Blast from the past - remind us of a thing

Blast from the past - remind us of a thing

Author
Discussion

konark

1,128 posts

122 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
98elise said:
My current home (built in the 60's) had crittall windows when we moved in. It was impossible to heat the house in the winter. The windows didn't seal properly and sucked the heat out regardless. Replacing with double glazing was done before the second winter.
We had crittall windows in our 1950s council house. Frames were colder than the glass in winter. Council replaced them with plastic double-glazing in the 1980s. Then many of the thin concrete lintels began to crack. They hadn't realised the steel windows had greater structural strength allowing wider windows.

CammyN

61 posts

2 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Car Stereos.


There was a time when you bought a new car, first thing you did was have a better radio cassette fitted, often a Kenwood or a Pioneer and something with a removable front that you took out of the car.

Took my grandfather to buy a new car, he had zero interest in cars. Bought him a Rover 214. Only thing he asked the salesman was

'Does it have a radiogram;


cuprabob

14,993 posts

217 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Purosangue said:
Sprint from 1976 double steering wheel , so you could race your dad



Remember that wellsmile

motco

16,052 posts

249 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
CammyN said:
Car Stereos.


There was a time when you bought a new car, first thing you did was have a better radio cassette fitted, often a Kenwood or a Pioneer and something with a removable front that you took out of the car.

Took my grandfather to buy a new car, he had zero interest in cars. Bought him a Rover 214. Only thing he asked the salesman was

'Does it have a radiogram;
There was a time when you bought a new car that a heater was an optional extra, never mind a radio!

cuprabob

14,993 posts

217 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
CammyN said:
Car Stereos.


There was a time when you bought a new car, first thing you did was have a better radio cassette fitted, often a Kenwood or a Pioneer and something with a removable front that you took out of the car.

Took my grandfather to buy a new car, he had zero interest in cars. Bought him a Rover 214. Only thing he asked the salesman was

'Does it have a radiogram;
I had a Kenwood back in the late 80s that the whole unit slid out )

beagrizzly

10,590 posts

234 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
CammyN said:
Car Stereos.


There was a time when you bought a new car, first thing you did was have a better radio cassette fitted, often a Kenwood or a Pioneer and something with a removable front that you took out of the car.

Took my grandfather to buy a new car, he had zero interest in cars. Bought him a Rover 214. Only thing he asked the salesman was

'Does it have a radiogram;
Back in my 6th form days, my transport was my mum's Astra Belmont, which she rarely used so was essentially 'my' car. It was the mighty 'Merit' so came only with a radio, no tape player (it did have FM though, which was an upgrade from previous cars!).

My mum said ok to me buying a tape player and fitting it, as I wanted to play my own choice of banging tunes. Problem was, funds were limited so I could only stretch to the cheapest one in the Argos catalogue. It was awesome! For about three months...... frown Tape stopped working, so back to radio only for me.

brownspeed

781 posts

134 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Bringing us neatly onto "sub-premium" electronics brands such as ALBA, STEEPLETONE, RADIO SHACK and my personal fave- the WINTHRONIC from Woolworths

beagrizzly

10,590 posts

234 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
brownspeed said:
Bringing us neatly onto "sub-premium" electronics brands such as ALBA, STEEPLETONE, RADIO SHACK and my personal fave- the WINTHRONIC from Woolworths
Back in the day, my personal stereos were all ALBA, Saisho & Matsui as I couldn't afford a Sony. Hence I had about 6-8 different personal stereos in not many years hehe Would have been cheaper in the long run to have just saved for a Sony, but that of course wouldn't have met my immediate need.

'Buy cheap, buy twice' they say, but not much use when you are in your teens with limited money, even less patience, and no access to credit.



CammyN

61 posts

2 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
cuprabob said:
CammyN said:
Car Stereos.


There was a time when you bought a new car, first thing you did was have a better radio cassette fitted, often a Kenwood or a Pioneer and something with a removable front that you took out of the car.

Took my grandfather to buy a new car, he had zero interest in cars. Bought him a Rover 214. Only thing he asked the salesman was

'Does it have a radiogram;
I had a Kenwood back in the late 80s that the whole unit slid out )
I knew of one pub in Leeds that took car radios over the counter in exchange for a pint of beer,

The barman always asked 'it is not stolen is it?

Roofless Toothless

5,823 posts

135 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
konark said:
98elise said:
My current home (built in the 60's) had crittall windows when we moved in. It was impossible to heat the house in the winter. The windows didn't seal properly and sucked the heat out regardless. Replacing with double glazing was done before the second winter.
We had crittall windows in our 1950s council house. Frames were colder than the glass in winter. Council replaced them with plastic double-glazing in the 1980s. Then many of the thin concrete lintels began to crack. They hadn't realised the steel windows had greater structural strength allowing wider windows.
I live in a converted coach house that once served a mansion (now demolished) that was owned by a guy who was a director of Critalls in the 1930’s and married the boss’s daughter. He did alright for himself.

We have a non-opening metal framed window that I suspect to be a Critalls window. They were based at Silver End, which is just up the A12. I believe they still operate out of a Witham address.

Cotty

39,788 posts

287 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
CammyN said:
Car Stereos.
There was a time when you bought a new car, first thing you did was have a better radio cassette fitted, often a Kenwood or a Pioneer and something with a removable front that you took out of the car.
I put a Kenwood cassette player in my E30 BMW 316. Only half the front pannel came off so smaller to slip into a pocket.

DodgyGeezer

41,090 posts

193 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
brownspeed said:
Bringing us neatly onto "sub-premium" electronics brands such as ALBA, STEEPLETONE, RADIO SHACK and my personal fave- the WINTHRONIC from Woolworths
wasn't Radio Shack (Tandy) an electronics shop which just happened to sell some radios along with just about anything you could wish for/need in terms of wiring/fuses/plugs/circuit boards?

psi310398

9,305 posts

206 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
DodgyGeezer said:
wasn't Radio Shack (Tandy) an electronics shop which just happened to sell some radios along with just about anything you could wish for/need in terms of wiring/fuses/plugs/circuit boards?
Yes, but it had its own brands - Archer, Optimus and Realistic for example, that represented consumer electronics including badge-engineered versions of some mainstream brands.

dickymint

24,804 posts

261 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Harry Moss eight track was my first. Could just about put 3 cartridges in the glove box of my mini banghead

POIDH

862 posts

68 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
motco said:
My house that I bought in 1977 had those. They were 1938 installation at the house construction. As you said, cold and also rusty which broke the glass. Vey Art Deco in style but impractical.

That house and the Austin Princess(?) take me right back to one of my childhood homes and cars...

DickyC

50,310 posts

201 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
psi310398 said:
DodgyGeezer said:
wasn't Radio Shack (Tandy) an electronics shop which just happened to sell some radios along with just about anything you could wish for/need in terms of wiring/fuses/plugs/circuit boards?
Yes, but it had its own brands - Archer, Optimus and Realistic for example, that represented consumer electronics including badge-engineered versions of some mainstream brands.
Great Aunt Betts had a hiffy.

A what?

A hiffy. There, look. It's written on it.



Oh, yes. Hiffy.

DickyC

50,310 posts

201 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Ordinary folk addressing one another formally as Mr or Mrs. First names were for immediate family or friends.

My grandparents did it right up until my paternal grandfather died. Then my mother's parents invited my widowed gran to Christmas Dinner and my grandfather called her Nan. Both my grandmothers studiously avoided the names situation.


Abbott

2,511 posts

206 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
DickyC said:
Ordinary folk addressing one another formally as Mr or Mrs. First names were for immediate family or friends.

My grandparents did it right up until my paternal grandfather died. Then my mother's parents invited my widowed gran to Christmas Dinner and my grandfather called her Nan. Both my grandmothers studiously avoided the names situation.
I remember travelling to meet the girlfriends parents for the first time. I said to her "What do I call them?" she said "Mr and Mrs Smith of course."

paulguitar

24,434 posts

116 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Abbott said:
DickyC said:
Ordinary folk addressing one another formally as Mr or Mrs. First names were for immediate family or friends.

My grandparents did it right up until my paternal grandfather died. Then my mother's parents invited my widowed gran to Christmas Dinner and my grandfather called her Nan. Both my grandmothers studiously avoided the names situation.
I remember travelling to meet the girlfriends parents for the first time. I said to her "What do I call them?" she said "Mr and Mrs Smith of course."
I used to have a Texan girlfriend. She instructed me to address her folks as 'sir' and 'ma'am'!



Promised Land

4,793 posts

212 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
cuprabob said:
CammyN said:
Car Stereos.


There was a time when you bought a new car, first thing you did was have a better radio cassette fitted, often a Kenwood or a Pioneer and something with a removable front that you took out of the car.

Took my grandfather to buy a new car, he had zero interest in cars. Bought him a Rover 214. Only thing he asked the salesman was

'Does it have a radiogram;
I had a Kenwood back in the late 80s that the whole unit slid out )
Yes, I had a Sony in 1993 where the complete unit came out of an outer frame, we called them snatch plates, then you put it in the glove box!

I did move that from one car to another as well, same thing, release unit, into glove box, lock car.

The front panel jobbies came along later I think.