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
and live on Freeview channel 276
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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?
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Hide AdThis 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.
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!”
Old-fashion televisions
Televisions from the good old days were a source of amusing memories for our Wearside Echoes followers.
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Hide AdWe 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.
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?
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Hide AdThe best sweets
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.
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Hide AdBenjamin 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.
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Hide AdKelly 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.
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Hide AdAll 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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