19 Commonly Unique Experiences From The Past

Buzz Feed

19 hours ago

Recently, we asked older adults of the BuzzFeed Community to share the common, everyday experiences and routines from the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s that would have young folks now completely confused. And as an older Gen Z'er, I can't even fathom half of it. Here are some of the normal but unique happenings from "back in the day" that, depending on your age, will either have you feeling incredibly nostalgic or super perplexed:
"We had a wooden milk box on the front porch in the '50s and '60s. The milkman left the milk in the early morning, and we had to get it out and into the fridge ASAP, especially in the summer! And in the winter, we had to get the milk before it froze."
—psychicdolphin96
"In the late '50s and early '60s, there was a man who drove through the neighborhood monthly to sharpen knives and scissors. My mom would gather together all the items she needed sharpened and meet him at the curb in the morning. He'd return everything later in the day to give all the sharpened knives back to my mom!"
"Unless it was raining, we played OUTSIDE every day."
"I worked as a patient transporter to and from the OR in a hospital in 1979. There were two lounges: one for the surgeons and one for the nurses and techs. Both of them were so thick with cigarette smoke that it was hard to see across the rooms. Don't forget about the teacher smoking lounge in schools!"
—trendyduck903
"We always had a family shoe-shining kit at home since we had to keep our shoes shiny for school."
"Students got report cards, which were actual pieces of paper with grades on them that parents had to sign and return. In my hometown, once you got your last report card that showed you were promoted to the next grade, you could take it to the downtown drugstore, get it stamped, and get a free ice cream cone from the soda fountain. Good times!"
"The naughty children were paddled by the principal. The paddle was huge and had holes in it to really hurt them. If we were chewing gum, we were also punished by having to stick the gum on our nose, then standing in the corner of the room for the remainder of the class."
"We had to get up and go to the TV every time we wanted to change the channel or adjust the volume. Our first TV remote wasn't until the early '70s. I was so happy to not be the designated channel changer!"
—crispycaptain967
"I graduated from a small Wyoming high school in 1974. Nearly every high school boy drove an older pickup truck with a rifle in a visible gun rack (possibly loaded, too, but if not, ammunition was readily available). Also, no student vehicle in the parking lot was locked, and many people left the keys in the ignition. In spite of all of this, there weren't any incidences of gun violence or school shootings at my school."
"Hospital nurseries had a big glass window where people in the hall could see all of the babies. Each crib had an index card with the baby's info."
"Back in the day, there were no baby carriers or car seats. We'd hold the baby in our arms without having seatbelts on ourselves. My family was lucky enough to get a car bed for my twin sisters. It looked like a bassinet without a base, with no way to secure it in the car. My older brother held it on the bench seat."
"In the 1940s and early 1950s, ice cream was only sold in pint containers. It had to be consumed before it melted since refrigerators, still called ice boxes, were tiny and couldn't keep ice cream frozen. Someone would run over to the corner store for the ice cream, then it would be sliced to accommodate the number of people being served. The flavors were vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, or Neapolitan."
—Anonymous
"Many of our mothers didn't have a driver's license, so things like dry cleaning were delivered to the house. Also, the ice cream truck would bring a horse around, and if we racked up enough points, we could trade the points in to ride the horse. I always looked forward to that!"
"I was amazed that my daughter didn't know how to do a handstand. In the '60s and '70s, everyone had to do gymnastics in school — including the beam, pommel horse, and the rings. Everyone could do cartwheels, backbends, and walkovers. I guess they wanted to train us all for the Olympics!"
"To call my girlfriend, who was only two houses away, I only had to dial four numbers. Those were simpler times."
"We didn't have cell phones. If you were out, you had to have a dime and find a phone booth to make a call. If your car stalled and you were on the freeway, you had to walk to a help phone on the side of the road. This was in the '50s and '60s."
—sweetscissors1247
"When you bought a ticket at a movie theater, it was general admission. There were no computers back then to print a movie title or theater number on a ticket, so you only received a stub. Most theaters only had one or two screens, so you could stay and watch a movie a second time, or go to the other room and watch that movie. We did this on very hot summer days. Sometimes, we'd be there for six hours! You just needed to remember to bring enough money to buy snacks."
"We played in the sprinklers during the summer; it was a blast. We drank from the hose, and absolutely no one wore bicycle helmets. They just weren't a thing. There were no seatbelts or car seats, and if the cops busted a party, they'd just send everyone home. Birth control was also widely available."
Lastly: "I grew up in the '80s, and I remember barely drinking any water. Kids today seem to always have a container of water with them and are likely much more hydrated, because when I was in elementary school, we had to wait until we were out of class and at a water fountain to drink. And if there was a line of other kids waiting by the fountain, they'd all count from, like, five seconds, and make the next person in line go. In high school, it wasn't much better. Even at football practice, we were rarely given water breaks. I guess it wasn't a priority to make sure everyone was properly hydrated. I just remember being thirsty a lot, I guess?"
—metallictrash637
Did you guys really cut ice cream into slices like cake?! Wild. If you're an older adult, what was a common, everyday aspect from back in the day that would have young folks today extremely confused or taken aback? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below!