Historical things YOU can spot in old American houses that may not make sense today

 Phone nooks -

An alcove set in the wall that was designed for an old telephone and to keep phone numbers and books needed like the Yellow Pages. 
They were last seen in the 1990s and maybe some old houses.

Ice boxes- 

Before refrigerators, ice companies used to sell ice to households where they would store it in either dedicated rooms or boxes to store them. 
I'm not sure if we can confuse them with the ice box you carry on a road-trip but, you can say they are quite similar but not really.

HOW WE CAN MAKE THEM RELEVANT NOW- 

Phone nooks can be made into a charging area for smart-phones and a bookshelf because you need to put that darn phone down and read a book sometime. 

Ice boxes still exist nowadays so there's not really much I could say so maybe you can use one of those to keep your drinks chilled, like your Red Bull energy drinks.

(This blog doesn't endorse drinking of alcoholic beverages because it's bad for your health and causes you to spontaneously explode. Maybe I was lying about that last part but who knows? Think about it next time someone offers you a drink)