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

[jfollows]

One that's just occurred to me (not sure if it's mentioned upthread) is people answering their home phones by calling out their own phone number. That seemed to fall by the wayside maybe around the late '90s / early '00s (in my experience).

Yes, for sure, I remember saying "Poynton 3161" on the bakelite phone back a few years ago! Then it was "Bollington 74532". Now it's maybe "hello" if I answered a call from an unknown number at all ...... on my mobile phone I answer with my name now, but that still seems to confuse people, who sometimes say "Is that X?" and I reply with "I just said so, didn't I?". Oh yes, moved out of Bollington in 1981 I think.

 

[Jimini]

Hammersmith 6179 here; I can hear my old man saying that in my head still right now!

 

[najaB]

One that's just occurred to me (not sure if it's mentioned upthread) is people answering their home phones by calling out their own phone number. That seemed to fall by the wayside maybe around the late '90s / early '00s (in my experience).

It probably coincides with digital handsets (which show the number being dialled) and Calling Number Presentation (Caller Display) since both parties can easily see each other's numbers.

 

[Jimini]

It probably coincides with digital handsets (which show the number being dialled) and Calling Number Presentation (Caller Display) since both parties can easily see each other's numbers.

That's true aye. I think I had my first caller I.D phone in 2000 (and paid a small premium to BT for the priviledge if I recall correctly!).

 

[MattA7]

A bad habit I have noticed is companies/organizations simply answering with “hello” resulting in me having to ask if it is the place I’m calling. You would think staff are told to answer professionally especially if it’s a place where privacy or security is important such as banks.

 

[py_megapixel]

A bad habit I have noticed is companies/organizations simply answering with “hello” resulting in me having to ask if it is the place I’m calling. You would think staff are told to answer professionally especially if it’s a place where privacy or security is important such as banks.

Presumably the automated system you invariably have to engage with beforehand will have announced "Thank you for calling Royal Bank of Scotland Customer Service" or whatever?

(Just the first such thing I could think of)

 

[najaB]

You would think staff are told to answer professionally especially if it’s a place where privacy or security is important such as banks.

Usually when you call banks, etc. you will have been through an IVR beforehand which reduces the need for the person to announce the name of the company. Perhaps if you're noticing it more over the last year and a bit it's because of home working and the calls not being delivered in the usual way.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Reminds me - "Your call is valuable to us". Back in the good old days they just answered the b****y phone quickly enough !.

Yes I have stopped saying who I am when I answer. Three reasons I guess :-
Firstly I usually know who is ringing me because of modern technology and they get an appropriate greeting "hello <name/nickname>".
Secondly If I do not know who it is then I am suspicious (sales call or more likely a scam).
Three call screening anyway (again, so I can ignore the crap).

Gone are the days when a phone call was genuinely useful (unless a wrong number dialled) often nowadays it is unwanted. That is probably the price we pay for cheaper and free calls. Bit like the internet is free but you have to endure the flashing adverts.

 

[Trackman]

One that's just occurred to me (not sure if it's mentioned upthread) is people answering their home phones by calling out their own phone number. That seemed to fall by the wayside maybe around the late '90s / early '00s (in my experience).

Yes, I had to do that otherwise my dad would give me a good rollocking.
I wonder if there was some rule/law set down about it?

 

[najaB]

I wonder if there was some rule/law set down about it?

No, no rule. Just phone calls were very expensive so it helped people realise if they'd dialled an incorrect number. Plus, I dare say it was also of use in the days of party lines.

 

[Peter Sarf]

No, no rule. Just phone calls were very expensive so it helped people realise if they'd dialled an incorrect number. Plus, I dare say it was also of use in the days of party lines.

PARTY LINES. Oh gosh We had one of those. The other party used to leave the phone off the hook so they did not get disturbed. Which meant we could not make or receive calls. More often than not we had to go to the local phone box even to call incase we were expecting a call. I had a lot of communication with BT over our unusable phone line. Shamwell 3167 -> Medway 70067 -> Medway 710067.

When did anyone last see or use a public convenience phone box ?.

 

[najaB]

When did anyone last see or use a public convenience phone box ?.

There's one just across the road from me and I actually saw someone using (to make a phone call!) it on Saturday.

 

[ainsworth74]

When did anyone last see or use a public convenience phone box ?.

There's still a few floating around. I notice that they still seem to exist at stations funnily enough. Obviously nowhere near the numbers that existed once upon a time but if you poke around enough you'll usually find one or two at medium and larger stations. But they are definitely a dying breed. I used one a year or two ago for novelty to call home rather than use my mobile. It struck me how surprisingly cheap it was to call another landline, something like half an hour for 60p or similar. I also used one at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Havenstreet station as they had a message pinned to the door asking people to use it as they were trying to make the case to keep it. Dunno if they were successful or not but I did my bit!

 

[najaB]

It struck me how surprisingly cheap it was to call another landline, something like half an hour for 60p or similar.

Expensive for a short call but cheap for a long one.

 

[AY1975]

One that's just occurred to me (not sure if it's mentioned upthread) is people answering their home phones by calling out their own phone number. That seemed to fall by the wayside maybe around the late '90s / early '00s (in my experience).

The Germans and the Dutch normally say their surname when answering the phone, or at least they have traditionally done so.

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but another thing telephone-related that used to be commonplace was the old-style answering machine with a miniature cassette tape on which you recorded your voice greeting and for recording messages from callers.

 

[david1212]

One that's just occurred to me (not sure if it's mentioned upthread) is people answering their home phones by calling out their own phone number. That seemed to fall by the wayside maybe around the late '90s / early '00s (in my experience).

I can't recall when living with my parents we stopped doing this nor if I phoned home when first working Dad still did this. He may have stopped when we moved as of course a different number that didn't roll off the tongue.

What I do recall as a child back when just a 3 digit number on a local exchange is that our number was the same as the internal number for the officers mess at the nearly army base. Hence numerous wrong calls and of course just one fixed phone to dash to. More than once in response to something like
" Is this the officers mess "
Mum would reply
" No, but it is a mess so you can come and tidy up "
Inevitably a slightly sheepish response along the lines of
" Sorry, I thought I dialled an internal number "

Also our line was a party line with next door. I think our line went in first then they wanted the phone as our phone changed to one for party calls and it was a recycled older style phone. To make call you had to first listen to check the line was not already in use so in theory could also listen in ... When the neighbours changed and the wife had llllooonnnnggg calls with her daughter it could be a nuisance. Eventually the lines were separated, probably at the same time as changes within BT and we had a socket and a much newer if not new phone.

Phones were of course rented from BT. Again I can't recall when we bought a wired phone and stopped renting.

I can recall our first cordless phone so calls not missed if in the garden but not exactly when. It may have been at the old house before 1988. The audio quality was not great so often went to the wired phone. A pull-out aerial and three channels to select from.
Not this but similar

 

[PeterC]

I can't recall when living with my parents we stopped doing this nor if I phoned home when first working Dad still did this. He may have stopped when we moved as of course a different number that didn't roll off the tongue.

What I do recall as a child back when just a 3 digit number on a local exchange is that our number was the same as the internal number for the officers mess at the nearly army base. Hence numerous wrong calls and of course just one fixed phone to dash to. More than once in response to something like
" Is this the officers mess "
Mum would reply
" No, but it is a mess so you can come and tidy up "
Inevitably a slightly sheepish response along the lines of
" Sorry, I thought I dialled an internal number "

Also our line was a party line with next door. I think our line went in first then they wanted the phone as our phone changed to one for party calls and it was a recycled older style phone. To make call you had to first listen to check the line was not already in use so in theory could also listen in ... When the neighbours changed and the wife had llllooonnnnggg calls with her daughter it could be a nuisance. Eventually the lines were separated, probably at the same time as changes within BT and we had a socket and a much newer if not new phone.

Phones were of course rented from BT. Again I can't recall when we bought a wired phone and stopped renting.

I can recall our first cordless phone so calls not missed if in the garden but not exactly when. It may have been at the old house before 1988. The audio quality was not great so often went to the wired phone. A pull-out aerial and three channels to select from.
Not this but similar
View attachment 107450

On two occasions we has cordless sets die after thunderstorms. We stu k to plain wired phones after that.

 

[AY1975]

And now, as it's just three days until Christmas, how about something seasonal: Christmas trees with candles on in the days before people had electricity in their homes.

Today, of course, some people have candle-shaped lights on their Xmas trees. Not real candles, though.

In some ways it's a bit surprising that AFAIK no-one ever invented a way of having Xmas trees with oil or gas lights on!

Can anyone else think of anything Xmas related that you often used to see in people's homes but don't anymore?

 

[david1212]

And now, as it's just three days until Christmas, how about something seasonal: Christmas trees with candles on in the days before people had electricity in their homes.

Today, of course, some people have candle-shaped lights on their Xmas trees. Not real candles, though.

In some ways it's a bit surprising that AFAIK no-one ever invented a way of having Xmas trees with oil or gas lights on!

Can anyone else think of anything Xmas related that you often used to see in people's homes but don't anymore?

Years ago tree baubles were decorated glass. I doubt that any sold now are.

Most lights are now LED rather than bulbs.

Mine are an exception as the set of 20 on the tree were bought when Woolworths closed Cheltenham store in 1986 ##.
Likewise the string of 20 across the window which came from Poundland several years ago. I have two Poundland sets as spare bulbs, one clear and one coloured.

## https://wooliesbuildings.wordpress.com/2018/05/30/cheltenham-store-60/

The store must have been huge inside as the site became a shopping centre. on 28th June 1986 this Woolworths store closed and was sold to the Arrowcroft Group, who demolished it to make the Beechwood Shopping Centre which opened in 1991

 

[Ediswan]

Years ago tree baubles were decorated glass.

Very thin glass, possibly a lost art. They were 'legacy' by the 1960s. Absolute ****** to clean up if you did break one.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Years ago tree baubles were decorated glass. I doubt that any sold now are.

My parents still have some of this type.

They had a few more of them 30 years or so ago until my brother shot several of them at point blank range with plastic projectiles from a toy gun while they weren't looking...

 

[pdq]

Can anyone else think of anything Xmas related that you often used to see in people's homes but don't anymore?

How about those multi coloured paper concertina decorations that used to get hung diagonally across the room? I remember getting them from Woolworths, and them inevitably falling down at some point over Christmas.

Also, snow spray on windows through paper templates of reindeer, angels, trees etc. I used to do these in my bedroom window when I was little

 

[Essan]

Years ago tree baubles were decorated glass. I doubt that any sold now are.

I've sold several sets this year (in my Antique Centre) - mostly back in the summer!

When I was young, one of the best days of the year was when we were allowed to start making the multi-coloured paper chains to hang up in the house for Christmas.

 

[WesternLancer]

I've sold several sets this year (in my Antique Centre) - mostly back in the summer!

When I was young, one of the best days of the year was when we were allowed to start making the multi-coloured paper chains to hang up in the house for Christmas.

Yep - got quite a few kept in the box of xmas decs in the loft brought down and used each year. 2 or 3 years back I saw a box of 12 mint unused (probably 1960s vintage) glass tree baubles in an antique centre which I snapped up. 'Modern' ones just don't look right to me

Incandescent xmas tree lights with thin (ie not double insulated) wire were a thing. Including those sets where when one bulb went the whole set would not work and you had to work through them all until you found the dud bulb!

 

[Strat-tastic]

'Proper' Advent calendars, behind each door a nice Christmassy picture

None of this chocolate malarkey.

 

[birchesgreen]

Getting an orange and a piece of coal for christmas.

 

[WesternLancer]

Getting an orange and a piece of coal for christmas.

Isn't the bit of coal for new year? Do you mean you got a bit of coal for both?.....people really knew how to live back in the day!

 

[birchesgreen]

Isn't the bit of coal for new year? Do you mean you got a bit of coal for both?.....people really knew how to live back in the day!

No you had to bring the coal in on New Years, if you had dark hair. You have to run through the house saying "New years in!"

 

[Spaceflower]

Thinking about how nice it would be to have a real fire on a night like this, I remember that in our old house we used to have a coal scuttle by the fire, and a stand that contained a poker, brush and small dustpan. Most of the older houses in the village would have had these, but they gradually fell out of fashion as more people had central heating fitted and did away with their coal fires. Nowadays, wood burners are becoming more popular again.

I still have a VHS machine in the living room and there's still a shelf full of VHS tapes, although neither sees any use.

My recently fitted bathroom still has separate hot/cold taps.

This. Pokers, skuttles and fireguards. Dark decor to hide the coal dust (brown carpets and sofas).
Coal bunkers (Also served as sanctuary's that protected children from the killer sharks aka dog).
Walkmans, VHS player and Hi-Fi's with tape player and record player (and videos on loan from the video man).
Net curtains.
Massive things in the corner that had their own gravitational field - TV's they were called.
Phones that you had to rotate the dial for each number....and god help you if you need to use one now. 'Please press option 3 for customer services' 'ARGHHHH!'
Yellow Pages and BT phonebook. I used to like colouring in the trucks.
Ashtrays - not many puffers about now.

 

[yorksrob]

cycling proficiency badge

No. I was one of only two people in my class to fail it. (Still grates).