"Two French Guys Picked Us Up Hitchhiking; They Could've Been Talking About Killing Us": People Are Sharing What Was Normal In The '70s That Would Be Suuuuuper Weird Today

The '70s get a batch of recognition for bell-bottoms and disco, but there's a full different broadside to the decennary that doesn't marque it onto the nostalgia posters. We asked the BuzzFeed Community what beingness was really similar backmost past — the worldly that felt wholly mean astatine the clip but sounds astir unbelievable now. From latchkey kids wearing their location keys astir their necks to women who needed their husband's support to get a recognition card, here's what they told us:

1. "Riding successful the backmost of pickup trucks. Talking connected the location telephone with a agelong cord. Using an adding instrumentality with a insubstantial tape. Listening to 8-track tapes successful a subordinate that your dada installed nether your seat. Learning to thrust a instrumentality shift. Jumpstarting your car by rolling it down a elevation and popping the clutch. Being a free-range kid each time successful the summer."

2. "Carrying your schoolbooks successful your arms. No 1 utilized backpacks successful K-12. You could bargain an elastic set with metallic hooks connected the ends to wrapper astir your notebook and schoolbooks truthful they wouldn't slip."

—alabama_mama

3. "Encyclopedias were a thing. They were the Google of the '70s — wherever you went to get answers. Having a afloat acceptable of the Encyclopedia Britannica was a presumption symbol. They were costly and proudly displayed successful the surviving room. My parent got the full Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia 1 publication astatine a clip from the supermarket."

4. "Whole beverage arsenic the lone beverage prime successful schoolhouse cafeterias."

5. "Talking to a person connected Monday astir gathering connected Friday, and past conscionable showing up astatine the close clip and spot with nary different communication."

—Anonymous, 72, Male, Georgia

6. "All the vicinity kids getting unneurotic astatine 1 location to ticker the once-a-year showing of The Wizard of Oz."

7. "Leaving the location and being wholly unreachable. When you clocked retired of work, you were allowed to not beryllium moving oregon disposable until your adjacent scheduled shift. The thought that you request to beryllium disposable 24/7 erstwhile you are not being paid to beryllium connected telephone is ridiculous. If it's a 9-to-5 job, I should lone expect to enactment those hours — not reply emails and telephone calls connected my ain time."

—Anonymous, 51, Female, California

8. "Getting state astatine a state presumption wherever you pulled up to the pump and idiosyncratic — usually a antheral — came retired and pumped your gas. He checked your tires, oil, and cleaned your windshield too. Often, determination were 2 attendants. It felt unusual erstwhile state stations started going self-service."

9. "I was 12 and had a occupation cleaning canine kennels that were 11 miles from my house. I hitchhiked aft schoolhouse to get determination and past hitchhiked backmost home. Never had immoderate problems."

—Anonymous, 66, Male, Texas

10. "I worked successful a downtown bureau gathering that was the office of a large bank. At the time, women did not deterioration pants to work. A person of excavation got promoted to a presumption mostly held by men. She wanted to look much similar their level, since the men wore suits, truthful she had a tailored pantsuit made with cloth akin to a men's suit. The archetypal clip she wore it, her brag told her, 'Slacks are not due for women.' Keep successful mind, she was wearing a suit that looked conscionable similar what the men wore."

11. "My grandfather, who was a trucker, installed a CB vigor successful my car. I was 17, and my grip was 'Little Pony.' I would sneak retired aft everyone was dormant and speech to anonymous men implicit the radio. It felt breathtaking astatine the time, and I had nary thought however unsafe it could person been. Luckily, the fewer times I arranged to conscionable 1 of them, I chickened out."

—Anonymous, 64, Female, California

12. "Having a 'smoking lounge' successful precocious school. You had to beryllium 16 to fume oregon bring a enactment from home."

13. "Visiting a section newsstand oregon deli connected Saturday nighttime to hold for the motortruck that dropped disconnected the archetypal variation of the Sunday newspaper, conscionable truthful you could beryllium archetypal to use for a occupation oregon flat successful the classified ads."

14. "If you saw a movie you loved, bully luck watching it again anytime successful the adjacent respective years erstwhile it near theaters."

—Anonymous, 53, Male, Pennsylvania

15. "Looking done the Sears catalog artifact conception connected Saturday greeting portion waiting for cartoons to start."

16. "Getting six-packs of brew to-go astatine property 16 successful galore bars and drinking them successful the woods."

—Anonymous, 61, Male, Pennsylvania

17. "Hitchhiking. Once we got picked up by 2 French guys. They could person been talking astir sidesplitting america and we wouldn't person known due to the fact that we didn't recognize French."

18. "I retrieve being a teen successful the '70s erstwhile my ma got her archetypal recognition card. My dada didn't judge successful credit, truthful she could ne'er get 1 earlier — it was amerciable for a pistillate to get 1 without her husband's consent. She got an upscale section store paper and bought a beauteous outfit for my sister's wedding. She paid it disconnected successful 2 months, truthful she hardly paid immoderate interest. I retrieve however arrogant she was to person thing successful her sanction alone."

—Anonymous, 69, Female, Texas

19. "Having to bargain state connected unusual oregon adjacent days depending connected your license plate — and moving retired of state connected the incorrect day!"

20. "It was wholly mean for my ma to nonstop maine extracurricular connected a bully time and say, 'Go play. Come location for lunch.' I would thrust my motorcycle into town, spell to the water to swim, oregon find friends. Then I would spell location for luncheon and caput backmost retired again until dark. The 'Momnet' ever knew wherever I was. It lone took a telephone oregon 2 for my ma to way maine down. One genitor would say, 'Dave and Jimmie were conscionable present — they went implicit to Scott's house.' Then my ma would telephone Scott's ma and person her archer maine to travel home."

—Anonymous, 67, Male, New Jersey

21. "As a kid successful the precocious '70s, flying connected a jumbo pitchy similar a 747 oregon DC-10 felt similar a large adventure. There were nary seatback screens, but determination was a large movie surface astatine the beforehand of the compartment playing the aforesaid movie for everyone. They gave you a unusual pneumatic headset made of hollow rubber tubes that plugged into your armrest and blew aerial carrying the audio into your ears. There was a dial with 10 channels truthful you could tune into euphony listed successful the in-flight mag oregon perceive to the movie. It felt incredibly chill astatine the time."

22. "In inferior high, I ne'er went retired connected Friday nights until aft The Brady Bunch ended. It aired Friday astatine 7 p.m. Central time, and that was your 1 accidental to ticker it each week. My friends and I were not missing it."

23. "Riding successful the car, lying connected the support nether the backmost window. No spot belts, nary headrests, conscionable unfastened abstraction to alert guardant if determination was an accident. I utilized to bring a pillow and slumber up determination connected agelong rides."

—Anonymous, 68, Male, Michigan

24. "Driving to the nearest telephone booth truthful you could person privateness talking to your girlfriend."

25. "In Connecticut, we utilized babe lipid mixed with iodine arsenic tanning oil. We burned similar lobsters astatine the beach. Later, I moved to Minnesota and learned girls determination did the aforesaid thing. Beach life, water life, and babe lipid with iodine. Whose thought was that?"

—Anonymous, 67, Female, Connecticut

26. "We had Pong. Two games and primitive graphics. It was a motion of affluence and felt precise fancy."

27. "My member and I were latchkey kids. We wore tags similar subject canine tags engraved with our names and addresses, with our location cardinal attached. Parents really bought these for latchkey kids! Imagine however unsafe that could person been if the incorrect idiosyncratic recovered you — they had your name, your address, and the cardinal to your house."

—Anonymous, 55, Female, Iowa

28. "In the aboriginal '70s, determination was nary specified happening arsenic a blow-dry hairstyle. Women didn't lavation their hairsbreadth each day. If you had agelong hair, you acceptable it successful electrical rollers oregon slept successful large integrative curlers. If you had truly curly hairsbreadth and wanted a straight, sleek style, you utilized big, bare cans arsenic rollers. To clasp the style, you utilized a mounting gel called Dippity Do, which fundamentally froze your hairsbreadth until you washed it. In my assemblage dorm, determination was lone 1 miss who blow-dried her hair, and we were fascinated watching her bash it."

29. "No UPC codes. Prices were printed connected small stickers attached to each item. Cashiers manually entered the terms and section codification for each purchase. There were nary information seals, shrink wrap, oregon expiration dates. You relied connected show and odor to cognize if nutrient had gone bad. The Tylenol poisonings successful 1982 changed each that."

—Anonymous, 66, Male, Wisconsin

30. "Having to get up disconnected the sofa to alteration the TV transmission — and determination were lone 3 channels to take from. You needed a TV Guide to cognize what shows were connected and when."

31. "When I broke my limb successful 1974, hopping implicit a obstruction astatine a friend's house, it was intelligibly breached conscionable supra my wrist. Our location telephone enactment was busy, truthful my friend's dada drove maine location astir 3 miles away. Then my ma took maine to our household doctor, a fewer blocks away. The doc took an X-ray and acceptable the bony close determination successful his exam country by pulling connected it with my mom's assistance — and she wasn't a nurse. One large plaster formed and 8 weeks later, it healed perfectly. Incidentally, this was the aforesaid doc who delivered maine 12 years earlier. In the '70s, astir household doctors did everything, adjacent successful ample suburban areas."

—Anonymous, 64, Female, Michigan

32. "High schoolhouse boys driving schoolhouse buses. The boys would be bus-driving schoolhouse and past thrust a autobus astatine property 17 oregon 18. The autobus would beryllium packed with students, and sometimes kids had to basal successful the aisle due to the fact that determination were nary bare seats."

33. "No photos connected driver's licenses. If you were a akin height, weight, and hairsbreadth color, it was precise casual for idiosyncratic underage to get an ID and bargain cigarettes oregon alcohol. Where I lived, the ineligible property for brew and vino was 19, truthful it wasn't hard for a 16- oregon 17-year-old to walk arsenic legal. My elder twelvemonth of precocious school, I someway got a driver's licence from a neighboring authorities that looked adjacent enough, and nary store ever questioned it."

—Anonymous, 68, Male, Illinois

34. "I was a sociology large astatine the University of Minnesota successful the aboriginal 1970s and had to bash a task for a statistic class. I decided to behaviour a hitchhiking experimentation astir the metropolis to spot which method got a thrust the fastest. I was 19 years old, 6'4", and astir 190 pounds. I wore the aforesaid apparel each time: jeans, a reddish plaid enactment shirt, and enactment boots. First, I hitchhiked alone. Timing started erstwhile I stuck retired my thumb. When drivers asked wherever I was going, I explained it was for a study, and I had nary destination. The 2nd portion progressive my woman hitchhiking with me, which she happily agreed to. The 3rd method progressive hitchhiking with a herb plant."

35. "There were agelong stretches of clip each time erstwhile we lived wholly uninterrupted with our friends and surroundings. No screens, nary phones, and nary adults interfering with however we lived. Summertime meant wandering astir inventing things to bash — climbing trees, throwing h2o balloons astatine fireflies, jumping disconnected bridges, riding bikes done mosquito fogging trucks, playing footwear the can, and scanning the nighttime entity for UFOs. It felt similar an endless world, mostly bare of adults."

—Anonymous, 67, Male, Missouri

36. "When I graduated precocious schoolhouse successful 1975, my Michigan schoolhouse had an 'open campus,' meaning students could permission whenever they wanted. No sign-out oregon anything. Absences were recorded, but during lunch, we could locomotion to McDonald's and inactive marque it backmost for class. Also, the drinking property was 18, truthful immoderate students could technically person a 'liquid lunch.' Interesting times."

37. "Just showing up astatine someone's location due to the fact that idiosyncratic told you determination would beryllium a enactment there. No telephone call, nary invitation, conscionable a sanction oregon an address."

—Anonymous, 66, Male, Ohio

38. "Smoking successful movie theaters. You could spot the projector beam shining done a heavy unreality of cigaret smoke. I retrieve watching Star Wars, Flash Gordon, and Battlestar Galactica done that haze. There were ashtrays built into the spot armrests."

Do you person a '70s representation that belongs connected this list? Drop it successful the comments below, oregon taxable anonymously utilizing the form. Your communicative could beryllium featured successful a aboriginal BuzzFeed Community post!

Note: Responses person been edited for length/clarity.