Things that really ought to have disappeared by now

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The other day I was looking at a Juicy Fruit wrapper on the pavement and I thought "Juicy Fruit? Who the hell buys that these days?" I mean they seem to have given up advertising it and everything. My grandmother used to buy this weird pre-flouride toothpaste that had she had used all her life. It had to be ordered in specially and one day the manufacturer called it a day.

What products have had their day? You can chuck anachronistic TV programmes or whatever into the mix too, if you like.

― Nick, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sunny Delight. There is NO excuse anymore to be seen in the vicinity of Sunny Delight, or anyone who has ever used the words "Sunny D"

― dave q, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

stuart pierce. i mean, really

― gareth, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Post Office Tower. It just isn't the landmark it once was.

― Martin, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

My insane grandpa's vile hair oil. I don't know where he gets it from, it's in some kind of wartime container and is gross. Maybe I should get him some gel for his next birthday?

― Emma, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Spam. I am the only person in the world who likes it and fear it will go the way of powdered egg very soon. No more powdered egg sdpam omlettes - boo-hoo.

― Pete, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ann Robinson winking, come on, we all know its just a leftover from her days as a hardcore alcoholic. Anyone can take out a hangover on a bunch of dullards, not many people can do it looking like tubaca(how do you spell it, I'm not a fan) those harsh studio lights really show Ann Robinson should be presenting the missing link not the weakest one.

― Ronan Fitzgerald, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Phone boxes will soon disappear

― jel, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nads. I mean, what is that bullshit?

― Ally, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I doubt the phone boxes will disappear so much as be taken away.

― Ronan Fitzgerald, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

mobile phones up the asses of those who persist on using them on trains to tell everyone else, "I'm on the train."

― Geoff, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ha! I hate using my phone on the train. My roommate always fucking calls me while I'm on the train! "Where are you?" "WHERE DO YOU THINK I AM, I TOLD YOU I AM GOING TO AMHERST THIS WEEKEND FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" "Oh, you're still on the train?" "IT'S A FIVE HOUR TRAIN RIDE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, OF COURSE I AM BEING AS I ONLY LEFT A HALF HOUR AGO!" "So how are you?" "I AM ON A TRAIN, REMEMBER?" "I bought yoghurt today." "ARRRRRRGH!" (insert Ally slitting her wrists here)

― Ally, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Geoff, what are you supposed to say when your interlocutor asks where you are? 'I'm in a sauna with Ray Liotta'? 'I'm in a cage'? Then your fellow travellers would think you were a mentalist and get the guard to lock you in his carriage. By all means say 'I'm on the train'. Just don't shout it.

― Emma, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Emma you are a mentalist if you think the guard has a carriage. He has a small cupboard: it is stuffed with the snack trolley.

― mark s, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sunny D is right. That's strange that it's what I was thinking and I see it's the first response here. Obviously, there is worldwide disdain for this disgusting syrup of a "drink" that actually stings your throat with it's artificially enhanced acidic tang.

The other things I was going to say are Ovaltine and Farina. Maybe people are buying Farina like it's going out of style somewhere? It always looks dusty on the shelves.

― Nude Spock, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you guys have guards on yr trains over there? the first world must be nice! and yes, I'm on my fours, with my ass in ray liottas face would make it far more entertaining for me...i had a thought yesterday - how come smoking has been banned on transport, but mobile phone users can still fucking pollute my atmosphere?

― Geoff, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sunny D beloved of all kids worldwide because it hops them up something mad. Actually no I have no idea who buys it.

― Tom, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Goober Grape, and any other bizarre peanut butter/jelly in the same jar combos. Do y'all have this monstrosity in the UK?

― jess, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one of the biggest ingredients in Sunny D is vegetable oil, this in itself is enough to put me off.

― cabbage, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Every so often in a drugstore (*pharmacy* for you sniggering UK lot), I'll see some dim, dusty shelves -- even in the brightly lit areas -- selling products for hair care named things like 'brilliantine' which appear not to have been touched for forty years. Frightening.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Soap on a rope.

― Lyra, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

oh, and the Friends show.

― Lyra, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think the only personin the US who consumes Sunny D is my father-in- law, and this was only because he worked for Proctor & Gamble. HE actually prefers the stuff to orange juice. I suspect brainwashing.

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

why doesnt blink html work on here?...my phone box statement would have had more effect otherwise! I hope HTML disappears soon!

― jel, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think blinking only works on Netscape these days or something

― Nick, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

yeah you are right Nick, it works on Netscape!

― jel, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What? HTML is the best, man! And why come?* Because I don't want to learn XML! Because I'm content with having just enough to annoy myself and others. Give me the days of IRC and screw pictures in the bum entirely! That's what I say.

*This is not buford speak.

― Nude Spock, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Starlight Express and Cats. Not long to go.

― Nick, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Juicy Fruit's gonna move ya. It chews so soft, it gets right to ya. It doesn't have to advertise.

*leans cockily on upended waterski* Oh, and I love Sunny Delight. It's OJ for pragmatists.

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Zima. Fanny Packs. Margerine. I'm surprised Fresca and Necco wafers are still around, but I hope they never go away.

― Arthur, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I love Goober Grape! Do they still sell Tang? I didn't even like it as a kid. "This Week In Baseball" should've been cancelled the day Mel Allen died.

― Kris, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Necco wafers... *shudder*

Dunno abt Tang. "Ting" still exists tho an obscure Jamaican grapefruit soda should by all logic exist only as misty-eyed web shrine material at this point.

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

On the gum front, I'll nominate Bazooka Joe.

― Kim, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Boots opposite Aldgate station still sells Dr White's Sanitary Belts and giant mattressy Sanitary Pads with loops on the end to attach to said belt. My mother, who actually had to wear these things back in the day, tells me that you walk three paces and they slip up at the back and cover the wrong hole. They are completely useless. So... why?

― Madchen, Thursday, 23 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

seven months pass...

Old people are funny. They like sticking with what they know. Perhaps even post-menopausal women like to carry on wearing giant mattressy sanitary pads because it makes them feel comfortable. Or maybe they just use them to cope with incontinence.

― N., Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

or use them to bounce down the street on their arses

― chris, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, or that.

― N., Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You are all lunatics.

Oh, and I nominate deodorant that comes in a jar.

― Samantha, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Me.

I want to drive in the sun and listen to Bingo Bango in an effort to make a bad day better, at least until the 5 euro of petrol I put in the car runs out at which point I'll go home and probably end up back on ILE.

― Ronan, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

nine months pass...

Tinned carrots.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 12:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Geoff, what are you supposed to say when your interlocutor asks where you are?

When I take a train you wouldn't believe the number of people who whip out a phone, call, and say "Guess where I'm calling from!" They need to be mercilessly mocked into extinction.

As for things that ought to have disappeared by now, lard. Yes, some pastry chefs swear by it, but I can't believe enough people buy the stuff for mainstream grocery stores to stock it.

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 15:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Lard, its what breakfast was made for. I'm never without some in the fridge.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 15:47 (twenty-three years ago)

guess where I'm calling from should be saved for the shower.

― Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 15:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Pop Idol. It'll kill us all, I tell you.

Pete - lard=great for making pancakes with.

― SittingPretty (sittingpretty), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 15:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah. But I'm talking about the U.S., where the consumption of fats and oils (with the exception of extra-extra virgin olive oil) is nearly as shunned and tabooed as smoking.

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 15:52 (twenty-three years ago)

guess where I'm calling from should be saved for the shower.

Fuck that. A coffin.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 15:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Sorry to go all I Love The 80's, but I believe that Sodastream is still available in some dark corner of Asda. Does anyone still buy sandwich toasters (granted they were/are pretty fab)? Honestly, what are they on?

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 21:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah. But I'm talking about the U.S., where the consumption of fats and oils (with the exception of extra-extra virgin olive oil) is nearly as shunned and tabooed as smoking.

what? excuse me? how come the waistline of the average american continues to balloon out of control. that wouldn't have anything to do with that quite-fatty-double-whopper-with-cheese-and-bacon you're about stuff in your face, would it?

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 21:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, I didn't say that we don't eat fat, just that it's a lot more secret and shameful. Does any other country have drive-through restaurants? Nobody has to know that you got the double bacon cheeseburger -- and supersized it.

Or else you buy butter, saying that a little of the good stuff will satisfy you. Then you slather on a lot more than you intended.

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:07 (twenty-three years ago)

so funny yet so true. i think drive-thrus really ought to have disappeared by now, except the old fashioned "sock hop" that were actually kind of cool looking.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Or you go into a fast food place and order a value meal and then tell them to super-fat-ass-size it, but ask for a diet Coke.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:14 (twenty-three years ago)

by the way, how many states have drive through liquor stores ? I think at this point you can buy liquor pretty much everywhere in the state of Virginia, including the local CVS.

― daria g, Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Americans have always had a love hate relationship with themselves. My personal theory is that it comes from all those puritans boffing each other in order to populate a whole "unpopulated" continent. So yes, there is a backlash hate/fear of grease and oil here, despite Mickey D's.

Argh! (mental note to self: type faster)

― , Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:22 (twenty-three years ago)

sodastreams! my friend's dad used to sell these (or maybe some variation on these) we used to go to her house after school and she would make us fizzy "coke", it was the coolest thing! not for the taste, but for the novelty.

― sand.y, Thursday, 16 January 2003 00:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Sodastream drinks were vile, sandy, but the curious thing was that because it was fizzy, you used to try to convince yourself that you actually liked it!

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Thursday, 16 January 2003 00:09 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd sooner have a Sodastream drink than Sunny Delight, however.

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Thursday, 16 January 2003 00:10 (twenty-three years ago)

What prompted you to bring up Sodastream in the first place? I can't see any mention of it upthread?

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 16 January 2003 00:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Ahh, drive through liquer stores, where would we be without them? Beer Barn, I heart you.

― That Girl (thatgirl), Thursday, 16 January 2003 00:20 (twenty-three years ago)

They need to merge drive-thru liquor stores with Sodastream.

― Curtis Stephens, Thursday, 16 January 2003 01:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Mullets.

― man, Thursday, 16 January 2003 01:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Thanks for making me feel like I'm living in the past. I have both a sandwich toaster and a soda stream which are used on a regular basis. Need to get a new gas bottle for the Sodastream though.

― Celeste (Celeste), Thursday, 16 January 2003 01:40 (twenty-three years ago)

If someone could post a picture of this Sodastream thing so my feeble mind would know what is going on...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 16 January 2003 01:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Five Alive, Capri Sun, Squirt, Wink...

― Aaron A., Thursday, 16 January 2003 02:09 (twenty-three years ago)

N., do you mean me? Ben mentioned it upthread (8th post down from the jan 15th new answers)

Ben, the best part about sodastreams was that it seemed so magical- like "WOW you can make your own pop"

How much were those things anyway? I wonder if anyone still uses them

― sand.y, Thursday, 16 January 2003 04:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Does Anna Kournikova count in this category?

― Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 16 January 2003 04:59 (twenty-three years ago)

inasmuch as she's a 'thing', then absolutely

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 16 January 2003 05:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I think I meant Ben, sandy, but I have no idea why. He was giving a perfectly good answer to the question.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 16 January 2003 09:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Re. Sodastream, I'm sorry if I've caused any offence, Celeste. I was just bowled over to see Sodastream on sale anywhere now. Mind you, I note that thanks to ebay and some specialist services, you can still buy Betamax tapes. Bet you can't find a machine to play them on though.

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Thursday, 16 January 2003 10:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Ned: http://www.sodastream.co.uk/

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 16 January 2003 10:56 (twenty-three years ago)

me, obviously.

― doom-e, Thursday, 16 January 2003 10:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Check out the Sodastream Evolution: http://www.sodastream.co.uk/drinksmakers.htm

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 16 January 2003 10:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Sodastream coke is worse than Panda.

― SittingPretty (sittingpretty), Thursday, 16 January 2003 10:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Xmas

― dave q, Thursday, 16 January 2003 11:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I see they no longer make that luminous snot-green "Witch's Brew" flavour.

I bet Dandelion & Burdock Sodastream is delightful.

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Thursday, 16 January 2003 11:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Doesn't everyone have a sandwich toaster?

― Graham (graham), Thursday, 16 January 2003 14:39 (twenty-three years ago)

No Graham, they don't. Maybe students still do.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 16 January 2003 14:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Just enjoyed, a lovely cheese and pickled onion toastie... blokey is eating a cheese and parma ham one.
As for the sodastream flavours, Dandelion and burdock is lovely, the fruity ones are nice too. But I would never ever have the cola ones... horrid. When they first came out some brand used to make the Concentrates. Fanta flavours were lovely, and the joy is you can make them as strong as you like.
We've talked about trying to get a Sodastream revival so that we can get some better flavours.
Oh Sand.y, if you want to get one, they're about 30 quid. The concentrates are about 2 quid, and the refillable bottles are about 3 quid I think.

― Celeste (Celeste), Thursday, 16 January 2003 15:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Well aren't you all grown up Mr Nick "stainless steel waffle iron" Dastoor.

― Graham (graham), Thursday, 16 January 2003 16:08 (twenty-three years ago)

I just threw out my sodastream before christmas. Hadn't been used in years. Sandwich toasters still turn up often enough. The kitchen at work has one and the fat asses use it.

Ovaltine is still hugely popular in India. Apparantly it is one of the biggest selling brands there. You can also get stuff like Ovaltine biscuits there.

Casettes are getting pretty endangered I reckon

― tigerclawskank, Thursday, 16 January 2003 16:25 (twenty-three years ago)

VHS should be on its last legs by now. And DVD will be out in about ten years' time too.

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Thursday, 16 January 2003 16:28 (twenty-three years ago)

I am nearly 30, and one of the few consolations of reaching this great age is no longer having to eat sandwiches made in a Breville, followed by the cleaning out of mysterious goo.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 16 January 2003 16:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Were you forced to eat them before? They should make a film about your horrific childhood.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 16 January 2003 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

my mom has a sandwich toaster. it was a gift, and i haven't seen her use it for ages. i never liked any of the sandwiches made with it.

― sand.y, Friday, 17 January 2003 02:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Big Brother has definitely had its day. They're not really doing a fourth series are they?

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Friday, 17 January 2003 23:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes, and this time you have to ring a premium rate number to apply for entry.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 17:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Ronald Reagan,Triumph Dolomites,long-wave radios,Isle of Man one pound notes and betamax video recorders.

― Eugene Speed (Eugene Speed), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 21:38 (twenty-three years ago)

NOOO! do not disappear the triumph dolomites!

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 22:10 (twenty-three years ago)

nine months pass...

Cliff Richard Christmas singles
Emmerdale
RI:SE
Michael Howard

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 10 November 2003 13:40 (twenty-two years ago)

The expression "to dial a number". When was the last time you used a phone with a dial?

― OleM (OleM), Monday, 10 November 2003 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Wires. I cant stand to look behind my computer...too many wires!

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Monday, 10 November 2003 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a new(ish) toastie maker, it's a cow called Daisy, my baby sis bought if for me...

― smee (smee), Monday, 10 November 2003 14:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Further to what I posted back in January, Big Brother should be put out of its misery. This year's series was just a real stinker.

― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Monday, 10 November 2003 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

Currys. The electrical shop, not the misspelt dish.

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 27 March 2006 19:49 (twenty years ago)

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