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And yet, you must admit that Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for a reason! At least for the phrase The Times, They Are a-Changin', which perfectly embodies the ruthless flow of time. And indeed - just yesterday something or someone was literally on everyone's lips - and now it is already in the past. Just like Dylan himself...

But old Bob is still with us, and there are things that have disappeared completely without a trace, although it would seem that only yesterday they worried our minds and were of interest to the whole world. And this viral thread in the AskReddit community is dedicated to just such things. So please fasten your seatbelts, our time machine is about to dive into the misty depths of the past...

More info: Reddit

#1

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Fireflies aka *lightning bugs. I live rural and I used to see hundreds on a warm summer night. Now I get excited if I see just one. I mentioned it to other people who live in the same area as I do and they were just like "Huh. Yeah. You're right!"

motohod671 , Takashi Ota Report

#3

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Somewhere along the way 9-5 turned into 8-5

jivemic240 , KoolShooters Report

Some of the things you'll find in this Bored Panda selection have lost their meaning simply because the phenomena they were directly associated with are gone. For example, telephone booths - just because there is no more need for street pay phones. Some have moved into the category of museum exhibits simply because they found a replacement - like video game cartridges. And some are still with us, but we do not pay the same attention to them as before.

#4

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies I never see swarms of Monarch butterflies anymore.

morana9870 , Renee Grayson Report

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#5

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Places children and teenagers can hang out without supervision

Portlander , Greg Goebel Report

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Almost sunny
Community Member
9 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thanks to the wrong people! Edit: I meant obviously your there supervising but not watching them like a hawk every second, like I have had to do with my son because I was terrified of anything happening. My comments get taken way out of text people.

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For example, postcards. Back in the '90s, postal services around the world sent millions and probably billions of postcards for festive occasions... and for no reason at all. But communication standards have changed several times since then - and who would think of waiting a whole week for a postcard when you can just call and see anyone's face on Zoom? Postcards have gradually become an anachronism - although you will agree that getting this small modest piece of cardboard with handwritten (another anachronism, isn't it?) words is still damn nice.

#8

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Privacy

Helpful-Natural6300 , Pixabay Report

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Lea
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But did it ever really exist in the first place? Or has the nature of privacy just changed? Small towns long before the internet everyone knew everyone's secrets.

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#9

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Those coin-operated rocking horses you used to see in front of grocery stores.

kanna172014 , wallpaperflare Report

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By the way, have you noticed how we gradually forgot how to write by hand? Moreover, with the spread of voice messages, even the skill of typing is gradually losing its importance and significance. And still, nostalgia is not the same as grumpy lamentations, as it was good before. In the end, in the years of my student youth, when we had to take notes a lot, I would have literally sold my soul for one of the voice transcription services widely available nowadays...

#10

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Having many Family photographs in homes.

Not completely gone, but homes used to be plastered in them. The only times I really notice them is in homes of older people.

jivemic240 , Rodolfo Clix Report

#11

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Video Game Manuals

pops992 , Generic Brand Productions Report

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Aaron Proctor
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As do manuals period. TV's and other appliances used to have "instructions for setup and use" manuals, furniture used to have assembly instructions, and PC and laptops had manuals with instructions for anything that might go wrong with it and what to do in that eventuality that could be done without breaking warranty... I guess these things are now being considered "common knowledge" or, in the event of software, how to obtain the digital download manual is also considered common knowledge.

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Dekker451
Community Member
9 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Uh no, plenty of people noticed that. Every gamer I knew complained about the ever-dwindling video game manual, which (unfortunately) was frequently not compensated for with adequate in-game guidance. Although thankfully that's rare nowadays.

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Jessica N
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And the magazines giving tips! My ff7 guide was one of my favorite treasures. Played through once without it then again finding all the side quests!

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Tucker Cahooter
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

*Any* manuals. You get a new phone and all it has (other than all those lawyer related about warranties etc) is a slip of paper with maybe a picture of your phone or a QR code

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Tsdey
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

ye... I wish there were more as I would rather be able to learn about stuff in games during power outages than having no clue

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Persephone
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMFG! I was so annoyed to not have them with the Switch and I felt old!!!

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TwirlyGirly
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I miss them so much. It's frustrating to pay $60 -70 for a complicated game, and having to spend just as much time online trying to figure out how to play it as you spend in the game playing it. And how many people have played 50-75% of a game only to discover a mechanic that had you known about it at the outset would have made your experience up to that point less frustrating and more fun?

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Mr.G86
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I noticed but didn't know who tf to take it up with. I was so young.

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The Original Bruno
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Video games once came with manuals? Why don't I remember them? (I'm sure somewhere along the line I PAID for a video game.)

sethmarsh avatar
Seth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It was an expectation in the 90's, a common inclusion in the early 00's, had all but disappeared in the early 10's, and gone completely during the previous console generation. Some manuals were poorly written garbage with unhelpful (and sometimes blatantly wrong) information, but quite often they had beautiful art, lore, and detailed instructions with diagrams on how to play the game. Tutorials were super rare; you either figured it out on your own or referred to the manual.

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Magnion
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I miss the days of driving home from the store with my parents, reading the manual on the car ride.

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Jeremy Crocker
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What's the picture got to do with game manuals? None of those are games, they're all cheat devices and adapters.

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SuperDarkStudios
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love manuals, my copy of Ratchet And Clank Size Matters for the PS2 has its manual in PERFECT condition and I love it

ajjenkins avatar
Lesbitarian Lady
Community Member
8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All manuals have been replaced by a website. Saves them money but, still more expensive for consumers

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El Howard
Community Member
8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You are now expected yo look it up on the 'net. And honestly, that's a better system, because it gets updated.

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devotedtodreams
Community Member
8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Indeed! I still have a stash of (mostly Game Boy) manuals plus some walkthroughs for the N64. Definitely not giving them up, they're such a nostalgia bomb ♥

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Brian Droste
Community Member
8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Anymore you have to go online to get instructions for anything which is dumb in my opinion. Miss having manuals.

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Larry XK
Community Member
8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's probably a good thing. Instead of killing more trees you can just download them

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Rebecca Ferguson
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My husband was talking about this the other day. These manuals must be highly collectible now.

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KittyGaming
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes whenever i play deltarune i have to search it up on google

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René Sauer
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

oh yes. i loved to read the manuals (and sometimes full on guide books) of my snes games on the bus to school.

sethmarsh avatar
Seth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was a stuck-in-a-room kid growing up in the 90's, so video games were how I satisfied my desire to explore. When I'd get a new game, I loved reading the manual because it felt like a travel brochure for a new world. I was super sad when the practice died out.

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Monoxide
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've said for years now that I think an indie dev could probably do quite well if they made a case/manual for a tier on patreon/Kickstarter or something.

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David
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a GOOD thing. All that is missing is having it pre-printed in the box. The actual manuals back then were pretty s**t. Most early games were pretty simple due to computing hardware limitations. Those same limitations made it impractical to include in depth manuals in the game. There was a whole market for entire books telling you how to play the more in depth games. It was common to have a few points in adventure games where it was almost impossible to figure out the solution without calling a paid hint line. Bigger modern games would need multiple books if they printed the manual. But the better games have manuals built into the game and in depth wiki sites. I have easily googled up sooooo much information for Elder Scrolls Online or No Mans Sky or others that would NEVER have fit on a printed manual in a box. I have no interested in going back to a crappy booklet in the box. Count your blessings.

sethmarsh avatar
Seth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some were as you say, but others were quite useful and beautiful to look at. Pull up a PDF of the "Super Mario World" game for Super Nintendo to see an excellent example.

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Gmaddles
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah! Just like menus: if you want to see them, "look online."

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Miss Revelle
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The games have tutorials so you don't need the paper manuals. Or the manual is on the game website.

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M O'Connell
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my favorite video game manuals was for Sid Meier's Civilization. The primitive copy protection involved asking you which of three figures appeared in the corner of a particular page of the manual, ensuring it was always close by.

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Michael Largey
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Printed manuals, yes. But plenty of games have their manuals available as a pdf.

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Lori w
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one made me sad. I loved reading about the characters as a kid and some manuals would give a little story background. It's another piece of reading for kids that's been thrown away.

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Channo Sagara
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nah. We definitely noticed. You will not find posts about old video games (which comes with all those manuals) without bunch of posts saying "remember those good old days"

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Jesha
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My family owned a video store, so I have a giant eff off box of them. Occasionally I pass them out if someone needs 'em.

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AngelWingsYT
Community Member
9 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I noticed! No manual for pokemon scarlet violet! I miss my guides to help DX i nkt have like 10 tabs bookmarked for it

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ljbeanfield
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What's neat is my favorite game series still does them. Even the new games.

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Be that as it may, times are changing, and we are changing with them. And yes, for the first time this phrase was uttered back in the days of Ancient Rome, and it cannot be said that all the innovations of humanity since then have been to its detriment. So please feel free to scroll this list to its very end, enjoy this slightest touch of nostalgia and be sure - the best is yet to come!

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#13

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Longevity in careers – this is a big one nobody seems to have said.

Longevity in careers has largely gone away. People used to get a job and after being there for decades reap the benefits of being seasoned employees (higher salaries and better perks).

Maybe it’s because I work in the Entertainment industry, but I feel that longevity in careers has gone away. Meaning, people can be amazing at a job, but after 5+ years the employers start wondering if they could be doing better with a younger/cheaper candidate for the job.

I understand if you ever want to move up in a works place they expect you to bring your A-game, but 30+ years of being incredible is hard. Some years will be better than others, and if employers don’t have loyalty to their employees anymore, it is likely the good employee will be fired or let go at some point.

I feel like in recent decades this has forced many people who normally wouldn’t, to switch careers. Can someone work successfully up the ladder at any job without having to shift to another company for a promotion?

A combination of employers halting upward movement of their staff while they look for new employees to fill higher roles, and the fact that they “get bored” of their seasoned employees has largely killed the idea of anyone having a single career.

yelexiw438 , Rool Paap Report

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Steve D
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Employers expect loyalty from employees but they show none to their employees. It doesn't work that way, folks.

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#14

The magnetic tape from a crushed audio cassette blowing across the sidewalks and roadways.

TacoLita Report

#15

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Phone books

QosmoQueen , Sue Thompson Report

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Jeffrey Keffer
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Phone books !! I never had a personal phone book at one time I could remember like 20 different numbers .. Now I have a hard time remembering mine... the only number I still remember is the old time and temp number and it shut down in 2018 😞

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#16

Walmart opened for 24 hours.

Havok1717 Report

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Bloobee bloobee bloo bloo bloo
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As someone who works overnights I miss that so much. It was so nice to get off work and go shopping without my kids. Especially at Christmas/birthday time

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#17

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Epstein's client list

wetforhouseplants , Ivan Samkov Report

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Ima Manimal
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There’s some rich people who are very nervous about that……… time to spill the beans.

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#18

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Ask Jeeves

PsychologicalBit5422 , ask Report

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Ron Man
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nope, this never went away. It just changed it's name from Ask Jeeves to Ask.

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#19

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Those plastic lanyards people used to braid and make.

Cacacaaaacac , Douglas Paul Perkins Report

#20

my favorite illegal streaming websites

pebiv28351 Report

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TheGoodBoi
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I miss the days of being able to watch a new movie before it even comes out in theaters. Terrible quality but still lol

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#21

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Custom ringtones.

(obviously I know some people have them but we somehow went from virtually everyone having them to almost no one giving a s**t.)

Xarpotheosis , Abdulla Al Muhairi Report

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Doctor Strange
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know anyone who Doesn't have them, save for my one friend's work provided phone.

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#22

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies We're in the process of full size can of Arizona teas for $.99 disappearing.

I'm seeing a lot of places starting to carry the smaller plastic bottles for $.99 or the larger plastic bottles for more. I'm honestly surprised that they've lasted for this long at the same price.

pebiv28351 , Kirsi Report

#23

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Postcards.

And not just in the usual places, like museum gift shops and tourist traps.

There was once a time when you could buy at any truck stop or roadside motel a postcard of the small town you were driving through. But not anymore.

No point when you can just text your friends a photo.

morana9870 , Quinn Dombrowski Report

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Ron Man
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just went on a big road trip down the west coast, and saw lots and lots of post cards for sale everywhere.

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#24

Newspaper machines at random corners

judasmaiden15 Report

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Tina Kathrarg
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cigarette machines outside of stores & sometimes next to the gumball machines in store entrance. And the gumball machines were 1 cent for a handful of gum/candy or 5 cents for a plastic "egg" with some kind of toy in it.

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#25

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies TV bumpers. There used to be a little sequence between the show and commercials. Some of them were really interesting and creative. I think my generation remembers the "wand IDs" on the Disney channel (where a Disney celeb would use a wand to make the logo). There were also bumpers that were PSAs or other actual content.

Edit: yes I watched THAT documentary on YouTube. It's amazing. Everyone go to Defunctland's channel and watch the one on the Disney channel jingle. Just trust me. Don't look up spoilers.

motohod671 , altotemi Report

#27

"Ringback" tones or "CallerTunes". Where you could assign a song to play when people called you instead of them hearing ringing.

RichLyonsXXX Report

#29

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Lobster tanks in grocery stores! Not that I particularly want them back, but those are nostalgic af

yelexiw438 , Jack at Wikipedia Report

#30

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies People fainting when something unexpected happens. And people carrying smelling salts for just such an occasion. It’s so 19th century…

jivemic240 , David Pursehouse Report

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#33

Blimps, helium is expensive and drones can do some of their missions.

jivemic240 Report

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Lyoness
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a good thing. Helium is a non renewable resource and it has way more important uses than flying blimps or filling balloons.

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#34

The spirit of the 90s that was alive in Portland.

MartyFreeze Report

#35

Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies Sobe drinks.

motohod671 , AlienFood Report

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Maggie Fanelli
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They still exist but not in the same numbers. Also they only have like 5 flavors now.

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Note: this post originally had 42 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.