- 4 months ago
Remember when smoking indoors was normal and kids played with dangerous toys? Join us as we take a nostalgic yet critical look at the weirdest, darkest, and quirkiest things from the 1970s that (thankfully) won't be making a comeback! Our countdown includes practices and trends that would shock today's generation.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the weirdest, darkest, and quirkiest things from the 1970s that are unlikely to stage a comeback.
00:14And there was no evidence to suggest that lead posed any threat to the consumer.
00:19Number 10, Disco Clubs
00:22Yeah, nightclubs are definitely still a thing, but we're not talking about nightclubs, we're talking about disco clubs.
00:32In the 70s, these were the cultural epicenter of music, glamour, liberation, mirror balls, and platform shoes.
00:39And yes, there was also a seedy underbelly. Disco biscuits, anyone?
00:43I was wearing lingerie and heels, and I could go to the dance floor, and I could dance with everybody. I'd float on the dance floor and dance with. They were all my friends.
00:55But disco faced a huge cultural backlash in the late 70s and early 80s, and new genres like new wave and eventually hip-hop started taking over.
01:03And while disco has been resurfacing in various forms, it's more a curated pastiche, or the subject of a theme night, not a living subculture like it was in the 70s.
01:12The Night Fever? We don't know how to do it.
01:21Number 9, Adult Movies in Theaters
01:24You gotta be kidding.
01:25What?
01:26This is a dirty movie.
01:28No, no, this is a movie that a lot of couples come to. All kinds of couples go here.
01:35You sure about that?
01:37Yeah.
01:38Just walking down the street and seeing a poster for an adult movie in your local theater marquee. Well, that actually was a thing in the 70s.
01:45To some extent, big cities were packed with grindhouse and adult theaters that showed explicit films throughout the day.
01:51And these weren't exactly tucked away where kids wouldn't see them. These were in Times Square.
01:56Where are you going?
01:57Half late now.
01:58Why?
01:59I don't know why I came in here. I don't like these movies.
02:02Well, I mean, I, you know, I didn't know that you'd feel that way about this movie. I don't know much about movies, but if I-
02:07You feel like what a movie should go to?
02:09Adult content even had a brief flirtation with mainstream respectability.
02:13Movies like The Devil and Miss Jones and Behind the Green Door were released in regular theaters, became huge cultural phenomena, and were reviewed by professional critics.
02:21But VCRs and the internet killed this. And needless to say, it probably won't be happening again anytime soon.
02:28This is the future. Video tape tells the truth.
02:31Number 8. Questionable Toys.
02:33I want an official red art or carbon action.
02:35Do you want your wings while air?
02:36Ooh.
02:38No.
02:39Shoot your eye out.
02:40Oh, no.
02:41The 1970s were a wild time for toys. Creative, often unregulated, and sometimes shockingly dangerous.
02:48You've got your clackers, which often shattered violently and sent shrapnel into kids' faces.
02:52Lawn darts had the power to pierce skulls. Chemistry sets often came with real chemicals like sulfur and ammonium nitrate.
02:59Easy-bake ovens and thing-makers scalded their users and gave them permanent skin grafts.
03:04BB guns were often given as gifts, and you better believe the young boys shot each other with them.
03:09No, no, I want an officer red art or carbon action. Do you want to get ready by the laser rifle?
03:15You'll shoot your eye out, kid.
03:17Merry Christmas.
03:20Ho, ho, ho.
03:23No!
03:25Heck, even playgrounds were often Final Destination death traps, with loose screws, rusty nails, and those old sheet metal slides that reach temperatures unknown to science.
03:34And all I can think of while I'm sitting there is that I'm paying a babysitter three dollars and a quarter an hour to listen to his problems.
03:42Right.
03:43Daddy! Daddy, look!
03:44Billy, take that out of your hand.
03:46I'll get him.
03:47You know, Charlie isn't what you call generous with a box.
03:50Billy!
03:51Billy!
03:52Billy!
03:53Billy!
03:54Billy!
03:55Number 7.
03:56Wandering Kids
03:57Alright, Michael, out of the boat!
04:00I'm tired of the deadies, sitting in the boat.
04:03How could Michael?
04:04Get out of that boat!
04:06Hi, Dad!
04:07Just a little longer!
04:08It's not to say that kids don't play outside anymore, but it's really not the same.
04:12Back then, the idea of free-range kids wasn't even a concept.
04:16It was just normal life.
04:17Kids left the house in the morning, and didn't return until dinner.
04:20And God knows what they got up to in that time.
04:22I want you to get out into the fresh air and make some friends.
04:27Run around, scrape your knees, get dirty, climb trees, hop fences, get into trouble for crying out loud.
04:35Not too much, but some.
04:37Parks, the woods, restaurants, the movies, the world was their oyster.
04:42And of course, there were no cell phones.
04:44So parents just had to trust that they were alright, and that they'd be home for dinner.
04:48But technology, media-driven fear, and changing parental styles have effectively killed this untamed sense of freedom.
04:54We'll go back to it when a solar flare wipes out our technology.
04:57But until then...
04:58Where are they?
04:59Oh my gosh, I can hardly keep track these days.
05:01Uh, they were at Dustin's and Lucas's and Max's.
05:06Max.
05:07Do you know how it is? Summer!
05:09Probably getting into some kind of trouble.
05:11Number six.
05:12No seatbelts.
05:13Hop in there.
05:14Seatbelts!
05:15Seatbelts, alright.
05:16Seatbelts, don't forget your seatbelts.
05:19It really is amazing that we survived the 70s as a species.
05:23The kids were shooting themselves with BB guns, and the adults were driving around without seatbelts.
05:28While seatbelts were required to be installed in new cars, people often chose not to wear them, with usage rates hovering around just 15%.
05:35Yeah, he's great. I can't seem to find my seatbelt.
05:38You don't need a seatbelt.
05:40I don't need a seatbelt.
05:42The reasons were many. Some thought they were uncomfortable. Others thought they were unnecessary.
05:46And believe it or not, it was not a legal requirement to wear one. It was really just a suggestion.
05:50In fact, the first mandatory state seatbelt law wasn't passed in the US until 1984.
05:56As such, fatality rates were about two to four times higher per mile driven in the 1970s compared to today.
06:02You might want to buckle up, you know, for safety.
06:05I can tell already you are going to get on my nerves.
06:09Number 5. Corporal Punishment
06:11Wipe that smirk off your face.
06:15If you think, Mr. Dalton, that you're the first to try to get thrown out of this school, think again.
06:19Others have had similar notions and have failed just as surely as you will fail.
06:23Assume the position.
06:25Something tells us that smacking kids with giant pieces of wood is not coming back in style anytime soon.
06:30In the 1970s, corporal punishment was both legal and commonly practiced, with methods varying from giant wooden paddles, to canes, to leather straps.
06:39If a kid was misbehaving in school, they weren't put on a time out or whatever.
06:43They were whipped across the hands by a thick piece of leather.
06:45Public support of this was fairly high at the time and many parents expected schools to discipline their children this way.
07:01However, the practice became increasingly controversial throughout the 80s and 90s, as we began questioning if maybe whipping kids with a cane wasn't the best approach to problem solving.
07:13Don't worry about me because I'm a hard ass, and if a kid gets out of line, I got no problem smacking him in the head.
07:18No, no, no. We don't use corporal punishment here.
07:22Number 4. The Colors.
07:24Watch it, Eric. Hot pizza rolls. Coming through. Hot, hot.
07:27Kitty, where are you?
07:29Okay, take two. There's plenty. There's plenty coming. Is everybody good?
07:33I know, I know. Vienna sausages are so versatile.
07:36Never say never, we suppose.
07:38But something tells us that the interior decoration of the 1970s is staying firmly in the 1970s.
07:43This was a visually interesting decade.
07:46The 70s are widely known for their earthy and intense tones.
07:50Avocado green, dirty yellow, burnt orange, and brown.
07:53Brown everywhere, as far as the eye can see.
07:56Yeah, Jessie did that oil painting as well, and Muck is still installing the stereo.
08:01And that's a beanbag. Yeah, and that lamp. Those are real sterling silver.
08:05Yeah, they have a very modern feel, too.
08:07These colors aren't just ugly, but they also had an impeccable way of making a room feel dark, claustrophobic, and intense.
08:14Talk about visual overload. Some of these colors are coming back in style, albeit with a modern and balanced restraint.
08:20One look at a 70s room, and you could just smell the smoke that has seeped into the walls.
08:27Hello? Hello?
08:32Is Alana there? Yeah, who's this?
08:37Lance.
08:39We used to add tetraethyl lead to regular gasoline, and this improved engine performance in vehicles.
08:50It was introduced in 1923, and was the dominant form of fuel by the 1970s.
08:54But as it entered the atmosphere through exhaust pipes, it caused all sorts of horrible problems.
08:59Neurological damage in children, heart problems, reproductive issues, environmental effects, you name it.
09:05When you ship your tetraethyl lead from the factory, before you add it to the gasoline, it's handled just like a chemical weapon.
09:12There's a reason for that.
09:14Where do you suppose all that lead goes after it leaves the tailpipe?
09:18Think about what it might be doing to us and our kids.
09:22In fact, many experts attribute the crime wave of the 1970s to leaded gasoline,
09:27arguing that widespread lead exposure resulted in lower impulse control and increased aggression.
09:32Luckily, we eventually realized the error of our ways, and tetraethyl lead is now banned and considered one of the worst public health hazards of the 20th century.
09:40Tetraethyl lead was a common anti-knock additive in gasoline that went out with catalytic converters and unleaded gas.
09:46Does the flying dermatologist drive a vintage car?
09:48Maybe.
09:49Number two, carpets and bathrooms.
09:51Jared, I'm on a carpet in a bathroom.
09:54Yeah, okay, um, I know this isn't the best thing to say to someone having a panic attack, but we need to hurry here.
10:01The 1970s was a very weird time in human history, a time when we all looked at our bathrooms and thought,
10:07you know what? You know what would be great in here? A shag carpet.
10:10Comfort and warmth was the name of the game in the 1970s, so that meant getting rid of those cold, white tile floors,
10:16and installing a long, difficult-to-clean avocado green shag carpet.
10:21Hey guys, this is Evelyn. She's the one with that bathroom carpet I've been peeing on I told you about.
10:25This wasn't just cool, it was a luxury, as wall-to-wall carpeting was considered the peak of modernity in the 60s and 70s.
10:32Yes, the carpet often stank to high heaven. Yes, it got all moldy as it collected moisture. Yes, it probably held little pockets of uncleaned pee.
10:40No, we have no idea what they were thinking.
10:42Did I urinate on your rug?
10:44You mean, did you personally come and pee on my rug?
10:47Hello! Do you speak English, sir?
10:49Parla Usted Inglés? I'll ask you again. Did I urinate on your rug?
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11:09Number one, smoking everywhere.
11:12But you have to realize that through manipulation of the mass media, the public is under the impression that your cigarettes are linked to certain fatal diseases.
11:22If there's something we often take for granted in the 21st century, it's the lack of lingering cigarette smoke.
11:28This stuff was, quite literally, everywhere in the 1970s.
11:32There wasn't a building or a structure you couldn't smoke in.
11:35Restaurants, airplanes, offices, buses, even hospitals.
11:39Pregnant women smoked.
11:41Parents chain-smoked with their kids in the house.
11:43Even worse, they chain-smoked in the car, and often with the windows rolled up.
11:47You know, it's proven that secondhand smoke is a carcinid cancer agent.
11:52So, even if you made a conscious decision not to smoke, there was still no getting away from it.
11:57You were going to smell.
11:58You were going to have a hard time breathing.
12:00You were going to inhale that secondhand smoke, and possibly get cancer.
12:04Weren't the 70s wonderful?
12:05When's the last time you had a chest x-ray?
12:11You know about secondary smoke?
12:13You could give people lung cancer who are innocent to try to live healthy lives.
12:18Why don't you just go back to sleep?
12:20Leave me alone.
12:21Do you think these are dead, or will they stage a comeback someday?
12:24Let us know in the comments below.
12:26Hey, you got any cigarettes?
12:29You know that I've never played viaje?
12:30Are you expecting them to survive?
12:31Well, I haven't.
12:33I got anØ kenny hole.
12:34You know that I have done these bad things.
12:39I can see how they take the job off.
12:42We used to get ready to get good things.
12:45We had fun eating them.
12:48Now, I've used to get ready and it's fun to see.
12:50We turned into this problem.
12:52There's no scaling.
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