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

[Busaholic]

I have been reading that the old sixpenny coin was kept in temporary circulation post D Day, at the behest of London Transport, whose ticket machines and fare structures were based on increments of 2 1/2 p. See "London's Underground" by John Glover

I've only just read your post, but can confirm that ticket machines were at the heart of London Transport's lobbying for the retention of the old sixpenny piece. I worked in both Bus and Underground Depts in the years both before and just after D-Day, but imo it was the Bus Operating Dept that was the most vociferous in wanting to retain the coin, on the basis that flat-fare routes like the Central London Red Arrows relied on a simple, one coin machine to speed boarding and getaway, and a doubling of fare to 5p (an old shilling) to achieve this was utterly out of the question. Happily, many MPs in those days, even Cabinet Ministers, used both Red Arrows and the Underground, and a P.R. exercise helped by support from the Evening Standard had the desired effect.

 

[GusB]

We had Sharp TV/Radio/Cassette which, from memory, was purchased in order to allow my dad to watch the football without hogging the main TV. As it turned out, he continued to watch in colour and it ended up in my room instead!

I'm not sure if this was the exact model, but it was very similar to this one:

Radio Cassette TV 10P-28G TV Radio Sharp; Osaka, build | Radiomuseum

Radio Cassette TV 10P-28G TV Radio Sharp; Osaka, build 1980/1981, 10 pictures, 6 schematics, 1 tubes, 25 semiconductors, Japan, , Television- and Radio

www.radiomuseum.org

 

[Cowley]

I’m sure I remember my mum telling me that we had a vacuum cleaner that doubled up as a dryer in the 1970s. Unfortunately she’s not around to ask anymore but has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
I mean what a great idea, what could possibly go wrong!

 

[najaB]

I’m sure I remember my mum telling me that we had a vacuum cleaner that doubled up as a dryer in the 1970s. Unfortunately she’s not around to ask anymore but has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
I mean what a great idea, what could possibly go wrong!

I've not heard of one - can you remember anything about how it worked? Did it suck the moisture out of the clothes?

 

[Non Multi]

I’m sure I remember my mum telling me that we had a vacuum cleaner that doubled up as a dryer in the 1970s. Unfortunately she’s not around to ask anymore but has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
I mean what a great idea, what could possibly go wrong!

Did it just have a blower port? Fairly common for cylinder vacs back in the day.

 

[dgl]

TV's that had presets but were set not by an OSD but by little wheels (usually at the back), one for each channel/preset, wired remotes for early VCR's, and if you had the cash video cameras that did not have a built in VCR, instead they either plugged in to a regular VCR (we had a S/H Ferguson with said DIN socket) or usually it would have it's own portable VCR, which usually could have a tuner dock/attachment giving it all the features of a regular VCR.

 

[MotCO]

(we had a S/H Ferguson with said DIN socket)

Whatever happened to DIN sockets?

I’m sure I remember my mum telling me that we had a vacuum cleaner that doubled up as a dryer in the 1970s. Unfortunately she’s not around to ask anymore but has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
I mean what a great idea, what could possibly go wrong!

Was this a Vax cleaner - it hoovered, or you could use it as a wet carpet shampooer / suck up any liquid spillages.

As an aside, what a fascinating thread - we are already up to 787 posts!

 

[najaB]

Whatever happened to DIN sockets?

They're still around. Used for, among other things, MIDI connections for musical instruments. More generally though, what happened was cheap DACs meaning that USB (and similar digital transports) could take over.

 

[DelW]

I’m sure I remember my mum telling me that we had a vacuum cleaner that doubled up as a dryer in the 1970s. Unfortunately she’s not around to ask anymore but has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
I mean what a great idea, what could possibly go wrong!

Not quite the same thing, but we had a mid-60s cylinder vacuum cleaner (I think it was made by Electrolux), where the hose could be plugged into either end (suck or blow). It even came with a spray gun attachment, which I doubt we ever used. So some sort of a warm air attachment might have been an option too.

 

[MotCO]

Not quite the same thing, but we had a mid-60s cylinder vacuum cleaner (I think it was made by Electrolux), where the hose could be plugged into either end (suck or blow).

I remember those - great fun! I think ours was Hoover.

 

[Cowley]

Not quite the same thing, but we had a mid-60s cylinder vacuum cleaner (I think it was made by Electrolux), where the hose could be plugged into either end (suck or blow). It even came with a spray gun attachment, which I doubt we ever used. So some sort of a warm air attachment might have been an option too.

It got the better of me earlier and I ended up ringing my dad to ask him if he remembers it.
He confirms that we had some kind of cylinder vacuum cleaner that probably had the option to blow but he doesn’t remember it being used as a hair drier although he said that it may have done.
The trouble is that we’re talking about nearly fifty years ago now so memories fade and get mixed up at times...
I reckon what you mentioned was pretty on the money though @DelW.

 

[dgl]

Not quite the same thing, but we had a mid-60s cylinder vacuum cleaner (I think it was made by Electrolux), where the hose could be plugged into either end (suck or blow). It even came with a spray gun attachment, which I doubt we ever used. So some sort of a warm air attachment might have been an option too.

Look up either ibasiac or Beko1987 on YouTube, I believe they have taken a look at just such a cleaner.

As for DIN sockets, Naim still use them for some reason and as has been said MIDI, probably one pf the oldest standards still used today, uses DIN plugs running at the whopping speed of 31.25Kbits/s! Doing MIDI sample dumps from my PC to my S2 keyboard over MIDI is painfully slow.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I remember those - great fun! I think ours was Hoover.

Something like this one?

household, household appliances, vacuum cleaner Omega 7001.3, produced by VEB Elektrowaerme Altenburg, GDR, 1960, design by Hans Merz, East Germany, 20th century, DDR, studio shot, appliance, technics, technic, electric, electrical, product, hoover,

Download this stock image: household, household appliances, vacuum cleaner Omega 7001.3, produced by VEB Elektrowaerme Altenburg, GDR, 1960, design by Hans Merz, East Germany, 20th century, DDR, studio shot, appliance, technics, technic, electric, electrical, product, hoover, 1960s...

www.alamy.com

 

[Cowley]

Something like this one?

household, household appliances, vacuum cleaner Omega 7001.3, produced by VEB Elektrowaerme Altenburg, GDR, 1960, design by Hans Merz, East Germany, 20th century, DDR, studio shot, appliance, technics, technic, electric, electrical, product, hoover,

Download this stock image: household, household appliances, vacuum cleaner Omega 7001.3, produced by VEB Elektrowaerme Altenburg, GDR, 1960, design by Hans Merz, East Germany, 20th century, DDR, studio shot, appliance, technics, technic, electric, electrical, product, hoover, 1960s...

www.alamy.com

Interesting.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Was this a Vax cleaner - it hoovered, or you could use it as a wet carpet shampooer / suck up any liquid spillages.

It sounds more like this; I have one but I have never ever used the water spillage function - only ever used it as a conventional vacuum...

 

[takno]

Was this a Vax cleaner - it hoovered, or you could use it as a wet carpet shampooer / suck up any liquid spillages.

Wet and dry hoovers were pretty popular in the early 90s. We used to use one in Iceland to get all the water out of the chest freezers when they were defrosted. It never used to get cleaned out properly, so it absolutely stank.

 

[eoff]

Encyclopedia (volumes of)

 

[najaB]

MIDI, probably one pf the oldest standards still used today, uses DIN plugs running at the whopping speed of 31.25Kbits/s! Doing MIDI sample dumps from my PC to my S2 keyboard over MIDI is painfully slow.

I can imagine. I bought a 1GB SoundFont file - that would take about three and a half days to transfer over MIDI!

 

[Journeyman]

When I was in my local WH Smith the other day, I was amazed to see they had blank VHS cassettes and floppy disks on sale! I'd obviously fallen through a portal to 1995.

It's at least ten years, probably more, since I've seen these anywhere.

 

[PG]

When I was in my local WH Smith the other day, I was amazed to see they had blank VHS cassettes and floppy disks on sale! I'd obviously fallen through a portal to 1995.

It's at least ten years, probably more, since I've seen these anywhere.

Probably unsold stock from 1995

 

[Journeyman]

Probably unsold stock from 1995

I think it must have been! Floppies are still manufactured, but I'm pretty sure VHS tapes haven't been for at least a decade.

 

[takno]

When I was in my local WH Smith the other day, I was amazed to see they had blank VHS cassettes and floppy disks on sale! I'd obviously fallen through a portal to 1995.

It's at least ten years, probably more, since I've seen these anywhere.

Any 8 inch floppies? I did stock up back in the day, bit I'm starting to run out

 

[PG]

Any 8 inch floppies? I did stock up back in the day, bit I'm starting to run out

Amazed you've still got working 8" drives. If you do find a supplier check if they've got any punched cards and paper tape while you're at it

 

[najaB]

Any 8 inch floppies? I did stock up back in the day, bit I'm starting to run out

Good luck finding any, I'm pretty sure that the DoD bought up the remaining stock to use in the minuteman missile silo control systems.

I wish I was making that up.

Edit: Good news! The risk of Global Thermonuclear War being triggered by a bad sector is no more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...loppy-disks-controlling-nuclear-missiles/amp/

 

[Journeyman]

Good luck finding any, I'm pretty sure that the DoD bought up the remaining stock to use in the minuteman missile silo control systems.

I wish I was making that up.

That's a thread in itself - a lot of obsolete tech is surprisingly valuable because of remaining niche uses. I needed to buy a PCMCIA memory card recently - they cost a lot because the remaining ones get snapped up for various bits of industrial machinery.

 

[PG]

That's a thread in itself - a lot of obsolete tech is surprisingly valuable because of remaining niche uses.

Surprising how stuff is expensive before getting widely adopted, then gets cheaper, then even cheaper as it becomes outdated before rarity pushes the price back up.

Maybe DfT is banking on that for the 365's ​

 

[birchesgreen]

Encyclopedia (volumes of)

Yes I suspect few people buy them now. I still have the Encylopeadia Britannica bought for me as a kid though its in the loft as all my bookshelves are full of railway books natch.

 

[DelW]

It got the better of me earlier and I ended up ringing my dad to ask him if he remembers it.
He confirms that we had some kind of cylinder vacuum cleaner that probably had the option to blow but he doesn’t remember it being used as a hair drier although he said that it may have done.
The trouble is that we’re talking about nearly fifty years ago now so memories fade and get mixed up at times...
I reckon what you mentioned was pretty on the money though @DelW.

I've found our one, though without the spray gun attachment. The fourth picture shows where the hose fits into the output end.

Vacuum Cleaner Collection - electrolux_zc65

This website is dedicated to a great italian collection of vacuum cleaners - Sito dedicato a una importante collezione italiana di aspirapolvere

www.vacuumcleanercollection.com

I reckon that's an even more niche website than railway history ones

 

[Ediswan]

As for DIN sockets, Naim still use them for some reason and as has been said MIDI, probably one pf the oldest standards still used today, uses DIN plugs running at the whopping speed of 31.25Kbits/s!

DIN sockets and MIDI are both relative newcomers. For signal standards, RS-232 and 20 mA current loop are older and still in common use (though not domestically). For connectors, RCA/phono are 1930s. The real survivor is the 1/4" jack plug, which has been in its current form since about 1900.

To add to the original list, SCART connectors. Horrible things. The only cables that were capable of unplugging themselves.

 

[takno]

To add to the original list, SCART connectors. Horrible things. The only cables that were capable of unplugging themselves.

With cables thicker than an undersea data cable that were rigid enough to flick set-top boxes off the top of the set