[Rupert]

If you read my "Engineering" thread, you know about my improvised solution. I was thinking that if I took my boot to a cobbler he could add a little leather or rubber to the sole on that side, taper it off and make a very nice and more even rise in the height on that side of the sole.
There used to be two...maybe three...shoe repair shops here 40 years ago. I once worked for a leather company (1967) and traveled south and west Texas calling on shoe repair shops.......Every little town had a t least one, sometimes several, and they were all very busy.

Not a one left here, or any of the nearby towns, they have simply gone the way of the dinosaur.

Made me stop and think of all the "things that were" but are no longer. Like Drive-In movies.....we still have one left here, one of the only ones left in the State...and when it is open on weekends, it is always packed.

Little corner Grocery stores where the owner had a meat counter and could slice you fresh lunch meat. Pickleloaf, salami, ham, pressed ham, chopped ham, liver, all kinds of cheese.......don't see those anymore.

What things do you remember.....that are no longer....or very rare in today's modern world of 2014?

Regards!

[reeftool]

One of the better things about Upstate NY and the Adirondacks and neighboring western New England in particular is we still remain in a bit of a time warp. We still have drive ins operating in Saratoga and Glens Falls. There are several drive in eateries complete with car hops. Even a couple of A&W's are still in operation. Some areas have become a nostalgia tourist trap. Lake George, NY and Manchester, VT have been taken over by factory outlets. Still, far too many of the "quaint" little shops are owned by large, unknown to the locals, owners from NYC. There still are the small family businesses but more and more seem to be closing up. It looks old fashioned and quaint but is often a illusion. The smaller towns however, are still the real thing but aren't doing well.

The local grocery shop is a rare thing. Now it's the convenience store, usually a Cumberland Farms or Stewarts. The Stewarts chain does specialize in dairy products so you can still go in and get an old fashioned milk shake, made with scoops of ice cream, syrup and milk and put into a mixer. Root Beer floats too. All these places sell gas but the local gas station/garage is pretty much gone. The few small indepentants still left are repair shops. They no longer sell gas because the liability of storing gasoline is too high (leaks into groundwater). The big chains sell the gas but leave the repairs to the little guy or the repair chain.

[Tom S.]

Being a certified 'old guy', I can remember a lot of stuff. I'll leave out the references to prices way back when in the interest of brevity.

Gas stations offering free glasses and gift stamps with purchases.
Gas station attendants who not only pumped your gas, but checked your oil, cleaned your windshield and aired up your tires.
Mom and Pop Variety Stores: Family owned stores that offered everything from food to toys to clothing, kind of like a Wal-mart only much much smaller.
Kids playing baseball and football in the street.
Black and white TV.
Listening to the ball game on radio, which by the way was only AM.
Saturday afternoon kids double features at the local movie theaters.
Christmas not being advertised until after Thanksgiving.
Christmas carollers who would go from door to door singing Christmas carols.
Car maintenance that included changing the oil at 1200 miles, spark plugs, points and condensers at 10,000 miles, tires at 15,000 to 20,000 and brakes at about the same time.
Milk and other dairy products delivered to the door twice a week.
Cigarette vending machines everywhere.
Drive in movies and sneaking folks in the trunk so they didn't have to pay.
Westerns were a main staple on TV, and the good guys always won.
Football without covered stadiums.
Burning fall leaves.
Fuller brush men who sold various brushes door to door.
Ordering school clothes for the whole year at one time from the Montgomery Wards catalog.
45 single song records (one song on each side) and LP (long playing) 33 1/3 records that had as many as 7 or eight songs on a side.
4 and later 8 track tape players for cars.
16mm projectors used in schools to show educational movies.
Mimeograph machines used to produce copies.
Travel Logs: Men who traveled to exotic places would film them, then bring them to local places, usually high schools for one night showings. They would narrate the movie, then answer questions afterward.
Boys and girls going steady.
Traveling photographers who had a pony they would take kids pictures on. Mom or dad then placed an order and weeks later you would receive the pictures in the mail.
Mail deliveries twice a day during Christmas.
Shops closing from noon to 3pm on good Friday, and not being open at all on Sunday.
Airplane travel on planes without jet engines.
Sputnik.
Party lines - where you shared your telephone line with a neighbor or two.
Phone booths with closable doors and a seat inside.
Out houses and homes without bathrooms.
Kitchens with a pump and no running water.

I can think of more, but I have to go for now.

[mikemike]

Camera shops, especially ones that sell pentax products.
Furniture that is made to last by skilled carpenters using real wood instead of particle board.
Landlines
Sitting down to a meal with only the people at the table (w/o cell phones)

[Doundounba]

Rotary dial phones...

One - not mine - from today's Explore Flickr:

[grhazelton]

Socks in several sizes.
Shirts where the neck size and sleeve length could be "specd" separately, and sleeve length wasn't adjusted by buttons.
Pay phones.
A local newspaper in almost every town.
Shoe stores where the personnel knew how to measure and fit a shoe.
Cops walking a beat.
Kids making their own amusements without adult direction.

[nomadkng]

Blockbuster Video... sorry couldn't resist

[6BQ5]

I used to love going to record stores and book stores. Most of those are gone now.

I miss the mystery of technology. People used to be genuinely confused and awe struck about computers, space exploration, etc. Now people are just fascinated and fixated.

I miss how much more mechanical the world used to be. Everything is much more electrified.

[gofour3]

Air travel without all the current security hassle.

Phil.

[normhead]

Rotary dial phones...

One - not mine - from today's Explore Flickr:

When that was sold it was a hot item, because it wasn't black.

[boriscleto]

We have a full service shoe/boot/leather repair shop here in Liverpool, a local grocery store as well. The owner of the grocery store was successful in stopping a Walmart from opening just outside the village. There used to be a McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King in the village, now all three are gone, and local shops took their place.

But the Villages of Liverpool & North Syracuse are the exception, the main strips in the Syracuse area have all become chain retail/restaurant hell...

[boriscleto]

When that was sold it was a hot item, because it wasn't black.

I have a black rotary phone in the basement with the old 4 port plug...

[normhead]

We have a full service shoe/boot/leather repair shop here in Liverpool, a local grocery store as well. The owner of the grocery store was successful in stopping a Walmart from opening just outside the village. There used to be a McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King in the village, now all three are gone, and local shops took their place.

But the Villages of Liverpool & North Syracuse are the exception, the main strips in the Syracuse area have all become chain retail/restaurant hell...

I went out to visit my grandson in Alberta, and they took me to the mall, which was exactly like the big box plaza I could have gone to anywhere in Ontario. Sad. So much for local colour. Same chain stores, same layout, same size parking lot. At least I knew where to find everything I wanted.

[reeftool]

When I was a kid, our local movie theater was a cheap entertainment. This photo was shared by an old friend in the town I grew up in, Vero Beach, Fla. The photo was for a special Halloween show. Check out the prices.

[thazooo]

Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Plymouth.........all gone.