Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[Sun Chariot]

When my father died a couple of years ago and I went to the registrar office to collect his death certificate, the registrar used a fountain pen to sign the certificate, then left the certificate to one side for a few minutes to let the ink dry. On his desk was a pen holder with four other fountain pens in it, as well as a healthy stockpile of replacement cartridges. So, yes, fountain pens are very much still in use amongst registrars.

I recall WH Smith sold blotting-paper packs in the early '90s. These days, I wonder where (or if) one can even buy it on the high street.

 

[SargeNpton]

I recall WH Smith sold blotting-paper packs in the early '90s. These days, I wonder where (or if) one can even buy it on the high street.

W.H.Smith may well be a future subject of this thread. Evidently, its new owners have some financial difficulties.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

These days, I wonder where (or if) one can even buy it on the high street.

Ryman's perhaps? Can't imagine though that they sell much of the stuff.

 

[35B]

I recall WH Smith sold blotting-paper packs in the early '90s. These days, I wonder where (or if) one can even buy it on the high street.

I was given a blotting pad for my desk at Christmas; the makers also sell blotting paper - which I also need for when I use my ink blotter

 

[bleeder4]

I recall WH Smith sold blotting-paper packs in the early '90s. These days, I wonder where (or if) one can even buy it on the high street.

I'll be going in my local WH Smith (or whatever they're now called) later today. I will see if they still sell it!

 

[gg1]

Fountain Pens:
I had to sign a death certificate a couple of years ago, this was the official copy they have to keep, so the signature had to be made by a fountain pen.
First attempt I scratched the paper so to speak, and then I said I'll try again.
I had to go back about 45 years in my head and try and remember how to write with a fountain pen, a few seconds later I remembered and signed my name.

I wonder how many people can write with a fountain pen today if they needed to?

I'd definitely struggle, I'm 50 and vaguely recall using a fountain pen at school, but quite possibly only as a one off. All essays and coursework were definitely written with ballpoint pens.

I do remember one of my friends used them all the time, but his handwriting was exceptionally neat, almost bordering on calligraphy.

 

[EYFanatic]

I don't know if it has been mentioned in the past 130 odd pages, but local daily papers that had an afternoon edition AND an evening edition

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Buying chips from a local shop(s) which had coal fired ranges for cooking same.

There was occassional delays as they put another shovelfull or so on of local Welsh anthracite.

 

[The exile]

Buying chips from a local shop(s) which had coal fired ranges for cooking same.

There was occassional delays as they put another shovelfull or so on of local Welsh anthracite.

And, linking two consecutive posts, those chips coming wrapped in the previous evening’s newspaper!

 

[Killingworth]

I don't know if it has been mentioned in the past 130 odd pages, but local daily papers that had an afternoon edition AND an evening edition

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle had more than that, early editions on the streets by lunchtime, a little later delivered to many homes by 4.30 (paper boys after school) finishing with a Late Night Final on the streets as office workers were leaving for home. In addition to the morning Journal delivered to many homes by paper boys before 08.00.

We still get a delivered morning paper, a practice I gather is dying out in many places. It can arrive very early, at 05.00 on one recent morning.

 

[bleeder4]

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle had more than that, early editions on the streets by lunchtime, a little later delivered to many homes by 4.30 (paper boys after school) finishing with a Late Night Final on the streets as office workers were leaving for home. In addition to the morning Journal delivered to many homes by paper boys before 08.00.

We still get a delivered morning paper, a practice I gather is dying out in many places. It can arrive very early, at 05.00 on one recent morning.

I still get a paper as well. The joy of traditional print media, of course, is that there is no algorithm that only shows you articles related to ones you have previously read. You never know what you're going to find from one page to the next. You can turn the page and see a story you find interesting, yet it is unlike any other topic you have read before so the algorithms would never have showed it to you.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

And, linking two consecutive posts, those chips coming wrapped in the previous evening’s newspaper!

Many of those old newspapers would be brought in by locals , for which an extra scoop of chips was payment.

 

[bleeder4]

I recall WH Smith sold blotting-paper packs in the early '90s. These days, I wonder where (or if) one can even buy it on the high street.

Just in my local WH Smiths now and they still sell packs of blotting paper. £4.99 per pack.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Just in my local WH Smiths now and they still sell packs of blotting paper. £4.99 per pack.

Amazing! Well blotted - I mean, spotted.

 

[Jimini]

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle had more than that, early editions on the streets by lunchtime, a little later delivered to many homes by 4.30 (paper boys after school) finishing with a Late Night Final on the streets as office workers were leaving for home. In addition to the morning Journal delivered to many homes by paper boys before 08.00.

We still get a delivered morning paper, a practice I gather is dying out in many places. It can arrive very early, at 05.00 on one recent morning.

The Evening Standard (London) had five editions, back in its heyday. News Extra, Late Prices, City Prices, West End Final, and one more that eludes me at the moment!

 

[Merle Haggard]

The Evening Standard (London) had five editions, back in its heyday. News Extra, Late Prices, City Prices, West End Final, and one more that eludes me at the moment!

Possibly 'Closing Prices' ??? I vaguely remember a red band down the edge of the page had some significance

 

[Silent]

I'd definitely struggle, I'm 50 and vaguely recall using a fountain pen at school, but quite possibly only as a one off. All essays and coursework were definitely written with ballpoint pens.

I do remember one of my friends used them all the time, but his handwriting was exceptionally neat, almost bordering on calligraphy.

I used fountain pens for two years at ages 9-11, but I was attending a Catholic school.

 

[The exile]

I used fountain pens for two years at ages 9-11, but I was attending a Catholic school.

Biros were banned for us - and from the day I was allowed to switch from a pencil (aged about 8) the natural state of my fingers in term time was “skin with blue splodges”.

 

[jfollows]

Some of my school classrooms in the 1970s had desks with holes which had previously contained ink wells; we still used fountain pens but the technology had moved on by then.

 

[The exile]

Some of my school classrooms in the 1970s had desks with holes which had previously contained ink wells; we still used fountain pens but the technology had moved on by then.

Ditto - but well into the 1980s.

 

[LowLevel]

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle had more than that, early editions on the streets by lunchtime, a little later delivered to many homes by 4.30 (paper boys after school) finishing with a Late Night Final on the streets as office workers were leaving for home. In addition to the morning Journal delivered to many homes by paper boys before 08.00.

We still get a delivered morning paper, a practice I gather is dying out in many places. It can arrive very early, at 05.00 on one recent morning.

A memory of my youth - the newspaper sellers in their little red huts shouting "Town Final!" once the evening edition had been printed.

My early time as the platform staff was spent wandering down trains that had completed their journeys on turn around at about 0830 collecting actual paid for local and national papers to put in the station staff and train crew mess rooms.

Nowadays it is rare to even see a Metro, and pre COVID after working a morning peak train as guard you would literally collect armfuls to bin.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Ditto - but well into the 1980s.

Same here; 1984 was the last school year I saw them, before new desks appeared!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Watching Bullseye and hearing Jim Bowen referring to contestants coming from Granada Land, Central Area and Tyne Tees etc , the old regional TV areas rather than saying their home town straight away.

 

[gg1]

Some of my school classrooms in the 1970s had desks with holes which had previously contained ink wells; we still used fountain pens but the technology had moved on by then.

Our school had a large number of old fashioned single person desks, which as well as having inkwell holes also had a hinged lid with storage underneath. They lived in the basement most of the year, to see the light of day in the summer when they were moved into the gym for exams. They were still used for that purpose when I sat my GCSEs in 1991.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Some of my school classrooms in the 1970s had desks with holes which had previously contained ink wells; we still used fountain pens but the technology had moved on by then.

This makes me feel old (perhaps I am!) but I remember for most of my school life using those inkwells in the hole in the disk. The nibs we were issued with relied on the gap between the two halves to hold a supply of ink. If the gap was too wide a blot of ink was deposited on one's work on first contact, and conversely one too narrow produced half a letter in ink and then a scratch or even rip in the page. The ink was mixed from water and a seemingly almost-insoluble black powder in lumps.

At Secondary School you also had to be pretty quick at loading up with ink if the master was demanding that you wrote notes of what he said, and he was talking at conversational speed. The sound of nibs crashing into the ink pot could be hectic.

In the early-mid 1950s the Biro was an expensive luxury item. Fountains weren't that much less messy than nibs, trying to syphon ink into the container from a bottle (squeezing a 'bladder' inside the casing and releasing it) provided its own likelihood of ink escape.

I particularly remember at Primary School the School Inspector checked, amongst many other things, that we weren't wasting ratepayers' paper by leaving gaps of more than one line. Our teachers, worried about the consequences for themselves, also checked and censured for failure. At Secondary School every exercise book had the County and Borough Coats of Arms on the cover to reinforce their source.

The desks had a rail bent in a generally U-shape to connect the desk with the seat. The cross section and size of these rails had a strong similarity to that of bullhead narrow gauge rail line.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Fountain Pens:
I had to sign a death certificate a couple of years ago, this was the official copy they have to keep, so the signature had to be made by a fountain pen.

Likely a fountain pen was required for this purpose as it would have been using some sort of specially-formulated "document-safe" ink. (i.e. light-fast, resistant to tampering and non-fading; all important criteria with respect to legal &/or archival documents).

 

[Silent]

I used fountain pens for two years at ages 9-11, but I was attending a Catholic school.

I forgot to say this was 2003-2005, I don’t know if the school would have changed this now.

 

[Bald Rick]

Our school had a large number of old fashioned single person desks, which as well as having inkwell holes also had a hinged lid with storage underneath. They lived in the basement most of the year, to see the light of day in the summer when they were moved into the gym for exams. They were still used for that purpose when I sat my GCSEs in 1991.

You were lucky! My school had them as regular desks well into the 1980s, and I think even 1990!

 

[Silent]

Our school had a large number of old fashioned single person desks, which as well as having inkwell holes also had a hinged lid with storage underneath. They lived in the basement most of the year, to see the light of day in the summer when they were moved into the gym for exams. They were still used for that purpose when I sat my GCSEs in 1991.

Same with the catholic school i changed to. My former primary school had normal wooden tables with metal legs. The catholic school in 2003 had plastic tables with storage underneath.

 

[Killingworth]

This makes me feel old (perhaps I am!) but I remember for most of my school life using those inkwells in the hole in the disk. The nibs we were issued with relied on the gap between the two halves to hold a supply of ink. If the gap was too wide a blot of ink was deposited on one's work on first contact, and conversely one too narrow produced half a letter in ink and then a scratch or even rip in the page. The ink was mixed from water and a seemingly almost-insoluble black powder in lumps.

At Secondary School you also had to be pretty quick at loading up with ink if the master was demanding that you wrote notes of what he said, and he was talking at conversational speed. The sound of nibs crashing into the ink pot could be hectic.

In the early-mid 1950s the Biro was an expensive luxury item. Fountains weren't that much less messy than nibs, trying to syphon ink into the container from a bottle (squeezing a 'bladder' inside the casing and releasing it) provided its own likelihood of ink escape.

I particularly remember at Primary School the School Inspector checked, amongst many other things, that we weren't wasting ratepayers' paper by leaving gaps of more than one line. Our teachers, worried about the consequences for themselves, also checked and censured for failure. At Secondary School every exercise book had the County and Borough Coats of Arms on the cover to reinforce their source.

The desks had a rail bent in a generally U-shape to connect the desk with the seat. The cross section and size of these rails had a strong similarity to that of bullhead narrow gauge rail line.

Memories, memories. We had 2 and 3 seater bench desks just like that.

My first job in a bank required me to check the pens and ink each morning at all the counter tables and ensure there was clean blotting paper in the blotters. The manager had to have a clean sheet every morning on his desk. The customers got a reused sheet turned inside out. (I've still got a small pack of loose nibs somewhere.)

That was after I'd stoked the coal fired bolier.