Today at the hardware store one of the guys was putting together a push lawnmower. The old ones had a long wooden shaft with cross piece handle bars and blades that whirled when you pushed it. They were sometimes a pain in the neck if you didn't keep the blades well oiled or got a branch stuck in them, but oh what a sound! I loved that soft clicking whirl.
Another wonderful yet vanishing sound is from the engine of a vintage Volkswagen. It was so sad when the new Bug came out with a revamped engine that sounded just like every other car engine. Whenever I encounter a vintage bug on the road, I'll roll down my window to catch the sound.
Remember the old sensor hose at the gas station (service stations at the time)? When you ran over it with your car, a bell would ring alerting the attendent that you needed service. As a young girl I would go the the service station with my dad. He would always tell the attendent to give him ten gallons. As the attendent filled his tank, washed the windows, and offered to check under the hood, the gas pump would ding after each gallon. The attendent could just count the dings and needed only to go back to the pump after the 9th ring in order to cut off the flow at 10 gallons.
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Being a media junkie - 2 of my favorite lost sounds are the clicking of an 8 mm projector and the beep that proceeded school film reels - they're right up there with the smell of ditto paper.
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