The Stuff Of Yesteryear: Discontinued Products (Non-Food) You Miss

[auntlada]

I had so many bottles od Sweet Honesty because my grandmother was a big Avon customer. I wore it and liked it, but I suspect I would hate it now.

[rcc]

Sweet Honesty was my favorite back in the day.

[peacheslatour]

On 7/27/2017 at 8:39 AM, Qoass said:

Does anybody else remember Fuzzy Wuzzy Soap? I swear if not for Google I would have thought I'd imagined it.  But it's real!

I remember those! I think I had the bear. I wish I could remember the toy that came with it.

[harrie]

I don't remember Fuzzy Wuzzy Soap, but I do remember Crazy Foam (the 1960s version).  Is Love's Baby Soft still around? I get a headache just thinking about it, it smelled so disgustingly sweet.

[editorgrrl]

23 hours ago, harrie said:

Is Love's Baby Soft still around?

Yes.

Quote

Loves Baby Soft Body Mist is a tradition of sweet scents passed down from generation to generation for decades. Its floral baby powder fragrance will remind you of your first kiss, the first blush of love you ever felt and all the sweet memories of childhood.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 9/8/2017 at 11:32 PM, BooksRule said:

Does anyone remember Coty's Sweet Earth solid perfume trios?

My favorites were Clover and Hay.

[Qoass]

I had the Hyacinth, Honeysuckle, and Ylang Ylang trio and whenever I pass a honeysuckle it brings me right back to freshman year. By the same token, I think Sweet Honesty would now smell to me like hormones and desperation.

[festivus]

On 9/8/2017 at 10:32 PM, BooksRule said:

Does anyone remember Coty's Sweet Earth solid perfume trios?  I know I had some of the fragrances, but I can't remember which ones.  Probably the one with the sandlewood scent (I vaguely remember burning a lot of sandlewood incense in my youth), but these days I would probably want the herbal or the 'grassy' ones.

My dad bought me the one mentioned in the post right above me when I was a little girl and I still have it. I also still have my two bottles of Love's Fresh Lemon which I liked so much more than the Baby Soft. They still smell good too, believe it or not. To get back to the topic, I miss every 70's shampoo mentioned in this thread. I even miss the cheap crap my mom used to buy from K-Mart in these giant bottles (even though back then I'd complain that she didn't buy me Body On Tap). I tried googling but I can't remember the name of it. 

[GreekGeek]

Hooray! The Vermont Country Store is selling Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific again, as well as Body on Tap. They never stopped selling Lemon Up.

[ratgirlagogo]

I love the Vermont Country Store. You can still buy typewriters, typewriter ribbons, and typewriter correcting tape there!

https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/home/category/home-office

[seahag50]

sweetheart soap....I loved that stuff....tigress perfume...all the others mentioned were from when I was a grown women.....

[walnutqueen]

14 minutes ago, seahag50 said:

sweetheart soap....I loved that stuff....tigress perfume...all the others mentioned were from when I was a grown women.....

When I was young, it was Maja soap - black, red & gold exotic wrapping, and a scent made to drive a young girl wild.

[BooksRule]

I remember using novelty pens in school during the early to mid-1970s that were fuzzy and had scented ink (flowery, I think, not fruity).  They were kind of furry, I guess (rather than fuzzy) and I know I had a green one and a purple one.  The ink was color-coordinated, too.  The green pen had green ink, the purple one, purple, and so on (and so forth and what have you). I've tried in vain to find evidence that these existed, but haven't been able to find anything online, but does anyone else remember using these novelty pens in the early to mid-1970s?  I might be mixing two pens (as far as the scented ink is concerned), but I know I had the furry pens with colored ink.  They weren't big pens, though. Just regular ball-point size.  I loved those things and remember writing many a note in green or purple to pass to friends in class. 

Another school item I remember buying at the 'school store' in elementary school (would have been in the late 1960s) were erasers that looked like small rectangles of hardened Jell-o.  They were the size of the regular rectangular pink erasers, but were kind of see-though like Jell-o and were in different colors (maybe I'm wrong about the colors, but I seem to remember either dark pink or red).  

Anyone else remember these?

[theredhead77]

9 hours ago, BooksRule said:

Another school item I remember buying at the 'school store' in elementary school (would have been in the late 1960s) were erasers that looked like small rectangles of hardened Jell-o.  They were the size of the regular rectangular pink erasers, but were kind of see-though like Jell-o and were in different colors (maybe I'm wrong about the colors, but I seem to remember either dark pink or red).  

Anyone else remember these?

Child of the 80s here. I remember clear erasers, and cute erasers. We used to collect them. A huge treat was to get a Sanrio eraser.

 

  

[editorgrrl]

On 12/31/2017 at 12:05 AM, BooksRule said:

I remember using novelty pens in school during the early to mid-1970s that were fuzzy and had scented ink (flowery, I think, not fruity). They were kind of furry, I guess (rather than fuzzy) and I know I had a green one and a purple one. The ink was color-coordinated, too. The green pen had green ink, the purple one purple, and so on.

I remember fruity Mr. Sketch Scented Markers, but they don’t fit this forum because they’re back. And BIC 4-color pens are still a thing.

I also remember fuzzy pencil toppers with googly eyes and rubbing the pencil between my palms to make the hair even crazier.

[PRgal]

On 1/31/2018 at 3:35 PM, editorgrrl said:

I remember fruity Mr. Sketch Scented Markers, but they don’t fit this forum because they’re back. And BIC 4-color pens are still a thing.

I also remember fuzzy pencil toppers with googly eyes and rubbing the pencil between my palms to make the hair even crazier.

I think I was addicted to the scent strawberry Mr. Sketch marker.  

[GreekGeek]

On 12/18/2017 at 7:10 PM, walnutqueen said:

When I was young, it was Maja soap - black, red & gold exotic wrapping, and a scent made to drive a young girl wild.

 

On 12/18/2017 at 6:53 PM, seahag50 said:

.tigress perfume...

You can still get these at the Vermont Country Store. Not cheap, though.

[walnutqueen]

33 minutes ago, GreekGeek said:

 

You can still get these at the Vermont Country Store. Not cheap, though.

I'm askeered to try it now, knowing that my younger proclivities & fantasies were sadly misplaced.  I'd rather live with the perfect memories ...  ;-)

[GaT]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

Technically this isn't a product, but I so miss the old "Sears Wishbook" full of toys that we could not afford or didn't have room for in the piddlyass small house I grew up in.  I would spend hours just staring at the toys and games that I knew I would never have, but have often wondered what it would have been like to play with.  

Then you'll probably like this site Wishbook.web, they're an online archive of old wishbooks & catalogs.

[auntlada]

I loved the Sears Wishbook. My letters to Santa used to include page numbers.

[theredhead77]

Speaking of dangerous and discontinued toys did anyone else have either of these?

[smittykins]

Wasn’t Water Wiggle eventually banned?

[theredhead77]

21 minutes ago, smittykins said:

Wasn’t Water Wiggle eventually banned?

The Googlesphere tells me one version was banned in 1978. I was born in 77 and I distinctly recall playing with one as a kid so I'm thinking a new one was released and discontinued.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1978/recall-of-wham-o-water-wiggle-toy

Here are some more dangerous, discontinued toys

http://mentalfloss.com/article/22162/7-dangerous-toys-kids-today-are-missing-out

[ratgirlagogo]

18 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

but I so miss the old "Sears Wishbook"

Although we have all been pushed in recent years to the less satisfying form of catalog shopping, online shopping.

[Ms Lark]

On 12/18/2017 at 7:10 PM, walnutqueen said:

When I was young, it was Maja soap - black, red & gold exotic wrapping, and a scent made to drive a young girl wild.

My mom loved that soap! She also wore Arpege perfume. I miss my mom.

I would love to see "Happy Face" facial cleanser return. That stuff was great. Also, Yardley's "Veil of Iris" scent in the '60s. They also had Rose and some other, but the Iris smelled just like irises. Sigh.

[peacheslatour]

On 4/8/2019 at 8:46 AM, Ms Lark said:

My mom loved that soap! She also wore Arpege perfume. I miss my mom.

I would love to see "Happy Face" facial cleanser return. That stuff was great. Also, Yardley's "Veil of Iris" scent in the '60s. They also had Rose and some other, but the Iris smelled just like irises. Sigh.

Hi, I'm a florist and I don't recall Iris smelling like anything.

[Angeltoes]

I'm so old that I can remember when Frito-Lay put a Frito Bandito eraser in every box of luncheon sized Frito bags.  The erasers, along with the advertising jingle ("Aye, yi, yi, yi, I am the Frito Bandito...."), are no longer PC.  

[walnutqueen]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Hi, I'm a florist and I don't recall Iris smelling like anything.

There are many varieties of iris that are fragrant.

[peacheslatour]

6 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

There are many varieties of iris that are fragrant.

Actually there is. There is one variety of bearded iris that smells like black licorice. 🤔

[Mabinogia]

On 2/22/2019 at 5:51 PM, auntlada said:

I loved the Sears Wishbook. My letters to Santa used to include page numbers.

I spent weeks pouring over the Wishbook, marking what I wanted, reviewing, unmarking (we didn't have a lot of money so I would narrow my list down to what I really wanted before handing over my final revision of my Christmas list. It is one of my favorite memories of childhood. It was just so much more satisfying than scrolling through amazon making my list. lol

[Ms Lark]

10 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Hi, I'm a florist and I don't recall Iris smelling like anything.

Wow. Whenever I see irises blooming (tis the season), I stop for a sniff! The bearded irises have a beautiful scent that is exhilarating! Kind of lemony something. Unlike anything else and soooo lovely. Not licorice-scented at all. You may be working with hybrids or the smaller irises?

7 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

There are many varieties of iris that are fragrant

Yep. .

[zoey1996]

I still miss coconut NuSoft fabric softener, and that's from probably 45 years ago!  Also the first product that I liked and used regularly that was discontinued.

[RealHousewife]

On 9/9/2017 at 6:13 PM, harrie said:

I don't remember Fuzzy Wuzzy Soap, but I do remember Crazy Foam (the 1960s version).  Is Love's Baby Soft still around? I get a headache just thinking about it, it smelled so disgustingly sweet.

Aw I still like it. It takes me back to childhood, so powdery and soft. As a little girl I remember seeing it and wanting what at the time looked like a fancy, grownup lady's bottle of perfume. :) 

[jewel21]

Citre Shine shampoo. I used to buy a big bottle of it at Walmart in like the late 90s early 2000s. It left my hair full of volume and so shiny, I used to get compliments on it. 

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

Citre Shine shampoo. I used to buy a big bottle of it at Walmart in like the late 90s early 2000s. It left my hair full of volume and so shiny, I used to get compliments on it. 

An Amazon seller still has it! 🙂

[funky-rat]

On 11/7/2016 at 8:20 PM, BookWoman56 said:

I don't know if this product has actually been discontinued, but it's been at least 15 years since I saw it while shopping, so I'm going to assume it's gone. There used to be a cleaning item just for microwaves. It was apparently made by Easy-Off, and was a heat-activated cleaning towelette in a pouch. You threw it in the microwave, turned it on, and the pouch would pop open to release the cleaning ingredients, essentially splattering the cleanser all over the interior of the microwave. You let it sit for a few minutes, and then used the towelette to wipe off the cleanser and the stuff it had loosened from the sides, top, and bottom of the microwave.  I know you can supposedly do something similar by putting vinegar or lemon into water and steaming the interior so it smells better, but those cleaning towelettes worked wonderfully for me. Obviously, I can still clean the microwave by using a regular spray cleaner and either a sponge or paper towels, but the cleaning towelettes were convenient, damn it.

Way late to this thread.  I loved those Easy Off things.  I found some in a drawer when we moved ,and I was stoked, until I put in the microwave and realized it had long dried out.  The Angry Mama microwave cleaner works similarly.  I used vinegar only once, and my microwave smelled like hot pickles.  Gross.  The 2nd  time I used lemon juice, but after that, I just used plain water.

On 11/10/2016 at 1:03 PM, Blergh said:

Elastic shoe laces! I liked the kind in which one could tie them a single time then never have to bother with untying/retying but I haven't seen any in the last fifteen years.

I use Lock Laces.  Similar idea, but the nice thing is that you can adjust them much more easily.  I like them because my feet swell, and they will give more than regular shoelaces.

I miss Dawn Power Disolver.  I have one partial bottle left.  That stuff works miracles. Apparently you can still get it, but it's on the professional market, and have to go through select distributors, and you probably have to buy in bulk.  

[theredhead77]

I remember my mom used to have these bath things (probably the 80s version of a bath bomb) in a cardboard tray (with a clear plastic lid), all individually wrapped and they all had a different flower scent...

And I did a Google crap shoot and came up with what I was thinking of!

Edited October 28, 2019 by theredhead77

[funky-rat]

15 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I remember my mom used to have these bath things (probably the 80s version of a bath bomb) in a cardboard tray (with a clear plastic lid), all individually wrapped and they all had a different flower scent...

And I did a Google crap shoot and came up with what I was thinking of!

My mom had them too.  They were in a box with a matching flower shaped soap for each one.  They weren't fizzy, but you crumbled them and put them in bathwater.

[RealHousewife]

Dior Hypnotic Poison Eau Sensuelle was the most intoxicating perfume I ever smelled. It’s been years, and I still miss it. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

MAC's matte lipstick: Underground. It was a dark bronze with a hint of shimmer and was PERFECT for my skin tone! And they fucking discontinued it years ago. Man, if I'd known that was the plan, I would have stocked up on them when I was their outlet a year or so before they did. They still have some good shades, but they also have some horrid shades too.

Oh and Bliss' Minty and Soapy body scrub!

[Fostersmom]

I miss Buf-Puf singles. They were pre-soaped, not too rough, and just all around perfect. They were like a 2x2 square and great for travel too. I would have stocked up by the case had I known they were discontinuing them. There's not anything similar on the market that I've found yet. And I'm certainly not paying the $70.00 to get the Ebay price. 

[BooksRule]

On 1/8/2020 at 5:32 PM, Fostersmom said:

I miss Buf-Puf singles. They were pre-soaped, not too rough, and just all around perfect. They were like a 2x2 square and great for travel too. I would have stocked up by the case had I known they were discontinuing them. There's not anything similar on the market that I've found yet. And I'm certainly not paying the $70.00 to get the Ebay price. 

I didn't know that these had been discontinued.  I had a box in my medicine cabinet for years and every once in a while I would remember that they were there and would use one when I washed my face at night (instead of my usual wash cloth and face cleanser).  A few months ago, I was doing a major house-cleaning, realized that I hadn't really used them very often so I tossed them. Oh, well. (not that I could have sold them--the box had been opened.)

[shapeshifter]

I miss creme rinse (like Breck from the 1960s).
Conditioner is not the same; I tried mixing it with water when the bottle was almost empty. 
Creme rinse detangled long hair without pulling it out. Or, at least that's the way I remember it. But maybe I'm wrong?

Over the years I have become increasingly sensitive to scents. Some strong perfumes always gave me migraines, but now all fragrances seem to. I suspect it's some universally used chemical that wasn't present in the old days. 
Anyway, I loved the smell of Herbal Essences shampoo in the 1960s. Today's would put me in something close to a coma. I don't know if it smells anything like the old stuff. Does anyone else?

[BooksRule]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Over the years I have become increasingly sensitive to scents. Some strong perfumes always gave me migraines, but now all fragrances seem to. I suspect it's some universally used chemical that wasn't present in the old days. 
Anyway, I loved the smell of Herbal Essences shampoo in the 1960s. Today's would put me in something close to a coma. I don't know if it smells anything like the old stuff. Does anyone else?

I'm not sure if I've become extra sensitive to scents or if my tastes have just changed (I don't get headaches, but many scents just annoy me--I find them way too strong).  Maybe the formulas have changed.  I remember a cologne way back in the early '80s (I think) called 'Le Sport'.  I loved that fragrance, but it gave me a headache whenever I wore it--no matter how little I used.  I think it was the only one that ever did that to me. I gave up trying to find the perfect shampoo a long time ago and just use Suave basic clarifying shampoo alternating with the one that has conditioner in it. They don't seem to be too strongly-scented. I do love Lemon Up shampoo, but balk at paying the high price that Vermont Country Store wants for it (both cost and shipping are high).  Does anyone know of another maker of a lemon scented shampoo? 

[GreekGeek]

On 6/12/2020 at 9:19 PM, BooksRule said:

 I do love Lemon Up shampoo, but balk at paying the high price that Vermont Country Store wants for it (both cost and shipping are high).  Does anyone know of another maker of a lemon scented shampoo? 

I've bought Avalon Organics Clarifying Lemon shampoo from Amazon at about half the price of the Lemon Up at VCS.

[PRgal]

On 1/8/2020 at 6:32 PM, Fostersmom said:

I miss Buf-Puf singles. They were pre-soaped, not too rough, and just all around perfect. They were like a 2x2 square and great for travel too. I would have stocked up by the case had I known they were discontinuing them. There's not anything similar on the market that I've found yet. And I'm certainly not paying the $70.00 to get the Ebay price. 

And I'm not sure if I'd buy them on eBay - wouldn't it have expired?  I used them when I was in high school back in the 90s.  Speaking of skincare/beauty, back in the 90s, I not only used Lipsmackers, but also Bonne Bell's actual make-up line and their 10-0-6 astringent.  I had AWFUL skin back then and really believed the tingliness of the astringent was helping me!

[theredhead77]

On 6/12/2020 at 9:19 PM, BooksRule said:

Does anyone know of another maker of a lemon scented shampoo? 

Sprouts sells several

[peacheslatour]

On 6/12/2020 at 4:17 PM, shapeshifter said:

I miss creme rinse (like Breck from the 1960s).
Conditioner is not the same; I tried mixing it with water when the bottle was almost empty. 
Creme rinse detangled long hair without pulling it out. Or, at least that's the way I remember it. But maybe I'm wrong?

Over the years I have become increasingly sensitive to scents. Some strong perfumes always gave me migraines, but now all fragrances seem to. I suspect it's some universally used chemical that wasn't present in the old days. 
Anyway, I loved the smell of Herbal Essences shampoo in the 1960s. Today's would put me in something close to a coma. I don't know if it smells anything like the old stuff. Does anyone else?

I used to love VO5's Lemon Yellow cream rinse. It de-tangled, smelled great and didn't weigh your hair down like a lot if conditioners do. It also rinsed out easily.

[Giuseppe]

Back in the late '90s when I was in college, Bath and Body Works had a daily refresher body spray called Arctic Sun, which was part of their men's collection.  There were other scents, too, but Arctic Sun was my favorite. It smelled AMAZING. I always got so many compliments when I would wear it (I'll never forget one of my classmates exclaiming "DAMN you smell good!" one day when I met up with him). But it seemed as if as soon as I started making it my go-to, they discontinued it. I begged and pleaded with 'customer service' for years asking them to bring it back, lol. Over time, I would do random google searches for it and a few bottles always turned up on ebay, but for like 70-80 bucks. Back in 2013 I got lucky and found a bottle someone was selling for 40 bucks, so I said screw it and snatched it up. I've only been using it on super special occasions, and I actually still have half that bottle left. I'm stretching that thing out as long as I can!

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I really miss the cream rinse too, especially the VO5 Lemon.   Years ago, I scored what must have been one of the last bottles of Luster Cream shampoo, and I loved it. 

Dumping an entire bottle of cream rinse on your hair, letting it sit for a while, and then rinsing it out was the only way to get of the super hair sprayed Prom hair.   Do they still do Prom hair?   With the teased, and super sprayed updo, with a million hair pins, and after about a week it just had to go.   Cream rinse was the only way to get rid of the hair spray, and allow you to get the teasing combed out, and not end up with ruined hair.   

I loved Kix cereal when I was a kid, then it went away, but a few years ago it was available for a while.   The new version was terrible.   

For the Buf Puff singles, I bought some skin cleaning towelettes that were presoaped, and came in a big container, so you had to put them in a zip lock bag.  I think they were Neutrogena.     

Vermont Country Store still has Lemon Up shampoo and conditioner, and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific!.   

They still carry Tangee makeup.    They have Mood lipstick too, isn't that the lipcolor that is a wild color in the tube, but changes to a shade just for you?     They have Bosco syrup too.   I loved that stuff, and it tastes better than anything on the market now.  

Edited August 1, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama