Can’t Do Without – Wish They Could’ve Had

[AdrianLvsRocky]

I often wonder what, if time travel were possible, golden era ladies (or men for that matter!) would think of some of our modern products/ tools/ inventions.

I know a lot of people on this forum and elsewhere in the world love the nostalgia of the golden era and wish for those times to return. Would that include going without mod-cons and having a harder, albeit simpler, life?

For example, my Nan was one of 16 children. There were so many of them they had to eat their meals in shifts to fit around the table. As well as cooking and cleaning for her husband and 16 kids, my great-grandmother used to take in other people’s washing and ironing to make a few extra bob.

I would just love to go back in time and give her a washer/dryer. I can’t help but think that she would just love it! Imagine how much easier her life would have been!

So, my question is - what modern inventions/ tools/ products would you like to take back in time to aid people’s lives without ruining the simplicity of it all or making it too much like modern life? Would that be possible even? Was it the fact that it was tough that made it so much simpler and therefore so appealing?

 

[Retro_GI_Jane]

I'm not sure I'd take anything "modern" back with me. It seems like modern technology, while supposedly making our lives easier, has only made us into more impatient, hurry up and go people. I think the lack of such conveniences made people back then plan their days a little bit better, families were more involved in helping out with daily household chores and spending time together rather than trying to find some "me" time. A little bit of elbow grease or having to go the extra distance for something made the end result a little more special and people paid a little more attention to the quality of what they had instead of using it up in the quickest way and tossing it out. For what's it's worth, this is not to be mistaken with me saying that I think women need to get back in the kitchen and be Susie homemakers rather than having a career, I just notice that overall, people back then seemed to have more of a appreciation for having time for each other rather than taking it for granted and then wondering where the day went.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Clumping cat litter. It's a godsend compared to sand, clay, and Oil-Sorb, which were the previous options.

 

[rue]

I've been sitting here looking at this page trying to think of something I would want to take with me and I can't. I honestly wouldn't take one single modern device.

 

[AmateisGal]

No modern devices - just modern medicine! (Well...I suppose that would include modern devices, though! lol)

 

[Miss sofia]

Antibiotics, (although i'm with Lizzie on the cat litter, i tried Fuller's Earth once, it was too horrible...).

 

[Louise Anne]

A telephone:-
A relative of mine in the trenches WW1 in France was told that his mother had died, he got leave somehow!, travelled back to the UK by train only to find she was funweral was the day before!
if there was a telephone they would have know he was on his way.

 

[crwritt]

I'm more inclined to think of the things people in the past imagined we would have by now. My Dad was always disappointed that he never got his flying car.

 

[HeyMoe]

Sorry to post here, just think this is an awesome thread!

Anyway, here is my pick: Weather forcasting and the emergency alert systems we have now.

How many tragic deaths could have been avoided?

 

[rue]

She said men too

Maybe this thread should be moved to the observation bar so more people can see it ......

 

[sheeplady]

Can I take my husband? He's technically "modern." lol

Antibiotics, cat litter, oxiclean, and benedryl. I'd be dead if not for benedryl (introduced in 1946, so I'd be ok in post-1946). I would miss some of the "ethnic" and "different" foods that weren't available in the area I live even 20 years ago. Most of the stuff I like as far as a convenience was available in some form back then: stand mixers, gas ovens, electric irons, etc. I would probably miss my washer.

Since I can't seem to figure out how to use the microwave I'll leave that here.

 

[MissDecember]

Contact lenses. There's nothing else I can think of.

 

[Gregg Axley]

I'll agree with modern medicine. I too benefit from it, whereas back then I'd be miserable.
Allergies and pain. I guess I'd have to take bee pollen and whiskey, or morphine.
Wait, then I'd be in one of those "Cocaine Fiends" type movies. No thanks.
Other than modern medicine, nothing.
My job would be much easier, since I manage a fleet of vehicles. No computers, coil packs, ABS or any other "new fangled gadgets" we suddenly can't do without to drive a car on a daily basis.
Preaching to the choir here, but lots of things were made better back then. Leaving some things behind would not be a problem...

 

[scottyrocks]

I don't know what I'd take back because anything brought back has the potential for changing everything after it. Where would we be now?

And by 'take back' do we mean one person taking back an item, or what they, personally, could carry? If that's the case, then just about anything would only benefit one person or family. Drugs and medicines could work to alleviate a sickness, but that's about it. Once the medicine was gone, it would be gone.

I definitely would not take back any of today's electronics. A washer/dryer would indeed be a good idea for a beleaguered mother of 16. That could probably help without moving said household too far out of its setting. There would still be enough for mom to do. She wouldn't be sitting on her keester while the clothes were being laundered, that's for sure.

 

[rue]

Depending when you went back they had electric washing machines and clothes dryers by the 1930s and by 1950 a lot of people had them, at least in the USA.

Oh and contact lenses were around then too, but you would have to wait until about 1960/1970 for soft lenses

I think the best option would be to take back gold, so you could afford to buy what was available

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

I'd like to send my granddad a simple, basic, solar-powered calculator. I can still see him at his massive desk, balancing the books, with reams of paper coming off the adding machine. The keys on that thing were heavy, and he spent hours on that thing!

 

[AdrianLvsRocky]

I'd like to send my granddad a simple, basic, solar-powered calculator. I can still see him at his massive desk, balancing the books, with reams of paper coming off the adding machine. The keys on that thing were heavy, and he spent hours on that thing!

I like that! A simple thing that could make so much difference!

A few people have mentioned that, by taking anything modern back, the path of time could be altered. I guess, in my imagined "time travel" I'm just wondering about the immediate effect on someone's life rather than a chain reaction.

If I could go back, I'd tell Great Nanna Rose to keep her washer/dryer a secret!

 

[sheeplady]

Depending when you went back they had electric washing machines and clothes dryers by the 1930s and by 1950 a lot of people had them, at least in the USA.

My family wasn't the type to have a washer or a dryer. One set of my grandparents didn't even have electricity until the late 40s. I guess in discussions like this I am thinking my life would be like my family's. Which isn't necessarily true.

I think the one thing that would benefit my family the most would be medical knowledge. My grandparents lost a baby in the early 30s and my great-grandparents lost a baby in the 20s. I think at least knowing what happened would have at least tremendously helped my grandparents, who always wondered if it was genetic or what (according to my father).

 

[rue]

My family wasn't the type to have a washer or a dryer. One set of my grandparents didn't even have electricity until the late 40s. I guess in discussions like this I am thinking my life would be like my family's. Which isn't necessarily true.

That's where the gold bars come in.... I wouldn't want to be carting around a modern washer and dryer in 1940. It might just cause a little bit of attention It would be safer to buy one there for them

 

[scottyrocks]

But it would be cool to be able to bring the washer we just bought, a state of the art front-loader, back in time. This thing is amazing. The clothes would line-dry in no time.