Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[Bald Rick]

Shops that opened half an hour or an hour later one day, e.g. Wednesday, a week for staff training. I seem to recall this was particularly a thing with shoe shops for some reason?

Still happens ! Often at Banks for some reason.

 

[PeterC]

I see a couple of people remember the old £10 cash cards. Once, when on relief duty at another branch I had to fill the packets. At the end of the job I found that I had a pound note left over.

I remember the 1st generation of mag stripe reading ATMs. Transactions were recorded on an audio cassette which was read by the central system overnight.

 

[GordonT]

Not sure if it’s because freezers or freezer compartments within fridges are more efficient or defrosting of same is now deemed a hassle but either way the onetime regularity of defrosting seems to have declined.

 

[JamesT]

Not sure if it’s because freezers or freezer compartments within fridges are more efficient or defrosting of same is now deemed a hassle but either way the onetime regularity of defrosting seems to have declined.

I suspect that 'frost-free' freezers where the mechanism prevents the build up of ice has become the norm, whereas it used to be a feature reserved for the better models.

 

[jfollows]

I suspect that 'frost-free' freezers where the mechanism prevents the build up of ice has become the norm, whereas it used to be a feature reserved for the better models.

Yes, I really ought to replace my ~1985 vintage South African fridge freezer, I turned off the freezer years ago because I was fed up with the icebergs!

 

[GordonT]

Mothballs.

 

[The exile]

Despite the quality of the M&S schmutter back then, I suspect the jacket and trousers may have 'shrunk' over the past three decades and might no-longer button up properly around my belly.

Strange. That’s happened to a lot of my older clothes too - regardless of where I bought them!!!

 

[swt_passenger]

Still happens ! Often at Banks for some reason.

My GP practice still has a training hour once a week.

 

[simonw]

Mothballs.

Still in everyday use, in fact maybe slightly more common in some places.

 

[D6130]

Mothballs.

My wife still uses them. Her grandfather ran a general store in Nidderdale and when he retired her mother - and eventually she herself - inherited large proportion of the stock. Now - as well as the aforementioned mothballs - we have a house full of beautifully-bound, marbled-edged £SD cash books.

 

[GordonT]

Still in everyday use, in fact maybe slightly more common in some places.

Interesting. I wonder if more will come out of the woodwork (so to speak).

 

[simonw]

Interesting. I wonder if more will come out of the woodwork (so to speak).

Well I think the warmer weather we've experienced over the past few years has encouraged them.

 

[GordonT]

Well I think the warmer weather we've experienced over the past few years has encouraged them.

Have mothballs in current use changed at all in appearance or aroma compared to those which would have been used decades ago?

 

[styles]

Shops that opened half an hour or an hour later one day, e.g. Wednesday, a week for staff training. I seem to recall this was particularly a thing with shoe shops for some reason?

A lot of shops near me appear to do this, perhaps not for training though.

The travel agency opens later on a Monday to give the team a brief on offers and a pep talk - I only know this because I saw it going on one day through the window.

The butchers and the bakers (no candlestick maker unfortunately) have a day a week where they shut earlier for a deep clean.

Might be more of a thing with independent places, idk.

 

[simonw]

Have mothballs in current use changed at all in appearance or aroma compared to those which would have been used decades ago?

No idea I'm afraid. I imagine their composition may have changed.

 

[3141]

No idea I'm afraid. I imagine their composition may have changed.

I think mothballs in the past were made (at least partly) from camphor. A related use was by anyone who had a collection of butterflies or moths in display cases. There was an insect (whose name I don't know) which would get into the cases and eat - or its larvae ate - the bodies of the butterflies on display. A small block of camphor in the corner would fix the invaders.

You used to be able to buy small blocks of camphor from almost any chemist. They are now hard to find, though intermittently available on line. I've read that the camphor tree is very invasive and is some kind of public enemy in the warmer parts of the USA.

Camphor had and still has many uses, but if ingested can be toxic.

There is also synthetic camphor. It's quite likely, but I don't know, that the blocks I used to get from the chemist were of this type.

 

[styles]

Computer fairs.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2025 ==

AA Boxes at the roadside - what were they for? Telephoning for assistance maybe?

Yes.

Well, first they were for AA patrol use only.

In the very early days of general public being able to access them, AA members were actually issued with a key which would unlock them to call for assistance.

When RAC joined the game, the keys were largely ditched and there would be separate buttons for AA, RAC, 999, breakdown other than AA/RAC, and switchboard.

Then the whole roadside assistance game was wide open and for the most part the highways authorities (e.g. Highways England, Transport Scotland, etc) started running things and that's how we ended up with the nice orange SOS boxes.

No doubt, much like red telephone boxes, there will be people who have these AA sentry boxes next to their country house gates now as a novelty.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Computer fairs.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2025 ==



Yes.

Well, first they were for AA patrol use only.

In the very early days of general public being able to access them, AA members were actually issued with a key which would unlock them to call for assistance.

When RAC joined the game, the keys were largely ditched and there would be separate buttons for AA, RAC, 999, breakdown other than AA/RAC, and switchboard.

Then the whole roadside assistance game was wide open and for the most part the highways authorities (e.g. Highways England, Transport Scotland, etc) started running things and that's how we ended up with the nice orange SOS boxes.

No doubt, much like red telephone boxes, there will be people who have these AA sentry boxes next to their country house gates now as a novelty.

Maybe I'm showing my age but it doesn't seem that long go that AA members were given a key to unlock the boxes.
Inside was a standard GPO telephone and the system relied on your honesty to only use it for emergency calls to the AA.
There were also staffed AA centres - there was a very impressive at Junction 15 M1 - and there were also ones in some towns - I remember collected my AA book one year from one in Watford. The AA book listed, by town, recommended accommodation (with stars and prices) and repair garages - both displayed 'AA Approved' signs.
I'm fairly sure all this was still operational in the mid - 1980s.
Obviously before mobile phones the only way to contact the AA in the event of a breakdown was by landline phone, unless you were near a staffed centre. When I drove vehicles that I worried were likely to break down I looked out for red phone boxes and tried to remember the route back to them. Of course in those days vehicles gave plenty of warning of imminent breakdown, and some repairs could be made by the driver. No-one then phoned the AA to change a wheel, for instance.
Then the AA ceased being an association and became a business, and everything changed. But I remember members received a cheque to represent their share of the value of the business.
When I broke down in rural Northamptonshire once and I called the AA on his arrival I noticed that there was a shotgun and some game on the passenger side of the van...

 

[styles]

Maybe I'm showing my age but it doesn't seem that long go that AA members were given a key to unlock the boxes.
Inside was a standard GPO telephone and the system relied on your honesty to only use it for emergency calls to the AA.
There were also staffed AA centres - there was a very impressive at Junction 15 M1 - and there were also ones in some towns - I remember collected my AA book one year from one in Watford. The AA book listed, by town, recommended accommodation (with stars and prices) and repair garages - both displayed 'AA Approved' signs.
I'm fairly sure all this was still operational in the mid - 1980s.
Obviously before mobile phones the only way to contact the AA in the event of a breakdown was by landline phone, unless you were near a staffed centre. When I drove vehicles that I worried were likely to break down I looked out for red phone boxes and tried to remember the route back to them. Of course in those days vehicles gave plenty of warning of imminent breakdown, and some repairs could be made by the driver. No-one then phoned the AA to change a wheel, for instance.
Then the AA ceased being an association and became a business, and everything changed. But I remember members received a cheque to represent their share of the value of the business.
When I broke down in rural Northamptonshire once and I called the AA on his arrival I noticed that there was a shotgun and some game on the passenger side of the van...

And indeed the AA was founded by cyclists, who would patrol speed traps carrying flags to alert road users.

Roads Were Not Built For Cars | AA was founded as ‘speed trap’ foiler; spotters were cyclists

Cyclists were 1st to push for good roads & were pioneers of motoring

roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com

(I won't add a quote from the page as it's a long article with a lot of detail with no relevant summary beyond my own above!).

I long for a time that different types of road users were out there to help each other out, rather than be divided by who's been allocated however much road space or whatever the Telegraph has published to stoke up division today.

 

[simonw]

If we are,talking about the AA (apologies if in 104 pages this,has,been mentioned already), you used as a member be able to write in and get a route from A,to B drawn up and posted back to you. I had a, summer job in the 1970s pulling together the routes based on what a,permanent member of staff had,selected. The member of staff would top and tail it with details of the start and finish of the route.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Maybe I'm showing my age but it doesn't seem that long go that AA members were given a key to unlock the boxes.

Likely to have been some time prior to 2002. That's when the AA stopped maintaining their roadside boxes.

 

[philjo]

If we are,talking about the AA (apologies if in 104 pages this,has,been mentioned already), you used as a member be able to write in and get a route from A,to B drawn up and posted back to you. I had a, summer job in the 1970s pulling together the routes based on what a,permanent member of staff had,selected. The member of staff would top and tail it with details of the start and finish of the route.

I found a couple of these recently that my father would have requested in the early 1980s. They had preprinted pages stapled together to make a complete route.
I remember navigating using the later versions which were bespoke printed routes.

 

[AndyPJG]

And indeed the AA was founded by cyclists, who would patrol speed traps carrying flags to alert road users.

Roads Were Not Built For Cars | AA was founded as ‘speed trap’ foiler; spotters were cyclists

Cyclists were 1st to push for good roads & were pioneers of motoring

roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com

(I won't add a quote from the page as it's a long article with a lot of detail with no relevant summary beyond my own above!).

I long for a time that different types of road users were out there to help each other out, rather than be divided by who's been allocated however much road space or whatever the Telegraph has published to stoke up division today.

And of course a motorcycle patrolman would salute you on spotting your car badge. Rumour had it that if he didn't salute it was likely a policeman was in the area looking for speeders.

I found a couple of these recently that my father would have requested in the early 1980s. They had preprinted pages stapled together to make a complete route.
I remember navigating using the later versions which were bespoke printed routes.

My father requested one of these, on our return from Cyprus to Liverpool in Dec 1959, from Liverpool Princes Landing stage to Grandmother's home in Salisbury. Very clever set-up (pre-motorway), a series of stripmaps between key towns (eg Liverpool to Chester etc). The clever bit was each sheet had the route in reverse on the other side, so the booklet was good for the reverse journey by flipping it over.

 

[Jimini]

LAN "parties", anyone?

 

[Merle Haggard]

If we are,talking about the AA (apologies if in 104 pages this,has,been mentioned already), you used as a member be able to write in and get a route from A,to B drawn up and posted back to you. I had a, summer job in the 1970s pulling together the routes based on what a,permanent member of staff had,selected. The member of staff would top and tail it with details of the start and finish of the route.

That's jogged my memory!
They also supplied a 'Routes From' map of G.B. for your requested town. On the map it showed (in ?grey, superimposed on the roads) the quickest routes radiating from your chosen town. Useful to know, for instance from. here, whether towns in the North and Scotland were reached more quickly using the M1/M6 or A1 as the trunk route. Like a sat-nav, it sometimes gave suggestions that wouldn't have occurred to you, but were quicker.
Possibly this replaced the individual reply.

 

[GordonT]

Viewing galleries at many airports for enthusiasts and anyone else to watch planes arriving and departing. Less common now (are there any left in the UK?) presumably for security reasons and more profitable use of available space?

 

[swt_passenger]

Well, first they were for AA patrol use only.

In the very early days of general public being able to access them, AA members were actually issued with a key which would unlock them to call for assistance.

When RAC joined the game, the keys were largely ditched and there would be separate buttons for AA, RAC, 999, breakdown other than AA/RAC, and switchboard.

IIRC when the full size ‘walk in‘ AA and RAC boxes were still commonplace they used the same key and you could contact either network. Later on they gradually reduced in size until keys were largely unnecessary.

Then the whole roadside assistance game was wide open and for the most part the highways authorities (e.g. Highways England, Transport Scotland, etc) started running things and that's how we ended up with the nice orange SOS boxes.

However boxes fitted by the highways authorities had a slightly different role, as they were introduced specifically for motorways and high speed dual carriageways which were considered high risk. But they didn’t ever intend to cover the whole road network.

No doubt, much like red telephone boxes, there will be people who have these AA sentry boxes next to their country house gates now as a novelty.

Seems that some of the small number of full size AA boxes that still exist are now listed buildings. Which seems amazing really, given they’re little more than posh wooden huts.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Cr

Viewing galleries at many airports for enthusiasts and anyone else to watch planes arriving and departing. Less common now (are there any left in the UK?) presumably for security reasons and more profitable use of available space?

I remember watching Concorde's arrival from public viewing area at Heathrow. Too young to know which terminal - it was in 1979-1980.

 

[swt_passenger]

I remember watching Concorde's arrival from public viewing area at Heathrow. Too young to know which terminal - it was in 1979-1980.

I think at that time the Heathrow public viewing area was on the roof of the ‘Queen’s building’ which was an admin building rather than a terminal?

 

[cool110]

Viewing galleries at many airports for enthusiasts and anyone else to watch planes arriving and departing. Less common now (are there any left in the UK?) presumably for security reasons and more profitable use of available space?

Manchester has the visitor park near the end of the main runway next to Concorde's hanger. Over in the Netherlands Eindhoven delt with the last question by making the viewing balcony part of the main landside bar/restaurant.