Friday, July 29, 2011

And Some More Old Fossils

To add to my Old Fossil post the other day, I thought I would collate the suggestions in the comments and add a few more things that came to mind. So ... things my daughters have never known, part two:

  • Reel to reel tape players
  • Super 8 movie cameras and players
  • Elevator / lift operators
  • Electronics with vacuum tubes
  • Yugoslavia
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Rotary phones
  • Trim phones
  • Elvis
  • The Beatles
  • Library card catalogues
  • Floppy disks
  • Half day closing (shops)
  • No shops open on Sundays
  • Chimney sweeps (except in Mary Poppins!)
  • Reliant Robins
  • Pre-decimal money
Pamela - I still use paper maps. Even Google can't quite match Ordnance Survey. No footpaths or bridlepaths on Google maps!

PixieMum - using Yorkshire leaf tea doesn't make you a fossil, it just shows you have good taste!

Ellie - we still have public telephone booths, though less of them and they only take pre-paid cards rather than coins. I think they will be around for some time to come, at least in places that attract tourists, as it can be expensive to use cellphones internationally.  Also, manual (stick shift) cars are still the norm here. According to Mr Google only 18% of cars on British roads are automatic. Personally I don't like driving automatic cars as I don't feel as though I have so much control. 

Missus Wookie - two out of three daughters remember video cassettes and players, so they don't quite make the list!

3 comments:

Sarah said...

I'd forgotten about manual chokes on cars, I'm so used to the automatic choke.

I'd add Vinyl singles - has anyone mentioned that?

Also, the national anthem at the end of the TV day (TV not being 24 hours a day). The test-card on BBC.

elli said...

You know, I really miss rotary phones! I really like the physical sensation of dialing as opposed to pushing buttons (and now, with the iPhone, it's touch screen). The changing fingertip usage is significant, I think -- all those nerve endings in fingertips. The technological age has really been an extraordinary thing ...

Ooo! I've thought of another -- true here and for my children at any rate -- home dairy delivery every morning and putting the bottles and egg cartons back out at night! We had bottles of milk, along with butter, cream, and eggs delivered daily (for our family of six) until I (the youngest) was in my teens.

Missus Wookie said...

We still have home dairy delivery - and these days the milkman will deliver a wide range of things. Added into that we have veg/fruit deliveries.

Oh and at least one shop up the top has half day closing on Thursdays which confuses me as I don't usually shop Thursday so always seem to forget...