Still Good! It’s still good! [NOT 1/8/23]

1/8/23 brightersideoflife 25

Hi, friends!

It’s Tuesday. Not much going on for me aside from trying to find polite ways to decline work meetings I don’t want to attend.

Anyways.

In one of the NOTs a few days ago, we were talking about things in the dishwasher and it reminded me about the old ass steak knives I use.

So tonight’s NOT is what are some older things that you feel are as good as or better than modern new versions?

My mixing bowl set (stainless steel) and steak knives were wedding gifts my parents got in the mid 1970s. Those knives are nicer than anything sold in Target etc todat, probably because in the 1970s the expectation was that the knives would have more bigger serrated edges than nowadays. Makes it easier to cut through things faster with a bigger edge!

I don’t necessarily think my old washer and dryer are better than modern ones (they’re both at least 20 years old), but I do think there’s a lot less to break on the older ones that don’t have wifi or touchscreens or fancy dancy programming.

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25 Comments

  3. It’s the old engineer adage of fewer parts means fewer points of failure.

    Glassware (especially Pyrex) is better in the olden days.  Way less prone to shatter.

    Agree with the knives. Most knives are cast metal rather than stamped metal these days. Stamped is more expensive but also makes for a sharper, longer lasting edge.

    • I liked* a 3 or 4 blade razor for shaving my legs. I have no clue how that would work on more sensitive and smaller areas like a face.

      *I did lazer hair removal during the first 18 months of the pandemic and now all that’s left are the light colored leg hair which is like eh good enough. So I haven’t shaved my legs now in a few years.

      • i put myself into the hospital after stepping on a triple bladed safety razor the missus left on the shower floor

        rode that fucker like a banana peel in a cartoon

        anyways 8 stitches and a concussion later ive decided safety is a lie

    • properly seasoned cast iron pans
    • wooden hockey sticks (al aifrate’s & al macinnis’s slap shots were WAY harder than chara’s)
    • wooden spoons (don’t @ me…i still have one from the 70’s so just believe me)
    • music
    • conservatives (who have always been deplorable but MY GOD!)
    • shopping downtown in the rain (before the removal of awnings to fuck the homeless)
    • bumpers that protected the cars
    • the root/deadspin/the onion

    …how much time do you have?

  6. Old stereo equipment & home theater stuff has gone to complete shit!  I’ve burned through several receivers in just a few years from formerly good brands.

  7. I had the same Oster waffle iron for 30 years. It finally wore out and I couldn’t find a regular waffle iron anywhere. Just kind for Belgian Waffles which I don’t care for. I’m going to have to get one of those little Dash waffle irons that only make one at a time. Grrr.

  9. I wanna know if Unnamed Co-conspirator #6 is Ginny!

    Ngl, I’m completely hoping it is, so the general public *finally* gets to see how rotten the ethics are over at the USSC, and we can *finally* get Congress to do something about it…

    It’s funny/sad, too, to see how lousy a human ‘ol Rudy-Colludy really *has* become….

    And the Schadenfreude will be pretty damn delicious, if he goes down like the mob bosses & Wall Street Exec’s he busted in the 80’s😈

     

  10. Most of my favorite “oldies & goodies are either sewing related, or cooking stuff.

    My Descoware Dutch Oven was the first piece of Enameled Cast Iron I ever acquired–mom got it for me, at a garage sale back up home, for about $8.00, around 20 years ago (maybe more), and I STILL use that little thing regularly when I’m baking stuff!

    Mine is Mid-Mo sage-ish green on the bottom, with a light yellow lid, but in the same *style* & exact handle shape & recessed lid-handle as this blue one.

    Another thing I adore are all the Chicago Cutlery knives I’ve inherited from Dad’s place (with Mom’s permission!), I have “new” CC walnut-handled knives–also with the Carbon Steel… but the way the handles & knife tangs *used* to be finished is immensely different from the newer stuff–my 6″ Chef’s knife *and* the 6″ Santoku are so “square” on the back where they go into the handle, that I’ve literally gotten blisters on my finger & thumb, if I’m chopping things for hours….

    The old Chicago Cutlery is rounded on the back of the blade–with *no* “corner” to abrade one’s hand, and the wooden handles are also sanded to a much “curvier” grip, vs the modern more “square”/un”polished” grips…

    Like Brighter, I also love the set of vintage serrated steak knives I grew up with–they aren’t particularly “fancy” or *high* quality, but they’re older than I am, still really sharp, and with just *basic* care (keeping them dry & “handwash only”), they’ll hold up for 50+ *more* years (presumably, they were a Wedding gift of my parents’, or purchased in their first couple years as a married couple😉)

    And these are the BEST paring knives I’ve ever used!!!

    They’re also older than me–i found out this past year, that apparently my Great Uncle (the one who bought that Dogs Playing Pool tapestry with his wife😁), used to be a salesman/distributor for Pioneer seed “back in the day,” and all those Pioneer paring knives our extended family had over the years came from him…

    When I was packing up Dad’s place, I discovered that he didn’t just have the ONE box of knives–there were one and a HALF boxes!!!🥰😃🤗

    So I was able to share some of them with all the aunties & uncles who wanted “new” (new-vintage) ones, Mom got z couple, I took one from Dad’s place, and I *still* have a few brand-new-vintage ones, for whenever my current three bite the dust😁

    They’re lightweight, fit your hand like a dream, hold an edge, and they *stay* sharpened, too–with just a quick steel-ing, unlike the cheap ones you can get nowadays.

     

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