In life we invent things (sometimes we even invent things that we regret) and then along the way, acting progress, we move on to something else leaving behind us the very last copies of a long series of objects at the obsolete utility. We deliver to you the last vestiges of another time.
1. New York’s Last Phone Booth
And France then? Well, although we announced in 2018 the total eradication of telephone booths, there would actually be 26 left in them and perhaps still others in what are called white areas not covered by the Orange network.
2. The last urinal in Paris
To avoid shit and piss at all costs, the City of Paris had the good idea to install vespasiennes (which owe their name to the Roman emperor Vespasian to whom the invention of public urinals is mistakenly attributed) in 1870. Now there is only one vapasienne in the capital, boulevard Arago in the 14th.
3. The Last Guillotine
If Hamida Djandoubi was the victim of the last execution by guillotine in Europe in 1977, the last public execution by this charming process dates from 1937. I have no photo of the object but at the same time do you really want to see what a public execution at the guillotine looked like?
4. The latest tires
If there’s one thing that fascinates me more than the Internet, space exploration, and Nicole Kidman’s surgeon, it’s tires. This mind-blowing object was used for rapid delivery of parcels through a network of tubes that criss-crossed all of Paris. Despite the ingenuity of such a communication system, the PTT interrupted this service definitively on March 30, 1984 at 5:21 p.m. and personally, that made me very sad.
5. The latest iPods
We plunged back there is little in the memories that we all have of iPods. The fault of the behemoths Deezer and Spotify, these digital music players have become obsolete and Apple announced on May 10, 2022 that it had delivered its last iPods before stopping production. RIP.
6. The Last Videoclub
If in France they are rare and can be counted on the fingers of one hand, the very last video club in the United States has closed its doors since 2014 already. The Potomac Video brand was one of the resistants, but its last address in Washington also ended up going out of business.
7. The Last Porn Cinema
In 2019 we lost the Beverley, a mythical Parisian porn cinema humidified for ages by happy cards from France. However, it wasn’t really the very last X cinema since there are still a few discreet dark rooms like the Atlas boulevard de Clichy. M’enfin, it’s still easier to polish yourself at home damn it.
8. The last class subway
When the metro opened its doors in 1900, we all thought it was really good. That’s why we took a little time before thinking that it was a bit of a headache this first and second class story for daily public transport. Just try to imagine that until 1990, by paying 10 cents more you were entitled to the middle car, more spacious, less dangerous, and with leather seats while the majority of the population crowded into the others rickety wagons. On August 1, 1991, the very last high-class metro came to an end.
9. Last Steam Train
While in 1953 the very last steam locomotive was being built in France, its very last convoy was launched on the rails on March 29, 1974. In reality, they still exist for certain lines such as in the high mountains, but are no longer used for passengers.
10. The Last VCR
We still produced 15 million in the 80s but 20 years later with the advent of DVD, video recorders were no longer necessary. Their production definitively stopped in July 2016, announcing at the same time the end of VHS production. Sad.
11. The last Minitel
Saturday, June 30, 2012, was not a day like any other since we deactivated the latest Minitel codes… For those who have not experienced the joys of 3615, it does not change much, for others it is the end of an era.
12. The Last Airship
What a time the zeppelins! Unfortunately in 1937, we had to say goodbye to them. The Lakehurst fire, of which the photo below is quite eloquent, marked the end of their somewhat dangerous exploitation.