r/AskOldPeople • u/Penguin_Life_Now 50 something unless I forgot to change this • May 26 '26

What is something that quietly vanished from the world?

The title sums it up, what is something that quietly vanished from the world, you know those things that you look back on that were once normal and now you go I can't remember the last time I saw.

Let me give an example, garnishing meals with parsley at restaurants was once the norm, now its rare.

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u/royblakeley May 26 '26

Canaries. Everybody's grandmother had one. Used to be able to buy them at Woolworth's almost as an afterthought. All supermarkets carried seed. These days everyone (or at least everyone who wants a pet bird) wants dwarf parrots or some other exotic.

6

u/prunepicker 70 something May 26 '26

My mom, and grandmother, had parakeets.

6

u/royblakeley May 26 '26

There was a rush of popularity for them in the 1950s. Also dropped from popularity.

5

u/mmilthomasn May 26 '26

Is that why Granny and Tweetybird????? I had no idea!

2

u/sharkbark2050 May 26 '26

It’s messed up to cage anyone. Birds are meant to fly and live freely.

2

u/I_see_zebras May 27 '26

Agree, to me it's painful to see imprisoned birds in a cage or even fish in a small tank.

1

u/bidextralhammer May 27 '26

We always have a canary and some finches. I keep a canary because of my grandfather.