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What items do you recall that were once....but are no more?

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I remember balsa planes from being a kid. Growing up in a rural area though I couldn't easily get any since the nearest hobby place was 20m away and of course there was no internet to look for or order stuff.
 
mikephillips said:
there was no internet to look for or order stuff.
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Didn't you get any comic books or Boy's life magazines.
I ordered lots of stuff from the back of magazines.
Hobbies, ant farms, ghost shrimp and reptiles.
 
equiprx said:
How about a wire recorder machine.
My dad brought one home, it was probably an antique then back in 1950s.
I can say only that it did work but not High Fidelity.
We eventually got a tape recorder, reel to reel.
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My brother worked for a company that built them for crude oil surveys.
 
Given the earlier pics I thought I would add these:

My bin O meccano

1772242088246.png


And what I hope to make meccano things for:

1772242128504.png


It belonged to my father who I think found it at a yard sale. I javen't tried to fire it up yet.
 
equiprx said:
I ordered lots of stuff from the back of magazines.
Click to expand...
Speaking of the back of magazines, and relevant to the discussion. I have always wanted one of these (In part because of years of the back of Popular Mechanics. Last fall one showed up for sale that I got for $100. There are always some for sale but usually for a lot more than that. We had to dismantle it to get it in the car - So today it was finally warm enough to start reassembling. I haven't tried to start it yet as it hasn't run for years and I want to make sure I don't break anything.

Anyways, Shopsmith Mk 5. Very excited!

1772242441156.png
 
My friend who teaches robotics is at a competetion today up in Pryor, OK. She sent me this photo of her kids' robot. Very much in the spirit of an erector set, if you ask me.
1000077336.jpg
 
equiprx said:
Didn't you get any comic books or Boy's life magazines.
I ordered lots of stuff from the back of magazines.
Hobbies, ant farms, ghost shrimp and reptiles.
Click to expand...
Oh yea, I got Boy's life for a long time along with comics. The thought was that back then you couldn't "search" for things, you had what they decided to advertise.

So here's another thing you don't see anymore, where drive-ins may still exist, how about the speaker on a pole that you too and hung on the door of the car to listen. Last time I went to one years ago, it was a low power radio signal you tuned to instead.
 
John Turney said:
Snow chains are required during every winter snow on highways over the Sierra.
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Got rid of all our snow gear decades ago after the family sold their Sierra cabin.
We are both too old to do all the activities we used to do nearly every weekend.
The only time I miss the good old times is watching skiing on the tube.
 
I remember that, used to read it whenever it arrived. Starting when I was young, have a huge reading habit. Used to also read my dad's Time magazine back when I was grade school age as well as the Cincinnati daily paper and the rural local one, back in the days when there was a lot for real news. Was probably one of very few kids that read so much on current events. Wasn't pushed into it, just the example I had, not to mention constant books, history, SyFy and adventure..
 
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