15 Past Trends Everyone Was Obsessed With 40 Years Ago That Older Adults Can't Stand Today
1."Smoking everywhere. You'd go to a restaurant and couldn't smell the food, your clothes would reek, and the whole place would be hazy. Disgusting."
—magicalshield808
2."Having married women referred to as 'Mrs. John Doe' rather than 'Mary Doe.' It's like the woman existed only as an extension of her husband."
—Anonymous, 70, California
3."Big hair, especially bouffant hair held rock-solid by lots of hairspray."
—Anonymous, 50+, Midwest
"Perms that could start a brush fire. The smell. The damage. The poodle resemblance."
—Anonymous, 58, Arizona
4."Disrespectful catcalls considered 'normal.'"
—Anonymous, 65, California
5."Pole and swag lamps and early American sofas with the wood armrests, and those dreadful orange colors."
"Also, the overheated hair and the super shag cuts. But I loved the mini skirts and hated the maxi skirts."
—Anonymous, 72, Tennessee
6."Curling our hair during study hall. First of all, our hair was already curled (or permed), but then we broke out our Clicker, butane-fueled curling iron from our purse and proceeded to curl our hair again. The damage we did to our hair in the '80s was unbelievable."
—Anonymous, 52, New York
7."Over-plucked eyebrows."
—jennifervogel
8."Hip-hugging hot pants."
—cerdwyn
9."Packing a living room with a record player, receiver, huge speakers, huge earphones, reel-to-reel recorder, and hundreds of records."
—Anonymous, 72, Canada
10."Elephant bell bottom jeans. People would trip over them because they were so wide! They looked like huge umbrellas covering your shoes!"
—Anonymous, 67, Georgia
11."Something very popular in the '70s was shag carpeting. Everyone had it. I remember my sister had a rake for hers (really!). It was horrible to vacuum, and if you dropped something in it, you'd never find it again. I'm so glad it's not in style now."
—Anonymous, 68, Montana
12."Polyester!!!!!!!! Totally gross in the '70s and still gross. It's hot, shapeless, and basically horrible. Where has comfortable, beautiful cotton gone?"
—Anonymous, 59, Maryland
13."TripTiks that were only available at AAA insurance offices. You would have to go there before a long trip to get directions indicated on individual pages of 100 miles each in a long spiral notebook with the highway/roads highlighted. There were only foldable maps back then. It was so exciting while traveling to flip a page, as you knew you were getting that much closer to your destination! But if you misplaced it, you were in trouble as you needed it to return home!"
—Anonymous, 71, Michigan
14."In the late '60s and early '70s, the puffy sleeves, headbands, and peace signs were bad."
"Plus, the giant polka dots and stripes on pants and corduroy."
—Anonymous, 72, Texas
And finally...
15."Wearing coats, ties, and white shirts at work. Looks good on Suits, but it's stuffy and uncomfortable in a modern workplace. Dressing that way doesn't make one a better worker."
—Anonymous, 70, California
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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