MetaFilter posts tagged with nostalgia and history

They sure don't make nostalgia like they used to anymore.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:42:39 -0800

Punctuality, privacy, dead time, concentration: all dead or dying at the hands of the Internet, according to this list in the Daily Telegraph.

Only at festivals with no Wi-Fi signals can the gullible be tricked into believing that David Hasslehoff [sic] has passed away. Insta-spoiler – the full list, with UK-centric or possibly obscure references linkified: 1) The art of polite disagreement 2) Fear that you are the only person unmoved by a celebrity's death 3) Listening to an album all the way through 4) Sarah Palin 5) Punctuality 6) Ceefax/Teletext 7) Adolescent nerves at first porn purchase 8) Telephone directories 9) The myth of cat intelligence 10) Watches 11) Music stores 12) Letter writing/pen pals 13) Memory 14) Dead time 15) Photo albums and slide shows 16) Hoaxes and conspiracy theories 17) Watching television together 18) Authoritative reference works 19) The Innovations catalogue 20) Order forms in the back pages of books 21) Delayed knowledge of sporting results 22) Enforceable copyright 23) Reading telegrams at weddings 24) Dogging [possibly NSFW] 25) Aren't they dead? Aren't they gay? 26) Holiday news ignorance 27) Knowing telephone numbers off by heart 28) Respect for doctors and other professionals 29) The mystery of foreign languages 30) Geographical knowledge 31) Privacy 32) Chuck Norris's reputation 33) Pencil cricket 34) Mainstream media 35) Concentration 36) Mr Alifi's dignity 37) Personal reinvention 38) Viktor Yanukovych 39) The insurance ring-round 40) Undiscovered artists 41) The usefulness of reference pages at the front of diaries 42) The nervous thrill of the reunion 43) Solitaire 44) Trust in Nigerian businessmen and princes 45) Prostitute calling cards [possibly NSFW]/ kerb crawling 46) Staggered product/film releases 47) Footnotes 48) Grand National trips to the bookmaker 49) Fanzines 50) Your lunchbreak

August 15-17, 1969: 3 Days of Mud and Music.

thread_makimaki — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:19:44 -0800

This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, or to give its official name, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, a little get-together held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York. It's not like Woodstock hasn't been picked apart to death for every year around this time, but since this is the 40th year since it happened, there seems to be more than the usual nostalgia fest going on. There's the upcoming Ang Lee directed movie (trailer), a VH-1 documentary; a Heroes of Woodstock concert and other stuff going on in Bethel; and various other planned events. (Heroes of Woodstock is also touring the U.S. (warning: auto-playing loud music!)). Want more? The NY Times asks you what your favorite Woodstock song is; iTunes has a page full of Woodstock-and-its-era stuff(iTunes link); and there's this list too. And not to forget the seminal documentary that was released in 1970 (many clips from it are online.) And of course the reminiscences and analyses. Was it that good for the bands? Maybe not, but Art Guthrie remembers Woodstock, sort of, as a good time. Maybe the generation gap that Woodstock symbolized is no longer. How would it play out in 2009? Last but not least, a lovely personal illustrated essay by Zina Saunders (previously) about two 15 year old girls from NYC going to Woodstock.

Disappearing Places

katillathehun — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:45:17 -0800

"I remember having rootbeer floats on the porch swing on hot summer nights... I remember playing with my cousins and the neighbors in the side yard. I remember running to the train tracks just a few blocks away and counting the train cars (sometimes over 100!) as they streamed by. I remember 'Uncle' Bill showing me his missing finger that he lost while working the trains... This is someone else’s house now but my memories still live there." From Disappearing Places: An archive and collective map of places that no longer exist, at least not as they once did. More disappearing and changed places.

Let's go Nintendo

dhammond — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:56:22 -0800

Everything you need to know about playing Nintendo.

Pre-Videogame Era Toys

jonson — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:44:57 -0800

Before there were videogames, growing up in England in the late 1960s though the 70's we had Action Transfers. The Letraset company branched off its division of hand set rub-on transfer fonts into full blown action scenes, with Cowboys & Indians, famous historical battles, Vikings, natural disasters & more. This collector has dozens of sets, scanned in high resolution & never used.

'To an Eastern man this city is full of surprises. '

anastasiav — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 12:17:36 -0800

Ghost Cowboy :: True Tales of Adventure in the American West

Vintage Radio and Scientific Equipment

mediareport — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:35:48 -0800

The Spark Museum John Jenkins' collection of vintage wireless, radio, scientific and electrical equipment, including Crookes and Geissler tubes, Barlow wheels and other early electric motors, loud speakers and many more oddball electrical devices. [via TeamDroid]

This Is Not An REM Song

scrump — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:07:45 -0800

The Automat was a remarkable, culturally ubiquitous part of the history of both Philadelphia and New York City. The basic concept wasn't unusual, but the Art Deco style was unique. Now, BAMN! Food has revived the concept and the name.

The SF quake

mathowie — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 19:14:03 -0800

The Bancroft Library unveils a new 1906 San Francisco Earthquake site featuring a really cool clickable map that features photos from each section of town. Haight Street didn't look too bad, but just down the road, City Hall was leveled. The exhibit offers a guide to the event that look place nearly 100 years ago.

When the circus came to town...

jester69 — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 07:21:15 -0800

Defunct amusement parks. It has postcards and historical photos. It also has relatively current photos of parks in various states of disrepair. A great site for fans of entropy, like myself. (via Linkfilter)

Newly Digital

jeremias — Mon, 02 Jun 2003 10:04:13 -0800

Newly Digital is an electronic anthology of sorts. Due to the technological advancement of these things we call "computers", it's a subject ripe for nostalgia. As seen here by bloggers writing about their first . . .

MiguelCardoso — Tue, 25 Jun 2002 12:05:12 -0800

"America As It Was: A Tour Of The USA In Vintage Postcards" is a vast, amazing collection, quaintly presented by my new heroine: an Atlanta real estate agent and church volunteer called Pat Sabin who dreams of one day visiting Chicago and whose(some would say surprising) love for all things webby is an example to us all. Please don't be put off by the homey graphics and folksy language - it really is a rich, rich resource! [My favourite postcard turns out to be from James Lilek's New York collection. Go figure. All I can say is God bless the meetings of unlikely minds!)]

realjanetkagan — Mon, 18 Feb 2002 21:03:47 -0800

Hugh's Ominous Valve Works. When I get nostalgic for vacuum tubes, I wind up here. I also enjoy his rants and I think his valve dance page beats the hell out of the hamster dance.

waxpancake — Mon, 15 Oct 2001 22:03:32 -0800

The Wayback Machine. Explore Metafilter and Blogger from October 1999. Search Google in 1998 or read Salon in 1997. Visit Word, Yahoo, c|net, Feed, Crashsite, Cool Site of the Day, Village Voice, and NYTimes from 1996. Congratulate Mathowie on his new job in 1997, see Kottke's redesign from October 1999, Glassdog's 3-D logos from 1997, and Zeldman's pages optimized for Netscape 3.0. (Unsurprisingly, Jakob's site hasn't changed much since 1996.) Surf the past and share your greatest nostalgic finds.

Aaaugh! — Tue, 05 Jun 2001 10:48:04 -0800

We've discussed the 2000 Census a few times before, but we've never debated the 2000 Crayola Color Census. It's childhood nostalgia second only to the smell of Play-Doh. You can read up on the history of the colors and see the most popular ones. Nearly all of the top ten colors are shades of blue, which shouldn't be too surprising. Me? I'm a burnt sienna kinda guy.