These Are The Things That Make Us Nostalgic for the Workplace of the Past
From typewriters and telephones to happy hours and skyline views, here are the things we miss about the way work used to be.
The world of work has changed a lot in the last few years: There’s the rise of remote work, not to mention the rapid encroachment of AI. While new technology (and working at home in your PJs) may have a lot of benefits, we can’t help but feel a little wistful for simpler times.
So we asked Persistent contributors to share what they miss about their working lives from years gone by. Some reached back decades, others are already nostalgic for a workplace they knew only a few years ago.
From the clack of typewriter keys to in-person happy hours, here’s what we’d bring back–at least temporarily.
I’m most nostalgic for how much of my work used to happen on the phone. Listening to art directors talk through their projects, their uncertainties, and what they were really looking for helped me match the right artist to the right job. Today, most communication happens by email. It’s efficient, but you lose tone-of-voice, instinct, and the kind of human back-and-forth that builds trust. I miss the relationships and conversations that made the work feel truly collaborative.
– Ella Lupo, illustration agent
There are many ways that working from home is so much better than commuting. But I admit I do miss meals out with an expense account and the Manhattan skyline from my office window.
One analog part of work I'll never have to be nostalgic for because I never gave it up: paper planners! I start every year with a new planner from High Note. Not only are they beautiful but the way each day of the week is broken down with checkboxes if very satisfying.
— Kathleen Davis, executive editor
At the photo agency I worked at in Paris in the ’80s, I would always feel excited watching my boss gruffly rip off tiny paragraphs of dot-matrix news from the AFP machine (Agence France-Presse, an international news agency based in France).
One of those pieces of paper would be handed to me, along with 40 rolls of Fuji slide film. Once I had my assignment, I'd sprint home, pack a bag, get to the airport, and find my way to whatever place was on that piece of paper.
— Deborah Copaken, contributing writer
As a freelancer who now works from their spare room/studio, I am hugely nostalgic for the five years of my life spent working in an office. I miss the people the most. The office chatter, the communal lunches, and the pub trips on a Friday. I might even go as far as to say I miss the commute!
– Natalie Newsome, illustrator
I still remember the pleasure of walking into my first job as an editorial assistant at Mademoiselle magazine and seeing a state of the art skyblue IBM selectric ll typewriter sitting on my very own desk. I loved getting into the flow of typing–the keys felt so effortless under my finger. Typing on a laptop may be easier, but it’s not nearly as tactilely satisfying.
— Paula Derrow, features editor
I really miss receiving handwritten letters and postcards. Email is very useful, but I think we've lost something beautiful that’s really captured in a lovely book called Cartas, about the letters written and sent between architect Aldo Buzzi and the illustrator Saul Steinberg. As the publishers put it, the letters we sent were not just about work but also commentary on “ everyday events and current affairs…a reading journal, a travel journal, [or] even a gastronomic guide.”
—Mar Hernández, illustrator
I miss meeting people and clients in real life instead of over Zoom.
– Hanna Barczyk, illustrator
I miss the community and safe spaces that my fellow Black colleagues held for each other physically, in good times and bad.
– Patrice Peck, contributing writer
Business cards? Old episodes of The Office? What makes you nostalgic for the workplace of the past? Send your recommendations to hello@thepersistent.com. We’ll be back with more recommendations next Friday!
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