History Main / ForgottenTrope

** "A Room in Bloomsbury" in Sandy Wilson's ''The Boy Friend'' is one of its more notable 1950s affectionate parodies of old 1920s tropes. In Ken Russell's film, set during a late '20s or early '30s performance of the play, it's presented as sweet but dated.

** Another British example is "The Amorous Goldfish" from ''The Geisha'' (1896), which also unconventionally has a human as the object of affection ("an officer brave from the ocean wave").
** ''The Last Of The Rohans'' features a short and [[TearJerker rather sad]] one in "The Tale Of The Rose".
** American theatrical songwriters Frank Pixley and Gustav Luders were known for "The Tale of a Bumble-Bee" from ''King Dodo'' (1901) and "The Tale of the Seashell" (which is actually about a moonbeam and a star) from ''The Prince of Pilsen'' (1903).
** A few such songs appear in Victor Herbert's operetta catalogue, including "The Hen and the Weather Vane" from ''ComicStrip/LittleNemo'' (1908) and "The Ivy and the Oak" from ''Sweethearts'' (1913). Harry B. Smith, the pun-loving lyricist of ''Little Nemo'', could not resist putting the phrase "whether vain or not" into the former song.
** "Wanted: a Fly" from ''The Jewel of Asia'' (1903), an urbane SettingUpdate of "The Spider and the Fly" in which the spider takes the fly on a dinner date, carries the implied moral that some flirtations are actually better left unconsummated.

* '''The Pawnshop Plot''': In the early days of film (around the [=1910s=] and [=1920s=]), many films involved pawnshops as they were one of the few places to get credit before credit cards and easy loans were feasible. Films like ''Unclaimed Goods''[[note]]the writer would go on to create Franchise/{{Zorro}}[[/note]] and ''Pawn Ticket 210'' would involve pawnshops running into situations such as (a few examples) buying or selling guns that a jilted spouse would use against their lover, or have someone abandon a baby at their doorstep as if they were pawning them. These would die off as credit cards and easier ways to get consumer credit arose, and ended up vanishing by the [=1950s=]. As most of the films unfortunately no longer survive, this is one that is all but truly forgotten. This was discussed in (naturally) ''Series/PawnStars'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPl7ijQYrgw here]], when a customer brings in some old posters of pawnshop movies to sell.

** A RunningGag in ''Anime/SailorMoon'' is Usagi Tsukino's [[SelfDeprecation self-admitted]] [[HopelessWithTech difficulty with computers]]. This series was produced in the [[TheNineties early 90s]], when ''many'' prospective users - [[ThisLoserIsYou like Usagi]] - had to overcome the learning curve of computers to derive any use out of them. This character trait was retained in ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal''; but because the [[SettingUpdate setting's been updated]] to TheNewTens, where technology would have been present all her life, her being HopelessWithTech [[RuleOfFunny makes far less sense]] for it.

** A RunningGag in ''Anime/SailorMoon'' is Usagi Tsukino's [[SelfDeprecationself-admitted]] [[HopelessWithTech difficulty with computers]]. This series was produced in the [[TheNineties early 90s]], when ''many'' prospective users - [[ThisLoserIsYou like Usagi]] - had to overcome the learning curve of computers to derive any use out of them. This character trait was retained in ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal''; but because the [[SettingUpdate setting's been updated]] to TheNewTens, where technology would have been present all her life, her being HopelessWithTech [[RuleOfFunny makes far less sense]] for it.

* '''Going Calling''': Prior to the invention and proliferation of the telephone, if you wanted to talk to your friends in real time (as opposed to sending a letter), you had to actually visit them and talk to them face-to-face. Women (and it ''was'' almost [[AlwaysFemale always women]]) had a system where they would [[DropInCharacter show up unannounced at each other's homes]], generally in the late afternoon, in order to speak to their friend/sibling/etc. (Often, though not always, the lady of the house.) And they would meet in the parlor and chat, sometimes for hours, sometimes just for a few minutes. If she wasn't home, then the "caller" (that is, the one who attempted to visit) would leave a unique "calling card", which was sort of like a modern-day business card, except for personal (rather than business) use, with her name and home address on it, sometimes also indicating a day of the week on which she would be "at home", i.e. ready to receive guests. It was expected that whoever she tried to "call on" would go to her home and call on ''her'' ASAP. (Not doing so was considered ''extremely'' rude, which was SeriousBusiness; there was at least one case where a woman noticed a house on fire, and considered alerting the homeowner... but then remembered that the lady of the house had not reciprocated a call, so she just continued on her way!) Men were also permitted to call on women, but not vice versa, though married women were permitted and expected to distribute their husbands' cards along with their own. [[TechnologyMarchesOn As more and more homes became equipped with telephones, it was no longer necessary to go to people's homes just to chat, and so the custom died out.]]

Because of the cultural attitudes of their time, Edisonades often reflect [[ValuesDissonance contemporary interests and attitudes about colonization and exploration]][[note]]Some, Jeff Nevins in particular, have argued that {{Steampunk}} is a reaction (albeit long-belated) resulting from ValuesDissonance with original Edisonades, but this is not necessary.[[/note]], sending the inventor on adventures to "untamed" lands, such as TheWildWest or the setting of JungleOpera--it was not uncommon for the young inventor's enemies to come from those untamed lands as well, though he could just as easily take on a MadScientist or AlienInvasion. A creature of its time, the Edisonade (and its innocent use of science and engineering as [[AppliedPhlebotinum do-anything plot-magic]]) languished with the rise of the GoldenAge of Science Fiction, where authors like Creator/RobertAHeinlein were rapidly [[SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness hardening the science up]] and turning the plucky lad of the Edisonade into Heinlein's Competent Man.

** With the advent of {{UsefulNotes/Television}} and {{Film}} they morphed into Travelogues and travel programs, Up-Close-With-Wildlife programs, and Nature Documentaries.