Living: Coney Island. First named Land Without Shadows 

by the Lenape tribe, the Dutch called it Conyne Eylandt 

because of the abundance of good conyne* hunting.

Top photograph by Robert Benton.

*bunny

Endangered species: Grandparents. Vital in 

the family dynamic since primitive man, their 

active roles have been in decline since WWII. 

Photograph of 4 grandparents by Saul Libman.

Living: Thonet. Steamed bent wood and 

cane furniture created in Germany in 1830.

Photograph by Rowland Wilson.

Extinct: The window awning.

Energy-free cool, replaced by the air

conditioner, mid-20th century.

Extinct: Spats. Miniature blankets worn on

the outside of shoes. Mothballed after WWI.

Too rare: The syphon bottle. Created in 

France in 1829, this re-usable bottle, essential 

for ejecting fizzy seltzer water, became a flea 

market curiosity in the 1970s.

As good as: The parasol. Portable shade

depicted in the sculptures of Ninevah (1800 BC), 

largely discarded by the mid-20th century.

Extinct: The champagne coupe. Said to be 

inspired by the shape of Marie Antoinette's breast, 

it currently mimics the shape of a cow's udder.

This week Ancient Industries will be poking

around the junkyards of good ideas that went away.

Email a suggestion and the best 5 ideas will be posted

and sent a Persephone book from Ancient Industries.

Living: Henry Poole & Co. Livery Department.

 Continuing to make garments for 'coachmen, 

footmen and chauffeurs, etc' since receiving the 

Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1869.

Living: Le bonnet de marin, part of the

Chanel inspired French nautical revival.

Living: Mrs King's pork pies, since 1853. An

early convenience food from the Nottingham/

Leicestershire border for the gentry who

travelled by coach and hunted by horse.

Living: The Dixie cup. Created in tandem with

the water fountain in Boston, 1907, the Health

Kup was the hygienic alternative to the tin

dipper and barrel. Re-named in 1919.

White Tulips, 1912

Living: The early work of William Nicholson, 

who passed his lifelong interest in ceramics 

on to his son, Ben Nicholson.

1979 (lilac and jug)

November 1978 (bird mug)

Living: The late work of Ben Nicholson (1894-1982)

who inherited a lifelong passion for British ceramics

from his father, William Nicholson (1872-1949).

Living: el caixer, a mounted representative

of the church, nobility, artisans and farmers.

Appears during fiesta, on tightly plaited stallion,

often rearing. Festa di Sant Climent, Baleares.

Living: Tintin, created in 1929 by Georges Remi

(GR = RG = Hergé) at the Musée Hergé.

Living: The Small Trades by

Irving Penn, finally collected in

a book and put on exhibition.

Tinker + Wilma

Living: The Lurcher. A cross breed devised 

by gypsies in the 17th century to dodge the 

ban on pure bred hounds for the proletariat 

(who were all assumed to be poachers). 

Photographs by Elspeth Thompson.

Extinct: The Morris Minor, 1948-1971.

Designed by Alec Issigonis, famous for the

Mini, but proudest of the Minor.

Living: The wooden shutter, an ancient 

cooling system that requires no power.

Extinct: The beretta, an Italian felted

semi-conical cap with no brim. Portrait of

a Young Man by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1483.

Living: Vichy Catalan, naturally carbonated 

mineral water from Catalonia, enjoyed since 

the Iron Age. Recently bottled in 1889.