spin drier. It's brilliant, and I really don't understand why they're not more popular. Gets the clothes very nearly dry, so they can easily finish drying on the airer - using a lot less electricity than a tumble drier would, and without damaging them. Yes, a bit more effort to use than a tumble drier, but to my mind, well worth it for saving electricity and not having to buy new clothes as often.

Couple of other things that are rare these days... has anyome mentioned...

• CRT TVs,
• CRT computer monitors
• mobile phones that are primarily phones (as opposed to mini-computers that happen to have a phone feature buried somewhere in the list of apps )

Going back a bit more...

• The hatch that lots of houses used to have between the kitchen and dining room
• Sash windows
• Circular stairs (especially up to lofts. Never especially common, but now a lot rarer because it's pretty hard to get them past modern building regs)
• Toilets that you flushed by pulling the chain
• Cookers with separate grills above the hobs (which I thought were much easier to use than the ones built into the ovens that you tend to see today). Oh, and - those black spiral hobs.
• Goldfish bowls (thankfully now almost unknown)

 

[birchesgreen]

Cookers with separate grills above the hobs

You can still get these, i got a new cooker a couple of years ago with one.

 

[ainsworth74]

There's a few things been posted that I can identify with (though often from my grandparents house rather than my own!!) in particular the serving hatch between the dining room and kitchen and a cooker with a grill above the hob alongside a few other things (like VCRs, CRT TVs/Monitors, those miniature dog sculpture things, carriage clocks, plastic covers on carpets/sofas). In my grandparents bathroom they didn't have one of those one bar heaters but they did have a special bulb that deliberately gave off a considerable amount of heat and was far larger (as well as hotter) than a typical filament build (even a 100w one). I wonder if they were the replacement of those heaters?

Something that I can identify with personally quite strongly is modems! You don't have that screeching anymore when you want to go online and nor do you have to negotiate access around people who want to make or are expecting to receive a phone call. I did actually a few years ago look up what on earth those noises were all about and found quite an interesting video (well, interesting might be a strong word but perhaps insightful? ) on the topic:

 

[najaB]

I did actually a few years ago look up what on earth those noises were all about and found quite an interesting video (well, interesting might be a strong word but perhaps insightful? ) on the topic

Slightly off topic but I knew a guy who could just about whistle a 300 baud connection, having heard the tones so many times.

 

[dgl]

How about Hostess Trollies, an excellent device when having a Sunday roast and I know my Auntie was quite annoyed when hers went wrong (even more so that it was the incredibly rare Europa flat top model) but luckily replacement of the on/off switches and it was all good again.

And I still remember my Gran's Parkway with the back boiler which fed a few radiators, was present until ~1998 the year after my Grandad passed as she didn't want the hassle anymore and had central heating fitted. Remember there being a pump in the dining room that powered it all.

Lastly what about home organs. I understand they used to be quite popular. We are talking the like of Eminent, Elka, GEM, Technics, Yamaha, Wersi Etc. I have (in parts) a Yamaha HS8 from the late 80's, if only I could play the thing!

 

[nlogax]

Hostess Trollies

Can't help but think Victoria Wood helped their demise

 

[MotCO]

How about Hostess Trollies, an excellent device when having a Sunday roast and I know my Auntie was quite annoyed when hers went wrong (even more so that it was the incredibly rare Europa flat top model) but luckily replacement of the on/off switches and it was all good again.

And I still remember my Gran's Parkway with the back boiler which fed a few radiators

I remember the old Parkway fire - it had a glass door which I thought was strange. There was a lever above the door to switch from hot water to radiators.

Replacing on/off switches: that was the other thing - you could repair most things, whereas now you have to throw things away.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Polysterene ceiling tiles - perfect for spreading fire if you were unlucky to have one. They also contained cyanide. Ditto for lining walls to "help" insulation.

My grandmother , born 1891 , had an aspidestra. not the biggest one in the world to quote a very aged song.

A larder with a slate surface and a meat storage cupboard (with fine mesh) - this was in the 1960's but a 19thC farmhouse.

 

[dgl]

And high back chairs, because they were easy to get in and out of you know!
Round light switches, asbestos roofing and asbestos in various appliance, plus lots of brass ornaments and a lack of sockets in rooms, just two being common in living/bed rooms.

Given I'm staying at my Grans whilst I am off work and she's been in the house since the 60's it seems to be a case of looking around and seeing what she's got!

 

[eMeS]

As mentioned above, I was brought up during WWII in the SW Manchester area, and whilst most of my parents' relatives lived in homes similar to ours, there was one elderly couple (my great aunt & uncle) who lived in a cottage with a rammed earth floor in their living room. And, a privy down the garden sited in a flimsy looking timber shed. The cottage was close to Park Hospital, Davyhulme where the National Health Service was announced by Aneurin Bevan.

 

[birchesgreen]

My Nan in Liverpool only had an outside bog, never had an indoor toilet in her life! She lived into the late 1980s.

 

[MotCO]

Does any one remember the electric plate warmer? This was a glass topped panel, about 2 ft long with an electric circuit to warm up the glass, plus a hot plate, to keep your food warm.

 

[gg1]

My Nan in Liverpool only had an outside bog, never had an indoor toilet in her life! She lived into the late 1980s.

One of my school friends lived in a dilapidated Victorian terrace in the early 80s which only had an outdoor loo, it was one of a row of about 15, I'm guessing they were all the same.


Also my MiL used to be a community nurse in Birmingham in the 70s, she once told me there were a few elderly people she visited who still lived in houses with no hot water.

 

[trebor79]

For now. There was a report out a week or so ago about how they fill the entire room and a chunk of the rest of the house with small particulate pollution every time you open the door. Add the fact that they're already a big pollution problem and I'd give them 5 years max

They don't though, not unless there's something wrong with the draughting. My parents have a wood burning stove and there's absolutely no smell of burning at all, and no smoke out of the chimney once it's got going. It's terrifically efficient, they burn one log at a time and that's ample heat.
I have an open fire which I burn logs on. It's terrifically inefficient, but again the only time I've ever had smoke anywhere other than up the chimney is when a log has rolled off the grate onto the hearth. Very occasionally burn some coal which gives a fantastic amount of heat once it's lit.

I think a lot of the concern about wood burners is misguided. There's little point banning them whilst we're all still allowed to burn petrol and diesel.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jan 2021 ==

Does any one remember the electric plate warmer? This was a glass topped panel, about 2 ft long with an electric circuit to warm up the glass, plus a hot plate, to keep your food warm.

You can get modern versions of those to go beneath a built-in oven, called warming drawers. Very useful they are too.

 

[WelshBluebird]

It got me thinking of other items you used to see in everyone’s home but are now quite rare such as vhs players, vinyl record players, electric bar heaters, trouser press etc

I bought a new Vinyl record player last year!

How about tape players? I haven't had a working one for 10 years. Was trying to work out the other night what the hell all the people suddenly buying music on tape again are actually doing with them.

The main issue with tape players is that the new ones are just crap. There's only really one mechanism being manufactured anymore and it is being made to be as cheap as possible. You are much better off getting and old one and fixing it up like Non Multi has done (quoted below)!

Inspired somewhat by 'Techmoan', I decided to buy 2 old broken Walkmans off eBay and fitted new belts to them a few years back. Wish I'd known how easy it was to change a belt and adjust the motor speed pot when I was younger.

Also did the same thing to a small portable, so I've got 3 fully working players. I have music that I've never bought as a digital copy in my cassette collection so they do get used occasionally.

Didn't expect to see Techmoan mentioned here haha.
I've bough a pretty cheap new tape player last year along with the record player I mentioned above mainly because I like supporting the artists I enjoy buy buying physical copies, but CD's feel pretty pointless to me now I stream most things. The tape player falls into the trap I mention above though as I didn't realise at that point that new ones aren't that great! Tempted to grab an older one at some point even if I have to do some tinkering to get it to work.

... and a mug tree.
Do people still have them ?

Me and my partner moved in together last year and a mug tree was one of the first things we bought for the kitchen haha! Though we do have an awful lot of mugs, not much cupboard space, and do drink a lot of tea / coffee!

Storage heaters, they made the place cosy for breakfast but cool by evening. Could they be practical with better insulation?

Pretty common still with all electric flats.
We don't actually use ours as we aren't on an Economy 7 tariff and our electricity meter doesn't support dual rate anyway.

Do people still have those digital photo frames?

For people who want them, the smart displays you can get from Amazon, Google etc seem to have taken over there now!

• The hatch that lots of houses used to have between the kitchen and dining room

Replaced by "open plan" living rooms and kitchens combined into one room which just means that when someone is cooking you can't hear the TV properly!

 

[nlogax]

I bought a new Vinyl record player last year!

But do you now wish you'd bought the Lidl one Techmoan demonstrated this weekend? Looked like pretty good value for the quality of the product!