The most popular lines from comedians of all time
A lot has changed since the 1970s. If you took a 20-year-old from the year 2024 and put them in a time machine to 1974, they would have a hard time knowing how to use a phone, get a good picture on the TV with rabbit ears, or buy tickets to a Pink Floyd or Jackson 5 concert.
They are also likely to be intimidated by the number People who smokeA huge amount of Garbage in the streetsAnd a general lack of concern for children’s safety. In some cities, they may also be amazed by the amount of smog in the air.
A Reddit user guide The production, set in the 1970s, wanted to know what life was like in the world “Hold me” So they asked the AkkReddit forum about “some behaviors that have disappeared since then,” and received more than 2,400 responses.
Some were bittersweet memories of worry and worry Unsupervised childhood. Meanwhile, others pointed to a time when children were often the target of abuse and vulnerable to many Painful experiences Which they were discouraged from talking about.
We’ve looked at the topic and selected the 17 best responses to behaviors from the 1970s that have ‘gone away’.
1. Playing with the telephone cord
“Fidgeting with the long coiled cord while talking on the phone, such as rotating your finger inside the coil.”
“We had a long rope that you could swing like a jump rope.”
“Answer every phone call with some variation”
2. The smell of cigarette smoke
“Smoking is everywhere all the time.”
“I remember the teachers’ lounge at my grammar school emitting smoke.”
“4 hours drive to see Nanny, all the windows down, both mommy and daddy smoking. Think about it, three little kids getting poisoned from the second smoke, begging to stop or open the window and daddy says ‘get used to it,’ ‘the world smokes,’ and mommy says… The cracked open window was “very noisy,” breathing through the sleeves of our coats with arms open under the car seats, letting out fresh air for four hours of constant nausea and illness that lasted for 30 minutes afterward.
3. Soda cans for candy
“Return the soda bottles to the store and get enough money back to buy a candy bar.”
“Yes, you have to work and save up to buy a candy bar or a pack of gum. Or be lucky enough to find a penny to buy a gumball machine outside the grocery store.”
4. Clothes last forever
“Everyone’s effort was to make things last. All of our clothes were patched or sewn and delivered. Shopping for new clothes was probably once a year. Or whenever a Sears catalog came out.”
5. Public telephones
“Checking the change slot at phone booths in case people forget their coins. I also remember when phone calls were a dime!”
6. Summon the Lady of Time
“367-1234. At that time the time will be 11:22 and 20 seconds – beep.”
7. Playing outside all day
“When you were sent outside to play, it meant that you were given a zone to stay in such as ‘our neighborhood’, and the time to go home was ‘when the street lights come on’.”
8. It was TV time
“Read the TV guide for program times.”
“There was no way to record a show until the advent of VCRs, so you watched a show at the time it was scheduled to air, and missed it if you didn’t turn it on at the time it started. So, families had to negotiate whether there was more than one show people wanted to watch. Watch it, and prime time was important because that’s when the three networks ran their best shows.
9. Rabbit ears
“Wrapping squares of tinfoil over ‘rabbit ear’ antennas.”
“When the picture became grainy, he slapped the side of the TV to correct the picture.”
10. The telephone directory had many uses
“This big phone book was the booster seat for the youngest child at the table.”
11. CB radios
“Referring to CB Radio culture during normal conversations. Everyone understood.”
“ten four”
“crusher, crusher”
“You’ve earned that right, my dear friend.”
12. Long distance was expensive
“Making local calls versus long distance calls. I had to keep calls short with relatives because they were a long way away. Making conference calls.”
“Right, and you can add the cost of long-distance calls at
“If you wanted to make a long-distance call, you had to call the international operator at least two hours before the call to schedule it.”
13. Collect fake calls
“Making fake calls to your parents to come pick you up. ‘I’ve received a conference call from… ‘We’re done and there’s still to go!’… Would you like to accept the call? No. I’ve already received the message.”
14. Before passing, we read
“Reading. Reading the newspaper. Reading cereal boxes for breakfast. Reading on the toilet. Playing crossword puzzles and word games. Before phones, you had to interact more with what was around you.”
“If there wasn’t a Reader’s Digest in the bathroom, you had to read the shampoo ingredients. Sodium lauryl sulfate, etc.”
15. Bank line
“When Friday came and I needed money for the weekend, I went to the bank, stood in line and made a withdrawal.”
“We took our checks to the bank on Friday to cash them, some for checking and some for spending because everything was paid in cash.”
16. Unsafe sitting in trucks
“There are no seat belts, but drivers can get into trouble if the car is too full, so the mother shouts ‘beep’ if she sees a cop. This would be like a Volkswagen with 7-8 kids piled in to go to the beach or the park. Quite the It’s normal for kids to pile into the bed of a pickup truck – sometimes with folding chairs, and it’s also common for them to grab the back of the vehicle while sledding (there was a word I don’t remember).”
17. Stare at the sky
“Lying in the grass and looking up at the sky. Free time ended when mobile entertainment became a thing, especially lofty phones. The level of detachment required to just stare at the clouds or the stars (and feel happy doing so) is sorely missing these days. At least I miss it.”
This article originally appeared last September.
