Nine things from the past you don't see any more - from cars with manual chokes to half-day closing on Wednesdays at the shops

There are some things in life you just don’t see any more.

By Chris Cordner

Published 8th Sep 2022, 04:55 BST

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When was the last time you saw a television in Sunderland where you had to change channels using a dial?

And who remembers their car chugging off to a dodgy start on a morning while you tried to master the choke?

This is one of those “I remember that!’” stories about the things you just don’t see any more – as chosen by the followers of our Wearside Echoes page on Facebook.

Blandford Street in 1961 with plenty of parked cars on either side of the road. How many of you struggled to get your car's choke working properly?

Blandford Street in 1961 with plenty of parked cars on either side of the road. How many of you struggled to get your car's choke working properly?

Chokes on cars

Plenty of memories - and not all of them good ones.

Annette Roper said: “Yes don't miss that”, while Sarah Jane O'Neill added: “Many winters trying to get the choke right on the car on a morning.”

Jackie Armes Walton had a solution: “I used to use a clippy clothes peg to keep the choke out on my old Datsun, otherwise it would slide back in before the car was warmed up. Loved that car!”

The cheek of it! There was a time when you had to get out of your chair and change the television channel with a dial on the TV. Remember those days?

The cheek of it! There was a time when you had to get out of your chair and change the television channel with a dial on the TV. Remember those days?

Nine more Sunderland pubs as they looked in the 1960s - remembering the Crowtree...

Old-fashion televisions

Televisions from the good old days were a source of amusing memories for our Wearside Echoes followers.

We remembered the days when you had to get out of your chair to change channels using a dial on the TV – and that wasn’t the only issue.

Who remembers bubble cars? Here is an advert for one in 1962. It did 95 miles per gallon and you could get 20 miles of motoring for a shilling!

Who remembers bubble cars? Here is an advert for one in 1962. It did 95 miles per gallon and you could get 20 miles of motoring for a shilling!

Robert Reay said: “No vertical or horizontal hold to adjust either” while George Joyce added: “No need to bang the TV with your fist when it's not working.”

John Warburton reminisced: "I used to be fascinated by the valves glowing in the back of the TV.”

And who remembers the old tellies where the reception was so bad, it looked like it was snowing?

The best sweets

Who remembers half day closing for shops on a Wednesday? We take a trip to Olive Street in 1979 for this picture.

Who remembers half day closing for shops on a Wednesday? We take a trip to Olive Street in 1979 for this picture.

Sweet-toothed followers yearned for the goodies they bought in years gone by.

Who remembers chocolate cigarettes, and can you still get them?

What about 10-pence mix-ups, asks Geordie Armbruster, while Peter Fletcher remembered “candy tabs”.

Who remembers cassette players?

Cars with cassette players were a firm favourite, while Hully Jukes and Thomas Wilkinson gave a shout-out for the humble eight-track tape.

Benjamin Taylor added: “My first car was a 2002 Vauxhall Agila, and it had a cassette deck.”

We are going hi-tech for our next memory. Who remembers the days when you used floppy disks with computers?

Scott Barrett said: “I have a box full of them, they make good coasters.”

The old money

One pound notes. You don’t see them any more – or do you? Well, it got lots of you chipping in with memories.

Kelly Jacklyn said: “I’ve got some half pennies somewhere in an old moneybox”, while Dave Redman remembered “ten bob notes”.

Anita Armstrong added: “I've still got five old £1 notes and loads of old coins as well, and different foreign ones.”

Half-day closing

Retail therapy anyone? Not on a Wednesday afternoon in years gone by.

Who remembers half-day closing? Lots of you mentioned Sunday closing as well, including Stephen Green, Sheila Wilson, Lynn Camm, and Shaun Hathway.

All aboard for the bus!

Bus conductors. Remember them? Not spotted so often on the buses these days, shouted out by Dot Lawson Brown.

Bubble cars

Joan Eggleston said: “Loved them. A friend had a red one. Wonder where they have all gone.”

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