27 Things '60s Kids Did That Would Horrify Us Now....

CinnamonSugar said:
My mom also referred to this as tincture of merthiolate, if that rings any bells. Stung like fire when applied to open scraps (I sported a lot of these as a child.). Mom told me it was “killing the germs”. Hah
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No I definitely no we didn't have that, maybe we didn't have it in the uk...
 

CinnamonSugar said:
My mom also referred to this as tincture of merthiolate, if that rings any bells. Stung like fire when applied to open scraps (I sported a lot of these as a child.). Mom told me it was “killing the germs”. Haha
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OMG. I used to get painted with that stuff frequently. I'd scream before it was even applied cuz it hurt so much. It must have killed the germs because it felt like it was killing me when applied. The perils of being an adventurous child.
 
I remember soo many of these things,yet we felt safe. My Mom's friend smoked and when she had her baby they even allowed her to smoke in her hospital room.
I remember these things the most. Especially sleeping in the back window of the car when we would go see my older brother at the Army Base where he was stationed. My sister would sleep on the back seat and I was in the back window.

Walking to school with friends
Being taught by Nuns
Cooling Off with a Fire Hydrant
Sleeping in the Back Window of the Car
Mercurochrome
 
Those pics brought back so many memories of myself and my younger brothers.....All of it happened to us, except, no trampolines, no BB guns, never came home to an empty house, and never hitchhiked, but of course can't speak for my brothers back then....

We were all over the place outside till dark also.....and that red iodine was the pitts.....my Dad smoked in the house all the time and his fam smoked like chimneys even the aunts when pregnant.....

I always walked miles back and forth to school like you others and had many bad experiences along the way, like strange men approaching me and asking if I need a ride, wild or lost dogs following me forever and trying to bite me, only to tell Mom and she just blew it off and called me a sissy.....most fams only had one car in the household that Dad took to work so no rides, ever.....

The good ole days :giggle:
 
Walked 2 miles each way to and from school. Only time school was closed was at 40 below. ( this was the 50's) We had to stay outside. Not allowed in until 5:00 P.M. Could go anywhere, do anything! I often went to a bar downtown and played the pinball machine. Had to wear dresses to school, even when it was freezing. I'd go down to the river and climb the hills, go in caves. Kill rattlesnakes. In the winter, tie our sleds to the back bumper of a car and fly down the street, Walked across bridges that had no cross boards left. The sign, "Danger. Do not enter!" meant "Yahoo! This looks like FUN!" I was just a little kid. It's a wonder I survived!
 
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Ladybj said:
Ride in a vehicle without seat belts.
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Seat belts were for race cars, and a few sports cars
I think they were status symbols back then

When I was 10, or maybe 11;

Me and three other kids rolled a '48 Plymouth, suicide doors and all
We were all flopping around the cab like rag dolls
Ended up in a field, on it's side
My buddy's dad watched the whole thing
Said he saw a door creek open like a boat hatch, and four wide eyed boys slowly emerge, one at a time,

It was my buddy's car, and he was rather crushed when his glass pack arrived the next day

We talked about that for awhile, then moved on to other things, like camping out and running around at midnight, and scaring neighbors by climbing trees by bedroom windows, and shining flashlights in our faces

We got our exercise back then, by running
Something about running and laughing that stirs many a memory


When Brad came around, things happened.

Not the best things, but really fun things.

He’d joined our BB gun wars a few times, but he was one to always want something more.
One afternoon we were contemplating what we could do with Ike when Brad thought shooting at the passing cars on the road below would perk things up.

It did.

Our marksmanship was lacking, as most our shots just pinged off fenders and bumpers and the back of an occasional window, but this one time Andy’s shot rang true. Right at the back of this passenger’s gigantic ear.
It was an amazing spectacle to watch take place.
Pap
Whap!
‘AAAAAAH, MY EAR! A BEE STUNG MY GODDAMN EAR!’
He commenced fanning is skunk cabbage sized ear like it was on fire, and I gotta say it wasn’t that great of a shot, ‘cause that gentleman’s humongous ear was a huge target, flappin’ in the wind at 40 mph.

The car came to a screeching halt and he hopped out, dancin’ around batting at the side of his head.

Well, one of his gargantuan ears musta picked up on our rolling on the ground laughter, as he looked right in our direction and started cussing us up and down.
We just flipped him off and invited him up for a chat.

Within 30-40 minutes the town cruiser came barrelling up the road.
We started passing the football around in Andy’s yard, and when they pulled up, we became sincerely helpful as to ‘keep a lookout for those hooligans for sure, officer.’

Eddie

He was the first to introduce Converse Chuck Taylor Allstars, and The Three Stooges, and playing army, so he had a purpose and heavily contributed to our rag tag outfit

Eddie loved playing army, and always had an invisible machine gun, making machine gun and hand grenade sounds, blowing things up, like the family sedan, or the Hansens.

As a matter of fact, he was the instigator of our BB gun wars.

One time I’d accidently shot Eddie in the neck and the BB had stuck under the skin.

When his mom called him in for lunch and saw that little spot, she ‘bout came unglued.
She called us all in, and gave us the shoot yer eye out sermon.

I had the brilliant idea of explaining that we knew about the dangers of head shots,
and just aimed at each other’s testicles, and if Eddie hadn’t been all bent over takin’ a crap in the Hansen’s yard,
well we wouldn’t be havin’ this conversation.

Eddie never got to bring out his gun after that, and his visits became limited, and timed.

Funny, a few years ago I was on a ladder starting a first course of shingles.
My Lady was holding the ladder, gingerly poking me in the hind end (helping) when she noticed a bump on my calf.
She commenced to fiddle with that bump and remarked that something was rolling around inside it.
I handed her my razor knife and she cut out a rather gnarly BB.

Sorry, but I write

I've got other stories parked in a thread somewhere...maybe days gone by, if yer interested
 
I can remember most of these points well. The prevalence and acceptance of smoking culture resonated with me, and smoking back then was a habit that was actively accommodated. Although non-smokers, my parents maintained ash trays in their house for visiting company that smoked. Exposure to second-hand smoke was the norm in public and certainly restaurants; people smoked at their desks at work and in their cars, which also had ash tray compartments. Characters on television were shown smoking, and advertising portrayed smoking as sophisticated and even manly; "blow some my way" was one of many phrases we heard. The Marlboro Man and Joe Camel were cultural icons in the U.S...
 
@Don M. I didn't mean to call you out in my post above, because I genuinely respect and enjoy your posts.

As a child, I was completely powerless while being abused (for years) by a close relative. I shared that info with others when I reached adulthood - and was stunned to learn how common that behavior is within families. Sickeningly so. For sure, there were plenty of pedophiles around when we were growing up.

As an adult who raised two boys who were unable to comport to school and some social behavior standards, I also know that ADHD is real. Thank God it's treatable.

In retrospect, it's obvious that my brother was also ADHD. He was endlessly in trouble as a kid. Mostly ostracized by his peers, and ended up a very angry adult who cannot maintain relationships. I'm saddened to think how different his life would have been if he'd been diagnosed and helped at an early age.

@Don M., I apologize for jumping on you. Your post just happened to trigger two very sensitive issues for me.
 
I remember all other than the nuns, coming home to an empty house, and chasing trucks emitting dangerous poisonous fumes.

All others applied in our house, as well other people's homes, too.

My mom had a cigarette on the go all the time, and it didn't matter what needed doing or who needed taken care of, mom and her cigarette were a team.
 
Oh, I remember almost all of those things. The Nun's especially. Walking back and forth to school, getting wet under the fire hydrant. We played outside during the day and even at night. I didn't wear sunscreen, my Mom made me and my cousin play under the boardwalk. Some of the moms would sit outside talking and keeping an eye on us. Of course, there were somethings they didn't know we were doing. I miss those days and wish the days today were as safe as they were when I was growing up.
 
This has been reposted. And yes, the boy in #13 was riding a girl's bike. No boy would do that back in the 60s. A girl's bike had couties or something. I'm not sure why there was this thing about a boy riding a girl's bike, but it was a big deal. Back then, we just had this intense notion boys did not ride girl's bike.

And I remember the nuns. They had these yard sticks which were wood and metal. You think Ninja Warriors were good with a sword? You haven't seen a nun with a yard stick. And being in a Catholic school was a double whammy. The nun would whack the hell out of you in school. Then she'd call home, and we'd get punished by our parents.

I wouldn't say our parents didn't love us, but they weren't overly involved in our lives. Once we stepped out the door, we were on our own.
 
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fuzzybuddy said:
This has been reposted. And yes, the boy in #13 was riding a girl's bike. No boy would do that back in the 60s. A girl's bike had couties or something. I'm not sure why there was this thing about a boy riding a girl's bike, but it was a big deal. Back then, we just had this intense notion boys did not ride girl's bike.

And I remember the nuns. They had these yard sticks which were wood and metal. You think Ninja Warriors were good with a sword? You haven't seen a nun with a yard stick. And being in a Catholic school was a double whammy. The nun would whack the hell out of you in school. Then she'd call home, and we'd get punished by our parents.

I wouldn't say our parents didn't love us, but they weren't overly involved in our lives. Once we stepped out the door, we were on our own.
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LOL!

Couldn't help but think back to the design of bicycles back in the day after reading your entry, Fuzzy. I don't recall there being unisex anything when I was growing up, and you're absolutely right, no boy that I knew of would be caught seen riding a girls bicycle, cooties of not. :)
 
You're a 17 yr-old dude hanging out somewhere downtown with some friends, miles from your homes. It's 10 o'clock at night when one of the 15-16 yr-old girls says "It's gettin' late, I'm gonna hitch a ride home" and you say "Ok, seeya". I hope like hell that never happens now.
 
moviequeen1 said:
My siblings and I use to walk to our elementary school which was 2 blocks from our house.
We came home for lunch,then we had to return.I could never understand why we did that.
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rgp said:
Never understood why you did what ? Didn't you want a lunch break ?
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Lunch bell rang at 11:30. House was 1/2 mile away. We arrived home at 11:50. Mom had lunch on the counter. We ate, got back to the schoolyard before 12:30. Nuns had us lined up at 12:50 and back into the classroom at 1pm.
 
Murrmurr said:
You're a 17 yr-old dude hanging out somewhere downtown with some friends, miles from your homes. It's 10 o'clock at night when one of the 15-16 yr-old girls says "It's gettin' late, I'm gonna hitch a ride home" and you say "Ok, seeya". I hope like hell that never happens now.
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Hitchhiking is one thing I never did, not ever, not even once.

Shivers run up and down my spine whenever I pass a hitchhiker, because the thought always crosses my mind... I wonder what that hitchhiker is all about... is he/she a murderer... a rapist.

Have never picked up a hitchhiker either and never will.
 
Aunt Marg said:
Hitchhiking is one thing I never did, not ever, not even once.

Shivers run up and down my spine whenever I pass a hitchhiker, because the thought always crosses my mind... I wonder what that hitchhiker is all about... is he/she a murderer... a rapist.

Have never picked up a hitchhiker either and never will.
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Me either.
 


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