6 Old House Features That Aren’t Useful Anymore

Home inventions evolve over time as technology advances and daily routines adjust.

Certain features in homes from as far back as the 1800s still exist today. Existence doesn’t mean they actually provide us with any use now, though.

Find out about some fascinating features you might not even realize they are used for in modern times.

Phone Niche

Who remembers when phones were plugged into the wall, used a spinning dial for picking numbers, and sat on a tiny bench that stuck out of the wall? The appropriate name for such a device was a phone niche.

While it wasn’t all that long ago that they were used, the phone niche now works for most homes as a place to keep a plant or small photo frame.

Coal Chutes

Coal chutes existed as convenient home features in the 1800s. Before homes had electrical heating, a common method involved burning coal that heated up through the walls, keeping everyone nice and warm. A coal truck would rumble around town, dropping coal down the chute for you to burn later.

Since coal causes pollution and health issues and just isn’t as convenient as modern methods of heating the home, coal chutes are rarely, if ever, used.

Pittsburgh Potties

Another early 19th-century home feature involves a toilet sitting strangely out in the open near the entrance to the house. The Pittsburgh potty typically resided down the stairs in the basement and was used to clean yourself up before getting further into the home.

The primary purpose of the Pittsburg potty was to avoid sewage backup in the presentable parts of your home. If a backup occurred, it would flood the basement instead of the common bathrooms on the main floor.

Knob and Tube Wiring

Prior to insulated electric wiring installed in the walls, we had knob and tube wiring. Know and tube wires were hung from the ceiling in each room, creeping down the walls to the sockets that they powered.

Knob and tube wires stopped being widely used in the 1940s but still exist in some older homes unused.

Boot Scrapers

Boot scrapers existed to clean mud and grime off our boots without needing to carry a scraper around with us. They were invented around the same time as dirt footpaths started becoming a common occurrence.

Since footpaths became concreted and separated from the muddy paths that once existed, the boot scraper didn’t seem necessary and was even considered a tripping hazard.

Razor Blade Wall Slots

Medicine cabinets used to be installed straight into the wall. A small slot in the cabinet existed for the ease of razor blade disposal. People would literally just pop their used razor blades through that slot, dropping them into the opening behind the wall. Imagine the pile of blades that must have built up back there over the years!

Since our garbage disposal and recycling methods have modernized, these slots have become obsolete.