# Things you remember from your childhood that would be ABSOLUTELY UNTHINKABLE today **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561 "2009-04-09T21:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/221 "2009-04-13T16:34:42Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > If there was a station like that now, I’d listen to it. I’m 38. Good news! There are many Internet radio stations that play nothing but that, at [Live365.com](http://www.live365.com/index.live): • [1930s music and old time radio](http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?genre=30s) • [1940s music and old time radio](http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?genre=40s) • [Big band](http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?genre=big%20band) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/222 "2009-04-13T16:38:46Z")
I graduated high school in 1986, and we still had a smoking area outside. As to the 30s and 40s music, we had a “beautiful music” station in Columbia as late as the late '80s as well. I even applied for a job there at one point and got an FCC broadcaster’s license to facilitate my career. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/223 "2009-04-13T17:13:34Z")
I was a teenager in the early 70s. I know it’s worse that I occasionally hitchhiked, but I _really_ can’t believe I used to walk everywhere – up hill, down dale and through the grottiest parts of downtown Philadelphia – barefoot. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/224 "2009-04-13T17:39:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Remember **GENERICS**? For those too young to know them only as a medication option, grocery stores used to sell big white bags or containers of products with just the item’s name on it: Yeah, I remember drinking **BEER** in the '70’s. Tasted like diluted piss, but it only cost something like $1.69 a six-pack. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/225 "2009-04-13T17:43:47Z")
If you ever read _With Love from Karen_ by Marie Killilea, she was 44 and had nine previous pregnancies, a child that died soon after being born, a child with celebral palsey, a child that almost died right after being born,and five miscarriages. When she gets pregnant again, she goes to a specialist and as he is talking to her in his office he offers her a cigarette, which he then lights for her., ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/226 "2009-04-13T17:54:03Z")
Also Class of '86 We had a smoking area in high school too. My Sophmore year they moved it to a protected courtyard (I think to keep the drug sales in check). We also routinely left campus in Junior high (7-8th grades) to go to the 7/11 store and buy the all-important cinnamon toothpicks with which to burn holes in our lips. We often ran around during gym class with toothpicks in our mouths. FLashlight Tag: around 10:00pm you’d hear the sound of neighborhood kids blowing into their thumbs (a little like the sound of those conk-shell horns) is there a name for that? And all of us would trickle out our bedroom windows and go run around the neighborhood playing tag well into the night. Playing “tag” with rubber BBs, especially at my Mother’s family farm. Probably the precursor to paintball, since evrybody had a gun, and noone was “it” per se. Last man hit won. This game really toughened you up, because it was played over a wide distance, and if you could cover the pain nobody knew for sure you’d been hit. Many a time you’d spot a welt on someone the next day and yell “Cheater! I KNEW I got you!!”. Riding our bikes to the railroad tracks (3-4 miles I gues?) and then jumping a boxcar into town to buy a hotdog at the gas station. Then praying there would be another one to get us back to our bikes. We never got stranded, but were seriously late a couple of times. And yeah, the belts. They were everywhere in our neighborhood, you seldom got through a barbeque without somebody whacking a kid in front of everybody. Makes me sick to think about it. Slapping/spanking other peoples kids. Routine at CCD and Sunday School, rarer at sleepovers but still happened. then they’d call your parents who would whack you again when you got home. Fun times. . . ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/227 "2009-04-13T17:56:41Z")
This thread is depressing to me - it brings back all the fun stuff I did as a kid (born in 1972) that my children aren’t likely to be able to experience. But here is a question - presumably the adults who are “in charge” these days had all these freedoms that they fondly remember when they were young. Why is it now taboo to allow children to do things like roam the neighbourhood unsupervised or be a latchkey kid? Why are we not projecting our experiences on them? Surely there are not more creeps/pedos/mass murderes today than before? I remember that a little girl [disappeared](http://websleuths.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-32372) without a trace a stone’s throw away from my house. If my parents were concerned that there was a serial abductor on the loose, they kept it to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/228 "2009-04-13T18:28:39Z")
> [@TJVM](#): > > When I was a young child in the 1970’s, there was a program in my area called “Helping Hands.” People could get a special “helping hands” sign to put in their window, to indicate that they were willing to help out children in trouble. Parents, including mine, told their children that if they had a problem while they were walking somewhere, they should look for a house with a helping hands sign, and go there. As far as I know, there was no background check required to participate; you proved your worthiness by asking for a sign, and your house magically became an officially-sanctioned safe haven for passing children. Today, of course, this program would be considered insane. It still exists in my neighborhood. At our last neighborhood gathering, they were asking for volunteers to participate, although there is a background check as part of it. “Safe Haven,” I think it’s called. The couple at the end of my street volunteered and are now a Safe Haven. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/229 "2009-04-13T18:37:29Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > It still exists in my neighborhood. At our last neighborhood gathering, they were asking for volunteers to participate, although there is a background check as part of it. “Safe Haven,” I think it’s called. The couple at the end of my street volunteered and are now a Safe Haven. It existed in New York City when I was at college. I remember seeing businesses with Safe Haven stickers. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/230 "2009-04-13T19:10:01Z")
I remember other kids getting beatings from their parents - black-eye, thrown-down-the-stairs kinds of beatings - and no one even thought to report it back then. It was just assumed that the kid must have done something bad enough to deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/231 "2009-04-13T19:28:16Z")
> [@mske](#): > > This thread is depressing to me - it brings back all the fun stuff I did as a kid (born in 1972) that my children aren’t likely to be able to experience. > > But here is a question - presumably the adults who are “in charge” these days had all these freedoms that they fondly remember when they were young. Why is it now taboo to allow children to do things like roam the neighbourhood unsupervised or be a latchkey kid? Why are we not projecting our experiences on them? Surely there are not more creeps/pedos/mass murderes today than before? You are correct. The homicide rate of children in the U.S. has stayed flat for the last 25 years or so, since you were a child. It’s perception over reality. Heavier media coverage? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/232 "2009-04-13T19:48:48Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > Yeah, I remember drinking **BEER** in the '70’s. Tasted like diluted piss, but it only cost something like $1.69 a six-pack. Just the other day, I saw Vainlla Ice cream in a white box with no brand name. We always called them “no-brand” items. Other than the Vanilla ice cream, I don’t see that anymore. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/233 "2009-04-13T19:52:09Z")
When I was about 15 (around 1970), I went on an exchange concert with the school band from Rhode Island to Philadelphia. On the way back, the buses stopped in New York City, and we kids were simply turned loose to do whatever we felt like for about 4 or 5 hours… there were certain specific activities that we could do if we wanted, but we didn’t have to… just “be back at the buses by 6”. I remember we were near Broadway, because I went to see a matinee performance of “Fiddler on the Roof”… afterwards, a couple of friends and I found a pinball hall and hung out for awhile before returning. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/234 "2009-04-13T19:53:33Z")
Born in 1951. Along with the trucks that had the cannon-sized mosquito foggers, there was quite the fire ant problem in Georgia. Planes would occasionally fly over and dump granular poison to control fire ants. We’d be out at the ball field, or even in someone’s back yard when these low-flying planes would swoop down and lay down a swath of this granular poison. We thought it was great, and of course looked up, often with mouths open as well as eyes as this DDT or whatever it was rained down on us. No big deal! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/235 "2009-04-13T20:02:23Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Oh? How so? 😃 We-ell, it’s been a good long while since I was spanked for non sexual purposes, is all. In fact, I think my parents spanked me a bit, but by now it’s evened out. That is, the number of times I’ve been spanked sexually outranks the number of times I’ve been spanked for parental reasons. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/236 "2009-04-13T21:27:17Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > I graduated in 1982.. My data point, our high school had a campus smoking area until 1989. Our _junior_ high school in the early 80s had an “off-campus” smoking area where students and teachers would both go. It was just on the other side of a chain link fence off of the school property line, in full view from many classroom windows. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/237 "2009-04-13T21:28:34Z")
Well, just so you learned your lesson. Or maybe you already knew before the spankies.:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/238 "2009-04-13T21:41:59Z")
My dad was my soccer coach and was frequently alone with ten or fifteen girls my age, from when I was about ten to about sixteen. He’s sure he would never be allowed to do it now, but I’m not so sure. Are all the girls’ soccer teams nowadays throroughly chaperoned at all times? I suspect there are still individual male coaches out there. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/239 "2009-04-13T22:12:31Z")
My daughter had a male soccer coach. Usually one or two of the parents were hanging around during practice, but there was no formal chaperone system. I generally felt okay leaving my daughter there as long as there was at least one other girl. (Actually, I didn’t have any problems with the guy at all, but I would stay for a few minutes if we were the first to arrive at practice.) ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561/240 "2009-04-13T22:41:31Z")
I was in Junior Achievement in 74 and 75. The kids, staff and advisors were free to smoke throughout the building if they wanted. No one gave it a second thought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-remember-from-your-childhood-that-would-be-absolutely-unthinkable-today/492561.md?page=13)