Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[cb a1]

Aka a Toffee Paper. That was part of the uniform of those elderly ladies of yore. Very sadly I think the last of them had shuffled of their fur-lined boots, overcoats, little round spectacles and tartan shopping trollies by the end of the 1970s.

I bought some for my Mum on ebay in the summer. She is in her mid-80s.

 

[Killingworth]

Petrol coupons, last used in the UK in 1956/7. Issued as a precaution in 1973 but not required. I've still got mine.

I see I should have passed them on to the new owner of the car I had then!



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[Trackman]

Petrol coupons, last used in the UK in 1956/7. Issued as a precaution in 1973 but not required. I've still got mine.

I see I should have passed them on to the new owner of the car I had then!

What were N and L units in terms of rationing?

I see this for 1501-2200 CC, did you have a big fancy car?

 

[Killingworth]

What were N and L units in terms of rationing?

I see this for 1501-2200 CC, did you have a big fancy car?

1750 Austin Maxi

 

[GordonT]

Semaphore signals (on cars).

 

[Ashley Hill]

Semaphore signals (on cars).

Trafficators.

 

[Tester]

Petrol coupons, last used in the UK in 1956/7. Issued as a precaution in 1973 but not required. I've still got mine.

I see I should have passed them on to the new owner of the car I had then!

View attachment 167994View attachment 167995

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I got mine (for a 50cc motorcycle) duly stamped from the post office at Thurso (as one does).

I won't have thrown them away!

 

[Benters]

Trafficators.

I remember being ferried around my late auntie's grey Morris Minor with my slightly older cousin when I was a nipper. I always looked on in wonderment when the trafficator with it's orange flashing light used to appear out of the B-pillar when my auntie was making a turn.

 

[MotCO]

I've always wondered why they used trafficators - it must have been a complex mechanical system, when yellow flashing indicators would have been much simpler and more obvious.

(Did trafficators actually flash, or just light up? My Dad's old Ford Poplar didn't. They were mounted just in front of the front doors rather than on the door pillar, and were not very obvious.)

 

[cool110]

I've always wondered why they used trafficators - it must have been a complex mechanical system, when yellow flashing indicators would have been much simpler and more obvious.

(Did trafficators actually flash, or just light up? My Dad's old Ford Poplar didn't. They were mounted just in front of the front doors rather than on the door pillar, and were not very obvious.)

They didn't flash, and that's the key point. Making a light flash in the days before microchips existed would have been a more complex electromechanical system, than the simple pneumatic or cable operated trafficator.

 

[MotCO]

They didn't flash, and that's the key point. Making a light flash in the days before microchips existed would have been a more complex electromechanical system, than the simple pneumatic or cable operated trafficator.

Would you need microchips? Is there not a simple heat / expanding metal switch which would make the lights flash?

 

[McRhu]

They didn't flash, and that's the key point. Making a light flash in the days before microchips existed would have been a more complex electromechanical system, than the simple pneumatic or cable operated trafficator.

There's a thing... Do the trafficators on restored vintage cars need to flash to comply with current requirements? Reminds me of the system of hand signals in the Highway Code of old where drivers could indicate turning left, turning right or slowing down, etc, by sticking their arm out of the window and gesturing. The only hand signals I've seen drivers give in recent years owe very little to that publication.

 

[stuartl]

Would you need microchips? Is there not a simple heat / expanding metal switch which would make the lights flash?

Isn't that the type of thing that the first flashing indicators used ? I seem to remember a small canister device.

 

[cool110]

Would you need microchips? Is there not a simple heat / expanding metal switch which would make the lights flash?

Yes, but trafficators were invented before that.

There's a thing... Do the trafficators on restored vintage cars need to flash to comply with current requirements?

No like all of these thing they only have to comply with the requirements of the first registration date, but it is common to convert them anyway.

 

[najaB]

Isn't that the type of thing that the first flashing indicators used ? I seem to remember a small canister device.

Yes, they used a bi-metalic switch. Funny thing about them was that in most cases if one of the bulbs blew the indicator would flash faster.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Reminds me of the system of hand signals in the Highway Code of old where drivers could indicate turning left, turning right or slowing down, etc, by sticking their arm out of the window and gesturing. The only hand signals I've seen drivers give in recent years owe very little to that publication.

Brilliant

I recall seeing motorists in the 1970s still using hand signals, to show "slowing down". Normally accompanied by dubious fumes and a rapidly expiring car engine...

 

[MotCO]

Yes, they used a bi-metalic switch. Funny thing about them was that in most cases if one of the bulbs blew the indicator would flash faster.

But it would alert you to the fact that a bulb had blown. Similarly, headlights perched on top of bonnets on old cars used to have a little glass dome in the top of the light so you could see if it was lit.

 

[swt_passenger]

Brilliant

I recall seeing motorists in the 1970s still using hand signals, to show "slowing down". Normally accompanied by dubious fumes and a rapidly expiring car engine...

Still being practically tested when I got my licence In ‘74. Are they in the theory test nowadays?

I remember there were also specific hand signals to tell a policeman on ‘point duty’ at a busy junction which direction you wanted to go, and in the 70s you’d still see police controlling junctions in some areas.

 

[52290]

Locoshed books. Here's mine from 1958.

 

[DelW]

Brilliant

I recall seeing motorists in the 1970s still using hand signals, to show "slowing down". Normally accompanied by dubious fumes and a rapidly expiring car engine...

Still being practically tested when I got my licence In ‘74. Are they in the theory test nowadays?

I think they're long gone, modern cars have too high a waistline {window sill level) for hand signals to be practical. I commented to a passenger when driving recently that even with the window fully opened, it's very awkward to get your arm out far enough.

 

[Ashley Hill]

The last time I used handsignals was when my left indicators packed up. I wonder if anyone understood them? I did impress a policeman on point duty some years ago by giving him the I Wish To Go Straight Ahead signal at a road junction, I think he was rather taken aback before waving me on my way with a smile.

 

[swt_passenger]

I read in a book a few weeks ago the word ‘pantechnicon’ - how many people would use that in normal conversation nowadays? IIRC in the 60s it was in fairly common use for a removals or furniture delivery van?

 

[dangie]

Going back a bit to vehicle windscreen wipers.

This was before I was old enough to drive (1950’s) but did wipers work off a vacuum system? If so, and if I remember correctly, the speed of the wipers would vary depending on the speed of the vehicle. I’m pretty sure, but maybe I’ve got this back to front, is that as the vehicle got faster the wipers would go slower, which in reality is the opposite of what you wanted them to do.

 

[Howardh]

Cars with a sign in the back "Running In".

 

[GordonT]

I recall a matronly school teacher in bygone days complaining of engine trouble with her car. Her car maintenance garage proprietor accompanied her on a short drive to investigate the problem. He noticed that on entering the vehicle her first action was to pull out the choke lever to the fullest extent in order to hang her handbag on it .........

 

[cool110]

This was before I was old enough to drive (1950’s) but did wipers work off a vacuum system?

Yes. My grandad was once on a long journey with it raining most of the time, couldn't turn them off when it stopped as presumably the valve had jammed open.

 

[McRhu]

I recall a matronly school teacher in bygone days complaining of engine trouble with her car. Her car maintenance garage proprietor accompanied her on a short drive to investigate the problem. He noticed that on entering the vehicle her first action was to pull out the choke lever to the fullest extent in order to hang her handbag on it .........

A haaaandbaaaag?!! (cf. well written, anachrontastic plays and scripts)

 

[Westinghouse]

Going back a bit to vehicle windscreen wipers.

This was before I was old enough to drive (1950’s) but did wipers work off a vacuum system? If so, and if I remember correctly, the speed o right down f the wipers would vary depending on the speed of the vehicle. I’m pretty sure, but maybe I’ve got this back to front, is that as the vehicle got faster the wipers would go slower, which in reality is the opposite of what you wanted them to do.

An old Ford Popular (sit up and beg variety) I had used the same system. It worked on manifold depression. When you put your foot down on the accelerator the wipers slowed right down - or stopped! On an even throttle or overrun they worked ok (ish)

 

[Ediswan]

Going back a bit to vehicle windscreen wipers.

This was before I was old enough to drive (1950’s) but did wipers work off a vacuum system? If so, and if I remember correctly, the speed of the wipers would vary depending on the speed of the vehicle. I’m pretty sure, but maybe I’ve got this back to front, is that as the vehicle got faster the wipers would go slower, which in reality is the opposite of what you wanted them to do.

Sounds about right. The vacuum would come from the inlet manifold. Manifold pressure increases (less vacuum) with engine load/power. Conversely, engine braking reduces the manifold pressure, so more vacuum.

 

[Sun Chariot]

These confectionary tins are in my local farm shop. I owned a mono cassette player and video tapes just like 'em....