The Way Things Were
All collecting is at least a little about The Way Things Were. The items here on this page are focused on days gone by and how things are different today. These little pieces of history help to inform the present, and remind us that someday our present will be what future generations will call the past. Let’s try and not embarrass ourselves too much with what we do—or don’t do—today, shall we?
Have you cleaned your tuner lately with Tuner-Kleen’r? We sometimes grouse about modern life and long for the “good old days.” One of the things overlooked is how much maintenance was required on a lot of that old stuff. Not that you really had to use this product to clean your TV or radio tuner. This may be a completely bogus product for all I know.
But I can tell you from the 1926 Ford Model T owner’s manual seen here that you were supposed to change the oil every 750 miles and “put a little oil into the commutator every other day.” Oh yeah, that's going to happen. And, oh yes, be sure and oil those springs frequently. And the axles: a full inspection & lube every month.
I don’t have a handle collection because that’s absurd (it is absurd, isn’t it? Or is it?... I wonder...), but the beautiful handle you see at right was just lolling around in a box of some miscellaneous stuff and begged to be included in these pages as a nice example of the way even the little-noticed things of everyday life were different in days gone by. It’s almost certainly from a kitchen, from a cabinet of some kind. It has no maker’s mark. It is simply beautiful, isn’t it? And when, when is that wonderful “grandma green” color ever going to come back in style?
The entire 1948 federal income tax return was 4 pages—including the tax table! In those four pages are included the complete Schedules A, B, C, D, E, and F— including income from wages, self-employment, pensions, annuities, rents, royalties, estates, trusts, partnerships, and capital gains. Itemized deductions are here too, and even depreciation! All in four pages!
The filer of this tax form here had rental property and gave her occupation as “landlady.” It looks like it took her all of 30 minutes to do the whole thing. It takes me longer than that every April just to read the “What’s New This Year” section. Oh yes, and the “Paperwork Reduction Act notice.” I just love that.
Remember when billboards were “nice?” When the art on them was beautiful and they planted flowers in front of them? Neither do I. But in the 1923 promotional piece these photos come from, “Poster Advertising on the Pacific Coast,” this is how outdoor advertisers Foster and Kleiser showed their work in actual locations, stating that they like to enhance “impression value” by “beautifying the more important locations in the larger cities through the use of latticework in separating panels and the placement of lawns and flowers.” Oh my. Things have certainly changed in the outdoor advertising business.
©Copyright 2008-2020 ericwrobbel.com. All rights reserved.