CuriositiesFEB 14, 2024

35 Trivia-Worthy Facts About The Past That May Leave New Generations Shook

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Back in my day, we only had one computer in the whole house. And we couldn’t use it if anyone was talking on the telephone! The world around us is changing at an incredible pace, and it’s extremely easy for young generations to forget or simply be unaware of what our grandparents experienced growing up.

So to remind ourselves how different the world was back then, one Reddit user recently asked older adults to share their favorite “pieces of trivia” that people their age know but younger generations might not. Below, you’ll find some of their most fascinating responses, so enjoy scrolling through. And keep reading to find a conversation with Jean Mader and Laura Bettinger of the OK Boomer podcast!

#1

35 Trivia-Worthy Facts About The Past That May Leave New Generations Shook

Phone numbers were memorized, and there was no speed dial, caller ID, or voicemail. I still remember my home # and my best friend's # from 50+ years ago.

ethottly, Kenny Eliason

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248points

#2

The world was way more colorful.

Cars were cool colors, not just gray, white or black. Like, a mall parking lot would look spectacular.

Now it seems like everywhere is just a ubiquitous, low profile, architecturally acceptable sea of blah.

robot_pirate, YoItsCapture

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224points

#3

That when you watched TV you had to watch what was on and if you wanted to watch something in particular, you had to wait for it to come on.

BreakfastBeerz, Aleks Dorohovich

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218points

To gain more insight on this topic, we reached out to Jean Mader and Laura Bettinger, co-hosts of the OK Boomer podcast. They were kind enough to provide some examples of things they remember that Gen Z might be confused or surprised by. "We all had a crush on Little Joe on Bonanza, watched in black and white," Jean revealed. "[We were] excited to get the annual big phone book and peruse the yellow pages (old books used as handy booster seat for kids)."

The hosts also provided a long list of things Gen Z might not be aware of: Princess style landline phones, typing on typewriters and using whiteout, getting blue fingers from carbon paper to make copies, using World Book Encyclopedias instead of Google, giant paper roadmaps you could never properly refold, and trading Beatles cards. Jean also pointed out that men would hold doors open for women, open car doors, and walk next to curb for women. "Always!"

#4

Not that long ago, but you no security screening at airports. You could literally walk the person to the boarding area and watch them board the plane.

LCCR_2028, Matthew Turner

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212points

#5

When the internet first came out, you couldn't talk on the phone and be online at the same time.

LosBrad, mautkananganach

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205points

#6

My boss blew my young co-workers mind the other day when she explained that there is a special kind of black paper, that you can put between two regular pieces of paper, and when you write on the top one, it shows up on the bottom one!

mr_roborto, Kelly Sikkema

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205points

Jean also reminded us of 3.2% low alcohol beer, diets from 1980's like the Cabbage Soup diet and Grapefruit Diet, huge Hi Fidelity furniture like stereo record players, metal lunch boxes, riding in the back of station wagons facing backwards with no seatbelts, view finders, video stores, Swanson TV dinner nights, arm wrestling to settle disputes, nobody wearing sunscreen, fallout shelters and houses with coal chutes.

#7

MTV was all music.

TKERaider

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201points

#8

Tv stations used to just go off at midnight. They would play a test pattern and a tone until resuming broadcasting around 6am.

shavemejesus, Denelson83

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199points

#9

That it was normal for an entire household to share a single phone number.

AlexMango44, Annie Spratt

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196points

We also asked the hosts if they happen to miss any of these things from the past. "Do not miss encyclopedias," Jean shared. "Google at our fingertips is amazing (although with this, we lost the ability to spell on our own). Truly thankful for GPS, but miss a map here and there to get a true perspective as to where things are. And a good arm wrestle is always fun and handy."

#10

My 20 yo son liked this one:

When driving to anywhere new, you had to get directions or stop at the gas station and ask for them…

Or you could buy a map/atlas.

littlemissnoname-, Dominika Roseclay

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189points

#11

There were telephones EVERYWHERE. Streets, shops, sidewalk corners, etc., etc.

You paid for calls with COINS.

PawzzClawzz, cottonbro studio

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183points

#12

We used to make our Christmas or birthday wish list from looking in a Sears & Roebuck (or other store's) catalog. You could actually order and pay for things via snail mail, and it was safe to do so.

LeeAnnLongsocks, notavailable_name

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172points

And when it comes to things we do today that future generations might be shocked by, Jean predicts that because AI will take over, they may be shocked that we ever had to creatively write anything! "Will cars all be automatic and they will be shocked we used our hands to steer?" she asked. "Robots will clean our houses, and they will chuckle at the fact that we actually moved a vacuum."

If you'd like to hear more from Jean and Laura about life "back in the day," be sure to check out their podcast, OK Boomer!

#13

My adult children and all their friends didn’t believe me when I first told them that married women weren’t allowed to have a credit card in their own name until 1974. Before that, they could only have one through their husband.

jmac94wp, CardMapr.nl

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171points

#14

There used to be a phone number you could call to get the time. It would update every 10 seconds. “At the tone the time will be…”

GshNAttck, Min An

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166points

#15

All of us kids, as young as toddlers, used to pile into the open bed of a pickup truck and just be driven all over hell and gone by adults who didn't even have seatbelts in the cab. No one ever questioned this. It was a perfectly legitimate method of transporting small kids.

tarot_tarot_bo_barot

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148points

#16

Ashtrays everywhere. Homes, businesses, restaurants, hospitals, malls, schools (designated area), etc. Even if you didn't smoke you had ashtrays, at least on your coffee table, for guests.

oldcatsarecute, Markus Spiske

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147points

#17

No ATM or debit cards. You would have to withdraw enough cash to cover you for the weekend, since the banks were closed.

renushka

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143points

#18

Cigarette machines pretty much everywhere, as long as you put the money in you could get a pack of smokes no matter what age you were

No_Worldliness_6803, Arz

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136points

#19

Leaving kids in the car to run into a store was no big deal.

shkilo, Sam Barber

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133points

#20

(M69). Gas station attendants would put gas in your car, cleaned your windshield, and check your oil as a part of buying the gas. Then you paid him through your car window without getting out of your car.

Pop / soda came in glass bottles.

Grocery stores only sold food and the stores were about a quarter of today’s sizes.

When you needed wood and such for a home project, there was no Home Depot. You went to the lumber yard for wood and anything else, a small local hardware store.

3D-ironowl

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128points

Poll Question

What emotion might older adults aim to evoke in young people by sharing their experiences?

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