Things you never see anymore

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Parafox said:

 

As a child I remember being in a car where there was a leather strap on the side window that could adjusted by lowering or raising the glass and latching a hole in the strap onto a little brass "nodule", a bit like a trouser belt.

 

The closest image I can find is this:

 

Too posh for my car

[davieG]

1 minute ago, Parafox said:

Convalescent homes.

 

When they were a thing, there was no backlog in hospital and people being kept in A&E waiting for a bed or on the back of ambulances.

Well they closed all the regional hospitals and they're gradually bringing them back maybe these will be next on the list.

[Parafox]

35 minutes ago, davieG said:

Well they closed all the regional hospitals and they're gradually bringing them back maybe these will be next on the list.

I really hope so

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, Parafox said:

 

I never really understood what a choke did but I imagined it restricted air flow to increase the richness of the fuel to air mixture.

It literally pulled the choke in the carburettor shut. The choke adjusted the air/fuel mixture, as a cold engine needs more fuel, so it would close a butterfly valve to restrict air intake and give a richer mixture.

 

This was also how you increased power using the accelerator, which connected to the same valve.

 

Then came automatic chokes using heat sensors, before fuel injection became common place. RIP carburetors.

[The Year Of The Fox]

Smokers, more specifically people smoking in cars

[Trav Le Bleu]

People smoking around carburettors.

[davieG]

Carburettors smoking

[davieG]

5 hours ago, The Year Of The Fox said:

Smokers, more specifically people smoking in cars

On my walks to the shops I have to cross several roads with traffic lights and I often see single drivers smoking, with the occasional one tossing their fag end out of the window. 

 

Then of course there's those that decide to clean their car out whilst waiting and dumping a few weeks worth of rubbish into the gutter.

[Free Falling Foxes]

[MattFox]

On 23/10/2025 at 22:18, davieG said:

 

This is a chip pan. Any youngsters won't know how much of a normal thing this was growing up lard and beef dripping mixed together, mum's doing home cooked chips usually with fried eggs for tea.

Probably looks disgusting to some now but to us, this was a lush treat to look forward to!

Who remembers home cooked chips in the chip pan?

Most likely died out because they were the biggest cause of fires in the country at one point 

[davieG]

 

I can't remember exactly what it was but there used to be a way of getting random numbers by tapping the phone holder bracket in a set sequence. I got a chip shop in Glasgow and was asking if they could supply me and my mates with Fish & chips at the Granby Halls  Leicester. Mind you I was bit drunk.

[Alf Bentley]

12 minutes ago, davieG said:

 

I can't remember exactly what it was but there used to be a way of getting random numbers by tapping the phone holder bracket in a set sequence. I was got a chip shop in Glasgow and was asking if the could supply me and my mates with Fish & chips at the Granby Halls  Leicester. Mind you I was bit drunk.

 

Young hooligans like you should be birched. 

 

Mind you, you'd have sobered up by the time the fish & chips arrived - though they might've been a bit cold. The battered Mars bar would probably have still been edible.

On a youthful trip to Glasgow, I remember us getting deep-fried pizza....which proved as disgusting as it sounds. We might also have been a bit drunk.

[Alf Bentley]

Older people calling for younger people to be birched.

Generally for things that the said older people used to do when they were young, of course...

 

Geriatric outrage still exists, of course, but the punishment priorities seem to have moved on.

[Trav Le Bleu]

4 minutes ago, Alf Bentley said:

Older people calling for younger people to be birched.

Generally for things that the said older people used to do when they were young, of course...

 

Geriatric outrage still exists, of course, but the punishment priorities seem to have moved on.

Kids of this generation will be calling for teachers to use stern words with their kids.

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Alf Bentley said:

Older people calling for younger people to be birched.

Generally for things that the said older people used to do when they were young, of course...

 

Geriatric outrage still exists, of course, but the punishment priorities seem to have moved on.

I often see lads with their mates cycling home from school in a shall I say erratic way and think twats! then I think hang on that looks familiar that would have been me back in the day 

[Free Falling Foxes]

Phone boxes are becoming rare but remember the day when a directory was available in each one?

Edited 2 December 2025 by Free Falling Foxes

[davieG]

15 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Phone boxes are becoming rare but remember the day when a directory was available in each one?

You must be thinking of the 1950s re directories because they were mostly missing or if not half the pages torn out. But still if you found one that didn't smell of piss you'd be having a good day.

[Trav Le Bleu]

16 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Phone boxes are becoming rare but remember the day when a directory was available in each one?

There are approx 3000 working red phone booths. Surprised there's so many, but we've still got some remote parts.

[Foxdiamond]

6 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

There are approx 3000 working red phone booths. Surprised there's so many, but we've still got some remote parts.

Who remembers the phones with button A and button B 

[davieG]

4 hours ago, davieG said:

 

I can't remember exactly what it was but there used to be a way of getting random numbers by tapping the phone holder bracket in a set sequence. I got a chip shop in Glasgow and was asking if they could supply me and my mates with Fish & chips at the Granby Halls  Leicester. Mind you I was bit drunk.

 

1 hour ago, Foxdiamond said:

Who remembers the phones with button A and button B 

I do 

[Foxdiamond]

2 hours ago, davieG said:

 

I do 

Good vintage

[davieG]

Growing up in my Britain was GREAT ·

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People nowadays think that having to work in a factory was dreary, monotonous, and all for peanuts..............well I worked in MANY factories during the 60s and 70s, everything from shoes to windows and doors and I can tell you it was ANYTHING but dreary. We pranked one another all day long, was excited whenever the tea lady came around, suffered eating the canteen dinners with hungry smiles, snuck off for a smoke now and then, and of course rejoiced when that magic time of clocking OUT came!

Friday was heaven when the pay packets came around, tearing it open to see how much overtime you had made. It was off to the pub then for a few pints and good banter, then to the chippy for piece of cod and six-penny worth of chips, and maybe mushy peas. Bloody good times if you ask me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure some of this still exists in one form or another.

 

 

[Parafox]

On 02/12/2025 at 12:03, davieG said:

You must be thinking of the 1950s re directories because they were mostly missing or if not half the pages torn out. But still if you found one that didn't smell of piss you'd be having a good day.

Not to mention the "business" cards offering certain services... 

 

 

[Parafox]

On 02/12/2025 at 12:11, Foxdiamond said:

Who remembers the phones with button A and button B 

 

Who remembers dialling 127 (I think it was) to listen to a random hit from the music charts?

[Free Falling Foxes]

On 02/12/2025 at 12:03, davieG said:

You must be thinking of the 1950s re directories because they were mostly missing or if not half the pages torn out. But still if you found one that didn't smell of piss you'd be having a good day.

I can remember the 'phone box a couple of streets from our house having a directory present certainly well into the 70s

Edited 4 December 2025 by Free Falling Foxes