# How were things different when you were a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032 "2026-04-04T22:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/121 "2026-04-05T16:41:34Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So no one remembers a time of no air conditioning in the house they or their neighbors lived in or the the car they were driven in My parents first got a central air conditioner when I was 7 or 8 years old (so, early 1970s), which was uncommon, and a bit of a luxury. Our “main” car (i.e., the one my dad drove, and which we took on family trips) had AC by that same time, though the secondary car (driven by my mom) still was no AC for a few years longer. When we moved from Illinois to Wisconsin in 1975, my parents had central air installed at the new house, as well, though they probably only ran it for a couple of weeks, at most, in the height of summertime back then. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/122 "2026-04-05T16:42:08Z")
Steering wheels were narrow and not padded but a hard plastic of some type The horn was usually not in the middle but a skinny silver bar at the bottom of the steering wheel ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/123 "2026-04-05T16:50:22Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > those weird triangle windows that directed hot air from outside into your face. Commonly known as [wing windows.](https://www.fastlanecars.com/blog/wing-windows-history-and-classic-car-design) In the first cars I remember, those windows were opened and shut with a manual latch. Later models had a small crank handle that opened and closed the wing window, just like the big window in the car. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/124 "2026-04-05T17:00:04Z")
And, speaking of cars, I believe the first car that my parents had with an automatic transmission was a Ford Maverick, purchased in 1970. Until then, every car was a 3 on the tree. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/125 "2026-04-05T17:06:09Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Except that the whole concept of “stranger danger” was greatly exaggerated and dangerously misplaced Yeah I grew up at the height of this in the UK, and the whole stranger danger thing was an obsession. Particularly ironic as it transpires a huge number of the media figures known to children at the time were actually child abusers (Jimmy Saville, Rolf Harris, etc). A better message would have been “someone you know from the telly: danger” ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/126 "2026-04-05T17:09:51Z")
My Mom never learned to drive a manual transmission, so we always had an automatic. The first car I remember was an early sixties Rambler station wagon. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/127 "2026-04-05T17:09:56Z")
When I was a kid, we knew just about everyone on our block. We barbecued together on the weekends. The parents looked out for everyone else’s kids as well. We were a community of people that, for the most part, liked each other. If someone needed help, we pitched in and helped. If someone suffered a loss, we brought over food and mourned together. It’s perhaps the thing I miss most about those days of yesteryear. Today, it seems that most people keep to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/128 "2026-04-05T17:18:22Z")
High beams was a button on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/129 "2026-04-05T17:20:24Z")
The TV signal came from a large aluminum “aerial” mounted on a tall wooden pole. (actually an old power pole). In Northern Wisconsin we received clear NBC and snowy yet useable CBS from Lacrosse…(“Brought to you by OLD DUTCH potato chips!”) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/130 "2026-04-05T17:24:35Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > You took photos using film and so wouldn’t know how they turned out until you got them pack from the foto-mat booth or drugstore developer. My family – and most of the people we knew – used either inexpensive consumer-grade cameras from Kodak, which used film “cartridges,” or Polaroid instant cameras. The Kodak ones also used disposable flash cubes/bars: each photo taken used up one bulb. [![](https://media.gettyimages.com/id/90728171/photo/slot-in-film-cartridges-1960s-and-1970s.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=HVln-47DAVfCp5dEwsY1h8jkkHsDCUzq3EFuim3MPFk=) ](https://media.gettyimages.com/id/90728171/photo/slot-in-film-cartridges-1960s-and-1970s.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=HVln-47DAVfCp5dEwsY1h8jkkHsDCUzq3EFuim3MPFk=) [![](https://www.lightstalking.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Flashcube_on_Kodak_Instamatic.jpg) ](https://www.lightstalking.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Flashcube_on_Kodak_Instamatic.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/131 "2026-04-05T17:27:33Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > High beams was a button on the floor. The front seat was a bench. (I remember my grandmother’s 1979 Plymouth Duster, which she had _forever_) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/132 "2026-04-05T17:30:54Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The front seat was a bench. Agreed. Unless you had a “sporty” car, which had “bucket seats,” in front, three across in front was the norm. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/133 "2026-04-05T17:34:51Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > And, speaking of cars, I believe the first car that my parents had with an automatic transmission was a Ford Maverick, purchased in 1970. Until then, every car was a 3 on the tree. Our '68 Valiant (the first car I ever drove) was an automatic. I hadn’t driven a car with a 3 on the tree until the late 70’s when I had to drive my drunk friend home in his AMC Hornet. I hated it! ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/134 "2026-04-05T17:35:39Z")
When I was a kid, you sweetened things with sugar, or you used the artificial sweetener Sweet ‘N Low. Saccharine caused cancer in rats, so it wasn’t available anymore (that’s what we believed, never mind the ingredient list for Sweet ‘N Low), and there was no such thing as Equal or Stevia or whatever those new fangled packets are today. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/135 "2026-04-05T17:40:53Z")
I learned to drive on a ‘3 on the tree’. '64 Chevy van. Well, we also had a Chrysler Town and Country wagon. That was an automatic. My work truck at the mobile home park my grand pa owned/built was a three on a tree. Chevy 327ci (pretty sure) I was 12yo. Insurance agents would have a heart attack about that today. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/136 "2026-04-05T17:45:23Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Unless you had a “sporty” car, which had “bucket seats,” As a teenager in UK my friends were obsessed with these. They would add them to their minis (the old ones that were properly miniature) and other two door European compact cars, all very much not performance cars. As the least cool friend (who unfortunately was the largest) it was up to me to somehow squeeze in the back seats. Needless to say they were not needed to cope with the G forces produced by the 1200cc engine (the largest available in the mini) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/137 "2026-04-05T18:02:29Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > When I was a kid, you sweetened things with sugar, or you used the artificial sweetener Sweet ‘N Low. Saccharine caused cancer in rats, so it wasn’t available anymore (that’s what we believed, never mind the ingredient list for Sweet ‘N Low), and there was no such thing as Equal or Stevia or whatever those new fangled packets are today Made the mistake of putting my pops Sugar Twin on my Post Toasties once. Terrible aftertaste. Diet soda sucked until the 80’s as well. People under 45 are unaware how terrible sugar free drinks were at the time They banned cyclamates that sweetened Funny Face drink mix in the 60’s. That ban destroyed the product. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/138 "2026-04-05T18:02:53Z")
(1949) We drank water from a hose. But not the first twenty seconds or so. That stuff was warm and nasty​😀 YMCA was nude swimming for us guys. There always were some old farts hanging around. Town swimming pool was just a dam on the old Farmington canal at a wide spot. Always muddy from hundreds of kids churning the water. My older sister would chaperone me and the neighborhood kids to the movies on the bus to the next door city. She was nearly 10. We had a couple of bucks that covered the movie, hotdog, and a soda. One screen and multiple Westerns we’d see twice before heading back. Girl friend in college, we needed some sexy stuff. There were no stores (that we knew about). You bought a Variety/theater magazine. The last few pages had catalog ads for “Adult games, novelties, 8mm films. Must be 21 or older. Send cash, check or money order (or stamps - yes stamps) to Skeevy Productions​😀” at some PO Box in NYC. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for checks​😯 The catalog would come by whatever class mail was sorted by wolverines. It cost $6 or $7. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/139 "2026-04-05T18:15:38Z")
No one called long distance except for emergencies or special occasions and they were very short calls. And international calls cost a fortune. When I first went to Japan in the early 80s, the first minute cost ¥360. (about $1.50?) I use a VOIP service now that lets me call from an app with unlimited minutes to US and Canadian numbers for less than $10 a month. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032/141 "2026-04-05T18:25:55Z")
Corporations would have company picnics with carnival rides, all you could eat and drink, live music, etc. My dad’s company picnic started in the morning on a Saturday in the summer and went until midnight. Must have cost them tens of thousands. Every employee and guests invited at no cost. Any employers still do such extravagant things? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-things-different-when-you-were-a-kid/1029032.md?page=8)