Each decade introduces new inventions, gradually replacing the old with the new. Things we thought we could never do without, such as Walkmans and typewriters, are suddenly obsolete. Technology moves so fast that many things from my childhood are now relics.
And don’t get me started on gadgets. Why use a camera when you have a smartphone? What on earth is a radiogram, and why would you visit a library?
As a child born in the 1980s, I grew up with many things no longer in use. High-tech video games have replaced the Rubik’s Cube, and the VCR no longer exists. This list of common household items we had in our home will take you on a trip down memory lane.
VCRs and VHS Tapes
I remember a world where we had just four TV channels, which started at 6 a.m. and stopped at 11 p.m. If we weren’t going to be in and wanted to watch a show, we recorded it on the VCR. Now, we can watch what we want when we want and have hundreds of options at our fingertips.
This technology began when platforms like Netflix shifted from DVD rental to streaming in 2007. Streaming services replaced video rental stores and, by default, VCRs. Gone are the days of rushing to the video store to rent a new release before it’s sold out or waiting a week for the next episode of your favorite TV show.
For my parents, having instant access to a Swedish thriller, a Bollywood romance, and a Korean drama, all in one sitting, would have seemed utterly implausible.
Library Books
My mom is not a fan of digital books, and she still gets her books from the mobile library. She often moans and says, “Who wants to curl up in bed with a cold electronic device when they could be holding a book?” However, she’s in the minority because the first mainstream e-reader, Amazon’s Kindle, which debuted in 2007, sold out within hours.
They are easier to use if you’re going on vacation and want to take a few books. But for my mom, there is something comforting about seeing all her books on the shelves. She’s an avid reader, and despite the convenience of having an online library at her fingertips, she won’t give up her library books.
Icecream Wafer Holder
Mom usually asked us if we wanted ice cream on those long summer days when school was out. This involved using the ice cream wafer holder, a blue contraption with a matching ice cream scoop. She placed a rectangular wafer into the holder, dug the ice cream out of the carton, and smoothed it into the holder, placing another wafer on top.
The button at the side then popped the ice cream inside its two wafers up for her to hand to us. It was ingenious and a no-fuss way to give us kids a cold treat.
Rotary Dial Telephones
Who remembers the pea-green phones with a big see-through dial that you stuck your finger in and pushed around seven or eight times until you dialed the number you needed? They were nearly always in the hall of kitchen, never somewhere comfy like near an armchair. I had a habit of twisting the cord around my finger when talking, which drove my mom mad.
Sadly, these were replaced by touchphones, mobile phones, and smartphones. They’re now considered vintage.
Cuckoo Clocks
My parents’ cuckoo clock in our dining room always made me jump. On the hour and every half hour, the wooden cuckoo used to fly out of its box and make a cuckoo sound. It chirped as many times as the hour required.
These clocks originated in the Black Forest region of Germany in the mid-17th century and were popular across Europe. Thankfully, they don’t exist anymore, as digital clocks and smartphones have replaced them.
Encyclopedias
My parents’ sitting room had a massive bookcase, and their set of encyclopedias took up two shelves. This volume of books cost them a small fortune, and they paid for them monthly for a year. I loved them; they were my go-to for homework projects, as you could find anything in them.
They were alphabetical, so it was easy to find what you were looking for and save a trip to the local library. The internet didn’t exist then, so it was one of the only ways to look things up. I now proudly display their whole collection in my lounge; they’re a talking piece when people come over.
Slide Projectors
Family slide shows were a Sunday evening occurrence in the winter months. We didn’t have a TV growing up, strange, I know, but it meant we didn’t have traditional movie nights. Instead, our vacation snaps became the movie with us all reminiscing.
Dad had a white pull-up screen, a projector, and a carousel filled with slides. I’ve lost count of how many times the carousel jammed, and Dad would swear under his breath. He loved it and cataloged the slides, so each box had a label with the year and place of our vacation.
Console Stereo Systems
Dad’s stereo system took pride of place in our sitting room, and it was a monstrous thing. It was stacked seven stories high, and I have no idea what half of the things did. A record player was on top, a double tape deck, and a five-deck CD player.
He used it to record plays and concerts on the radio, which was always on in our house. We might not have had a TV, but our stereo system was state-of-the-art.
Fondue Sets
I remember my parents having a fondue party when they got one in the Boxing Day Sales. Fondue was the height of fashion, and it was pulled out regularly. From cheese to chocolate, they tried everything in it.
My favorite was dipping marshmallows or strawberries into the chocolate fondue mom sometimes made as a treat. The last time I had a fondue was in Switzerland; it was cheese, as it’s quite a trend there at Christmas time.
Percolators
My parents are coffee drinkers, and the coffee percolator was always on the go from morning to night. There was something very comforting about coming downstairs in the morning to the smell of coffee and the sound of the percolator. It had a distinct bubbling sound, and the rich aroma of brewing coffee filled the house.
Now everyone has a Krups or Nespresso machine, and that lovely smell doesn’t last in the same way.
Cassette Tapes
Cassette tapes came in various lengths, from thirty minutes to two hours. Unlike their predecessors, vinyl records, cassettes allowed users to buy pre-recorded music and create custom mixtapes of their favorite songs. I’ve lost count of how many mixtapes I made recording from the radio.
I remember one of my boyfriends made me a mixtape of love songs. We were only sixteen, but it was the most romantic thing ever.
They weren’t without their issues, though. If you played them too many times, they’d go waffy, and the tape would get twisted. The trick was to get a pencil or pen and rewind the tape to try to save it.
Ashtrays
Ashtrays were fashion items in my parents’ era, a time when people regularly smoked indoors. When we went on holiday, my mom would buy one as a souvenir from every town we visited. We got little woven badges for our parkers, and she got an ashtray.
The ironic thing is, she didn’t smoke. But she had a collection of fifty or so for any guests visiting who did.
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Kylie Lang is a nationally syndicated travel journalist with bylines on the Associated Press Wire & more, a lifestyle writer, and the founder and editor of Your Lifestyle Library (yourlifestylelibrary.com). She holds a BA (Honours) in History from the University of Kent and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers.