What did people do in the 1970s, before the internet?

[kreemi_pi]

Disco inferno!

And coke

 

[Jaws82]

Yup definitely smells like coke..

 

[kreemi_pi]

Survival was tough in the 70's...you spent all your energy just...

STAYIN' ALIVE!
STAYIN' ALIVE!

 

[Jaws82]

Survival was tough in the 70's...you spent all your energy just...

STAYIN' ALIVE!
STAYIN' ALIVE!

Rape. Murder it’s just a shot away

 

[kreemi_pi]

Rape. Murder it’s just a shot away

Done livve by the incomparable Lisa Fischer

 

[Jaws82]

Done livve by the incomparable Lisa Fischer

I am a sucker for male female duo vocals

 

[Chernosoth]

They bought ugly furniture and wore uglier clothes. My parents had this couch.

 

[Achingluv]

As to the original question, more accurately before the internet, there was more face-to-face interaction/socializing, for better and worse. You just had to deal with people more.

This made it more difficult for those of us on the spectrum, I can tell you that. You couldn't control your interactions nearly as easily (such as leaving it for when you're feeling more "up to it"), and many, many people had neither the desire or knowledge to deal with people who were a little different. While there is a loss in not interacting with so many people, as even if shy and reserved, you had to learn to some degree how to cope (say going out with friends to a local restaurant/hangout), it was also less safe, as you never knew who might be dangerous in various ways.

All in all, although I have many good memories in growing up in the 70s & 80s (though a lot of them were when I was by myself), having the internet around would have made a lot of things easier & safer (physically, socially, emotionally & psychologically). Being different wasn't easy.

 

[Greytruck]

Grew up in the 70’s. Graduated high school in 72
Was a much simpler time.. no cell phones for sure.
We walked everywhere. To Rick’s house to see if he’s home, then to Nancy’s.
We listened to rock and roll groups on the radio and stereo.
We got cars and started exploring past our neighborhoods.
Things were calmer and I’d say safer

 

[MythicMind]

I was a kid in the 70s, graduated mid-80s.
Things were much slower.
Without streaming, we all watched the same stuff, so everyone could talk about Star Wars or MASH.
We made mix tapes based on whatever albums we had or else waited for a song to come on the radio.
Rode bikes everywhere, moms never knew where we were, just needed to be back by dinner.
Music was better.

 

[spacekowboy]

I spent a good portion of tmy time in the 70's crapping my pants and sucking titties.

 

[Jeb56]

We played guitars.

 

[Missmister]

We rode our bicycles. A lot. Met our friends at the mall and hung out there, went rollerskating at the local rollercade. Roller skating was the center of our social life….we played tons of foosball and pool, smoked lots of weed, shoplifted a little, tested our sexual prowess, drank gallons of beer at outdoor keggers, and lots of fistfights…
We didnt worry about some chickenshit pussy pulling a gun out and shooting everybody back then, and skateboarded a lot…

 

[LookN2Talk]

They bought ugly furniture and wore uglier clothes. My parents had this couch.

I remember all those ugly things as a kid. And they were that ugly. I was 5 at the end of the 70s. I remember some things about the 70s and remember the 80s well.

I spent a good portion of tmy time in the 70's crapping my pants and sucking titties.

You were a little one too. lol

 

[Wonderer67]

I was just a kid in the 70s, but as other posters have said we wrote our bikes everywhere.

I grew up in a small town so I didn’t know too many people outside of my town. TV was a family activity and mostly my sister’s and I would watch cartoons on Saturday mornings.

I remember them finally is being carefree and fun. I did not know much of the outside world and problems with race relations, the economy, Vietnam. Etc.
———
My wife is 10 years older than I am so she came of age in the 70s. She remembers it being very carefree sexually. She lost her virginity at 13. She slept with a lot of guys - her biggest fear was getting pregnant, not STDs.

it’s always easy to look back at different time periods and say they were great. There’s good and bad everywhere, right now, in the 70s and in the 1570s.

 

[Shaglus_Ziegler]

Cool dude. You danced to the Beatles and Beach Boys, dreamed of nuclear annihilation and shagged like bunnies because no hiv and antibiotics still worked. You even vaccinated kids for measles and mumps! Not all bad.

Actually back then you let them get measles and mumps cuz then you’re actually protected. The Beatles always gave me bad vibes and The Beach Boys were pretty corny and helped make surfing way too crowded. Lol. I would prefer those times to this current age of absurdity. Cheers

 

[stickygirl]

Actually back then you let them get measles and mumps cuz then you’re actually protected. The Beatles always gave me bad vibes and The Beach Boys were pretty corny and helped make surfing way too crowded. Lol. I would prefer those times to this current age of absurdity. Cheers

I'm never quite sure if someone's being sarcastic regarding these topics

 

[thør]

Tell us about the 1970s - what did you do in your leisure time... did you have any?

High school, undergrad school, and graduate school were all in the 70's. Leisure time was taken up by girls, hiking, fishing, hunting, skiing, biking, touring about the US and Canada in a van, etc. It was a busy time. I remember sitting on the edge of my bed wondering if it was time to go to work (summer job) or go to bed.

 

[LookN2Talk]

I was 5 at the end of the 70s, 15 by the end of the 80s.

We woke up very early every day, did all our chores, whatever farm work needed doing, came back in, ate breakfast, got run out of the house by mom or whichever adult was at home and in charge (aunts, uncles, grandparents) with a lunch bag and apples for the rest of the day until supper. No one adults ever knew where we were, only the general area/plan of the day. Despite the ladies knowing how to stretch a meal for drop by guests, and we always had plenty of those, when the horn blew, you had to beat it back home as fast as possible if you wanted to eat before it all disappeared. Which meant if you were not there by blessing time, you got scraps. Those ladies sure could cook.

It was a great treat to go to the library, be there for story time, read books, pick out ones to take home

Another treat was going to the pharmacy for root beer in a frozen mug, hamburgers/fries, and ice cream, or floats.

Went to most everyone's birthday party in our grade when young. Small school. Tight community.

While we were younger, the rest of the day was running, playing, exploring the woods, sports, riding bikes, go-karts over time, then motorcycles. We made and threw paper planes, boomerangs, frisbees, shot sling shots, climbed ton of trees, built forts, attacked each other with sticks, pine cones, acorns, mud, and about anything else we could throw or sword fight with. Went swimming in any water hole, creek, river we found, played tag, freeze tag, hide and seek. If we wanted to reach out to a friend, we hiked through miles of woods until we made it to their house.

Friday nights were all about the local high school football games and gatherings. As kids, we played our butts off with friends under the bleachers.

The clothing I remember at 4-7 was tough jeans with patched knees and butts, almost always hand-me-downs. Tough shirts for all the sticker bushes we walked/rode through most days and heavy boots. As others have said, "We lived in a real world rather than a virtual one," it was outside, rugged, we created our own play/fun, had hatchets, knives, compasses, water canteens, could build forts faster than builders frame homes.

Sundays were all about family day, church, and pro football season. As someone posted, everything was closed. We went to after church picnics or potlucks. Once home, we watched black and white tv with rabbit ears when young, graduating to a large antenna pole that we'd have to go out and hand turn to get different signals, especially in storms. We got our first color tv somewhere during all this and everyone (extended family, friends, neighbors) came over to watch games. Still only a few channels on a good day.

Music was family playing, radio (am/fm), an old cabinet radio/stereo, vinyl records, 8 tracks became popular but I do not know when. Saturday mornings somehow became kids morning with cartoons. Got up early as always, ate breakfast watching cartoons. Did chores, farm work, and was out the rest of the day. Sports took over Saturdays as we had more offered to us.

When it was no longer football season, we loved going to local community gatherings which is where we'd schedule times to hook up in the woods at various locations so no one had to travel a crazy distance to meet up. That's when we often met up at various swimming spots all over. We swam year round no matter the temperature. No one cared. Crazy to think back on it, cold, bugs, snakes, mosquitos, wild life, we swam with no concerns.

Bows took over sling shots, then BB guns and stronger bows, next was hunting rifles, we began going hunting (for food, not for sport). We learned to fish, clean, cook, camp.

As we aged, we went to more school events, basketball and football games were even bigger, we discovered girls (strange how they all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere), went to school dances, talked, hung out, parties became more spin the bottle, 7 minutes in heaven, and that darn shoe game (no idea what the name is). We called them kissing parties. So much kissing. Also skateboarding and roller skating became an extra thing to do with places to hang out when there were no sporting or community events, as did video arcades when we went to town with friends.

We wrote letters to people on the other side of the county during the summer and other far away friends that we met at some camp somewhere away. Our school was over 20 miles away, many school friends further. We lived near islands and would attend camps in the islands making amazing friends from all over the world.

Music products progressed to where we could do as another poster mentioned, "We made mix tapes based on whatever albums we had or else waited for a song to come on the radio. Music was better." No doubt the music was incredible. We were all hitting that age where it meant something. At some time I wound up with a Walkman, must have been my brothers.

I agree with so many here:
No cell phones for sure. Didn't even use the phone much.
We walked everywhere or rode bikes all over.
We listened to rock and roll groups on the radio and stereo.
Things were calmer and I’d say safer.
We didn't worry about some chickenshit pussy pulling a gun out and shooting everybody back then, or an adult doing something inappropriate because we had our own guns and would have most likely shot them.
Unlike today we didn’t believe that men could be women and feelings weren’t offended by anything and everything. We didn’t hate someone who didn’t vote the same way we did and we could disagree with someone and still be friends. All in all it was a better and simpler life tougher in some ways but with friends and family we still enjoyed it.

Funniest thing is that black, white, hispanic, asian, never came up with us a kids. We were great friends hanging out all through growing up there was no color or differences as far as we knew. We still talk about that when we meet up. Crazy how sensitive new generations have gotten.

High school changed quite a lot, but that wasn't until the 90s.

 

[stickygirl]

I was 5 at the end of the 70s, 15 by the end of the 80s.

We woke up very early every day, did all our chores, whatever farm work needed doing, came back in, ate breakfast, got run out of the house by mom or whichever adult was at home and in charge (aunts, uncles, grandparents) with a lunch bag and apples for the rest of the day until supper. No one adults ever knew where we were, only the general area/plan of the day. Despite the ladies knowing how to stretch a meal for drop by guests, and we always had plenty of those, when the horn blew, you had to beat it back home as fast as possible if you wanted to eat before it all disappeared. Which meant if you were not there by blessing time, you got scraps. Those ladies sure could cook.

It was a great treat to go to the library, be there for story time, read books, pick out ones to take home

Another treat was going to the pharmacy for root beer in a frozen mug, hamburgers/fries, and ice cream, or floats.

Went to most everyone's birthday party in our grade when young. Small school. Tight community.

While we were younger, the rest of the day was running, playing, exploring the woods, sports, riding bikes, go-karts over time, then motorcycles. We made and threw paper planes, boomerangs, frisbees, shot sling shots, climbed ton of trees, built forts, attacked each other with sticks, pine cones, acorns, mud, and about anything else we could throw or sword fight with. Went swimming in any water hole, creek, river we found, played tag, freeze tag, hide and seek. If we wanted to reach out to a friend, we hiked through miles of woods until we made it to their house.

Friday nights were all about the local high school football games and gatherings. As kids, we played our butts off with friends under the bleachers.

The clothing I remember at 4-7 was tough jeans with patched knees and butts, almost always hand-me-downs. Tough shirts for all the sticker bushes we walked/rode through most days and heavy boots. As others have said, "We lived in a real world rather than a virtual one," it was outside, rugged, we created our own play/fun, had hatchets, knives, compasses, water canteens, could build forts faster than builders frame homes.

Sundays were all about family day, church, and pro football season. As someone posted, everything was closed. We went to after church picnics or potlucks. Once home, we watched black and white tv with rabbit ears when young, graduating to a large antenna pole that we'd have to go out and hand turn to get different signals, especially in storms. We got our first color tv somewhere during all this and everyone (extended family, friends, neighbors) came over to watch games. Still only a few channels on a good day.

Music was family playing, radio (am/fm), an old cabinet radio/stereo, vinyl records, 8 tracks became popular but I do not know when. Saturday mornings somehow became kids morning with cartoons. Got up early as always, ate breakfast watching cartoons. Did chores, farm work, and was out the rest of the day. Sports took over Saturdays as we had more offered to us.

When it was no longer football season, we loved going to local community gatherings which is where we'd schedule times to hook up in the woods at various locations so no one had to travel a crazy distance to meet up. That's when we often met up at various swimming spots all over. We swam year round no matter the temperature. No one cared. Crazy to think back on it, cold, bugs, snakes, mosquitos, wild life, we swam with no concerns.

Bows took over sling shots, then BB guns and stronger bows, next was hunting rifles, we began going hunting (for food, not for sport). We learned to fish, clean, cook, camp.

As we aged, we went to more school events, basketball and football games were even bigger, we discovered girls (strange how they all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere), went to school dances, talked, hung out, parties became more spin the bottle, 7 minutes in heaven, and that darn shoe game (no idea what the name is). We called them kissing parties. So much kissing. Also skateboarding and roller skating became an extra thing to do with places to hang out when there were no sporting or community events, as did video arcades when we went to town with friends.

We wrote letters to people on the other side of the county during the summer and other far away friends that we met at some camp somewhere away. Our school was over 20 miles away, many school friends further. We lived near islands and would attend camps in the islands making amazing friends from all over the world.

Music products progressed to where we could do as another poster mentioned, "We made mix tapes based on whatever albums we had or else waited for a song to come on the radio. Music was better." No doubt the music was incredible. We were all hitting that age where it meant something. At some time I wound up with a Walkman, must have been my brothers.

I agree with so many here:
No cell phones for sure. Didn't even use the phone much.
We walked everywhere or rode bikes all over.
We listened to rock and roll groups on the radio and stereo.
Things were calmer and I’d say safer.
We didn't worry about some chickenshit pussy pulling a gun out and shooting everybody back then, or an adult doing something inappropriate because we had our own guns and would have most likely shot them.
Unlike today we didn’t believe that men could be women and feelings weren’t offended by anything and everything. We didn’t hate someone who didn’t vote the same way we did and we could disagree with someone and still be friends. All in all it was a better and simpler life tougher in some ways but with friends and family we still enjoyed it.

Funniest thing is that black, white, hispanic, asian, never came up with us a kids. We were great friends hanging out all through growing up there was no color or differences as far as we knew. We still talk about that when we meet up. Crazy how sensitive new generations have gotten.

High school changed quite a lot, but that wasn't until the 90s.

Thank you for your time in writing this. Quite touching

 

[IARainman]

My grandmother was a teenager in the 70s. She always said that she read a lot, used the library to look stuff up, and sneaked off to discos behind her parents’ backs. She learned to drive stick and, when she graduated high school in 1975-ish, she basically hung out til she was married. (This was Mexico after all!)

I’d love to experience every single era! That’s my greatest fantasy.

Aww fuck, I was a teen in the 80s albeit 6 years younger than your grams.

You ready to grow your bush for your visit to the 70s? You'd be a super freak if you shaved.

 

[SmoothAndSweet]

2 cans and a string? And BTW, you are going to give away your age I can now see the older guys for me

 

[LookN2Talk]

Thank you for your time in writing this. Quite touching

YW. They were incredible times. Great post idea btw, thx.

 

[Hipshot1554]

Thank you for your time in writing this. Quite touching

Went to bars, hopped up our cars, drag raced, (street and strips), and chased the women. You had to make first contact face to face back then. I wonder if guys now days can talk to a woman without getting to know her online first?

 

[kreemi_pi]

Wore bellbottoms.

And even the guys wore high heels and showed their cleavage. Even the white people had afros.

It was a time of strange fashion choices.