Growing up, what are some things that could be found in your house, that are not in your house today. Me, black and

[debm55]

white televisions. And you??? Oh and radiators.

[UpInArms]

1. Sears Roebuck catalogs

They were like wish lists

And when my parents were done with them, they gave them to us and we cut things out and played paper dolls and made houses with furniture

[debm55]

3. Thank you very much, UpinArms. I did that too.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

79. Montgomery wards catalog too

[debm55]

86. You are right about Sear's and Montgomery Ward's. We used to get J C Penney"s too. TY, BlueWaveNeverEnd.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

2. First thing to mind...

because it was heinous and apparently scarred me for life was merthiolate/mercurochrome. Jaysus, how many times I skinned my knees and saw more stars after the treatment than the actual accident.

[debm55]

5. Thank you very much,buzzycrumbhunger. I remember that stuff and totally agree it hurt a heck of a lot worse then the

brushburn did.

[PJMcK]

4. B&W TV

Transistor radio
Station wagon (great for moving things and a movable motel room!)
Gas lawn mower (mine is electric)
Console stereo with turntable, cassette deck and receiver (I’m fully high-end Bluetooth)
La-Z-Boy chair (ugh)

[debm55]

7. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHH. Love your list, PJMcK

[IA8IT]

37. Flashback Fathers day I get to pick recliner.. she hated it..oldest son goes to college with my recliner..LOL

Still miss her RIP not the chair

[debm55]

105. Thank you IA8IT

[Niagara]

6. Rotary desk phones or rotary wall phones

Sometimes I miss having them around since they were impossible to lose or misplace.


Also, heavy console televisions.

[debm55]

8. Yes to both, Niagara. I so remember the heavy console televisions.

[Ocelot II]

9. A phonograph, a wall phone with a long coiled cord, a bathtub with feet,

telephone jacks, black & white TV.

I do have radiators; my house is 130 years old. And until relatively recently, until i did a major remodeling, I had a bathtub with feet.

[debm55]

13. Oh wow. I remember all of those. Especially the phone with the long coiled cord. Thank you, Ocelot II

[woodsprite]

10. Radiator pipes that went floor to floor.

That was our 'intercom' system. If mom wanted me or dinner was ready, she'd tap her ring on the pipes in the living room. If she was summoning my brother, she'd tap her ring on the pipes in the dining room.

[debm55]

14. What a great idea. Thank you very much for sharing, woodsprite.

[Nittersing]

99. We installed a door bell in the 1st floor coat closet

to ring in my brother's 3rd floor (aka attic) bedroom.

It was probably used mostly to warn anyone smoking pot in my brother's room that parental units were heading upstairs.

[Diamond_Dog]

11. Ashtrays!

[debm55]

15. On yes, ashtrays. Thank you Diamond_Dog

[Lochloosa]

12. Racist. Not in my house!

[debm55]

16. Oh that is so wondertful. Thank you very much, Lochloosa.

[Talitha]

17. Those horrible clear plastic covers on the living room furniture.

Even in the winter, they felt hot and sticky.
And when they cracked.... there went your nylons.
Nope, don't miss them at all.

[debm55]

19. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHA. I remember them and I so disliked them Thank you, Talitha.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

83. My aunt had those!! Awful

[DBoon]

18. a pressure cooker

We have an insta-pot instead, which is an incomprehensible computer-driven pressure cooker

[debm55]

21. Thank you, very much for sharing, DBoon. I never had a pressure cooker. There were many horror stories about them. I'll

look into the insta-pot.

[DBoon]

22. my mom used to make stews in a pressure cooker without incident

My wife's aunt blew a hole in their kitchen ceiling when a pressure cooker exploded

[Talitha]

26. It 'rained' Chili in Mom's kitchen once.

Yeah, they could be dangerous if not carefully watched - and listened to. I received one for my wedding shower back in 1973, used it a few times and packed it away. Probably 'accidentally' left it behind during one of our moves.

[debm55]

29. Thank you for sharing. Yes, you have to be careful. Something that I am not.

[debm55]

27. Oh my, I hope she wasn't hurt.

[Morbius]

43. I have a pressure cooker (and an Insta-pot, incidentally).

They're fine as long as you know what you're doing and pay attention. Oh, and you don't let it sit around for years and years so the gasket wears out - that could be disastrous.

How about a TV console? Weighed hundreds of pounds, sat on the floor, was less than 1/4 of the screen size you probably have right now? And a wired remote for the same? And TV antennas with the two aerials and the loop in the middle?

Avocado-colored appliances.
Wood paneling in the basement.
Bean bag chairs.
Shag carpeting.

[debm55]

108. HAHAHAHAHHAHHAH. I remember all of your other choices. TY. Morbius.

[applegrove]

20. I have radiators in my apartment and I love them.

[debm55]

24. Thank you very much, applegrove. When I was living in the family house, we had them, Actually, I liked them. However, my

bed was placed right next to the radiator. It was too hot for me and the bed was too close to it.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

85. Do they click and clank?

[applegrove]

87. Nope. They are very quiet. With the temperatures going up and down in Ottawa

sometimes there is a lag of a few hours of too much or too little heat. But I love them.

[sinkingfeeling]

23. Slide rules and calculators.

[debm55]

25. HAHAHAHHAHAHA. Yes, thank you sinkingfeeling.

[3catwoman3]

42. My husband still has the slide rule he used at the Air Force Academy...

...in the late 1960s.

[True Dough]

28. Eviction notices

I guess my folks should have paid the mortgage?

[debm55]

30. Oh you. Thank you True Dough.

[True Dough]

31. Thank you

for tolerating me, deb! I'm a bit goofy.




Hey, aren't you up past your bedtime?

[dem4decades]

32. A rug beater.

[debm55]

33. Wow, Thank you for sharing with us, dem4decades.

[IA8IT]

34. Sisters, mice, fuel oil stoves, party line phones. Sisters still a treasure.

for a while my morning job was go outside fill a can with fuel oil fill and light the heating stove in kitchen.

[debm55]

35. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Thank you very much for sharing with us, IA8IT

[patphil]

36. Dial telephones, console TV's and radio's, manual meat grinders that clamped to a table.

Also black buckle snow boots, ice cube trays, encyclopedias, phone books, and free standing ash trays.

[debm55]

80. Thank you very much for sharing your selection with us, patphil

[Bavorskoami]

38. Fuses vs circuit breakers

Knob and tube wiring
Fuse box vs. circuit breakers
record player for 78 RPM
Coke bottle with a sprinkler plug for my Mom to dampen clothing when ironing.
darning egg
tooth powder
wringer washing machine
coal burning furnace and coal bin

[3catwoman3]

41. My mother used to sprinkle clothes and then roll them up...

...and put them in the freezer so they wouldn't develop mildew if she wasn't going to iron them right away.

[Ocelot II]

60. Same here! I hated ironing, but got stuck with that job pretty often.

The sprinkler bottle predated the steam iron. I still hate ironing, you can tell by looking at me.

[3catwoman3]

64. I actually don't mind ironing - I like the aroma that wafts up from steam ironing a cotton shirt.

And it's relative instant gratification - whatever is being ironed looks so much better for the effort. Mostly, I use a hand held steamer, which is really fast.

I'd rather iron than dust or vacuum, any day of the week. 2 hours after dusting, it looks like you never did.

I have a little sign that says, "You may touch the dust, but please don't write in it. With 4 cats in the house, there is always dust.

[debm55]

89. Great list, Bavorskoami. The House I grew up in , had a coal cellar and this metal window to the outside.

[USAF Brat]

39. A Transistor radio,

a sewing machine with an external belt and one direction sewing, a Polaroid camera, a 110 film camera , a party line rotary wall phone, my brother had a CB radio in his car.

[debm55]

90. Great list of selections. USAF Brat. I remember them . Thank you for the memories.

[3catwoman3]

40. A typewriter - big, heavy sucker.

Window fans before central AC was common.

Fusebox

Only one bathroom

One car garage

TV antenna

Party line phone

[debm55]

91. Great list , 3catwoman3. I remember all except for the partyline.

[DURHAM D]

44. Player piano.

Sears & Roebuck catalogs.

Set of Encyclopedias.

Cloths line and cloths pins and laundry baskets

Mantel clocks that you wind every 8 days

Floor furnace

[debm55]

92. Wow, What a list. Thank you very much for your selection, DURHAM D.

[mobeau69]

45. Ice cube trays

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

84. The metal ones with a handle to pull that released the cubes

[mobeau69]

103. Yep. Under the faucet to free them up when really frozen.

[debm55]

93. I don;t have the metal ones, but I do have the plastic ones now.Thank you, mobeau69

[oberle]

46. Beautiful wooden floors

Screened in porch
Noisy whole house fan, before ac
Mustard yellow colored kitchen cabinets and appliances
Library room with incredible shelves
Sterling silver utensils used on Christmas and Easter

[debm55]

94. That sounds beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us, oberle.

[LastDemocratInSC]

47. An afternoon newspaper tossed on the front porch.

[debm55]

104. Yes, those were memories of the morning and late afternoon newspapers. Thank you, LastDemocratinSC.

[Doc_Technical]

48. Ungrounded electrical outlets

[debm55]

107. I agree. Thank you for sharing with us. Doc_Technical

[MIButterfly]

49. Cod liver oil and Fletcher's Castoria

Oh and an enema bag. My grandmother had some weird ideas. My mother and I escaped when I was 10. When I moved back in decades later, all three were long gone, thank goodness.

Edited to add: I'm cracking myself up over here because I haven't thought about those things in years. Is it weird to laugh about them?

[ahnakneemoose]

50. Paregoric

Last edited Tue May 12, 2026, 05:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Long ago, my mother spread this medication on my gums to ease my teething troubles.

A (Semi-Off-Topic) Secondary Story
One day, dad was trying to teach mom how to drive our stick-shift car. Now mom could easily manipulate the shift lever near the steering wheel, but she never could master the gas pedal along with the clutch pedal. Soon, mom took me and got out of the car as dad drove off to cool off.

As we stood in the parking lot, mom pulled that bottle of Paregoric from her purse and poured an amount of that nasty-tasting liquid onto her tongue. After a few minutes she said she felt much better and that's when dad returned and took us home.

I never saw mom drink that again, and she never learned to drive stick-shift. I love you mom.

*Paregoric (camphorated tincture of opium) is an oral liquid medicine primarily used to treat teething problems. It contains morphine, along with anise oil, benzoic acid, and camphor. It is habit-forming and requires a prescription.

[Katinfl]

58. OMG I had forgotten all about that.

[WestMichRad]

51. Kodak camera

[Endlessmike56]

52. Doilies under lamps.

[mtairyguy]

53. I looked and didn't see an item we had...

S and H green stamps! My mom would be saving them for some useful items while I’d be looking at the toys in the catalog!

[Morbius]

54. A percolator.

?v=1627236414&width=1445

I remember when my parents first got a Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker; it was a big deal.

[debm55]

76. Yes, I remember them. It is a Corning Ware (from the blue flowers) Thank you very much Morbius for sharing.

[OldBaldy1701E]

55. Hmm...

Coal chutes.

Upstairs floor vents to allow heat into the upstairs.

TV antennas on the roof.

A pitcher pump. I have not seen one of those inside a house for over fifty years.

A 'widow's walk' on the house. Some houses today still add them, but they are seldom accessible for actual walking.

Horse doors. (Now bear with me. My grandmother's house was pre-Civil War. It has these large doors that went from floor to ceiling in the front hallway. These doors faced each other in the widest part of said hall. They were there so the owners could bring in their horses should the weather become too cold. That way, they could just heat the house in very cold conditions. I had only seen them opened once in my lifetime, and that was to just check and see if they were still working and sealing okay.)

A 'carriage door' or 'carriage hall' on a house. This was where the people would get into the wagon/carriage under cover so that they would not get wet between the door and the carriage. Most people parked their cars under them back when I was a kid, but it only worked for smaller cars, since the space was for a horse and buggy, which are not very wide.

So much has changed since I was a kid. It sometimes amazes me.

[debm55]

73. What a wonderful selection. Thank you so much for sharing all of them and telling us what they are for, OldBaldy1701E

[samplegirl]

56. Paper grocery bags

Window fans, suppers served with everyone at the table.

[debm55]

72. I agree with your selections. Thank you, samplegirl for sharing.

[waterwatcher123]

57. A Racoon (Flack) Who Ran Around a Brick Ledge on the House and Jumped on the Backs of Visitors (did not bite).

[debm55]

71. HAAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHA. Thank you, waterwatcher, for sharing, That is funny.

[Phoenix61]

59. An enormous plug in calculator that did the 4 basic math functions.

A hand held egg beater, metal ice cube trays with a handle, an iron that didn't have a water reservoir, and in the backyard a giant clothes line because we didn't have a dryer.

[debm55]

70. Great selections, Thank you so much for sharing with us. Phoenix61.

[Bristlecone]

61. A black and white TV

[debm55]

69. Thank you very much for sharing with us, Bristlecone.

[Nanuke]

62. Kitchen taffy hook, milk box on porch, mangle, room steamer, electric fry pan, clip on sunglasses, barometer on wall.

[debm55]

68. HAHAHAHAHHA. Thank you very much for sharing with us, Nanuke. I was always afraid of the mangle. Thought I would get my

arms stuck in it.

[TommieMommy]

63. B & W TV and a radio with tubes, wringer washer, party line dial phone and radiators.

[debm55]

67. Yes, I remember. Thank you, TommieMommy.

[lark]

65. Rabbit ears on the tv, rotary phones

[debm55]

66. HAHAHAHAH. Yes, the rabbit ears. Thank you so much for sharing., lark

[Brother Buzz]

74. A mangle Iron thingy

For that matter, an iron that isn’t tucked away and covered in dust.

[debm55]

75. thank you, Brother Buzz. I hated the mangle. In fact was afraid of it. At three year old, I was helping my mother doing

washing with a roller wash machine. My hand and arm got pulled through. Instead of opening the rollers up, she put them in reverse. Don't know if it causes any broken bones as I didn't go to ER or doctor's office.

[enid602]

77. Antisceptics

Mercurochrome and merthiolate.

[debm55]

102. Thank you very much, enid602. I hated them.

[CanonRay]

78. An Ice delivery door on the back porch

[debm55]

101. Wow, Thank you very much for sharing with us. CanonRay. That is so unique.

[Keepthesoulalive]

81. Magnavox

Do outhouses count.

[debm55]

100. HAHHAHAHAHAHHAH. If you had them at your parents house and don't have now, it counts. TY, Keepthesoulalive.

[Keepthesoulalive]

109. Lived in the south with granny

Now I know why southerners worry about constipation.

[northoftheborder]

82. Bottles of ink for fountain pens

Clotheslines (and clothespins) in back yard, gas heating stoves in each room, big cars with huge trunks, bath tub with no shower

[debm55]

98. Thank you very much, northoftheborder. , I remember all except for the ink for the fountain pens.

[rurallib]

88. Most of the stuff mentioned. But my Dad also made his own beer and wine

so we always had about 50 gallons of something brewing in the basement.

While they couldn't buy beer or wine at the grocery store, you could buy all the ingredients and mix up a batch of your own.
The beer blew up one really hot night, but that's anther story.

[debm55]

97. Thank you very much for sharing with us, rurallib. Sounds great.

[choie]

95. An 8-track tape player (and tapes) and a blue shag rug

[debm55]

96. HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA. Thank you very much, choie.

[dlilafae]

106. It seemed we always had

tapioca in the pantry. No one eats tapioca (or bread) pudding that much, anymore. Now they make Boba with it. (Intriguing!)

[GP6971]

110. incandescent light bulbs.

[Bluestocking]

111. Asbestos

My parents had a fire in their house and the fireman said if it were not for the asbestos the entire house would have gone up in flames.