Doesn't every house have .....?

AbbysMom

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Doesn't every house have glittery switchplate covers? :lol:

When I was growing up I thought every house had glittery switchplate covers.
IMG_4275.jpg


I didn't realize until I was older that most didn't. :lol: They are still in the house and I found this loose one in the cellar that I am going to keep for my memories.

Was there anything unusual in your childhood home or current house that is unusual?
 

vansX2

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I've don't think that I have ever noticed Glittery Light switch plates anywhere. This is a first. I have basic white flat switches and dimming sliders.
 

Margot Lane

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CF3813B3-9770-41AD-B175-3D624463527A.jpeg

Something about the glitter face plates reminded me of this, tucked in my mom’s big wooden sewing box (with its own interesting button box—-doesn’t every family have those???). SNAPS. And slightly saucy, disco ones too.
 

LTS3

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I grew up in a house built in the 1920s so there were unusual things :lol:

I had a switch plate cover with a built in mercury thermometer in my bedroom growing up. I think there was a rainbow design on the cover. Google says such switch plate covers are now considered vintage. Instead of a switch that flips up and down, it was a little rectangular black button that you pushed to turn the light on or off.

On the side wall of the nook where the refrigerator is there is a unlabeled red switch. No idea what it does and I don't think my parents know either. I'm guessing because it's red it's an emergency shut off switch for something which may or may not still be in the house.

There's a doorbell on the wall next to the stove. It looks like this. It didn't function but it was fascinating to wonder what the doorbell was for. My parents never gave a satisfactory answer, only that it was used in the "old days".

The apartment upstairs has an electric door opener. The button still works today (you hear it go bzzzzttttt) but it was long disconnected to the front door before I was born. It kind of made sense to have: just press a button to open the door instead of going down the narrow steep and dimly lit stairway to open the door to let people in.

In the backyard there's what looks like to be a raised manhole. There's a pedal to open the lid and the inside is all metal and maybe 3 feet deep by 3 feet wide or so. It's actually an in-ground garbage bin, mostly for food scraps and the like. In the days when the house was built, people would put their garbage in the bin to keep the odors out of the home. This article has info: When Rubbish Went Curbside And Garbage Went Underground I think my parent's house is the only house on the block that still has an in-ground garbage bin.
 

Margot Lane

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I grew up in a house built in the 1920s so there were unusual things :lol:

I had a switch plate cover with a built in mercury thermometer in my bedroom growing up. I think there was a rainbow design on the cover. Google says such switch plate covers are now considered vintage. Instead of a switch that flips up and down, it was a little rectangular black button that you pushed to turn the light on or off.

On the side wall of the nook where the refrigerator is there is a unlabeled red switch. No idea what it does and I don't think my parents know either. I'm guessing because it's red it's an emergency shut off switch for something which may or may not still be in the house.

There's a doorbell on the wall next to the stove. It looks like this. It didn't function but it was fascinating to wonder what the doorbell was for. My parents never gave a satisfactory answer, only that it was used in the "old days".

The apartment upstairs has an electric door opener. The button still works today (you hear it go bzzzzttttt) but it was long disconnected to the front door before I was born. It kind of made sense to have: just press a button to open the door instead of going down the narrow steep and dimly lit stairway to open the door to let people in.

In the backyard there's what looks like to be a raised manhole. There's a pedal to open the lid and the inside is all metal and maybe 3 feet deep by 3 feet wide or so. It's actually an in-ground garbage bin, mostly for food scraps and the like. In the days when the house was built, people would put their garbage in the bin to keep the odors out of the home. This article has info: When Rubbish Went Curbside And Garbage Went Underground I think my parent's house is the only house on the block that still has an in-ground garbage bin.
Did you ever dig about and find … blown glass bottles, etc?
 

LTS3

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Who still has a dos computer? Mine still works. Only for dos games

I'm pretty sure my brother has one of those around (he's into computer stuff). I know he definitely has an ancient Apple Macintosh 512K, one of the earliest Macintosh computer models.
 

DreamerRose

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I'm pretty sure my brother has one of those around (he's into computer stuff). I know he definitely has an ancient Apple Macintosh 512K, one of the earliest Macintosh computer models.
I've got an ancient Mac too, but I think it must have more than 512k. It's all one piece.
 

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neely neely You had your own version of a telephone booth! Lol Private calls.

I love all this! I have one very early “lap top.” You needed a big lap for it though. Lol

I dug around and found ancient stone tools, pottery and old bottles.

We lived in a house built 150 years earlier so lots of oddities from different times. An old glass bulb fire extinguisher in the kitchen caught my attention. Tiny access doors into a giant attic space. A secret space behind a bookcase. The house next door was much cooler. It looked like a typical house outside but inside center of the house was a very old log cabin, (early 1800’s). The rest of the house was built around it. The log cabin was perfectly preserved. The front door of that house had a doorbell that was hand cranked. That whole area was interesting to explore. No pretty sparkly switch plate covers though.
LTS3 LTS3 I am wondering if the mystery doorbell was to call helpers in the house. Like a Butlers bell. My Grandmothers house had a dumb waiter. As kids we were warned it was dangerous and NOT to get inside to”ride” it. It was old and kind of scary so, no problem with us getting inside! Lol
 

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neely neely You had your own version of a telephone booth! Lol Private calls.

I love all this! I have one very early “lap top.” You needed a big lap for it though. Lol

I dug around and found ancient stone tools, pottery and old bottles.

We lived in a house built 150 years earlier so lots of oddities from different times. An old glass bulb fire extinguisher in the kitchen caught my attention. Tiny access doors into a giant attic space. A secret space behind a bookcase. The house next door was much cooler. It looked like a typical house outside but inside center of the house was a very old log cabin, (early 1800’s). The rest of the house was built around it. The log cabin was perfectly preserved. The front door of that house had a doorbell that was hand cranked. That whole area was interesting to explore. No pretty sparkly switch plate covers though.
LTS3 LTS3 I am wondering if the mystery doorbell was to call helpers in the house. Like a Butlers bell. My Grandmothers house had a dumb waiter. As kids we were warned it was dangerous and NOT to get inside to”ride” it. It was old and kind of scary so, no problem with us getting inside! Lol
Ancient house. Do you have pics?
 

Jcatbird

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maggie101 maggie101 Do I have pics or does LTS3? Lol I want to see their place!
I have lots of old pics if I can dig some up. Nothing digital but old school photos. None of the dumbwaiter though. I was really young then and the house was sold and torn down. So sad they demolished it. A three story and basement monster house. Lol As a kid I thought there could be some form of monster somewhere in there! It was purchased by my Great grandfather and when he was about 91 it got to be too much for him and my grandparents to keep up. Such a shame. The library in the house was gorgeous! I wish I could have that one room back! Parking lot there now.
 

debbila

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We had round push buttons for light switches.
One of the bedrooms had a transom, which was a window at the top of the door that tilted inward into the bedroom to let in air in summer or heat in winter.
Our window fan turned to reverse, pulled air through the transom and the windows in the other bedrooms. We didn't have ac in that house.
 

LTS3

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I've got an ancient Mac too, but I think it must have more than 512k. It's all one piece.

It was a one piece:




The previous model, 128K, was the same one piece design. What my brother has could be that model.

I am wondering if the mystery doorbell was to call helpers in the house. Like a Butlers bell.
Maybe? It's not a very big or fancy house and it's not in a neighborhood where in the old days people had hired help.

My Grandmothers house had a dumb waiter. As kids we were warned it was dangerous and NOT to get inside to”ride” it. It was old and kind of scary so, no problem with us getting inside! Lol
Fun! You don't see those in newer houses. Or laundry chutes. Apparently the shaft is a great way for fire to spread throughout the house so they're not allowed anymore.

Another quirk in my parents' house: there's a huge old fashion TV antenna in the attic. Most people had them installed on the roof. For some reason it was installed in the attic. I remember that there was a device sitting on top of our tv that controlled the antenna. You turned the dial and listened to it click as the antenna rotated. The antenna never really worked, maybe because it was in the attic and not on the roof. Our tv reception was always pretty bad (my parents wouldn't buy cable service) and the only stations we could see well was the local ABC, NBC, and CBS stations. The local PBS was iffy. Sometimes it was clear, sometimes not. Lots of memories watching blurry Sesame Street, etc. The antenna is still in the attic but it got disconnected when my parents finally got cable when there was that cable conversion thing back in the 2000s. It was either get cable or purchase some device thing to allow your tv to be able to view shows.
 
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AbbysMom

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View attachment 417116
Something about the glitter face plates reminded me of this, tucked in my mom’s big wooden sewing box (with its own interesting button box—-doesn’t every family have those???). SNAPS. And slightly saucy, disco ones too.
I remember my mother having these. :lol:
On the side wall of the nook where the refrigerator is there is a unlabeled red switch.
The house has one of these and it is a shutoff for the furnace. It's labeled though.

In the backyard there's what looks like to be a raised manhole. There's a pedal to open the lid and the inside is all metal and maybe 3 feet deep by 3 feet wide or so. It's actually an in-ground garbage bin, mostly for food scraps and the like. In the days when the house was built, people would put their garbage in the bin to keep the odors out of the home. This article has info: When Rubbish Went Curbside And Garbage Went Underground I think my parent's house is the only house on the block that still has an in-ground garbage bin.
The house has one of these also. I used to be terrified of it when I was a kid. It got pretty gross.

Another quirk in my parents' house: there's a huge old fashion TV antenna in the attic.
My last house had a big antenna in the attic.
 
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