# 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:** 6
**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 2, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/101 "2019-09-02T12:46:36Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > That’s not my impression of the 1950’s and 60’s; which is when I grew up. (I was born in the early 50’s.) I think the demand for physical “perfection” has gotten much worse since then, and starts at much earlier ages. Absolutely. It was even (for men) a status symbol to be a little out of shape. Comedian Alan King did a routine decrying the small, brief fitness craze of the 1950s. That spare tire around his middle, King declared, showed that when there was hard work to be done, he could afford to hire someone to do it. The emphasis on being fit made no sense to him: “Are we going to \*wrestle \*the communists?” Admittedly, there was more pressure on women to at least look fit, whether achieved by dieting or wearing constricting undergarments. A bigger fitness craze began in earnest around 1980. Baby boomers metabolisms were slowing down. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fame made it less weird to lift weights. Running, especially distance running, became much more common. I remember when a middle aged civil servant in my hometown ran marathons. It was unheard of. Everybody thought the guy was Superman. But within a few years, it was no big deal. IMO the emergence of older people in good shape increased the aversion to non-fit people walking around scantily clad. ---
**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 2, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/102 "2019-09-02T12:57:20Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Anyone still have a road atlas for that matter? I was at the Sprawl Mart yesterday and noticed a couple racks of them past the checkouts. The Sprawltons doesn’t waste resources on something that doesn’t sell. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/103 "2019-09-02T13:44:17Z")
Back in the day I had a “hand held device” that played music that I could listen to when I was outside. Now, while walking the dog (out in the country) I have a hand held device that plays music, including songs I listened to back in the day (including Out in the Country). Back then it was a transister radio, today it’s an iPhone and iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![Taesahnim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taesahnim/32/84_2.png) [@Taesahnim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taesahnim)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/104 "2019-09-02T15:07:08Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Perhaps it’s my imagination, but I swear women’s facial expressions have changed over the past 40 years. Women used to smile more. Now the “stone/cold/serious” face seems to be the norm. Agreed. I hit my teens in the 60s. Girls my age used to have smiles on their faces ALL the time. Now I see teen aged girls and they all look like they just ate something really bitter. People were politer and nicer to each other back then, too. I miss that. ---
**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 2, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/105 "2019-09-02T17:14:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Girls my age used to have smiles on their faces ALL the time. Thank goodness that this has changed. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/106 "2019-09-02T17:36:40Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > The title of the thread is _small subtle_ changes…so here’s a pretty small one: > People used to put a pencil behind their ear. And if you did not have a pencil at hand you could always use a cigarrette. Another nice custom lost. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/107 "2019-09-03T14:31:20Z")
Paper maps have advantages over computer ones in some ways. If one wants to be generally oriented over a significant area, as opposed to just finding the way to a specific address, that’s much easier to do on paper maps. They can be spread out over a larger area, so one can see how locations relate to each other without having the smaller details disappear. Whenever I set a computer map to let me see a larger area, the street names and then entire smaller streets disappear from the map; I can see the detail or the broader picture, but not both at the same time, as I can on a paper map. Atlases are somewhere half inbetween – even large ones don’t have the space available of any individual foldable paper map, but on the other hand they have it all organized and together for a much wider area, so it’s not necessary to shuffle through a dozen or two dozen separate paper maps which keep changing relative positions all over the table (and, if you’re like me, the floor.) Probably the ideal is to have all versions available, computer maps and GPS voices and individual paper maps and an atlas. And a globe, while we’re at it. They all show different things, and are more or less useful in different situations. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/108 "2019-09-03T15:32:06Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Can’t you put outgoing mail in YOUR mailbox for the postal worker to pick up? (I believe you live in the country, but you do have a mailbox, right?) > > I’m asking because a friend of mine (my age-- almost 70) thought you had to go to the post office to mail anything. :eek: While visiting her in St. Louis a few years ago, I had something to mail, and I put it in her mailbox. She had never heard of this and actually said to me, “I hope the mailman knows what to do!” What did she think the flag on the mailbox was for? > > Since that incident happened, I’ve been wondering-- is this not common knowledge, i.e., that you can put outgoing mail in your \*\*own \*\*mailbox and put the flag up, or clip the outgoing piece to the letter slot cover, and the postal worker will pick it up and take it to the post office for you? 😕 In the town where my office is, the “mailman” isn’t a uniformed USPS worker – she’s an apparently independent contractor who drives around delivering the mail in her own car. She’s definitely not hip to the raised flag on the mailbox meaning outgoing mail. Fortunately, the post office is only a block away from the office. (Slight hijack: why is there a mailbox in front of the post office? _ **You’re there!!** _ > [@furryman](#): > > I got white pages and yellow pages up until 2017. I figured they stopped because they weren’t making money. My employer stopped advertising in the yellow pages about five years ago. Said she didn’t see the point in this day and age. > [@eschereal](#): > > We went a traveling this summer and had a large stack of paper maps – the free ones printed by the state. Ah, the Thomas Bros. Guide. My faithful companion in my early driving days. > [@](#): > > Reminds me a an exchange from some other forum thing > _How did people find their way around before they had google?_ > We used maps. > _No, I mean **before** google._ The other day, my employer said she needed to find an address. “I’ll look on MapQuest.” **MapQuest.** The look I gave her caused her to burst out laughing. She said I looked at her as if she suggested using a dowsing rod and a Ouija board. ---
**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 3, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/109 "2019-09-03T15:38:21Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > (Slight hijack: why is there a mailbox in front of the post office? _ **You’re there!!** _ For when they are closed. Also, the box in front of our PO is car accessible. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/110 "2019-09-03T15:47:58Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > My favorite is that in the 1970s you called places, but now you can actually call people. > > 1972: > > \ > Is Mom there? > No, I think she’s at Aunt Betty’s. > > \ > Aunt Betty? Is Mom there? > Sorry, honey, but she went to work. > > \ > Hello? > Mom? > Yes, honey… > > Now: > > \ > Is Mom there? > You’re calling my cell phone, dipshit. Who do you think is answering this call? Excellently put. Seems obvious when you think about it, but I’m glad you pointed it out. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/111 "2019-09-03T15:58:08Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Paper maps have advantages over computer ones in some ways. > > If one wants to be generally oriented over a significant area, as opposed to just finding the way to a specific address, that’s much easier to do on paper maps. They can be spread out over a larger area, so one can see how locations relate to each other without having the smaller details disappear. Whenever I set a computer map to let me see a larger area, the street names and then entire smaller streets disappear from the map; I can see the detail or the broader picture, but not both at the same time, as I can on a paper map. > > Atlases are somewhere half inbetween – even large ones don’t have the space available of any individual foldable paper map, but on the other hand they have it all organized and together for a much wider area, so it’s not necessary to shuffle through a dozen or two dozen separate paper maps which keep changing relative positions all over the table (and, if you’re like me, the floor.) > > Probably the ideal is to have all versions available, computer maps and GPS voices and individual paper maps and an atlas. And a globe, while we’re at it. They all show different things, and are more or less useful in different situations. I too have found the curation of what is important on a given scale to be a useful feature of physical maps. Seeing the bigger picture on the other hand is more of an advantage except when you have a small device. I only got a wireless internet-enabled smartphone in the middle of my last road trip vacation so I’m not sure what I’m going to do for my next one. I print out maps from Google for the specific places I want to go to and then have to write on them in pen if anything is confusingly labelled, and then rely on an atlas for the big picture. It remains to be seen if I will find it worth my time to do that now that I can just use my smartphone except when I need to look at it while driving. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/112 "2019-09-03T16:01:43Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’m 52. Every now and then I suddenly realize I don’t see something anymore. > > **Just last week I saw a man jogging without a shirt on. Back in the 1970s it was very common to see a man walking around bare chested. Today it’s a very rare occurrence.** > > Mustaches were very common among men in the 1970s. I think only state troopers have them now. > > Perhaps it’s my imagination, but I swear women’s facial expressions have changed over the past 40 years. Women used to smile more. Now the “stone/cold/serious” face seems to be the norm. > > The most obvious one, of course, is cigarette smoking. I’m glad that’s gone away. Just thought of this one yesterday. On Reddit, which skews young (though not nearly as much as it did 5 years ago) there was a picture of the bleachers in Wrigley Field. The top comment on the pic was someone asking: “Why isn’t that one guy wearing a shirt???”, as if it were a shocking thing to see. Back when I was a kid in Chicago, if the weather was good you would see half the men in the bleachers shirtless. I was there a couple of times when I felt odd for keeping my shirt on. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/113 "2019-09-03T16:08:06Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Does anyone roller blade/inline skate anymore? I was reminded about this yesterday at a garage sale where they were selling a pair. I used to run on a trail after work and there was a man who was older (60s probably, early 70s at the oldest) who would roller blade almost every day. He’s the only person I’ve seen 'blading in ages. > [@Clark\_Cello](#): > > Just thought of this one yesterday. On Reddit, which skews young (though not nearly as much as it did 5 years ago) there was a picture of the bleachers in Wrigley Field. The top comment on the pic was someone asking: “Why isn’t that one guy wearing a shirt???”, as if it were a shocking thing to see. > > Back when I was a kid in Chicago, if the weather was good you would see half the men in the bleachers shirtless. I was there a couple of times when I felt odd for keeping my shirt on. And now we have the obligatory shirtless dude at almost every sporting event. Extra points if it’s not appropriate for the weather at all (lookin at you Packer fan in January) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/114 "2019-09-03T16:14:51Z")
Remember the police MAN and the fire MAN and the mail MAN? When women first started doing these jobs, it seemed totally amazing. I remember calling the police for my friend and, when a woman showing up, her 7 year old son asking “Are you the police?” These days, it’s not even a thought when a police officer, a fire fighter or a letter carrier turns out to be a woman. ---
**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 3, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/115 "2019-09-03T16:16:26Z")
Do people still wax their cars? It was more common in the 70s And waxing and shaving sexy parts was unheard of. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/116 "2019-09-03T16:25:25Z")
Remember when you could eat whatever you felt like eating and didn’t have people commenting on your food choices, which are none of their damn business anyways? I miss those days. All the local buses have a sign saying no smoking, no food or drink, and radios silent. Today, nobody would think of smoking on a bus, and who has a radio anymore (though I have heard drivers telling people to turn it down or use an earplug for their device). And I don’t see how they can outlaw coffee drinkers, particularly on the early morning buses. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/117 "2019-09-03T16:29:18Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Remember the police MAN and the fire MAN and the mail MAN? When women first started doing these jobs, it seemed totally amazing. I remember calling the police for my friend and, when a woman showing up, her 7 year old son asking “Are you the police?” > > These days, it’s not even a thought when a police officer, a fire fighter or a letter carrier turns out to be a woman. Remember help-wanted ads categorized as “help wanted: male” and “help wanted: female”? That was entirely standard continuing into the 1970’s. I think it went away sometime in the 80’s. – I’ve never followed sports that much; but I don’t think the girls’ teams, even to the extent that they existed, got anywhere near the same news coverage as the boys’. And yes: boys and men didn’t shave anything but their faces. Girls and women shaved their legs from the knees down, and armpits. Nobody shaved their crotches! That would have been considered really weird. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/118 "2019-09-03T16:36:13Z")
Any I remember when no self-respecting woman would wear pants in public. Only skirts. ---
**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 3, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/119 "2019-09-03T16:47:47Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Excellently put. Seems obvious when you think about it, but I’m glad you pointed it out. It’s funny because the scriptwriters for American Hustle forgot this. My memory is a bit hazy, but Bradley Cooper calls somebody, argues with them, then asks “where are you?”… and I’m thinking, “But, Bradley, _you_ called _him_. You should know exactly where he is!” And he should have known this (well, maybe not the specific office#, but he knows what building/business he calls) - it’s how calls were made in 1979. "Let me call around, see if I can find… " is a sentence uttered maybe 20 times a day now, but it was uttered millions of times daily back in the 70s, because that’s how you found a particular person to call - by calling places, and seeing if they were there. So get with it, Bradley Cooper! :rolleyes: 😛 ---
**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 3, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516/120 "2019-09-03T16:51:46Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Do people still wax their cars? It was more common in the 70s My gf takes her car and truck to a local guy who waxes & details cars (inside and out) on the side for $100 (cash) once a year. I wax my car right after bringing it home from the lot. I was & wax it again when I trade it in 150,000 miles later. ETA: my gf has her car washed every couple of weeks as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-subtle-human-trends-behaviors-that-have-slowly-subsided-since-the-70s-80s/839516.md?page=7)