Positive customs that are no longer practiced

As I was having my morning coffee I began thinking about practices that were common when I was a child but do not seem to be done anymore.  The practice that got me thinking in this direction was that of bringing food to the family of a person who had died.  I am not talking about a few cookies.  When my dad died when I was 11 there were so many boxes of food arriving at our house we had trouble figuring out where to put them.

This was not just us. This seemed to be common practice in southern Illinois in the late 50s and early 60s.

What other practices have been dropped from our culture?

I think it depends on the culture.  I am part of one community that still does get together to bring food to households undergoing a major upheaval - death or birth, illness & Disability etc.  And I am aware of at least two other, different communities where this is still common too.

But neither are my _geographical_ community and culture, despite having some good relationships with some good neighbours.  

But there are lots of people trying to rebuild this kind of geographical community, in the "mainstream" as it were.  

I volunteer with our local Black-led church Mutual Aid.  We deliver 7 home cooked meals a week not just to people in need in the congregation - I'm not part of the church! - but to many others who ask. Funding comes from a patchwork of sources. It's not self-sustaining yet, however - it relies on a few committed, ageing & Disabled individuals.

When my mother in law past away in 2003, the ladies in her class at church furnished our family with several casserole type dishes.

The one I remember was the Breakfast Casserole because I had never had one.  

We were left with the task of returning the casserole dishes, though.

I actually feel this is still done through church membership.

The custom that to me has changes the most is small weddings.  No one has those anymore.

Another related custom was that a previously divorced bride did not wear white, instead the bride wore a cream colored or off white gown. Now everyone wear white.

Chain letters were popular before the email craze.  I got a lot of recipes that way.

They still go the food thing around here too but not as much as back then, I don't think.

I miss when you just got in the car and drove on over to a friend's or relative's house without an appointment. If they weren't home, you just snooped around the place a little to see what might be different, visited with the dogs or horses a bit and left what you probably brought with you on the porch, or you just got back in the car and went for a ride, or fishing.

Hi Mark,

Yes.  There are still pockets where this is common…but overall it is rare.   To take this to a greater extreme, I made a 60 mile round trip for general shopping and to get a post for my mailbox.   When I returned, my mailbox was sitting there with a new post. I never did figure out which neighbor replaced it.