Old Technology
The Rise and Fall of the Nokia 3310 in South Africa
Why one small phone still carries a whole era of prepaid airtime, SMS culture and indestructible-pocket memory.
Modern archive. Old memories.
Things of Old
Stories, objects, places, music, fashion, technology and memories from the past.
Things of Old is a clean nostalgia and history publication for remembering everyday culture: the phones, radios, streets, shops, school routines, albums and objects that shaped earlier generations.
Original editorial illustration created for Things of Old.
Featured articles
Stories with the texture of memory
Original nostalgia writing about objects, places and cultural habits that still carry meaning.
Old Technology
Why Cassette Tapes Still Feel More Personal Than Streaming
Cassettes were fragile, limited and imperfect, which is exactly why so many people remember them with feeling.
Old South Africa
Old South African TV Shows People Still Remember
Some television memories stay because they were watched together, quoted at school and folded into ordinary family evenings.
Old South Africa
The History of Spaza Shops and Township Retail Culture
The spaza shop is a business, a landmark and often a small archive of neighbourhood routine.
Old Music & Entertainment
The Cultural Memory of Old Radio in South African Homes
Radio made kitchens, bedrooms, shops and taxis feel connected long before timelines and feeds.
Old Objects
10 Everyday Objects From the 2000s That Disappeared Quietly
Some objects do not vanish dramatically. One day they are everywhere, and years later people realise they stopped seeing them.
Latest posts
Fresh from the archive desk
Old South Africa
Old Newspapers and Sunday Reading Culture
Before every headline arrived by notification, newspapers gave weekends a slower rhythm and a shared table of stories.
Old South Africa
Taxi Ranks as Cultural Spaces
Taxi ranks are transport systems, but they are also soundscapes, marketplaces and informal noticeboards.
Old South Africa
Old South African Corner Shops and Counter Sweets
Small shops are remembered through bread, loose sweets, cold drinks, coins and the walk there after school.
Old Technology
The Sound of Typewriters Before Computers
Typewriters made writing audible, physical and unforgiving in ways computers quietly removed.
Old Technology
Early Internet Cafes and School Assignments
Internet cafes gave many learners their first practical experience of search, printing and online research.
Old Technology
Old Computer Labs at School
School computer labs introduced many learners to typing, folders, paint programs and the seriousness of saving work.
Old Music & Entertainment
How Radio Dedications Worked Before Social Media
Before public posts and voice notes, a radio dedication could send a message across a whole community.
Old Music & Entertainment
CD Wallets, Burned Discs and Music Sharing
CD wallets turned music collections into portable archives of taste, friendship and borrowed tracks.
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Built for a real nostalgia publication
Old South Africa
Old schools, towns, taxis, TV shows, shops, brands, newspapers and cultural moments from South Africa's past.
Old TechnologyNokia phones, cassette tapes, typewriters, VHS, radios, old computers and the early internet.
Old Music & EntertainmentThrowback artists, albums, TV shows, radio culture, posters and entertainment memories.
Old ObjectsVintage watches, clothes, furniture, cameras, coins, toys, books, antiques and everyday objects from the past.
Then vs NowHow places, objects, technology, fashion, shops and cultural habits looked before and how they changed.
Forgotten StoriesShort historical explainers about places, objects, trends and cultural moments that people rarely talk about today.
Editorial trust
Original stories, clear credits and no downloads archive.
Things of Old publishes original nostalgic stories, explainers and reflections. Images should be original, public domain, Creative Commons, licensed, embedded from official sources where allowed, or used with permission.
The site does not host pirated music, movies, full magazine scans, books, software, games, TV episodes or copyrighted downloads. Copyright owners can contact the editorial team for credit, correction or removal requests.