You are too old if you remember.......

[Dr Frankenstein]

The mountain cottage we rented every winter for skiing was on a party line until very late... I think it was 2006?

Nantes, QC was still using an electromechanical step-by-step line finder until 2008 (the last one operating in North America). This means no touch-tone support.

The phone in my bedroom is a rotary. (We keep a landline because cell phone signal is poor in the house.)

[vtk]

And until about 1969, all local calls here in the Appleton, WI area were dialed with just a five-digit number string (all in the then 414 area code):

(72)2-xxxx - Menasha-Neenah
(73)3-xxxx - Appleton
(73)4-xxxx - Appleton
(72)5-xxxx - Menasha-Neenah
(76)6-xxxx - Kaukauna
(75)7-xxxx - Greenville Township area
(78)8-xxxx - Combined Locks/Freedom/Kimberly/Little Chute
(73)9-xxxx - Appleton

(As of 2004) Ohio State Univ campus is like that:

(614 29)2 xxxx – office lines
(614 68)8 xxxx – residential lines

[cjk374]

I remember, here in Louisiana (may have been standard practice in other states), the brown recreation signs were upside down trapezoids.  Where ever you needed to turn off, the sharp point of the trapezoid would point in the direction of your turn, and the other side would be flat-sided. In fact, the last trapezoid-shaped rec sign that I know of still in the field was replaced earlier this year.  It was for Lake Bistineau State Park on WB I-20 @ exit 47.

In Arkansas, it was S.O.P. to use 2 sign posts for their signs.  The second post braced the 1st from behind.  I know of just a few still around in Emerson, AR around the railroad crossing on AR 98.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I remember, here in Louisiana (may have been standard practice in other states), the brown recreation signs were upside down trapezoids.  Where ever you needed to turn off, the sharp point of the trapezoid would point in the direction of your turn, and the other side would be flat-sided. In fact, the last trapezoid-shaped rec sign that I know of still in the field was replaced earlier this year.  It was for Lake Bistineau State Park on WB I-20 @ exit 47.

Ontario still has a few exit direction signs shaped like this, but they're heading the way of the dinosaur.

[Mr_Northside]

My house in Montana has a hardwired rotary phone that still works- my landline is connected to it and it's my only non-cell phone.

My house also came with one of those.  I rarely use it, but it will work in a power outage when my cordless phones won't (assuming I have battery left to power my ONT), and it also rings really loud.

[formulanone]

I remember, here in Louisiana (may have been standard practice in other states), the brown recreation signs were upside down trapezoids.

In fact, the last trapezoid-shaped rec sign that I know of still in the field was replaced earlier this year.

Alabama has a fair number of them still extant. There's a large one for Talladega National Forest along I-20 westbound.

[bugo]

When gum (Big League Chew, Wrigley gum (Juicyfruit, Big Red, Doublemint, Spearmint, etc)) didn't contain artificial sweeteners.

[roadman65]

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Brantford,+ON,+Canada&hl=en&ll=43.262644,-79.889338&spn=0.005703,0.015278&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=7.019056,15.644531&oq=branford,+on&t=h&hnear=Brantford,+Brant+County,+Ontario,+Canada&z=16&layer=c&cbll=43.262533,-79.888966&panoid=VhWFhgbNgVQanc7-9PI10A&cbp=12,90,,0,0
I remember when these stations existed in the US particularly on the east coast  while another name "Enco" existed on the west coast. 

[OracleUsr]

A few more:

The AP News Feed that you saw on many cable stations, including Cablevision Channel 8 in Greensboro.  I'd watch that for hours.

When HBO wasn't 24x7.

When North Carolina only had two area codes (919 and 704)
As did Georgia (912 and 404)
And Tennessee (615 and 901)
But South Carolina only had one (803)

TN and NC having DEAD END signs with huge letters (I used to read it by shouting out the letters in a low voice...when I was by myself)
The simple red on white WESTERN AUTO sign that was arranged similar to the WAFFLE HOUSE sign.
US 29-A and US 70-A in Greensboro/High Point
When I-40 was in pieces in the Triangle, and the END I-40 sign at the Randleman Road interchange
Bonus for Randleman Road being US 220 Southbound to Level Cross

Defunct left exits:

US 70 West off I-85 South--Durham, NC (Exit 172...no such exit anymore for I-85S)
US 70 Connector off I-85 North--Hillsborough, NC (Exit 161, now a right exit)
NC 6 off I-40 East--Greensboro, NC (Exit 216, now a right exit, no more NC 6)
US 29S/70W-NC 150W off I-85 South--near Spencer, NC (Exit 82...now accessed by Exit 84 for NC 150, a right exit)
I-381S off I-81 South--Bristol, VA (exit now is to the right and accessible from both directions of I-81)
I-10W off I-95 North--Jacksonville, FL (Exit 351B, now a right exit)
US 15/501 South off I-85 South--Durham, NC (now a right exit)
US 441 South Connector off I-40 West--Knoxville, TN (now a superramp combining Exits 389 and 388)

Someone mentioned stations going off the air and playing the SSB.  Yep, actually used to disconnect the cable from my parents' downstairs TV to watch other stations in other areas (the VHF antenna was suprisingly powerful, picking up Raleigh and Roanoke stations).  Of course, I'd change it back afterwards.

[florida]

add Lechmere, Zayre, Caldor, etc, to the list of defunct New England department stores.

I believe Zayre's successor, Ames, is gone as well.

My grandmother used to work at Zayre's, in the cafe. We also had a G.C. Murphy and Phar-Mor (loved the maze-like atmosphere of that place).

[thenetwork]

When the real Original Flavors of Starburst candy was Orange, Lemon, Strawberry and LIME.

When Dominos Pizza locations had their own fleet of delivery cars.

[roadman65]

New Jersey had only 201 and 609 as primary area codes.

Many NJ roads got by without exit numbers and substandard signing.  I-295 and I-78 were two that used LGSes instead of BGSes in places.

Speaking of New Jersey I remember when NJ 94 had one stoplight north of US 206 at NJ 23 in Hamburg and no signals south of US 206.

NJ 23 had two stoplights from the end of the four lane section at Stockholm to the NYS Line where it is two lanes now and always has been.  One being in Hamburg (NJ 94) and the other in Downtown Sussex (where NJ 23 changes alignments).

Newark International Airport was not only not named Newark- Liberty, but called Newark Airport as it was not used for overseas flights.  It had one small terminal at the US 1&9 and Port Street Interchange near its crossing of I-78.  There were no jetways either, and when that terminal was the main facility, you had to walk outside and climb stairs to enter the planes that meant freezing in the cold winter months.  Bags were claimed on a counter and no moving carousel existed when you arrived there.  The handlers would drive in with the train and unload each back on a two level counter where you had to move around to look for your bag.  Also for a dime, you could walk on a mezzanine and in the Summer go outside and watch the planes load and unload from above the gates.

[spooky]

When the real Original Flavors of Starburst candy was Orange, Lemon, Strawberry and LIME.

YES. I much preferred the lime starbursts to the cherry that replaced them, but I'm sure I'm in the minority in that regard.

I also recently discovered that Skittles replaced lime with green apple.

[Stephane Dumas]

Anyone in Eastern Canada remember the old Steinberg grocery chain?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grocerymaniasam/7512664022/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grocerymaniaagain/8749320011/

or the other grocery chain Dominion

[1995hoo]

I remember shopping at Dominion grocery stores in New Brunswick (they may have been elsewhere in the Maritimes too, but I just remember the New Brunswick ones from our 1982 trip to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick). I recall we ate a lot of pork chops on that trip because we found good ones at the Dominion stores.

[roadman]

Speaking of grocery stores, remember First National (later called Finast) and IGA.  Manchester, NH also had an independent combined grocery/department store called Mammoth Mills.  I remember going there on Sunday afternoons with my father in the late 1960s - because of blue laws, the grocery store was open but the department store was not.

[briantroutman]

When HBO wasn't 24x7.

Speaking of which, what about over-the-air UHF subscription-based premium channels–like ONTV, Spectrum, PRISM, etc.? The operator would maintain a sort of token effort independent broadcast station during the daytime, and in evening hours would scramble their signal and run high-budget movies and sporting events. You needed a decoder and a paid subscription to watch the service, but there was no cable involved–it was entirely over-the-air.

[US81]

When HBO wasn't 24x7.

Speaking of which, what about over-the-air UHF subscription-based premium channels–like ONTV, Spectrum, PRISM, etc.? The operator would maintain a sort of token effort independent broadcast station during the daytime, and in evening hours would scramble their signal and run high-budget movies and sporting events. You needed a decoder and a paid subscription to watch the service, but there was no cable involved–it was entirely over-the-air.

I think I remember this - often it was still possible to see silhouettes of the action without the decoder, right?

[Takumi]

Speaking of grocery stores, remember First National (later called Finast) and IGA.

I know of an IGA that's still around, in downtown Petersburg, VA

More defunct brands I remember from childhood:
Peoples Drug (bought by my employer in 1990, changed name in 1994)
Standard Drug (ditto)
Thalheimers (Richmond-based department store chain I probably mentioned already, bought by Hechts in early 90s, now Macy's)
Leggett (department store that was owned by Belk, changed to that name in the 1990s)
Sovran Bank (now part of Bank of America)
Central Fidelity (bank, bought by Wachovia in 1990s, now Wells Fargo)

[J N Winkler]

I remember, here in Louisiana (may have been standard practice in other states), the brown recreation signs were upside down trapezoids.  Where ever you needed to turn off, the sharp point of the trapezoid would point in the direction of your turn, and the other side would be flat-sided. In fact, the last trapezoid-shaped rec sign that I know of still in the field was replaced earlier this year.  It was for Lake Bistineau State Park on WB I-20 @ exit 47.

This trapezoidal style was a national MUTCD standard for many years, and is still used for new installs in several states, Alaska being one of them.

[cpzilliacus]

New Jersey had only 201 and 609 as primary area codes.

The statewide area code in Maryland was 301.

The statewide area code in Virginia was 703.

[agentsteel53]

I have seen IGA more recently than this, but I specifically remember one being in South Dakota as of November, 2009.  it was in Hull, IIRC - if not, some other town on US-18 near the Iowa border.

[Takumi]

When Honda made cars that weren't eyesores.
http://jalopnik.com/the-2014-honda-civic-si-coupe-this-isnt-better-1458994341

[agentsteel53]

[briantroutman]

UHF subscription-based premium channels–like ONTV, Spectrum, PRISM, etc....

I think I remember this - often it was still possible to see silhouettes of the action without the decoder, right?

I believe so, and this was a point of contention as some of the services were also airing porn–and of course you had all of the concerned parent-type groups filing lawsuits about alleged violations of FCC "decency" standards. The courts consistently held, though, that the scrambled signal didn't constitute a public broadcast.

IGA...

Still very much alive–was in one in Québec about a month ago. They're not a chain, per se, (the initials originally indicated the "Independent Grocers' Alliance") but more of a co-operative of various local and regional supermarket operators.

New Jersey had only 201 and 609 as primary area codes.

The statewide area code in Maryland was 301.

The statewide area code in Virginia was 703.

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but in the original Bell System area coding system of 1947, a middle digit of zero indicated a state- or province-wide area code. A middle digit of one, obviously, indicated multiple area codes in a state. This rule quickly became meaningless, though, as area codes were rapidly subdivided to accommodate the rising demand for phone lines. 609 was created only about a decade after 201 was initially designated as NJ's statewide area code.