There used to be a TV series called "Beyond 2000". It aired in the 80s and 90s. People would watch it for a fascinating glimpse into the future. Sometimes it’d blow our minds. Imagine not needing a key to unlock a door, and using a card instead? A “lap” computer! Or a robot that could play chess? Just wow.
Now that we've moved two decades beyond 2000, we have biometric access systems, robotic surgery, 3D printed limbs, electric powered cars. Things certainly have progressed. Redditor u/Red_Baronnsfw found out just how much the world has changed when they asked older people: What's one thing normal at your time but is now bizarre to even think about?
From paper maps, dialing telephones, written letters from penpals, to having to flip through the Yellow Pages to find a phone number… Keep scrolling for an epic trip down memory lane. And find out what life was like for people born before 1980.
#1
Childhood autonomy.
Once you were a certain age you were free range.
You were expected to act right out in the world and be home when you were told.
Other then that nothing was expected.
No play dates, no cell phone.
And certainly no posting the f*****g stupid thing you just did so others could see it.
When you did stupid s**t you kept it to yourself!
Image credits: fiblesmish
#2
I used to have several pen pals in different countries. There was nothing better than coming home from school and finding a letter.
Image credits: minsandmolls
#3
Arriving at the airport shortly before takeoff, checking your luggage with minimal to no hassle, and boarding your flight.
Image credits: FaberGrad
r/AskOldPeople is a cool spot online where you can ask older Redittors pretty much anything about life back in the day. It’s not a place to seek personal, health or mental health advice. It’s more for people to come together and reminisce about days gone by. Or for the curious, younger generation to find out how things worked for our forefathers. The community has built up an impressive 739 thousand members. Their main rule is that you can’t answer any of the questions unless you were born in or before 1980.
Some of the previous gems that have appeared in the sub include what people were scared of as kids that seem ridiculous now, and what meals their parents constantly made that they refuse to eat as an adult. But it was a question about things that once seemed normal and are now totally bizarre, that got us at Bored Panda thinking. Not just about the past but about the present and future too.
#4
The Yellow Pages.
not_falling_down:
And phone books in general. If you knew someone's name, you could find their address and phone number. And if you did not want you name and number in the book, you had to pay extra to have an "unlisted number."
Image credits: Gomphos
#5
Paper maps. You had to figure out your own route to where you wanted to go and road trips seemed more of an adventure back then.
Image credits: Dangerous_Arachnid99
#6
Having all the phone numbers of my family, friends and work memorized because there were no cell phones.
Nowadays, smoking is frowned upon by some, and often strictly forbidden in public places. But there was a time when second hand smoke was everywhere. On planes, in restaurants, offices, cars carrying kids, and even hospitals. And before 1950, doctors would even appear in cigarette adverts. They had no clue that smoking causes cancer.
By the late 40s, people started seeing a spike in lung cancer and even death. But it wasn’t until the late 1980s that smoking on planes became illegal. And even then, it was only banned on U.S. domestic flights of less than two hours. International flights were finally made smoke-free in the 90s. Really not too long ago if you think about it.
In sharing their comments, Redditors spoke of how their schools had smoking sections, how they could smoke on submarines in their Navy days, and how a hospital ward was once filled with smoke after they'd just had throat surgery.
#7
Rampant sexism. I couldn't even open a bank account when I got married.
everyonesmom2:
Same. My husband had to sign so I could get a driver's license.
Image credits: Gold__star
#8
The sounds younger people will never know of listening to your modem connect to the internet. It was such a specific, strange series of noises that is instantly recognizable to anyone who lived during the time of dial-up modems.
Image credits: sittinginthesunshine
#9
Sitting on my dad's lap while he was driving. He let me steer, too.
Also--cramming ten kids into a VW beetle (aged 10-14, birthday parties or picking up friends to play for the day), no seat belt, of course.
Image credits: LouisePoet
Just as cigarette smoke was considered sexy, safety wasn’t taken too seriously. Seatbelts were there for show. Some cars didn’t even have them. In the 1950s it became mandatory for racing drivers to wear seatbelts. And in the 60s, American passenger vehicles had to have them. But still, people didn’t really have to use them. That included babies and children. Believe it or not.
As Defensive Driving reports, “The National Ad Council ran countless ads for 25 plus years encouraging drivers to ‘Buckle Up’. States slowly starting implementing laws and by 1995, every state except New Hampshire had “Click it or ticket” laws. Currently, all states have a seat belt enforcing law.” And just as well, because the National Safety Council says seatbelts saved almost 375 thousands lives in the country between 1975 and 2017.
#10
World Book Encyclopedia.
If you were rich, you'd have the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Image credits: woodwerker76
#11
Smoking in hospitals and on airplanes.
Disastrous-Variety15:
Or even better: in restaurants.
frank-sarno:
There was a smoking section in my high school. I remember a girl who I had a massive crush on coming back from the smoking area and thinking, "She's smokes. She's so TOUGH."
Image credits: WoodsColt
#12
Photos were expensive, more rare, and took time to even see how they turned out.
You too pictures, dropped your film off (e.g. at a photo booth/stand with a person in a grocery store parking lot or at a film processing shop) then waited for the film to be developed and printed (roughly a week), extra cost to expedite.
Image credits: DangerousMusic14
Secondhand smoke and a lack of safety precautions might not be sorely missed. But there are some things a few older Redditors want returned. Like pen pals and posted letters. “I used to have several pen pals in different countries,” wrote u/minsandmolls “There was nothing better than coming home from school and finding a letter.”
If you don’t know what a pen pal is, the Oxford Dictionary defines it like this: “a person that you make friends with by writing letters or emails, often somebody you have never met.” Almost like how we chat to strangers on social media. But it took a lot longer back then. Both to send a letter, and to receive a reply. Here is a really sweet story about two pen pals who finally met for the first time after 43 years.
#13
Making ashtrays as a craft project in elementary school.
#14
Parents whacking kids with things. Belts, sticks, hangers, wooden spoons, rulers. It’s what parents did. Nobody even blinked when it happened.
My dad wasn’t the spanker in the family and one day my mom got mad and said he had to do it. I was scared because Dad was really strong. I put a book down the back of my pants. When I came and bent over his knee he saw my square butt and started laughing. My mom got so mad but Dad just couldn’t hit me and couldn’t stop laughing.
He never hit me once ever.
#15
Calling the movie theater to see what was playing and what the showtimes were.
Image credits: Appropriate_Canary26
In an age of instant communication, it could seem strange having to wait days, weeks, or months to receive correspondence from a friend, family member or even lover. But that’s exactly how it was. u/Airplade said they remember “Running to my mailbox hoping to get a letter from my girlfriend away at college. Or finally getting that cool thing I mail ordered eight weeks ago.”
A type of email was invented in the 1970s, before the internet existed. But it wasn’t until the 90s that email, as we know it, became publicly popular. And today, we have text messaging, and even video calls. Folks back then could never imagine the instant gratification of greeting someone face to face. While using a mobile phone. And sitting, standing or walking on opposite sides of the world.
#16
No seatbelts and having 2car keys. One ignition key and one trunk key.
#17
Always carrying dimes, later quarters, when on a date, in case things went sideways.
allflour:
Phone booths. Dude every now and again I need one still and they are gone!
#18
As soon as I turned 13, it was assumed by the entire neighborhood that I would babysit. It was common for me to have three kids under the age of seven for hours at a time. This was considered normal for all my friends, too.
Image credits: TXteachr2018
In the 70s and 80s, people thought there was a real possibility of living on the moon. It was thought that by the year 2000, we’d have colonies in space and we’d be “driving” flying cars. The "Space Race" had blasted off years earlier. Russia and America were going head to head to explore the great unknown. In 1975, Nasa even hired an artist, to illustrate their futuristic view of life on Mars and the moon. But as we now know, it was not meant to be.
#19
Small corner stores, “I’m buying beer/cigarettes for my mom/dad/grandpa” and coming home with exactly that.
#20
When I started working, women were required to wear nylons/pantyhose. And dresses/skirts were preferred. "Pant suits" were considered "casual".
The year I graduated from high school, I would not have been able to secure a mortgage from a bank as a single woman, salary notwithstanding. Even purchasing a car was iffy, banks did not lend to women without some sort of male guardian co-signing the loan. In the US.
It was routine to be passed over for positions as a female. There were no repercussions, it was normal. It was not considered discrimination; men needed the jobs more.
...and so very, very much more. And no, I'm not 80 years old.
#21
The last day of school before Christmas in 1975, in my small town in California, the school bus broke down and the principal gave us a ride in the back of his Chevy pick up truck.
On New Year's eve 1999, parts of the world held their collective breath. The masses waited for planes to fall from the sky, computers to stop working, bank vaults to burst open, and the world to end. Billions were spent preparing for the worst. The Y2K bug was about to bite as the clock struck 12. Or so some thought...
As Forbes reported, "computers around the world weren’t equipped to deal with the fact of the year 2000. Their software thought of years as two digits. When the year 99 gave way to the year 00, data would behave as if it were about the year 1900, a century before, and system upon system in an almost infinite chain of dominoes would fail. Billions were spent trying to prepare for what seemed almost inevitable."
#22
Running to my mailbox hoping to get a letter from my girlfriend away at college. Or finally getting that cool thing I mail ordered eight weeks ago.
Image credits: Airplade
#23
Also hand me downs. Most kids lived in had downs. Even me the only girl got my brother clothes. People would b*****k you if you got a mess on you because ‘that jumper goes to your cousin Samantha next. It had already been through Debbie and Lyndsey now me. You have to look after your stuff especially clothes and we were taught to fix clothes too
Toys. You got one or two. Not a full room. By time your 10 it’s full but took time to build up a collection. I had a pink car. Brother 1 helicopter and brother 2 train so one toy each till we were like 4 and 5. We could play with toilet roll tubes. Coat hangers. Make up our own toys. We got hand me down toys aswell. But it was never just buy a toy. It was earned. Birthday present or Christmas or earned by doing good work or a job
#24
Anytime you answered a phone you had no idea who was calling you.
Not knowing 1 single person's phone number - except my vet's office of of 30 years. For some reason it is the only number I still remember. Not including Jenny's number of course.
Image credits: gametime-2001
In a bizarre "twist of fate", on 1 January 2000, we entered the 21st century. A whole new millenium. Much ado about nothing. Babies were born. Life went on. Not a single plane fell from the sky. The masses breathed a collective sigh of relief and continued partying like it was 1999.
Just as we find some things super strange about the past, it’s quite likely that the kids of the future will look back on the 2020s and wonder what the hell we were thinking. Afterall, with every new era comes a new normal. What do you think seems normal now but will seem oddly peculiar in a couple of years? Let us know in the comments.
#25
Just not knowing. If you were meeting up with a friend at a certain place and time, and they didn't show up, there was no way to follow up. If you didn't know whether a certain celebrity was alive or dead, you asked a friend and hoped they were right. Where is the closest veterinarian? What does it mean when my car makes a beeping sound? What year did the Hundred Years War end? What should you do if you break a toe?
Pre-internet, all of these things were mysteries and you had to hope you had smart friends or a very well-stocked library nearby.
Editing to add that applying for jobs was the worst. You'd have to submit your resume in paper, then go home and wait for a call that might never come, meanwhile you could be out looking for other jobs.
Image credits: nakedonmygoat
#26
Dogs pooping everywhere. NOBODY picked up dog poop.
Free roaming pets, especially dogs which is far more rare now except in rural areas. It was common to have one or two neighborhood dogs that everybody knew by name, just wandering around.
Image credits: ethottly
#27
The dewey decimal system was the only way to find a book.
Li_3303:
And Librarians! (I’m a retired librarian).
#28
Having to actually, get up off my butt, to change the TV channel or to answer the phone, hanging on the wall.
Image credits: GCKrazy
#29
Children going off to friends' houses all day, without their parents knowing where they are. Kids traveling around like feral animals in packs, riding bikes, chasing the ice cream truck.
#30
Gas stations where they pumped your gas, checked your oil and washed your windows for that dollar or two you were spending. In the early 70s we would get 50c worth of gas to run around on all night.
#31
The father of my children was 21 when I met him, I was 15. No one batted an eye. This was 50 years ago.
Image credits: Vtfla
#32
The milk man. Milk, eggs, cheese and other dairy-adjacent items delivered to the house weekly. And the milk and OJ was in glass, returnable bottles.
#33
How utterly unsupervised we were as tiny children. I remember taking care of my brother by myself for the full summer while my parents worked starting at 8, he was 4.
alwayssoupy:
Yes, and my parents would leave us 4 kids in the car while they stopped for groceries. It seemed like they were gone for a while, but I'm not sure now. At least long enough for everyone to be dared to honk the horn, run the windshield wipers, and if we were really brave, get out and run in a circle around the car.
Image credits: Shapoopadoopie
#34
Rushing to the bank on Friday to cash my paycheck.
#35
Chicken pox parties.
Scottybt50:
My wife recalls as a kid being sent over to visit a friend who had chicken pox.
#36
If you wanted to watch your TV show you had to be in front of the television at the time it came on. If you missed it, you had to wait ages for it to show up and reruns. And you had to time your bathroom breaks with the commercials.
#37
The sissy test. My sibling’s peer group required you erase a patch of your skin to prove you weren’t a sissy. I am female but I was no sissy! I was an idiot, however.
Image credits: Short-Writing956
#38
Girls couldn't wear pants in elementary school. Lots of pictures of snow days and we're wearing knee socks!
#39
Someone dropping in for an unexpected visit. We always had neighbors or friends just stopping by when I was younger.
These days I don’t even think I’d answer the door for my sister if she dropped in unexpectedly.
Image credits: Peachy33
#40
Putting my oldest child on the floor boards in car. This was before car seats. She was a newborn so it was clean, I couldn’t just put her on the seat otherwise when I stopped at lights she’d roll off?.
#41
I remember getting up extra early on Winter mornings to go across town before elementary school to add water and shovel coal into my grandmother’s boiler, stopping after school go shovel more, running over after supper to keep it going and again before bed. Had to keep granny warm if I wanted her brownies. .
#42
"Airing out water"
I grew up with my grandmother in an inpoverished area. The wealthier people (middle class) had the good water. Everyone else had water that was extremely sulfuric smelling/tasting. Think like strong eggs smell. We had to set out water overnight in open containers so the sulfur would evaporate. After a night of this then the water would taste/smell fine.
#43
Riding bikes and skateboards without helmets and pads. Also building ramps to see how many kids you could jump your bike over. (Thank you Evil Knievel and the Wide World of Sports).
#44
Boredom leading to creation.
#45
Vehicle gas cap located behind the license plate.
#46
I was talking with a young person yesterday and asked her if she knew what a "mother's little helper" was. In the 60s, suburban housewives were taking valium. It was legal, and commonly referred to as "diet pills." You could easily get a prescription. So many pill poppers back then.
Image credits: jefuchs
#47
As a child in grade school we had nuclear bomb drills. Yup. We’d all hide under our desks. Seriously! It’s kinda like TSA now - as if, what we doing, would somehow make everything alright.
#48
When I was around 14-15 years old, there was a famous pop singer/guitar player in the neighborhood who would seduce all the 13-year-old girls we wanted to kiss. He was around 30-35 at the time, according to his Wikipedia bio. We obviously hated him with a passion, but that was because he was a much more successful competitor; it never crossed our minds that there would be something morally wrong with what he did ("grooming" was what poodle owners did to their dogs, back then). After all, all he did was what we wanted to do!, or so we thought.
I still hate that guy, and his songs, and the horse he rode in.
#49
Hitchhiking.
I never did it bc I was too young (in the 70s) when it was popular, and it had pretty much faded out by the time I was a teenager, but I remember hitchhikers were EVERYWHERE in the 70s.
#50
Typing homework. And keeping citations on index cards. God help you if you dropped the cards.
