More things kids did in the ’70s that they don’t today
Readers don’t need to be prompted. After a previous piece on ’70s childhood, several wrote in on their own to add what got left out, and one comment in particular set the tone for the rest of this list.
Between industry data on diving board injury claims and archival reporting on how fast drugstore lunch counters disappeared once packaged soda took over, the record backs up what these readers remember. A childhood built on scorching slides, soda fountain stools, and a fair amount of risk nobody thought twice about at the time.
Diving boards
“Diving boards at public pools. We spent hours on diving boards. Banned today.” That’s how one reader put it, and the numbers back up why they’re gone. Insurance industry data has linked diving boards to a disproportionate share of pool-related spinal injury claims, given how rarely most facilities install them anymore, and premiums climbed accordingly until most public pools simply removed the boards rather than pay for the coverage.
The camera with the flashbulb attachment
Before phones did everything, taking a photo indoors meant snapping a flashcube onto the top of an Instamatic and hoping you had enough left for the birthday cake moment. Each cube held four bulbs, good for four shots before you popped in a new one. And there was a small element of danger baked in. Early flashbulbs occasionally shattered on firing, which is part of why the whole cube design existed in the first place.
Lunch at the drugstore counter
Long before drive-throughs took over, a kid could walk into the local pharmacy, spin around on a red vinyl stool, and order a cherry Coke from a soda jerk who mixed it right in front of them. Chain drugstores started closing their counters fast once packaged soft drinks took over. Walgreens alone went from 17 counters in New York City down to just one by 1970. The whole ritual, sitting at a counter, ordering by name, watching someone make your drink, basically disappeared within a decade.
Riding in the bed of a pickup truck
Sitting in the open bed, wind in your face, bracing against the wheel well on every turn. It felt like freedom. It was also, statistically, a terrible idea, and a wave of state laws through the 1970s and beyond started restricting or banning the practice, especially for minors. Only three states plus DC outlaw it outright today, but the patchwork of restrictions elsewhere quietly ended what used to be an unremarkable way to get to the lake.
Metal playground equipment
Monkey bars that towered eight feet up. Slides that turned into skillets by noon. All of it planted directly over asphalt or packed dirt with zero cushioning underneath. Safety guidelines didn’t formally arrive until the early 1980s, and it took manufacturer liability concerns more than any single law to finally phase the old steel structures out for good.
The bottom line
None of this was safe, exactly. It wasn’t meant to be. But there’s a reason these specific memories keep surfacing every time readers write in, the diving board comment being a perfect example. Somewhere between a scorching slide and a soda fountain stool, an entire childhood got built, and it’s the kind readers still bring up decades later, unprompted, the second the topic comes anywhere close.
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Related:
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- Fun things we could do in the ’80s that today’s kids just can’t
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