What do you remember from your childhood that no longer exists?

[The Blackangel]

If you've got the years, what are some things you remember from when you were a kid that we left in the past? I'm a child of the 80's, and there's a lot I remember that no longer exists. Here's a short list of the things I can think of off the top of my head:


Aerobics competitions
Party lines
Smoking anyplace and anytime
Grainy black and white cartoons
Console TV's
Buying flash cubes
Phone numbers beginning with a word
Rotary phones
Potato sack dresses
Half day kindergarten
8-track tapes
Renting a VCR
Regular or unleaded
Gas for less than a dollar
Encyclopedias
Fountain pens
Outhouse
Carbon paper
Pagers
Floppy disks
Getting a person when making a call

Buying comics to read and sports cards to trade rather than as investments

 

[WhiteRabbit]

 

[beyond.space]

those tiny little red bugs

 

[Forever Sleep]

I think the youngsters would laugh if they heard that now, connecting to the internet...

I'm the same-ish generation to you most likely. There are definitely certain (junk) foods that disappeared. Some that disappeared and came back. I remember Nerds going- crunchy candy sweets. I think there was some scandal someone had found glass in a pack! They have returned. Trio biscuits went then came back, then went again. The weird thing is when you try an old favourite again and, it's not as nice as you remember.

Also games. In many of the early games, when you died, you were sent all the way back to the beginning! I doubt people would have the patience for that now. I'm not sure I would to be honest. I still remember how excited I was to start to see 'checkpoints' in games.

Prices have become crazy too. I remember a child's bus fare into town (around 3-4 miles) cost 30p at one point. I'm not sure you could buy anything much for 30p now.

We didn't have mobile phones either. I had to use a phone box once to call my friend's Mum to say I'd missed the bus and would be late meeting her. Which, she wouldn't have found out unless she'd gone home. She waited for me though- bless.

But yeah- no widespread internet. We had to use things like Tourist Information or the library.

I imagine school is pretty different too. Not that I went to a religious school but, we still had to sing hymns and say prayers. I imagine most of that's gone now.

Milk floats used to be more common. Milk from glass bottles left on your doorstep at the crack of dawn.

 

[Chemi]

There used to be so much snow...

 

[asaṅkhata]

those tiny little red bugs

Do you mean fire colored beetles? We used to smoulder them with magnifying glasaes when I was a kid. Or do you mean the really tiny ones, like little red dots?

 

[beyond.space]

Do you mean fire colored beetles? We used to smoulder them with magnifying glasaes when I was a kid. Or do you mean the really tiny ones, like little red dots?

the ones like red dots

 

[NormallyNeurotic]

I went to what is essentially a theme park attraction not to long ago and came home with black boogers. Tar black. And instead of being disgusted, I was sort of nostalgic of my childhood going to Disney and straying too close to the smoking area...