Older Adults Are Sharing The Unique But Everyday Experiences From The Past That Would Have Younger People Genuinely Baffled

Recently, we asked older adults of the BuzzFeed Community to share the common but unique experiences from back in the day that younger generations would have a hard time believing were real, and the responses were eye-opening. And as an older Gen Z’er, I’m honestly baffled by half of it. Here are some of the everyday things that happened during the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s that, depending on your age, will make you feel super nostalgic or incredibly confused:

1. “I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, and we used to dress up for flights. The arms of every airplane seat had an ashtray built in, and they separated the smoking and non-smoking sections with a thin curtain between two rows toward the back of the plane.”

—Anonymous

2. “Water was consistently withheld from us in the ’80s. We’d go to band camp in 90-degree weather, and they’d give us maybe one water break every three or four hours out in the blazing sun. Good times, though. I guess I lived.”

—freshgoose711

3. “In the late ’70s and early ’80s, there was a phone number you could call, and every day, you could listen to a different story.”

—trendycoyote447

4. “We’d go to concerts, hold up lighters during the slower songs and ballads, and try not to burn our fingertips! Nowadays, phone flashlights are used.”

—charlie14miller

5. “You had to be home if you were expecting a phone call. There weren’t any cellphones yet, and answering machines hadn’t been invented. My grandson is always amazed whenever I tell him about the ’70s.”

—Anonymous

6. “When I was in elementary school, we got paddled in front of the class for our birthday. The teacher would sit down, bend you over their lap, and smack your butt with a wooden paddle for each year, plus one more for ‘good luck.’ It was humiliating. I’m 43, and I still can’t take anyone spanking me (even for fun) without fighting the urge to punch them.”

—Anonymous

7. “When I was in the sixth grade in 1966, I brought my 20-gauge duck hunting shotgun to school for show and tell. I showed the class how to clean the gun. We were in Minnesota, so it had to be in a case and unloaded for transport. We had to take an NRA class on gun safety, then we could buy shells, so long as we had proof that we finished the class. School shootings were inconceivable.”

—uniquelamp971

8. “In the ’40s and ’50s in school, we did not have ballpoint pens; we only had a fountain pen and a bottle of ink to refill it with. It’s wild how different young people have it growing up.”

—Anonymous

9. “Back in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, if we wanted to go somewhere, we’d walk, ride our bikes, or take the city bus. It never occurred to us to ask our parents to drive us, no matter where we were going, how far (within the city limits), or what the weather was like. Whether there was rain, snow, freezing temperatures, or extreme heat — if we wanted to go somewhere, it was up to us to get there ourselves (except school; we were there no matter what). Most of our moms didn’t drive, and even if they did, families only owned one car back then.”

—awfulgoose6441

10. “There was a smoking section for students in high school. About 20% of students smoked on campus.”

—Anonymous

11. “I’m 77 from Puerto Rico. I grew up next door to Fort San Cristóbal, the largest fort built by the Spaniards. We used to play baseball on the grounds. During the summer, we used to get out of the house early and wouldn’t be back until the street lights came on. No parent seemed to be worried, even when a fall from the wall could result in death.”

—surprisedwolf541

12. “In the ’50s and ’60s in Southeast Texas, there were no fences around homes and yards. Kids would play outside until after dark with no fear of anything except not getting back home on time. No one locked their doors on their houses or cars, either. My granddaughter always has a hard time believing it.”

—Dan, 75, West Virginia

13. “I worked in a small UK hospital in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The dining room for the doctors and surgeons was supplied with copious amounts of beer and wine at lunchtime.”

—fuggletim

14. “As a young teenager, if we wanted to smoke or drink beer, all we had to do was wait outside the store and ask the first person old-looking enough to buy it for us. We’d give them the money and wait for them to come back out of the store, and we rarely got no for an answer.”

—BN, 70, Nevada

15. “One of our family chores was to burn the trash (in a drum barrel) and bury the garbage.”

—Marie, 75, Massachusetts

16. “There was a company called Charles Chips that delivered big tins of potato chips and pretzels to your door.”

—Anonymous

17. “We had a ‘party line’ phone that was shared by six other families. Each family had a different ring; ours had two short rings followed by one long one. When the phone rang, you could hear the click-click-click of others on the line, sneaking on the line to eavesdrop.”

—deliciouspumpkin104

18. “I started kindergarten in 1953 and walked to school by myself starting in first grade. In fourth grade, I rode my bike everywhere; Mom would send me to the grocery store for a missing item or the drugstore to get her cigarettes.”

—modernduck79

19. Lastly: “I remember when the first hand-held calculators came out. They could only compute addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. There were actually stores that ONLY sold calculators, and they cost about $100.”

—Suzanne, 74, Virginia

Yeah, I could not imagine going to the airport in a dress or a skirt. 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!

Note: Some stories have been edited for length and/or clarity.