Things you could order over 50 years ago that you can't order now !

[Jstpssng]

How about the small plastic Tony the Tiger boxing gloves that the ESSO gas stations would hand out . I might be wrong but later they became Exxon ' .

I don't remember the boxing gloves, but do remember their slogan to "Put a tiger in your tank"! and you are correct; ESSO and two(?) other companies merged to form Exxon. I believe that it was Gulf who used to pass out pairs of plastic horseshoes to stick onto your car, like a bumper sticker.

 

[Engineer42]

I don't remember the boxing gloves, but do remember their slogan to "Put a tiger in your tank"! and you are correct; ESSO and two(?) other companies merged to form Exxon. I believe that it was Gulf who used to pass out pairs of plastic horseshoes to stick onto your car, like a bumper sticker.

I thought that was Mobil with winged horse.

Nope, you we correct.

Gulf No-Nox gasoline was promoted with a bucking horse leaving an imprint of two horseshoes. Several promotions centered on the two horseshoes. In 1966 bright orange 3-D plastic self-adhesive horseshoes for car bumpers were given away. Another popular giveaway was during the 1968 election season, gold horseshoe lapel pins featuring either a Democraticdonkey or a Republican elephant.

 

[JasperFrank]

WD40 was reformulated to to be less flammable. As an idiot, which I've lived most of my life, I once thought it would be a good idea to re-lube a vacuum cleaner motor by spraying WD right into the vacuum while it was running. This had a surprising result as the communicators lit the WD and created a small turbo fan for a second or so.

 

[dodge man]

I had that happen with a drill. It was making a terrible noise and I shot WD40 in the back. It helped but it also shot some flames out the back. Reminded me of the Bat Mobile leaving the Bat Cave.

 

[Oaktree]

In 1964 I ordered a Knight Kit KG-636 oscilloscope kit from AlliedRadio. If I remember correctly it was about $100-$150, paid for with money from my paper route.
Took me a couple of weeks to assemble, and it worked the first time I turned it on. In fact I still have it and it still works.

I got a Knight kit shortwave radio ("Star Roamer") for Christmas when I was 14 or so, probably a week or two to put it together. It worked, but was kind of a mediocre radio. Was never able to get anything on longwave, and the highest shortwave band (~18-30 mHz) it was pretty deaf. No Hallicrafters by a long shot but I had a lot of fun with it.
Had it up 'til the mid-ish 90s, then sold it.

 

[Jstpssng]

My brother got a chemistry set for Christmas one year.

I believe that's something you couldn't get now, although there's probably an app for it.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Remember these?

 

[ponytug]

My brother got a chemistry set for Christmas one year.

I believe that's something you couldn't get now, although there's probably an app for it.

In hindsight, I can't believe what came in my chemistry set, (strong acids) and what additional chemicals I could easily buy at the local hobby shop (ingredients that could have made explosives), and glassware for moderately large distillations (mostly used for flavorings and floral distillation). I looked at a set ten years ago and the range of chemistry was pretty anemic, and not very colorful, making it easy to pass up as a gift for kids.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

Remember these?
View attachment 755913

It was the "No batteries needed" bit that always seemed to me to be magic in a crystal radio set. I remember building my own, but I don't remember where I got the crystal from, just that the initial tuning was wandering through the frequencies for awhile before finding the right range. Great way to teach hands on electronics...

All the best,

Peter

 

[/pine]

My brother got a chemistry set for Christmas one year.

I believe that's something you couldn't get now, although there's probably an app for it.

Many of those old chemistry sets had a small amount of iodine crystals....using them and a little household ammonia (non sudsy) make a paste...apply to something like the head of a hammer and let it dry...don't be around when your dad goes to use his hammer...!