25 THINGS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT IN AMERICA

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Originally Posted By: AcuraTech

10. Simple cars that don't have 100 miles of wire harness. Power everything, navi, heated seats, etc are becoming standard on most cars.

9. True old world style tradesman craftsmanship. Houses today are built in a week by a crew of non-English speakers that gather outside of Home Depot. When is the last time you saw anyone build a church or house with as much beautiful intricate detail as was common 100 years ago.

8. Farmers who save and re-use seed. Also food crop seeds that aren't patented. Monsanto is truly and honestly an ugly entity in every way.

7. Trans fats. Everyone thought they were SO wonderful to begin with, now looking to go the same way as frying things in animal fat.

6. People in the US getting more sleep on average. We all need it, but it ain't coming back. With recessionary and lay off pressures mounting, we're forced to do all we can cram into a day. Hence so many coffee shops and energy drink brands.

4. Kids walking or biking to school. They get to ride on heated leather seats while watching a movie instead.




Definitely agree with your list, especially the items shown above. Sad.

I bought a home in a walking district specifically so my kids do not have to ride a bus. I will not drive them, and if crime/weirdos/etc are an issue, Ill walk them to/from school.
 
Ed in Nevada has a good point about #8.

Contrary to Hollywood and tearful do- gooders, horses were brought here from Europe, initially by the Spanish. The native Americans did not master and teach the Europeans about equestrian fine points - the Europeans were raising and breeding horses for thousands of years.
 
But as I posted above, horses originated in the Western Hemisphere, going extinct here after spreading to Asia, Europe and Africa.
Feral horses need to be managed, not killed off.
Better off trying to control the population of that non-native duo, Black Rats and Norway Rats, they're a lot more harmful than some horses. Same for feral hogs. Go to Florida and see what kinds of goodies you can find roaming around that don't belong there.
 
Yesterday, my younger son had a mathematical problem on proportion. The example listed was about enlarging from a photo negative. I am sure he has NO idea what a photo negative is but I am glad he got the ratio proportion part of it to solve the problem! He also does NOT know what a "stuck record" means!

- Vikas
 
We might want also add to the list DIY.
For may people, the idea of Fixing something themselves is completely alien. partly because we live it a throwaway society where the things we use essentially unserviceable, or because we are not educated to even attempt a home repair.
Very sad!
 
Hope they don't do away with the phone land-line; where I live, that would be tragic.

We are out in no-mans land; cell phones don't get signal and are very expensive to have a on plan, IMHO.

Horses and family owned farms are very tragic; those items, IMHO paint the picture of what America once was.
 
The "wild" horses here in Nevada don't have the history that the ones in SC have. Ours originate from the westward expansion in the early-mid 1800's and more recent escapes from ranching activities. There are a growing number that have been turned loose in the past few years by people that didn't want to or couldn't continue to pay to keep their pets.

There's no romantic connection to the Indians either. Back in the day if an Indian had a horse, he'd eat it.

Ed
 
Too right!
I work with people who don't even attempt the simple stuff, like snaking drains or replacing switches.
When I desribe replacing my water heater, or a clutch, or even the timer on the dishwasher, they look at me as though I have grown a second head.
People have grown increasingly lazy as well as willfully ignorant.
It is no wonder that so many of our fellow Americans are obese.
They never actually do anything.
 
Too true fdcg27.. I was lucky growing up carpenters on one side farmers on the other. Not much I can't fix or figure it out it seems. There does come times when I wonder if it's worth it though instead just pay someone and be done with it.. till I hear what their going to charge that is. Sure saves alot of money.

I think my boy although two is already going down the same track.. one day when I was rotating tires I had to watch him so I put him in the walker and let him watch. Ever since he's been fascinated with wheels! First thing he does is flip something over so he can play with the wheels! I have a feeling I'm going to regret it in a few year.. really regret it..
 
Another thing sadly about to become extinct: The ability to do basic math without a calculator.

I noticed that the deposit counter at the bank now has calculators, which although convenient, says something about our culture. I always figure out tips in my head, but I'm the rarity. When 5 or 6 of us get together for drinks and dinner, the check comes and for most it looks like they're trying to figure out nuclear physics. Tip cards, cell phone caluclators, etc come out but they still can't figure it out.

I was just at the store tonight, a girl at the checkout line in front of me, in all honesty, asked "how much is 1000 pennies?"

I'm sure the banks and other predatory lending institutions love this fact. People that can't figure out a 15% tip sure as he** aren't going to be able to figure out when they're getting robbed on a mortgage, credit card, or payday advance.
 
I want to get back into bowling.

There are two by where I live.

"Stand-alone alleys."

Hopefully, they remain open in spite of recent "health events"..... ...................

Kind of sort of like the Atilis (?) Gym....
 
Add to the list young people with a normal BMI.

It does not help that even when there was no pandemic, schools have cut back big time on gym-classes, and once it is over with this will only continue.

Add to that all the hidden sugars in foods, and especially in drinks. And the way food manufacturers go out of the way to make foods loaded with unnecessary fats and starches. It seams very few people have any idea what truly healthy natural foods are, or what the proper portion size is.
 
34. Door to door Encyclopedia sales person.
36. Vehicles that start and run reliably for several years without having to be taken to a shop (besides inspection, and predictable wear out items such as brakes, tires, battery, and oil).
Warren Buffett made his empire on door to door sales of Kirby vacuums and World Book. Now, it’s Benjamin Moore paint, Duracell and Geico insurance bringing the cows home.

Toyota used to be king of that. The Prius marks Toyota’s transition to throw-away cars.
 
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The info about drive-in theaters is incorrect. I worked at a brand new drive-in opened in 2008 in Chetek, Wisconsin. It's called the Stardust. Also, later that year, another brand new drive-in theater opened in Illinois, oddly enough by coincidence also called the Stardust. There have been one or two new ones opened in Iowa as well. One is called the Sunshine Mine drive-in. I'm sure there are others that have opened in recent years around the country. Unfortunately, some older drive-ins have closed, and as of 2008 when I worked at the Stardust, there were just under 400 open in the USA.

Drive-in theaters are genuine pieces of Americana. There aren't many activities that are more uniquely American than spending an evening at a drive-in theater watching a double feature. For all of those who have never been to one, I urge you to visit one this summer. For those who haven't been to one in a long time, you should try to rediscover the fun. They are not like they were in the 70's! Most are very family friendly.
Everyone does realize this article is from ~2008, right?

"...Blockbuster keeps Closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000 Left across the world, but those keep dwindling and the stock is Down considerably in 2008..."

"12. Incandescent Bulbs Before a few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt) bulb was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older, Edison-era incandescent bulb."

Notice there is zero mention of LED bulbs. Notice how CFLs don't really exist (good riddance!) in stores anymore?
Dead giveaways. Not to mention the 2010 OP...
 
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Everyone does realize this article is from ~2008, right?

"...Blockbuster keeps Closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000 Left across the world, but those keep dwindling and the stock is Down considerably in 2008..."

"12. Incandescent Bulbs Before a few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt) bulb was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older, Edison-era incandescent bulb."

Notice there is zero mention of LED bulbs. Notice how CFLs don't really exist (good riddance!) in stores anymore?
Dead giveaways. Not to mention the 2010 OP...
Credit Blockbuster for convincing thousands that a blue shirt goes with khaki pants. 😠
 
Number 13 on this list is interesting to me.

For one thing, when the list was written, it wasn't accurate. Nikon discontinued MOST of their film camera production, but kept the flagship F6 and the budget FM10 in production. The FM10 quietly went away a few years ago. Production of the F6 actually soldiered on-believe it or not-at a rate of about 50 per month on a dedicated line in the main factory in Japan until just a few months ago. It was speculated for a while that "new stock" F6s were really old stock, but in ~2018 Nikon allowed several journalists to tour the factory and they reported that indeed the F6 line was intact and in operation when they visited.

With that said, the F6 was officially discontinued about a month ago. This coincides with a near total closure of the Japan factory-only one camera remains there(the D6). Truth be told, there's not much of a market for a $2500 film camera these days. I bought my F6 used, and it's among the finest film cameras I've ever used, but I still paid a pile for it.

At the same time, Kodak-Alaris and Ilford continue to report growth in film sales. Kodak has re-introduced emulsions in the past few years. Film is enjoying a bit of a renaissance.
 
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