Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 10 Old Home Features… That Have Faded Into History

The one I miss the most it is not mentioned, it is the laundry chute.

my old house had the transom windows, screened in porches, knob and tube wiring, huge laundry/pantry and an attic fan, no a/c.. fireplace in every bedroom and living area. No phone line. Was built at the turn of the century.. Neat old place, I lived in it for 32 years and loved every minute.

Razor blade disposal slots in the medicine cabinet.

Thanks Hubert, that was interesting.

Cut a slot in the drywall in the garage or inconspicuous place and drop in.

kinda neat,see alot of those thing in homes today still

Ironing board that folded out of cabinet door on the wall.

Bread box with ventilation to the outside.

Half basement because the horse and scoop could not dig any deeper.

The whole front and back of the house were screened off porches.

Wood stove for cooking.

trail to the outhouse.

Mail slots in the front door.

Extra 22 shells under the floor boards. GASP

My house was built in ‘38…

of the things so far mentioned I have mail slot in front door, phone alcove, fold out ironing board and kitchen cabinets that vent to the outside

Back in the 40s my step sister used to always get her head stuck in the milk door

Dumbwaiter...now they all work at quaint little viking restaurants.

I never knew about milk doors, and am surprised we didn't have one in our house when I was a kid since, when our house was built, milk was still routinely delivered by a milkman (I don't even think you could get milk at the store back then). Instead of the milk door, we had an insulated milk box by the garage door that the milkman would put the milk in, and we'd have to go out and get it, and we'd put our empty milk bottles in there for him to pick up.

House has a sealed milk door on back porch, disconnected knob and tube in attic and basement, skeleton key doors and picture rails in all rooms and redwood lumber from sill plate to roof deck.

A basement closet for the Gimp

I remember my great grandmother's old house, probably built around 1920 or so. What I remember about it was the bathtub being so large and deep I could float around in it, and I remember all these alcoves and small sitting rooms that I would have a heck of a time finding a second time. The place was somewhat a maze.

All the doors to interior rooms and closets of my grandparents' house in Virginia had skeleton key locks, along with antique knobs, all original to the house. I always thought that was cool when I was a kid.

1 in 12 boomers were fathered by a milkman. I saw it on X

Stair dust corners and American Chestnut stairs, hand rail, Newel Post, 8 in. crown moldings, 10 panel beveled glass double French doors with heavy brass handles and hinges and stained glass windows. All in my grandmothers house that was built just before the Great Depression.

It's too bad people got away from having a Butlers Pantry in their homes.
I've designed them into new builds and remodels I've done and they've all gone over well.
I make them large and include the microwave, dishwasher and additional sink and frig.
Lesser priced butcher block counter tops go well in a Butlers Pantry too.

With the open concept designs people seem to be attracted to today it really allows for some great, clean kitchen options with uncluttered counter tops.

Without the need for bulk storage in the kitchen upper cabinets can be totally eliminated.

Jeff, that looks very appealing. Most kitchens are very dark because of the upper cabinets.

I like that, great idea.

No closets in any of the bedrooms so folks could use wardrobe cabinets.

Yes, that's the way it was in my grandparents' house in Virginia. Wardrobe cabinets instead of closets in the bedrooms. I remember my grandfather's old fedora hats on the top shelf.

Pocket doors

Cool video. Thanks for posting. I remember the pass through milk boxes still being used in the 50's. Most of 'em are still there but you can't see them from the outside because over the years the houses all got re-sided with aluminum or vinyl siding and the old milk box just got covered up by the siding. My dad bought a new house in 1955 and it didn't have one of those milk boxes. He got one of those insulated, galvanized (?) steel or aluminum boxes with the hinged lid that the milkman put the milk into. Also, back in the 50's one of my great aunts still had one of the earliest gas stoves in her kitchen. One of those that looked like an old wood fired kitchen stove that had been converted to gas. My catholic grammar school was heated by coal up until about the mid 60's and when you were in 6th grade, your classroom was right next to the earthen ramp that the coal truck backed up to access the coal chute. They unloaded the coal 3 feet away from the windows and it was a major distraction on coal delivery day.

My Grandparents home had a laundry chute and a cistern that collected rain water in the basement

When working at a door plant, I built and installed pocket doors at the top of the stairs to the bedrooms. Gain in useable space in the bedrooms, where the doors swing. Stayed over at work, and assembled ten, 6 panel doors of various widths, during the summer we built our house. Since they were solid wood, they are still hanging in there. No pun intended!

BIL knew there was a fireplace in the house. When he tore out the false wall the fireplace still had the cooking swing arm used to make dinners.

Pocket doors? We built a house 12 years ago that has 4. Also has a laundry chute.

One thing not mentioned is servant/slave quarters. 30 years ago or so, I lived in a basement "apartment" for a year in an old home that was obviously used for the help (hired or not).

Intercoms and built in vacuums. 😀

Watchtower... when i was a kid in the 70's we lived in a large 3 story house built in the late 19th century that had a watchtower above the 3rd floor... old timers said that Indians used to pass thru the area in the spring & fall and would steal anything that wasn't nailed down... The tower was manned sun-up to sundown during the expected migration and the townsfolk were warned with a Bell... Weyauwega "Here We Rest" in Indian speak...

sealed milk door + lit M-80 = major damage... should'a had our asses beet!...

A fire marschal told me once that the reason there are no more lundry chutes, is that they are an unobstructed air intake source in a house fire.

Owned a house in Pittsburgh with a laundry chute, and a mail slot built into the wall of the house, not the door. It also had a pretty unique feature of a small dining area off the kitchen where the table and bench seats all folded up into the wall. Tile roof too, not something you associate with back east. Now that I think about it, there was a swinging door between the kitchen and dining room as well.

My parents bought a house back around 2000 that had both. It was a newly built house.

Last house had a coal room area in the basement. Chute and all. I turned it into a brewery. That house was built in 41. Had steel siding. Was an amazing house, neighborhood went to hell.

Current house built in 74 has a laundry chute - bout it for old school stuff.

I don't know that I'll ever build a new house - little desire but if I did, big porch and real fireplace are the only 2 "must haves". Rest - meh, DGAF.

I remember those. Gillette Blue Blades and Mennen Skin Bracer. Been shaving for 70 years, still use the Mennen. How's that for brand loyalty?

The house I grew up in had a pretty good sized "Coal Cellar" under the front porch. Dad turned it into a Pantry/Reloading Room.

Attic fans. Depending on what doors were closed off, you could make the curtains stand out nearly horizontal in the windows of my folks' old house. No A/C growing up.

I once heard that some taxes were based on "rooms" in the house, a closet was considered another room, so it was taxed.

But that could be a rewriting of history.

Mom and dad built their forever home in the late 70's and we had an intercom, picture rails (but just for style points) and a laundry shoot for my dad's uniforms. He was a mechanic.

Grand parents did not have AC until 1989.
Grandma had Sweet Olive planted around the house, so when the windows were opened and the attic fan was on, you would have that sweet smell coming through the house in late afternoon.

I have sweet olive planted on my place just for the memories.

My current house (built around 1960) has an attic fan. It's amazing when you open the windows and turn it on. It's like a blast of wind going through the house.

Our house still has a coal chute, picture rails, and a bit of knob and tube wiring in the ceiling of two rooms on the first floor. 1918 vintage. Luckily, the previous owners did not do much damage to the plaster and woodwork, other than "remodeling" the kitchen are in the 70's, which we had to re-do
Looking back at pictures of the work we did makes me very tired...

The small kitchen area was actually two rooms originally, which we noticed when we had the floor ripped up! A few pics of the kitchen and picture rail:

We had a clothes chute in a house when I was a kid, used to drop the cat down it. Lotsa fun!

When I was a kid our house had a coal chute. Some of my jobs were to transport coal to the furnace, cut blocks of wood into kindling (for starting fires), shovel and remove the burnt coal from the furnace. When I was doing the kindling I was probably only 8 or 10 years old and was left in the cellar alone while I was doing it. I have been in many homes that were designed with knob and tube wiring. One of my grandparents had pitchers and basins for water in the second floor of their home. Our home also had a combination electric and wood stove in the kitchen. A lot of memories here.

Jim

those were useful in the war against the neighborhood "get off my lawn" old men an women, and those nosey neighbors down the street who would tell your folks they saw you smoking...........you know the type.


We had a creek down the middle of our street, easy enough to gather up a couple dozen hopfrogs to slide in the mail slot after they went to bed.

Cherry bombs and run like hell for the real azzhats.

once, i heard about a garden hose being run in one and turned on by some kids,

I've re-wired several old houses with knob and tube wiring.
Those ceramic tubes make pretty good sharpening hones.

In fact, there's one in a cubby hole in my roll-top desk as I'm typing this.

Glass door knobs and skeleton keys. Both of my grandparents’ homes had them.

My maternal grandparents’ house had some monstrous attic fans that let you know where they came on…

Front porches.

Grew up in a house built in 1813. Parents bought it in 1947. Wood central heating
Had a huge Butler’s Pantry……mom loved that.
Post and tube wiring….. still legal last I heard.
And a lil slot against one kitchen wall……place to sweep into. Went to a bucket in the basement…….metal trimmed……

Way too small doorways, halls and interior stairways. As to whole house fans I’d like to see them return. Tempting to explore the add on cost of one. Paternal grandparents had one in a 2 story with attic. Air conditioning? Hwee don’t need no stinkin’ air conditioning…..

The whole house attic fans were pretty popular in Florida right up into the 60s.

Not so great when the humidity soars but very worth while during the lower humidity seasons.

Monster energy saver so no ones going to promote them these days when they want you to burn as much power they can possibly sell you.

What has mostly faded into history is quality materials . I install a vanity. There is more product in the cardboard box and the vanity is made of cardboard too. Floor now days is mostly plastic " luxury vynle plank. It is not too bad, most replaced vynle flooring . I hardly ever put in real hardwood floor anymore and is a shame some of these people with money just want cheap. In 20 yrs. it will be junk, maybe 10 yrs. I saw a maple floor a few weeks ago , that was just beautiful and has been there since 1935 . I seen old maple floor 102 yrs . old and sanded down to some of the nails that would still last longer than the " luxury plank". I see casing made of MDF and is only good for painting and if it goes in a bathroom , it's junk in 5 yrs. I see studs that is called premiium that would have sold for crate lumber grade 40 yrs. ago. I see Cedar siding being replaced after 20 yrs. that is junk cause the back was not primed and painted and osb that is black with mold under the siding cause the roofer don't know how to install the bottom tin shingle. I see huge houses with beautiful granite tops home owners so bent on a big house but fiberglass insulation installed that is so cheap rots the OSB cause they wanted to save money on what can be seen instead of quality inside the walls. I see junk box cabinets that used to be one piece custom made 40 yrs. ago.. I see houses that had concrete driveways put in before they even moved in cause association says those are the rules and the concrete sinks 4" going into the garage. They can't even frame a house with a decent over hang anymore. Why , to save a square of shingles? I see fireplaces that are not even stone or brick , but tile 4' up and then cardboard shiplap. Most everything is junk now days. We went with quality and to afford it , our house is half the size of the new ones going up all over. A 2,200 sq. ft. ranch 9' walls, and windows that are 8' high to go with the higher walls. Trim and doors are stained and varnished that is real wood and 3/4" thick. Wood doors,are 4 panel pine however. I'm mad that I went cheap but maple doors would have been another $2,000. We have 4" foam in the walls, R 60 in the attic. We just went with quality I spent 80 hrs. on my real stone fireplace ( however it's nat. gas)

The majority do not want to pay for quality plain and simple. Hence, the garbage being built.

Box stores and Youtube DIY videos.

I saw some pics of your house in Idaho , And you went with quality . You will get all your money back and more if you ever sell.

All the rafters in my 1950s house are stamped "#1 Douglas Fir".

Yup still got one in the main bathroom medicine cabinet.

Our 1st house was like that, build between '05 and '10. It also had knob and tube wiring. A good bit of the wire insulation had dried and fallen off leaving bare wires all over the attic. It also only had 5 outlets for the entire house. I rewired it and added beaucoup outlets. I also added a 200amp service. It had an old oil furnace and I wanted the capacity to go electric when it was time to replace the beast.

It was a tiny 2 bedroom house. Originally, it had no bathroom and there was a closet between the bedrooms. The closet had been converted into a bathroom, accessible only through the bedrooms.

Back to the thread - there really wasn't any part of that old house that I missed when we finally got the money to buy something bigger.

Mine in 1922. Have the fold down ironing board in the kitchen. Wife made me keep it 30 years ago when I wanted to rip it out to set the fridge back into the wall. Sits in front and is too damn close to front of stove for my liking but hey happy wife😏

Aslo the original school bell style front door bell is exposed in kitchen and has a connection to the back porch which I disconnected as the kids were growing up and would ring it to see us go to front door just for chits and giggles.

We had a milk door when i was a kid. A buddy had the coal door and chute.

Wood lath and plaster walls. 15' high celings, wiith 8' tall double hung wood sash windows with cast iron sash weights on cotton ropes.....so much fun to replace. Pop, bang, middle of the night, stuff.

Good old days of no insulation in the walls or the celing. Wood floors that squeak or when someone walks above drops dirt onto you or in your plate. I love it.

Our first house in NH was a 3 story built in the 1800s that we the wife and me rented as newlyweds because it was cool, yeah, cool is the word, unless at head height, then it was hot. Then you get the fuel oil bill for that monster. Took an oil tanker to feed the boiler for hot water and the steam registers.

first house we owned had a mail slot in the door and we'd get our mail that way , also had a coal chute on the side feeding into a dedicated room under the porch. Built in 1934 - very high quality little brick tudor cottage. I loved that house, wish I still had it. House had zero installation though. In the winter it felt like you were sleeping next to an open refrigerator door with the headboard next to an exterior wall.

also had a meter in the basement and the utility man had a key to the house - something we didn't know when we bought it. My wife was a stay at home mother and this man just walks in the back door unannounced one day, scared the schit out of her.

He was apologetic but I was never comfortable with a copy of my house key out there in the general public.

House I have now has a laundry chute and we use it regularly. Goes from the second story to the basement.