“Diaper service. I had twins in the ’70s, and diaper service was fabulous. Disposable diapers were just coming on the market and were pricey. But, the diaper service would pick up your dirty bag of diapers and leave a bag of clean ones three times a week. They should bring that back.”
“I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, and there was no plastic! Milk was delivered in glass bottles with waxed paper or foil lids, and empty bottles were washed and returned to the milkman.
Our sandwiches for lunch were wrapped in waxed paper, and loaves of bread came in waxed paper packages (which we’d reuse to polish our metal slide in the backyard). Storage containers were glass and lasted for many years.”
“In the early ’80s, boys were required to take riflery in high school. We had an indoor range, and a bunch of us were in a room with loaded .22s. Some of the kids were in gangs, too, and we all thought nothing of it.”
“I went to a rural school in the ’70s. The school housed seventh through twelfth grades, as there was no such thing as middle school. Those who misbehaved and went to the principal’s office were either paddled or locked in a small, dark, windowless closet in the guidance counselor’s office for an hour or more. The closet was so small you couldn’t even sit on the floor.”
“Up through the 1970s, you were asked to put your full social security number on EVERYTHING: sign-ups for free events, volunteer activities, pre-orders, and more. In public schools, your social security was used as your student ID number and printed out routinely for the world to see.”
“The last term paper I turned in before graduating college was typed on a typewriter. It took three times longer and used a lot of Wite-out. (Do younger generations know what Wite-out is?)”
“I’m 55 and remember smoking on airplanes! Smoking seats were in the back, and non-smoking seats were in the front. But since the plane was a tube, it was smoky everywhere. I’m so glad that changed.”
“I remember having bomb drills in grade school. The bell would ring to mark the beginning of the drill, and we’d have to immediately get on the floor, go under our desks, and cover our heads with our hands to protect ourselves from ‘radiation fallout.’ It was a wild but normal thing we had to do.”
“In the late ’70s, my parents’ car (that we’d take summer road trips in) had back windows that only rolled down halfway. We kids who sat in the back wouldn’t get wind in our faces AT ALL.
Also, the car had ashtrays in the armrests/handles with metal lids that got SUPER hot. But the lids were fun to fidget with, snap open, and close. We kept our gum wrappers in them.”
“In the ’60s, we used to ring a cowbell to call my brothers in for dinner. If you were too far to hear the cowbell, you’d get in trouble.”
“It was so much fun when the iceman came by. Not all people had refrigerators in the ’40s, so an iceman would drive around the neighborhood and deliver a block of ice to those who still used iceboxes to keep their perishables in. The kids would run after him, and he would throw chunks of ice at us. It was a huge treat.”
“When we wanted to learn some obscure fact or satisfy ourselves with a trivia question, we had to go to the public library! We’d search through huge banks of drawers filled with alphabetized paper cards (you could search by author, title, or subject).
“My 70-year-old boss told me he used to swim naked at the Y when he was little. He never thought twice about it until a few years ago. He said they all had to swim naked because swimsuits were made of wool, and the wool fibers would get in the filter. The Y had a designated time for them to swim, but adult males would swim at the same time — also naked.”
“We lived in the city, and every house had a ‘burning barrel,’ where you’d burn all your garbage, paper, plastic, metal, and everything else in. When it became full of ash, a company would pick it up and give you a new barrel. I’m 60 years old; imagine thousands of people doing that in the same city!”
“Long before convenience stores were common, we had corner markets and mom-and-pop stores. Gas stations were solely for buying fuel and oil or getting a repair. Neighborhood paper and hobby shops were fairly common, too. Also, neighborhood doctor and dentist offices were only a short walk from home.”
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#7 Greyhound buses and trains were the same way, as well as restaurants and bars and stores and, everywhere
#15 until they went out of business and that was because the chain stores moved into town, usually a short drive away, couldn't walk to them, they sold more things at cheaper prices.