15 Outdated Habits From The Past That We Absolutely Could Not Do Today

Some of the most common habits we used to do back in the day wouldn't make sense if we tried to do them in 2024. So when asked: "What's one thing normal at your time but is now bizarre to even think about?" so many people from the BuzzFeed Community shared their stories. Here's what they had to say below.

1."Sears and Wards catalogs (and stores) to order or find anything, and looking forward to the Christmas Wish List catalogs."

2."My dad loved paper maps, and the Rand McNally Road Atlas of the US was one his favorite publications. He’d get an updated one every couple of years. Planning a road trip was a joy for him, and if one of us kids as young adults were going on a road trip, he’d get it out, and we’d pour over it with him to take the most advantageous route. He was in his happy place planning trips."

—emilypost

3."Sitting in the far back of the station wagon, facing the people behind you."

4."Manual roll up/down car windows. You would pull up next to someone and do the circular motion with your hands to get them to roll down their window to talk."

—homeycloud42

5."Looking in the TV Guide to find out what was on TV instead of a TV guide being on the screen."

6."No seat belts. Turning the television antenna. Operator to call long distance. Dressing up to go out to dinner or church. Party lines on telephones. Eight track tapes. Smoking and drinking while pregnant. Paper scoring cards for bowling. Ashtrays everywhere you went. Cigarette lighters in our car. Paper prices on merchandise."

–cheesyjaguar324

7."Full-service gas stations and the ding-ding that accompanied them. One lasted in my hometown until the '80s! The windshield was cleaned, the tires and oil checked, and topped off! Yessiree."

8."The employment ads were separate ads for male and female."

—cornyeagle754

9."Having air conditioning or power windows on your car was a luxury. I also remember when a new car on The Price Is Right with five numbers in its price was EXPENSIVE."

10."I remember getting the weather forecast for the day from the paper. Then, when it got more high-tech, there was a number to call to get the weather forecast for the day. I would forget my watch a lot and go for long periods without knowing what time it was, and in hindsight, that was remarkably charming and refreshing."

—helloiamplant

11."Not being able to watch movies or shows any time we wanted. You had to wait until the broadcast time and date. If you missed a regular season episode of your favorite show, you had to hope it came on during summer reruns. And movies that weren't in theaters anymore were, for the most part, only shown once a year. We used to wait for months to watch The Wizard of Oz each year!! And if you had to go to the bathroom, you tried to wait until a commercial break, then hurry so you wouldn't miss anything on your show/movie."

12."I spent my elementary school years in a Midwestern industrial town in the 1950s and 1960s. Walking five blocks to school in the morning, five blocks home for lunch, five blocks back to school, and five blocks home at the end of the day — alone or with other kids. No helicopter parenting."

—karens19

13."Our drugstore would have a sit-down lunch counter. We used to go in there and spin around on the bar stools and order root beer floats. I can still smell that drugstore. Also, daddy drove with hand signals out of the window even when we had modern cars. He would do both, and all of the kids would love it!"

14."Before I turned twelve, the movie price was 35 cents. After that it was 65 cents. It really cut into my candy money because my allowance didn’t go up.

—angrydaisy716

15."Answering machines with tape that you had to rewind."

Older people, tell us in the comments that were considered normal back in the day but is now considered bizarre to even think about?