Dial-Up.
Sure we know the noise, we joke about the porn images taking time to load and we joke about other things. But I would rather have a 10mbps connection or even 5mbps connection than ever having dial-up again. It wasn’t that good and it amazes me that dial-up still has life at all today, even if little.
Inflatable things.
I never really liked those inflatable chairs. I always feel like I’m going to pop them or some seam will unseal itself and air will gradually leave the inflatable chair and eventually I’ll sit on floor. These kinds of things were everywhere for a time, some still are, but at least are made by companies that have a better idea about making inflatable products work. Like camping equipment.
This hugely misses a certain ‘golden age’ that took place from about the mid-30’s to the mid-70’s, in which 1) The New Deal, 2) helping to save the day in WWII, and 3) the postwar boom created a situation in which America was envied, social safety nets abounded, and a good life could be had even on fairly humble salaries.
That said, the revolutionary war is not really the glorious event most Americans think it is, and the fact that a Civil War was necessary in the first place is deeply troubling and shameful. And of course, black & minority rights during most of the ‘golden age’ were indeed a point of embarrassment.