I’m still thinking about stuff that has disappeared from the market for no apparent reason. They’re not technology based and I believe that many might argue that they were better than their current replacements.

One of the great things about living in Britain in the early days (that’s pre-1995) was having your breakfast delivered right to your doorstep.  Back in the day, there was such a thing as a milkman. Before anyone got up, this trusted milkman would deliver bottles of milk to every household in every street across the country. He also sold bread, butter, eggs and even a selection of vegetables that we often bought from him, eliminating the need to run to the shops every day.

The delivery was eco-friendly as the vehicles were electric floats and the bottles in which the milk was delivered were made of glass that we rinsed and put outside our doorstep at night so he could exchange them in the morning for fresh milk. It’s funny how all the car makers tout their EVs but forget that Britain had its first ones long before anyone ever thought of them! I would love it if the milkman came back. He was not only everyone’s friend but his service helped a lot of people, especially the elderly who did not have to traipse out in the cold just to pick up their basic supplies like milk, eggs, bread and butter. It’s absurd that his service was put out to pasture.

Now, whatever happened to the old-fashioned plastic food container? You know, the ones with the simple snap-on lids. The new ones with the locking mechanism are a real nuisance. They are difficult to close because of that stupid rubber ring which, if it is not properly lodged into the indented border of the lid, refuses to close.

Worse than that, cleaning it is an even big chore because not only do you have to try and prise that stupid rubber ring out of the lid (and that’s not easy to do) but then proceed to cleaning every nook and cranny in the lid and the container which is very time- consuming. If you don’t do that you may end up leaving food particles in those man-made crevices. It seems the only way to really clean this new-fangled container is in a dishwasher which not all of us have. The old container needs to be more readily available.

In the same vein, and for similar reasons, whatever happened to the old-fashioned flask? I mean those without the lids that have a weird contraption in the centre that can be pressed up and down. Aside from collecting water, which you can hear when shaking the lid and which does not drain away, what other purpose does it serve? To make matters worse, these flasks do not do what they’re supposed to do and that is keep your liquids hot long enough for you to enjoy them even a couple of hours later.. The liquid cools very quickly which really defeats the purpose of these flasks. The old fashioned one is very hard to find now and those that can be found seem to have a faulty vacuum in the walls which means liquids cool more quickly.

I must say that a lot of products have faulty mechanisms. A good example are those correction fluids that now come in pen form. Most of these pens have a faulty ball bearing in the tip that has the tendency to clog up very quickly. Often a full pen has to be discarded. No matter how much you scrub and clean that tip, it does not budge. The old-fashioned type came in a plastic bottle with a brush, like nail polish, and it was much better. It could often be reconstituted with a bit of acetone and it seemed to last longer than the pens do. Plus the bottle, once empty, could always be used for something else. As an artist, I can think of at least 10 good uses I could put the bottle and brush to. These need to be reconstituted, excuse the pun.

Now here’s one that is definitely not a pun, unless you ingest it! The word poison is used to describe something that is dangerous or lethal if ingested or injected. But it is also the name of Dior’s famous fragrance, ‘Poison’. Yes, I think that there is some version of this fragrance still around but I guarantee that it is not the same. If you ever used their original version, that’s pre-1995, you will think the new one is so-so, if even that. But the original? Oh my! Not only was the scent out of this world, it was so long lasting that one dab or sprits was enough for days. It didn’t wash out so easily either; you could have a shower and still smell it on your skin! Unfortunately today’s fragrances last for as long as the time it takes to put it on and get to your destination and, on top of that, most smell fruity or citrussy. What is that about? Why would anyone want to smell like food or even fruit? Dior, please reintroduce the old Poison.

The same seems to go for shampoos and conditioners. Most smell like apples, strawberries, avocados or cocoa. Again, what on earth is going on with people’s sense of smell? Why do they want to smell like food? Whatever happened to that ‘Flex Shampoo’? Its scent was absolutely scentsational (every pun intended). It was like washing your hair with perfume. The bathroom would be filled with its scent and so would the room in which you dried your hair. Plus, the scent would linger in your hair until the next wash. Now that’s what I call a shampoo. Please bring it back.