Active Now

Chief Ten Beers
Discussion » Questions » Electronics » Which electrical appliance would you do without?

Which electrical appliance would you do without?

During the 1940s, like many Australian families, we had no fridge, no washing machine, no TV, no car, no phone.

If you had to make do without one of our modern appliances which would you choose? What would you substitute? 

Posted - March 24, 2017

Responses


  • 3191
    Microwave.  I gave mine away seven or eight years ago and haven't missed it at all.  I prefer food cooked/reheated using the stove or oven.
      March 24, 2017 3:36 PM MDT
    4

  • Some things reheat very well in a microwave, others do not. So, yeah, I understand that.

    We had our stove taken out and replaced with a cook top and a microwave/convection oven. Works a treat. 
      March 24, 2017 3:41 PM MDT
    3

  • 17364
    same here
      March 25, 2017 11:56 AM MDT
    1

  • 6477
    There is one... but modesty prevents me from saying :P 
      March 24, 2017 3:37 PM MDT
    1

  • I have absolutely no idea what you could possibly mean, Daydream. However, on a similar note...

    I was the breakfast announcer on a community radio station for a couple of years and one morning a woman phoned in (off air) and asked if I thought she should shave. I played dumb and said, "I think shaved legs look very nice." She pointed out that she didn't mean her legs. "Oh, well yes. Hairy armpits can be a turn-off. You should certainly shave there." No, she didn't mean her armpits. I was aghast! "You don't mean you're a bearded lady?"

    I used to get some odd phone calls at times.
      March 24, 2017 3:45 PM MDT
    2

  • Some of the most interesting people are odd, WW. :)
      March 24, 2017 6:53 PM MDT
    2

  • Are you absolutely sure you don't need it.
      March 24, 2017 11:40 PM MDT
    1

  • I think that's the one she wants to keep, Lucia. 

    And now that I have you hear, which way do you prefer to pronounce Lucia? I always give it a "ch" sound (Luchia) but do you prefer the soft 's' sound?
      March 24, 2017 11:52 PM MDT
    1

  • I think the second one, Didge. How very thoughtful, thank you. :)
      March 24, 2017 11:55 PM MDT
    0
  • .

    7268
    My stove.  I still think a gas stove is better.  Food tastes different coming out of a gas oven. In my opinion. But I'm sure that will never happen.
      March 24, 2017 4:05 PM MDT
    1

  • I grew up with a gas stove and always wanted electric. Maybe it was just because Mum couldn't cook. 
      March 24, 2017 6:54 PM MDT
    0

  • 5835
    When I was a kid, about 1950, cars were so cheap that everybody who wanted one could have one. In a family of ten persons, we owned eight cars.

    In Russia they showed "Grapes Of Wrath" to the proletarians so they could see how the working class was oppressed in America. What the people saw was that in America even the poorest family could own a car.

    Now, for some reason, a car is expensive, even aside from the purchase price. Insurance, permits, and repairs typically cost a considerable fraction of a car's value every year, even if you don't drive much.
      March 24, 2017 5:34 PM MDT
    1

  • There were a lot of lies told about lifestyles in the West (and in the USSR for that matter) but they don't stand up to exposure in the movies, do they?
      March 24, 2017 6:56 PM MDT
    0

  • OK, we've earmarked your coffee pot for the scrap heap. But you don't have to do with your porn allowance in the woods. Haven't you ever heard of bear porn?

    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 24, 2017 11:53 PM MDT
      March 24, 2017 6:58 PM MDT
    1

  • I bought a new oven a few months back and have yet to use it ..... So oven then :) nah ..... I'm gonna use it someday. Crockpot , final answer.
      March 24, 2017 8:33 PM MDT
    2

  • Crockpot can be handy. Ours died about 20 years ago and we never bothered to replace it. Must think about that -- they can turn out some interesting meals.
      March 24, 2017 9:43 PM MDT
    1

  • I've had one for many years :) never used it once ... I don't know what purpose of it is :)
      March 24, 2017 9:46 PM MDT
    1

  • 7683
    Wireless or wired net  connection Didge, I used to be a book worm....I would read bulky books in no time but now this net addiction is more of a hinderance it curtails my creativity. I try and be away from net too, sometimes it works...sometimes not!
      March 25, 2017 12:00 AM MDT
    1

  • It can become very addictive. But don't throw out your wi-fi: buy an eBook reader. :)
      March 25, 2017 1:48 PM MDT
    0

  • Does the appliance have to be electrical, because I was given one of the most useless appliances imaginable a while back and I'm still uncomprehending of its uselessness :)
      March 25, 2017 12:01 AM MDT
    2

  • Waiting with bells on to find out what  this POS is.
      March 25, 2017 1:30 AM MDT
    0

  • Essentially it was a reasonably sized bomb. 
    It was supposed to be a pasta-cooking utensil which self-heated (pretty useless in itself) but the instructions thst came with this thing advised that you should be within close proximity to a hospital when you used it. Very odd. 
      March 26, 2017 5:18 AM MDT
    0

  • A spaghetti bomb?  COOL!!!!!
      March 26, 2017 6:07 AM MDT
    1

  • You wannit.
      March 26, 2017 7:53 AM MDT
    1