15 Everyday Things From Past Decades That You'd Never Do Today

Buzz Feed

3 days ago

It's always fascinating to consider what ubiquitous aspects of modern culture weren't always so standard. So recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community, "What's something that was so 'normal' back in the day but could NEVER happen now?" The responses were insightful and a major nostalgia trip. Here are just 15 things that really stood out:
"Letting your kids outside to do and go wherever they please as long as they're home by dinner. The things we did, the trouble we got into, and the places we went without our parents just 25 years ago, like drinking out of the water hose and eating whatever food our friends' parents had. Like, they really trusted that we could just survive on our own, and I mean we did. But parents these days would have a complete meltdown if their kid leaves their eyesight. That isn't to say I don't understand the fear, as the sheer amount of missing kids or major injuries that occurred definitely warrants the fear. But still, those days could never be relived now."
—Anonymous, 36; Ohio
"Riding in the bed of an open pickup truck with a half-dozen other kids. Sometimes, we would even sit on the sides."
"You can't slam a phone to end a phone call in a furious state of dissatisfaction. Now you press a screen button on your phone. 😂"
—Anonymous, old man; Oregon coast
"'Smoking' and 'non-smoking' areas in fast-food restaurants — with nothing to separate the two sides."
"Growing up in Florida, we could fish in the river and ocean from the beach without a fishing license. Freshwater, we had to have a license. Now to fish, you have to have a license except under 16 and over 65."
—Anonymous, 68; Florida
"🛫 Walking up to the airport gate without a ticket. Back in the day, you could literally: show up with your friend or family, go through security without a boarding pass, wait with them at the gate, even wave them off as they boarded, and be there when they got off the plane."
"Buying my parents their cigarettes. We just went to the store and told them they were for them, and we paid and left. Skipping gleefully home because we got penny candy with the change!! 🤣"
—Anonymous, 54; Texas
"Making a collect call."
"Walking into a room filled with the sound of typewriters."
—Anonymous, 56; Oxford, England
"We were encouraged by the police to engrave our Social Security number on valuables in case they were stolen."
"Seat belts and car seats were not mandatory until the 1980s. Before then, kids could sit wherever and pack in the car (although my parents and most of my friends' parents were sticklers for using seat belts and car seats)."
—ktomato
"Going days without seeing your parents, especially in the summer, with the only communication being notes written on the back of envelopes on things that needed to be done. When the weather was good, we were outside on our bikes or on foot walking through the woods, out fishing, walking the train track looking for pennies, at a friend's house jumping on a trampoline, or anywhere but home. We came home when it was dark, way after our parents had gotten off work. And they would usually leave the house to go to a friend's to play cards, leaving the oldest child in charge. There would be a note on the table of what to eat for supper, sometimes a phone call if the teenage sister wasn't talking to friends all night, and a repeat of this the next day. The summer between my 4th and 5th grade years, I think I saw my mother a total of three times that entire summer."
"Smoking on an airplane."
—Anonymous, 35; Washington, DC
"I am French, and while I wasn't born yet, I know that wine used to be served to children in kindergarten (and older) until 1956 when it was finally banned for the youngest kids. However, students aged 14 and up were still allowed to drink (including in school cafeterias) until 1981!"
Finally, "Questionable first aid tactics. Even just simple stuff like it used to be standard to dump peroxide into open wounds, which we now know slows healing. But also, much more casual attitudes about things like concussions."
—casualpizza23
Have another example of something that used to be so very common but would be considered odd to do today? Let us know in the comments or through the anonymous form below!