Ever ask for something incredibly old fashioned and obsolete in a shop?

cj maxx · 12-02-2020 10:34am

Where can I find bulbs for flashlights? Searched pound shops, bike shops no luck

looksee · 12-02-2020 10:52am

I've been looking for Gram flour for ages, its not particularly 'old fashioned', I could buy it in Tesco till about a year or so ago. Been in all the local Asian shops - blank looks. Chickpea flour? 'Oh yes, no we don't have any. I could have some for you by next week', but it never seems to come in.

I could give in and buy it online I suppose.

razorblunt · 12-02-2020 10:55am

A spare tyre for a new car I purchased (used car), and "throw a decent tyre in the boot, yeah"?

Space savers be damned.

razorblunt · 12-02-2020 10:59am

JustAThought wrote: »

I went looking for double sided sticky velcro tabs for some essential life need a while back; Everywhere in the 90’s - might as well have been looking for a fresh dinosaur steak. Very handy yokes.

You should be able to get them in Dunnes or Tescos. They're on their own sales stands by the company with yellow and blue/black packaging. With all the other little "things" - nail clippers, hem tape etc.

Korbond is the name of the company I think.

gozunda · 12-02-2020 11:02am

Not quite obsolete but large old fashioned ladies drawers (underwear) for the grandmother. I think the OH eventually found them somewhere ....

Aisling(",) · 12-02-2020 11:39am

gozunda wrote: »

Not quite obsolete but large old fashioned ladies drawers (underwear) for the grandmother. I think the OH eventually found them somewhere ....

Pennys,Dunnes and Marks all do gigantic knickers. Not in anyway stylish but fierce comfy:D

odyssey06 · 12-02-2020 11:42am

Had terrible trouble looking for a soap dish for bathroom for bar of soap.

Got the last one in a not busy chemist shop.

whisky_galore · 12-02-2020 11:44am

gozunda wrote: »

Not quite obsolete but large old fashioned ladies drawers (underwear) for the grandmother. I think the OH eventually found them somewhere ....

For granny? Yeah right.

Church on Tuesday · 12-02-2020 12:15pm

A hot water bottle when I was a student in Galway.

Mefistofelino · 12-02-2020 12:34pm

gozunda wrote: »

Not quite obsolete but large old fashioned ladies drawers (underwear) for the grandmother. I think the OH eventually found them somewhere ....

OK, bloomers.

Mefistofelino · 12-02-2020 12:36pm

Widdershins wrote: »

Borax, and suet?

Could you not use pseudoephedrine as a precursor like the rest of us?

DelBoy Trotter · 12-02-2020 12:48pm

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

A hot water bottle when I was a student in Galway.

Penneys do them, and i'm sure Dunnes would too

Church on Tuesday · 12-02-2020 12:49pm

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

Penneys do them, and i'm sure Dunnes would too

Not when I was looking.

gozunda · 12-02-2020 1:06pm

Mefistofelino wrote: »

OK, bloomers.

That's them lol!

Aisling(",) wrote: »

Pennys,Dunnes and Marks all do gigantic knickers. Not in anyway stylish but fierce comfy:D

Glad to know that btw

PGE1970 · 12-02-2020 2:58pm

I asked a shop assistant for a pack of Opal Fruits last week.

Took us both a few seconds to work out how stupid I was!

mikeecho · 12-02-2020 3:03pm

gmisk wrote: »

A coal scuttle...literally looked at me like I had two heads. I was in a big hardware store btw not topman.

Oh and Milton the disinfectant...no clue

Co-op superstore have plenty of coal scuttles, like wise most hardware stores.. dunno what type of hardware store you were in.

(Maybe you should have said coal bucket)

https://www.coopsuperstores.ie/?gclid=CjwKCAiA4Y7yBRB8EiwADV1haY5QrBFuljv9N_1dWheyIcjAN_KFE7ZQElbSuttrWXDXUTSN88dCFxoCP2kQAvD_BwE#/dfclassic-1/query=Coal%20bucket&query_name=match_and

Hego Damask · 12-02-2020 3:07pm

ab4248 wrote: »

Class reunion a couple of years back. Few of us went to pub after and said we’d chip in for 10 Carrolls like the old days. The barman had a right laugh at us. Took us a while to figure it out

I don't nor have ever smoked , I guess you can only get packs of 20+ now?

lucalux · 12-02-2020 4:38pm

looksee wrote: »

I've been looking for Gram flour for ages, its not particularly 'old fashioned', I could buy it in Tesco till about a year or so ago. Been in all the local Asian shops - blank looks. Chickpea flour? 'Oh yes, no we don't have any. I could have some for you by next week', but it never seems to come in.

I could give in and buy it online I suppose.

Used to see it stocked in Tesco too, but I'm pretty sure most health food stores/holland & barrett type places stock it, might be worth a try?

lucalux · 12-02-2020 4:43pm

PGE1970 wrote: »

I asked a shop assistant for a pack of Opal Fruits last week.

Took us both a few seconds to work out how stupid I was!

Opal fruits are coming back!
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/read-this/opal-fruits-are-coming-back-after-22-years-heres-where-you-can-buy-them-1372538

Lists of stockists include Poundland and Iceland so not sure about Irish stores, but I'd say they'll be in Dealz, as that's the Irish version of Poundland, and we have Iceland now, so you won't have to get funny looks next time!

ab4248 · 12-02-2020 6:09pm

Hego Damask wrote: »

I don't nor have ever smoked , I guess you can only get packs of 20+ now?

Apparently so! We used pay 10p for one cigarette from the local shop and 10 were 68p if I remember rightly. Fair profit. €13/14 for 20. We definitely hadn’t collected enough for 10 let alone 20 ðŸ€£

Gunmonkey · 12-02-2020 6:12pm

Went into a chemist looking for rubbing alcohol.

Alun · 12-02-2020 6:13pm

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

A hot water bottle when I was a student in Galway.

I bought one only last year, got it in Boots IIRC, but any pharmacy will probably have one I guess.

12-02-2020 6:22pm

5 years ago, if you asked for a film camera box in any pharmacy the assistant would suggest where you could buy some.

Today, ask the same question in a pharmacy and if you don't get a blank stare you get a indignant expression

ab4248 · 12-02-2020 6:31pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

5 years ago, if you asked for a film camera box in any pharmacy the assistant would suggest where you could buy some.

Today, ask the same question in a pharmacy and if you don't get a blank stare you get a indignant expression

I found a couple of old disposable cameras lately and the girl in the chemist didn’t know what they were. Eventually the manager intervened!

12-02-2020 6:38pm

5 years ago, if you asked for a film camera box in any pharmacy the assistant would suggest where you could buy some.

Today, ask the same question in a pharmacy and if you don't get a blank stare you get a indignant expression

partyguinness · 12-02-2020 6:39pm

Floor staff that know their stuff.

partyguinness · 12-02-2020 6:46pm

I spent ages looking for YR sauce in England.

I had no idea it was an Irish product. I just assumed it was English. Same with Liga although I think it is Dutch- a staple growing up with young sisters but unheard of over here.

whisky_galore · 12-02-2020 6:51pm

partyguinness wrote: »

I spent ages looking for YR sauce in England.

I had no idea it was an Irish product. I just assumed it was English. Same with Liga although I think it is Dutch- a staple growing up with young sisters but unheard of over here.

YR stands for Yorkshire Relish, but not from Yorkshire.

JustAThought · 13-02-2020 2:35am

Not to turn this into a food therad, but I went looking for twopenny teeth there a while back - I had the goo on me for them. Polish girl had not a clue what I was talking about - teeth in a sweetshop? Then told me there rounding.Jesus wept.

Potential-Monke · 13-02-2020 4:59am

partyguinness wrote: »

...Liga...

Ah feck ya, you're after reminding me of biscuits I used to get at my Nan's back in the day. Can't remember the name of them, and Google is not helping.

They came in a red packet (iirc), they were about twice to three times the size (width and depth) as your normal biscuits, like they were puffed up or something.

JustAThought wrote: »

Not to turn this into a food therad, but I went looking for twopenny teeth there a while back - I had the goo on me for them. Polish girl had not a clue what I was talking about - teeth in a sweetshop? Then told me there rounding.Jesus wept.

If we're thinking of the same thing, only Barratts have decent versions of them now:

I spent a good 40 minutes one day walking shop to shop to try and find blank CD's! Eventually found the last packet in Dunnes (10 for €20!).

WAW · 13-02-2020 6:43am

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Ah feck ya, you're after reminding me of biscuits I used to get at my Nan's back in the day. Can't remember the name of them, and Google is not helping.

They came in a red packet (iirc), they were about twice to three times the size (width and depth) as your normal biscuits, like they were puffed up or something.

If we're thinking of the same thing, only Barratts have decent versions of them now:

I spent a good 40 minutes one day walking shop to shop to try and find blank CD's! Eventually found the last packet in Dunnes (10 for €20!).

Farley's Rusks. You can still get them in baby food section. Or Fox's used to do a thick Rich Tea biscuit in a red packet.

Potential-Monke · 13-02-2020 7:05am

WAW wrote: »

Farley's Rusks. You can still get them in baby food section. Or Fox's used to do a thick Rich Tea biscuit in a red packet.

I don't think so. I'm no rusk specialist, but they don't look the same. These biscuits, although big, were quite light and airy. I could be mistaken, but I'll know the second I see the packaging, and nothing with rusk is coming back with that.

Edit: Searching a bit more, they might be but they were round, and nothing matching that in an image search. Could have been cheap, knock off Liga...

Widdershins · 13-02-2020 11:09am

I asked in Monsoon if they still sell their lined velvet dresses but no they're just selling inferior sh1te like everywhere else. I found a couple in a charity shop once and was really pleased with the quality but they were from the 00s.The only way to go is online shopping, much as Id like to buy my 1950s underwear from a local granny underwear shop.

mickuhaha · 13-02-2020 12:47pm

Gunmonkey wrote: »

Went into a chemist looking for rubbing alcohol.

They stopped selling it as people would buy it to drink. I used to use it for wooden torch's it gave a nice flame colour.

Redneck Reject71 · 13-02-2020 7:30pm

Anytime I'm in a shop or pub, at some point I ask if they carry nasal snuff. Most of the time I get a blank or confused looked and then a no.Seems only Cahill's in Limerick carries it, but I hate going into the city, it's too loco.

Bobblehats · 13-02-2020 7:48pm

cajonlardo · 13-02-2020 7:53pm

Never bought anything but there was a shop on Bray main street that was stuck in a time warp.
It was like something straight out of a Stephen King novel.

It was called Ledwidges and sold hardware.
It finally closed in 2014.

Why I thought of it in connection with this thread was because it still had Rabbit snares in the window. He'd sell you cement by the pound.

blackcard · 13-02-2020 7:53pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Mr O'Bumble has occasionally sent someone to a hardware shop for a long stand.

It seems to take some people a long while to cop ....

Stripy paint and a square circle are hard to get too

Wibbs · 13-02-2020 7:58pm

Oh god yeah. Though these days I'd nearly always go online. Lamp oil is probably the most recent olde style thing I've asked for in a shop. I've a few 100 year old plus kerosene lamps. Great in power cuts, but nice for ambient light of a winters eve. Add heat to a room too.

corsav6 · 13-02-2020 8:01pm

"Potential-Monke wrote: »

If we're thinking of the same thing, only Barratts have decent versions of them now:

My favorite sweets as a kid in the 80's, used to come in a big yellow box and were always left open on the sweet counter, but hygiene wasn't top of the list back then. Originally made by Barratt and they taste like the originals too.

EuroGeneral, aka the €2 shop had the 190g for €1 each, seen they now have the 160g for the same price.

Redneck Reject71 · 13-02-2020 8:03pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Oh god yeah. Though these days I'd nearly always go online. Lamp oil is probably the most recent olde style thing I've asked for in a shop. I've a few 100 year old plus kerosene lamps. Great in power cuts, but nice for ambient light of a winters eve. Add heat to a room too.

My grandfather's house still had those lamps mounted on the walls, they were great. Lit a room, helped heat it, could light your cigar off them. Also no suggesting your that old heh.But they were so beautiful and simple.

Lady Haywire · 13-02-2020 8:08pm

I still have oil lamps here but kerosene is hard to find. They are a godsend when the power goes out! Have hooks on the ceiling & two of them light the whole room.
Mum has been looking for a cassette player in shops the past while, I reckon I have to go online for her :pac:

(She has hundreds of cassettes as she's been buying them since the 60's)

Cienciano · 13-02-2020 8:13pm

Remember before extension power strips when you didn't have many things that plugged in you just had a few double adapters in a drawer? I was half way through asking for a "double ad......" and just thought it sounded completely outdated and perverted so just settled for a power strip. Which somehow doesn't sound as bad but it's actually worse innuendo wise

Wibbs · 13-02-2020 8:13pm

Redneck Reject71 wrote: »

My grandfather's house still had those lamps mounted on the walls, they were great. Lit a room, helped heat it, could light your cigar off them. Also no suggesting your that old heh.But they were so beautiful and simple.

Also the cause of the majority of house fires in the 19th century.

Lady Haywire wrote: »

I still have oil lamps here but kerosene is hard to find.

Yeah. I did get some in B&Q a few years back. Didn't burn so clean though. I used to get it from an old fashioned place that appeared to stock everything and Men in Brown Coats to guide you to whatever you wanted. Sadly closed a few years ago.

They are a godsend when the power goes out! Have hooks on the ceiling & two of them light the whole room.

They do. With the antique ones you have to have the flame propagator thingies, which often go missing. With them they burn extremely bright white light(and serious heat).

Capt'n Midnight · 13-02-2020 8:19pm

JustAThought wrote: »

Not to turn this into a food therad, but I went looking for twopenny teeth there a while back

https://i.imgur.com/s4eZrhu.jpg , rounding.

looksee · 13-02-2020 8:35pm

lucalux wrote: »

Used to see it stocked in Tesco too, but I'm pretty sure most health food stores/holland & barrett type places stock it, might be worth a try?

I asked in H&B and they said no, but I checked online and apparently they call it Garbanzo flour, and they want €5.38 for 500g. Asian Market in Dublin are €1.95 for a kilo, but they charge €5.35 for delivery. I will keep hunting. Or I could grind some chickpeas myself!

looksee · 13-02-2020 8:41pm

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Ah feck ya, you're after reminding me of biscuits I used to get at my Nan's back in the day. Can't remember the name of them, and Google is not helping.

They came in a red packet (iirc), they were about twice to three times the size (width and depth) as your normal biscuits, like they were puffed up or something.

.

Were they Bath Olivers?

Edit, actually I am remembering the biscuits I think you are talking about. They were pale and kind of crispy but a soft crispiness. They had a kind of 'seam' round the thickness of the outer edge, they were thicker than water biscuits.

whisky_galore · 13-02-2020 9:04pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Also the cause of the majority of house fires in the 19th century.

And chest conditions. With those oil heaters that used be all the rage up to 50 years ago must have been many cases of carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly set lamps and heaters.

Redneck Reject71 · 13-02-2020 9:06pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

And chest conditions. With those oil heaters that used be all the rage up to 50 years ago must have been many cases of carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly set lamps and heaters.

I do remember the walls where the lamps were,was coated in black,heh.

13-02-2020 9:10pm

Fly Fishing by J.R. Hartley!

Ever ask for something incredibly old fashioned and obsolete in a shop?

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