Things your parents routinely did uncommon today…

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Fyrefox

Well-known Member
If you reflect upon your earlier life or childhood, you can think of things that your parents routinely did that are uncommon today. I can well remember my father wearing a dress hat when going to work; it was part of the male uniform back then. If outside, a decent man wore a hat; boys wore caps. Both are rarely seen today. Also shown: the pictured man is wearing a top coat, winter outerwear for men seldom seen anymore.

What are some things that your parents did that are now uncommon or unheard of? 🤔

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In the early 1980s I wore a hat and top coat to work. Of course at the time I was working for a State Representative in the capital. I didn't last long at that, after being exposed first hand to how things worked there. I left for a Civil Service position instead, and in a short time adjusted my apparel to fit.

Of course I've also done factory assembly line work, machine shop work, painted buildings, and even worked for a school system for a time. But I'm sure we all have stories about the stuff we've done and places we've been. Not to mention the more hair-raising events we've never told our kids.

So my parents probably did things I never imagined. However both grew up on farms, so they had long lists of things they did like milking cows, beheading chickens, etc.
 

My dad always wore a hat when going out, unless it’s to do yard work. Go to work, go shopping, go to church, he always wore one of his hats. His favorite was a Stetson his dad gave him. He had it blocked one time and the person doing the job ruined the hat. I never knew my dad to have a temper, but he did that day.
 
Routines at our house that I remember, but don't see much anymore.

-Let us kids roam and explore, just be home for dinner/supper.
-Sat at the TABLE during meals, rare to eat anywhere else.
-Mom ironed and sewed a whole bunch with 3 boys in the house.
-Dad kept our cars running perfectly and taught us about tools.
-you made your own way to sport practices and parents just went to games.
-taught to always add 'Ma'am and Sir' in a conversation with adults.
 
We went to church on Sunday's and visited relatives in the afternoon or they came to our house. We always dressed up for church. My dad wore a suit and tie and my mother wore a dress and high heels. I always wore a dress and had gloves, black patent leather shoes and a purse. This was every Sunday...not just at Easter.

We ate at the dining room table every meal. My father went to work every day and my mother stayed home and baked bread, cleaned, washed and ironed, and did all the household chores women did back then. We had a huge garden every summer and my mother canned everything. We didn't eat processed foods and I never had pizza until I was 19 years old....haha.

Kids were taught respect at home and in the school. It was a great time to be a kid. You didn't have to worry about being kidnapped while out riding your bike.
 
My dad smoked cigars occasionally in the house and my mom hated it.

My mom bought big expense ashtrays and then got shocked when their friends actually used them. 😂

My parents travelled throughout the year. They had their own condominium in Florida. Once they retired they became snowbirds for 6 months of each year until my dad lost his car license and they couldn’t get insured any more. My mom was 85 and my dad 90.
They danced often. They were a very social couple.
 
Big family get-togethers on holidays. Sometimes on Sundays. Everyone was tolerant, even of the wack-a-doos. Lots of fun activities and even good-natured arguments. I feel there was a general belief that we were stronger together than apart.

Contrast that with today where one side of the family won’t speak to me because I don’t agree with their intolerant agenda. This is unilateral on their part, I would gladly be friendly with them. I look past that stuff. It’s all very, very, sad and makes no sense.
 
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Feelslikefar said:
Routines at our house that I remember, but don't see much anymore.

-Let us kids roam and explore, just be home for dinner/supper.
-Sat at the TABLE during meals, rare to eat anywhere else.
-Mom ironed and sewed a whole bunch with 3 boys in the house.
-Dad kept our cars running perfectly and taught us about tools.
-you made your own way to sport practices and parents just went to games.
-taught to always add 'Ma'am and Sir' in a conversation with adults.
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Everything that Feelslikefar said, except... just two boys in the house, and instead of Ma'am and Sir we were taught Mr and Mrs (Smith, for instance).
 
MrPants said:
My parents always got dressed up in their Sunday best when flying on an airplane and they were also served a full meal during flights lasting a couple of hours or more.
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lol...sorry I'm smiling wryly....when I was growing up, my parents couldn't even afford to go on a plane. They wouldn't have been able to afford the passports much less the travel. An irony because for all their faults they worked hard.. but earned so little...

OTOH... my childless aunt and uncle , my fathers' brother, had migrated to Canada in the 40's .. and could afford to travel back to the UK every 4 years ..
 
The question made me think of routine chores - (once common but rarer now).
Defrosting the fridge - (self defrosting now). Periodic brake adjustments - (self adjusting for years). Washing milk bottles - (paper and plastic throw away containers now). Washing the family car every weekend - (automatic car washes now). "I'll wash and you dry" - (automatic dish washers now). And so on..........
 
I grew up in a small town until I was in high school.

One form of entertainment my parents did was to load us up after dinner in our car and drive downtown, about three blocks from home. We would park in one of the 45-degree angled parking places in the downtown area. And sit! The purpose was to "watch the people walking buy"! Mom and Dad loved it my sister and I thought it was crazy! Small town entertainment...

My Dad worked in a bank in the small town. He wore a starched white shirt with a necktie and dark suit every day to work. In his bank all the men at every level wore suits, ties, and white shirts. The women wore nice dresses only. My Dad walked to work every day, in the mountains we frequently had snow on the ground, and it was very cold many mornings. We had 40 below zero mornings more than once during our time in that town. Dad walked to work, and my sister and I walked to school. We never thought about getting a ride, everyone in town walked...we just dressed well for the weather.
 
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