Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[WesternLancer]

BT are replacing some telephone boxes with advertising screens that have a built in phone and WiFi hot-spot.
I believe the phones are free to use being paid for by selling advertising space.
I believe Amscreen also do similar devices.

Interesting - seen those in my town centre- I'll try the phone on one to see if it is free to use.

 

[fwsmVor]

Having seen some in Netherlands and Belgium last week...

Roller towels in toilets in the UK. Mostly hot air dryers and paper towels these days.

Berlin airport has these exclusively in some toilets. Very amusing watching people from countries without them. They either don't get the point and just wipe their hands on the dangling bit, think it's just one big disgusting roll going round and round and use their trousers, or just don't register it as a hand-drying device at all and use their trousers after a brief search for a hand dryer.

 

[GusB]

On the subject of telephones, the BBC Archive YouTube channel released a video documenting the "new" internet-enabled phones in Japan, allowing people to do wonderful things such as checking bank statements and with the possibility of viewing video on the devices.

It'll never catch on...

Link is here:

Has it really been that long since those phones appeared?!

 

[johntea]

Watching a 1989 episode of Bullseye where one of the prizes is a Hornby HST train set. (And a Mini Metro which the winning team also won).

Not to be outdone by ITV bringing back Bullseye with Freddie Flintoff it turns out the BBC are now bringing back Big Break with Paddy McGuiness and Stephen Hendry!

Snooker game show Big Break cued up for return by BBC Daytime

Paddy McGuinness and seven-time world snooker champion Stephen Hendry front the show for BBC Two and iPlayer

www.bbc.com

BBC Daytime has today announced the return of Big Break, the popular snooker-themed game show for BBC Two and iPlayer. The series will be reimagined for audiences and play alongside BBC Sport’s increasingly popular snooker coverage. Produced by Naked (a Fremantle label), in coproduction with Vibrant Television, Paddy McGuinness and Stephen Hendry will be joined in the studio by professional snooker players, from across the globe, straight off the competition circuit, in a bid to win their contestants the cash prize.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Not to be outdone by ITV bringing back Bullseye with Freddie Flintoff it turns out the BBC are now bringing back Big Break with Paddy McGuiness and Stephen Hendry!

Sounds like desperation at the Beeb. The phrase re-imagined makes me cringe as I guess it will be nothing like the old quiz and Hendry is hardly an extrovert that Virgo was.
The remake of Bullseye was awful as they changed the format far too much and the choice of Flintoff wrong.

 

[GusB]

Sounds like desperation at the Beeb. The phrase re-imagined makes me cringe as I guess it will be nothing like the old quiz and Hendry is hardly an extrovert that Virgo was.
The remake of Bullseye was awful as they changed the format far too much and the choice of Flintoff wrong.

While we can't bring back John Virgo, we should at least be thankful that Auntie Beeb isn't trying to bring back Jim Davidson!

 

[Ashley Hill]

at least be thankful that Auntie Beeb isn't trying to bring back Jim Davidson!

He doesn’t want to.

In this video he describes the good relationship he had with John Virgo and is reminiscing about their time working together. He says that he does not want to work for the BBC again but wishes the new presenters of the revived Big Break all the best.

 

[SargeNpton]

A sheet of asbestos at one end of an ironing board, on which to rest your hot iron.

I wonder how many people still have one, and wonder how many were disposed of in the general rubbish?

 

[GordonT]

In the days before Pritt Stick glue became available there was widespread use of small squeezable plastic bottles of glue which had a sloping red top with a horizontal aperture on the top from which glue was emitted when the bottle was squeezed. It afforded limited control over either the quantity or trajectory of the glue emissions if not handled diligently.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

In the days before Pritt Stick glue became available there was widespread use of small squeezable plastic bottles of glue which had a sloping red top with a horizontal aperture on the top from which glue was emitted when the bottle was squeezed. It afforded limited control over either the quantity or trajectory of the glue emissions if not handled diligently.

That sounds like Gloy Gum to me?

 

[Trackman]

In the days before Pritt Stick glue became available there was widespread use of small squeezable plastic bottles of glue which had a sloping red top with a horizontal aperture on the top from which glue was emitted when the bottle was squeezed. It afforded limited control over either the quantity or trajectory of the glue emissions if not handled diligently.

I think you are talking about Gloy.

 

[AlterEgo]

That sounds like Gloy Gum to me?

View attachment 204542

Yep! We had this in primary school. Also, glue pens, which are still apparently a thing in the crafting world.

Has Gloy completely gone now?

 

[Trackman]

Yep! We had this in primary school. Also, glue pens, which are still apparently a thing in the crafting world.

Has Gloy completely gone now?

Still going.

Just throwing out this one for people in Primary school late 60's 70's anyone remember 'Marvin Medium'?
That's still going to.

 

[styles]

Windolene Cream.

I'm sure there's a reason they stopped making it, like it contains some hazardous chemical or something, but the modern sprays etc are nowhere near a decent replacement.

Every time I pass an independent DIY shop I pop in hoping to find some old bottles still on the shelves, but no luck so far.

 

[Trackman]

Windolene Cream.

I'm sure there's a reason they stopped making it, like it contains some hazardous chemical or something, but the modern sprays etc are nowhere near a decent replacement.

Every time I pass an independent DIY shop I pop in hoping to find some old bottles still on the shelves, but no luck so far.

Before I make statement was this the pink stuff?

 

[styles]

Before I make statement was this the pink stuff?

It was indeed.

I've got some but only because I've lifted it from my mum's house

 

[Harpo]

Yep! We had this in primary school. Also, glue pens, which are still apparently a thing in the crafting world.

Has Gloy completely gone now?

Copydex still exists apparently but I remember it from primary where I don’t think we ever used it to stick anything, just create big rubber balls of the stuff as it dried.

 

[AM9]

I remember it as a Lepage's glue.

 

[styles]

I remember it as a Lepage's glue.

It's probably not the case but this type of photo just screams carcinogen to me.

 

[swt_passenger]

Still going.

Still sticking around?

 

[Trackman]

It was indeed.

I've got some but only because I've lifted it from my mum's house

Some homes and businesses when empty used Windolene so you couldn't see in, probably not seen that for 40 years.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Some homes and businesses when empty used Windolene so you couldn't see in, probably not seen that for 40 years.

Sometimes 'distemper' (another name from the past) was used.
In the 1950s, my father was convinced that the patterns in application to windows of houses under construction was some elaborate and secret code...

 

[AM9]

Sometimes 'distemper' (another name from the past) was used.
In the 1950s, my father was convinced that the patterns in application to windows of houses under construction was some elaborate and secret code...

Would he read the code nowadays with his mobile QR code reader app.?

 

[SuspectUsual]

Cafes with a pinball machine in them

 

[GordonT]

Being able to phone for a taxi with reasonable expectation of one being able to be at your door within ten minutes to take you to where you wish to go.

 

[AM9]

Being able to phone for a taxi with reasonable expectation of one being able to be at your door within ten minutes to take you to where you wish to go.

Not a problem around here, as long as it isn't during the worst periods of peak traffic. Usually, get a text when the ordered cab is within a minute or two to arrive.

 

[Silent]

So shoes sound quieter nowadays

 

[SargeNpton]

Personal computer file names that were limited to 8 characters and a 3 character suffix.

 

[dgl]

And 640kb was a lot of memory, and before that even 64kb was massive in the beginning of the 80's.

Also computers bult in to the keyboard, some still exist but not that many and when the only affordable storage device was a cassette tape (I own a keyboard (Yamaha DX9) that has sockets for a cassette recorder to backup the internal patches.

 

[GusB]

And 640kb was a lot of memory, and before that even 64kb was massive in the beginning of the 80's.

Also computers bult in to the keyboard, some still exist but not that many and when the only affordable storage device was a cassette tape (I own a keyboard (Yamaha DX9) that has sockets for a cassette recorder to backup the internal patches.

I still have my old Amstrad CPC464 in a cupboard under the stairs. I also found a pile of game cassettes when I was having a clear-out last week, so I might dig out the old computer to see if it still works. That'll give me something else to distract from what I really should be doing