What are some examples of "they don't make 'em like they used to"?

Toasters. I miss my grandpas ge stainless steel self rising toaster.

VCR’s. Doncha miss ‘em??

Leaded gasoline. It smelled SO good!

Air conditioning with cfc’s.

I had this set of metal firetrucks when I was little that were my dads when he was a little kid.

This shit was big. Like a meter long ladder truck and a water tanker that held about a 2 quarts.

This was all metal and rubber. Top notch stuff. So you could fill the tanker with water and then there was a hose you could run to a manual pump. And then run that the the big ass ladder truck that when extended was nearly as tall as I was.

I used to put out the imaginary fires in my sisters Barbie Dream home with grape kool-aid. Kinda messed up their clothes and hair. That was the point.

Dad thought it was hilarious. Mom thought I was a dick so after a few times she put the firetrucks in the attic.

So then I just poured kool-aid on my sisters barbies. No fire truck needed.

My mom being my mom bought me a Atari game to stop.

Refrigerators. All appliances, in fact.

Tomatoes. And all other rushed, overgrown, and flavorless fruits and vegetables.

Movies.

Teachers.

popsicles. the flavors were much more pronounced in my youth.

Bananas. The good ones went extinct.

Not to be political but Presidents.

Music.

@Tropical_Willie :: Obama was only 18 months ago. Where is my gun?

Flatware, especially steak knives. Even Oneida doesn’t make ‘em like they used to.

@johnpowell I’m just commenting on the Dictator-want-a-be, acting as President.

Appliances are a major one. Washers and dryers made in the 70s last for decades; ones made now fail after a few years because of an “electronic error”. Planned obsolescence is a bitch.

Space rockets. We lost some good rocket designs. We are slowly relearning space travel.

Cars. I accidentally leaned against my car and dented it. Yikes!

@Jeruba Appliances were the first to come to my mind too. I’ve written letters. You cannot hardly buy good washers, dryers, and dishwashers anymore. I bought expensive Speed Queen washer/dryer to get some made in the USA. I bought Frigidaire Gallery kitchen stuff and it’s mediocre but the dishwasher, while it does get the dishes clean, runs for two and a half hours and leaves some detergent on the dishes. I used to just rinse things prior to using but now after the cycle ends I send it through a 25 minute rinse only cycle. It’s just ridiculous. All part of the Obama energy and water saving crap…...save a little water and run the machine for three hours rather than 35 minutes. Rant over. Sorry. :)

I agree with @RedDeerGuy1 there are no good bananas anymore. I asked the produce manager at Publix about it recently and he told me to buy organic. I do. But they still are not good like they were 10 years ago. No flavor and no sweetness. He said that the non-organics are gassed to keep them green for a long time. They aren’t GMOs though, according to the produce codes. The organics go from green to too ripe in one day. There is just something not right about the food supply these days. Chicken breasts. Have you seen those monsters? A chicken would have to be the size of small turkey to have such big breasts. Pork is still good but beef is not good unless you buy the grass-fed only.

Wooden furniture. It’s all shitty fiber board, or plywood now. I can’t say how many pieces of furniture, just break from nothing. And the stuff is really heavy, but not tough…

Landline telephones. The old ones, even the first generation touchstone phones, were built like tanks. Now they are useless after about a year.

A lot of jellies says my answers already. Clothing, furniture, landline phones, Celeste pizza, progressive minestrone soup, Coca Cola, chicken.

Going back to clothing, so flipping hard to find nice cotton items. So much garbage rayon, and we produce a lot of cotton in America. I used to drive by field after to field of it, and then couldn’t find a cotton dress in a local store.

There was actually an article a while back about how these discount stores purposely make crap clothes that will fall apart quickly.

Roads and bridges..are they constructing anything new nowadays or just maintaining (or not) the old ones? I’m not sure.

@zenvelo . Do you remember payphones? Those suckers were built strong AF.

I have to give a shout out to churches. Although I basically hate them, some of the older ones are fortresses. There are a gazillion churches here in Charleston. They have gorgeous architecture, and look like they’ll be around for much longer than their surroundings.

I know people love the convenience of modern coffee makers, but I miss the buhglubulub of percolators, and the smell seemed to travel the house better.

^I hate coffee, but I admit, I love the smell of a pot brewing. I guess that’s weird…

Not weird, I hope, because I am the same.

^Couple of weirdos!

My rant of the day is “light bulbs”!!! The good old light bulb I installed when I first moved in back in 1998 lasted until late 2017. Switched over to the more expensive CFL & it didn’t even make it 6 months. I sure hope the even more expensive LED will last longer!!!

With my physical limitations, changing overhead light bulbs can be hazardous to my health!!!

Next Rant

“Cars”. I liked cars BEFORE they became computerized!!! I don’t appreciate my car second guessing what it is that I’m trying to do!!! One month unable to crank & $2,000 later it still wasn’t fixed. The automaker was telling my mechanic that it was impossible for the problem to occur…WRONG…Damn computer motherboard had a damaged pin. I sent the bill to the maker, they laughed & sent it back.

Same for my microwave, washer, dryer, stove, waffle iron…!!!

stepping off of my soap box now

Cast iron cookware. The new stuff while having a high quality composition has a really crummy cooking surface. I have a gatemarked skillet from the 1800’s that eggs just slide off of.

Appliances, I recently lost the 1980’s vintage washer that I have been using for 15 years. Fingers crossed on the new one.

Electronics 50 years old or more were works of art.

K-cups have ruined coffee.

Women. They used to be quiet, demure, obeisant.

Now they’re uppity, vocal, and want to be treated like men.

Oh, for the good old days.

(yes, this is tongue in cheek)

Men. They used to treat women like goddesses, in awe of our ability to bring forth new life.
In bygone days they wished for sex, now they expect it, and not even a steak dinner in trade now, no, a freaking cup of coffee is supposed to open the hallowed gates!
Oh for the days when a wink and tip of the hat told us we were special, and neither age, nor looks, or circumference made a difference in expressing deference to a lady.
(also tongue in cheek, but in this case both the tongue and the cheek belong to the same person ~)

Chivalry is indeed dead. And women killed it…..

No offense but there were so many thinkers, philosophers across the globe. Political leaders who used to fight for people and not just themselves.

That applies to far more than politics.
Nobody wants to do much of anything which takes time anymore.
Schools should be redesigned in terms of structure, curriculum, methods, everything, but nobody wants to face that challenge.

Innovation happens mostly where the money is. Products and services might see far greater changes at times if not under incredible time pressures.

I often lament the lack of honestly deep thinkers in these times.

Butlers, used to be as loyal & dependable as your pet dawg, now it’s all about wage increases & pension schemes…bloody cheeky buggers.

^What exactly is a “bugger?”

I mean, buggery is anal intrusion but I can assure you, no butler or anyone else has done me up the kazoo :D
Bugger in the sense I used is basically an insult, much like arsehole or dick.

^Thanks.

Buildings. They used to aesthetically pleasing, with intricate decorative elements.
Now it is just concrete blocks everywhere.