Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[dgl]

Here's something interesting seen in an antiques shop in Swanage, a gas heated but manually driven washing machine.
Didn't think to get a close up of the instructions but was designed to be attached to the gas supply as and when needed, I guess like a bunsen burner would be.

 

[AM9]

Here's something interesting seen in an antiques shop in Swanage, a gas heated but manually driven washing machine.
Didn't think to get a close up of the instructions but was designed to be attached to the gas supply as and when needed, I guess like a bunsen burner would be.

Like a free standing as cooker usually is, - by a self-sealing bayonet plug/socket arrangement.

 

[najaB]

Here's something interesting seen in an antiques shop in Swanage, a gas heated but manually driven washing machine.

Still relatively common in commercial settings.

 

[GordonT]

Something once common in multiple venues but not seen as much now. Black noticeboards with holes into which individual white letters and numbers were inserted in order to display such things as opening times, prices for different products etc.

 

[Trackman]

Something once common in multiple venues but not seen as much now. Black noticeboards with holes into which individual white letters and numbers were inserted in order to display such things as opening times, prices for different products etc.

They always remind me of chip shops or greasy spoon cafés.







Description of photo:

The image shows a rectangular black pegboard-style chip shop menu, with the word “MENU” in red at the top. The prices are arranged in two columns labeled S (small) and L (large).

The menu reads:

• Chips: S £3.10, L £4.50
• Cod: S £6.80, L £9.10
• Haddock: S £6.80, L £9.10
• Plaice: L £9.10
• Scampi (10): L £7.30
• Fish cake: L £2.70
• Cod roe: L £2.70
• Pies: L £3.60
• Plain / Battered Sausage: £2.40
• Saveloy: £2.40
• Fried chicken: £2.10
• Chicken breast: £2.40

The lettering is mostly red, yellow, and white. The sign is photographed at a slight angle, and part of a blue-and-white sign or wall is visible along the left edge.

 

[WesternLancer]

They always remind me of chip shops or greasy spoon cafés.


View attachment 209735




Description of photo:

Do you mean there’s actually places other than those that use / used them?

 

[GusB]

Do you mean there’s actually places other than those that use / used them?

Both of my local pubs had them until fairly recently and I'm fairly sure I've seen them in barber shops. I don't think my local chippy uses one any longer, but it certainly used to.

Of course now that it's easy to print things out, many of these signs will have been replaced by various laminated A4 sheets displaying such wonderful typefaces as Comic San's...

 

[Trackman]

Do you mean there’s actually places other than those that use / used them?

Seen them in hotels e.g 'RailUK forums AGM on the second floor'
Plus all my old school form photos used them.

 

[dgl]

Like a free standing as cooker usually is, - by a self-sealing bayonet plug/socket arrangement.

This seemed to be just a push fit, not a proper bayonet connector.

And as another poster said. Yes commercial stuff can still be gas powered but the heating part would normally be separate to the machine, or used for powering the dryers.
All but one of our commercial dryers at work are LPG, with the main launderettes four machines running off our bulk supply and our two running off 47KG bottles. Having dryers as powerful as the gas ones running on electric would need a decent amount of power so gas is more practical, the two washers alone we've got each need their own 32A radial as unlike the launderette ones they don't have a hot feed.

 

[SargeNpton]

Here's something interesting seen in an antiques shop in Swanage, a gas heated but manually driven washing machine.
Didn't think to get a close up of the instructions but was designed to be attached to the gas supply as and when needed, I guess like a bunsen burner would be.

Similarly, mains gas powered fridges in homes.

We had one in the late 60s/early 70s, and I never could grasp the principle that burning gas could cause the fridge to be cold.

 

[The exile]

There's a distinction to be made here which on the face of it may seem pedantic but is actually quite important.

Nobody has a "right of way" on the roads, not even pedestrians.

Yes and no - because “right of way” has two different meanings (in common usage if not in law). No-one automatically has “right of way” in the sense of “priority over others” - but pedestrians do have right of way in the sense that they are on the highway by right, as opposed to to drivers who are there only by license.

 

[najaB]

We had one in the late 60s/early 70s, and I never could grasp the principle that burning gas could cause the fridge to be cold.

Seems that heating a gas and compressing a gas have the same net effect. So instead of "Compress the gas and then let it cool, let the dense, cool gas absorb heat from the stuff you want to cool" it becomes "Heat the gas, then let it cool and become dense..."
Let me think about that again, I was double-dipping.

Okay, I had to do a little Googling - I forgot that there are two types of refrigeration cycle. Gas-powered refrigerators use the vapor absorption cycle rather than the vapour compression cycle that's more commonly used in electrically powered appliances. In short, the absorption cycle uses a the difference in partial pressure of a liquid mix as it absorbs and rejects heat:

In the absorption system, the compressor is replaced by an absorber and a generator. The absorber dissolves the refrigerant in a suitable liquid (dilute solution) and therefore the dilute solution becomes a strong solution. In the generator, on heat addition, the temperature increases, and with it, the partial pressure of the refrigerant vapor is released from the strong solution.

 

[dgl]

And some mobile caravans, campervans and narrowboats will still have a fridge that can be run on gas.

 

[Bald Rick]

They always remind me of chip shops or greasy spoon cafés.


View attachment 209735




Description of photo:

Do you mean there’s actually places other than those that use / used them?

Several coffee shops I frequent use them - modern chic I guess.

 

[BeeBus]

In Family Guy there was a classic scene where Mayor Adam West had run out of letters for his desk sign of this type which led him to shout "Nobody messes with Adam We"!

 

[WesternLancer]

Several coffee shops I frequent use them - modern chic I guess.

Interesting - now I think of the examples mentioned I do recall occasionally seeing the style in occasional other uses

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==

In Family Guy there was a classic scene where Mayor Adam West had run out of letters for his desk sign of this type which led him to shout "Nobody messes with Adam We"!

 

[Tester]

My father told a story of his work canteen having such a display.

One of the desserts was 'Eve's Pudding' - it wasn't much appreciated.

One day it became 'Evil Pudding', then later 'Vile Pudding'.

After that the menu changed.

 

[Jon_jpwh]

Has SOS messages been mentioned. These were broadcast on the radio, usually to try and trace close relatives of people who were seriously ill.

 

[GordonT]

Has SOS messages been mentioned. These were broadcast on the radio, usually to try and trace close relatives of people who were seriously ill.

See Post #1 which spawned the subsequent 4,757 posts.

 

[styles]

Of course now that it's easy to print things out, many of these signs will have been replaced by various laminated A4 sheets displaying such wonderful typefaces as Comic San's...

Comic San's what?

 

[35B]

Comic San's what?

A sign of idiocy?

 

[GusB]

Comic San's what?

A sign of idiocy?

I think it was a reference to my erroneous apostrophe; in-house printed signage tends to exhibit them quite often and it's inclusion was intentional!

 

[styles]

I think it was a reference to my erroneous apostrophe; in-house printed signage tends to exhibit them quite often and it's inclusion was intentional!

Was it really?

 

[GordonT]

Are examples of bottled milk which incorporate a generous layer of cream at the top of the milk still on sale?

 

[styles]

Are examples of bottled milk which incorporate a generous layer of cream at the top of the milk still on sale?

I find it's quite regional. When I'm up in Scotland, or with family in Wales, you can get Graham's 'gold top', which comes in two forms - one with the cream on the top, one without. I always buy the cream version, and usually finish the litre bottle in a single day.

https://www.tesco.com/shop/en-GB/products/306501037

https://www.tesco.com/shop/en-GB/products/311785228

Elsewhere I find it's patchy with the supermarkets, and more often something you have to go to a farm or a farm shop or maybe butchers for.

 

[DelW]

Are examples of bottled milk which incorporate a generous layer of cream at the top of the milk still on sale?

I'm not sure whether you're meaning extra-creamy milk (often called gold-top from the foil cap, or "Channel Islands" from the Jersey or Guernsey breeds of cow); or just normal whole milk that's not homogenised, so that its cream floats and separates.

But either way, my local dairy offers both, and I have two pints of the latter delivered every week. I give it a good shake on arrival, and occasionally a gentler shake during storage.

 

[kkong]

Something once common in multiple venues but not seen as much now. Black noticeboards with holes into which individual white letters and numbers were inserted in order to display such things as opening times, prices for different products etc.

There's several pubs in Dundee and a handful in Aberdeen which still have these for the drink prices.

These boards often end up with repurposed numbers and letters "standing in" for the original digits which have been lost over time,

The two example below are from Halley's Bar on Hilltown and The Phoenix on Nethergate respectively, both taken in 2022 but still extant now.

 

[GordonT]

I'm not sure whether you're meaning extra-creamy milk (often called gold-top from the foil cap, or "Channel Islands" from the Jersey or Guernsey breeds of cow); or just normal whole milk that's not homogenised, so that its cream floats and separates.

I meant the latter. In my younger years (1960s/1970s) the default option for normal bottled milk from my recollection was cream at the top, such that arguments would sometimes occur within the family about whose turn it was to get the first part of a new bottle of milk on their cereal or whatever.

 

[DelW]

I meant the latter. In my younger years (1960s/1970s) the default option for normal bottled milk from my recollection was cream at the top, such that arguments would sometimes occur within the family about whose turn it was to get the first part of a new bottle of milk on their cereal or whatever.

Fortunately as a one-person household I don't encounter that problem! Though sometimes if I've allowed the bottle to stand too long (or possibly it's been stood pre-delivery), I have to use a skewer to dislodge the near-solid plug of cream in the neck. To me it does seem to taste creamier than the homogenised equivalent, though I wouldn't want to put that to a blind-tasting test.

 

[WesternLancer]

There's several pubs in Dundee and a handful in Aberdeen which still have these for the drink prices.

These boards often end up with repurposed numbers and letters "standing in" for the original digits which have been lost over time,

The two example below are from Halley's Bar on Hilltown and The Phoenix on Nethergate respectively, both taken in 2022 but still extant now.

View attachment 209887

View attachment 209888

Superb examples