As a young person myself, even though I think I’m pretty well versed in 70s and 80s culture, I still find some of the old fashioned things that people who grew up back then experienced pretty weird. Much of daily life then revolved around face-to-face interactions and neighborhood friendships. Plus, technology has advanced so quickly across so many areas of life that several things that were considered high-tech back then don’t even exist anymore.
While some of these things disappeared due to technology made them unnecessaryothers disappeared as parenting styles and cultural norms evolved. For those who lived through it, these old-fashioned parts of childhood bring back a strong sense of nostalgia, and for people of younger generations, they provide a fascinating glimpse into a time that was not so long ago but now feels remarkably different.
Today’s modern kids would find these perfectly normal things from 70’s and 80’s childhood downright weird
1. TV aerials
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Before cable became widespread and decades before streaming services arrived, families depending on an antenna to receive signals for their television. Getting a clear picture often required adjusting the antenna by hand or holding the craziest yoga-like position ever, just to keep it in view.
To children today, the idea that watching TV could depend solely on the exact position of a metal antenna would seem incredibly inconvenient and frustrating. Most of them probably never even considered this as a possibility, so they find it quite strange that people used to live that way. But for many families, it was simply part of the daily routine.
2. Telephone books
With how technology has evolved over the years, it’s easier than ever to find the contact information of someone you’re trying to reach. What’s more, there’s just no need to remember a phone number or email address like it was back in the 70s and 80s.
Today, if you gave a child a phone book, they would probably fall over because of its weight. Modern kids are used to searching for almost anything online in seconds on their phones or computers, including phone numbers. The concept of scroll through hundreds of pages to find a single number would probably feel painfully slow in comparison and strange to how they normally function in their lives.
Throw in the fact that you had to keep one for residential numbers (white books) and one for business numbers (yellow books) and you know Gen Z simply never could.
3. Library card catalogs
Long before digital library databases existed, it meant finding a book to use a card catalog. Rows of wooden drawers contained index cards organized by title, author, and subject, which helped visitors find books in the library.
I’ll be honest, even I had never heard of this system before, and even though I’m not a kid anymore, it’s so strange to me that searching for things used to be so complicated, and I’m sure modern kids would agree. Like me, many younger people have never used or even heard of a card catalog in their lives. What was once an essential research tool has largely disappeared as libraries embrace online search systems, which I’m sure everyone is grateful for, by the way!
4. Paper cards
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Getting lost was much easier and scarier before GPS navigation. In the 70s and 80s, families often kept large folded road maps in their cars and used them to plan trips or find directions on the go. There was no voice telling them when to turn, and if they missed it, they had to pull over and retrace their entire route.
Reading a paper map required a level of patience and a basic understanding of geography modern children simply do not possess today. Most kids would now find paper maps strange because they grew up watching navigation apps automatically provide turn-by-turn directions. To them, paper cards probably seem like an artifact from another world.
5. Street light-based curfews
The 70s and 80s are known for one of the most old-fashioned childhood rules ever. Back then, children played for hours outside with almost no adult supervision. Since carrying phones was rare, children had no way to tell the time, and parents had no way to contact their children to tell them when to come home. So they created a simple, universal rule: when the street lights came onit was time to go home.
This unofficial curfew was understood in neighborhoods across the country. While parents still set these boundaries today, modern children are more likely to be contacted by their phone than by the light of a street lamp.
6. Handing in handwritten notes in class
Before texting and social media, many children in class communicated through handwritten notes. Friends folded them into intricate shapes and tapped their shoulders to get them to the right person without the teacher seeing. The excitement of trying not to get caught by the teacher was encouraging and brought everyone closer together.
These notes served as everything from casual conversation to secret confessions. Now instead of discreetly pass notes aroundmodern kids try to hide their phones while texting each other from across the room and their messages arrive instantly without anyone else getting involved. Although kids today probably still send secret notes in class, they probably think it’s weird compared to just using their phones.
7. Film cameras
don’t get me wrong cameras are definitely making a comebacknot out of necessity, but for the aesthetic. However, in the 70s and 80s, cameras were their only means of taking pictures. Before smartphones gave everyone easy access to high-quality cameras, children documented their lives on film.
The biggest difference from today was that you couldn’t see the results right away. When a roll of film was fully used, you had to take it to a photo lab and wait days, sometimes weeks, to see how your pictures turned out. For modern children, who are used to taking dozens of photos and instantly seeing the results, the whole process can seem surprisingly risky and strange.
8. Renting movies from video stores
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As a kid, I remember going to my local Blockbuster with my dad and renting a few movies to watch over the course of a few days or weeks while grabbing a bag of popcorn while waiting at the checkout line. In the 70s and 80s, this practice looked no different.
Movie night required a trip to a video store instead of opening a streaming service. Families would browse shelves full of VHS tapes, hoping their first choice hadn’t already been rented by someone else. The experience involved memberships and dreaded late fees if you forgot to return a tape by the due date.
Modern kids probably don’t even know that Blockbuster existed and unfortunately disappeared. They may find it strange that watching a movie requires a trip to the store when they have access to thousands of movies from almost any time.
Yessenia Munoz is a writer pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature who writes about lifestyle and reflective topics.
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