History Main / TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Be A Clown", Batman escapes from the Joker's complicated deathtrap, prompting this comment from the Joker: "They don't make straitjackets like they used to. I should know!"

** [[http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=1982&addr=820522 In this comic strip]], Garfield tried to climb a tree but it fell through. His comment: "They don't make trees like they used to."
** When Garfield [[http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=1983&addr=830710 broke a ming vase]], he said "Ming, schming. They don't make'm like they used to."
** Garfield attempted this [[http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=1981&addr=810326 by clinging onto a screen door,]] only to punch a hole through it. Guess what his response was.

Houses are another good example. Sometimes after a major disaster--like a hurricane--all the houses built before a certain date will have survived with minor damage, while newer houses are destroyed. This shows something of a selection bias; the older houses had to survive the previous hurricane, leaving only the most durable to face this one (this applies to cars as well). Due to the evolution of building codes, sometimes the newest houses also survive. In flooding situations, barring ''really'' record-breaking floods a rather similar selection process will take place, though in this case it's more a case of ''where'' the houses are built; the locations least at risk from flooding will be built upon first, with development spreading into more vulnerable areas as the town grows, or, again, the old houses on the floodplain were destroyed in the previous flood.

* Played with in ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', when the protagonists visit a mysterious antique shop.

* On ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'''s "Fractured Fairy Tales" the Prince attempts to enter the castle of Sleeping Beauty, breaking his sword on the overgrowth surrounding it and lamenting "They don't make them like they used to." After easily getting through with the help of a lawn-mower, he adds triumphantly, "They make ''these'' like they used to."

** This song is also the TropeNamer: ''They don't make cars like they used to; I wish we still had it today.''

* Interestingly used in the current home console generation. They actually don't make [=PS3s=] like they used to - the older models with the Emotion Engine reverse-compatibility went out of production in favor of newer and cheaper models, in order for Sony to close the price-gap with Microsoft. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 reverses this - due to a number of very loud issues with the early batches of [=X360's=], Microsoft has been forced to shape up and improve the quality, making the newest versions much less likely to burn out than the old ones.

Houses are another good example. Sometimes after a major disaster- like a hurricane- all the houses built before a certain date will have survived with minor damage, while newer houses are destroyed. This shows something of a selection bias; the older houses had to survive the previous hurricane, leaving only the most durable to face this one (this applies to cars as well). Due to the evolution of building codes, sometimes the newest houses also survive. In flooding situations, barring ''really'' record-breaking floods a rather similar selection process will take place, though in this case it's more a case of ''where'' the houses are built; the locations least at risk from flooding will be built upon first, with development spreading into more vulnerable areas as the town grows, or, again, the old houses on the floodplain were destroyed in the previous flood.

* In the climax of the 1989 ''Film/{{Batman}}'' film, the hero clings to an unstable cathedral ledge, while Joker stomps out the bricks around him yelling "They don't make them like they used to, eh, Batsy?!"

* Played with in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' when Peter and Ray are discussing the unusual architecture of Dana's building:

* In former USSR, there's quite an amount of nostalgia about Soviet industrial goods which were renowned for their extreme durability and reliability. It wasn't uncommon for an off-the-shelf appliance to stay on duty for ''decades'' and be passed between generations. A large number of them are still in use today, 25 years after TheGreatPoliticalMessUp, and it's not a miracle (though still rare) to see, say, a fridge or a vacuum cleaner that's ''half a century'' old and has retained almost all the original parts. They do require occasional maintenance, yet since they've been built with simplicity and repairability in mind, the repair can be done with common tools and consumables. Spares ''are'' a problem, but custom parts are the minority and typically last the longest, and in the worst case, a broken piece can typically be reinforced with available materials or outright made from them anew without any industrial-grade equipment. The downside is their durability and repairability comes at the cost of performance. In comparison to modern equipment, Soviet goods are bulky, heavy, power-hungry, inefficient, technically obsolete and severely lacking in the aesthetic department (though [[{{Retraux}} this is a matter of taste]]) and ergonomics. These characteristics have given birth to many a joke (e.g.: "American scientists have 10 times as much equipment as ours, but each piece of our equipment is 10 times as much!"). Household appliances typically end up on UsefulNotes/{{dacha}}s where everyday efficiency and ergonomics are less of a requirement, and "good" stuff can quickly degrade from adverse conditions or be stolen by wintertime thieves which dachas are largely defenseless against. To summarize, many who had experience with Soviet equipment are nostalgic about it, but few would actually trade a modern piece for one of those.

* Cameras and camera optics. The film SLR cameras invariably had aluminium bodies and robust mechanics, while the lenses used to have steel or aluminium casings and hardened glass lenses, making them impervious to mechanical damage. Modern cameras usually are packed with electronics, and make an extensive use of easily damaged plastics with both casing, components and lenses. Those photographers who have learned their trade in the 35mm film era usually swear on the name of the older equipment.

* Synthesizers, out of all things. In the early to mid-[[TheNineties 90s]], while the leading Japanese manufacturers in particular tried all they could to snag market shares from each other with more and more advanced romplers, the synth nerds lusted for the classic analog machines, the last ones of which had just been discontinued a couple of years ago. They didn't care how much more faithfully modern romplers could reproduce acoustic sounds, or how big the patch memory was. In fact, they could go with no patch memory at all as long as they could get the warm and fat sound, the flexibility in sound design and [[BillionsOfButtons Billions of Knobs]] for tweaking the sound in real time--instead walking through menus and programming, say, the filter cutoff frequency, they wanted a dedicated cutoff knob. The small Swedish company Clavia was the first to react: The Nord Lead combined the sound and the tweakability of an analog synth with the stability of a digital synth and the reliability of a new synth (as opposed to a used second-hand machine in need of spare parts that aren't even made anymore).

Another factor is (steel reinforced) concrete. Most building materials have a "shelf life" of several millennia unless some rather unusual things happen to them - after all, they are stones that survive being exposed to the elements in nature as well. The big exceptions are limestone (which cannot handle acids), concrete (some types of which decay and degenerate under certain conditions) and steel (which rusts). Steel reinforced concrete structures only last a century or so without maintenance before the rust starts popping apart the concrete and weakening the structure beyond repair. There is nothing keeping the Roman aqueducts from lasting another millennium (baring human intervention) because there is nothing in them that could rust, degrade or fall apart.

* One episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', Wired for Battle in the Johto series, starts with an [[OldMaster elderly fellow]] and his [[BigCreepyCrawlies Scizor]] [[CurbStompBattle easily defeating]] [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket]] in battle.

* Glassfibre yachts. In the 1960s and 1970s laminated glassfiber was a new material, its properties were unknown, the naval architects over-engineered their designs taking no risks, and the yachts produced then were thoroughly laminated. The result is that they are built like tanks. They retained excellent hydrodynamics, since they were often copies of racing hulls. Modern yachts tend to be sandwich structure, which is lighter but gets damaged more easily and is prone to rot, and usually are have better comfort than seafaring properties.

* Many analog household electronics, from television sets to tape players, were made to be serviced and repaired. In contrast, many of their current, computerised ("smart") versions/replacements are made to be tossed and replaced in their entirety when they fail. Whether this is due to the race to the bottom, the race for 'slimmer' devices, or intentional to make the consumer spend more in the long run ('planned obscelecence') or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs potentially all of these combined]] is debated.

* One episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' starts with an [[OldMaster elderly fellow]] and his [[BigCreepyCrawlies Scizor]] [[CurbStompBattle easily defeating]] [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket]] in battle.

* Weaponized by the dwarf Longbeards in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': None of them have less than five centuries of fighting goblins, orcs and horrible things from underground, and therefore can be forever heard to complain that the goblins used to be tougher, or beer used to taste better, or... Other dwarf units can reroll failed rolls just to avoid the pointed looks and sarcastic remarks on how they clearly don't make dwarfs like they used to either (case in point).

* Many household electronics, from television sets to tape players, were made to be serviced and repaired. In contrast, many computerised ("smart") devices are made to be tossed and replaced in their entirety when they fail. Whether this is due to the race to the bottom, the race for 'slimmer' devices, or intentional to make the consumer spend more in the long run ('planned obscelecence') or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs potentially all of these combined]] is debated.

** Note that it is thoroughly justified in the case of the Model M Keyboard, the old popular keyboard that was made with springs and individual switches for each key; they were heavy, durable as hell and are literally solid enough to bash over someone's head while remaining functional afterwards. Not surprisingly, these keyboards can survive an ''immense'' amount of abuse and can last decades of typing by the most prolific typist without losing effectiveness. Fast forward to modern day however, where keyboards are made of the much cheaper but unfortunately much more fragile full-travel membrane, which can fall apart or lose tactile feedback in less than a year of heavy use. Ironically, there's a very strong trend to return to these old type mechanical keyboards (though not the spring types) in the gaming community, taking advantage of their inherent durability to endure the massive abuse. Several manufacturers that cater to gamers have produced their own modern take on mechanical keyboards for the sake of feedback and rapid key presses. This can be a double-edged sword, as keyboards in this style can suffer in ergonomics and potentially [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetitive_strain_injury raise stress on the hands.]]

* Implied in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' when Marty suggests landing on Biff's car to cripple it. [[TruthInTelevision This is actually very accurate]]

** Garfield attempted this [[http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=1981&addr=810326 by clinging onto a screen door]], only to punch a hole through it. Guess what his response was.