Enduring anachronisms

[GordonT]

The converse of my other thread "Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now". In other words features of contemporary living (of all kinds) which could reasonably be considered to be anachronistic but appear destined to continue ad infinitum for good or ill.
Opening the bidding with football matches (and on occasion other sports) continuing to disrupt the schedules of "mainstream" TV channels despite the proliferation of alternative channels which now exist.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

In a similar vein, events like the snooker matches jumping from one channel to another sometimes at hourly intervals instead of being broadcast continuously in the one place... another thing which is totally unnecessary because, as you say, there are so many channels now.

 

[AlterEgo]

Hand car washes.

 

[brad465]

Landlines/handsets (although these are in decline).

Also, Division Lobby voting and some of the Monarchies' oldest traditions, including the State Opening of Parliament.

 

[swt_passenger]

Referring to ‘telegraph poles’ when they carry everything except telegraphs…

 

[Sorcerer]

This is a personally-lived example I'm making in the heat of the moment (no pun intended), but without a doubt gas central heating. I get the impression people will gladly hold on to it because they need heating in winter even though air conditioners can do that with greater efficiency as well as provide cooling in summer. But I'll accept there's a chance history will prove me wrong on this one.

 

[The exile]

Hand car washes.

Far more of them in recent years than 40-50 years ago. Suspect in many cases that it’s not just the car that’s.getting “laundered”.

 

[AlterEgo]

Far more of them in recent years than 40-50 years ago. Suspect in many cases that it’s not just the car that’s.getting “laundered”.

Indeed. Perhaps not so much an enduring anachronism but one in "revival"!

 

[The exile]

No idea how to quote from the other anachronisms thread - about the share prices. As with legal notices, road closures etc, one positive thing about publishing them in print is that it leaves no doubt as to what official information was available at what time. Anything online can be hacked and altered (or at least enough doubt sown as to what is the original publication. Difficult to do that with physical copies archived in multiple different places. Also a reason why paper timetables are important.

 

[gg1]

Some example of anachronisitic imagery
A 3.5" floppy disc as the save icon in numerous software packages
A steam loco on the UK road sign for an ungated level crossing
The handset of a 1960s/70s style landline phone used as the phone icon on modern smartphones

 

[OuterDistant]

Indeed. Perhaps not so much an enduring anachronism but one in "revival"!

I think it might be the only industry to have been deautomated!

 

[Brightonboy]

Far more of them in recent years than 40-50 years ago. Suspect in many cases that it’s not just the car that’s.getting “laundered”.

If local rumours are to be believed then one of our edge of town car washes has a 'back room' where gentlemen can benefit from some 'hand work' whilst their cars get hand washed out front.... And, no, I have no intention of gaining first hand evidence....

 

[37025]

Some example of anachronisitic imagery
A 3.5" floppy disc as the save icon in numerous software packages
A steam loco on the UK road sign for an ungated level crossing
The handset of a 1960s/70s style landline phone used as the phone icon on modern smartphones

And the 1960's Leyland Leopard(?) bus on bus stop signs, and no buses warning signs.

 

[GordonT]

The preponderance in private and public spaces of separate "hot" and "cold" taps on "wash-hand basins" with no scope for adjusting the heat of the emission from the "hot" tap which potentially might be discovered to be overly tepid or overly scalding.

 

[eastwestdivide]

The preponderance in private and public spaces of separate "hot" and "cold" taps on "wash-hand basins" with no scope for adjusting the heat of the emission from the "hot" tap which potentially might be discovered to be overly tepid or overly scalding.

Worse in public loos when they don't provide a sink plug!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jun 2026 ==

Enduring anachronism - people at the end of platforms writing down numbers in notebooks and carefully underlining the numbers in a printed book later?

 

[styles]

• The Shipping Forecast, despite more modern methods of obtaining the forecast both while on land and while out at sea
• Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, going strong since at least 1836
• Black Rod's ceremonies in the state opening of Parliament, since at least 1642
• Voting in the houses of Parliament by walking into aye/no antechambers when we could easily have electronic voting
• The speed/enforcement camera sign on roads being a Victorian bellows camera
• Asking a female partner's father for his permission to propose to his daughter

 

[Henffordd]

A steam loco on the UK road sign for an ungated level crossing

... and on a passport stamp when travelling by Eurostar.

 

[The exile]

... and on a passport stamp when travelling by Eurostar.

Try distinguishing the symbols on google maps for station and bus stop with slightly iffy eyes and a pictogram of a steam loco is suddenly very appealing!

 

[styles]

Try distinguishing the symbols on google maps for station and bus stop with slightly iffy eyes and a pictogram of a steam loco is suddenly very appealing!

I'm not sure people with iffy eyes should be driving!

 

[The exile]

I'm not sure people with iffy eyes should be driving!

I assure you there’s a vast difference between distinguishing between two almost identical icons on a small screen and both hazard perception and reading signs etc when driving. If you’re trying to read Google Maps whilst driving, there’s definitely something wrong!

 

[norbitonflyer]

Hand car washes.

Indeed, although I think name of the "Hook hand car wash" near the A3 suggests it might be less kind to your paint than even the mechanical ones!

 

[81A]

Driver bus ticket sales (outside London). Despite card/phone payments being common (and the app often being cheaper), the old fashioned driver issued paper single still lives on.

 

[PeterY]

I know their days are numbered but national rail tickets that still use "magnetic stripes" for use on the underground.

 

[81A]

I know their days are numbered but national rail tickets that still use "magnetic stripes" for use on the underground.

They still linger on for non underground journeys! Older ticket machines/ordering tickets by post are often good ways to get them for non TFL travel.

 

[pdq]

Some example of anachronisitic imagery

Another one - the reasonably standard sign for an EV charging point which has the front end of something like an Austin 1100 with a massive 3 pin plug.

 

[High Dyke]

Driver bus ticket sales (outside London). Despite card/phone payments being common (and the app often being cheaper), the old fashioned driver issued paper single still lives on.

Jolly good. If I'm an infrequent visitor to a particular city or infrequent user of buses in that particular location, then why should I need to download an app, if able to, just to purchase one off tickets on the day?

 

[Oxfordblues]

The phrase "You wait ages for a bus and three turn-up at once". This may have been true in the 1970s when bus-bunching was an issue (not helped by some drivers holding-back until they had a convoy!) but is surely an anachronism now. Mainly expressed by non-bus-users attempting to be clever/funny I suspect.

 

[gg1]

The phrase "You wait ages for a bus and three turn-up at once". This may have been true in the 1970s when bus-bunching was an issue (not helped by some drivers holding-back until they had a convoy!) but is surely an anachronism now. Mainly expressed by non-bus-users attempting to be clever/funny I suspect.

I'm only a very occasional bus user now (as in a handful of times a year) but I've experienced that a few times the past 5-10 years and it was definitely a common occurence when I used to commute by bus in the late 90s/early 00s.

 

[Cross City]

Landlines/handsets (although these are in decline).

I'm surprised anybody still has a landline. What are they for apart from receiving spam calls on?

I moved out of my childhood home at 18 nearly 2 decades ago and never even thought about having a landline phone and there hasn't been a single occasion where having one would have been even remotely handy. An utterly pointless waste of money.

 

[GraphitProjekt]

I think it might be the only industry to have been deautomated!

And maybe also I would apply this to the Docklands Light Railway who seem to operate at least some services with train drivers, especially in peak times. I'm told this is to do with the risk of people falling on the tracks on busy platforms though there's a chance that's all made up and it's just to do with maintaining staff competency.

I know their days are numbered but national rail tickets that still use "magnetic stripes" for use on the underground.

Most TVMs I encounter still print out an old-school type ticket. Although I was disappointed when I went to buy a ticket in person at Chelmsford station the other day that they handed me a load of those QR code receipt types. I really wish they could put some R&D into finding a recyclable material for the old type. I feel like we're moving to a future that is less convenient as scanning a QR - while not the end of the world or anything - is noticebly slower then just feeding a ticket into the slot. This is particularly the case on floppy receipt paper, but is still an issue when scanning off of your phone too. I also like how the old school tickets fit into my wallet without any hassle of folding things around (lest you put a crease over the QR code!).

The phrase "You wait ages for a bus and three turn-up at once". This may have been true in the 1970s when bus-bunching was an issue (not helped by some drivers holding-back until they had a convoy!) but is surely an anachronism now. Mainly expressed by non-bus-users attempting to be clever/funny I suspect.

Now you point it out, this is less common in my personal experience than it was maybe 7 or 8 years ago. Although I use buses a lot less now compared to then.