45 Things That Were Totally Normal In The '60s That Would Be Considered "A Trip" (AKA Completely Weird) Today

The 1960s were a decennary of monolithic alteration — but day-to-day beingness looked thing similar what astir radical representation now. After our caller station astir things that were mean successful the '70s, readers who grew up successful the '60s flooded us with their ain memories. From making ashtrays for your parents successful creation people to getting your quality exclusively from Walter Cronkite, the '60s were a full antithetic world. Here's what readers told us:

1. "Smoking was allowed successful astir each nationalist spot you went. Every restaurant, airplane, and adjacent the YMCA gym. The teachers had a smoking country astatine the school. There were virtually smoking sections for everything. The odor would permeate your hairsbreadth and clothes, and astatine engaged places a bluish unreality would bent supra your head."

2. "When we were successful simple school, we would get to usage clay, and alternatively of making sculptures, we each made ashtrays to instrumentality location to our parents. The trays were fired and glazed and came implicit with small spaces to clasp cigarettes, made by utilizing our fingers to property the indentations."

—Anonymous, 65, Female, California

3. "Doctors and patients smoking portion successful the hospital. There were ashtrays astatine the bedside and successful the nurses' presumption wherever the doctors would constitute their notes. This lasted into the '70s and possibly later. Wild if determination was oxygen on."

—Anonymous, 63, Male, Pennsylvania

4. "During summertime vacation, we would permission the location astatine 8 a.m. to spell to the parkland to play stickball — that's shot for you non-New Yorkers — and we'd halt location for lunch, backmost to the park, halt location for dinner, backmost to the park. Just beryllium location arsenic soon arsenic the streetlights travel on. But basically, parents had nary thought wherever we were for astir 10 hours each day."

5. "Going extracurricular to play and messiness astir each time with a buddy oregon 2 and nary adults. No phone, nary pager, conscionable moving chaotic successful the orangish groves and canyons adjacent my house. Showing backmost up for meal and being asked by my mom, 'What did you bash today, honey?'"

—Anonymous, 75, Male, Arizona

6. "Kids came location from school, changed their clothes, and were retired the doorway until dinner. It ne'er occurred to my parents to interest astir wherever we were. There were nary playdates. No organized activities. It was up to america to fig retired however to person fun."

—Anonymous

7. "Front enactment seat seating successful the car. As a child, I would prevarication determination astatine nighttime with my caput successful my mother's thigh portion my begetter was driving. Or basal successful the back. No spot belts."

8. "Riding successful the rear model — the talker platform — of the car."

—Anonymous, 63, Male, North Carolina

9. "Back erstwhile spot belts started appearing successful cars, to promote buckling up, each the kids would commencement silently counting. Whoever ended up the past 1 to retrieve to buckle up would get punched successful the limb the aforesaid fig of times arsenic the count. Those hundred-count punches would commencement to wounded aft a while."

—Anonymous, 67, Male, Georgia

10. "Being dehydrated 24/7. On Field Day, we'd beryllium sweating similar huffy and wholly parched, and they'd springiness america an 8-ounce Orangeade. If you were lucky, you could basal successful a enactment for a speedy portion from a h2o fountain dribbling tepid h2o astatine best."

—oldcake427

11. "Kids didn't deterioration immoderate information instrumentality erstwhile biking, skating, oregon sledding. No helmets, nary genu oregon elbow protection. Having amusive could beryllium beauteous dangerous."

12. "No leash laws oregon scooping up aft dogs. The dogs ran successful packs astir the neighborhood, and radical would whistle for them to travel home. Also, the playground jungle gym was built implicit cement."

—magicalphone813

13. "I lived successful Northeast Minnesota successful 5th and sixth people successful 1968 and 1969. Girls were not allowed to deterioration pants to school, adjacent during blizzards with upwind chill factors good beneath zero degrees."

—Anonymous, 69, Female, California

14. "Girls having to deterioration skirts oregon dresses to nationalist schools careless of the weather! Older boys who were 'safety patrol' connected thoroughfare corners, making definite our skirts were not culottes!"

15. "In simple school, girls had to deterioration dresses and boys had to deterioration button-down shirts and slacks. No jeans. But 1 time a year, we could each deterioration jeans oregon shorts. It was called 'Camera Day' due to the fact that we were besides allowed to bring a camera, if we had one, and instrumentality pictures of teachers and friends. We looked guardant to this time each year, and 1 twelvemonth I asked for a Kodak camera for Christmas conscionable truthful I could bring it to schoolhouse connected Camera Day. I tin inactive retrieve however excited I was erstwhile I opened that contiguous connected Christmas morning. I felt truthful grown up to person a camera of my precise own!"

—Anonymous, 64, Female, San Diego

16. "I attended a agrarian Indiana precocious schoolhouse from 1969 to graduation successful 1973. Four towns consolidated for a pupil assemblage of astir 450 students. Once kids had driver's licenses, astir drove to school. At slightest fractional the pupil vehicles successful the parking batch were pickup trucks, and the bulk had weapon racks successful the cab. During hunting season, astir had rifles oregon shotguns successful the weapon racks. Some had weapons successful the rack each twelvemonth successful lawsuit you wanted to halt and sprout connected the mode home. No 1 raised an eyebrow."

—Anonymous

17. "I grew up successful a tiny municipality successful Indiana, with 800 people. I was 10 years aged successful 1965. At that time, my friends and I thought thing of tying a firearm oregon shotgun to the handlebars of our bicycles to spell hunting. The accustomed effect from parents was: 'Get location earlier dark.'"

—Anonymous

18. "Kids would get unneurotic aft schoolhouse oregon connected weekends, oregon during the summer, and signifier their ain activities — whether it was baseball, football, thoroughfare hockey, punchball, seizure the flag, thing mischievous similar throwing snowballs astatine cars oregon people, scouting play balls astatine a section course, oregon going done alleys making sound and looking successful windows. We had specified amusive and independence. Now everything is organized by parents oregon immoderate institution."

—mellowpepper6654

19. "We ne'er had 'snow days' disconnected from schoolhouse backmost then, and astir of america walked a mile to schoolhouse — nary 1 drove us. My schoolhouse didn't person a cafeteria, truthful we walked location for lunch, past walked backmost to schoolhouse close away, past backmost location astatine 3:30. On cold, snowy days, we were walking astir 4 miles and past staying extracurricular playing until dinner. It was amusive — I don't retrieve feeling cold. I was excessively engaged gathering snowfall forts oregon playing shot oregon sledding down the elevation down my house."

20. "We played Little League successful a larger municipality astir 10 miles from our tiny town. Our transport was the furniture of our coach's pickup truck. In lawsuit it was raining successful our town, we would each heap into the backmost of 2 presumption wagons — nary spot belts — for the ride."

—Anonymous

21. "No 1 cared astir kids. You travel to school, evidently beaten up — nary 1 says a word. You person nary wintertime overgarment — well, tally astir much astatine recess. No luncheon 5 days successful a enactment — you look chubby anyway. So galore signs of maltreatment and unsighted eyes."

—surprisednugget76

22. "At parent-teacher conferences, my begetter would archer the teacher, 'If helium gets retired of line, smack him.'"

—Anonymous, 62, Male, Minnesota

23. "Getting paddled, hit, oregon different physically punished by teachers. Certain teachers were worse than others, and galore times it was blatant kid abuse. Discipline is 1 thing, but what immoderate teachers did perfectly crossed the line. That goes for parents, too."

24. "As was emblematic then, my parent didn't enactment — she had 3 children ages 6, 5, and 3. I retrieve that each weekday astatine 4:30 p.m., we would beryllium fixed a snack and the TV was turned connected truthful that she could 'get ready' for Daddy to travel location from enactment astatine 5:30 p.m. Getting acceptable included teasing and styling her hair, putting connected makeup, including mendacious eyelashes and lipstick, and changing into a 'proper dress.' After changing into that dress, she would commencement to hole meal truthful that it was connected the array promptly astatine 6:00 p.m."

—Anonymous

25. "After my past member was born, my parent had to get my begetter to motion a insubstantial truthful she could get her tubes tied due to the fact that she didn't privation much children. And if helium chose not to sign, the doc would not springiness her the procedure. I can't ideate having to bash that. My body, my decision."

—Anonymous, 67, Female, North Carolina

26. "Married women receiving message addressed to them arsenic 'Mrs. [Husband's Name].' For example, Edith Bunker's message would beryllium addressed to 'Mrs. Archie Bunker' alternatively than 'Mrs. Edith Bunker.'"

—Anonymous, 67, Male, California

27. "Nurses — mostly pistillate — were expected to emergence to their feet erstwhile a doc — mostly antheral — entered a room."

28. "It was communal among middle-class families for pre-teen young ladies to spell to charm and etiquette classes. It was a people extracurricular of mean school. You had to larn however to behave and enactment ladylike. Later, aft elder year, you could beryllium chosen to beryllium a debutante."

—Anonymous, 64, Female, Oklahoma

29. "The mode everyone was truthful segregated. Most of our teachers successful Harlem schools were white. I didn't cognize immoderate achromatic kids my property until precocious school, and everyone inactive mostly kept to their own. It was each we knew."

—fluffyeggplant595

30. "I had conscionable learned to work successful Little Rock, Arkansas, successful 1962, and my ma took america to a apparel store. I was thirsty and looking for a h2o fountain. Found one, and determination were signs supra them saying 'White' and 'Colored.' I decided colored h2o would beryllium mode amended than achromatic h2o and drank it."

31. "Drinking and driving. Every Friday night, my dada would load the household into the car to spell to the food fry astatine the lodge wherever helium was a member. There was an unfastened barroom and he'd get hammered, but since helium was the man, helium wouldn't fto my ma thrust america home. This was backmost successful the days wherever spot belts were elemental thigh belts and often tucked into the crevice of the car seats to get them retired of the way. My member and I would beryllium connected the level of the car due to the fact that the thrust location was beauteous erratic and scary."

—Anonymous, 59, Female, Missouri

32. "The stiff hair. I tin retrieve my ma and different women with their beehive hairdos. They were heavy sprayed and stayed successful that styled presumption for a week astatine a time. I can't ideate going adjacent a fewer days without washing my hair. Thank goodness the '70s came astir with escaped and earthy styles."

—Anonymous, 61, Female, Texas

33. "Wearing curlers portion we went market shopping. Before astir radical had location hairsbreadth dryers, it took hairsbreadth truthful agelong to adust that we would conscionable popular it successful curlers and spell astir our regular errands."

34. "Men wearing acheronian suits with a existent achromatic handkerchief successful the apical near outer pouch that conscionable showed a bladed slice. In fact, present that I deliberation astir it, having handkerchiefs successful each pockets — and successful women's purses. Kleenex was precise costly and didn't truly travel retired until aboriginal successful the '60s."

—Anonymous

35. "Children, teenagers, and young adults ever addressed adults arsenic Mr. oregon Miss — ne'er by their archetypal names similar they bash today. This was respect for our elders and for radical of authority."

—Anonymous, 70, Female, North Carolina

36. "Asking a alien for directions. Without GPS, it was wholly mean portion driving to propulsion your car to the curb, rotation down the window, and inquire a implicit alien — who mightiness beryllium walking their canine oregon moving successful their gait — however to get to a concern oregon circumstantial address. Or you could halt astatine a state presumption oregon tiny concern and inquire the attendant oregon receptionist."

—Anonymous, 66, Male, Wisconsin

37. "Meeting idiosyncratic astatine the gross erstwhile their formation arrived oregon saying goodbye astatine the gate. There were nary TSA oregon information lines. People were escaped to determination astir the airdrome wherever they wished to go."

38. "If you recovered a wallet, a book, oregon someone's idiosyncratic belonging and determination was ID successful the wallet oregon an code connected the publication oregon belonging, you could propulsion it into the nearest nationalist mailbox and it would beryllium delivered backmost to the person."

—proship288

39. "Walgreens and Woolworths stores had luncheon counters wrong the stores! Maas Brothers/Allied Stores had a swanky edifice connected the 2nd level with achromatic tablecloths and an à la carte paper — precise shi-shi-la-la."

40. "Window buying connected Sundays due to the fact that everything was closed owed to bluish laws."

—Anonymous, 64, Pennsylvania

41. "Soda and brew cans had ringed pop-tops. You'd enactment your digit done a ringing and propulsion a perforated portion disconnected the apical of the tin to unfastened it. People either threw the pop-tops successful the trash oregon connected the ground. There was nary pushing successful an opening wherever each constituent stayed attached to the can."

—evilorca597

42. "In the '50s done the aboriginal '60s, our suburb of LA had an aerial raid siren that they tested erstwhile a period connected a wide time astatine noon. One nighttime it malfunctioned and freaked retired the full neighborhood. As a kid, I thought it was the end!"

43. "Hippies went barefoot everywhere, and often the males were shirtless. Restaurants had signs: 'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service.'"

—Anonymous, 66, Female, Colorado

44. "Immunizations. We lined up successful simple schoolhouse and got a shot. No questions asked and nary concerns. It was for your ain bully and for the payment of everyone else."

—Anonymous, 63, Female, Minnesota

45. "Walter Cronkite connected CBS was the lone trusted root for news. If Walter said it, it was true."

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Note: Responses person been edited for length/clarity.