Lately — for several months now — the church bells in our town and village have been off, ringing randomly, incessantly, and pealing the wrong hours.

What is happening to these bucolic timepieces for which we’ve abandoned wearing watches?

“The bellringer has died and there’s no one to take his place,” we’ve been told. Even the automated, mechanical gongs must be precisely set and adjusted manually. Again, it’s a dying art form–few and far between are the people with the know-how to do it.

Yesterday, as we were walking down one of the town’s shopping streets, my eyes came to rest upon a shoemaker, also known as a cobbler or cordwainer. For fifty years, this professional man now in his seventies has had his shop in the same spot where he fixed and repaired shoes, sandals, slippers, and boots along with a litany of their parts: heels, hooks, eyelets, buckles, and laces. Twice, I had brought the same pair of my favorite shoes to him for new soles. And, hoping he’s still working, I’ll bring them back to him again for a third set. This makes me happy … to enjoy my favorite footwear for many, many years. But, how long can and will he be around? Is there anyone qualified to replace him? More importantly, with the abundance of low-cost, disposable, throw-away foot coverings, do we still need these craftspeople?

It got me thinking about a plethora of things I remember but no longer are around … at least where we live. Undoubtedly, some will disagree and point to these memories which continue to exist where they live (or not far), while others will nod in remembrance but shrug them off as antiquities which have withered in the chain of evolution … survival of the fittest.

In no particular order other than stream of consciousness, here are some of my memories that have faded along with cobblers and church bells:

• Small businesses — mom and pop shops — instead of multinational corporations, tech start-ups, and ubiquitous franchises. Amazon and its ilk have made many obsolete.

• Calligraphy, the art of handwriting, along with classes teaching cursive letters. Who needs them anymore, with the proliferation of word processed fonts?

• Half-hour newscasts rather than round-the-clock commentary and news dumps. In my humble opinion, the obsession with knowing every detail and being up to the minute with constant streams of speculation and (mis)information has contributed significantly to our sense of stress, anxiety, madness, and troublesome vicissitudes.

• Corner candy stores where, unlike today’s sanitized, mass produced, and covered delicacies, the chocolates were handmade and penny candies unfettered.

• Luncheonettes with jukeboxes that have morphed into snack bars and “cafés,” especially here in Spain and Portugal.

• Thrift shops, both old and new. Walmart, Target, E LeClerc, Carrefour, and Todo €1 will never rekindle the charm and romance of Woolworth, McCrory’s, or Ben Franklin stores. In the USA, “upscale resale” businesses are exploding … but here in Spain and Portugal, the natives disdain “used, old things,” unless they’re family heirlooms handed down through generations. Finding genuine thrift and “antique” shops requires both Google Maps and at an hour or two drive.

• The seltzer man. Perhaps local to my New York City upbringing, Louis Arment came weekly to our Queens house, bringing a wooden case filled with a dozen glass seltzer bottles with triggers and a kick. Today, these bottles and boxes fetch a pretty penny at antiques shops. Somehow, today’s “club sodas” can’t replace the fizz of seltzer water.

• Italian-style restaurants, rather than the pizzerias that, as afterthoughts, might serve lasagna, cannelloni, and similar pastas. Yes, I know they’re not “real” (i.e., authentic) Italian, but I hanker for meatballs and spaghetti, antipasto, and chicken parmesan … even if covered with mozzarella cheese not parmesan.

• Soft drinks and milk in glass bottles. We’re drowning in plastics, so why not bring back those beverages in glass bottles? How many youngsters earned extra money beyond their “allowances” by collecting and returning the glass bottles to stores where they received a nickel for each one returned? That was real recycling and well behind its time!

• Telegrams. Reminiscent of World War II, Western Union brought good news, as well as bad. With today’s email, instant and private messages, who needs telegrams anymore? Today, we’re all the messengers who are bound to be shot.

Standing the test of time, vinyl records are making a popular comeback as are comic books, retro style furnishings and clothing, avant-garde architecture, eyeglasses, and keepsakes.

Maybe we’re yearning for simpler times in nostalgia, when neighbors were friends, civics and penmanship were taught in our schools, and history wasn’t engulfing us and passing us by. When artificial intelligence meant using CliffsNotes rather than reading the books.

If you haven’t seen Pleasantville, go have a look.

Bruce H. Joffe is publisher and creative director of Portugal Living Magazine, the thoughtful daily online periodical for people everywhere with Portugal on their minds.
www.facebook.com/PortugalLivingMagazine