What Was Wrong with the 70s????

[Menofsteel]

I wasn’t born until 1980 but my husband is a 60s child. He’s showed me public information films from the 70s and just introduced me to the original Survivors. I saw the remake with Julie Graham? Why is everything from the 70s so much creepier?!? I’m starting to believe we are a bit softer nowadays .

@neonjumper that’s horrifying! I will never understand the mentality of people who behave that way. I’m so sorry you had to endure this.

neonjumper That’s horrendous

I don't recognise the descriptions of a 70s childhood tbh. I was born in 1971. We didn't roam freely around the place unsupervised and hungry. My parents parented fairly similarly to how we do. There wasn't the variety of food there is now, but it certainly wasn't all mince and breaded stuff with no veg! The tv stuff and public service adverts etc I agree were weird and occasionally creepy though, looking back.

My god, neonjumper that's truly awful.

I'm a child of the seventies. My parents both grew up during the war and still saved ends of soap, wrapping paper, foil and bits of string. Food wasn't as "abundant" as it is now and my parents had been definitely influenced by rationing which only ended in 1954, a decade before I was born. We were allowed sweets once a week and had a biscuit tin that we had to have permission to access. I do remember eating spaghetti and having olive oil for the first time! As a pp said, there wasn't the emphasis on fresh fruit and veg that we have now, although I remember how a tiny glass of fruit juice was an "exotic" starter in a hotel restaurant. Or tinned grapefruit segments.

We all played a particular sport because we happened to live near a club , but there wasn't the wide variety of extra-curricular activities available to children that there are today. I remember a brown corduroy sofa from Habitat, hand me down clothes and I think me and my siblings had one or two birthday parties throughout our childhoods when we invited friends, certainly no more than that. For birthdays and Christmas we received one main present and one small present, and no more. There was also massive excitement when my father bought a new Swedish car; a Volvo was seen as incredibly exciting and innovative.

As a child, you definitely fitted in around your parents life and not the other way around. My siblings and I spent a lot of time in our own, bored, which led to us all being quite creative I think.

Oh gosh yes I remember the cold now it's been mentioned. We lived in an old Victorian terrace, no central heating, and I remember ice on the inside of the bathroom windows during winter. Getting dressed and undressed was done very quickly.

@Acornsgalore

I'm a child of the seventies. My parents both grew up during the war and still saved ends of soap, wrapping paper, foil and bits of string. Food wasn't as "abundant" as it is now and my parents had been definitely influenced by rationing which only ended in 1954, a decade before I was born. We were allowed sweets once a week and had a biscuit tin that we had to have permission to access. I do remember eating spaghetti and having olive oil for the first time! As a pp said, there wasn't the emphasis on fresh fruit and veg that we have now, although I remember how a tiny glass of fruit juice was an "exotic" starter in a hotel restaurant. Or tinned grapefruit segments.

We all played a particular sport because we happened to live near a club , but there wasn't the wide variety of extra-curricular activities available to children that there are today. I remember a brown corduroy sofa from Habitat, hand me down clothes and I think me and my siblings had one or two birthday parties throughout our childhoods when we invited friends, certainly no more than that. For birthdays and Christmas we received one main present and one small present, and no more. There was also massive excitement when my father bought a new Swedish car; a Volvo was seen as incredibly exciting and innovative.

As a child, you definitely fitted in around your parents life and not the other way around. My siblings and I spent a lot of time in our own, bored, which led to us all being quite creative I think.

My mum was born in 1964 and she tells me about my granny buying sweets and one glass bottle of fizzy pop every week or two, for her to share with my auntie and uncle. My mum didn't try pizza until she was 19, which blew my mind

I've remembered another one. When cheesecake first came out, my mum bought the make it yourself packet ( Greens from memory ) .
My dad insisted that because it was described as ' cheese ' it was savoury , and as it was summer wanted it with new potatoes and salad.

So that was how he got it ! 😂😂

@neonjumper so sorry to read this. How are your parents doing now, if they are still with us? Hope you are ok now too.

neonjumper I've just scrolled back and read your post. That is horrendous.

@user1497510803 🤣🤣 brilliant.

Highlight of the week was sandwiches and trifle from the tea trolley in the lounge on a Sunday night. I had forgotten that! The hostess trolley.

And as for parents not really considering their kids in their decisions - we moved 500 miles and my parents didn’t think to tell me it was happening until we were nearly at our destination

amusedbush you are making me feel o!d now! . I remember drinking a rather dubious fizzy drink in the seventies known as "cherry-ade" which made me sick. Other than that we only had lemonade, or ginger ale on special occasions. Desperately trying to remember when I ate pizza for the first time. I think it was at uni in the early 1980s!

I have very different memories. Born in 1964, I was in a one parent family through the death of my dad and my mum had to work non stop and was viewed by the local married women as a threat to their husbands. I also had a lot of surgery ( a lot!) which we now know was experimental but in was the 70's and you Did What The Doctor Said. No children's rights at all. Being in hospital for weeks on end and not allowed my mum in except for very strict visiting hours.
There were fun times, mainly outings with Gingerbread, the one parent society that my mum was a big part of, but also sad times when I couldn't have what my friends' had as we just couldn't afford more than the basics, and I would watch her with bits of paper doing what I thought were 'sums' but what was really her working out how much we had left that week. It got better when mum sold our house in 1978 and we rented for a bit and could afford more, but on the whole, it was a bit grim for me!

I was born in 1974, so missed it really, but DH was a teen/young adult in the 70s, and I have to say it sounds fucking brilliant.

If I ever time travel, I’m going back to meet him to have a 15p pint and a spliff in the back room of The Moonstone

@neonjumper dear me, I’m so sorry.

I was a young adult in the 70s and lived and socialised in a variety of pretty squalid bedsits and squats in the Clifton area of Bristol and then in areas like Islington and Stoke Newington. These places were full of large run down houses which were barely habitable and, in some cases, had already been condemned. They are the homes of millionaires now.

I was born in 1965.
I remember playing tennis in the road, riding a bike without a helmet, no choice of dinner ( we ate or went hungry.) No snacks between meals. Home made cakes and ice cream that came in a cardboard wrapper.

Holidays were taken in the UK (abroad was the Isle of Wight) and these were spent in a small tin box (AKA a caravan) usually parked in a field in the middle of nowhere furnished with a chemical toilet ( glamorously known as a "Bucket and Chuck-it") and with visits to old castles, steam train museum and country shows where highlights included a sheep dog trials, unusual shaped vegetables and most attractive cow competitions! 😳 If we were really lucky we were taken to a beach ( usually miles off the beaten track as popular resorts were "too crowded.")

Trouble at school resulted in a clip round the ear and teachers were never challenged. Education was rather questionable and success in exams was down to the student (failures were never blamed on the teachers. ) I don't remember being particularly stressed by my O levels- nothing like the pressure young people are under today.

We had a black and whiteTV until I was 13 and I always had to ask permission to turn on the TV and this was never before 4:15. 3 channels to choose from and no remote. I was never allowed to watch Saturday morning TV so Tiswas and Swap shop were unknown to me.

Agree with others that there were some very disturbing kids TV series. Anyone remember "The Tomorrow people" and "Marianne Dreams?" There was also this very strange sci- fi series called "The Changes" which really freaked me out. And I think " The Children of the stones" has also been mentioned ( shudder) The adult TV shows were shockingly inappropriate by today's standards. Racist, sexist, misogynistic nonsense that was just accepted in those days.

Having said all this I had a very happy and carefree childhood. I think we were expected to be more independent earlier and were under far less pressure than young people today.

That sounds hard Lepetitpiggy

Thanks Acornsgalore It wasn't a huge amount of fun, but I still have reasonable memories of playing outside and doing child type things too! I think the biggest advance we have had in the past 50 odd years is medical. What I had done would never be done now and the very fact that parents stay with their children for as much as they can is amazing.

The 70s matched my teens exactly:
No flights, foreign holidays were very rare;
No Internet or mobile phones, one land-line in the house, occasionally locked,
Fewer cars, walked or biked or bus to school. NO school run,
Mothers at home. Dad worked, mum looked after the house or worked part time.,
Some brilliant music - David Bowie, Roxy etc.

It all seemed purer and more innocent.

Sorry to hear about the experiences of the Asian poster above - working class communities then were basically white, and many had never encountered someone from a different culture. Immigration also became a feature from the early 70s onwards.

I remember it as a great time to be a child. We could stay out, running around until 9pm in the summer and 7pm on a winter school night. I can't imagine my mum or dad ever challenging the school the way many parents do nowadays. Teachers were highly respected. My mum didn't believe in credit, so always saved up for things. We amused ourselves at weekends and joined groups, such as the Brownies, Scouts, church youth groups, boxing clubs etc because we wanted to. We'd walk there and back, or another parent would give us a lift. Definitely no such thing as a snack. It was school dinner and meat or fish with potatoes and veg at home.
Life felt safe and we were self-sufficient and got used to making our own decisions. No social media or screen time nonsense. No internet. Wonderful!

@WitchesSpelleas

One advantage to rotary dial phones was that you knew all your friends' and family's phone numbers off by heart. I can still remember many of them to this day.

They're useful things for passwords/PINs. As you've remembered them for 50 years, you'll probably keep remembering them

@Nandakanda it was only innocent and purer because you were an innocent child. Life is life. It sucked for some. It was great for others. For children in the 2020s it will be pure for some, and hellish for others. Sorry for the downer. Or upper maybe, depending on your stance!

But honestly, “life” really wasn’t more innocent, it was always moving, but yes, it was sweet to some kids hence the “pure” memories.

On that note, I’m always amused by the 1940s generation who claim life was safer, sweeter, etc when they were young. Erm, Blitzkrieg, nazis, and a world war, anyone? No, it was safe for them because their parents were looking out for them, arguably more community spirit, not themselves in the midst of fighting. They are thinking of their own happy memories. I get it. But not so for lots and lots of children in Europe or the big cities in the UK.

A lot of people's ideas if what the 70s were like depends on the age they were at the time. Most people (I know not all) felt safe as children and didn't involve themselves with the politics of the day whatever decade it was.

As an adult the 70s could be quite insecure - the 3 day week, shortages of petrol and certain foods for example. In my experience it was hard to find anywhere decent to rent and it was always cold.

Contraception began to be available although it was handed out my judgmental middle aged women and men in the workplace could grope you freely 'just having a laugh!'. Sexual freedom meant it was easier for men to coerce you into sex because you were meant to be uninhibited and if you weren't you were frigid.