Here are some things that were commonplace if you are old enough to have lived in the simpler years before the digital era. If you remember them they need no explanations. If not you can look them up.

TANG Instant Orange Juice. Just add water and you had instant orange juice. NASA astronauts took it into space.
Air Mail Stamps. If you wanted mail to get there sooner, air mail stamps got your letter off the ground and it would arrive at its destination faster.

Milk delivered to your home in glass returnable bottles. Not homogenized so the cream rose to the top and you had to shake up the bottle.

Indoor antennas on black and white televisions. Sometimes improved reception of broadcast T.V. depending on your location. There were only about three to six regular stations available. Some folks put additional aluminum foil on these antennas to boost reception.

Mr. Fix-It Shops. Things back then were very well made and many could be fixed if they broke down. Toasters, T.V.s, lawnmowers, electric mixers and can openers, radios, lamps, clocks and many other household items. Mostly an inexpensive fix rather than throwing something out and buying a new one.

Butch Wax for men’s crew cuts and Brylcreem or Vitalis for longer styles.

Esso Tiger Tails. Esso, now called Exxon, had an advertising campaign “Put a Tiger in Your Tank.” They gave out small stuffed tiger tails that could be hung from your gas tank closure.

Small battery powered reel-to-reel tape recorders. Big hit at Christmas. Great for interviewing family and friends.

Grocery stores only had about three kinds of potato chips and a few soft drink options. Iced tea was instant powder and was only available in summer. Lemonade was frozen concentrate in cans. Also grocery stores gave out stamps that could be saved toward small household items. Some powder detergents had a free glass in the box, and during the winter you couldn’t find red tomatoes.

Cars had a round silver button to the left of the brake peddle to engage your bright lights.

Shopping centers had a booth to drop off undeveloped film.

Canoe, English Leather and Jade East for men. Shalimar, Tigress and Tabu for women.

Bathrooms had sinks with separate hot and cold water spouts at the sink. Many had a laundry shoot down to the basement and some medicine cabinets had a slot to dispose of razor blades, which would end up in the wall between the studs.

And finally, ‘What is it ?’ That’s Flub-a-Dub. A puppet from a popular kid’s T.V. show, Howdy Doody.