What was legal when you were a child that is (probably) illegal now?
Posted by NebraskaCornSucker@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 1775 comments
I was thinking I used to ride in the bed of my dad’s pickup truck all the time. I don’t think we could get away with that now.
Oneironaut420@reddit
Kids buying cigarettes for their parents. Riding in the backs of pick up trucks. Not wearing a seatbelt.
SudburySonofabitch@reddit
Kissing a 12 year old.
LrdSlvrhnd@reddit
I mean that's apparently still legal now... or at least there's no punishment which amounts to the same thing.
SudburySonofabitch@reddit
It would be illegal for me to do that now, but wasn't when I was a child. It's a joke.
LrdSlvrhnd@reddit
Well yes I got your meaning but also considering everything going on...
Ordinaryfemale@reddit
We're entirely too comfortable sitting back while nothing happens. Crazy, isn't it?!
RenaissancemanTX@reddit
Lawn jarts.
Kahlandad@reddit
My best friend got a new hunting rifle for his birthday when we were in 4th grade. He brought it to school for show-and-tell. At recess we all took turns looking through the scope.
EgbertSouse2@reddit
I got a .22 single shot rifle for my 10th birthday (1963) & I also took it to school for show & tell. Mine didn't have a scope on it.
Ordinaryfemale@reddit
WE HAVE A BOOMER!!! 🤣
I grew up in small town New England and at thirteen moved to small town Texas. If we'd brought guns to school (other than just being in pick ups in the parking lot), there'd have been hell.
Even to me, the sixties sound like the wild west lol
EgbertSouse2@reddit
Thank you! Yes, I am a Boomer. You say that like it's a bad thing.
Ordinaryfemale@reddit
Actually, I said it like you're in a gen X group. It was intended as a joke. Hence the laughing guy.
Baby boomer or just big baby. Hard to tell sometimes.
boethius61@reddit
In high school, for my birthday every year I'd have my friends over for a campout. We'd but a thousand rounds of22 ammo and have a blast shooting. They would bring their rifles to school and home with me on the school bus. To be fair, we had to give the rifles to the principal during the school day. But geez, can you imagine?
(Rural Alberta).
caradeGanso@reddit
And yet there were no mass shooting incidents. The culture has changed, something is broken.
my_herstamines@reddit
Yet up until 2017 the year that held the record for most kids shot on school property was 1986.
Alicatsidneystorm@reddit
I just spat out my coffee. Could you imagine that now!?
EmbarrassedAge7612@reddit
Parents just leaving us in the car to run into the store.
Definitely can’t send a kid to pick up cigarettes at the corner store anymore.
Not sure if you can shoot a BB gun in a backyard anymore.
It’s not illegal but it’s just something kids don’t do anymore, running the neighborhood playing games like hide-n-seek. We’d hide in someone’s yard and they didn’t care. It was kids being kids. Odds are we’d end up offing to do some yard work and get a little money for baseball cards.
GamerGranny54@reddit
Allowing your child out of your sight. I read an article about a woman who was arrested for allowing her child to walk to the store alone at 7 years old. I left home at 9 am and only came home for a snack and bathroom break. Got home
EmbarrassedAge7612@reddit
There was a kid at the gas station standing in line with mom’s credit card and a half gallon of milk. I could hear a lot of people whispering about it. Kid was no more than 10 years old. It’s crazy how triggered people get over stuff like that.
Usual_Doubt_5348@reddit
Lots of kids still play outside! Teens don't but they've been inside playing video games since the Atari.
Teacherforlife21@reddit
Or throwing knives at random trees and pieces of cardboard we found on the ground behind the garage.
Hyperocean@reddit
I put dad’s gigantic black Cadillac convertible into neutral or reverse once when he was in the store buying smokes. It wasn’t running. I was standing on the big bench seat, probably so two year old me could get both hands on the wheel and see what was going on, and it had the PRNDL shifter on the steering column. “Hey your car’s backing out!” Dad came bolting out as the car was slowly backing up towards the street the store was on.
Dad was a 30yr old Greyhound driver in the ‘70’s. Sometimes he’d get cut off in our town and bring the bus he was driving home for a bit, and I’d usually want to play in the drivers seat while it was turned off. Dad chatted with the neighbourhood dad crew and showed the kids the engine etc.
One time, he was talking to mom outside of the bus he was driving. We were joining him for the last couple hours back into the division point city that he drove out of.
This time it’s at the local depot and running, and full of passengers. He had his briefcase and things holding the suicide seats for the two of us (the two window seats up front above the stairs). I was on the bus already sitting with his stuff.
So, I eventually hop over into his driver’s seat and kick the fast idle off by moving the shifter. The bus was in gear, but it wasn’t going anywhere with the maxi brake still on. It’s still a pretty noticeable thing to feel and hear, especially for anyone who just watched a 3 year old hop into the drivers seat. Dad came bolting up onto the bus to scoop me out of the seat. Supervision around dad’s toys was improved quickly thereafter.
Ustob@reddit
hahaha omg! we were soo cooked in 1990'ish...
i remember little brother putting on a helmet so we could test new BB gun.
a_youkai@reddit
Was actually shocked to see all the kids in my apartment complex playing together all damn day. I noticed they were all playing hide and seek, or playing pretend anime characters. Of course we're all poor here and the internet sucks, BUT it makes me happy, even though they piss me off sometimes.
natureblush@reddit
I love the kids playing in our neighborhood, screams and all lol. My bonus kid is not an outside kid and has to be made to go outside for fresh air. I couldn’t keep my own kids inside unless the weather was awful.
newgalactic@reddit
If they're not stealing, assaulting, or spending their entire day online, it's a win for the community. But you already seem to understand that.
EmbarrassedAge7612@reddit
I’m always happy to see kids out running around vs staring at a screen. The pastor of the church put up a basketball hoop across the street. It’s been great to see kids of all ages using it.
Cysteine_Chapel64@reddit
"Parents just leaving us in the car to run into the store."
...they kept the windows partially rolled down when it was warm and I had a book.
EmbarrassedAge7612@reddit
I generally had a new comic book or hot wheels. Back in the days of hand crank windows so I adjusted accordingly.
Jude_the_obscurest@reddit
OMG yes. My dad used to give me a note and send me to the store to buy his camel unfiltered.
EmbarrassedAge7612@reddit
A note and enough money to get his cigarettes and a bottle of Sunkist orange sodas for myself. Glass bottle.
Expensive_Award756@reddit
Appropriate somewhat painful punishment. Kids don't get disciplined anymore, and it shows.
LrdSlvrhnd@reddit
Actually punishing children for misbehaving and causing a ruckus in public, apparently.
GamerGranny54@reddit
I would go to the liquor store and buy my dads Ole Granddad 100 proof no note needed. Dad was a regular
eyeballburger@reddit
Riding in the bed of a pick up truck.
FeistyMuttMom@reddit
Sitting on top of the wheel well!
GorillaAU@reddit
It was more comfortable that way.
TheBigBadDuke@reddit
Real chemistry sets
Silent-Art4378@reddit
Ha! I had an old one with only the best deadly chemicals, including Uranium Oxide. All was good til we had to call the fire department one day because I filled our basement with chlorine gas (bleach and ammonia do not mix well together). Lost the chemistry set after that.
OneLonelyBeastieI-B@reddit
I credit this for my love of science. I also admit to breaking the mercury thermometer purposely to study the properties of the damn mercury, which has caused me some mild anxiety.
I messed with electric, bulbs, filaments in bulbs… there are some good memories of my curiosity while being completely unsupervised to do whatever. I never got hurt or burned badly, at least. I once burned the hell out of the end of a finger while messing with matchstick heads. To clarify, I was not a fire setter, I was interested in the reactions lol. A chemistry weirdo. Many volcanos. And one stupid incident inadvertently making chlorine gas, which I blame on my big brother, no one was hurt, we were outside.😂😭🤢
True nerd and proud of it. Sadly, I did not wind up where I envisioned myself during these experiments.
I was an awesome bartender, though!
Talking_Head@reddit
And that’s why some of us chose to never leave the lab. In fact, my lab just got more fun over the years. A proper fume hood, specialized glassware, analytical instrumentation and most importantly seemingly unlimited budgets and access to almost every chemical know to humans. A child chemist’s dream.
Ok-Education1572@reddit
Smoking in restaurants.
LetTheBloodFlow@reddit
Depending on where you live that may still apply. Where I used to live the city had a smoking ban for a while, but there was this one Sonny’s BBQ just outside the city limits that had a smoking section. Today the state still has no statewide ban so things like that are still entirely legal.
I’m finding the idea way less attractive since I quit smoking, but I do remember enjoying being able to have a cigarette between dinner and dessert.
GorillaAU@reddit
In parts of Victoria, if not all of it, some food establishments have a smoking section, but can not eat there. In the non-smoking area, you may eat but do not smoke. Apparently fines can apply for cross contamination.
GorillaAU@reddit
Smoking on flights. The experience in the Non-smoking section wasn't much different from the Smoking section to be honest.
ProfessionalLab9068@reddit
I hated that so much and used to choke and gasp audibly
ShoppingFlimsy7298@reddit
M80 fireworks
Admirable-Leopard-73@reddit
Driving to school with a 12ga shotgun in the gun rack proudly displayed in the back window of my truck.
RBI-Man@reddit
Break-ins and theft ruined that unfortunately.
Admirable-Leopard-73@reddit
For sure
R2-Scotia@reddit
Adverts for cigs
Barber-Chick@reddit
That’s changing. I’ve been seeing ads for swisher sweets lately.
Electronic-Pin-1879@reddit
The smoking section at high school.
Itsworth-gold4tome@reddit
Absolutely! People still don't believe it, and bus drivers smoking.
Electronic-Pin-1879@reddit
Omg... and smoking on airplanes.
spelmangrad@reddit
This is so nasty, it should have always been illegal.
Electronic-Pin-1879@reddit
Agreed
Cold_in_Lifes_Throes@reddit
And literally everywhere else.
boggers395@reddit
Lawn Darts with the metal tips
SlidingOtter@reddit
kids smoking cigarettes.
Love-the-Classics@reddit
Drinking age was 18.
Roscoeatebreakfast@reddit
Candy cigarettes! They used to be everywhere.
ProfessionalLab9068@reddit
What an incredible marketing scam
GamerGranny54@reddit
Allowing your child out of your sight. I read an article about a woman who was arrested for allowing her child to walk to the store alone at 7 years old. I left home at 9 am and only came home for a snack and bathroom break. Got home at dusk.
ProfessionalLab9068@reddit
Heck at age 7 I regulary ride my bike down to the brushy thickets of Hobo Jungle near the traintracks to stare at the men cooking beans & coffee
Boogiesmom2010@reddit
I just said this 🤣🤣🤣 I would be gone all day. You snack where you are or eat good at dinner time. I lived in the country and we peed outside so we didn't get in trouble for running in and out lol
Comeback_321@reddit
That’s insane that she got arrested! What??
Alicatsidneystorm@reddit
In some places that rule is still on the books.
ProfessionalLab9068@reddit
Riding in the back of pickup trucks on the highway, hair blowing in the wind
Tight_Win_6945@reddit
It was legal to drink at 18 in the early 1970s.
scarlettbankergirl@reddit
It went to 19 July 1st. 1978. Luckily I turned 18 on April 23 so I could drink when I went to college. Legally that is, I drank way before that.
Claque-2@reddit
Yes, people coming back from Vietnam did not appreciate being told they couldn't by a drink legally after shooting and being shot at for a year.
Remember that if you get drafted for the next bs.
Odd-Tell-5702@reddit
No car seats
scarlettbankergirl@reddit
Or seat belts
username6798@reddit
Free speech
Boogiesmom2010@reddit
No seat belts , no car seat, not knowing we're your kids are for 12 hours, leaving your kid at home alone to go to work 🤣🤣🤣
Round_Rooms@reddit
No seat belts, drinking while driving , smoking indoors.
Alicatsidneystorm@reddit
I had an older client who told me they used to go drinking and then do a short road trip. They actually planned it!
ahmtiarrrd@reddit
Boomer here, hope my comment is OK for this sub.
Back in the 70s we could buy chemistry sets at hobby stores with ingredients that could be used to make smoke bombs, actual bombs, and incendiary devices. I can neither confirm nor deny that I and my friends made any or all of those.
Wasn't long after high school that all of that was shut down. Probably a good thing *cough*
Alicatsidneystorm@reddit
I remember those chemistry sets. My dad was a research scientist so I am guessing that’s why he never bought us one.
ExOhioGuy@reddit
Nelipors@reddit
I have one of these. It's still giving off radiation in my attic
ProfessionalApple194@reddit
There was a set that came with radioactive material in it too.
what_the_fuckin_fuck@reddit
I remember.
Danhandled@reddit
I was gifted one of these sets for Christmas in the mid-90’s. It wasn’t even a vintage set, but rather still in production.
SnooCakes4019@reddit
I remember when seatbelts were optional and riding in the back of a truck was ok, even on the highway.
Alicatsidneystorm@reddit
Loved riding in the back of the truck only rule was no standing.
TimeIntern957@reddit
Smoking almost everywhere.
Alicatsidneystorm@reddit
Including in the hospital.
bears-in-bushes@reddit
Clackers
Alicatsidneystorm@reddit
They still have the wooden ones I think.
BeepingJerry@reddit
Getting spanked/smacked by Teachers. (yes...this was in public school).
Impossible-Nose3504@reddit
Corporal punishment. I think it was finally banned in public schools sometime in the early to mid 70’s. But I remember.
Impossible-Nose3504@reddit
I was wrong it wasn’t until 2009 it was officially banned.
BreadClassic9753@reddit
Was not banned in my elementary school as of 1998. Source: my sore ass
Unusual-Material9443@reddit
it wasnt banned when i graduated in '77
anonanon232341@reddit
Or getting hit by your neighbor. Basically anyone who's not your parents. Can discipline you physically.
creak788@reddit
Having common sense
jpttpj@reddit
Drinking alcohol while driving
younotmymom@reddit
Lawn darts
Chris_46_78@reddit
"10 or older in the back seat" rule for not having to wear a seat belt. (Once we turned 10, seatbelt was not required). May have just been a parental rule and not the law of the land, but damn if it didnt feel good aging out of that lap belt....
RBI-Man@reddit
Using hand turn signals while driving a motor vehicle. Now most if not all states require signal lights on motor vehicles.
Black_Raven_2024@reddit
You are technically supposed to use hand signals when riding a bicycle.
RBI-Man@reddit
With bicycles that's true. With motor vehicles it depends on what state you live in. At least some will make you put aftermarket turn signals on that Model T.
No-Marketing7759@reddit
Still have bottle rockets in Arkansas
RBI-Man@reddit
That's interesting to know.
Unusual-Material9443@reddit
still have them in Texas too, but only for NYE and july 4
RBI-Man@reddit
Interesting.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
Technically (the worst kind of right) states probably require whatever equipment was originally installed on the vehicle to be functioning properly.
Hand signals in a Model-T are probably legal everywhere.
Hand signals in a newer car that should have turn signals may not be.
RBI-Man@reddit
Kansas and Iowa require all motor vehicles regardless of age to have turn signals installed. The signals are aftermarket. My dad was stopped in a 1948 Chevy in Kansas, and they gave him a warning ticket, and told him that he had to have signals installed. Dad's brother (my uncle) had a 1951 Chevy, and he received the same treatment as Dad did. They had him install turn signals.
Of course each state is different. That would be hell for people who restore vehicles to keep up on those laws unless they are a member of some antique vehicle organization that does that for them.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
I looked it up and I'm surprised to see that turn signals weren't required until 1968. I had no idea.
I'm in Illinois, and in Illinois, the law reads
and applies that rule to both brake lights visible at over 500 ft in normal sunlight and to electric turn signals.
RBI-Man@reddit
States certainly went their own directions in implementing these laws.
I see that Washington state changed their laws 3 times on turn signals. 1927, 1937, and 1953.
Few-Chemical-5165@reddit
Not wearing seat belts in the back seat and the middle seat up front. If the car was not built with seatbelts it was not a requirement. Plus we never needed a booster seat. Hell we could run around the backseat no problem. And we had the station wagon with the reverse seats facing backwards. That was our favorite spot on long trips. Being able to make faces at the cars behind us was too much fun. We would do the same thing in the bed of a pickup truck, making faces at everybody and showing off for the other neighbor kids that we got to ride in the bed of the truck.
MouseACookie@reddit
Students smoking cigarettes at school. The age to smoke was like 16 or something, so older teens would pop out to the senior courtyard at lunch for a smoke. And the teachers were smoking like crazy in the teachers’ lounge. (Also at movie theaters, on the train, pretty much anywhere.)
upallnight1975@reddit
Yeah we had a smoke pit in highschool
Impossible-Nose3504@reddit
Ours was literally called The Pit 😄
upallnight1975@reddit
Did we go to the same school? 🤣
Impossible-Nose3504@reddit
West Chester, OH?
upallnight1975@reddit
Bahaha nope. West Coast, Canada. Guess somethings are just universal 😂
upsetmojo@reddit
We were supposed to have a note from our parents to smoke at school, but I never did and don’t recall anyone ever asking for one.
goddessofgoo@reddit
That was my first thought. I'm younger genX so I didn't smoke at school, but I did in restaurants and the mall!
vonnostrum2022@reddit
M-80’s. Cherry Bombs
Black_Raven_2024@reddit
Cigarette machines in public places like gas stations.
Ok-Education1572@reddit
Smoking at your office desk.
Ok-Education1572@reddit
Shooting off fireworks anywhere
Ok-Education1572@reddit
Voting by women!
Ok-Education1572@reddit
Abortion
Silent-Art4378@reddit
Lawn Darts (with metal tips) Aqua Dots Guns (no license, could buy as a child over the counter) Cigarette vending machines Smoking on planes, at work, at restaurants and bars
Unusual-Material9443@reddit
thats funny. someone i know just bought some of those Jarts at an estate sale for $1 and sold them for $120 online
Unusual-Material9443@reddit
we smoked at about 13 and could buy our own cigarettes. we also could go to the corner bar and buy a six pack for my dad. this was a very small town with only 1 bar and we were (well everyone was) well known.
DisastrousDoll@reddit
I grew up in a small town and we could ride our bikes to the corner store and pick up cigarettes for our parents.
Vanifest0@reddit
Checking accounts for minors. I had a checkbook at age 10 with Mickey Mouse checks. my parents were the guarantors, but I wrote my own checks for all kinds of things. I would deposit birthday money and babysitting income.
CharleyDharkmere@reddit
Cigarette machines in high school that weren't monitored
Relevant-Strength-44@reddit
Abortion
GodsCasino@reddit
Smoking on airplanes and in restaurants and pubs/clubs.
what_the_fuckin_fuck@reddit
Buying tobacco. I remember buying snuff at the convenience store a block away from my grade school. Puked all night. It was about 1975
gitree22@reddit
Riding in the rear window “dash” of the family sedan
Soft-Watch@reddit
I remember doing this on long road trips to nap. So much more comfortable than sitting up lol
OrdinaryUniversity59@reddit
Reading
Emotional-Medium-929@reddit
misgendering someone
MILFrogs87@reddit
👀 Where are you that it's illegal to misgender someone?
bellegroves@reddit
Back of pickup, cargo area, squishing between/on top of others without a seatbelt. Waiting alone in the car while mom's in the store. Going to my friend's house half a mile away without an escort.
Bladebgii@reddit
When I was 10, my parents would put me on a Greyhound bus, by my self, for a 7 hour ride to meet my grandmother in New York City. This was early 60's and we did all sorts of unsupervised stuff. But it was mostly rural with a few small (dozen or so houses) developments. That for sure would not fly today.
Crispricecereal@reddit
Cars seats for 3 year olds.
Mediocre-Let-4697@reddit
Teachers spanking you in school.
1771561tribles@reddit
My teachers displayed their paddles with pride. The librarian in particular boasted that her paddle was genuine hickory, and it had holes drilled in it to reduce air resistance.
Mediocre-Let-4697@reddit
They had holes in the paddles at the jr high I went to also.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
My fourth-grade teacher was older than dirt. She had taught many of my classmates' parents.
She wore massive rings on both hands - several fingers - and had a reputation for rapping misbehaving children on the head with them.
The school principal handed any paddling that was required and had it hanging on the wall. I don't think it actually got much use, if any - he was a pretty nice guy and it was mostly used as a threat.
Numerous-Annual420@reddit
In front of the class with britches dropped.
Hudson100@reddit
Or washing your mouth with soap.
Riverghoul2@reddit
And when you went home you didn’t at anything or you’d get it again
FallismyJam@reddit
I don't know about legal but as a parent, I could get in trouble if I had a younger child and I let them walk to say, a corner store to get a snack or to a park, while i stayed at home. Usually with a sibling or friends. I used to do that in the 70's and 80's. It was glorious! Think Stand by Me or Stranger Things or IT. Now parents, usually mothers, get arrested for endangerment etc depending on if a nebby Karen or two calls the police.
Impossible-Nose3504@reddit
Smoking everywhere! Stores, Buses, elevators, restaurants, EVERYWHERE 😂
DSBS18@reddit
Buying my mom cigarettes at the corner store when I was in grade 2.
Legitimate_Guest9386@reddit
No seatbelts or car seats needed, required or used.
JazzyJeff58@reddit
I live in a rural area and when I was in high school, most of the boys hunted after school and kept either a rifle or a shotgun in a rack in the back window of their truck.
RBI-Man@reddit
Break-ins, and theft ruined that unfortunately.
JazzyJeff58@reddit
That and idiots that want to shoot up schools.
RBI-Man@reddit
Yes, I agree.
lchornet@reddit
Will never forget being in Kindergarten and seeing the principal running after a 5th grader with a padle in hand. Being hazed in high school and adults were aware/present when it took place at a school sanctioned camp. You could buy cigarettes out of a vending machine in Pizza Hit. Dogs were free range, i.e., allowed to roam around but always went back home.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
Hazing was stopped at band camp after my Freshman year.
OpeningFuture6799@reddit
Pizza Hit? Was the pizza being hit? Were people being hit by pizza? So many questions.
Knox_the_Boxer@reddit
Idk if it’s “illegal” I guess maybe it is, but we used to be able to go all the way to the gate at the airport to see off friends and family or meet them coming home.
Wedgerooka@reddit
man, that was cool. Thanks, Israel!
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
Why are you blaming Israel?
FriendlyJacket7622@reddit
Motorcycle helmets not being required
Clean-Fisherman-4601@reddit
They're still not required in Pennsylvania. My sister pointed out our city was a big organ transplant area. She was an RN and every time she'd see a cyclist without a helmet, she'd mutter, "organ donor."
Busy_Raisin_6723@reddit
Same in Texas
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
Also Illinois unless it changed quite recently.
JustBob77@reddit
I used to walk home from high school, pick up my .22 rifle and walk out of town to the river. No adult whom I saw, gave me a 2nd glance!
Numerous-Annual420@reddit
We used to take guns to school to show them off. And every boy over 10 had a pocket knife at school.
PhilospherKing69@reddit
Without a pocket knife, one couldn't play Mumblety-peg.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
When I was in high school, one of my friends had brought his Bowie knife and was showing it off to classmates.
Only response was, "Bill, put that away" from the teacher because it was during class.
These days, I'm sure there'd be a whole big thing.
CA2DC99@reddit
Riding my bike without a helmet.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
Or a motorcycle.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
Truck bed riding is a state law that varies a lot between different states. Still completely legal some places, other places it's "adults only" or "no way."
Gollum69@reddit
Living in Boston in 1976, like many guys I found my way to the Combat Zone. Though I’d seen plenty of sex mags by 21, I was shocked at the Danish mags with 16yo models. Sick shit.
FoxConsistent4406@reddit
Riding in the bed of a truck.
Total-Cat8191@reddit
Riding in the back of Pickups
Corvettelov@reddit
Cigarettes ads on TV
Senior_Reaction2974@reddit
Buying cigarettes for parents, No seat belts being used in the car
indictmentofhumanity@reddit
No leash laws. Our neighborhood dogs ran in packs but always checked in for territory maintenance, meals and watching the kids playing outside.
hidinginzion@reddit
Standing on the seat bench in the car, or no seatbelts.
smittykins66@reddit
Leaving a child alone in a car while mom goes into a store
Numerous-Annual420@reddit
Yep, didn't like that one. When I was about 5, I used the car's lighter to melt every little black plastic button on the dash. Beat, I was, but never left alone in the car again.
More_Law6245@reddit
Oh where I live, we call that child care if there is more than one child.
shakespeareanon@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on the freeway.
upallnight1975@reddit
Lawn darts lol
ProudMimix6@reddit
We had lead paint, asbestos, metal playground equipment on concrete or huge jagged gravel, no bike helmets, no seat belts, cigarette machines, dodge ball, kick ball
so many things
Aggravating_Mix8959@reddit
Ugh. Dodge ball. School-supported bullying.
Wedgerooka@reddit
Bullying had an important function of freak regulation.
ravenx99@reddit
This so much.
Corginzola@reddit
That and Red Rover!
Forever_Nya@reddit
I still remember burning my ass on the slide every summer at the park
Aggravating_Mix8959@reddit
In short shorts made of velour!
salmineo_@reddit
Three wheelers / trikes , yard darts
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
I have a set of lawn darts, can’t sell them or give them away. It’s weird that this is only a prohibition in the U.S. and was made a law due to the careless playing with them by children. Meanwhile guns are totally legal in the U.S.
Wedgerooka@reddit
Lawn darts are not illegal to own or use....
Numerous-Annual420@reddit
It's a little weird. I mean, we actually played war with regular darts. Suckers hurt like hell when they stuck in bone. We also played war with bb guns loaded with pellets. Both are still legal.
AndiagoSupremo@reddit
Conversely walking around with a gun is now legal.
Wedgerooka@reddit
It always was in most states.
Excellent_Risk9219@reddit
More than 3 oz of liquid in your carry on
Wedgerooka@reddit
or a pocket knife. Man, I miss those days. So tired of minorities with axes to grind policing checkpoints at airports.
Harbinger_Kyleran@reddit
We were allowed to carry pocket knives in school, right next to our slide rules. 😉
Busy_Raisin_6723@reddit
And cans of Skoal.
Harbinger_Kyleran@reddit
Cope, I hate Wintergreen. 😉
SandraMort@reddit
I'm in my cell so can't research properly but According to Google, "As of 2026, 19 U.S. states have laws permitting public school personnel to use corporal punishment (such as paddling or spanking) to discipline students. These states are largely in the South and Midwest, including Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. "
Tejanisima@reddit
The main thing that has changed on that front in Texas is that I think these days, generally it's an opt-in thing rather than an opt-out thing — in other words, when I was young and when I began teaching, it was assumed they could give your kid corporal punishment unless you wrote a note saying they weren't allowed to, whereas now the default would be that unless you wrote explicitly telling them they could, they couldn't.
SandraMort@reddit
When my kids were younger, a friend in Alabama had to opt out.
IHadTacosYesterday@reddit
Reporting from San Quentin, lol
SandraMort@reddit
Lol!!! I meant ON my cell
SandraMort@reddit
Nope, it's right.
Https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5766273/
General_Road_7952@reddit
Cigarette vending machines in places kids could access them easily (bar entrances, etc). Kids buying cigarettes “for grandma” at the grocery store.
SandraMort@reddit
My kids were blown away when I told them that street fairs when I was a kid had free samples of cigarettes.
supenguin@reddit
When I was growing up these were in the local bowling alley.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
There was a cigarette vending machine at my local roller rink.
mecengdvr@reddit
I would often ride down to the corner store to buy a gallon of milk and a carton of cigarettes for my parents.
StormStorySpinner@reddit
Oh yeah! They were in the bowling alley and always in the foyers in Friendly's and Denney's.
No-Flan3302@reddit
Haha. I used to have to go in to buy my dad’s cigs when I was 10.
Origamiflipper@reddit
Corporal punishment in schools. Some of our teachers were real sadists
SandraMort@reddit
It's amazing to me that's it's still legal in some states!!!
Origamiflipper@reddit
I’m from the UK, it’s been illegal for years
SandraMort@reddit
Wish I could say the same here in the USA.
Origamiflipper@reddit
Not being funny but the USA is quite backwards in a lot of things
SandraMort@reddit
I can't argue i'm
Zealousideal_Rent261@reddit
Every teacher had a paddle on their chalk rail. Of course the wood shop teacher had the 4 foot one with holes to cut wind resistance.
NoRoof1812@reddit
Some swats hurt bad.
refusemouth@reddit
You could legally drink a beer while driving as long as you weren't above the legal BAC. Having a beer on the way home from work was not going to get you into any trouble.
Professional_Ad9809@reddit
Kids laying on dashboards, or in the back of the window.
Numerous-Annual420@reddit
I still remember looking at the Milky Way while laying in the back window of a 68 Pontiac Lemans driving through a very dark area of the South Carolina low country.
Professional_Ad9809@reddit
That’s what I’m talking about
ilrosewood@reddit
I slept half way to Colorado in the back window of a riviera.
SheShouldGo@reddit
Letting your kids play in the backyard by themselves. Now people call CPS for child endangerment.
smitbret@reddit
Drinking before the age of 21
Driving without a seatbelt
Snoo-53133@reddit
DDT
Numerous-Annual420@reddit
One of the more visible changes through my life has been the return of big birds.
rwv2055@reddit
Whipping your kids in the grocery store.
Numerous-Annual420@reddit
Or even whipping the neighbor's kids. Nobody would bat an eye at it.
fuzzy_zoo@reddit
Long strings on window blinds in the US and Canada
Busy_Raisin_6723@reddit
Four house was built in 2019 and has blinds with ropes. I was pretty surprised by that.
ILoveRegency@reddit
Smoking in bed. In the hospital
Busy_Raisin_6723@reddit
While wearing oxygen prongs
ILoveRegency@reddit
I was 17 in hospital after an accident. The nurse used to light my cigarette for me. My Irish Nana kept me supplied. It was a different world, lol
Liv-Julia@reddit
Not having seat belts or car seats.
Busy_Raisin_6723@reddit
Yeah - laying the baby on the seat
Impossible_Bet9726@reddit
Abortion.
Busy_Raisin_6723@reddit
And thank God it was too!
Lillianrik@reddit
Cigarette smoking was allowed in stores when I was a kid. (50s-60s)
RoyalNo8008@reddit
We had a smoking lounge for students in my high school. This was in the late 1970’s.
suzangx50@reddit
I graduated in 1990 and my HS still had a smoking area for the students.
Clean-Fisherman-4601@reddit
Falling asleep in the back of the station wagon at a drive in and our parents letting us sleep there until they drove home.
TemporaryInitial6143@reddit
Children under the age of 10 going places by themselves. I used to walk 3 miles along railroad tracks to go to an arcade when I was 8-10 years old
armpithairexperience@reddit
Smoking inside
jzmina@reddit
Smoking inside an airplane
Grand_Stranger_7974@reddit
Lawn darts
Select-Regret-9840@reddit
Not wearing a seatbelt.
TooeyAnn@reddit
Riding in back of my Dad's pick up truck on the freeway
spotspam@reddit
Getting aspirin from the school nurse.
Having the school nurse ask you to drop your pants so she can pus by our nuts aside with her pinky and check for a hernia. Like… every year they were touching your nuts in elementary school!
in NYC my godfather took his .22 riffle onto the subway on the way to high school for his rifle teams. Late 50s/early 60s
i-eat-coochie@reddit
Why didn’t I have one of those nurses
UniqueUserName795@reddit
I had a friend whose father was in the school band but the band was too poor to pay for the band to get to the away football games so the band would hop freight trains to get to the neighboring towns, play, then catch another train back. This probably would have been somewhere between the 20’s and 40’s I think.
Fr8boss@reddit
Cigarette vending machines in public places like bowling alleys and restaurant lobbies.
GrannyTurtle@reddit
Being unrestrained in the back of a station wagon.
rwv2055@reddit
Or the back of a truck.
GrannyTurtle@reddit
Exactly
vabeachkevin@reddit
Drinking and driving.
GlasgowGirl69@reddit
I shopped for my elderly neighbors when I was in middle school (1981-84) I’d get their list and walk up to the Safeway store with my red wagon. If it included cigarettes or alcohol they’d just write a note and then the store would sell it to me.
kittymombo@reddit
Buying cigarettes for my Mom... Now, CPS would be called.
ThatsTheTrafficGuy@reddit
Smoking went from 18 to 21 years of age.
New-Job1761@reddit
I was born in 39. List is a mile long.
No_Arugula4195@reddit
Selling cigarettes to minors. (For someone else to smoke)
wriddell@reddit
All you needed was a note from your parents
Substantial_Equal452@reddit
Kaolin and morphine aka sand and cement. It was pink medicine liberally poured down our throats if we had an upset stomach.
moon-bouquet@reddit
Tasted vile but settled your tum, plus you didn’t poo for a week.
StandOld1094@reddit
Smoking on an airplane
ohdang_raptor@reddit
Smoking almost anywhere.
Mountain_Chocolate65@reddit
Drinking at 18.
jcward1972@reddit
La la lawn darts. Being hit it it in the head n n n never affected m m me at all.
Responsible_Fox1231@reddit
Drinking a beer while driving. As long you weren't over the limit.
ExpertChart7871@reddit
We used to call that beer a “roadie.”
rainman751@reddit
It's still called a "roadie".
OverthinkingWanderer@reddit
Riding in the back of the truck bed. Idk if it's fully illegal now but I swear my parents implied it was (at a certain point) when I was a kid.
nettenette1@reddit
I remember it something along the lines of type of road and max speed. Idk.
Laurpud@reddit
Girls walking around with no shirts, same as the boys.
I'm still pissed that it changed
NoZZsTend0@reddit
Riding in the cadillac front bench seat in between my parents with no seat belt. It was red and had white leather.
NarrowFault8428@reddit
Riding in cars with no seatbelts.
beachbumwannabe717@reddit
my mom would just reach across to me with her arm if we had to stop real quick 😆
NarrowFault8428@reddit
My mom did that, too! 😂
Migamix@reddit
Going on my own as a young teen to play in the park or very wide "neutral ground" median to play sports. I never see kids just outside having fun on their own anymore. Its our gen that turned into FN helicopter parents.
RockMassive6520@reddit
You're from New Orleans, aren't you
Migamix@reddit
Heh, because we are the only ones that call that soccer field size area, neutral ground. What ever gave you that idea. 😁 Born, raised, destroyed NOLa, "strait outa carrolton"
SnooPeanuts4336@reddit
Yeah, you really don’t any free range kids anymore
PizzaDoughandCheese@reddit
I miss muscle relaxers
juanqp@reddit
You can still get them by prescription, but doctors can be weird about it.
Available_Profile559@reddit
Clove cigarettes
CrateIfMemories@reddit
Oh I haven't thought about them in years! That makes me sad to think they might be illegal now!
juanqp@reddit
Any flavor other than menthol is illegal now, but you can still buy mini filtered clove cigars in some places.
RiotNrrd2001@reddit
I used to smoke them, way back when. Then, one day, I read an article about them. Apparently occasionally someone would smoke a clove cigarette, have an allergic reaction, and keel over dead. This could happen even if you weren't allergic to them, and maybe even smoked them regularly. Every time you smoked one, you actually did risk death, not just "someday" but right there and then.
It wasn't a high percentage of people this happened to, obviously, but it was high enough to be concerning, and thus high enough to make them stop selling them.
Sad_Smoke5648@reddit
In Arizona we used to be able to sit in the back of pick up trucks with no seat belts or anything like that. Im sure by now the law has changed
Individual_Card919@reddit
Lawn darts
Odd-Purpose6347@reddit
Smoking in the library, driving with a beer between your legs.
DalbergTheKing@reddit
Smoking in the hospital. In the respiratory ward, by the consultant. I was hospitalised a lot with asthma as a child. Big billowy clouds of blue pipe smoke. Plus, numerous oxygen tanks. Just wild when you think about it.
fine_environment4809@reddit
Leaded gasoline
Kreesto_1966@reddit
M80's
AlboGreece@reddit
What does that mean?
mfhandy5319@reddit
M-80s are highly dangerous, illegal explosive devices, not consumer fireworks. Originally military simulators, they contain up to 3 grams of flash powder, causing over 130 decibel blasts that can cause severe injuries or death. They have been banned by the ATF/CPSC since the 1970s; possessing them is a felony, though sometimes smuggled or homemade.
Kreesto_1966@reddit
All I know is that they were fairly common and scary as hell going off.
AnitaLatte@reddit
Drinking age of 18.
Buying cigarettes at the store with a permission note written by one of your parents.
Parents driving home after having a few cocktails while their little kids slept stretched out across the backseat of the car.
Little kids home alone, or waiting in the car when parents are at the bar.
Domestic violence was pretty much considered a family issue unless someone was seriously injured.
Discrimination, wage differences, and firing based on gender, pregnancy, marital status, cultural background, etc.
Laws against homosexuality - it was a criminal offense.
Banks and businesses refusing to issue a credit card or line of credit to women.
Denying birth control to single women.
Hiccup-92@reddit
Some of these things are still legal/still happen
aeternumvaga@reddit
Being a child!
Invisible_Mind_Dust@reddit
Picking up and paying for my mom's cigarettes at 10yrs old when we lived across the railroad tracks from the store.
Old_Dragonfruit6952@reddit
Riding a bike without a helmet
No-Bumblebee-4920@reddit
Smoking in a restaurant.
Next-Edge-8241@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck.
Live-Obligation-2931@reddit
Cigarette vending machines. My dad was in the hospital after suffering a major stroke. Sent me (age 8) down to the lobby to buy a pack of cigarettes out of the vending machine.
Eman_Asiti@reddit
Walking down to the local bar for gym class to Bowl
GeGeGeNoOz1997@reddit
MDMA (apparently) … I was a baby, my Mum wanted to lose post baby weight and the Dr prescribed it to her. She said she used to turn the stereo up full volume and play the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Hollies whilst vacuuming and dusting like a maniac for hours on end. Fortunately we lived in the country down a very long driveway….
oldfartjr@reddit
M-80s
Ok_Weakness_2021@reddit
at concerts!!’
Traditional_Rush_622@reddit
Sending your kids to the store with a note to purchase your cigarettes.
Dangerous-Deer-6290@reddit
Driving/riding in a vehicle without seatbelts.
OkDisaster5980@reddit
Abortion in all 50 states.
Future-Ear6980@reddit
Giving disrespecting, naughty, destructive kids a well deserved hiding
Chay_Charles@reddit
Not wearing seat belts or using kids' car seats. Riding in the bed of a pickup truck.
seakykr@reddit
My brother and I were free range in the Volvo wagon. Seat belts? What are those? Must be a fun clicky thingy.
krummen53@reddit
Smoking doctors in hospital rooms, along with patients.
Character-Tennis-241@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck!
bronwyn511@reddit
Smoking inside a business/restaurant
coasterwiggs@reddit
Legal drinking age was 19!
Open-Preparation-268@reddit
18 for me (Okie). I was old enough to buy alcohol for a while, then they raised the age to 21, and I was no longer legal to buy/consume.
I’m still slightly bitter that they didn’t grandfather us in.
Snuggly_Chopin@reddit
I’d be bitter, too! That’s pretty shitty.
Educational-Ad608@reddit
Smoking in movie theaters.
Sensitive-School-488@reddit
Smoking cigarettes at work, in a plane, at restaurants. Lead paint. Asbestos. No seat belts. No helmets for motorcycles or bikes. DDT.
D3str0y3r3@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck. No seatbelts in sight.
Narrow_Pepper_1324@reddit
I also remember being put in the car backseat in cars with all of my cousins and none of us would buckle up.
Aggravating_Mix8959@reddit
The best treat was when they threw the lot of us in the rear area of the station wagon. We'd roll around like puppies. Wave at people in the next car. The parents would smoke nonstop with the windows rolled up.
Absolutely a different reality.
Narrow_Pepper_1324@reddit
Haha. Good times, good times!!!
PartyEntrepreneur175@reddit
Drinking and driving.
HighBiased@reddit
Wandering around the streets in junior high with friends and no adults in sight
l00ky_here@reddit
Ding ding ditch
bolunez@reddit
Problem with that one now is that the kids are idiots and try to kick the door down.
l00ky_here@reddit
Really? It never occurred that they would consider that.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
It's happened to me. Dip shits should be smoking weed and thinking about having sex but kicking my door is more... fun?
l00ky_here@reddit
Holy shit! What happened?
Character_Raisin574@reddit
I finally googled it. It's called "TikTok door kick prank." They can get pretty violent. Just strange behavior for young adults...
l00ky_here@reddit
yeah. Idiots. You know that there's gonna be a kid who gets shot for doing it - because he kicked the door especially hard and long - and the owner was already there with gun in hand because you know they weren't stealthy going up in the first place, door flings open, shots fired - poor kid shot.
bolunez@reddit
The kids aren't alright
Ok_Still_3571@reddit
Letting kids go free ranging.
badtux99@reddit
Still legal. A gaggle of kids I call the cul-de-sac kids gathers on the street beside my house on their bikes and scooters every afternoon then does kid things. No parents in sight.
Ok_Still_3571@reddit
I wish it was like that in many places now. Instances of parents being reported to state agencies because their kids were seen outside without parental supervision.
Honestly, as soon as I learned to ride a bike (age 7), I was off every Saturday morning, and only returning home for dinner, around 6:00. When I was 10, I was taking public transit across town to school.
badtux99@reddit
I'm baffled who would do the reporting. But then I live in a working class neighborhood, not some bougie suburb, so (shrug).
Ok_Still_3571@reddit
Neighbors, mainly. And it is a suburb, so the culture of carting your kids around in a car is pretty strong. But I also have a friend who lives in a dense city not far from me who had the DSS (dept of social services) visit, citing that they were called because their sons were seen playing on the sidewalk in front of a neighbor’s house (they live on a one-way side street). It then escalated into a home visit and inspection. Pretty invasive, too. They opened the fridge, the cabinets, etc., looking for signs of neglect. There were none. But the whole thing left the family feeling tense, including the kids, who were now scared about getting everyone in trouble. The kids were 7 and 9 at the time.
badtux99@reddit
Ah. Working class neighbors don't call The Man because nothing good happens after that. Actually all their kids are out in the street playing together right now. That's why I asked who would call, because it's all their kids.
Was cutting my grass this afternoon and a kid who looked maybe 7 years old kept peddling by on his bicycle. I can't think of anybody in this neighborhood who would call CPS on him. Especially since he is Russian and we all know what happens when you cross Russians. They have no fear and do not allow anyone to cross them.
Accx4@reddit
I was a free range kid. Some days traveling up to 30 miles by bike with friends. Or riding out the the orange groves to collect oranges. We'd tie our t shirt sleeves together and load them up like bags and then go out to an old mine shaft, climb down, build a small fire for light and eat oranges for hours! Great way to get out of the Arizona desert heat! Never once thinking about snakes, scorpions, or carbon monoxide. We were free and feral!
Astronomer-Secure@reddit
this is such an awesome story. thank you for sharing this piece of the past.
beardedshad2@reddit
You just made my comment
Jenshark86@reddit
In the 80s there was a smoking area on the school property and teenagers could buy cigarettes anywhere. Alcohol as well was easy to get. Crazy!
shazj57@reddit
It was the locker room for us. I supported my teenage years by selling cigarettes
Vast-Road-6387@reddit
We had to be 13 and have a parent’s note to smoke in school.
wagmorebarkles@reddit
Letting kids walk to school by themselves and letting them play unsupervised all day.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
Sad but true.
thatWitchAmen@reddit
True story. My Mom would leave for work about 5 mins before I had to leave to walk to school. Any delay on my part led to bitching. One morning I could NOT find my shoes. I said nothing. After she left I wrapped my feet in aluminum foil and off I went. I was stopped at the front entrance for some reason questioning my style choices. I promptly laid the guilt on thick by examining that my Mom could not make ends meet and they should not make fun of the situation. My Mom was called AT WORK and asked if the school should take me to KMart for shoes and that was the last day I was allowed to walk to school. The next day I was picked up by taxi and driven to my school at the end of the block. Old Mr Ball was my driver and BOY did I give that man some hell😂😂😂
Careless-Two2215@reddit
Sexual harassment. Racial profiling. Voter suppression. Homophobia.
gg61468@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck
Tanya7500@reddit
Kid I went to school with flipped his truck full of kids, one was under the truck and his brain was 20 ft away. Fun times
Antique_Row7245@reddit
A very long list of things!
Such-Kaleidoscope147@reddit
Sending the kids with money to the gas station to buy cigarettes for the parents or grandparents. 8 yr olds babysitting toddlers.
Open-Preparation-268@reddit
I used to ride my bicycle to buy cigarettes for dad…
Simple-Statistician6@reddit
Not wearing seatbelts, smoking in restaurants or bars, smoking on planes.
Significant-Fruit-21@reddit
I raise you a back of a pick ride to back of a harley ride...
My favorite photo of my dad and i...
a116jxb@reddit
We used to ride around with a loaded guns on a plastic press-fit gun rack that was mounted on the rear windshield of our pick up truck. The guns were not in a case, no trigger locks. We did have the safety on. Anyone could see your gun through the rear windshield. No one thought anything of it.
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
At my school we had two rifle teams and the rule was that during the day you kept your rifle in your locker. You could carry it with you on the bus in a case to and from school. If you were older and could drive most kept theirs on the way to and from school in a case behind the backseat as they drove cars that didn’t have gun racks. The kids that hunted kept rifles or shotguns in their truck gun racks, they typically weren’t on the rifle teams as they couldn’t shoot well enough as they’d developed habits that worked well for hunting, but not precision shooting.
ToroTexan@reddit
I used to see those in my high school parking lot. Had friends who would go duck hunting before school, they would have their shotguns in those racks. They’d be dressed in full camo all day. Definitely wouldn’t fly today, for multiple reasons.
bigghc@reddit
That might be still legal, but sure wouldn't want to try it lol. I'm guessing they'd get stolen fast.
ToroTexan@reddit
Smoking court, basically a fenced area where you could go smoke if you had a permission slip. The teachers would smoke in their teacher workrooms between classes.
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
When I was at University some teachers smoked in class while lecturing.
HugeAd8872@reddit
Drinking age was 18
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
I remember when there was no effective minimum drinking age. My high school had a favorite bar which started serving beer at 14, by the pitcher, it was Miller’s and it was cheap. Both parents and teacher knew it was a high school hangout, so much so that sometimes kids would get calls from them if they needed to contact them after school, as it was well before cell phones.
Money_Engineering_59@reddit
Riding in the camper when we went camping. Sis and I would hang out in the top part that went over the truck cab. So much more fun when travelling!
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
I remember riding in the top of a truck camper lying down looking out as we came into the Grand Tetons from Yellow Stone and being amazed at those mountains. In retrospect the idea of two little kids riding across the U.S. and especially in mountains at the top of a tall RV, especially a truck camper was insane.
Money_Engineering_59@reddit
It was so much fun though!! Those were the days. Laying in bed, staring out the windows thinking we were on top of the world.
tinypill@reddit
Sitting in the passenger side front seat of a car as a kid.
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
I remember sleeping in my grandmother’s lap as a young child going down the road in the front passenger seat. No car seats or even seat belts back then.
oooohshinythingy@reddit
Being able to walk round with an uncovered air rifle. Loads of people had them (I’m in England) Later they had to be covered and after that I think they were banned
Poking_The_Bare@reddit
Burning trash in your back yard in 50 gallon metal drums.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
We still do that!
PizzaDoughandCheese@reddit
Yeah but our parents made us do it at 8 years old
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
We had our 16 year old doing it. Until she went to college. lol
AndiagoSupremo@reddit
Riding in the bed of a pickup truck
AzAmber911@reddit
Smoking ina car with kids.
Longjumping_Mobile_6@reddit
Still remember moving to Florida in our mid-20s (so 40 years ago) and open alcohol was legal in the car as long as the driver wasn't drinking and shot guns in the back windows of pickup trucks was a common sight.
56KandFalling@reddit
A lot. There was no age limit to buying cigarettes or alcohol. Parents could hit their kids. Drunk driving was common and legal. No seat belts in the back of the cars, seat belts were not mandatory at all when I was born. You could carry a knife. Use all kinds of chemicals and poisons in the household. And lots more...
ThatsWhatTheySey@reddit
Makes me wonder: when drunk driving became illegal? When did we go “oh, getting wasted then driving home might not be a great idea”?
56KandFalling@reddit
Some time during the 70's/80's IME, but it didn't really fully spread to be the norm until after 2000
istara@reddit
I’m always amazed the way people could just buy vast amounts of poison from the local pharmacy in old detective novels.
56KandFalling@reddit
At the store: I'll take three bottles of arsenic, thank you! lol
That was before my time though.
anaisaknits@reddit
Kids being allowed to walk home from school and be alone until parents got home from work while in elementary school.
Today CPS and cops will show up. If you're found walking home alone from school in elementary, people scream horrible parents and demand to arrest them.
Hungry-Treacle8493@reddit
Yet, in larger dense cities in the U.S. (e.g. NYC, Chicago) you see free range kids on public transit all the time and no one blinks an eye. But in some leafy suburb? Call the cops & news channel!!!
Aggravating_Mix8959@reddit
As an adult: I was staying with a friend in a rural areas in Louisiana for a few weeks. I took a walk every day around the neighborhood for fitness and personal enjoyment.
Someone called the cops on me. They drove up behind me and stopped and asked what I was doing. I asked if no one ever walked around there? The officer laughed and said, "No, not really."
But people are still apparently watching you from inside with their AC and bothered enough to call enforcement.
Hungry-Treacle8493@reddit
😂😂😂 that’s classic rural South stuff right there.
What_Scripture_Saith@reddit
Absolutely. You're right.
Riding in the backseat without a seat belt too.
2furrycatz@reddit
Seatbelts didn't exist yet when I was a kid
What_Scripture_Saith@reddit
I remember them being lapbelts only in the back.
2furrycatz@reddit
Someone on here pointed out to me that new cars were only equipped with seatbelts starting in 1968. I was born in 66 and my family didn't have a new car until like 1982. Probably some of our old junkers had lap belts in the back but my parents didn't mention them so it wasn't really something I would have noticed
kiffiekat@reddit
Fighting over who gets to lay in the back window
What_Scripture_Saith@reddit
Station wagons too
Wolffmans_Howlings@reddit
That was no fight for us. I always was the one!😄
Channel_Huge@reddit
Smoking indoors. I remember smoking in restaurants, bars, movie theaters, trains, planes… everywhere. Burger King had those little foil ashtrays with their logo on them.
I miss those days. Everyone seemed to get along better back then.
Aggravating_Mix8959@reddit
My first job was to clean those hateful little ashtrays at the Burger King inside the mall. I'd fucking clean them and cry. I probably should have guessed at that point that I was not going to handle the real world too well.
Independent-Dog5311@reddit
McDonald's too.
thatWitchAmen@reddit
I’m from North Carolina(tobacco farms everywhere). We smoked in the GROCERY STORE! There was a butt can at the end of each isle.
Independent-Dog5311@reddit
That's crazy.
KDBlastIt@reddit
Letting your kid outside alone.
croissant_and_cafe@reddit
Cigarette machines
audiomediocrity@reddit
driving a boat without a license. You still can, but people born after a specific year cannot.
Fruitful_adornment@reddit
Riding wherever you wanted in the car with no seatbelt.
Moonshotgirl@reddit
Drinking at 18.
bigghc@reddit
Places to ride dirt bikes. Everything has been gated and closed off. Owners got tires of people dumping their couches, garbage and stolen cars there so those open areas are all closed off now.
Tyrigoth@reddit
Lawn Darts!
thatWitchAmen@reddit
I came here to say this! They were actually metal darts! I bought new old stock about 3 years ago and bring them out every cookout. I DO NOT have children and I closely supervise the drinking folk. It’s ALL fun and games til someone gets an eye out out!
bigghc@reddit
I found some years ago for $2 in the original box with rings and instructions! Still have them and wife keeps hoping I'll get rid of lol.
Several-Guarantee655@reddit
Be careful about saying that. It's actually illegal to buy and sell them even by private parties. Not illegal to possess or own them.
bigghc@reddit
Oh interesting. Wife wanted to sell mine at a yard sale we were having I was like heck no!
Metagator@reddit
Wasn't the name "Jarts" we played that and croquet.. and badminton.
Top-Establishment918@reddit
Clackers. Lethal weapons for kids.
Hungry-Treacle8493@reddit
In Northern States beating the crap out of your children to discipline them. Sadly, still effectively legal in Southern States.
Dear_Win_9504@reddit
Not wearing a seat belt. Also being less than 13 and sitting in the front seat (while also possibly not wearing a seat belt).
thatWitchAmen@reddit
Also my grandfather had an old Buick with a pull down arm rest in the middle of the front bench seat. I rode THAT with no seatbelt😂😂😂
Dear_Win_9504@reddit
I seriously miss cars with bench seats in the front
QuietComfortable8557@reddit
Being a latch key kid.
QuietComfortable8557@reddit
I was 7 and my sister was 10. Both of my parents worked. This was 5 days a week. It would be considered neglect of minors.
badtux99@reddit
Still legal.
Sudden-Damage-5840@reddit
Bodily autonomy for women
sabeth23@reddit
This needs to be higher!
taoist_bear@reddit
Riding in the back of a pick up truck.
EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit
Riding in a pick-up bed, Walking a dog off leash, Smoking in public, No seatbelt or helmet laws, Leaving kids and pets in the car without an adult present, no carseats
Ironically weed is legal!
kittyscopeview@reddit
Not having everything you do recorded.
Intelligent_Salad_70@reddit
Driving without seatbelts ..uk
Lilli_Bella3487@reddit
We had metal shop and wood shop in junior high. We were mildly supervised (there was a teacher present who was not really paying attention). There were large pieces of cutting and sawing equipment in those classes. It was a miracle nobody lost a finger or something. I doubt those are legal today. I could be wrong, tho.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
My father lost a finger in high school from a table saw with the guard removed.
Lilli_Bella3487@reddit
Ouch. It was pure luck that it didn't happen in either of our classes.
Grandfeatherix@reddit
I would think shop is standard everywhere? we had shop and home ecc split into half a year each, the teacher even told us about a kif that did cut off a finger, an d it was stuck in a slushy to get re-attached lol
Lilli_Bella3487@reddit
It's not standard everywhere, at least not anymore. At least, that's what I was told. Funny, my grandfather got a finger cut off and saved almost the same way, but with ice. He was working at the Armor factory as a machinist. I think it was in the 50s or 60s.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
No shop or home ec in SoCal now at least where I am. I hated both but once I bought a house (at 50), I finally appreciated that shop class.
thatWitchAmen@reddit
When I was in high school SENIORS drove the busses! This job market was cornered and controlled by a faction of mullet having lesbians who were THE BEST because this little queer never got beat up because the had the market cornered on protecting me as well😂😂😂
homerletterkenny@reddit
The smoking corner across from our middle school.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
We smoked on school grounds!
thatWitchAmen@reddit
We had a smoking section in the middle of the school. It was where the cool kids were😂😂
Beginning-Head3152@reddit
Yard Darts
BadgerGirl92@reddit
Jarts!
Mundane-Cabinet9883@reddit
Oh…pitching a tent in the back yard and “camping” - with parents in house and trusting that A) you wouldn’t leave in the middle of the night on your own or B) you wouldn’t set the entire neighborhood on fire when you tried to make a campfire with lighter fluid.
JustaCynicalOldFart@reddit
Corporal punishment in public schools.
oogabooga1967@reddit
It's still legal in 19 states: AL, AR, AZ, CO, FL, GA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, and WY.
Dr_StrangeloveGA@reddit
It's not legal in GA public schools since 2023.
oogabooga1967@reddit
Glad to hear it! Only 18 more states to go!
katzinthebuf@reddit
Glad about this one!
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
I remember being four years old and walking, by myself, to preschool. Granted, it was two blocks up the road from the house and I could be seen from the living room window the whole way, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds (to modern ears). The next year when I moved up to kindergarten I still walked to the preschool in the morning, and we were driven to the school at noon (don't know what it is these days, but kindergarten was a half-day when I was a kid), and driven back to the preschool afterwards.
When first grade rolled around, though, I'd walk to the elementary school and back every day (until I got a bicycle, that is). It was quite a bit further than the preschool was, but it seemed perfectly normal to me and I wasn't far from the only one to do so at that age.
From the second grade on up I was a "latchkey kid" and was home alone for a couple of hours every day because both parents worked.
Nowadays I see news stories of Child Protective Services being called because children were playing in their own yard but without "adult supervision." Child "drop-offs" are more tightly controlled than the deck of an aircraft carrier and with better security. If a six year old kid strolled up to the school by himself today he'd be a ward of the state by lunch.
Mundane-Cabinet9883@reddit
lol I was in first grade and walked to and from school for lunch. The crossing guards weren’t on duty on way home so I crossed all the streets by myself both ways and made it back to school to play on the all metal playground equipment.
Jethris@reddit
I grew up in a rural area of Pennsylvania. Most of my neighbors were relatives. My road was 3/4 of a mile, and mostly dirt. At the end of the road was my grandfather's house, and that was the bus stop.
I remember at 4 walking to the bus stop and back alone before school started as a dry run.
I also remember walking 1/2 mile home to my great grandparents house after 1!2 day kindergarten so my 80 year old great grandmother could watch me.
hogger303@reddit
Asbestos
DataKnotsDesks@reddit
Came here to say this.
nullpassword@reddit
Ddt
Significant-Theme253@reddit
Smoking in fast food restraunts, concerts and other public places.
acoffeefiend@reddit
Smoking on planes, carrying pocket knives on planes.
Mundane-Cabinet9883@reddit
My dad was in an induced coma after a motorcycle accident. First thing he wanted when he woke up was a cigarette- they brought him an ashtray and book of matches. They wouldn’t allow his zippo lighter because there was an oxygen tank in his room. 🫣
acoffeefiend@reddit
🤣🤦♂️
Formal_Plum_2285@reddit
Underage smoking and drinking.
Live animals in circus. Illegal now.
Keeping zoo animals in small cages placed on concrete. Illegal now. No cages.
Grandfeatherix@reddit
had to look up about the circus to find out animals are banned at some in the states, seems pointless to have a circus without them
Formal_Plum_2285@reddit
I’m not from the States.
AlboGreece@reddit
Except in Russia. There was a video that blew up of a tiger or something escaping during a circus in Russia a few days ago
Suitable-Bike6971@reddit
Pump gas.
Beckywithrbf@reddit
Beating your children as punishment.
SamePhotographs@reddit
Buying cigarettes!
I used to be a smoker, and I could "buy cigarettes for my parents" with a "note", sometimes no note needed.
I've seen some news that some places [Maldives, New Zealand (maybe repealed already), and is being considered in Canada] have started a 'smoke free generation' and that cigarette sales to those born after 2009 will be banned - for life.
Mundane-Cabinet9883@reddit
Riding my bike 8-10 miles to get to parks or baseball games at age 10 without anyone blinking an eye.
Intelligent_Till_433@reddit
I was babysitting infants at age 10.
oldshipbuilder@reddit
Everything
Embarrassed-Jello-97@reddit
Clove cigarettes
lawtechie@reddit
They're still available.
ItemExtension5677@reddit
Anyone remember Brights? That tasted like peppermint.
Newt_the_Pain@reddit
They were nasty though..
warriorwoman534@reddit
Ohhh, wow, thanks for that memory!!!
Carrots-1975@reddit
I’m from the country and we always rode around in the bed of a pickup truck when I was a kid.
Ellehcar95@reddit
Cigarettes were available in a vending machine easily accessible to children (which is how I tried smoking for the first time).
Catlover357@reddit
All I had to do was tell the 7-11 clerk that they were for my mother. That's how I started smoking at age 12.
Ellehcar95@reddit
I was 12, too. Luckily I didn't like it and keep smoking!
MommaGuy@reddit
Seatbelts. Although my state only mandates them to the age of 18.
NoeTellusom@reddit
In the 1980s, it wasn't that unusual for pickup trucks to have loaded gun racks in our school parking lots. To the point where people left their windows open and you could just reach inside and grab a gun, but it didn't seem to happen much.
I remember packing a few pistols in my car because I was meeting my grandfather at the gun range after school.
Queue a school shooting at my high school and suddenly, guns weren't allowed on campus to the point that Security started checking vehicles.
AccidentalSwede@reddit
My dad's outstretched arm was the seatbelt when I was in the passenger seat.
Walking to 7-11 to buy cigarettes for my mother because she was too drunk to drive.
Worldly-Ad3211@reddit
Driving without your vehicle headlights on in the daytime.
viperspm@reddit
Its not illegal
2furrycatz@reddit
There are some states that have a law that you have to have your headlights on if it's raining enough to need your windshield wipers. I think that should be the law for the whole country
viperspm@reddit
It might be.
KINGofFemaleOrgasms@reddit
And if everyone did it (especially silver and white vehicles) driving would be safer.
viperspm@reddit
Agreed. Just pointing out that its not illegal
texasdiver@reddit
Other places exist.
Farmer_Mink@reddit
Amyl Nitrite. Quaaludes. Riding in the back of a pickup truck. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Leaving school property.
Grimol1@reddit
You can still ride without a helmet in Delaware.
Farmer_Mink@reddit
That's awesome and rare.
SportyMcDuff@reddit
Colorado too.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
In Wisconsin they still do not have a helmet law!
Farmer_Mink@reddit
Nice!
lo-tek@reddit
Quaaludes were legal?
Farmer_Mink@reddit
With a prescription.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
Right here ☝️
Revolutionary_Bee700@reddit
Being left in the hot car while your parent went in the store “for a minute”.
UnlikeSpace3858@reddit
We were always left in the car. One time my brother got out and peed in the parking lot and my Mom came running out embarrassed because they announced it in the store. We would also walk alone along a highway, no sidewalks, to go to the store or gas station. Kids under ten hauling empty beer bottles back to the store for deposit money so we could buy candy.
Difficult-Gene-5276@reddit
Having to show age to buy a box of wooden matches
Kliz76@reddit
Riding in the front seat of a car while under 12.
neocondiment@reddit
Having a childhood.
Crushing_Your_Head@reddit
Sit and spin
ItemExtension5677@reddit
Yes! That would also be an insult- flip Them off and say sit and spin in this !
Apart-Cream-4940@reddit
Driving and riding without seatbelts
2furrycatz@reddit
There were no seatbelts. They didn't exist yet
Apart-Cream-4940@reddit
🫤 I don't know where or when you're from but seatbelts were required in all new US cars starting 1968. I was born in '72. They became mandatory in NY in 1984. I looked it up
2furrycatz@reddit
I was born in 66. My family didn't have a new car til like 82
procrastinatorsuprem@reddit
Not wearing a seatbelt.
jason4747@reddit
A whatnow?
procrastinatorsuprem@reddit
It was legal to not wear a seat belt when I was younger.
2furrycatz@reddit
Seat belts weren't standard equipment
procrastinatorsuprem@reddit
Exactly. Now they are legally required in most states.
videoman7189@reddit
Drinking at the age of 18.
Barneyboydog@reddit
It still is where I live.
Jakeandellwood@reddit
Ya that’s an American thing. Ridiculous too.
Barneyboydog@reddit
Yup
Lobster70@reddit
Showing up to the airport 10 minutes before a flight, and going straight to the gate just in time to board. Not just as kids--I last did that as an adult, late 90s I think, with my boss at the time.
2furrycatz@reddit
Family walking you to the gate when you leave and meeting you at the gate when you got back
crazygalah@reddit
Buying codeine cough syrup over the counter.
Adventurous_Bug_6664@reddit
Legal in Canada at least in 2022 when I last visited.
Its_noon_somewhere@reddit
Yes, lower dosage versions are still legal without a prescription but they are over-the-counter not on the shelf. Essentially you need to convince the pharmacist it’s necessary for you
2furrycatz@reddit
While driving through Canada in 1999, I stocked up on codeine tablets. Then got popped in a random drug test at work in S Dakota. I just showed my boss the Canadian label on the bottle and nothing happened
Ill-Secretary8386@reddit
Didn't have to wear seatbelts
2furrycatz@reddit
Didn't have seatbelts
NeighborhoodVivid106@reddit
My first real part-time job was in a little store in our local hospital. I worked there from age 14 to 16. Along with the pop, chips, chocolate bars, newspapers and magazines, we also sold cigarettes and cigars which the visitors and patients could smoke in the common room/visitors' room that they had on each floor.
Napalm74@reddit
Fun
foodweneedfood@reddit
The student smoking area in high school.
aMoose_Bit_My_Sister@reddit
my high school had one, that's for sure.
TillikumWasFramed@reddit
Not wearing a seatbelt.
2furrycatz@reddit
Not even having seatbelts in cars
BlackberryHill@reddit
People riding loose in a pickup truck bed
Astronomer-Secure@reddit
and kids without car seats
2furrycatz@reddit
Or seat belts
urfriendflicka@reddit
Not using booster seats for toddlers.
MetallicaGirl73@reddit
Car seats in general
2furrycatz@reddit
Seat belts in general
urfriendflicka@reddit
I remember my mother holding my sister when while driving, but I wasn't sure if it was legal or if she just didn't it. I also wasn't sure if being transported in the back of my aunts transit van while sitting on a mattress on the floor was legal, but we did that too. Or sat 7 of us in the back 4 sitting on the eats and 3 on our laps.
Felt so much safer when we were older and just 5 of us were crammed in the back seat with 3 of us sharing the middle lap belt. I appreciated nit being responsible for my little cousins health and safety anymore.
Peanut2ur_Tostito@reddit
Riding in the back of a car without a seat belt as kids.
2furrycatz@reddit
Riding in the front seat before seat belts were standard equipment
Suspicious_Bar9995@reddit
Hell there were times we would ride in the back of a station wagon with the window down sitting on the edge and hanging on to the roof rack. Can you imagine seeing that today?
Peanut2ur_Tostito@reddit
I know right?
Western_Thought_5428@reddit
Riding in the front seat at all as a kid
Alert_Thing_4322@reddit
Babysitting at 13 for strangers who gave you a ride home after they were drinking .
philovax@reddit
And maybe they would take you out of state or country for their vacation.
justwannadance0909@reddit
My mom and dad always brought the babysitter when we went on vacation, lol.
OldLifeguard-00@reddit
👀
Doephilious@reddit
Riding in the back of a truck
aprillquinn@reddit
The Class paddle hung in the front of the classroom with some saying hand painted on it
peter_gibbones@reddit
I still remember in first grade a kid was given plenty of warning and then Mrs smith had to take the paddle off the wall and escort the little boy outside. We didn’t witness the paddling but we heard the crack and then the crying . No one else got out of line for the rest of the year… or ever. Sometimes people just wanna test the authorities. FAFO, we all learned something that day.
Ok-Acanthisitta-5451@reddit
They need to bring that back to get these kids in line again. Nice knowing y’all! Probably getting banned for having an opinion again. lol
aprillquinn@reddit
no, you are allowed to have an opinion, even a dumb opinion. This is America 🇺🇸
Ok-Acanthisitta-5451@reddit
Not American, thank God
mottledmussel@reddit
The "Board of Education" with holes for airflow. I must have grown up in a progressive area since they required a permission slip to beat children and my parents refused to sign it. That was something handled in house and not outsourced.
Lobster70@reddit
Heh. At my public high school in the late 80s a typical punishment was "2, 3, or 5." Two hacks (with a wooden paddle), three days of in-house suspension, or five days of external suspension; your choice. The vice principal gave the corporal punishment, and was suitably feared by all students.
homerletterkenny@reddit
Go to the store with a note from your parents to buy cigarettes for them.
Dadto4Kiddos@reddit
Being able to ride in the bed of the truck.
Lopsided_Stranger723@reddit
Kids being allowed to sit at the bar where adults smoke and drank.
acodysseygirl72@reddit
3 years old, sitting on the gas tank on my step dad’s motorcycle, him and mom behind him, from the babysitters house home. Every day in the summers.
Newt_the_Pain@reddit
Yesterday I saw a guy with a pit bull on his has tank. I bet it weighed at least 80 pounds. 😬
RHCP1031@reddit
Having a brain of my own and common sense…wait, nm that’s over now.
yodaniel77@reddit
No watershed on TV (UK). Sometimes seeing nudity in films on in the middle of the day.
mybluecouch@reddit
Abortion. 🤷🏼♀️
cooldudely@reddit
Oof
VeeVeeDiaboli@reddit
Ecstasy. No really…
TillikumWasFramed@reddit
It was legal for a long time before the government found out it was fun.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
Gotta get when you can now.
warriorwoman534@reddit
Being 16 and able to freely smoke in the outdoor lunch area of my AZ high school in the early 1970s.
Silver_Queen_Bee@reddit
Same….we had Stoner’s Hill where you could go to smoke in high school
warriorwoman534@reddit
Wasn't it great?
ReddituserXIII@reddit
Disaplining your children
Head_Trick_9932@reddit
lol …disciplining you mean?
ReddituserXIII@reddit
Damn autocucumber
Resident-Condition-2@reddit
If you mean disciplining by hitting them, GOOD. Children should never be hit.
Wonderful_Plan4656@reddit
This all day
Grimol1@reddit
Holding a baby on your lap in the front seat of a car.
ganshon@reddit
Fireworks is the first thing to come to mind.
Not sure if it is illegal or not, but no longer see kids walking to school on their own. At least not elementary. Or just playing outside on their own for that matter. The word "playdate" was not in my vocab because we just went to each other's houses to ask if someone could come out to play. It was a lot more spontaneous.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
As it should be!
WatchPerfect6066@reddit
yes. just typed out my first instant thought then scrolled down...
didn't take long to see you there.
beththebookgirl@reddit
Smoking. Every where. Even hospitals.
unloosedcoin@reddit
I remember being 5 on a bus with mum smoking and she passed it to me to throw out the window.
Character_Raisin574@reddit
Throwing everything out the car window!
69swamper@reddit
I remember my pediatrician smoking in his office while talking to my mom
WatchPerfect6066@reddit
my dads last cigarette was in royal Adelaide hospital.
1986.
1968C10@reddit
Driving 100mph sipping on a bottle of whiskey.
I really loved Montana,back in the day
mybluecouch@reddit
Ooh, and that space in time with no speed limits...
Careless-Gazelle-247@reddit
Buying cigarettes for my parents.
mybluecouch@reddit
Yep. (Mom sends note, and a $5 spot.) Wild!
TheAmazingMaryJane@reddit
going to parties at 13/14 and hooking up with guys around 20. i knew a girl who lost her virginity to a 30 year old and no one gave a shit! they called her a slut! legal age was 14 in canada in the 80s.
mybluecouch@reddit
OMG yuck. For real. That's shit. 😬
jdr90210@reddit
Single mom working 3rd shift. Me F 12, sis 10, M 2 yr old. No one died. In wood shop build a stool so my B could pee like a boy. I'm 57, it's fine.
willysdriver53@reddit
The smoking area (for 18 year olds) at my high school
marie48021@reddit
Clackers
Character_Raisin574@reddit
I loved them!!!
Sea-Case-9879@reddit
Smoking everywhere.
ROGUE_butterfly2024@reddit
Kids buying cigs and lottery tickets lol. Dont know if it was ever truly legal but wed all be shopping for our parents or grandparents lol.
Staying home alone.
Safe-Ad9602@reddit
Grandma smoking cigarettes inside the mall as we shopped
booked462@reddit
In the grocery stores, too!
JediRebel79@reddit
Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me
foozballhead@reddit
Toddlers standing up in the back seat of a moving car, no seatbelts. Kids riding in the trunk of a hatchback or bed of a pickup truck.
Ebstetron@reddit
I fell out of the car when my dad took a corner. I had some really gnarly looking scars for a while but I am lucky that was it.
SandyLomme@reddit
That weird glassed-in back section of the Ford Pinto! We coulda DIED!
Professional-Bar9947@reddit
Riding in a car w/o a seatbelt. Riding a bike w/o a helmet.
Ok-Humot9024@reddit
Three-wheelers. Those things flipped over like crazy. I was never allowed to ride them because my dad was a cop and was called to several three-wheeler accidents that resulted in serious injuries.
Ebstetron@reddit
My uncle died driving one, so I would say your dad was prudent.
No_Secret_4560@reddit
R.I.P my ankles.
ComprehensiveLab4642@reddit
they were so much fun though. (Gen Jones)
OTguru@reddit
Hitchhiking a ride to my bus stop from any random neighbor when I was in elementary school (a 1 mile walk, not joking).
Joe-_-Momma-@reddit
Having open containers of alcohol in a car and everyone but the driver drinking.
alclark1976@reddit
Real lawn darts! We had so much fun not knowing that one of us could die at any moment. Fun times! Honestly understandable that they were pulled from shelves.
azrolator@reddit
My brother and I would stand across from each other to throw them. It was fun, even though I know it's survivor bias.
alclark1976@reddit
🤣
Justinsboo@reddit
Rifles in gun racks on the school property. A teacher’s brake room for smokers
GardenDivaESQ@reddit
No baby seats in cars.
GardenDivaESQ@reddit
Riding in the back of an open truck, riding a bike without a helmet, kids could buy cigarettes for their parents, riding bike on sidewalks.
RegularImpressive819@reddit
Did you ever see our car seats, and the fact they could be in the front seat? Yeah, not anymore.
2K84Man@reddit
Buying smokes for my mom with a note.
Friday_arvo@reddit
Drink driving.
CrazySpirited2207@reddit
Lawn darts
Beginning-Head3152@reddit
I didn’t see ur comment before posting! Oops
Picmover@reddit
Beat me to it
Professional-Mind439@reddit
Common sense
Picmover@reddit
Standing up in the front seat with my mother's arm the magic protection barrier when we stopped short.
Oceanbreeze871@reddit
Smoking sections on airplanes
Charlie61172@reddit
Riding, loose, in the back of a pick-up truck.
langleybcsucks@reddit
Hey that’s on my high school ended up named after Rick Hanson
Dutch1inAZ@reddit
Abortions
kozzy1ted2@reddit
Ecstasy 😜
WatchPerfect6066@reddit
Australian.
fireworks sold over the counter.
some of my earliest memories are looking through a glass top timber cabinet in a toy shop admiring the fire crackers.
I was about 5yrs old when all fireworks were banned to the public.
Quiteuselessatstart@reddit
I didn't realize that fireworks were illegal in Australia.
WatchPerfect6066@reddit
for the public they are,
yeah , the authorities banned fireworks for purchase & public use in the late 70s in most states & by the mid 80s in all states.
only government registered & approved pyrotechnicians can obtain a special usage permit for the purpose of special celebration occasions.
the penalties & fines are quite high too, 50k / 6 months jail if caught distributing or possesing illegal fireworks.
TransitionalAngst@reddit
Three-wheelers! I mean, I know they’re not outright illegal, but it’s been illegal to sell new ones here for about 40 years.
Zealousideal_Rent261@reddit
Burn piles.
joeliopro@reddit
Military guys might have different opinions.
Fair_Presence7064@reddit
Still legal in Florida
Substationzer0@reddit
Roaming around like a feral animal with zero parental oversight dawn til dusk.
mary_engelbreit@reddit
M80s
araven111@reddit
I got a permission slip from my grandma to buy a carton of Marlboros
Weekly_Thought_8374@reddit
Reading books
Independent_Tough_81@reddit
Standing on the side bars of Jeeps while driving down the road, riding on various specialty trailers. Not just parades, but going to and from camp to them, battles, etc. ( Caissons, cannon axles, flatbeds, My family were Reenactors )
5150-gotadaypass@reddit
Yeah! I can’t believe my dumb ass was doing over 65 with people in the back of the truck. Never even gave it a thought that anything bad could happen.
MetallicaGirl73@reddit
I have a friend that fell out of the back of his friend's truck and was severely injured and got a brain injury. Took years of rehab but is living a fairly normal life now.
5150-gotadaypass@reddit
Oh that’s awful. I’m glad they’ve been able to rehab from it. I’m sure they never got back to 100%, and that’s so heartbreaking. 💜
I’m eternally thankful that the stupidity of my youth never injured anyone else.
ShortDelay9880@reddit
Walking myself to school at 6. Or to the grocery store at that age. Or anywhere at all.
PowerfulBranch7587@reddit
Smoking sections on a plane
SpanArm@reddit
So many things but the one that impacted me the most: the drinking age was 18.
Ecstatic_Western_189@reddit
Decisions about my uterus.
MMXMonster007@reddit
What’s illegal about your uterus?
JaxBoltsGirl@reddit
The uterus itself isn't illegal. It's just illegal in most states to decide what happens in it. Or near it.
MMXMonster007@reddit
How so?
Sarahndipitious@reddit
American anti-abortion laws, anti-birth control etc
Most_Maintenance5549@reddit
Jarts.
dendenwink@reddit
My mom would send me to the corner store with $5 and a note asking for cigarettes....they'd always sell them to me
FrancinetheP@reddit
Did the same, but plus beer, minus note. Don’t mess with Texas.
dnas-nrg@reddit
My auntie was smoking in the hospital room when I was born 😆
GiraffesCantSwim@reddit
My mother-in-law said she smoked in the labor and delivery room right before my husband was born. 😭
amy5252@reddit
And ashtrays on grocery carts!
ThatStarkGirl@reddit
I never wore a seatbelt as a child, and my parents always smoked in restaurants!
TastyComfortable2355@reddit
So things have improved
ThatStarkGirl@reddit
Agreed!
azrolator@reddit
Raping your wife.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
{community_rule_3}
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Poor Behavior - No antagonism, trolling, rage farming, flame wars, juvenility, or any other overly cantankerous commentary and/or behavior will be tolerated.
azrolator@reddit
Not sure what I did. I'm from the USA. I was answering in good faith.
SQWRLLY1@reddit
Sitting on the hard plastic console between the seats of my dad's 1980 Toyota pickup. No padding, no seatbelt.
LooseCannon29@reddit
This was the most favored place to sit in our 1980 Volkswagen Dasher station wagon. We fought over who got to sit in the “crack”. Dad would let us operate the stick shift if we were sitting there. We got enough practice that he didn’t even have to tell us when to shift or which gear.
SQWRLLY1@reddit
That sounds rather awesome! Sounds like you have a cool dad. 😊
Diela1968@reddit
People are getting turned in to CPS for letting their ten-twelve year olds walk a couple blocks to the store. I mean wtf.
I had to bike two miles on remote country roads to get to ours and nobody said boo.
azrolator@reddit
I live in a state that didn't have any legal minimum age to leave your kids home. So it all ends up at discretion of CPS.
We were the generation left at home. Left to wander.
I had a coworker who had CPS take her kids away because she let them be at home alone when working. One of them was even an older teen that was left in charge.
Like legally she can let the older one babysit the younger ones, and legally CPS can take the kids away for it. Crazy.
The-Old-American@reddit
My elementary school was almost a half mile from home. Middle school was 1.5 miles. Walk to and from both regularly. I rode my bike alone waaay farther.
Jude_the_obscurest@reddit
My brothers and I would ride our bikes to the lake in the summer. In grade school. No parents, no lifeguard at the lake, and we would stay ALL DAY. When I was 9 or 10 my brothers took off ahead of me, my handlebars got loose and I went over the handlebars and skun my knees and elbows and chipped my front teeth. No change in the routine, but my brothers got yelled at for leaving me behind. I had to walk home holding my bike and bleeding and crying.
Numerous-Ad4057@reddit
Walked 4 blocks to kindergarten alone.
D05wtt@reddit
Sitting in the trunk facing backwards in a station wagon.
Impossible_Ad_9199@reddit
Freedom 😢
No_Appearance4859@reddit
Gotten worse in the last couple of years for sure
DiceNinja@reddit
Letting your first grader walk to school alone.
Alert_Thing_4322@reddit
I was kindergarten and it was a half a day so it was at school at 8 home 1130 so did it twice a day no crossing guards
Claque-2@reddit
In the middle of a Chicago neighborhood, we would rake leaves into a pile near the curb, and set fire to them.
Narrow_Pepper_1324@reddit
Riding in the back of trucks while standing up
MemphisStormfront@reddit
Shooting off fireworks whenever you damn well pleased
RiffRandellsBF@reddit
Being 8 and left home alone for 2 days while parents went on an overnight trip... With money for pizza and soda, and using a gas stove to cook meals.
Fuck, it was awesome.
Astronomer-Secure@reddit
I miss that life so much. I mean I'm in my 50s so I can do that all now, but I miss that life, that pace, that peace. before internet, before social media. I miss that quiet simple life.
winged_skunk@reddit
A smoking section in a family restaurant!
Wild-Refrigerator-79@reddit
My cousin married his 16 yr old student. He was early 30's at the time. Fwiw, they were happily married for nearly 40 years. But yeah.
Ok-Actuator8579@reddit
Yikes
tapitha@reddit
My dad had ny brother and I used to pump gas when we were 5 and 6. We'd be outside freezing and pumping gas while dad was warm in side smoking a cigarette. And he always smoked in the car with the windows rolled up.
Redkris73@reddit
Riding a bicycle without a helmet (law changed here when I was 15)
NWtrailhound@reddit
In the summers, my dad played Tavern league softball. The team was tight. After nearly every game they would head to a local watering hole. I would routinely hang out in the bar until it closed. I was 12-15 years old.
Starkravingbrie@reddit
My dad had me serve drinks in his bar. Mom was pissed(they were divorced). I was two and thought it was a blast. 🤣
TenderLA@reddit
This was me and my brother at 6 and 10 years old
JediDad1968@reddit
Lawn Darts
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
18 year olds drinking legally in the US.
No seat belt. Riding in the back of a truck. No car seats for kids and babies. Minors buying and smoking cigarettes
jennn027@reddit
As a 9yr old I babysat my 6 yr old sister. Also rode in the back of my friend’s family pickup truck on lawn recliners all the way to vacation with them, a 5 hr ride.
Appropriate_Ad9157@reddit
Everthing I own, if I step foot in California
HandAccomplished6285@reddit
Staying home by my 10 year old self in the evenings while my parents went out
Ill-Owl5131@reddit
Drinking and driving
WatchPerfect6066@reddit
in australia prior to random breath testing there was a prescribed alcohol concentration but it was told it was difficult to enforce
I remember as a kid in about 1978 in my capital city the crystal bag test was implemented, im not sure how they knew by the colour what the bloid alcohol concentration was but the limit was .08
by the mid 80s the booze bus RBT set ups started & as you could imagine they caught plenty.
wasnt long after they lowered the limit to .05.
crazy to think that authorities once upon a time tolerated drink driving.
VioletSea13@reddit
Sending your kid to the corner store with a note to buy cigarettes and beer.
Teacherforlife21@reddit
Laying in the back window of the family sedan on road trips
Astronomer-Secure@reddit
and making faces at the cars behind you
Jellyfish2017@reddit
My parents drove a big box truck they called a “step van.” Empty truck with only a drivers seat. There was no cab it was all one big open room basically. They hung tie down straps and made us a swing to sit on so we could take turns swinging as we drove down the highway.
jderflinger@reddit
That sounds awesome!
ahutapoo@reddit
We kids would ride our bikes behind the truck that would spray pesticide.
Flaky-Professional84@reddit
Lawn darts. Buying cigarettes for your parents (with a note). Playing outside with zero adult supervision, far from home
DeannaC-FL@reddit
Open containers
Seatbelts optional
Drinking and driving
Astronomer-Secure@reddit
my dad always had a "road soda" when he was driving. usually a couple of 6-packs for long trips
Cupcake541@reddit
Riding in the back of the truck was my first thought! Hahaaa
ahutapoo@reddit
Yep. I begged my Mom to let me, we went into town. It's 7 miles downhill and a tad curvy. I was 5.
ditchdiggergirl@reddit
Or on the tailgate of the station wagon with our (bare) feet hanging off.
MomTo3LilPigs@reddit
Little kids walking to the store buying cigarettes
Astronomer-Secure@reddit
with a note from their mom
madpeachiepie@reddit
Lawn darts
evilkitty1974@reddit
Riding on my sister's lap in the passenger seat of our Dad's pickup, no seat belt. Riding in the bed of said pickup.
mistyblue3@reddit
You could smoke literally anywhere you went
No car seats
Riding in the back of a pick up
Stray dogs seemed to be more of a thing in the 80s too
RawAsparagus@reddit
I still don't wear flip flops in case I get chased by a German Shepard
mistyblue3@reddit
Oh no! There must be a story to this one!
RawAsparagus@reddit
We had a German Shepard who lived a couple blocks away. He was super agro but I don't know that he ever actually bit anyone.
We also had a black lab who would wander freely about the neighborhood biting children. I hated that dog.
I'm glad we have leash laws now.
vpblackheart@reddit
Buying beer at 18. Learner's driving license at 14.
amy5252@reddit
Beer at 19
Wakeful-dreamer@reddit
Some states still do permits at 14. Iowa allows 14.5 year olds to drive themselves to school.
amy5252@reddit
JARTS!!!!
Temporary-Row-2992@reddit
Don’t know what’s allowed in schools now, but kids could smoke at school with a note from parents. There was a smoke spot where you could smoke. Suspect that the requirement for notes was never enforced.
Typical_Version_7487@reddit
My school didn’t have that but my younger sisters did.
Typical_Version_7487@reddit
Spankings
Rimailkall@reddit
Jarts
Brokenbelle22@reddit
Smoking section on airplanes 🤢
NoseDesperate6952@reddit
And in restaurants. It’s like a peeing section in the community pool
felinebarbecue@reddit
Jarts......
justwannadance0909@reddit
“Don’t look up!”
Tha_Dude_Abidez@reddit
Penis inspection day at school
NoseDesperate6952@reddit
Where did this happen? Catholic school?
OkOpportunity9626@reddit
Being alone w/o an adult around, when I was 9+ . Generally, going thru the day w/o adults around us.
justwannadance0909@reddit
100% latchkey kids. We raised ourselves.
cre8majik@reddit
No seatbelts.
Wrong_Square7826@reddit
for sure that, probably not "legal" back then and certainly more frowned upon now, but in the 70's I loved my moms whiskey sours and daiquiris... probably around 7-10 years old.
NoseDesperate6952@reddit
If it’s in your own home with parents present, it’s still not illegal. Just don’t go anywhere until you can blow .00
evil_moron@reddit
My cousin and I used to ride in the bed of my aunt's pickup truck when we were like 5 yo. If that happened today she'd be arrested for child endangerment
justwannadance0909@reddit
My mom would make a “bed” in the back window of our car and we would drive 12 hours to Florida with my sister sleeping in said “bed”.
NoseDesperate6952@reddit
Buying cigarettes
justwannadance0909@reddit
My Dad played racquetball when my sister and I was younger. He would take us to the club and sit us at the bar while he played a few games. We would color and draw while people smoked and drank in the bar, I don’t think that would be allowed these days. We raised ourselves back then…
VixenTraffic@reddit
Going to the store when I was 3 or 4 by myself to buy cigarettes for my aunt. (Don’t tell my parents, they would have killed us Both!)
DryProgress4393@reddit
Buying smokes for your parents. I'd get sent down to the corner store with a note. I could get some candy and pop but wow betitde me if I forgot the smokes.
Sad-Sail-3413@reddit
I didn't even need a note, would grab smokes and a bottle of port for dad, the security check was a laughing "just don't drink it on the way home" from the clerk.
endlesssearch482@reddit
Cigarette vending machines in restaurants!
Grdngirl@reddit
No car seats, no helmets, beating your kids/wife.
kevbayer@reddit
Carrying a butterfly knife
Cold_in_Lifes_Throes@reddit
I used to have one of those and several sharp throwing stars.
kevbayer@reddit
I still do! Kept in display cases in my home office.
IrascibleBamboo@reddit
To the AIRPORT!!!
revolutionoverdue@reddit
Drinking and driving wasn’t exactly legal but wasn’t enforced strongly. Also, a lot of environmental stuff.
DoctorFork@reddit
In Montana, it was explicitly legal to drink and drive, as long as you remained below the limit.
Puzzleheaded_Tank338@reddit
Buying cigarettes for your dad.
stabbingrabbit@reddit
Seatbelts.
More_Law6245@reddit
Lying on the car's back parcel shelf. It's kind of horrifying thinking of hitting something at 80-100 km an hour without a seat belt.
Tujunga54@reddit
My parents had a little sports car & used to stick me on top of where the convertible top folded in the back when I was 5 or 6.
Human_Exit7657@reddit
Yes! My parents let me sit on the “hump” (read as armrest) in the convertible Corvette Stingray. I also spent a lot of time in the “trunk” aka where the soft top was stored when not in use. The 70’s, what a blast.
whygrowupnow@reddit
Registering your kid at school without a birth certificate. They took it for granted that the kid was yours, and wrote down the name you wanted them to go by
These-Analysis-6115@reddit
Riding in the bed of a pickup.
beachbumwannabe717@reddit
10 years old going (walking) to the store for mom’s cigarettes 😆
First-Stress-9893@reddit
Buying alcohol at 18
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
I was grandfathered in to that as a senior in high school. Made our weekends a blast.
First-Stress-9893@reddit
Oh I bet!! I am at the younger side of Gen X so missed it myself but was old enough to watch it turn.
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
I went to school in northern MA but Vermont was still 18 to drink and only 7 miles away. It was common to party over the border. Reagan forced the age limit increase by threatening to withold hwy funding if they didn't go to 21. I just barely hit the grandfather clause and businesses weren't really willing to go along with the new age due to the money they made serving 18 and up. Even in many states in the 90s, it was still 18 to party but 21 to drink, so you could still go to bars. I still believe if you can get drafted, you should be able to drink, buy smokes and anything a 21 year old can do. Some things make no sense.
First-Stress-9893@reddit
Way too many things don’t make sense honestly.
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
True
BigTallCanUke@reddit
Last I knew, here in Saskatchewan it is still legal to ride in the box of a truck, with some conditions - all available seats in the cab, and therefore all seat belts in the cab must be in use, and the rider(s) in the back must be seated with their waist below the top edge of the truck box at all times.
sullen_peggy@reddit
Oh wow, didn't know that. Here in Onterrible.... Into the clink we'd go 😂 🤣
BigTallCanUke@reddit
“Last I knew” was about 35 years ago, so it may have changed since. Cruising the main drag on Friday or Saturday nights when I was in high school, we would try to set informal records of how many people we could legally stuff in the back of one of our friend’s trucks, and take a lap. The cops kept an eye on us, but as long as everyone was obeying the law as previously described, they left us alone.
sullen_peggy@reddit
Lol, makes sense HS was 38 years ago for me
CDubs_94@reddit
Good fireworks. M80s Silver Salutes
Mejay11096@reddit
Just letting your kids knock around loose in the back seat.
Hotsaucejimmy@reddit
Buying smokes as a minor.
strangebru@reddit
I remember running in for my mom, who stayed in the car, to buy her cigarettes. I must have been 5-6 years old which would have been early 1970's.
Suspicious-Gift-2296@reddit
My Dad wrote me a note for the guy at the shops to sell me smokes lol
strangebru@reddit
My mom waved from her car.
AskPsychological2868@reddit
Smoking inside restaurants and bars
FormerAd952@reddit
Smoking everywhere, airplanes, hospital, grocery store
mfigroid@reddit
And high school.
ChaosReignsNow@reddit
Making hiring and promotion decisions based solely on the skills and performance of the employee.
PeterPunksNip@reddit
Corporeal punishment...
badtux99@reddit
Corporal punishment is still legal in the USA. Churchy folks say "mah freedumbs!" every time they try to outlaw it.
PeterPunksNip@reddit
It's been illegal in Europe since a long time ago. Now, parents can also face charges for psychological abuse. And it's good. It's about time.
badtux99@reddit
It's almost as if Europe is civilized ;).
duathlon_bob@reddit
Wow, thy added an E. It must be much worse than corporal punishment
kiffiekat@reddit
We suffered much ethereal punishment
jason4747@reddit
Nailed it.
1234RedditReddit@reddit
Driving with open container
BoogerPicker2020@reddit
drive to the corner store to get my dad smokes when i was 12
AmberBlu@reddit
Smoking section in high school.
leebelle9@reddit
This was in the 1970's. My parents went to "teachers' parties" which would consist of everyone from superintendent down to office workers getting drunk and playing obscene party games like "who goosed the moose." Sometimes our parents left us at home to go or sometimes we would watch at home if our parents were hosting.
It was not unusual that we children not only knew all the high school teachers in the area, but they hung out and drank or smoked pot at our house. There was also a weekly poker game with that crowd. It was normal for my parents to give them relationship advise
It seems weird a teacher gets fired for their social media posts when they used to do what they wanted after hours as consenting adults. I don't think what they did on the weekend affected their teaching skills. If I hadn't know them personally or saw it myself, I wouldn't have even know it was happening.
2whatextent@reddit
Our neighbors were teachers and hosted parties. It was crazy watching respected teachers bonkers drunk and playing the fool.
Itchy-Butt-hole-@reddit
Dad/mom driving with a beer in their lap.
Turdulator@reddit
Sending your elementary school kids outside to play and having no idea where they were for the rest of the day.
MaintenanceCapable83@reddit
drinking at 18
DangerousLettuce1423@reddit
Still legal in NZ.
IndividualBusy403@reddit
Just about everything we did as kids would be considered either illegal or close to it these days.
needle-fart820@reddit
Same. Except for smoking pot, thankfully. 🇨🇦
TifCreatesAgain@reddit
Beating your children! I got beat with a belt too many times growing up!
badtux99@reddit
Still legal in the USA, the churchy folks are like "mah freedumbs!" every time someone tries to outlaw it.
Inner_Vacation7734@reddit
Riding in the back of pickup trucks 🛻
MasterPalpitation8@reddit
Leaving kids under the age of ten home alone for multiple days at a time
badtux99@reddit
Pretty sure that was always illegal child neglect.
onlybrad@reddit
Riding without any seat belts. There weren't any.
Low_Soil_6831@reddit
Reading this while driving without a seatbelt
Protovision_Inc@reddit
Still legal in New Hampshire. Live free or die baby!
Steelwraith955@reddit
Lawn darts.
Hippiechic0811@reddit
Came here to say this!
badtux99@reddit
Ditto.
travelingtraveling_@reddit
Kids buying cigarettes, esp from a vending machine
human743@reddit
Leaving your car running while you run into a store.
LayerNo3634@reddit
Leaving your kids in the car while you ran into a store.
leebelle9@reddit
Leaving your kids in a running car while buying beer on the way home from visiting relatives.
Wolffmans_Howlings@reddit
Yeah, mom left the car running for us so we had AC. 😄
StormStorySpinner@reddit
Dad never left the air on and he would be in there three hours to pick up shaving cream. Three of us would play I spy until we melted into the car seats.
LayerNo3634@reddit
Lucky you, our mom just rolled down the windows in the Texas heat. No way would she leave us with the keys.
Active_Struggle_4659@reddit
Mom did this once with me and several siblings in the ole Woody station wagon. One of us, numb nuts, hit the gear shifter on the column and put us into reverse and drove us into a ditch at the back of the parking lot.
jason4747@reddit
Ahhh, the golden daze
ooooooootreyngers@reddit
Selling myself as a child to politicians....the game is changing.
pdiddleysquat@reddit
Lawn darts, buying cigarettes at age 16, not wearing a seatbelt.
Metallikyle@reddit
Smoking in the mall.
goombatch@reddit
HA, forgot about that
TeamBethInvincible@reddit
When our school-bus hit a certain red light, the driver would let kids out to sprint across a road to the nearby burger place to buy cigs from the vending machine then sprint back to get into the bus before the light turned green, or else the bus had to wait a few seconds holding up traffic
Both_Chicken_666@reddit
Securing a newborn baby in a vehicle with a strip of velcro
FormerAd952@reddit
We were held in mom's arms, even if she was driving
Better_Resort1171@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup.
Professional-Poet331@reddit
Yep I still try to be sneaky about this with my kids. I got CPS called on me because I let my little girls play in the rain. They were 6-7 years old around the time it happened. Lady got there and I told her are you serious right now?! Tell me you never did as a kid and she said yeah I did too. She closed my case. I was just dumbfounded that my old neighbors called them for that.
11093PlusDays@reddit
Drive through mixed drinks at the bar. My parents would actually get those with us in the car.
strangebru@reddit
Someone who lived near New Orleans told me of these "daiquiri stands." I don't think that would have worked in the 1990's anywhere else in the country.
HornetParticular6625@reddit
I was working out of Cut Off, Louisiana back ten years ago or so, and they still have them. I wasn't driving, so I got a massive cup of boozy goodness. It was an hour and a half to New Orleans. I was hammered checking into my hotel
Ok_Still_3571@reddit
I remember seeing these in Florida in the 80’s. Like, wow…
TeamBethInvincible@reddit
Omg lol
TomeThugNHarmony4664@reddit
Buying cigarettes for my dad because he didn’t want to get out of the car.
fattycatty6@reddit
My hs we were allowed knives, nothing bigger than 3 inches (it was a vo ag school). My kids at a tech hs and that is so not a thing these days 😆 also kids in the parking lot had gun racks in the back of their trucks (again, it was an ag school 😆)
random478523@reddit
We had a student smoking are
fattycatty6@reddit
Ours was gone by the time I got there. Guns and knives ok, smoke bad 😆
tgrantt@reddit
Inside or out? Ours was inside until I was in about grade 8. Only for grade 10 and up, with written parental approval
SarcasticGirl27@reddit
NJ - At least Camden County has Vo Tech HS. You can learn a lot from them too. And they have adult education programs too.
TeamBethInvincible@reddit
On skateboards or roller-skates hanging onto the back of mom’s station wagon with the back window down while she drove us up the big hill so we could skate down
I-dont-care-yet@reddit
Leaving kids alone . I mean really leaving them alone by leaving them at home and leaving the country . I was 11 and my brother was 13 , my mom ( divorced ) had the opportunity to go to Spain for two weeks so she took it . Left us home , no adult . I cooked dinner , we kept the house clean and got ourselves to school . Pretty sure she would get arrested for that now.
TheNeonCrow@reddit
She probably should have had repercussions then!
I-dont-care-yet@reddit
When they say no one cares about Gen X they really mean it .
TheNeonCrow@reddit
I know, right! I read something about why we get so irritated with the people around us: We had to figure it out for ourselves and it really tests our patience to have to teach something that no one bothered to teach us!
I-dont-care-yet@reddit
That’s so true . My mom said once “ I taught you to be independent “, I told her she woukd have had to actually teach if if that’s the case , she left us on our own and it was sink or swim time . Gen Z has so much anxiety, I told me kids we didn’t have the luxury of anxiety as we were just fighting to survive on our own .
leebelle9@reddit
We figured it out the hard way. Lucky we survived without YouTube lol.
genxindifferance@reddit
Beating the fuck outta your kids and threatening to kill them. Back then, police did not get involved in "domestic matters"
RustbeltMaven@reddit
Not wearing a seat belt while driving. And Lawn darts.
Solid-Bee-1613@reddit
I fell out of the bed of a pickup truck on a farm when I was about 5 yrs old. My parents would have been in so much trouble now. Also we could ride our bikes all over town go to the park unsupervised. Parents where I live have been arrested for letting their preteen children goto the playground down the street by themselves.
StereotypicallBarbie@reddit
Same! I remember we’d all get in the back of my dad’s truck.. and sit there on long journeys to our grandparents! I remember a few of them had holes in the bottom you could see the road whizzing past!
Never would I have let my kids do that!
KyleGrayson12@reddit
I'm a millenieal and I rode in the back of my dad's pick-up truck, too.
mcgeedis@reddit
Going seatbeltless.
StereotypicallBarbie@reddit
Smoking indoors… I can remember getting on the bus as a child going shopping with my mum and the bus would be full of smoke! Doctors offices.. inside shopping centres! Ashtrays as a centrepiece on the coffee table..
BrilliantPiccolo5220@reddit
Riding a bike with no helmet and feeling no fear or guilt, just the wind in your hair.
MarvinParanoAndroid@reddit
As a cyclist, I oppose any regulation or law that imposes wearing a helmet. This would lead to coordinated police actions against cyclists to give out tickets. This would be counterproductive. You want to encourage people to be cyclists.
As a cyclist, I always strongly recommend wearing a helmet. If you’re an adult and have an accident, it’s going to be your fault. For kids, it’s a parental decision. They’ll have to live with the consequences.
Wear a helmet!
SandraMort@reddit
Why should it be up to the parents?!?
MarvinParanoAndroid@reddit
Parents should protect their children. If they don’t, don’t blame society.
SandraMort@reddit
They SHOULD. But if they're not going to, somebody needs to step in
SandraMort@reddit
Why should it be up to the parents?!?
Comfortable_Year4081@reddit
Smoking in public…like EVERYWHERE!
TeamBethInvincible@reddit
Yea Even on airplanes
Personal_Secret_234@reddit
No being able to buy alcohol on Saturday through Friday because of blue laws down south.
LazyDramaLlama68@reddit
Blue laws were still in effect in Texas last time I was there. No purchasing alcohol between midnight and noon on a Sunday
CoverCommercial3576@reddit
speech. assembly. the press.
tunaman808@reddit
Well, Georgia didn't have any minimum age laws for tobacco purchases until I was a junior in high school in the late 80s.
All the folks in this sub with their "I bought cigarettes for my mom at the corner store when I was 6 years-old because [I had a note, or the owner knew us]" stories make me laugh... because I never needed a note, or to have one particular person working that day.
It wasn't illegal to sell cigarettes or chewing tobacco or plugs or snuff to a 6 year-old. So while you'd occasionally come across an "I'm not selling Marlboros to a kid" cashier, it was rare.
I bought my first pack of smokes at age 12, and it was blatantly obvious to the cashier they were for me: I stood at the cigarette display at Kroger for 10 minutes trying to decide on a brand.
Ok-Error-6564@reddit
My high school had a courtyard that was the “smoking section”. It was always full between classes.
brents347@reddit
Yep, the smoking section. Where the kids in Led Zeppelin t-shirts hung out.
MMXMonster007@reddit
What’s a car seat?
TeamBethInvincible@reddit
Or seat belts
Terrible-Search3859@reddit
Worked in an ER and GHB could be bought over the counter at a “health food” store. Yeah…
Ninja187@reddit
Became illegal in 2000
Terrible-Search3859@reddit
Can you believe it wasn’t illegal before that? OD’s with no clue how to treat it except like the appearance it presented like.
Ninja187@reddit
I knew somebody who OD’d on it and they were about to hit them with Narcan. Crazy that GNC use to sell it. Different times for sure
WorthIcy5531@reddit
Clicker Clacks.
BoldBoimlerIsMyHero@reddit
my daughter rode in the bed of a a pickup truck in another country where she was visiting family, and it was the first time she ever did that, and she was like "It was awesome!" and I sighed. Yeah, it was the best.
paypermon@reddit
And I dont understand it. I mean I understand the risk but I could put my 13 year old on the back of a motorcycle and thats fine but bed of a pick Nooooo thats too dangerous
BoldBoimlerIsMyHero@reddit
We had some boys who accidentally drove off a cliff and the only one who was killed was not one of the ones in the back of the truck.
25StarGeneralZap@reddit
I feel the same about seatbelt laws being promoted as “safety”… in North Carolina, I am legally required to wear underwear (to avoid charges of indecent exposure) a helmet with visor or an open helmet with impact resistant eye protection. That’s it nothing else. Don’t tell me North Carolina cares so much about safety that we need seatbelt laws while I can ride my motorcycle with absolutely nothing but a pair of underwear and a helmet and eye protection
keithrc@reddit
I'm not sure about illegal, but the way I wandered the streets alone when I was about 9-10 years old would absolutely get CPS called, very possibly resulting in my removal from my mother's care.
Reddituser45005@reddit
Putting half a dozen kids in the back of a pickup truck for a church outing
cookingismything@reddit
Riding in the back of the station wagon. Being left alone at home by the age of 8/9.
No-Flan3302@reddit
Riding on the top area of the seats by the rear window. Go flying when brakes are hit. Fun times.
gaytechdadwithson@reddit
Chemistry sets (effectively gone)
MMXMonster007@reddit
How else does one learn about radiation without a little uranium or polonium in each kit?
SeaWitch_77@reddit
Smoking in restaurants
EmotionalVegetable48@reddit
Mischief (causing no permanent property damage ), more or less.
Excellent-Yard6640@reddit
Didn't need helmets for bikes or motor bikes.
Wolffmans_Howlings@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck with a bunch of 12 year olds as my friend's dad drove us to play putt-putt.
SnoopyWoodstock1974@reddit
Riding in the truck bed down the highway
Alycion@reddit
It was illegal in most states, just not enforced if you weren’t on the highway. Uncle on dad’s side was a cop and would complain the grandfather on mom’s side would do it with us. But he’d be going somewhere, see us walking, we’d hop in the back, tap when we wanted off, and he’d continue on his merry way.
r7ndom@reddit
Staying home alone while in elementary school.
Fantastic_You7208@reddit
We don’t have the social supports for this to be universal. I definitely had to leave mine home alone and wish I hadn’t.
LayerNo3634@reddit
Walking home by yourself from elementary school.
NahNah-P@reddit
Almost everything we did as a kid would get our parents sent to jail or at the very least CPS called every other day, so much has changed. I remember getting my mom cigarettes and getting me a little Mickey beer, (Mickey Gilley had his own beer back then) and I wasn't even in grade school yet but it helped me sleep at night and kept my kidneys flushed.
I rode standing up in the seat next to my dad on his oil routes, checking wells and sometimes in the back of the truck bed if we had a bunch of kids and we were going fishing at the low water crossing where game wardens couldn't get into and people didn't need a fishing license to catch enough food to feed their families. Back then you would get in more trouble for fishing without a license than driving without one. My dad got a lifetime hunting and fishing license one year for Christmas and it's still one of my favorite memories because it's one of the only times I ever saw him cry from shock and happiness. I miss him every day.
I was overseas in 1989-90, I just turned 18 in England in November and I was leaving to come back to the USA the next day in May of 1990 and we were partying at the base NCO club the night before and I decided to take half the bar back to party at my room when it closed and had people packed in my car, some on the trunk and sitting on the hood while I drove slowly to billeting about 6 blocks or so away and I of course was pulled over and they just said it was too much and some of the people that were on my car had to walk instead of riding like that on the car but they were nice and actually followed us to make sure everyone made it there safely 😀
Things I'd not even consider trying today. I'm so thankful we didn't record things back rhen like they do now. I told my daughter just today, back in the 80's or 90's, if people saw you recording anything they would think you were some kind of snitch and keep their distance from you. Now its everyone doing it and just become common.
ScorpioSJC@reddit
Holding my Dad's beer while he shifted gears driving.😄
Grobbekee@reddit
Going to the store as a 10 year old to buy cigarettes for a family member.
Reader47b@reddit
Drinking alcohol at age 18.
Round_Ad8947@reddit
Wood and metal shop
jason4747@reddit
I cannot even imagine most Gen Z with electric tools
Lopsided_Panic_1148@reddit
Children wandering the streets without an adult.
cudathepitbull@reddit
Using a note for Mom and Dad's smokes, coming home alone after school with my own key from second grade on and being left home on weekend nights when everyone else went out since the age of nine
procrastinatorsuprem@reddit
I watched the Love Boat, then Fantasy Island.
jason4747@reddit
Absolutely
ThreeFathomFunk@reddit
No seatbelts and smoking in cars.
Ok-Rock2345@reddit
Just roaming around without adult supervision. I remember my parents sometimes used to drop me off at the mall, movies, museums, library, whatever, hand me a quarter a d tell me to call them when I wanted to go home.
That's when I did not just outright ride my bike there in the first place.
jason4747@reddit
Correct
Adagio_4_Strings@reddit
Riding in the back of a pick up truck
Extreme_Barracuda658@reddit
Kids are not cargo
Adagio_4_Strings@reddit
That is correct.
Cysteine_Chapel64@reddit
Dissecting sharks preserved in formaldehyde. Everything about that is probably no now.
I'm guessing chemistry kits sold in stores.
Fireworks sold before/around 4th of july. Illegal at least in this part of California for years.
(Practically illegal). Pseudoephedrine (sudafed) because people keep making meth with it. You have to sign for it to get a single package now and phenylephrine sucks as a decongestant.
mrsroperscaftan@reddit
My life as a 30 yr old would have been fine if I could have just had my Dexatrim back
tkkana@reddit
The day it went illegal I got a notice at my store, bought every pack off the shelf..and then activated the hold batch. Took my freaking dexatrim away. God that stuff was amazing
mrsroperscaftan@reddit
Perfection
TiaraTip@reddit
When I was 12, I made bank babysitting a lot! I don’t think 12 year olds can stay home unsupervised anymore, much less caring for kids.
carlosdangertaint@reddit
Lead paint, smoking, inside stadiums, bars, restaurants…
RacingGoat@reddit
1980s... City suburb in a fairly rural state.
It was very common to see hunting rifles on racks inside the back window of pickup trucks on school property during deer season. Many students would get in a couple hours of hunting right after school.
doepon@reddit
We came from the same place.
lurk3141592653589793@reddit
Not even that rural, shotguns in the back window of pickups at highschool all year round. Even into the 90's. Pretty much all the way up until Columbine happened.
NeverDidLearn@reddit
Rural USA circa 1989: we could shoot squirrels on the football field at lunch in high school.
New-Bluebird-859@reddit
Buying cigarettes for your parents.
GrumpySnarf@reddit
Riding to school for 30 minutes each way in my stepdad's van. One kid got the front seat with a seatbelt. One got to sit on the engine block between the seats (in winter only, that thing was warm) and one kid sat on the hay bales in the back. If no hay bales available, sit on the floor in the back of the van. Wipe hay and grease off our clothes as much as possible and walk into school smelling like a barn and a mechanic's shop had a love child.
Round_Ad8947@reddit
Nitrous oxide and mercury fillings for kids
Extreme_Barracuda658@reddit
You can still get whippits. Dentists still use it too.
supershinythings@reddit
I used to ride my bike to buy my Dad beer at the local store. I did this from age 8 to 12, when we lived in W. Germany.
Dad let me keep the change because I didn’t have an allowance and my mother wouldn’t give me one.
sullen_peggy@reddit
💜🤗
Timely-Youth-9074@reddit
No seat belts, smoking in restaurants.
Drinking beer while driving.
I saw that more times than I can count in the 1970’s but it was probably illegal then, too.
Cops didn’t seem to enforce dui or seatbelts until the 1980’s.
bmaayhem@reddit
Cops would just follow your drunk ass home to make sure you got home safe, or just give you a ride! …..not met course
Mysterious_Can_6106@reddit
This is the gods truth! My dad is a retired cop, he drove home a few as well as them driving him 🤣🤣
My parents are divorced and I can remember my dad telling me he got a new car that had two cup holders in it, one to hold the beer when he came to pick me up and one to hold the beer for the way home … this was late 70’s, early 80’s. 🤣
Mobile-Piel@reddit
Shotgun rack inside the back window of your pickup. With shotguns. No requirement for seatbelts. Riding around in the bed of a pickup. Auto insurance optional.
Perfect-Librarian895@reddit
Lawn darts.
the_dark_viper@reddit
When I would visit my grandparents in their small town for the summer, I would go to the store for them or my great-uncle. I would go to the grocery store, and the lady would ask, "You here for grandma or uncle (Grandma's brother)?" If I said uncle, by the time I finished picking up things on his list, she had two cartons of Chesterfield cigarettes, bottles of Michelob beer, and two Mr. Goodbars already bagged up and waiting for me. I'd pass by the Sheriff or one of the deputies, they would wave and chat with me, and the Sheriff would always say, "Save some of those Michelob's for your uncle." I was like 7 or 8.
Practicality_Issue@reddit
When we were at my great grandparents house in WV, my grandfather would send me next door to the little store with a fiver and I’d buy a 6 pack of Budweiser in the bottles and one of those Mickey Mouse ice cream things with gum for the eyes.
My mom would send me up to the store on my bike to buy her cigarettes. I could tell times were changing because the last time she sent me, I went carrying a note and her drivers license.
the_dark_viper@reddit
I forgot about those Mickey Mouse ice creams.
Safe_Statistician_72@reddit
Chesterfields! I’d get a 100,000 dollar grand bar for picking up those and a pack of Vantage.
MasterWinstonWolf@reddit
Drinking and driving. I remember when we first moved to Texas you could legally be in your vehicle with alcohol and driving. Like pull up next to a cop and take a drink from your beer and just get a wave🤦
DuckinTX293@reddit
Wyoming was the same. Drive through liquor stores for a cocktail/beer for the road. And they never checked IDs.
sparrow_42@reddit
We still have drive-thru daiquiri shops in Louisiana. They put a little piece of tape over the hole in the lid and hand you the straw.
DuckinTX293@reddit
That was the entire state of TX during the COVID lockdown. TABC approved, but if a cop stopped you and the tag was off? Busted.
Gonpostlscott@reddit
Legal drinking age started at 18…
Tasty-Run8895@reddit
When I read the question my first though was riding in the back of a pick up.
mintleaf_bergamot@reddit
Same
Technical_Flamingo51@reddit
Ass whopping
tunaman808@reddit
Is that some weird sex act involving malted milk balls?
islandcatman@reddit
Smoking in coffee shops. The vibe and smell of having a spliff in Amsterdam back in the late 90's. Or smoking in late night diners, I remember solving all the world's problems chain smoking, drinking bottomless black coffee late into the night with friends. Forgetting everything the next day. Or the buzz of a smokey morning at a Waffle House, smoking while eating a plate of eggs. That Tabasco heat on your lips as you take a draw on a grit as you eat your grits. The way the smoke would drift in the incandescent light and hang there, very cinematic. Or seeing someone across the restaurant blow a smoke rings.
I quit smoking 9 years ago. I miss the vibe, not the filth.
Defiant-Variety-9473@reddit
The cigarette after a bong hit was the best. So glad I quit in my 20s though, cigarettes anyway
2ndchance2doitrt@reddit
MDMA by prescription. Those were the days.
Sudden-Cardiologist5@reddit
Buying beer at 18. Smoking at school. Riding bicycles without a helmet. Riding in the back of trucks.
No9No9No9No9@reddit
I smoked in restaurants in middle school
MasterWinstonWolf@reddit
Myst a been a nice Middle school...you guys had restaurants? We just had a cafeteria🤷♂️
No9No9No9No9@reddit
*while middle school-aged
I smoked with my guidance counselor when she gave me a ride home. The 90s were wild.
thetwentyfifteens@reddit
Smoking was essentially legal for kids in California. Buying smokes as a teenager was illegal, few shop owners gave a damn. It was never a problem for me growing up in the Bay Area. They didn’t start to drop the hammer on underage cig sales until the early 90’s.
beachmonkeysmom@reddit
Throwing a mattress in the back of dad's work van so the four of us kids had a place to sit for family trips.
Chibi-Skyler@reddit
No seatbelts. Riding in the back of a station wagon or sitting in an adult's lap while he/she drove. No helmets or protection while riding a bike or roller skating. Being left alone in the car, toy department at Woolworth's, etc., while Mom shopped. Smoking everywhere (my high school had a smoking section for students).
itimedout@reddit
In the 70’s in Pennsylvania my family would often take camping trips with my sister and me (little sister) happily riding in the back of our Ford LTD “Woody” station wagon. On long road trips we’d end up falling asleep back there and sleep for hours and hours. My mom would even comment how well good were and how we slept so well. Turns out we were inhaling the carbon monoxide fumes that were being sucked into the back of the car when traveling. Guess we didn’t know that then but how much fun were those station wagons, amirite? I got to start driving it in when I got my drivers license at 16! We called it the “Love Mobile” lol
Chibi-Skyler@reddit
My mom had a '78 Ford Fairmont wagon that she nicknamed "Bessie." No AC, AM radio, that thing was built like a tank. And when she helped out in Scouts, sometimes there'd be 10 of us back there. Fun times.
itimedout@reddit
To be clear it was called the Love Mobile ONLY by me and my friends after I started driving it at 16, lol. Isn’t strange, after thinking about when it was the family car I seem to have a faint memory of my dad calling it Bessy, too?
hyst0rica1_29@reddit
I remember when dad told us kids we had to buckle up “now”. Sometime in the early 80s apparently Texas cracked down on kids not being buckled up in cars. I remember in the 70s not ever being buckled up. Even though my dad drove an all-metal stationwagon that was more battleship than “soccer mom” car, I figure, now, I was lucky we never found out how sturdy the “battleship” was.
Defiant-Variety-9473@reddit
It's funny because over the years I always thought those battleships were safer than modern cars but learned modern cars are actually much safer for crashes.
Dr_Starcat@reddit
Stayed home alone since the age of six. Even my mom's friends thought she was nuts!
Mysterious-Kick9881@reddit
I could but sudafed without people thinking I cooked methadone. Cigarettes in vending machines, smoking on planes, restaurants and at my high school was permitted
KingdomOfFawg@reddit
You don’t use Sudafed to make methadone. You use it to make methamphetamine.
Mysterious-Kick9881@reddit
Whoops, clearly I'm not a cooker
ToughOk9044@reddit
Kids buying cigarettes for their parents 🤣🤣🤣🤣I still remember all of my adults orders....my mom, Salem 100s.....My older aunt, Kool 100s.....Younger aunt, Kool 100 menthol shorts
I_SAY_FUCK_A_LOT__@reddit
In the front seat, no seat belt, holding Dad's open beer while he shifted.
InterestPractical974@reddit
I mean, what would I be charged as an adult for NOW that I did as a kid?? Pretty much everything.
giraffe-zackeffron@reddit
Riding in the backs of pickup trucks. I don’t know if it’s illegal but I think it probably is. At least I never see anyone doing it now. Haven’t for a long time.
Defiant-Variety-9473@reddit
It's illegal now. In the US about 400 to 500 fewer people die as a result than in the 70s and 80s because of it
BigTallCanUke@reddit
Lawn darts.
mcchillz@reddit
buying, using fireworks smoking everywhere leaded gas
mcchillz@reddit
I grew up in a state that is permissive where fireworks are concerned. Now I live in CA where we’re always on fire, so… 🔥🔥
ONROSREPUS@reddit
Certain states you can still buy and use fireworks.
NoRoof1812@reddit
Indiana
GotchUrarse@reddit
When I was about 12, we could go to the tent outside the local grocery store and buy lots of bottle rockets. We would take a pringles can and tape it to the down tube of our bike. Then ride around and shoot them at each other.
pixiebaby1972@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck, laying on the floor in the backseat of the car, laying on the backseat too lol, smoking cigarettes outside in high school (we were allowed), and drinking as a teen (not allowed lmao). There’s probably more but I can’t remember at the moment.
Ok-Cap-204@reddit
And sleeping in the back window.
Infinite_Tension_138@reddit
running into the store at age 7-? to buy cigarettes, lottery tickets for a grownup who was parked outside.
Ok-Cap-204@reddit
Children buying cigarettes. I was in the afternoon class at kinder, in the mornings I would walk to the store to buy my mom her cigarettes.
KittycatVuitton@reddit
Buying cigarettes for your parents with just a note from them.
UseACoasterJeez@reddit
Rural Arizona, so plenty of room, scrap materials, and tools to make trouble. Heck, when I was 12 I went with a buddy to the local hardware store to buy 10 pounds of black powder & nobody even blinked.
BB gun wars is probably the most common one that would get us charged today. Assault & Battery With A Deadly Weapon if You Are A Mouse? Neighborhood wide, no pump guns like Crosman made, just the crappy, inaccurate Daisy ones. No close-range shots, & being smoothbores getting a hit on someone was mostly luck. We were also smart enough to wear safety goggles (which we may have borrowed from wood shop at school), so no shooting your eye out, kid. I got hit in the ear once & that stung! We'd come home with a bunch of welts, and Mom would just shake her head at us.
We had about a square mile of fallow clover field behind our house, so after "up" got boring we started firing model rockets sideways into that field. We quickly learned to have 1-2 guys with shovels out near the expected impact point, because the charge in the motor that was supposed to eject the parachute would sometimes start a brushfire in the dead undergrowth if the rocket hit the ground before that went off. That only happened a few times. Ok, several times. Maybe a dozen, tops. Fine, closer to two. But the fire never got bigger than about six or seven feet across, usually we could stop it out at 2-3 feet before the shovels were needed. I don't think we were using the rockets as Estes intended, or what we had learned in school or the Boy Scouts, but it was a lot more fun!
We almost went a bridge too far with the toy rockets. We had metal shop in schooI in those days, so I was working on grinding the edges smooth & soldering/riveting together several of the old big 46oz tomato juice cans (Dad liked tomato juice with breakfast) to make a 4' metal tube & figuring out how to suspend the launching rod for the model rocket down the length of the tube (it tended to sag when held sideways). The goal was that we'd have a bazooka-style portable launcher. The rocket motors igniters were set off with a few D-cell batteries, so I fabricated a U-shaped container for those from a piece of another can & riveted it to the bottom of the tube near the rear, with a spring-loaded rear handle & insulated copper wires run to the back, so attaching the igniter wires & squeezing the handle would complete the circuit & launch the rocket. I learned many years later it was remarkably close to the design of an actual bazooka.
There were a couple models of Estes rockets that had a clear plastic cargo area, so one of my brothers was figuring out how to make a firey or explosive payload & impact igniter to fit in there (a couple of test ideas worked pretty well, we just needed to scale them up & increase reliability so they didn't have to hit perfectly perpendicular).
Luckily Dad got a different job & we moved to a big city in another state before perfecting our own hobbyist explosive anti-cactus rocket launcher. We also discovered girls around then & that took up our spare time instead.
Today we'd probably pick up a bunch of destructive device charges just for trying to make the thing!
ebjazzz@reddit
Also grew up in rural Arizona. BB gun wars were real, and a blast. We used to go up into the mountains when we were 15/16 and have paintball battles in the woods.
Around that same age we would go roof surfing. One of us would climb on the roof of a car and hold on for dear life while a friend drove the car at 50mph down a rural back road.
We would make home made “flash smoke bombs” by buying a giant box of strike anywhere matches, cutting off the heads, and wrapping 100s of them tight in a tin foil forming a ball. You would hurl this into the ground and it would flash and smoke. Fun times!
I miss Arizona, the mountains, and the sunny weather. Was a great place to grow up.
Sitting on the washes smoking weed.
chewbooks@reddit
Riding in the back of the truck.
ww_adh77@reddit
Not for a child, but for adults: smoking in indoor public places (restaurants, bars, clubs, stores, etc.).
Nope9991@reddit
There were little glass smoking booths INSIDE the airport where I live as late as 2008. Probably went for a couple years after that.
ww_adh77@reddit
Yeah, I remember those popping up after they banned smoking in the concourse proper.
Nope9991@reddit
They were right in the middle of the terminal walkways. It was like you were a zoo animal in there lol
worstnameIeverheard@reddit
Everywhere smelled like smoke. Everywhere.
a_youkai@reddit
I can smell and taste the air from back then, just reading about it.
ww_adh77@reddit
Yeah, it was just nasty wasn't it? I remember coming home from nights out with friends and my hair being coated with cigarettes. Yucky!
a_youkai@reddit
Impossible to sneak off anywhere either. Your family could smell where you've been!
Silent-Attention6685@reddit
On airplanes, too.
ww_adh77@reddit
Ugh, yes. I took my first flights in 1984 and 1985, and the flights--United from Seattle to Maui--still had smoking sections in the rear of coach.
chewpoo1@reddit
Drinking alcohol. Use to be age 18, now you have to be 21
Nyxgirlfren@reddit
Buying cigarettes for my parents at age 12.
Some-Library-4073@reddit
I was going to the store at 7 years old with a note from my mom telling the local gas station owner I should pick up. Lol Store was only a block away. I don't know why she couldn't go herself.
QueenZod@reddit
It was to get you out of the house and out from under her feet for 10 minutes. 😂
mycoffecup@reddit
young child riding in the front seat of your parents car NOT wearing any seatbelt.
Happy_Phoenix93@reddit
How about riding in the front seat, stretched across your parents laps and trying to sleep on a long car ride?
sweetcherrytea@reddit
My favorite spot was curled up in the window area over the back seat.
mycoffecup@reddit
🤣🤣🤣
ZedArkadia@reddit
One of my earliest memories is riding in the front on my dad's motorcycle, I must have been 2 or 3. It was decades later before I really thought about how insane that was.
Ebluez@reddit
My brother would sleep in the back window area of the car on long trips.
knitmama77@reddit
Baby walkers with wheels, and pokey lawn darts.
Smoking all over the place(though I’m not sad about that one)
stuck_behind_a_truck@reddit
Hanging out in the car while a parent shops
choctaw529@reddit
Cigarette vending machines
Adventurous_Bug_6664@reddit
I’m buying one for Halloween for the kids treats. Will be stocking with free Camels and 9mm bullets.
choctaw529@reddit
🤣
Specialist_Energy335@reddit
My parents taking me to the liquor store and told me to pick which brandy (blackberry or apricot) I wanted to drink during the holidays. This started about 1977 when I was 7. The salesman just laughed and handed it to me.
Suspicious_Story_464@reddit
We used to take sips out of my dad's 40 of Stroh's when he threw card parties. Right in front of him. Don't know if illegal exactly, but definitely would be frowned upon.
Adventurous_Bug_6664@reddit
Everything ☹️
EaglesInTheSky@reddit
MDMA lol.
daemonhat@reddit
it is 100% illegal now, and that's legally drink when you were 18, or younger. back then all you needed was a "responsible adult" present and you could pretty drink at any age. i remember going to a block party a friend had. his parents got a permit, the city shut down the street his house was on for the day, corner to corner, and we partied it up. me and my friends were 15-ish, cops sitting right there on the corner watching 10 year olds getting shots and beers without so much as batting an eye. try that now and everybody is going to jail.
NightGod@reddit
Some states still let kids drink if their parents are there
daemonhat@reddit
oh yeah, but there's a huge difference between a "responsible adult" present and getting shitfaced drunk and your parents letting you have a sip a beer or a mixer or whatever.
Adept_Building7330@reddit
Being a kid. Now anytime that happens CPS finds you and wants nanny state rules over you.
Cyrus_Imperative@reddit
My old favorite, Lawn Darts. You can resell the box on eBay but not the darts.
SolomonGrumpy@reddit
Loosies/Lucy's. Open a pack of cigarettes and sell them individually.
Immediate-One3457@reddit
JustMeOttawa@reddit
This totally, me and my siblings would nap on long road trips so we didn’t have to stop and find hotels as often (my parents alternated driving so they could sleep.
Immediate-One3457@reddit
We also took turns sleeping on "the shelf" above the trunk. The window was nice and warm!
Silver_Cartoonist_79@reddit
I remember riding in our car standing on the front seat with my twin sister singing peas porridge hot as we drove down the road.
JonasLander@reddit
My sister and myself being bartenders at a company Christmas party at the age of 10 and 11. I learned what a hangover was, and we made good tips. That was back in the 70's.
Ustob@reddit
Retard & our whole slang Vocabulary.
it never went away we just arent public with it. ;D
TheCanadianFrank@reddit
Words
AndyinAK49@reddit
Drinking and driving
WeirdcoolWilson@reddit
Lawn darts
Rocketjen@reddit
Jarts (I still have our original set), sending kids to the gas station to pick up cigarettes for their parents, leaving your young kids unattended for hours at a time, riding in the back of a car, or a pickup, with no seatbelts, having friends run your bags to the gate at the airport for you as your passport gets delivered to the airport. Little things like that!
Upstairs-Hope4392@reddit
Never had one, but there wheelers.
Lobster70@reddit
Rode a rental three wheeler at some sand dunes once. I can still feel the burn in my calf where I learned what happens if you put your foot down, as if riding a bike.
I was probably 14 or 15. They warned me, and I was so careful the whole time. Then at the very end of the day, rolling up to stop, I instinctively did it. Thankfully I was going slow and only got a nasty, stripey rubber burn. Ow.
Delicious-Pie8944@reddit
Homemade treats from home for school. Man some of the girl moms growing up would bring in the most amazing cupcakes and popcorn balls. They’d be thrown out immediately if you tried that today. It’s understandable but also sad that we can’t do that anymore
fleabus412@reddit
Kids can bring food to school now. Ask me what happened to all the big Rubbermaid containers !
Delicious-Pie8944@reddit
Where I live, any treats brought to share with the class have to be store bought and sealed. Maybe it’s not like that everywhere. I grew up rural and now I’m in the suburbs, so that could be part of it too.
IHadTacosYesterday@reddit
Popcorn balls aren't much of a thing anymore. I remember my grandma would make em.
PM_ME_YOUR_TANK@reddit
Lawn Darts !
NopeThisTrope@reddit
Cigarettes being smoked everywhere indoors and around kids and babies.
Inwardly-Outgoing@reddit
I had asthma as a kid and both parents smoked 1-2 packs a day. Now I have COPD. Thanks mom and dad
mottledmussel@reddit
I had chronic headaches, sinus infections, and allergies growing up.
It's funny how they all went away once I moved out.
worstpartyever@reddit
Getting your kid to ride their bike up to the corner store to buy Mom some smokes
S99B88@reddit
I hope you had a note from your mom for that.
Working_Tea_8562@reddit
Didn’t need one.
S99B88@reddit
Darn maybe my mom was making me think I needed a note so I wouldn’t try to get some for myself?
Ok-Acanthisitta-5451@reddit
Nope!
Ok-Acanthisitta-5451@reddit
I will never forget when the guy at 7-11 told me I couldn’t buy smokes for my mom. Went home and told her. Right after the beating for not getting them I got thrown into the old Volvo and that poor guy dealing with my pissed off housecoat wearing mom…. Never saw him at the store again. lol
NopeThisTrope@reddit
This checked all the boxes. I guess we really did all experience the same childhood. Such a different time.
LollipopGirl923@reddit
I remember going to the corner store with a note and leaving with cigarettes and beer for my parents.
Some-Library-4073@reddit
Same
AwaliBahrain@reddit
age of consent (different country)
natureblush@reddit
Children riding in the back of pickup trucks. I still remember my entire little league team piling in the coach’s pickup to go to the Dairy Queen in the closest town, at least 10 miles from tv field. It’s now illegal in my state for minors to be in the back of a pickup.
mottledmussel@reddit
If it was anything like my Little League experience, the coaches were probably pounding beers the whole game.
hoponbop@reddit
The youth group of my church went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, VA. There were 7 kids 15 and under in the back of the pickup. As we pulled through the booth the toll collector of The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel shouted, "Have Fun!" as we continued on our 100 mile (each way) adventure. Oh yeah. It started raining on our way back. They packed all the littles in the cab leaving me and the cute girl in the rain. I earned a few dates for the chivalry of giving up my coat and "allowing" her to snuggle to keep warm.
RoseyGray@reddit
Buying beer at 18
IrascibleBamboo@reddit
Crossing into Canada and back to the US as a 12 year old on a bike covered with camping gear
watch-nerd@reddit
Riding a bike without a helmet.
Buying cigarettes for adults as a minor.
Prank phone calls.
Tejanisima@reddit
I'm sorry, you think prank phone calls are (probably) illegal now?
watch-nerd@reddit
Caller ID ruins it.
Tejanisima@reddit
Irrelevant to the prompt, which asked what is now illegal or probably illegal.
watch-nerd@reddit
ChatGPT can give you the legal analysis.
Tejanisima@reddit
What does AI slop have to do with people staying on topic?
watch-nerd@reddit
Because the answer is long and nuanced and nobody else in the thread cares enough to read a 5 paragraph essay on it.
But if you do, have at it.
ComfortableNo3074@reddit
Not so much illegal as pointless with caller ID
Tejanisima@reddit
But that's not what the prompt asked, now is it...
Left-Call-2427@reddit
Clove cigarettes
Old-Fun-6976@reddit
In the red tin….unfiltered
Worldly-Ad3211@reddit
Sitting on my mom’s lap in the car instead of being seat-belted in. Riding in the back of pickup trucks on the highway. Going to the store and buying cigarettes for my dad. Piling 8 high school kids in the car and going to McDonald’s at lunch time. Candy that looked like cigarettes. Getting the strap in elementary school.
micros101@reddit
Going down Main Street of my small town, sitting on the open tailgate of my dad’s Datsun pickup, dangling my legs and watching the gravel go by is one of my favorite memories.
Years later, after California made it illegal, I found myself in Hawaii getting a ride across the island in the back of my college roommate’s pickup. Just laying there staring up into the clear night sky. Brought it all back.
JGPhenom@reddit
Yep. All of the above.
HighGlutenTolerance@reddit
The sweet sweet smell of leaded exhaust mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Scruffersdad@reddit
Playing alone in public.
natureblush@reddit
Someone called the police on my grandson because he was waiting outside for me to pick him up. He got too excited to wait inside. Mom knew where he was. What the hell?!
Cold_in_Lifes_Throes@reddit
Riding bikes with no helmets even on busy streets.
NightGod@reddit
Where is that illegal?
Cold_in_Lifes_Throes@reddit
Probably not but you don’t see kids doing it anymore. At least not where I live.
Cold_in_Lifes_Throes@reddit
I stand corrected. It is illegal where I live. Explains why I almost always see helmets on kids.
SignificantApricot69@reddit
21 States and DC have bicycle helmet laws, mostly targeted at juveniles. I’ve definitely heard of kids getting tickets.
30sumthingSanta@reddit
30sumthingSanta@reddit
Reddit won’t let me upload the world map. 😕
gleepglop15@reddit
Lawn darts.
viperspm@reddit
I still have a set
buhbuhbugtussel@reddit
Going to the convenience store at 8 years old and buying a pack of cigs for an of age family member
Worldly-Ad3211@reddit
Fireworks.
Salty_Bench4596@reddit
Smoking in hospitals
hndygal@reddit
And airplanes
RepulsiveInterview44@reddit
I have distinct memories of visiting my grandfather in the hospital while he sat next to the open window and smoked, all while wearing his oxygen!
ChessieChesapeake@reddit
M80s
commonsense1954@reddit
Right! And Silver Salutes and Cherry Bombs! The best stuff for the 4th!
Everything_Breaks@reddit
And the white 'quarter sticks'. A favorite was blowing up stumps with them.
NamelessIowaNative@reddit
Buying cigarettes for Dad (he gave me a note for the cashier).
NightGod@reddit
Didn't even need a note in my hometown "One pack of Benson & Hedges Gold 100s and one pack of Pall Malls, please"
NopeThisTrope@reddit
Same! It was my Mom, though.
Remote_Hour_841@reddit
Smoking areas at our high school!
spelmangrad@reddit
Yep - and the vending machines full of cigarettes FOR us to smoke around school
Lobster70@reddit
Wow, that's wild. I'm a '70 model and we definitely did not have that at my HS. There was a smoking area though.
InformationSerious27@reddit
Kids having access to mercury in chemistry class
NightGod@reddit
In chemistry class? Hell, we had it in our toys https://www.etsy.com/listing/879472096/vintagequicksilvermercury-magical
Crzymk101@reddit
FREEDOM I AMERICA ..
Requilem@reddit
No age limit to buy cigarettes. My dad used to send me down to buy Benson and Hedges menthol every day at 5 years old.
flex_point@reddit
Same here, had to go to 7-11 for mom for same brand but non menthol. Depending on who was working we sometimes need a note from mom.
MsCattatude@reddit
Kids going to the store alone at all. You’ll get a cps called on you now for that.
OriginalPurple2261@reddit
Going to the grocery store with a list and a signed check with amount left blank.
kittymombo@reddit
Dexatrim
ListenPuzzleheaded72@reddit
I would buy lottery tickets for my parents when I was 8 and cigarettes for my aunt. I would also just disappear for an entire day and return home for supper. No seat belts in the backseat of the car. Stayed home alone as a toddler too and survived. LOL
yecart55@reddit
Candy gum cigarettes. Probably not illegal but I don’t see them anywhere. I used to love the ones with powder on them and when you blew through the wrapper it looked like smoke was coming off it.
NightGod@reddit
They still make them, they're just not sold everywhere like they used to be https://a.co/d/03VdjRsY
Frank_Silva243@reddit
Snorting asbestos.
Ok-Acanthisitta-5451@reddit
There’s a long list of people that should do that!
Round-Public435@reddit
So many mentioned here that hit home for me.
Riding in the bed of the pickup truck - my dad had a big old' 1970s pickup (I forget which make/model) - one of those that had the huge tire wells inside the bed of the truck that you could sit on. My sister (a new teenage driver) was taking it somewhere one day and I begged to go along. Since other siblings were in the cab with her, I rode in the truck bed. We barely got out of the driveway before disaster struck - we lived on a corner, and she apparently misjudged the power of the gas pedal and the distance to the stop sign. She goosed the gas, the truck lurched forward, and in a panic, she immediately slammed on the brakes. I flew off the tire well and slammed face-first into the rear window of the cab. I wasn't seriously injured, but I thought my dad was going to kill my sister. It was the last time any of us were allowed to ride in the truck bed.
Those "car seats" for babies from the 1960s and 1970s. My parents traveled with me in their arms or in a "car bed" - basically a legless bassinet that sat on the back seat. Not buckled in or anything - just sitting on the seat. In an accident, I would have become a projectile. Good thing that never happened, but I'm sure it happened to many other children in those days, with terrible results.
I also recall being on a long car trip with my best friend's family, and they had a Chevy Nova. As there were 3 kids already in the back seat and 2 adults in the front, I rode in the rear window shelf. Not kidding. I was small enough at the time, that I just took a blanket and pillow and laid on the shelf that was behind the back seat and under the rear window.
LadyDerri@reddit
That shelf behind the back seat under the window was my 'official' spot in the car. I had my pillow and blanket, a book and a small flashlight for nighttime rides in the car.
Ok-Acanthisitta-5451@reddit
I loved riding there! Best view forward and backward!!
LadyDerri@reddit
And no one pushing me or falling asleep on me!
let-it-rain-sunshine@reddit
Cap guns and lawn darts
NJ2SD@reddit
I used to have a plastic toy .45 revolver that shot red rubber bullets that I got at Kay-Bee Toys.
let-it-rain-sunshine@reddit
The cap guns with the red tape actually looked like revolvers and the cap tape would routinely catch on fire from just using the cap gun as intended.
FattyLipoma@reddit
Lawn darts.
ApollyonMN@reddit
"Jarts"
shawnparker74@reddit
I just saw a couple riding in the bed of a truck last week. It’s probably been 30 years since I’ve seen that.
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
Getting in trouble as a kid and the cops just calling your parents to come get you, instead of locking you up. Usually for some small petty thing like TPing a house or being caught at a party with alcohol as a minor. Now it's a CPS thing or juvie lockup.
Ahimew@reddit
Our cops would crash the party and just send us all home; no parents involved. We’d usually just relocate the fun for the night.
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
We used to have large parties and often hired off duty cops to check guests before they were able to drive home. Many of the guests were underage and there were little issues as long as the guests were at least 18. It was a different world and oddly guests were more responsible about drinking and driving, there were always designated drivers that didn't drink so they could safely get friends home. We had a lot of fun back then, but also were more reliably responsible for being safe.
Huevo_con_Chorizo88@reddit
Cops would crash the party, everyone would scatter and the police loaded up the dropped 12 packs in their trunk. The one time I splurged on Budweiser and dammit if my beer didn’t end up in the back of the patrol car to be drank by said officer later that weekend. Bastages ! Lolol
Automatic-Nature6025@reddit
A parent driving with their kid sitting on their lap, no seatbelt or restraint of any kind.
Talking_Head@reddit
There were restraints. The back of mom or dad’s arm was all you needed in a head on collision.
stankyranch@reddit
The good cough syrup you could buy over the counter that made you see GOD.
Agent7619@reddit
Cough medicine, cold medicine, even freaking topical pain creams (Ben Gay, etc) are all fucking crap these days.
Just pour yourself a four oz glass of scotch and go to bed.
Talking_Head@reddit
I miss phenylpropanolamine.
Cysteine_Chapel64@reddit
Supposedly later generations tend towards teetotaling so between that and other factors we might not even be able to get the scotch either.
ED-DOG92@reddit
Driving while on your phone.
Driving with open alcohol containers in the front part of your vehicle and not just in your trunk.
Beating your kids due to bad behavior.
Churches having the right to beat kids for whatever reason they seem fit.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck.
Being a married female and having to ask permission from your husband to do certain things that he can do openly.
Spitting your gum out anywhere in public and not being considered as littering.
Smoking cigarettes anywhere without consequence.
I'm glad these things are gone as we've gotten smarter (in some ways) and are better off now.
Gratuitous_Insolence@reddit
WTF? I literally still do all of those things.
ED-DOG92@reddit
😂
https://i.redd.it/2b887kd8g6xg1.gif
marssaxman@reddit
You must have had miles of cord spooled up in your house!
ED-DOG92@reddit
There were built-in phones available in some high end vehicles and regular cell phones were around as well, but just not as much as you see today.
marssaxman@reddit
Ahh, okay. I guess that was a rich-people thing I didn't know about.
ED-DOG92@reddit
Cool. Imagine if you had to ride around town with a huge spool of telephone cable out the back of your car in order to make calls? Now that's hilarious to me.
Travel_Dreams@reddit
Radio phone!
Nira_50@reddit
Schools could beat kids too. I remember in elementary school, the principal had a paddle in their office.
ED-DOG92@reddit
Eeesh that's not good. I remember having a teacher slam my head against the table because I was joking around with my crayons. He got super frustrated or angry and straight up bashed my head against the wooden table. I was super dizzy but came through quickly. He did realize his mistake, but never apologized for his actions. I was in 1st grade btw.
Itsworth-gold4tome@reddit
We are kids stood on the consoles of cars, holding on to both front seats while parents drove.
fm4139@reddit
Smoking on an airplane, driving w/o seatbelts, teachers hitting us with a ruler, take a sip of beer/wine and second hand smoke from our parents.
FortunateOrchanet@reddit
British bulldog.
New_Book131@reddit
Cars with no seat belts, smoking in pubs
Lumbercounter@reddit
3 wheelers
NopeThisTrope@reddit
Seatbelt was optional, according to my Dad, and he never wore his.
largos7289@reddit
Yup, there was no law stating that you HAD to wear it. TO me it was the start of the gov intruding into your life under the guise well it's for your safety... It was a test to see what they could get away with. We failed miserably.
Chemical_Sign5732@reddit
Lawn darts😂
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
{community rule 7}
Temporary_Suspect101@reddit
Riding in the bed of a truck
wellbalancedlibra@reddit
Safe Abortion
katzinthebuf@reddit
I have to say that a lot of of these, although I have some kind of cool memories about some of them, are good to not be part of every day normal life. Hitting children in particular.
OldLifeguard-00@reddit
Scrolling through a handful of these, many are not quite illegal then or now. Frowned upon, sure, but not illegal in the most literal sense.
eatencrow@reddit
Jarts.
TealFlamingoCat@reddit
This is what I was looking for. We called them yard darts
Acceptable_Mirror235@reddit
Toddlers riding in a car without a car seat .
stinky143@reddit
I remember my dad would pin my younger brother behind his right shoulder when he was driving.
CubedMeatAtrocity@reddit
Drinking while driving, not using a seatbelt, smoking section in high school.
Ok_Entrepreneur_8509@reddit
My dad tied a booster chair to the back of his motorcycle. Then he would strap me into it, and drive me to preschool. I had a tiny little helmet and everything.
tkkana@reddit
Omg I bet you were adorable
StinkieBritches@reddit
I rode all the way to Florida in the back of my dad's truck when I was a teenager.
No-Face713@reddit
Smoking on campus in high-school
k_rock48@reddit
They just vape in the bathroom now.
MartyFunkhoosier@reddit
Criticizing Israel
Sea_Ocelot6432@reddit
Don't worry, even with said laws plenty of/an ever growing list of people are criticizing Israel and more.
Responsible_Side8131@reddit
Starting when I was about 9, my grandmother used to send me to the store to buy cigarettes for her
tkkana@reddit
I used to go get my grandmom her vodka from the bar across the street. Small mining town..they were pretty sure it wasn't for me.
Dirt_Girl_1269@reddit
Wearing seatbelts. And lawn darts.
Beneficial-You3416@reddit
Smoking at school ( high school)
kurtstoys@reddit
Smoking in the mall, and riding down the highway in the bed of a truck
xHangfirex@reddit
Our parents left us to ourselves while they pulled doubles to feed 6 people. My oldest brother was 8 or 9.
strategicscientific@reddit
Smoking on planes
mrsroperscaftan@reddit
Running in the tote sum with 2 quarters to pick Mom up a pack of Winston Lights
Plastic-Database-322@reddit
Weed in California.
TangoMikeOne@reddit
Smoking - I thought my parents were outliers because neither of them smoked, (but as I learnt a couple of years ago, for one, that was just a fuckin' lie), and everyone smoked in cars, pubs, on buses on train platforms and express train carriages, restaurants, EVERYWHERE!
It still was more or less when I came of age and sparked for the first time and has slowly reduced, with smoking indoors banned 15ish years ago and talk now of phasing out tobacco sales altogether for a future generation (IE: one group of 18 year olds will be able to legally buy tobacco, but the next year, the following cohort of 18 year olds won't be permitted to buy tobacco).
PoisonPizza24@reddit
I think they are already doing this in the UK
Spiritual-Road2784@reddit
Smoking in restaurants and on the job in a business office.
Non_Skeptical_Scully@reddit
This. McDonald’s used to have little metal ashtrays on the tables inside the restaurant.
Ok_Knee1216@reddit
Beating your kids with chairs, breadboard, gaslighting them and causing psychological harm.
aprillquinn@reddit
Me too. Had a note signed from my mom. 😂
Gratuitous_Insolence@reddit
You need another woopin’
Ok_Knee1216@reddit
Thank you, I think I have had enough for my lifetime.
MyMeniscusHurts@reddit
Ecstasy/MDMA
Hot-Freedom-5886@reddit
Allowing children to wander the streets unsupervised for an entire day, an entire summer…
inode71@reddit
Leaded gasoline
franglaisedbeignet@reddit
Getting to wait in the car while your mom shops at Kmart
ExtremeJujoo@reddit
Buy cigarettes at any age. I remember walking to the 7-11 and buying smokes for my stepdad. I was 12.
kenderson73@reddit
I was 8-9 and I bought them for my grandfather. I remember walking in the store and the woman asked if they were for me and I said no for my granddad and she sold them to me. He died before I was 10 so I had to have been that age.
KorihorWasRight@reddit
Not supervising your kids 24/7.
ComfortableNo3074@reddit
Ephedrine pills. All nighter study aide in college
kredtheredhead@reddit
Bahaha! OMG. I haven't thought of ephedrine in forever! I worked at a local gas station in HS and early 20s. We had the ephedrine and Sudafed behind the counter. You could only buy 2 bottles of ephedrine per household per week or day or something stupid like that. We had a couple that would come in at separate times and each buy two bottles. They got away with it for a while until they came in to the store together. Then we had to stop selling to both in the same day. Which... All they have to do is come in during the am shift and then again after 3:00 shift change. They definitely were NOT using the ephedrine for all night cram (studying/homework. Don't get cute with that. Lol) sessions.... Lol. Pretty sure they eventually got raided.
ComfortableNo3074@reddit
I don’t remember any restrictions but that was the early-mid 90’s
Successful-Watch3814@reddit
Buying my dads ‘ half an ounce of ready rubbed ‘ 😂
coraleemonster@reddit
Lawn darts
bigyack@reddit
Lawn Darts
BossOtherwise1310@reddit
This is the answer.
orthographerer@reddit
It's the answer I was looking to see.
FootUpstairs2782@reddit
Smoking in the car with your kids.
Aveeye@reddit
When I was 16-17-18, I could date so many high school girls... I can't do that now.
Infuryous@reddit
Surprisingly it's legal without restriction in 21 states, legal with restrictions in 27 states (usually age, sometimes speed or no highway), and only banned outright in 2 states.
Is It Legal to Ride in the Bed of a Pickup Truck? A Complete 50 State Guide
Ok_Entrepreneur_8509@reddit
I used to *stand* in the passenger seat. I still have a little scar on my upper lip from when the dashboard disapproved of that practice. That was probably not even legal then.
RockMassive6520@reddit
I remember doing this, and my mom threatening to pull over and beat my ass. Not for standing in the passenger seat, though. I don't remember what I did, but standing in the passenger seat was fine.
Lady_of_Shalottt@reddit
I was just remembering doing the same. I must have been younger than five, AND I recall also opening the door once while my dad was driving. Yeesh.
Kobalt6x10@reddit
Age of consent, at least that's what Scoutmaster Kevin said. Definitely illegal now
wengla02@reddit
Mail ordering Ruger Mini 14's to the house from the Montgomery Wards catalog.
Gratuitous_Insolence@reddit
Freedom. What a concept.
Jack_Aubrey_@reddit
Hitting your child
ancientastronaut2@reddit
Riding in the back of a station wagon with no seat belts.
Smoking inside the house exposing your kids to second hand smoke.
HighSeasArchivist@reddit
Just being a kid would 100% be illegal now. You have to be watched every second of every day, or someone is getting arrested for child abuse.
Whos_that_Gorilla2@reddit
Driving with an open container of alcohol, at least in TX. I just remember everyone driving around swilling beer. I guess it was fine as long as you were under a certain BAC.
Kids riding around with no seatbelts, and definitely no booster seats.
Often both things were happening at once.
Frequent_Policy8575@reddit
That’s still peachy keen in Mississippi.
AdamoMeFecit@reddit
Lead
RockMassive6520@reddit
Letting kids go to the park alone
Babaganouj757@reddit
Lawn darts
Nope9991@reddit
Broke a window with one.
Two_dump_chump@reddit
18 yr old drinking age.
HairyTurtleOfficial@reddit
And getting your driver’s license at 15. No permit, no classes, just take a test and see ya!
VarietyMage@reddit
Drunk driving, not wearing a seatbelt, leaving weapons on the seat, open containers....
Late-External3249@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck
CurrentFew6275@reddit
Abortions
Mojozilla@reddit
Same in my state. It's sickening
sickiesusan@reddit
It just seems like a backward step.
sickiesusan@reddit
Depends where you live?
CurrentFew6275@reddit
I'm in Iowa, which the last 10 years have been deeply red. Our abortion ban has only been in effect for a few years.
sickiesusan@reddit
I am so sorry to hear that.
tammyreneebaker@reddit
Riding in the back of a pick up truck, riding without seatbelts in general.
Nope9991@reddit
Sometimes I think about how many times a bunch of kids us rode in the back of a pickup for long distances and how absolutely stupid that was.
anselgrey@reddit
This was what 1st came to mind!
anselgrey@reddit
Riding in the back of a truck. Not having a child/baby in a car seat. Smoking in a school or hospital!
Educational_Bench290@reddit
Those little car seats that just hooked over the back of the main seats. If it was a 2 door car, the main seat backs flipped forward and.... had no locks. I.e. the little hang-on car seat became a trebuchet in a wreck.
Sure-Midnight1415@reddit
Child labour
Grumpy_SK_Dude@reddit
Offending people or hurting their feelings.
ContributionDry2252@reddit
Corporal punishment at home.
sharoncherylike@reddit
Lawn Darts, and rightly so. Those things were a menace.
Left_Friendship8103@reddit
I grew up on St Thomas, USVI 🇻🇮 in the 80’s I could buy a 6 pack of beer for my dad in my high school uniform. Not happening now. 😂
lovelylynda@reddit
Not really illegal, but now strongly discouraged. I remember walking home from kindergarten. I mapped it out later in life and it was 1/2 a mile from home. To my mom’s credit, she did show me two ways to get home and how to use the crosswalk the day before. 😂
My brother and I use to play with the cigarette machine. One time, a pack of cigarettes came out. My mom turned them in to the hostess.
No seatbelts. I remember my brother opened the door because he wanted to see how it looked when the car turned. He was about 4 or 5, I think.
My dad used to to pick me up on his motorcycle from a friend’s house. Sometimes he made me wear his helmet. Most of the time I didn’t wear a helmet.
Ah, the good ol’ days….
Patient-01@reddit
Riding on the bed of truck when I was 5 on freeway alone
JunkyardReverb@reddit
Grew up on a farm in Mississippi. As a kid this was our primary method of travel. Freeway, dirt road, didn’t matter we were always in the back. Grown folks rode up front. But the cool ones joined us for the open air ride.
Quick_Parking_6464@reddit
Lawn darts.
The answer is always lawn darts.
ChessieChesapeake@reddit
So many references to Lawn Darts on r/GenX this week
Normal_Snow3293@reddit
Dumping hazardous waste wherever you wanted.
Keldrabitches@reddit
Coming back en vogue I hear
Cullanu@reddit
Smoking in the doctors surgery
Keldrabitches@reddit
Omg
Fitz_2112b@reddit
My teacher in 4th grade would have a monthly reading contest and the top four winners wvery month would get treated to lunch at McDonald's. We would all pile into her old Volkswagen Rabbit and she would take us out for lunch. Beyond illegal these days...
OneLonelyBeastieI-B@reddit
I used to ride up in the back seat window space.
Can’t do that these days 😂
Everything_Breaks@reddit
I thought that space behind the backseat in a Volkswagen Beetle was intended for kids specifically.
ArgusMcJohnsten@reddit
I covered so many miles in that space when I was like 5-8 years old
DietNarrow8275@reddit
We had a big station wagon and my sisters and I would fling ourselves back and forth over the back seat into the way back and back again while going sixty MPH on the freeway until my mom would start back handing any of us who got within her arm span while she threatened to pull over and beat us all.
Yes the car had seat belts. I distinctly remember leaning over the front seat and telling the ministers wife to fasten her seat belt, and how mad my mom was with me for saying that. I don’t remember start to regularly use seat belts until maybe 1972 or so.
Witty-Kale-0202@reddit
My BFF’s dad used to clean the backseats of his Buick with Pledge 🤣 they had no chance back there
splorng@reddit
Lawn darts.
Keldrabitches@reddit
Guess they didn’t have a good lobby lol
Rory-liz-bath@reddit
Smoking in restaurants , planes and literally anyware
grin_ferno@reddit
People smoking in supermarkets would just throw their butts down and grind them with their shoe.
NoRoof1812@reddit
When I worked at a grocery in the mid-80s, people could smoke in the backroom. I think some of the managers smoked in the managers office. That stopped in the late 80s at that store.
Nope9991@reddit
I worked at PetSmart in 99 and we smoked in the break room, which like 15 feet from the customer area. I don't think there was even a door on the room, it was just around a corner.
Nope9991@reddit
Yup, I'm on the border of GenX (80) but I remember my Dad smoking in the grocery store when I was really young. I definitely remember seeing butts on the ground in the aisles.
Nope9991@reddit
I'm on the border of GenX (80) but I remember my Dad smoking in the grocery store when I was really young.
IndividualText4931@reddit
My soccer coach would take the entire team in the back of his pickup to Howard Johnsons after a big win.
kwmaw4@reddit
Smoking, riding in the back of pickup trucks, bikes without helmets
skatoulaki@reddit
Smoking on school property! We had a smoking area at my high school. Seems odd to me now, but it was sanctioned by the school; they'd open the doors to the courtyard smoking area 10 minutes before the end of each lunch period. It wasn't for the teachers (I think they could smoke in the teachers' lounge).
it_diedinhermouth@reddit
Our high school had a smoking room. It was 15x10 ft with a bench that lined the walls. It was a converted locker room. It was always full of people and smoke. Incredible that it existed.
Dry_Seat_4547@reddit
Drinking and driving
Fedexpilot@reddit
Monkey Blood
Rustler239@reddit
Going to the store for your Dad with 25 cents and getting him a pack of Lucky Strikes.
Chemical_Author7880@reddit
18 was legal drinking age (though this is right before states raised it).
No seatbelts used, station wagons were the bomb. (Riding in the back of a pickup was so awesome.)
Walking to school. Roaming outside without adult supervision. Climbing trees, jumping from one bigass rock to another. Eating wild berries while hanging in the woods. Trick or cheating without being tethered to an adult or much older sibling.
Not having a way for parents to track location. Just leaving at 7am then back for dinner and leaving again until the streetlights turned on.
Imagirl48@reddit
This was my life too. Happy I got to enjoy it before we became regulated to death. We are, so obviously,, too dumb to make decisions for ourselves.
Dismal_Estate9829@reddit
Free thinking.
mskiamesha@reddit
Clove cigarettes. I loved the way they smelled.
Smorsdoeuvres@reddit
Are these not legal anymore?
mskiamesha@reddit
Nope. Banned in the US since 2009. 🥺
Seymour---Butz@reddit
I was in an infant carrier sitting on the center console bc it was a 2-seater car. Oh, and of course riding in the back of trucks down the highway.
Reader124-Logan@reddit
My mom says they were so happy that my crib mattress fit perfectly behind the front seats of their late 60s Roadrunner.
Made a nice safe sleeping and play area for those long trips between RI and southwest GA.
BuffsBourbon@reddit
1988 - driving while intoxicated is illegal in all 50 states (you can still drink while driving in Mississippi as long as your bsc is below .08)
joke21Toil@reddit
DDT
joesmolik@reddit
When you turn 18, you buy alcohol, but it’s illegal now you have to be 21
Threeboys0810@reddit
No seatbelts.
Useless890@reddit
Kids being able to go down to the corner store and getting a pack of smokes for mom or dad.
Ginger630@reddit
When I was 6 weeks old, my parents drove to another state to visit family. My mom held me in the front seat the whole time.
PleasedPeas@reddit
I learned to drive when I was 9.
Correct-Olive-5394@reddit
Riding in the back of a pick up truck
IowaNative1@reddit
Rohr 747’s
37iteW00t@reddit
Lawn darts
Travel_Dreams@reddit
Family planning
Naive-Bunch@reddit
Leaving your kids alone in the car or at home. My brother (2 years younger) were left home alone from about age 10/8
PeorgieT75@reddit
We would put down the back seat of our station wagon and we’d lie down in the back for a trip. I would get car sick reading sitting up, but was fine if I was lying down.
wraithsonic@reddit
Cigarette vending machines
mariachiguerita@reddit
Molly
DreadPirateWade@reddit
MDMA
Calm_Drawer7731@reddit
Cigarette vending machines, especially in regular public places (not someplace like a bar.)
allaboutaphie@reddit
Not wearing a seatbelt in a car. Helmet when riding a bike.
MartoufCarter@reddit
Visit NH, you do not need any of those even if you are on a motorcycle no need for a helmet.
allaboutaphie@reddit
Learn something new everyday.
Ozdiva@reddit
My state in Australia was the first jurisdiction in the world to mandate seat belts. The road toll plummeted so it was adopted around the world.
allaboutaphie@reddit
Wow, that is something to be proud of.. TY
Sweaty_Butcher66@reddit
Smoking at school
evelynesque@reddit
Smoking in stores and restaurants
Jimbee10@reddit
LSD…
All_Dogs_Love_Me@reddit
Seatbelts is such an easy quintessential example.
Crazy story: my family was in a winter time car accident. Our old car would only blow warm air from the vents by your feet under the dash. So, one fine day (I was about 11) I was on the passenger side, forgoing my seatbelt and balled up laying on the floor to get warm. (Sounds madeup, but I was skinny and quirky.) My mom was struck on the passenger side by another car, it t-boned us strcking about midway passenger side, between the front and back doors. I can't imagine how dead and gruesome things would've been if the other car struck by the front passenger tire. It basically would have been a bumper to my skull...I'd have been pulverized, mechanically squeezed dead meat...a can of human SPAM... like trash compactor visuals...blechh.
Years later as an adult, this accident was wild to reminisce about and discuss with my Mom. I think she was pretty traumatized too, obviously didn't know any better. Seat belt laws and the public info campaigns hit about 2 or 3 years later as I recall.
I also vaguely remember falling out of truck passenger seat when the door sprung open from my elbow or something when I was 7. We were only going ~15mph or so from I remember. I had to get a butterfly bandage on my forehead but other than that my dad basically dusted me off and said to remember to lock the door next time, LOL. No thoughts or mention about the seat belt literally just laying right there.
It was a different time! Consumer protection laws and government safety agencies are a huge positive that we take for granted.
Rotten_Red@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup truck
MyNewPhilosophy@reddit
Riding on the trunk of the station wagon
balance8989@reddit
With the back window open!
UnPopularDoc@reddit
Having the entire back of an 85 Chevy Caprice wagon folded down and three boys playing cards and turning the space into a wrestling ring while dad smoked in the front seat.
MozzieKiller@reddit
Riding in the pickup bed is still mostly legal!
https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/riding-in-the-back-of-pickup-trucks/
Nacho_Tools@reddit
Riding in the bed of pickup trucks as a kid before it was made illegal.
AllenKll@reddit
Riding in the bed of a pickup truck was always illegal. And sure you can still do it.
ddurk1@reddit
I started smoking when I was 12 (1982), I bought my smokes at the grocery store cigarette machine. Also, my dad used to drink beers while driving and throw the empty cans out the window on the highway Also, every summer we took a cross country trip. There were 5 kids and my parents in the station wagon. We'd stop at McDonald's for food. My Mom would collect everyone's wrappers when we finished our burgers, put them all back in the bag and just chuck the bag out on the highway. Also, we would hillbomb the interstate (I-70 in Colorado) during the summer in the afternoon. All middle fingers and "fuck you" to cars that would honk at us.
ShelleyMonique@reddit
IHadTacosYesterday@reddit
I always thought this guy looked too white, lol
Like they got a white actor to try to look like a native american
new2bay@reddit
Close. He’s Italian American.
PinkRoseBouquet@reddit
No seatbelts required.
morris90024@reddit
My dads car didn’t even have seat belts.
pdxarchitect@reddit
I remember having to get seatbelts added to the car so we could take kids on a field trip. It became a requirement from the school before it was required by law.
Realistic-Explorer69@reddit
Fighting
Sn00pd0gg0@reddit
Going to the store to get dad some cigarettes and beer! I
freedomandbiscuits@reddit
Abortion.
boyd125@reddit
Riding a bicycle without a helmet.
se7ensaint@reddit
Jarts
merkthejerk@reddit
Steroids
Dismal_Procedure_663@reddit
Driving around with an open beer
not1or2@reddit
Lawn darts
seven-cents@reddit
Corporal punishment by teachers. We were caned and smacked on the palm with rulers regularly, and if it didn't make you actually bleed or fracture bones parents wouldn't say a word.
beccabebe@reddit
Laying in the back window as we drive cross country.
Kava9899@reddit
Bringing my rifle to school on the bus, for our gun club.
pangysmerf@reddit
Being in car without seatbelts on. Riding a bike without a helmet.
WarTurbulent2063@reddit
Selling cigarettes to kids. (me at the corner store with a note from my mom)
NC_Ion@reddit
I used to have to buy my dad's cigarettes and Hustler magazines in kindergarten.
Flyingplaydoh@reddit
This was me too.
ComprehensiveEast376@reddit
Clacker balls
JR_RXO@reddit
Riding a motorcycle without a helmet… I remember how it was legal to ride your bike with having to wear a helmet. I wouldn’t do that but I remember seeing people riding and dint even give it a thought🏍️💨🌪️🔥
BoliverTShagnasty@reddit
Some states still legal. Donorcycles
fleabus412@reddit
Wind in your hair, brains on the pavement!
lobaybliss@reddit
LSD
kendrajoi@reddit
Riding unrestrained in the back of a pickup truck. I still cannot believe my parents thought this was ok and safe.
Tejanisima@reddit
I remember asking mom once, as a kid, why we were allowed to ride around in Grandpa's truck sitting on the side rails (while visiting his rural home) but our little friends had to sit down on the floor bed. She joked that it was because he knew that if my cousins and I fell off, our parents wouldn't sue their own father. 😉 Reminded her of this decades later and she said on second thought they probably would have, but it never came up so we'll never know!
jk_pens@reddit
Oh yes... even on the freeway. I just updated my sub flair to memorialize this!
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
Or the back window of a car.
WildMartin429@reddit
My mom chewed out my dad and his friend after she caught us kids riding in the back of a truck when we were going somewhere in the '80s. Apparently it's one thing to do it on the farm it's another thing entirely to do it out on the road and she was not happy. But you would see people riding in the back of the truck all the time
Ecstatic-Manager-149@reddit
I was allowed out on my own up the high street and around the village and back at about 6 or 7, and was home alone from 8.
Jude_the_obscurest@reddit
Smoking sections for students in high school. Riding in the back of a pickup truck.
Lumpy-Entertainer-75@reddit
This. Hallmarks of a solid childhood
Embarrassed-Cause250@reddit
Smoking on airplanes, workplace, restaurants, and anywhere people wanted to smoke. Now you can only smoke weed openly, not cigarettes 🤣
Perfecshionism@reddit
Automatic rifles.
Neither_Pudding7719@reddit
Smoking on school property (we had a student smoking area).
justinchina@reddit
And once they made the teachers stop smoking in the teachers lounge, it became a smoking area for everyone!
Neither_Pudding7719@reddit
Likely after my time but I believe that
Safe-Savings-6612@reddit
We used to roam all over town and country without an adult chaperone from about 5 years old, including trips to the store. Now, letting your kid roam like that could get you clinked.
Mojozilla@reddit
Flavored Camel cigarettes in the little tin.
Len_Zefflin@reddit
Chocolate or licorice?
Mojozilla@reddit
Izmir Stinger 😁 I loved the Dark Mint one and occasionally the froot loops one lol
absherlock@reddit
Taking your kid out of school for family vacation with noyhing more than a note to the teacher.
Ecstatic-Manager-149@reddit
I and my birthday off every year. If it was a weekend, I'd have the Friday or the Monday instead.
OkAccountant8077@reddit
Small children sitting in the front seat of a car.
retire_dude@reddit
Leaded gas and paint
UsedWelcome5903@reddit
Pretty much everything GenXers did for fun
ApatheistHeretic@reddit
Some of the stuff we did was illegal then too.
UsedWelcome5903@reddit
Not to us!
Ecstatic-Manager-149@reddit
14 kids in an Allegro to go to see Ghostbusters.
2 in the boot without the parcel shelf 9 on the back seat on each others laps and%or in the footwell behind the front seats 1 in the front passenger seat 2 in the footwell of the front seat
Probably not legal at the time but is actually illegal now as no seatbelts in the back.
binarianVoodoo@reddit
Travelling in the bed of a pickup truck and lawn darts. I still technically own a set of lawn darts
DragonflySmall6867@reddit
Technically?
binarianVoodoo@reddit
Ha I guess that does seem like a weird placement for that.
vanlynz@reddit
Great memories of my brother and I riding in the bed of my mom's El Camino on the freeway, jumping up and down like it was a trampoline and her yelling Knock it off back there out the window at us Lol
Longjumping-Pie7418@reddit
Not wearing a seatbelt. Drinking raw milk. Sassafras tea.
ApatheistHeretic@reddit
Drinking it was never banned, only the sale of it in certain locales.
Professional_Wish_14@reddit
Jarts
kamack9-9@reddit
Weed, walking right up to the gate at airports, smoking cigarettes everywhere
ScrammyGirl@reddit
Where I lived, high school kids could drive the school buses.
Drewcifer70@reddit
Smoking on a plane or in restaurants
JackWagg0n@reddit
Mail Order firearms
stengo_faylox@reddit
Candy cigarettes
CanaryPutrid1334@reddit
There's a place near me where you can still buy them
stengo_faylox@reddit
If you put one in your mouth and blow, does powder still puff out and look like smoke? I used to think that was the height of sophistication
CanaryPutrid1334@reddit
Oh absolutely. They have the fake Pall Mall logo and everything
stengo_faylox@reddit
Nice lol
CarlatheDestructor@reddit
Kids buying cigarettes was legal when I was a kid because I did it for my mom.
vanlynz@reddit
Right! I remember being like 7 or 8 and my step-dad sending me to walk to the corner store to get him a pack of Lucky Strikes lol
Papaw875@reddit
My mom would send me with a note for my dad’s cigarettes. I was young too like 8.
WithoutBounds@reddit
Smoking on airplanes.
Delicious-Pie8944@reddit
Or in bars and restaurants
Shamus-McNasty@reddit
In the hospital of there wasn't anyone actively on oxygen.
AreWeFlippinThereYet@reddit
Legal drinking age was 18 and we would grab a beer for lunch and head back to high school
oflowz@reddit
Corporal punishment. When I grew up in the 70s every teacher had a paddle and would beat kids in school.
I’ll never forget when I was in 1st grade around the first week of school the vice principal pulled a kid out of the lunch line for acting out and whipped him without one of those 1970s suede cat-o-none tail keychains. I was shook lol.
If someone beat a kid like that today they’d be fired and there would be lawsuits but it was another Tuesday back then.
Lateapexer@reddit
not wearing a seabelt
Worth-Silver-484@reddit
Almost Everything since I am over 50.
lastfewmiles@reddit
Smoking area at high school. There was always someone there to smoke with and talk to.
Acrobatic_Bird_3972@reddit
The outside smoking area at my high school was called "the butt hut"
padall@reddit
Riding in the front seat of the car, and riding without wearing a seatbelt.
Substantial_Lab_8767@reddit
Going from front seat to back seat while the car was moving ...
WhispersOfCats@reddit
No seatbelt. Smoking everywhere.
Bright_Pomelo_8561@reddit
Juniors and seniors being able to leave for lunch and come back or not
Delicious-Pie8944@reddit
I think they still can in some schools, there’s just rarely enough time for it to be practical
LojikSupreme@reddit
☝🏾
endlesssearch482@reddit
3.2% alcohol beer bars where we could drink at 18. It’s wild to me that there’s now this weird three year gap where adults don’t have bars they can go to.
Now don’t get me wrong, the roads are a hell of a lot safer because they’re closed, but damn, I can’t even imagine how different things are now for 18-20 year olds than when I was 18. I loved going to bars when I was 18-20.
81632371@reddit
There wasn't any 3-2 where I lived on the east coast. I never heard of it until a friend was in college in OH.
grin_ferno@reddit
In colorado for YEARS you could only buy 3.2 beer from a supermarket. They weren't allowed to sell full strength.
endlesssearch482@reddit
It’s so weird to think that change is only in the last five years considering the drinking age for 3.2 changed decades ago.
MartinMcFly55@reddit
I went so much in that time that, when I turned 21, I stayed home..lol!
endlesssearch482@reddit
Same. I actually got married at 22 (to a woman I met in a 3.2 bar at 19), so that ended my bar days… until my divorce at 25. 🙄
Just-Guarantee1986@reddit
No seatbelt
riennempeche@reddit
Definitely illegal now: not using a child car seat. I rode home in my mom’s arms. Now, they won’t let you leave without verifying the seat.
FelixTheJeepJr@reddit
My parents had a car that had bench seating in the front and the middle seat had an arm rest you could pull down. I used to ride on that arm rest so I could see out the windshield, guessing that’d be frowned upon today.
RedOwl97@reddit
Carrying a knife at school. I started keeping a Swiss Army knife in my pocket when I turned 10. (MacGyver was my hero).
Relevant_Wrangler830@reddit
It was very common to see shotguns and rifles in the back window of our trucks for hunting after-school.
ReddManalishi@reddit
3.2 beer.
Ahimew@reddit
Riding in the bed of a pick up truck around town (DFW suburb).
Glad-Pen5593@reddit
Same; in a Dallas suburb!
stargazer325@reddit
Same in a DFW suburb.
Ree1954@reddit
Corporal punishment in schools. Smoking while pregnant (my mom, we all weighed less than five pounds at birth), no seat belts, leaving kids home alone.
LHCThor@reddit
Seatbelts not required, no helmet required, leaving animals and kids in cars allowed, leaving your kids without babysitters was allowed, leaving loaded guns around the house was ok. Taking guns to school was accepted (we would go hunting after school was out).
MehX73@reddit
My kids would be horrified to see what our high school parking lot looked like...everyone had a pickup truck with a gun rack with a gun on it. Totally normal. But then again, fist fights were how we handled things back then, not guns. I feel bad for the newer generations having fears we never had to worry about.
Von_Quixote@reddit
Striking your child.
SkirtTheBudgie@reddit
Being home alone at a young age. Also, getting cigarettes for your parents at the corner store with a note.
CrispyKayak267@reddit
Sudafed. Okay, it isn't illegal but it's controlled and inconvenient.
iamntropi@reddit
And getting a pill out of the package is really difficult now. You used to be able to buy a small bottle of loose pills. I want to say you could buy loose pills 5 years ago, but I could be wrong. Last year was the first time I had to face the difficult peeling in strong plastic. Claritin does not work for me- one tiny Sudafed pill will help me breathe for hours.
I don’t get out much and I tried to buy Sudafed at two different pharmacies a few months ago. The second pharmacy already knew I had bought a pack earlier that day. I’m in a power wheelchair and travel with a caregiver, so they believed I’m not going to convert the pills to meth. Since I was able to stock up, I have not had to worry about how I am going to be able to breathe for the next few weeks.
CrispyKayak267@reddit
I've only seen the foil packs for at least 20 years. I remember the bottle of loose pills. Ah, the good old days....
fireflypoet@reddit
For teachers to physically punish students. It must have been legal because it happened in WVA in the 50s, in three different schools I was in.
wolfysworld@reddit
It’s still legal and acceptable in some states.
fireflypoet@reddit
That is a shame.
wolfysworld@reddit
It’s horrific is what it is.
InsertRadnamehere@reddit
Boomer alert!!!
BabadookOfEarl@reddit
I got the strap a couple times.
Usual-Insurance-3843@reddit
JARTS!
crystalfairie@reddit
Abortion
Aromatic_Pea_4249@reddit
Legal in the UK.
Tuco--11@reddit
Lawn darts
jjgibby523@reddit
Drinking beer at age 18
Aromatic_Pea_4249@reddit
18 is the legal drinking age in the UK.
Still_Patience_1707@reddit
Smoking outside the high school
naruda1969@reddit
In the 80s it was not uncommon to see trucks in the parking lot with guns in a gun rack. At least where I lived.
InsertRadnamehere@reddit
I went to four highschools. Every single one had guys with rifles in a gun rack in their pickup.
WhiskeyDeltaBravo1@reddit
FOUR high schools? You must have been pretty busy.
InsertRadnamehere@reddit
Dad was in the military.
naruda1969@reddit
What years?
Tunashuffle@reddit
Guns still in the rack in lots of towns.
naruda1969@reddit
I edited my comment above for clarity.
wyoflyboy68@reddit
When I was two-three years old, I always stood up in the front seat of the car leaning on my mom or dad while they drove.
Gibder16@reddit
Having any kind of fun. Going outside. Talking with people face to face.
newgalactic@reddit
My highschool had an outdoor smoking lounge for students who were over 17.
FlexibleIntegrity@reddit
At my high school, that was referred to as “The Slab” as it was just a concrete patio area.
reporterbabe@reddit
Mine had a smoking area right in front of the school where anyone could smoke, including the eighth graders.
newgalactic@reddit
Lol, your school sounds like our rougher cross-town urban rivals.
reporterbabe@reddit
Not urban, but there was a legendary day when kids from a rival high school came through the windows of the cafeteria to beat up a guy. I didn’t get to see this firsthand, which oddly makes me sad.
alibillensoep@reddit
Smoking and drinking at 16
jscooper22@reddit
Leaving kids in the car to run into the store.
Jagg811@reddit
Driving without seatbelts
Spirited_Radio9804@reddit
Smoking in restaurant restaurants, movie theaters, airplanes, wherever!
LazySwayze@reddit
Smoking at major league baseball games. I'll never forget the smell of Riverfront Stadium in the 80s. Go Reds!
FlexibleIntegrity@reddit
I remember restaurants having a smoking section. It’s as if just 3’ of space actually prevented the smoke from drifting over to the non-smoking section!
Alley_cat_alien@reddit
Smoking everywhere!! You could even smoke in the grocery store.
k8username@reddit
Doctors smoked while talking to you
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
Smoking while pumping gas!
GeXmomnumbersgirl@reddit
Smoking on airplanes! Gross! The smoking section was the back, as if they couldn't smell it in the front.
CanaryPutrid1334@reddit
No no there was that tiny 4-foot-tall curtain to keep the smoke out
Efficient-Ad6814@reddit
Buying cigarettes at 18
cohbrbst71@reddit
Free speech! Criticizing israhell for genocide!
Sticky_Cobra@reddit
(This was the 70s).
Drinking and driving.
If a cop pulled you over and you had an open beer, the cop would make you dump it out.
In the 80s, the group M.A.D.D. (Mother's Against Drunk Drivers) was formed and helped make it into law.
my-cat-cant-cat@reddit
Bringing my prescription medication (or even Tylenol) to school and just taking it on my own, without involving the school
Pleasant_Expert_1990@reddit
Advertising cigarettes on TV. Cigarette vending machines. Smoking indoors everywhere...
Workamania@reddit
Smoking indoors, anywhere.
angerintensifies@reddit
Balloon launches in elementary school. Everyone wrote their name and school address on a tag on a helium balloon then released like 200 of them.
chiefhandshaker@reddit
Unfortunately this still happens all the fucking time.
crankgirl@reddit
I can recall not wearing a seatbelt in the back of the car. Late 70s early 80s.
skibum-tbird-66@reddit
Could you see the seatbelts? Because I didn't. They were stuffed into the crack of the seat, never to be seen again
Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit
Or on earlier cars, I don't think they even existed! If so, like you said, they were tge myth buried in the seat crack.
jruss666@reddit
Drinking at 18
jlobrist@reddit
Spanking kids with a leather belt or hair brush.
AbeFromanSassageKing@reddit
Riding around without a seat belt
slaytician@reddit
DDT etc sprayed by a slow moving truck throughout our suburban neighborhood chased by loads of kids on bikes. My hair was greasy with it.
Rooostyfitalll@reddit
Bet you never had head lice then
InsertRadnamehere@reddit
Used to do the same. We used to get a rush doing it.
AZJHawk@reddit
Lawn darts
reepobob@reddit
*jarts
Correct-Ingenuity538@reddit
Not picking up your dog's poops.
fohktor@reddit
Lawn Darts
Decline_of_Humanity@reddit
Physical abuse
SoulStripHer@reddit
Touching.
Practicality_Issue@reddit
You still get to touch people. They just have to be your people who consent. Not strangers.
(I fucking hate being touched by people most of the time)
SoulStripHer@reddit
I'm referring to say, a teacher hugging a student.
Hell, we were subjected to school spankings, even in front of other students.
Practicality_Issue@reddit
Ooof. I’m glad teachers aren’t hugging students. I hated that lol.
theLastDictator@reddit
Are you saying touching a child was legal, or as a child you could touch things?
NYC-WhWmn-ov50@reddit
Being left alone at home when I was 8. The neighbors knew I was there, I knew not to use the stove, what was the problem?
amberrain76@reddit
A parent sitting in the car sending a kid into a gas station to pick up their beer and/or cigarettes. They just waved at the gas station attendant from their car. 😆
Impressive_Star_3454@reddit
No car seats. If the kid was up front it was up to the parents to swing that right arm over to prevent your kid from going through the windshield or face first into the metal glovebox. I used to grab the roll up handle for the window and hold on for dear life when my uncle ( I lived with my aunt and uncle as a child) had me in the car.
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
Yeah, not only did we not have car seats, we were not required to wear seat belts.
Significant_Ruin4870@reddit
Our first couple of family cars didn't have seatbelts. Mom was always fast with that arm.
slaytician@reddit
My brothers would bring pillow cases full of dirty clothes into the back seat of the car for padding when drunk Dad made them accompany him to Grandma’s house.
InsertRadnamehere@reddit
Lawn darts and leaded gasoline.
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
Open containers in cars only became illegal in my state about 20 years ago. It was not uncommon to see a beer in a car even another 5 or so years before they really cared.
Sempophai@reddit
BB guns.
earthtobobby@reddit
Home alone as a 6-year old taking care of a 2-year old.
FarMagician8042@reddit
Jarts
lastfreerangekid@reddit
I used to sleep in the back window of grandma's 70s-era car on long trips.
SandraMort@reddit
My kids are amazed when I tell them that
ConsiderationGreen87@reddit
smoking on a plane and in the hospital
No-Hippo8031@reddit
Smoking on a hospital Plane while delivering a Baby to a Woman with rights
Sorry_Survey_9600@reddit
Open container
ImpressiveSpace6486@reddit
Lawn Darts. Still miss that game.
Maleficent_Bit2033@reddit
I was just talking about those with a co-worker lol. I'm pretty sure we still have a set (or most of one) at our farm. We were vicious with those as kids.
vulgrin@reddit
What’s funny I think is that if it hadn’t been banned we probably would have all forgotten about it.
tbodillia@reddit
Mom used to walk into liquor stores with me tagging along. I sat in bars with dad's uncles.
nate8088@reddit
Can you not go into a liquor store with parents now?
GeXmomnumbersgirl@reddit
Requiring the pledge of allegiance in school.
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
Most schools still require that, unfortunately.
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
smoking while pumping gas.
QuieroTamales@reddit
Women's rights
Mav3r1ck77@reddit
Riding in the back of a truck.
fireflypoet@reddit
Walking home alone, or with other kids, from school a long distance.
CautiousAd5515@reddit
Don’t have to wear a dealt belt in the car.
itimedout@reddit
A dealt belt?
CautiousAd5515@reddit
Yeah I’m from the country!
JJDiet76@reddit
I was a skateboarder and we’d be in the back of someone’s pickup sometimes 6-8 deep. I still remember the last time I rode in the back of one. I was probably 19 and it was in Atlanta on the interstate. Ha it was scary as hell and I remember thinking that I’m probably not ever doing this again
IWantTheLastSlice@reddit
It wasn’t legal then it just was more overlooked
CanaryPutrid1334@reddit
It was absolutely legal in Texas as far back as the 90s. As long as your butt was on the bed, you were good to go.
vulcangod08@reddit
Smoking in the bathroom with teachers.
Jolly_Grocery329@reddit
Lawn darts.
bloviatingbloviator@reddit
Behold my flair. I watched a play at a local high school, and one of the characters gets hit with a lawn dart and is presumed dead. The character appears later onstage with the lawn dart sticking out of their head. Some younger attendees wondered why I was laughing so hard.
madduxcr@reddit
Having a smoking area on high school campus.
Malarkey5150@reddit
Buying cigarettes in high school. OK, not in high school, but when I was high school age. Jumping around in the back seat of the car. Getting caught with a small amount of weed. It was technically legal, but the cops would just make you stomp it in the dirt instead of arresting you.
Appropriate_Ruin3771@reddit
Imagine the pure shock when the new clerk carded me for cigs (first time ever… I stopped every morning on the way to school). The manager said there was no need, and FNG says “It’s her 18th birthday today”. Manager laughed his ass off.
Gwaptiva@reddit
Spanking your children
Key_Mathematician951@reddit
Letting your child ride or walk home from school.
In some states (mine included), parents have been reported for having their kids play unattended in the front yard. No was attended to in the front yard when we played.
These offenses resulted in CPS calls for neglect.
Gwaptiva@reddit
I wish I could say it was the worst of the backward laws in the US, but.. well, you know.
SandraMort@reddit
Still legal :(
Gwaptiva@reddit
Not in my country, nor in many other countries I have lived.
Corpuscular_Ocelot@reddit
I'm reading this list and realized just how much stuff wasn't actually legal that no one gave a shit about or thought they would actually get in trouble for.
WildMartin429@reddit
I thought about a half a dozen different things immediately but then realized they were probably illegal back then too it's just nobody cared.
WimpyZombie@reddit
I used to love riding in the back of Dad's pickup. But one time....he took my siblings and me to a state park with a really nice pond and brought along an inflatable raft. Nice day all of us in this big raft, until storm clouds rolled in. Got out of there REAL fast.
But then....as we're flying down I-95, three of us in the back of the truck covered with the (now deflated) raft, it started to HAIL. Boy did that HURT. But at the same time we're in pain, we couldn't help but think how funny it actually was. Alternating "OUCH!" with "HAHAHA".
After Mom confirmed that we were all home safe, she totally laughed herself breathless.
MaeONays@reddit
Elementary school principal could smoke a pipe in his office or while walking around the school talking to the kids. I still love the smell of pipe tobacco smoke.
Vegetable-Macaroon13@reddit
Riding in the back of pickup trucks - I used to love that when my dad went on the highway lol
kendrajoi@reddit
I said that up above- we went everywhere back there and no one thought anything about it.
k8username@reddit
LSD
Exact-Truck-5248@reddit
1995-6. We'd have a class picnic at a nearby park. I packed about a dozen kids in the bed of my pickup truck. No one batted an eye.
Suspicious-Cat8623@reddit
We just had a local teenage get thrown out of the bed of a pickup when it went over a bump. She died.
As a kid, riding in the back of a pickup was such a normal thing. After that was outlawed in my state, I started to pay attention to news of deaths and injuries due to being in the back of a pickup. It has been awful to realize how frequently kids are injured or killed due to that.
HermioneMarch@reddit
Beating your kid
punkwalrus@reddit
That's true, although in the 1970s, society was turning around. But for the longest time, you could even beat someone else's kid, and they parent would then beat the same kid going, "What did you do? You're making the family look bad, you little shit!" The school administration could pull your pants down, and spank your naked butt in the privacy of their classroom or office, or in front of others. Some had "wiffle holes" so the paddle would be lighter and more aerodynamic. Catholic school kids also had rulers across their knuckles.
Kids were definitely the receiving end of other's trauma. One, they were small and helpless, and two, it was part of the cycle. That's why so many Gen-X'ers say "I was beat as a kid, and it didn't do ME any harm! I grew up straight and tall!" or whatever. They think it will "fix" a bad kid, because they don't know the difference between punishment and revenge.
HermioneMarch@reddit
I’d like to know how many “bad” kids it actually fixed.
Effective-Usual4152@reddit
Smoking section right outside the doors of my high school.
W0gg0@reddit
Mine was in the courtyard off of the cafeteria.
PlantWide3166@reddit
Drinking and driving.
I remember when it became illegal illegal and man, you would have thought the world was ending.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2xcQIoh3FQQ&ra=m
Necessary-Peace9672@reddit
Ephedrine
Beneficial-Bag-2874@reddit
Smoking in restaurants
Bleh 🤮 it was so gross.
NoRoof1812@reddit
A lot of restaurants moved to the smoking section and non-smoking section. Smoking sections tended to be busier.
Beneficial-Bag-2874@reddit
Yes, I know. NYS banned smoking in all restaurants and bars. I know some states still allow it
trickertreater@reddit
Bars, too.
Bunkydoodle28@reddit
an adult sleeping with a 14 year old. Age of consent was 14 in my teen years. No age gap exemption.
Easy_does_it78@reddit
Riding around in the bed of the truck. Our baseball coach would drop us off at home after practice and we would just jump out of the back of the truck
fizzymangolollypop@reddit
And we all rode rode back there for icecream cones, singing and cheering the whole way!
KingdomOfFawg@reddit
Good gas. When they started stepping on fuel with ethanol, we lost fuel economy, and it was terrible for carburetors and fuel injection.
Pip_Helix@reddit
10% loss of fuel efficiency. But you can re-jet your carbs to run less lean and fuel injection is optimized around the use of ethanol in fuel.
Flesh_And_Metal@reddit
Worst thing is that water is soluble in ethanol, an the solution is soluble in gasoline. So if the gas station storage tank is leaking, you might be filling up a percentage of water (which really messes with the fuel economy)
KrofftSurvivor@reddit
It's not illegal now... it still exists.
madogvelkor@reddit
Teachers spanking students at school.
SandraMort@reddit
That's still legal in some states :(
Spare-Good-5372@reddit
Yeah, I got my ass tore up daily
hu_gnew@reddit
Riding on the tailgate of a pickup at highway speeds. And I'm not talking about that 55 mph crap.
clauderbaugh@reddit
Yeah, I have a distinct memory (as a kid of about 10) of riding in the back of my older cousin's little Toyota pickup on a back road doing about 65 and he thought it would be funny if he hit a hill in the road that, at speed, usually makes your stomach drop. Only he hit it about twice as fast because we were in the back. The truck caught air - literally left the ground, and for about 3 full seconds I was flying like Superman, free from the bounds of earth, until I (fortunately) landed back in the truck bed pancake style and snapped my collar bone. Good times. Not sure how I survived those years.
iamntropi@reddit
So the laws of physics aren’t new?
musical_nerd99@reddit
No helmets or elbow/kneepads while riding bikes, skateboarding, etc...
Len_Zefflin@reddit
Wearing padding while skateboarding in the late 70's around here would have just gotten you beat up.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
Wait this is a law?
musical_nerd99@reddit
I think it is? I don't have kids, so not 100% certain.
superguysteve@reddit
Darwin’s Law anyway
Wonderful-Pen1044@reddit
Buying cigarettes with a note from your parent or grandparent.
SandraMort@reddit
My mother never sent a note. I was 5 or 6 in NYC, so 1974 or 5. I couldn't even pronounce "marblos"!
superguysteve@reddit
We didn’t even need a note. Back then they actually trusted us.
Head_Photograph9572@reddit
Cracking open a fire hydrant to play in the water as kids.
Catfiche1970@reddit
It was never legal, but the south side of Chicago gave no fucks.
fizzymangolollypop@reddit
For field trips at school, parents would sign up to drive and take 4 or 5 kids in their personal car and just "meet up" at the zoo or wherever.
Finn_704@reddit
No seat belts
Tonyclifton69@reddit
Lawn darts
pneighthan@reddit
I took lawn darts (Jarts) to a bachelor party weekend. We had the best time!
therocketn00b@reddit
It's so funny how our parents were afraid of imaginary satanic cults and rap or metal music, but they were fine with us riding in the backs of pickups, kids could smoke in high school, and a lot of them drove us places while they were drunk.
Extension-Pen9359@reddit
Bath salts
BettieNuggs@reddit
i could never send my kid to a mini mart with a note of what cigarettes to buy 🤣
SandraMort@reddit
My mother never even sent me a note. They just knew that "marblos" meant Marlborough. I was 5 or 6 in NYC.
Prestigious_Sweet_95@reddit
I could buy chewing tobacco as a kid.
Spare-Good-5372@reddit
Yeah, and dad often had us do that for him, too, wild. "One can of Skoal, long cut, green label."
Prestigious_Sweet_95@reddit
I would buy it from 7-11. One tin would last a while though. Was a Harry Grant fan!
Gwaptiva@reddit
We got money from teacher to go buy him smokes aged 8 or 9, a treasured task as you could keep the change.
SRF1987@reddit
Smoking section in the back of an airplane on international flights
oldschool_potato@reddit
Getting paddled in gym class
SandraMort@reddit
Still legal!
JenNtonic@reddit
The school principal having the ability to spank you with a wooden paddle whenever he wanted to.
SandraMort@reddit
That's still legal in some states!!!
sparksgirl1223@reddit
Most things it seems.
frankschmankelton@reddit
Jarts
therocketn00b@reddit
I do miss Jarts.
Seamusjamesl@reddit
Babysitting at 9 years old.
OkTouch5699@reddit
I was a summer nanny for my 7 yo neighbor when I was11.
JJQuantum@reddit
When my older brother turned 19 he was able to drink alcohol for about 2 months before they changed it to 21.
MistressPaine666@reddit
I lived in Louisiana when they changed it to 21, but they had so many ways around it that it was a joke.
JJQuantum@reddit
For sure. I was drinking at 16 so there you go.
MistressPaine666@reddit
Same. In Louisiana you could legally drink at 18 if you were a member of a private club. So clubs & bars would include a one night’s membership with the cover charge. I used to go to a liquor store that put a broken felt-less pool table in the back, bought a club license, & could sell to 18+. Bananas.
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
My cousins were in the same position, but they were grandfathered in and were able to legally drink. Now, this IS Wisconsin with its anything-goes alcohol laws, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we had different rules.
reporterbabe@reddit
I vividly remember visiting a friend in Texas as a kid and her father proudly noted that it was legal to drink beer while driving.
I also remember several occasions when my father drove home while drunk, sometimes vomiting on the side of the road. I don’t know if it was legal, but why the hell wasn’t my mom driving?
Heavymetal73@reddit
I remember it being legal to have an open container while driving (in the 90’s), but being intoxicated was a no no.
therocketn00b@reddit
I remember sitting in the car while my dad ran into Cap 'N Cork and grabbed a bottle of cheap wine in a bag to drink on the road. We didn't have cup holders, but the bottle could sit snugly between the parking brake and the passenger seat.
SandraMort@reddit
I remember lying in the car under the back window -- not even laying on the seat!! I don't think i was more than 3 or 4.
I also used to go to the store alone to get my mother's "marblos" (i couldn't say marlboro's) at 5 or 6. I didn't have to cross the street but was definitely around the corner in NYC. I'm almost 57, if that helps.
BryOnRye@reddit
In my science class at school we had an open beaker of mercury on the shelf for years. And for after school activities I used to go to the workshop and melt lead and pour into moulds to make fishing weights, all without ventilation.
iamntropi@reddit
We played with Mercury in elementary school. A small amount was in a tiny jewelry box and we touched it and watched it roll around. Ah, the memories…
Degofreak@reddit
White Crosses for sale at every gas station. They make meth from them, so no more staying up for 5 days.
OkTouch5699@reddit
Mini thins!!!
Breklin76@reddit
Realistic looking toy guns.
Secret-Avocado-Lover@reddit
That and real guns. Hunting season was a thing and every other pickup truck in the HS parking lot had a rifle mounted to the back window.
Maleficent-Adagio150@reddit
Drinking at 18 years old
Inner-Confidence99@reddit
The only way you get by with that now is on a farm. Or land that has several acres you own.
We could go to store for parents and buy their cigarettes and alcohol. Take it back home.
At 16 I could walk in any convenience store and buy beer and wine coolers and not be asked for Id.
lexi_prop@reddit
Riding in the bed of a pickup was so fun
sickiesusan@reddit
When I was a kid you seemed to be able to put as many people as could fit into a car …
itimedout@reddit
Especially if you were going to the Drive-In
KatJen76@reddit
Smoking indoors. Driving without a seatbelt. Leaded gasoline.
They also enforce age restrictions on alcohol and tobacco purchases much more now.
Practicality_Issue@reddit
Holy cow. There was a study I read in the last few years where they tied a number of health-related and social issues that declined in subsequent generations because they took lead out of gasoline. I wish I could recall the details, but it was shocking - like polio vaccine levels of improvements because we all stopped breathing vaporized lead.
Gen X was surprisingly the first gen to benefit from getting rid of it. Odd because I used to give my car octane boosts by using have leaded, half unleaded mixes in the tank (a weird trick verified by my HS chemistry teacher). IIRC leaded gas was completely gone by the time I was 17 (1989?)
ResoluteMuse@reddit
Lawn darts
itimedout@reddit
Jarts
ChekhovsZombieBear@reddit
I still have a set of the deadly ones.
CrazyLoucrazy@reddit
Our entire childhoods.
Exact-Truck-5248@reddit
brergnat@reddit
Riding wheeled vehicles without a helmet.
1043b@reddit
Basically having your kid do whatever you decided you wanted them to.
to many people in a car, put your child up in the back window area ( yep that was me at 8)
ran out of Jack and cigs, send kid to go pick them up, did that for years
codeine in the cough syrup, we called that shit purple medicine, hell my mom got straight up opium syrup for my baby brother to stop crying, paregoric
leaving kids so unsupervised they're not even sure that an adult is even available anywhere after work at some point
AgentThunderProphet@reddit
Freely roaming in the back of a station wagon.
Alarmed-Range-3314@reddit
Teachers smoking in their private break room during school breaks.
_Norfolk_Ingway_@reddit
smoking in pubs
BuccoFever412@reddit
Smoking anywhere. Malls, planes, restaurants….
Individual_Corgi_576@reddit
Hospitals…
SarahJaneB17@reddit
Airplanes
Repulsive_Client_325@reddit
During surgery
Repulsive_Client_325@reddit
Smoking everywhere including on airplanes and in cars with children
FreeThinkerFran@reddit
This is the first thing I thought of. Nothing like being a row or two up from the back of the plane's smoking section. Ugh. My first "real" job in the mid-90s was in a big office building, where smoking was allowed at your desk. So you had all these people smoking in cubicles and came home reeking every night. Good times.
Repulsive_Client_325@reddit
On airplanes they had that little fabric curtain between smoking and non. Worked perfectly.
I’m told in my office you could tell who was in by which smoke was in the air. Oh! Cherry pipe tobacco? Well, Ted is here! Is that cuban cigar smoke? Bob is in today..
NoRoof1812@reddit
We had a smoking parking lot at high school
FreeThinkerFran@reddit
When I was 4 or 5, and very small, my mom would let me sit on the freaking console/armrest between the front two seats in the car. I'd put my little feet on the sides of the gear shifter!!! I remember going to visit my dad who lived a few hours away, and he'd make me sit in the backseat and wear a seatbelt and I hated it. Crazy.
CB_Chuckles@reddit
No seatbelts. Now illegal everywhere in the US.
Sweaty-Possibility-3@reddit
Being allowed to drive drunk. The limit was BAC 0.15.
Safe_Statistician_72@reddit
Smoking indoors, no car seats for kids and no seatbelts.
Own_Celebration5462@reddit
Bottle rockets
ONROSREPUS@reddit
You can still buy and use these in certain states.
Agent7619@reddit
And they suck. Probably half the powder they used to contain.
SlaapYoMomma@reddit
Real nunchucks - not the fake foam ones
ChekhovsZombieBear@reddit
Last summer, I went to a flea market for the time since I was a kid. Can confirm you can still get all the ninja weapons there.
Agent7619@reddit
See also: butterfly knives.
Geniusinternetguy@reddit
Until 1985 police could shoot a suspect just for fleeing
That’s why there was so many “stop running or i’ll shoot!” Police shows when we were growing up.
Repulsive_Client_325@reddit
Riding in the back of the truck was my first thought as well.
lilcrow70@reddit
Lawn Darts
itimedout@reddit
Jarts
salazka@reddit
Drinking alcohol. No seatbelts anywhere.
sillytricia@reddit
Riding in the car without seat belts
Mental-Artist-6157@reddit
When I was a 16 year old waitress in a local pizza restaurant I was serving pitchers of beer & carafes of wine. Not an eyelash batted.
phlred@reddit
Climbing trees in parks
TheGypsyThread@reddit
Your nine year old watching your six year old while mom and dad were out
ONROSREPUS@reddit
Sadly a lady my wife works with still does this. 10 year old watching a 6 year old. They leave them at home multiple times a week to go play darts and drink.
zephyrthewonderdog@reddit
Drink driving. Illegal but not really enforced or socially unacceptable. I remember getting a lift home with a bunch of other kids in their dad’s car. It was a nice summer day so he was drinking a can when he collected us.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
This still happens A LOT in our area. My wife and I do adopt a highway section. It is a 2 mile stretch of state highway, not the back roads mind you. There are so many beer cans and small liquor bottles in the ditches it is crazy and this is one small stretch of road.
DoctorChimpBoy@reddit
Passengers could drink alcohol in the car when I was younger. Which of course meant the driver could drink and pretend they didn't.
Spare-Good-5372@reddit
Color tipped sparklers to make sparkler bombs with
DocDerry@reddit
Having firearms in your vehicle in high school.
Konorlc@reddit
Every truck had a file in the back window.
DocDerry@reddit
It wasn't every truck up north. Maybe every other. ;)
jrbighurt@reddit
And half the time it was a shotgun, not a rifle
ONROSREPUS@reddit
That depends on the season!
RugbyGuy65@reddit
Drinking at 18.
MarcusAurelius68@reddit
Sex at 14.
cruisereg@reddit
I remember my elementary school teacher taking a small group of us kids to McDonalds as a treat for being crossing guards. Not only did he not get permission from any of our parents but we also rode in the bed of his pickup truck!
draggar@reddit
Most of the things most teachers did (being nice, absolutely NOTHING malicious) would get them fired today. The number of times I'd get into a teachers car or go to their house (summer vacation) to see them would make most parents run to the police today.
Even my dad (who was a board member of the school's music association) often drove band members home after football games and practices because their parents didn't (it's 10PM and do you know where your children are?).
cruisereg@reddit
100%!!! I loved that teacher. He had played basketball in college and used to sometimes play basketball and kickball with us. And in total 70s/80s fashion, didn’t hold back much, including throwing people out running the bases in kickball. Good times!
My_friends_are_toys@reddit
Riding in the back of a pickup
Linkage006@reddit
So many deaths in my rural community because of this
Kitchen-Zebra-4402@reddit
Buying alcohol between 18-21.
pathf1nder00@reddit
Carrying a pocket knife everyday, including to school.
Bromodrosis@reddit
I still carry a knife with me almost daily. Handy tool.
jamatosoup@reddit
Hunting season at my school had pickups with guns in the gun racks.
chasingjulian@reddit
My first day as a freshman the shop teacher wanted to open a letter and he asked if anybody had a knife…a kid in the front row pulled out a pocket knife and handed it over. No big deal.
DeaddyRuxpin@reddit
I started carrying one daily in 4th grade. Teachers knew I had it and often asked to borrow it to cut something open. It’s crazy to think today I’d get in trouble for it.
grin_ferno@reddit
Bringing guns to school. They were supposed to remain in your car or be locked in the office.
Bromodrosis@reddit
Every Friday in the fall/winter, guys brought their rifles in their cars and lit out after school for deer camp. Nobody thought anything about it.
But we weren't so callous back then and shooting other people wasn't a daily occurrence like it is now.
Mondschatten78@reddit
So many gun racks in pickup trucks at my school. Lot of the guys went hunting before school started in the morning.
Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit
Everything. We wandered all over town and no one cared. Now if a 10 year old kid is spotted in their yard alone some nosey is calling police.
Dangerous-Art-Me@reddit
Seatbelts and airbags. Driving around with ten of your friends crammed in the car. Riding in the back of pickup trucks. Riding bikes without helmets. Drinking changed to 21 while I was a teen. The occasional fistfight everyone shrugged over. Spankings. Walking to school in first grade by myself.
Mission_Orchid_5939@reddit
Riding in the back of a truck.....subaru brat had it down.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
Did those seats in the back have lap belts? I have never seen one in person.
Upset_Researcher_143@reddit
Riding in a car with no seatbelt if you were sitting in the back seat. I thought that seatbelts in the car were optional for backseat riders except babies
BearMiner@reddit
Lawn Darts
Mediocre-Team1715@reddit
Women’s right to choose.
grin_ferno@reddit
+100 for sass!
MartinMcFly55@reddit
What a fuckin' world we live in now. Jfc
Slow-Complaint-3273@reddit
Kids under the age of 13 being unsupervised by an adult. (I had my first babysitting gig at 10.)
winoandiknow1985@reddit
Everything.
punkwalrus@reddit
How autonomous I was. Some of it was neglect, but it was invisible because a lot of other kids had some of the same possibilities and permissions that made it seem normal to an outsider.
For example, in the 70s, being a kid wandering around the neighborhood on your own all day was pretty normal. Walk a mile to the store and hang out there at age 8 with your 6 year old sibling (maybe reluctantly) in tow? Nobody even blinked. Loose neighborhood dogs? Sure. Some even attacked kids. We had two dalmatians owned by two different people, and one was fine while the other hated kids and had been known to bite. You just learned which spot pattern was the okay one. Parents knew, they tut-tutted, but nothing was ever done.
I could walk about a mile down the road, take a Metro bus to a Metro rail, and then go to downtown DC, pay $2 for a matinee of a Chop Hockey or Blaxploitation movie. Go to the Tower Records near Washington University and hang out with the hippies and stoners. Georgetown was also pretty cool. The punk scene was awesome in the 80s.
Having a bunch of cub scouts or little league players in a station wagon or back of a pickup truck was normal. Sometimes teens would drive them around and do donuts while you tried not to be thrown off as a game. There was an abandoned lot next to the new commercial park where kids ran BMX and motocross bikes in a self-made track and series of hand-built ramps. Tysons Corner Mall was THE place to hang out, and nobody hassled you for not having a parent with you. I don't even think the mall HAD cops or guards of any sort.
vanillagirilla1975@reddit
Cigarettes… we just started buying them at the grocery store at 13. It was perfectly legal.
heggl@reddit
Yep. I recall buying them for my mom on occasion
Hyperocean@reddit
Lawn darts and leaded gasoline 🎯
02C_here@reddit
Ahhhh. Flaming lawndarts on a summer eve with the dad's drinking PBR and betting on who got burned first ...
13mys13@reddit
Riding in a truck bed is illegal where I live, although it's actually still legal where I grew up.
MorningBrewNumberTwo@reddit
Lawn darts
Academic_Dare_5154@reddit
Lawn Darts.
IT_learning_only@reddit
Kids used to be able to babysit other kids at any age.
I was constantly babysitting multiple kids of an age range down to under a year by the time I was 10. I knew another who would watch one or two by age 8. My uncle was responsible for my mom by the time he was 4.
Hib3rnian@reddit
Being a latch key kid at 10yrs old
Early-Reindeer7704@reddit
No seatbelts required. I remember seeing them in cars in the late 60’s, but they were never used, people tended to push them into the seat crack.
dixiech1ck@reddit
Sitting in the back of the station wagon looking out and making faces at the driver behind you.
wrhnj@reddit
Riding in the front seat on your mother’s lap.
drinkslinger1974@reddit
Letting your kids bike around in the neighborhood. I heard about a friend that led her kid bike about a mile from her house and CPS was called on her. It’s legit scary if you’re a parent.
traveling_grandpa@reddit
For all the back of the pickup riders, my brothers and I would ride in the box of Dads Gravel truck mostly up on the forward extension over the cab. We would jump straight up and see how far we would travel in the box as we went down the road! We all made it to adults so it was just testing theories of motion, gravity and time-space!
hcoverlambda@reddit
Dry ice bombs. We used to make them with 2 liter bottles when we were teenagers in the 90s and now they are a felony in some states.
Buckeyebornandbred@reddit
Did the same!! Was so loud but so much fun
poppinwheelies@reddit
I was an ice cream man for a couple of summers. Had dry ice on me at all times. There may have been several cough hundred of loud noises around the community those summers.
LessBig715@reddit
We used pool acid, foil and a 2 liter bottle
aDirtyMartini@reddit
Before safety was invented?
Kimba26@reddit
Riding with my dad on his motorcycle when I was really, REALLY small. I used to sit in front of him budged up against the gas tank on a 74 HD Sportster. I had a kid sized helmet.
frankdowntown@reddit
You got a helmet?
Kimba26@reddit
Yep , my grandmother was around and she never would have been cool with not wearing one.
Resident-Condition-2@reddit
Same.
TorstedTheUnobliged@reddit
Played with unfamiliar children, I mean I am in my 50s now.
That and play with silver fulminate “throwdowns” , air pistols and spud guns.
ImDoneForToday2019@reddit
Okay, that first one made me chuckle. Well done!
merrysunshine2@reddit
Not wearing a seatbelt
Drinking age was 18
Smoking inside anywhere
robert_jackson_ftl@reddit
Smoking on an airplane.
dacrazyredhead@reddit
riding in the front seat when I was 5 years old
being a latch key kid at 7
smoking inside office buildings and planes
165interbond@reddit
I had just turned 18 when the drinking age was raised to 21. Joined the Air Force and kept on drinking on base
CtForrestEye@reddit
Smoking cigarettes in the smoking room in the high school. Buying liquor at 18.
Ozdiva@reddit
Buying liquor at 18 is still legal in most of the world.
Ozdiva@reddit
I’m not sure that it was legal even then, but we used to sunbathe on the roof of our school!
Noahs-Bark@reddit
Wearing no sear belts.
Few_Network5779@reddit
DDT
ahwurtz@reddit
Getting cigarettes from a vending machine.
bigtime_porgrammer@reddit
Man, it's a visceral memory, pulling out the knob and the mechanical "ka-chunk" sound, followed by the pack sliding out on the metal tray.
BuildingMaleficent11@reddit
Cigarettes in a vending machine
attaboy_stampy@reddit
Moe: You know, if it wasn't for the junior high school next door, no one would even use the cigarette machine.
a_youkai@reddit
Bubble gum cigarettes and walking to the next town to play with friends.
TurboLicious1855@reddit
Riding in the back of the pickup truck bed. Phew, even I knew that wasn't smart and I was a kid.
My auntie would let me ride sitting in the driving wheel as she drove to the store. Lol, crazy.
BMisterGenX@reddit
when I was kid almost any time of fireworks were legal at any age. The store could refuse to sell to you if you were too young but I don't think it was a legal requirement. And fireworks were available at the gas station and drug store.
dirthawg@reddit
Drinking a beer driving down the highway.
BMisterGenX@reddit
when I was a kid it was legal to drink beer while driving as long as you weren't drunk. There were no laws or limits regading open containers for passangers. I remember when seat belts were not required by law. Then initially they changed the law that only the driver needed a seat belt.
At one point in the state I grew up in the age for tobacco but 18 but if you were caught with it at 16 or 17 it was just confiscated there was no legal repurcussion beyond that.
nobody_really__@reddit
Lawn darts.
Kusotare421@reddit
Free thought.
MarquesTreasures@reddit
the 2nd Amendment.
Bastyra2016@reddit
Riding on the interstate in the back of a pickup truck
helpitgrow@reddit
Riding anywhere in the back of a pickup.
AcanthisittaPlus5047@reddit
Designated smoking area in high school.
Riding bikes without a helmet.
Leaving high school campus when not in class.
darkest_irish_lass@reddit
Working at 14 for cash under the table. It was restaurant work when anyone called in
Fritzo2162@reddit
That's how I started- I washed dishes for a catering company my mom worked for. I stayed there for 12 years through school and eventually became executive chef after training and culinary school on the side haha.
Zaphodblacksdad@reddit
I was goning to answer with what you said - back of granddad's pickup.
jjmenace@reddit
We drove from NH to Florida (2 days) to visit our grandparents. Me, my sister and cousin, all under 12yo, rode in the back (cargo area) of a Volvo station wagon. 8 people in total in the car and all the luggage on the roof.
FreshCords@reddit
I remember riding my bike to the to the corner convenience store at 6-7 years old to get cigarettes for my father. He would give me a couple of bucks and a signed, handwritten note with the brand to buy so I could hand it to the cashier. Nobody batted an eye at it.
Any_Albatross_1062@reddit
Buying just about any chemical you wanted at the hobby store. Our standard chemistry sets in those days would probably result in federal charges today.
CrispyKayak267@reddit
Spray paint
Bobby-Dazzling@reddit
Paint thinner, model rocket engines, lighter fuel, chemistry set resupplies, fireworks….yeah, crazy that any kid could buy any of those at any time!
RealityDependency@reddit
Can't even buy a lighter of you're under 21 now!
Bartlaus@reddit
The, ah, experiments we got up to in places like the local disused quarry would be frowned pretty hard upon now.
MistressPaine666@reddit
They used to sell ecstasy in bars under the name Eve. That had gone by the wayside by the time my party days began, but the change was recent.
KingRo48@reddit
Buying a pack of smokes for mum while only 10 years old.
throwpayrollaway@reddit
It was always banned for under 16s to buy cigarettes since about 1900, in UK just no one seemed to mind too much. Same with alcohol I found, where they would seem to just take a look at you and make sure you wasn't super obviously 12.
draggar@reddit
Funny story. I was with some friends (mind you, we were all about 20, but all over 18) hanging out. I went into the store to get a soda and a friend asked me to get them some cigarettes, so I did - and wasn't carded.
5 minutes later I decided to go back in to buy a lottery ticket - was carded.
So, you think I'm old enough to poison my lungs but not old enough to spent $1 on a scratch ticket?
dafuqizzis@reddit
I had a note!
Elesia@reddit
Same! And she only had to send it one time and I could buy smokes for the rest of my childhood!
1Fully1@reddit
Letting your dig roam the neighborhood.
sterling3274@reddit
Kids playing or just walking unsupervised. When my youngest was 7 or 8 he took our little dog for a walk around the neighborhood and had two different neighbors interrogate him.
let-it-rain-sunshine@reddit
Yea. People don't tolerate free-range kids these days. Back then it was the norm. Entertainment was outside.
general-illness@reddit
Riding in the bed of a pickup truck
jjmenace@reddit
I can remember going to Little League games with a bunch of 12YOs in the back of a pickup driven by our coach. In the 80s, if you had a truck...someone was always in the bed.
1Fully1@reddit
Yard Darts
iaminabox@reddit
I used to buy cigarettes for my Da when I was maybe 6 or 7
ElJefe0218@reddit
Dad was drinking and we kit a curb and crashed. My legs and stomach had burns from the exhaust. That's me with the helmet on, safety first!
Numerous-Positions_5@reddit
Buying beer at 18.
onebadassMoMo@reddit
I could buy cigarettes
Parintachin@reddit
Lawn Darts.
It's such a fun game. My parents ran a daycare center and we let the kids play with them. Luckily the kids were smart enough never to stand near where you were throwing the spiky bits at so nobody got hurt.
jakegio1@reddit
When they changed them to the rounded weighted style, the game lost all fun, because they bounced and rolled. It took the aiming skill out of the game.
Kindly-Might-1879@reddit
Drinking alcohol at age 18.
No seatbelts required for passengers.
AldruhnHobo@reddit
I think y'all have already touched on the major things.
Tinyberzerker@reddit
You know what wasn’t legal? My sweet double edged throwing knife the cops fucking took in ‘95. It’s legal now and I want it back.
PugLoversince2003@reddit
Abortion
DocDerry@reddit
Age of consent laws could make this a really awkward conversation.
baldmisery17@reddit
Buying cigarettes for my mom from the Jitney Jungle when I was 8.
EvilDan69@reddit
Back in the 80's I used to ride in the back of my uncle's bitchin van. On a milk crate. I was a child.
Everyone thought that was ok back then.
mvscribe@reddit
Driving (or being a passenger in a car) without a seatbelt on.
WhatTheHellPod@reddit
There was a story a few years back about a woman who almost lost her kid (who was like 8 or 10 years old) because she was working and couldn't afford childcare. So the kid spent a lot of time alone at a park near where the Mom worked. The kid didn't DO anything, just hung out at the park for hours. Someone called the cops, family services got involved and the mom had to go to court to keep her kid out of foster care. She kept the kid but it was a whole big news story.
Our parent's would've been screwed.
HoochShippe@reddit
Riding in the truck bed on the road / highway.
TreyBouchet@reddit
Lawn darts
Addapost@reddit
Kids riding in the open backs of pickup trucks.