How many of these behaviors do you exhibit?
Dietary knowledge was quite limited in the 1960s. People would generally ate as much sugar as they wanted.
In the early 1960s, comic books were still popular (as they had been throughout the 1950s), although they began to drop off in popularity in the later years of the decade.
Corporal punishment in schools was acceptable. Striking a misbehaving child’s knuckles with a ruler was common, for instance.
Seat belts and car safety weren’t thought about all too much in the '60s.
Unless you were listening to the radio, the only way to hear music, for most people, was on a record player.
In fact, in most countries around the world, drinking and driving at the time was generally acceptable. People would have to be pretty unlucky (or extremely hammered) to get in trouble with the law for drinking and driving.
Rotary phones were on the way out, and touch-tone telephones were coming in during the early 1960s.
Black and white televisions with limited programs were how people would watch their favorite shows.
The contraceptive pill for women became available in 1962, and within three years millions of women were taking it in the US.
Rock and roll music really came to life in the 1960s with bands like Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
It was widespread throughout the early and mid-1960s to have milk brought to your door every day by the milkman, before it became easier and cheaper to get it from the grocery store.
Long hair was trendy for men throughout the 1960s.
The dangers of lead poisoning were also unknown, so virtually everybody was exposed to dangerous lead levels in their water.
Although TV dinners in a box are still available today, they were eaten more during the 1960s because people didn’t know much about nutritional science.
Sources: (Psychology Today)
See also: Iconic toys that defined the ‘80s
Health clubs were becoming popular in the 1960s.
In general, sunscreen was not used. People didn’t know about the dangers of exposing their skin to UV rays for extended periods.
Psychology Today reported that people were considered to have something wrong with them if they didn’t want to get married at this time.
It wasn’t until the 1970s that airport security became really became a serious concept after some high-profile hijackings. In the 1960s, you could carry more or less anything that you wanted with you on a plane. Metal detectors weren’t used, and bags weren’t searched regularly.
Childproofing products and homes, unfortunately, wasn't really a done thing.
People rode bicycles without helmets recreationally and in many cycling competitions.
Beach parties were big in California in the 1960s.
It was just becoming acceptable that women would work rather than stay at home, so children were often left to fend for themselves when both parents would be at work all day.
Asbestos was commonly used to insulate homes. People would be exposed to the cancer-causing material on a day-to-day basis in a lot of cases. Pictured is a production worker with a slab of asbestos material.
Large music festivals were essentially born in the 1960s. Before that, music events were smaller and didn’t require significant policing, control, or planning.
Surfing was becoming more and more popular throughout the 1960s.
There was so little known about the dangers of smoking that people smoked everywhere. An airplane cabin could be filled with smokers, even with small children on board.
This was acceptable in schools because, of course, it was a common means of disciplining children at home too.
Many pregnant women smoked and drank in the '60s.
Indeed, smoking was well advertised, and was even encouraged by doctors.
The 1960s were one of the most exciting times to be alive. Things were changing. Social movements and popular culture pushed things forward, but many normalized behaviors in the 1960s in Western culture would be detested, illegal, or at least sneered at today.
Click through the following gallery to discover the many unfavorable realities that everyday people accepted in the 1960s.
What normal life was like in the 1960s
A dangerous but exciting time to be alive!
LIFESTYLE Then and now
The 1960s were one of the most exciting times to be alive. Things were changing. Social movements and popular culture pushed things forward, but many normalized behaviors in the 1960s in Western culture would be detested, illegal, or at least sneered at today.
Click through the following gallery to discover the many unfavorable realities that everyday people accepted in the 1960s.