15 Funny Things About The 1960s We All Remember
The 1960s brought us some of the wildest trends, gadgets, and habits that seem downright hilarious today. From groovy gadgets to bizarre food fads, this decade had it all.
If you grew up in the Sixties or heard stories from parents who did, these memories will make you grin and maybe shake your head a little.
1. Rabbit-Ear TV Antennas
Remember when watching TV meant standing up every five minutes to adjust those metal rods? Rabbit-ear antennas turned everyone into amateur engineers.
You’d twist, turn, and balance them just right to catch a signal. Sometimes wrapping aluminum foil around them actually worked, which felt like pure magic.
Watching cartoons became a family workout routine!
2. Milk Delivered To Your Doorstep
Before grocery stores ruled our lives, the milkman was basically a superhero who arrived at dawn. Fresh bottles of milk appeared like magic on your porch every morning.
Kids would race to grab them before school. Those glass bottles clinked together in their metal carriers, making the most satisfying sound ever.
Simple times, cold milk!
3. Jell-O Molds Everywhere
Why did people think wiggling gelatin with vegetables inside was fancy? The Sixties took Jell-O to bizarre heights, mixing it with everything from carrots to tuna.
Moms spent hours perfecting these jiggly masterpieces for dinner parties. Guests would stare at lime Jell-O with cottage cheese, pretending it was delicious.
Honestly, some things should stay forgotten!
4. Banana-Seat Bikes With Sissy Bars
If your bike didn’t have a banana seat and a sky-high sissy bar, were you even cool? These bikes were the ultimate ride for neighborhood adventures.
That long, cushioned seat let you carry a friend behind you. The sissy bar doubled as a backrest and a handle for epic wheelies that impressed everyone.
Pure childhood freedom!
5. S&H Green Stamps
Shopping came with a bonus game back then. Cashiers handed you little green stamps based on how much you spent, and you’d stick them in booklets at home.
Families saved for months to redeem them for toasters, lamps, or toys. Licking those stamps was gross but totally worth it for the prizes. Retail loyalty before apps!
6. Rotary Dial Phones
Dialing a phone number was an actual workout for your finger. Each number required you to spin the dial all the way around and wait for it to return.
Calling someone with lots of nines or zeros in their number? Plan to spend a solid minute just dialing. Wrong numbers meant starting the whole exhausting process over again.
Patience was mandatory!
7. Drive-In Movie Theaters
Watching movies from your car felt like the height of luxury and fun. Families would pile into the station wagon, park facing the giant screen, and hang a tinny speaker on the window.
Kids played on swings near the concession stand before showtime. The sound quality was terrible, but nobody cared because the whole experience was magical.
8. Record Players And 45 RPM Adapters
Those little plastic adapters were essential if you wanted to play seven-inch singles. Without them, your 45s wouldn’t fit on the record player spindle.
You’d carefully place one in the center hole of your favorite Beatles or Beach Boys single. Watching the record spin while music filled the room never got old, even if you had to flip it every three minutes.
9. Tupperware Parties
Moms treated Tupperware parties like major social events. A neighbor would host, and ladies would gather to see plastic containers burped to preserve freshness.
The demonstrator would drop containers from heights or seal them underwater to prove their durability. Everyone went home with bowls in avocado green and harvest gold, feeling like they’d witnessed kitchen innovation.
Revolutionary plastic!
10. Lava Lamps
Nothing said groovy quite like watching blobs of wax float up and down in a lamp. Lava lamps were mesmerizing, hypnotic, and absolutely everywhere in the Sixties.
You could stare at one for hours while listening to music. The warm light and slow-moving shapes created the perfect vibe for any room, even if they took forever to heat up.
Psychedelic decor magic!
11. TV Sign-Offs And Test Patterns
Television didn’t run all night back then. Stations would play the national anthem, sign off, and then display those weird color bars until morning.
If you stayed up too late, you’d be stuck watching a test pattern and hearing a high-pitched tone. No late-night cartoons or infomercials existed to keep you company during insomnia.
Bedtime was mandatory!
12. View-Master Click Adventures
Before virtual reality, we had View-Masters. You’d slide in a circular reel, hold the viewer up to your eyes, and click through stunning 3D images of faraway places.
Each click revealed a new scene from the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, or cartoon stories. The images popped out so realistically that you felt like you were actually there exploring.
Original VR experience!
13. Paper Road Maps The Size Of Bedsheets
Road trips required serious map-reading skills. Dads would unfold massive paper maps that covered the entire dashboard and half the windshield.
Moms navigated while kids argued in the backseat. Folding the map back correctly was basically impossible, so it usually ended up as a crumpled mess in the glove compartment for the rest of the trip.
GPS would’ve helped!
14. Fondue Night
Fondue transformed dinner into an interactive event. Families gathered around a pot of melted cheese, spearing bread cubes on long forks and dipping them in gooey goodness.
Chocolate fondue came later for dessert, with strawberries and marshmallows. Dropping your bread in the pot was the ultimate dinner party crime that sparked lots of laughter and teasing.
Cheesy fun times!
15. Door-To-Door Encyclopedia Salesmen
Knowledge came in heavy book sets that salesmen hauled door-to-door. Parents would invest in encyclopedia collections, believing they’d guarantee their kids’ academic success.
Those volumes sat on shelves looking impressive, though most kids only cracked them open for school reports. The books smelled like possibility and felt official, even if half the information was already outdated.
Pre-internet research!
