De antes
 

How would you say "lo de antes / las cosas de antes". For instance, things that we have known in our childhood or even things that we haven't known, such as "la comida de antes", "la música de antes", "la ropa de antes". I mean in a positive sense, of course. ¿O es simplemente 'old'? :thinking:

Thanks.

Lots of possibilities with nuances
In the good old days
In the bad old days
In the past
When I was a child
The cleaning products of yesteryear (archaic :D)
In days of yore
In bygone days

......

The GDO has these examples (note the use of imperfect tense ... used to be...)

B (en tiempos pasados) before, in the past; antes no se veían mendigos por la calle como ahora you didn't use to see beggars on the streets o in the past you didn't see beggars on the streets o you didn't see beggars on the streets before, the way you do now; antes salíamos mucho más que ahora we used to go out o in the past we went out much more than we do now; ya no es el mismo de antes he's not the same person any more, he's not the same person he was; las casas de antes eran más sólidas houses used to be o in the past houses were more solidly built

Was that of any help?

A lot depends on how you want to say it.

lo de antes = (the same) as before (pero no es lo de antes = but it isn't the same as before)
las cosas de antes = the things of the past / things as they were / things as they used to be

la comida de antes = the food of the past / the food of yesteryear / food as it was/'used to be'
la música de antes = the music of the past / the music of yesteryear / music as it used to be / old(er) music
la ropa de antes = the clothes of the past / the clothes of yesteryear / clothes as they used to be / old(er) clothes

Is yesteryear archaic? That's a curious word.

It isn't archaic according to my dictionaries. I've both heard it used and I use it.

The problem is that yester as a prefix means = immediately preceeding. The OED has yester-afternoon, -age,-noon,-week,-day,night, year, etc., most of which are archaic. Stems from chthes. I think in BrE if it is not archaic, it is certainly poetic.

Those seem odd, yes, and I rarely hear that usage.

'Yesteryear' can mean 'last year', but it also means 'in the past' or 'olden times' (which, by the way, is another way to say 'de antes').

Oddly, yesterday can mean in the past as well. If you talk of the music of yesterday, nobody would understand it as from 24 hours ago.

Agreed. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

To me, the best way to convey the Spanish is “as it used to be” “as they used to be”.
In the sense of “ya nos los fabrican así” or “ya no las cocinan comosolían asarlos antes”. (“They don’t manufacture these as they used to” “they don’t cook them like they used to roast them”) (Natives, correct my English if I am wrong...)

la comida de antes = the food as it 'used to be'
la música de antes = the music as it used to be
la ropa de antes = clothes as they used to be

yesteryear = de otrora, de antaño, del pasado
Literary register to me, also in Spanish. “Del pasado” is not a literary register, but “de otrora” is, and “de antaño” is probably borderline.

(And you know me with my associations...)

Los zapatos de ante estaban muy de moda en los setenta, te los ponías con tus tejanos para tener un look como Simon & Garfunkel... ahora están demodés.

Suede shoes used to be very much in vogue, one would wear them with your jeans to have a Simon & Garfunkel look..., now these are passé.

Y uno de ceceo:
-¿Y ezos zapatos? ¿Zon de ante?
-Zí, zon de ante de la guerra.