Simpler times.

[Squirlz]

In the '70s, I lived in a rural neighborhood a couple miles outside a small town. Us kids would ride our bicycles and dirt bikes all over with our rifles and shotguns slung over our shoulders. Guns our parents gave us.

When I went off to college 90 miles away I would hitch hike home for weekends. Sunday afternoon my Dad would drive me out to the highway so I could hitch back.

What did you do back in the day that people wouldn't dream of doing now?

 

[Art 1]

In the '70s, I lived in a rural neighborhood a couple miles outside a small town. Us kids would ride our bicycles and dirt bikes all over with our rifles and shotguns slung over our shoulders. Guns our parents gave us.

When I went off to college 90 miles away I would hitch hike home for weekends. Sunday afternoon my Dad would drive me out to the highway so I could hitch back.

What did you do back in the day that people wouldn't dream of doing now?

Did the same as you, rode our bikes miles away from home, no helmets either. Didn't have them then.

Used to walk down the township roads with shot guns and and .223's and the cops would wave out us.

Ate peanuts too, never knew someone with allergies.

Slept out pretty much the whole summer.

Used to come home every evening filthy dirty too. Played on play ground equipment. Picked teams, guys who were not as good athletically were picked last. Thank God I'm not growing up now. Were raising a bunch of weak sissy boys now.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Art 1 why do you change your avatar all the time ? Are you trying to find yourself you don't have to answer of course just wondering


To answer the question : for me I was a kid of the 1960's we lived outside sun up to sun down Out to play after school Came in only when we got yelled at to come home for dinner ..missed many of those Locked doors were unheard of, day and night

 

[ols386]

I lived in a small town, and we rode our bikes all over the place. One time I almost got hit by a car. Scared the poor woman who was driving the car, to death.

We would leave on our bikes and be gone for hours.

Also went swimming in the local park. It wasn't an in-ground pool, it was a river. We were always told to stay on the shallow side, but of course, we always went directly to the deep side of the swimming area.

We didn't have any guns. My parents would have never given me a gun. I'd probably shoot myself in the foot with it, LOL

Walked 5 blocks back and forth to school everyday too. Even during the dead of winter.

I took a beating too. Got hit in the head with a baseball bat more than once, and was bitten several times by this neighborhood girl.

Things were a lot different back then, but we had a blast!

 

[powellrj]

Saw this on facebook today!

http://widelawns.blogspot.com/2014/03/if-70s-moms-had-blogs.html

 

[Patch'sD]

Played from morning to the six O'Clock Whistle, After dinner headed out for a few more hours. No prearragned play dates. You made your own fun either in the local garbage dump, Sand Piles, or anything else. Acted out favorite TV Shows like Combat, Voyage to the Bottom of the sea, Star Trek, and man from Uncle. Took bikes everywhere to the beach, park, shopping mall, school. Of course a little harmless pranks like knocking on Doors, Lit bags of Dog Poo, and Telephone pranks helped pass the time.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Lived in a city and we rode bikes and walked everywhere. We also took buses from a fairly young age (by today's standards). We left the house after breakfast, stopped in for lunch and stayed out til dark. At family gatherings, in the country, we were taught to handle guns. At camps we would swim without adults when were 11. We often would go to the bulkhead and jump in. We walked trestle bridges with missing boards. I hitchhiked a few times and can't imagine that I did that. We had family and friends all over the neighborhood who would call our parents if we did anything wrong. This was the 70's also.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I think we are breeding the creativity and risk taking out of kids. There will be no more great inventions or young people who quit school, live in a car or garage and start a business.

 

[drinkme]

Saw this on facebook today!

http://widelawns.blogspot.com/2014/03/if-70s-moms-had-blogs.html

Love it!

 

[lizabu]

I once spent an entire summer digging a huge hole in the backyard. At the end of the summer if filled it in. No reason.

 

[anniemae]

I remember riding in the car with no seat belts. We were on the floor of the back seat or in the way back of the station wagon.

 

[sam_gordon]

To quote a famous songwriter...

"The good ole' days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."

 

[tink20]

I was born in 1972. We lived in a rural area on 15 acres. We had a small farm.

We were made to play outside most of the time. We rode bikes all the time. We would ride down to this creek (called the Medina hole) and swim. You couldn't pay me to dip my toe in that place now LOL, and I would never let my kids go swim in a creek.

We played in the woods, built forts and rode our horses. We had a garden and my 3 siblings and I had to work in it (pick veg., shuck corn....fun) We also had to help take care of the animals.

But seriously, I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything, we had a lot of fun using our imaginations.

 

[denisem]

I remember riding in the car with no seat belts. We were on the floor of the back seat or in the way back of the station wagon.

Ah, you just reminded me of all my cousins and I riding in the back of Grandpa's old red pickup!

I came of age in the early/mid 60's and yeah, "disappearing" alllll day playing outside, bike races, building "forts" and that stuff was the "norm". Most of my family were farmers in one form or another, so I was driving full sized tractors at around age 10-11. No real guns in the family, but I used to shoot old TV/radio tubes off the side of my playhouse with my big brothers' bb guns.

Do you see a trend that I didn't play much with my Barbie?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Ride ponies, mules, horses, and dirt bikes all over the county.

Keep a shotgun in the car in the school parking lot, pocket knife in my pocket - most kids had one in a sheath on their belt.

Ride bikes without helmets, travel hundreds of miles as a "passenger" in the back of a pickup truck.

 

[Robinrs]

I can NOW go to sleep with no noise outside.

I can let my son (when he was younger) go out when he wanted to

I can speak to people who I don't know and they'll smile and wave

I can afford a house!

NONE of these things I was able to do as a child in the city. I left so my family could have those kinds of memories, not of the ones I had.

The old times weren't simpler for everyone.

 

[Colleen27]

My husband and I get to talking about this from time to time. When I was my son's age, I was working at a popular concert venue an hour from my house, frequently getting home after midnight, and having a blast drag racing and doing donuts with my co-workers in the gravel parking lots at the end of the night when the place was empty. We haven't even given DS16 the green light for driver's ed yet!

I love the town we live in largely because the kids are able to have a pretty old-fashioned childhood in a lot of ways. Everyone walks to school. Airsoft wars in the woods, complete with makeshift bunkers and forts, are a common pastime for tween and teen boys. The kids bike all over town and swim in the river. In the summer they camp in the backyard and roast marshmallows, then learn the hard way about sneaking off to the all-night gas station for a slushie and a slice when they get brought home by the cops (not ticketed or arrested) for breaking curfew. But there are still things we did, like driving at 16 with no restrictions at all, that we're not comfortable allowing.

 

[Sabeking]

Like everyone else...rode our bikes everywhere !! My mom had a bell outside the house she would ring when it was dinner time. You literally could hear it several streets over. After Mass on Sunday my dad would give us each a quarter for some candy. We would ride our bikes about a mile to 7eleven to get our treats.

My favorite memory as a teenager...my dad bought me an old 1970 Mustang. It was maybe a couple thousand dollars. He and I worked on that car for probably 8 months restoring it. Body putty, sanding, painting, etc....(yes, I'm a girl.) he made me change the oil, change a flat, replace the alternator. My four brothers also restored Mustangs with my dad. I learned so much and cherish every moment with my father.

 

[sms]

Rode bicycles to school and to McDonalds to get a 52 cent sundae and didn't have to lock bikes up. It was cool to have the plastic coated chains on the bikes though! We use to go around barefoot ALL the time. Even when we went to the store (maybe that's a southern thing?). Played "Charlie' Angels" with my two friends I grew up with. Rode bikes, roller skated and walked all over the neighborhood. Turned the sprinklers on and ran through them getting pieces of grass all over us. We played hopscotch, Simon Says, Mother May I, Red light Green light, and kickball til dark. We had Charlie Chip cookies and drank kool-aid out of tupperware cups. Great memories!!

 

[DawnM]

We were given free reign. We built forts and explored caves in the wild. We played "sardines" (like hide and go seek) in an area known for snakes, crocs, and poisonous spiders. (I grew up in Sub-saharan Africa.)

It is amazing more things didn't happen.