By ali4050284 
Growing up in the 50s 60s 70s 80s, you lived through a world that today’s children would barely recognise. There was one television for the whole house, the phone hung on the wall, and “going out to play” meant disappearing until the streetlights came on. These twenty snapshots capture the funny, warm and wonderfully strange moments of those four decades — see how many you remember.
The 1950s: One TV, Strict Rules, and Home-Cooked Everything
Life in the fifties moved at a gentler pace. Most girls were raised to run a home: cooking, sewing, cleaning and looking after younger brothers and sisters were lessons learned early, at their mother’s side. School meant neat uniforms, polished shoes and manners drilled in daily. Evenings belonged to the family — one television in the corner, the radio humming, and long conversations around the table instead of screens in every hand.
The 1960s: Music, Freedom, and Big Questions
The sixties shook everything up. Young women began asking for more — more education, more choice, more say in their own lives. Music poured out of every radio, fashion got bolder, and the news from around the world arrived faster than ever before. For the first time, many girls started to imagine a future that looked different from their mothers’ — and they were not shy about saying so.
The 1970s: Women Step Out
By the seventies, women were heading to college and into workplaces in far greater numbers. Life became a juggling act: a job, a home, children, and a budget — all managed at once, usually with very little help. It was not easy, but it made a generation of women tougher, sharper and more capable than anyone had given them credit for.
The 1980s: Faster Life, New Machines
The eighties turned the speed up again. New gadgets appeared at work and at home, offices filled with computers, and keeping up meant constantly learning something new. Family life stayed just as busy — full-time work on top of full-time housekeeping — but the decade had a colour and energy all of its own.
Growing Up in the 50s 60s 70s 80s: 20 Moments Every Child of Those Decades Will Recognise
1. The whole family squeezed onto one sofa, watching the single television set — and arguing over which channel to pick.
2. The rotary phone in the hallway, and the long wait while someone slowly dialled each number.
3. Letters that took days to arrive, and the excitement of finding one with your name on it.
4. Playing outside from morning until the streetlights flickered on — that was the signal to come home.
5. The milkman leaving bottles on the doorstep before anyone was awake.
6. School dress codes so strict that a skirt an inch too short earned a trip to the headteacher.
7. Sunday roasts that took all morning to cook and ten minutes to disappear.
8. Vinyl records stacked beside the record player, and the crackle before the first song.
9. Family photographs kept in a shoebox, half of them slightly out of focus.
10. The first colour television on the street — and neighbours dropping by just to stare at it.
11. Hair rollers at bedtime and beehives that could survive a strong wind.
12. Riding bikes everywhere with no helmet, no lights, and no worries.
13. A handful of coins buying a whole paper bag of sweets from the corner shop.
14. Handwritten letters, crossed out and rewritten, because there was no delete key.
15. Cassette tapes recorded off the radio, complete with the DJ talking over the intro.
16. The boombox carried on one shoulder, loud enough for the whole street.
17. The first video games — simple, blocky, and impossible to put down.
18. Legwarmers, shoulder pads and hair so big it needed its own postcode.
19. Stretching the landline cord around the corner for a “private” conversation everyone could still hear.
20. Family dinners where nobody had a phone at the table — because nobody had a phone at all.
Why We Still Smile at Those Days
People who grew up in those decades learned patience the hard way: waiting for the post, waiting for a phone call, waiting for the film to come back from the shop. They mended things instead of throwing them away, saved what they could, and spent their evenings talking face to face. The world has moved on, but the memories have not faded — and for many, those simple, funny, everyday moments are still the best ones of all.
If these images made you smile, share them with someone who lived through those years. Chances are, they will have a story of their own to add.