# Small/subtle human trends & behaviors that have slowly subsided since the 70s/80s. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516 "2019-08-31T13:06:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/282 "2019-09-13T19:15:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I realized this morning that I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk about a six-pack of beer in decades. How is the beer packaged where you are from? Here it’s typically (but not exclusively) 6 packs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/283 "2019-09-13T19:21:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I realized this morning that I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk about a six-pack of beer in decades. I haven’t bought a “six-pack” of beer in a long time. I do buy cases, half cases, and mix-6s though. ETA: and bomber bottles, and growlers. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/284 "2019-09-13T19:29:27Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > How is the beer packaged where you are from? Here it’s typically (but not exclusively) 6 packs. Honestly, I have no idea. I assume still in 6-packs and 12-packs and cases. I just mean that I haven’t heard people in real life or in movies or TV talk about “grabbing a six-pack” in ages. Perhaps I just don’t move in the right circles anymore. I would liken this to way that no one talks about buying weed in lids, dimebags or nickelbags anymore: it’s all eighths, quarters, ounces etc. or by gram weight. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/285 "2019-09-13T19:31:46Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Honestly, I have no idea. I assume still in 6-packs and 12-packs and cases. I just mean that I haven’t heard people in real life or in movies or TV talk about “grabbing a six-pack” in ages. Perhaps I just don’t move in the right circles anymore. > > I would liken this to way that no one talks about buying weed in lids, dimebags or nickelbags anymore: it’s all eighths, quarters, ounces etc. or by gram weight. Maybe it’s regional. I don’t buy a lot of beer, but I would certainly say 6-pack if I wanted 6 beers packaged together. Same for soda. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/286 "2019-09-13T19:35:55Z")
Yes, if i wanted to buy six beverages packaged together I’d call it a six-pack; I’m saying this term isn’t as common as it used to be, IME. I buy sodas in 12-packs. When I was in college I bought beer in cases. At one time (the 70s and 80s) “six-pack” was the default configuration (IME) and today that just isn’t the case (again, IME). ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/287 "2019-09-13T19:41:13Z")
Am I the only one remembering 4-packs? It seems that it was a thing in the late 70s / early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/288 "2019-09-13T20:14:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Are you sure it wasn’t KLondike 5-? KL-5 maps to good old 555. While HOllywood-5 maps to 465. > > In _Play It Again, Sam_, Tony Roberts’ character is always using a pay phone to call his office to let them know where he was and tells them the pay phone number. Lot of KL-5’s IIRC. I know why Hollywood uses fake numbers - so innocent people don’t get endless crank calls from bored yayhoos calling 343-2794 and asking for Charlie Brown. But when it’s a pay phone, why not use the real number? So what if some teenage calls and asks for Dick. Chances are, no one will answer, and if they do, he’s not there. Hollywood should pool its money and get a range of phone numbers set up, so that if some peckerwood calls the number and tried to get Tony Stark, they eother get a rude message calling them stupid, or they get a prerecorded message of Stark telling them he’s out but they can leave a message, or get bonus information on the next movie, or whatever. It can’t cost that much. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/289 "2019-09-13T20:21:02Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > Am I the only one remembering 4-packs? It seems that it was a thing in the late 70s / early 80s. Four-packs are back – they’re not uncommon these days for craft breweries (especially the ones that are using cans instead of bottles). ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/290 "2019-09-14T02:42:43Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I heard somewhere that, in my state, bars that serve cocktails and shots (distilled spirit) are required to have a major portion of their revenue coming from gnosh. Taverns (beer/wine only), not so much. Not so much these days. Comedy clubs lobbied, successfully in many states, to get that food percentage lowered so that it would be easier for comedy clubs to sell liquor. Because nobody goes to a comedy club to eat, but they want cocktails with their comedy. Of course, that spilled over into allowing traditional beer & wine bars to serve liquor, though at least around here, while most of these places now offer liquor, they’ve retained mostly the same clientele who were coming in because they preferred beer in the first place, and so they continue to sell mostly beer. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/291 "2019-09-14T03:00:32Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Yeah, well, when was the last time you (in the US) dialed a 7-digit phone number? > [@AnalogSignal](#): > > I regularly call numbers in my area code with 7 digits. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > This afternoon. > > You can still dial numbers that are in the same area code with seven digits around here; at least, if you’re dialing from a landline. (Though I’m not entirely living in the 1970’s; “dialing” is figurative, I punched buttons.) A college friend of mine is a Universalist minister. His ordination twenty years ago took place in a historic church in the tiny town of Canon, Georgia, population 725. The church - a classic white clapboard one-room building that would not look out of place on the set of _Little House on the Prairie_ - did not have air conditioning (and the ceremony took place on a sweltering July day), so alongside the hymnals in the pews, the church provided paper fans. Apparently donated by the local funeral home, which listed its phone number…of four digits. I felt like I had stepped back into the 1910s. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/292 "2019-09-14T03:36:16Z")
That’s classic. “Robertson’s Funeral Home, just dial 7823, then hang up, drive to Canon, Georgia, and dial 7823.” The tiny town I went to college in used only 5 digits, in the 70s/early 80s. I’ll check and see if they still do. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/293 "2019-09-14T05:08:51Z")
Have no idea if this is subtle, but the idea of a 1981-era teen female (of the Atlanta suburbs variety) being interested in any two (or, hell, one) of the following would’ve astounded me: 1. Tolkein 2. Star Wars 3. Video Games 4. Superheroes ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/294 "2019-09-14T05:21:52Z")
I read The Hobbit and LOTR when I was 7-10 years old in the 1960s. My female sitter turned m on to Tolkien. I don’t know what “of the Atlanta suburbs variety” means, but in the early 1970s a few states north of there, I knew plenty of other girls and teens who read Tolkien and watched Star Trek. I was always able to find other girls who read science fiction and, a few years later, played Dungeons and Dragons. When the first movie came out, lots of young women liked Star Wars. Some for the story, many for Han Solo. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/295 "2019-09-14T15:24:30Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Have no idea if this is subtle, but the idea of a 1981-era teen female (of the Atlanta suburbs variety) being interested in any two (or, hell, one) of the following would’ve astounded me: > > 1. Tolkein > 2. Star Wars > 3. Video Games > 4. Superheroes That’s largely because of stereotypes, pushing gender roles, and the hostility of visible parts of various fandoms to female fans. Women have long been active in various fandoms, but a tendency for outside media to portray them as completely male hobbies and for large chunks of organized fandom to push women away and/or not acknowledge their existence leads to the appearance that no women are into these sort of things. Marion Zimmer Bradley was a major defender of Tolkein in articles going back to 1962, In 1981 Pat Nussman did an informal article about the lack of men in active Star Wars Fandom, [Where the Boys Are - Fanlore](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Where_the_Boys_Are) . Even as far back as 1948 women made up 10-15% of science fiction authors, and Frankenstein (written by a woman) is often considered the first science fiction novel. The Sumerian Game in 1964 was one of the first computer strategy games and was written by a woman, one of the co-designers of Centipede Dona Bailey (1981, a popular arcade game) was female, as was Dani Berry the creator of MULE (1983, a popular multiplayer trading game). Dorothy Woolfolk was an editor at DC Comics as far back in the 1940s. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/296 "2019-09-14T16:19:29Z")
The discussion of the Mary Tyler Moore Show (which followed [this recent thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=881290) on the death of actress Valerie Harper) mentioned Sue Ann Nivens (the character played by Betty White). Sue Ann was a comically exaggerated example of a stereotype which has pretty much gone away: the Marriage-Hungry Woman (MHW). Another example was Sally Rogers (played by Rose Marie) on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Once common in fiction, the MHW was comical in her desire to drag a man – any man with a pulse – to the altar. The MHW was a product of an era when unmarried people – particularly women – were looked at as somehow failed and flawed. Matter of fact, the Mary Richards character was a major blow against such an attitude. Often the MHW was quite attractive, and more desirable than the men she was willing to settle for, which may have been a device to make the character more appealing to men. This is like ‘Hollywood ugly’, where a beautiful actress like Tina Fey is portrayed as being unattractive. The MHW gradually disappeared with the advent of the sexual revolution and increased career opportunities for women. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/297 "2019-09-14T16:41:39Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > Am I the only one remembering 4-packs? It seems that it was a thing in the late 70s / early 80s. There are a few brands of root beer that sell in 4-packs but for the most part I still associate 4-packs with wine coolers. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/298 "2019-09-14T16:47:52Z")
Fever Tree sodas/tonics come in 4-packs. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/299 "2019-09-14T21:24:04Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Sue Ann was a comically exaggerated example of a stereotype which has pretty much gone away: the Marriage-Hungry Woman (MHW). Another example was Sally Rogers (played by Rose Marie) on the Dick Van Dyke Show. > > … > > The MHW gradually disappeared with the advent of the sexual revolution and increased career opportunities for women. Sue Anne was _not_ interested in marriage. Definitely interest in men, but not for the purposes of marriage. She was in fact an exemplar of the sexual revolution. It was surprising for many at that time to see a woman her age act so brazenly in her sexual desires (without a thought of a getting a husband). In the finale, after being fired, she took a job as a “sort of a practical nurse” to a rich old dude. I don’t think marriage was on the table. Cf. Jennifer Marlowe on _WKRP_ but older. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/300 "2019-09-15T03:34:06Z")
One thing my grandparents’ WWII generation seemed a lot more interested and concerned about than now was the ethnicity or religion of people. It was something they thought important to know and discuss; for example, if a family who was catholic moved in to the neighborhood, they would have been identified and appraised as the “the Catholic family” - with that characteristic given primary importance - whereas now I think somebody’s non-‘wasp’y qualifies would be an afterthought. Certainly, Black skin was even more notable back then, but being of other identifiable ethnicities like Italian (what my grandmother would refer to as Eye-talian) or Irish was considered an important part of describing a person. Obviously, there’s a lot of discussion today about diversity, but back then it was more likely to be a shorthand for explaining how the person thought or acted. At least, that’s the impression I get. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/301 "2019-09-15T06:36:22Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > One thing my grandparents’ WWII generation seemed a lot more interested and concerned about than now was the … religion of people. It was something they thought important to know and discuss; for example, if a family who was catholic moved in to the neighborhood, they would have been identified and appraised as the “the Catholic family” … Somewhat similarly, one thing I’ve noticed is that the post-WWII generation attended church regularly and wasn’t afraid to say so (“Well, I was talking to Bill at church last Sunday, and he said …”). When I was a child in the 1960s, _everybody_ went to church every Sunday. Our street practically cleared out Sunday mornings, as most every family went to church. The churches that families on our street attended may have been Protestant or Catholic, but they were churches, it was Sunday, and not attending church was out of the question. As I recall, from my own childhood attendance at church, it was packed every Sunday, with perhaps three hundred to four hundred people. Our church had plenty of social clubs for all ages that didn’t focus on religion–Cubs, Scouts, the Teen Club (wholesome activities such as bowling, for teens, always accompanied by pizza), the Badminton Club (in the church gym), the Couples Club (for newlyweds), the Senior Ladies Bridge Club, and so on. I sang in the choir of a Protestant church in the 1990s, and noticed the dropoff in attendance. The church was not as big as the one I attended as a child, but still, it might have been half-full at best on an ordinary Sunday, and most of the congregation was at least fifty years old. There were few families with young children, and any social clubs the church had, were geared towards the demographic that was attending–that is, seniors. The Senior Ladies Bridge Club was there, but no Teen or Badminton clubs. Nowadays, neither me, nor anybody I know, goes to church regularly. If they do, they don’t talk about it. A sharp contrast from my childhood and teen years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516.md?page=16)