Things that used to be common place in people’s homes

[MattA7]

There were a lot more potential fire hazards back in those days, but I suppose there was a lot less to set fire to.

Indeed fire will spread at a alarming rate in modern living rooms in comparison to older ones as shown in the fire fighters demonstration video below where both a modern and older living room are tested side by side.

 

[PG]

There were a lot more potential fire hazards back in those days, but I suppose there was a lot less to set fire to.

A lot less smoke alarms back in those days too.

Actually that's another thing you don't see nowadays - a candle left burning in a window overnight.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Actually that's another thing you don't see nowadays - a candle left burning in a window overnight.

When was that last common? Dickensian times?

 

[birchesgreen]

I would have thoughts candles in houses was more common now than it was say in the 70s and 80s as they are burned for scent or aesthetic reasons whereas in earlier decades you only really had candles in case of power cuts!

 

[A0wen]

Are you talking about this sort of thing?

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I seem to recall white tissue in yellow boxes, popular in public buildings (schools and swimming pools) but I'm really surprised anyone had that at home and out of choice.

Yes, either as squares or as rolls. Nasty stuff.

It'll be interesting to see if house fires are less common than they were.

They are - and if you look at the common causes of house fires it's changed.

Go back 40 years and the common causes were:

1 - poorly extinguished cigarettes which usually then ignited non-fire retardant furnishings. All modern furnishings are fire-retardant and the number of smokers has dropped.

2 - electrical equipment. Valve TVs and radios used to run much hotter than their transistor / solid state successors. Some valve TVs were known to be fire starters. Also the quality of wiring in domestic houses has improved reducing the risk of electrical fires.

3 - Cooking fires - chip pans were the main offender here but not the only one. Again, fewer people use them nowadays and kitchen appliances generally have better safety features on them than they did 40 years ago.

I would have thoughts candles in houses was more common now than it was say in the 70s and 80s as they are burned for scent or aesthetic reasons whereas in earlier decades you only really had candles in case of power cuts!

They are - but a candle on its own doesn't start a house fire - it needs to ignite something. And 40 years ago most soft furnishings weren't flame retardant so a candle caught those and started fires, whereas nowadays soft furnishings have to be flame retardant so they'll get scorched, but won't go up in flames if they come into contact with a candle.

 

[ainsworth74]

Calor Gas heaters were fairly commonplace, but I haven't seen any in use in homes for a long time.

Oh gosh I'd forgotten about them! My dad used to have one of those in the garage to help keep him warm when he was pottering around out there. I remember we used to have to go to the post office of all places once a yearish to get a new bottle of gas.

Speaking of which did anyone have a dark room (or other purloined space) for developing their own photos at home? My dad used part of the garage as a dark room as he was heavily into photography. Another aspect of photography that I guess is now nearly entirely consigned to the dust heap seeing as everyone uses their smartphone or for the more serious photographers a digital camera.

 

[MotCO]

It'll be interesting to see if house fires are less common than they were.

House fires are less common than they were, to the extent that fire services now have time to actively identify which houses are likely to have fires by reference to age profiles of occupants and other factors, and arrange visits to provide advice.

 

[ABB125]

Calor Gas heaters were fairly commonplace, but I haven't seen any in use in homes for a long time.

Here's a gas heater (complete with Haynes manual, tools and a totally knackered engine coolant pump ).

Not in a home though...

 

[PG]

Here's a gas heater (complete with Haynes manual, tools and a totally knackered engine coolant pump ).
View attachment 89054
Not in a home though...

Feels like one of those 'label whats wrong' pictures from public information films

 

[ABB125]

Feels like one of those 'label whats wrong' pictures from public information films

Fortunately the heater is off at the moment.

 

[Trackman]

House fires are less common than they were, to the extent that fire services now have time to actively identify which houses are likely to have fires by reference to age profiles of occupants and other factors, and arrange visits to provide advice.

I was reading about an elderly gentleman who started a chip-pan fire not long since.
I’m amazed people still have chip-pans!

 

[birchesgreen]

They are - but a candle on its own doesn't start a house fire - it needs to ignite something. And 40 years ago most soft furnishings weren't flame retardant so a candle caught those and started fires, whereas nowadays soft furnishings have to be flame retardant so they'll get scorched, but won't go up in flames if they come into contact with a candle.

I didn't say it was but i replying to someone who said they didn't see candles in houses anymore.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I didn't say it was but i replying to someone who said they didn't see candles in houses anymore.

That was possibly me, and it was candles left lit in a window overnight that I was querying.

 

[chorleyjeff]

A few days ago I noticed when looking at homes for rent that on had a TV in the kitchen. Something I remember most people having however nowadays it’s pretty rare.

It got me thinking of other items you used to see in everyone’s home but are now quite rare such as vhs players, vinyl record players, electric bar heaters, trouser press etc

can anyone think of anything else or still has such items in their homes؟

Coal fires, parafin heaters, pokers, toasting forks,

 

[takno]

I was reading about an elderly gentleman who started a chip-pan fire not long since.
I’m amazed people still have chip-pans!

Seems like most people replaced the chip pan with a deep-fat fryer 30 years or so ago. Along with much better advice on how to handle a chip pan fire this massively reduced risk.

Deep-fat frying in the home has gone massively out of use a lot since then though. That means that anybody who decides they really fancy doing some good old-fashioned chips now is far more likely to do them in a pan than go out and buy a new fryer, and unfortunately there's a whole new generation who won't have seen the public information films.

It's really interesting the number of things coming up which I never saw in a house in my childhood, but which still persist. I know a few people with wood burners, so pokers and the like are around their houses, but everybody I knew as a child had gas heating or economy 7.

 

[MotCO]

Deep-fat frying in the home has gone massively out of use a lot since then though.

Oven chips may have a lot to do with that.

 

[eMeS]

Oven chips may have a lot to do with that.

And perhaps that smoking has got less, and people are now much more aware of how smelly homes can be after a good fry!

 

[najaB]

And perhaps that smoking has got less, and people are now much more aware of how smelly homes can be after a good fry!

That's an interesting connection that I would never have thought to make - but it does make sense!

And for things that used to be common but are less so now - long trailing extension cords so that you could take the phone into another room.

 

[takno]

And for things that used to be common but are less so now - long trailing extension cords so that you could take the phone into another room.

The only phone we had that would go in another room was on wheels from Fisher Price!

 

[Trackman]

And perhaps that smoking has got less, and people are now much more aware of how smelly homes can be after a good fry!

and greasy walls- yuk!!

The only phone we had that would go in another room was on wheels from Fisher Price!

My brother had one of those.
I bet it's a Fisher Price handheld mobile these days!

edit: hell's bells, just googled it- Fisher Price smart phone, yours for just for £8.
edit 2: it gets worse, there is a Fisher Price teething smartphone. closing that window NOW.

 

[MattA7]

I was reading about an elderly gentleman who started a chip-pan fire not long since.
I’m amazed people still have chip-pans!

I have one, bought it from Asda a few months ago. They are still sold and used by people.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I would have thoughts candles in houses was more common now than it was say in the 70s and 80s as they are burned for scent or aesthetic reasons whereas in earlier decades you only really had candles in case of power cuts!

I have noticed warnings about candles of late. My missus likes them and is convinced that a burning candle absorbs the cooking smells - well so does the smell of excrement !.

Here's a gas heater (complete with Haynes manual, tools and a totally knackered engine coolant pump ).
View attachment 89054
Not in a home though...

That green bag is waiting to get hot. I even see a glow from the bottom left corner nearest the bag !.

I was reading about an elderly gentleman who started a chip-pan fire not long since.
I’m amazed people still have chip-pans!

When I saw my step son had started cooking chips in the chip pan and then gone back upstairs to his computer I decided to buy our second electric deep fat fryer. The first one I bought had been a posh one with a sealed lid, drain tube and filter but the missus never cleaned it. One day someone ripped out the seal to clean it and I never managed to get it back in. This second fryer is currently undercover outside because no one can be bothered to clean it !. And behold there is the basic deep fat fryer with a loose lid in my neighbours garden. That one has filled up with rain and so the oil has floated off to coat the patio !. It is progress though as I had previously stopped them tipping the oil down the outside shared drain !.

Perhaps things will migrate to more deliveries of cooked food thus resolving the whole domestic fire, decor and drain problem ?.

 

[Busaholic]

Does anyone still have a old fuse box that has porcelain/ceramic fuses like this:

Actually, three such boxes, though I think there are no uses any longer for the fuses in one of them - comes of living in an 18th century property, the ground floor of which has been 'retail' for well over a century, possibly longer, and hasn't been rewired in...well, let's say I've been there over thirty years and never found the time or energy to get round to organising it, doing it myself being akin to attempting self brain surgery, such is my level of practical incompetence.

 

[birchesgreen]

Does anyone still have a old fuse box that has porcelain/ceramic fuses like this:

Yeah my Mum's house still has this (like most things in this thread )

 

[PeterC]

And for things that used to be common but are less so now - long trailing extension cords so that you could take the phone into another room.

I probably have one rolled up among all the odd bits of cabling from former computers. I never used one for a phone but it was vital for internet access before we had wi-fi.

 

[adrock1976]

My grandmother had a rocking chair - not sure how common they are nowadays as I have not seen any at all.

 

[eMeS]

My grandmother had a rocking chair - not sure how common they are nowadays as I have not seen any at all.

I have a genuine Thonet rocking chair in store in my loft. I bought it for around £5 back in 1965, and tried to re-cane it, but at the time I couldn't buy the correct size of cane, and what started out as OK soon became over-crowded. What I need is a good tear jerking story to get it done on "The Repair Shop"!

 

[Flying Phil]

I am puzzled as to why printers are regarded as no longer needed...there are lots of legal requirements for paper documents as anybody who has had to sort out after a death well knows.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I am puzzled as to why printers are regarded as no longer needed...there are lots of legal requirements for paper documents as anybody who has had to sort out after a death well knows.

Indeed. I was thinking that also.

 

[trainophile]

I was very grateful for my printer (even though I had to send off for new ink cartridges) at the beginning of the first lockdown, when train companies were still asking you to return your tickets for a refund. Thankfully that didn't last long! Apart from that I use it to print off entry forms for OH's classic car shows, but not much other use.

On the subject of technology, I wonder if you can still get photography films developed at the chemist. Even proper cameras (as opposed to mobile phone cameras) are downloadable onto PCs nowadays. Remember waiting about a week for the photos to be ready, then being all disappointed that most of them were rubbish! We don't know we're born these days.