Posted on 08/02/2025 8:59:42 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The 60s were when life burst into colour for many people after the drab 50s.
The music, the fashion and the newfound freedom, for some at least, made it a great decade in which to grow up.
Wartime austerity was finally coming to an end and more and more households were able to afford time-saving mod-cons.
But no era is perfect and the 60s certainly had their flaws.
Below are nine things you almost certainly don’t miss about the 1960s if you grew up then.
1. Waking up to ice on the inside of your windows
At the start of the 60s, only around 5% of homes in the UK had central heating, and that figure was still down at 30% by the end of the decade. Lots of people remember waking up to find frost on the inside of their windows.
2. Running out of coins for the TV
In the 1960s, many households rented their TV and they were coin operated, which meant that if you ran out of money you risked missing your favourite show that day. One person recalled how their grandparents had a slot TV and when someone came to collect the rent each month whatever was in the box would be taken out of what they owed.
3. Squeezing into a bubble car
The bubble car, as it was dubbed, was launched in the 1950s but remained a popular vehicle in the early 60s, even with the advent of the Mini. The BMW Isetta had a tiny engine, a top speed of just 53mph and painfully slow acceleration, with early models taking half a minute to reach just 30mph. But the fuel economy was great and it was like no other car, with a single door at the front, containing the steering wheel and instrument panel, swinging open for access. There was supposedly space for two adults and a small child, in the days before road safety was a thing, but as you can see that was a bit of a squash.
4. Sharing a party line
It may sound fun but the party line was a way of saving money by sharing a telephone line with other people. Only one person could use the line at a time so you often had to wait for the line to be free. You could also listen in to another person's call if you were nosy, which wasn't uncommon, it seems. The Kinks memorably sang about the experience in their classic song, Party Line, which includes the lyrics 'wish I had a more direct connection'.
5. 'Tracing paper' loo roll
If you went to school in the 60s, you'll likely recall how the loo roll was not at all kind to your bum. The shiny, rough, non-absorbent toilet paper used in many school toilets was the antiseptic Izal loo roll, which most pupils back then dreaded using. It was widely known by children of that generation as 'tracing paper' loo roll and the very mention of it is enough to send a shudder up the spine of those who remember using the stuff. One person called it a 'crime against humanity' and another said 'whoever invented it should be punished'.
6. Waiting for the launch of Radio Caroline
The 60s are widely recognised as the best decade for music, with the explosion of rock 'n' roll, and the arrival of great bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. But it took a while for DJs to give the public what they wanted, with Radio 2 reportedly rationing listeners to just three hours of rock 'n' roll a week in the early 60s as part of a rather traditional, conservative playlist. Thank heavens then for Radio Caroline, the pirate station which shook things up when it launched in 1964 - doing so from a ship off the British coast, to circumvent broadcasting laws. Such was the demand that within weeks of hitting the air it was reportedly attracting around 7 million listeners. Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker and Dave Lee Travis were among the big name DJs who started out aboard Radio Caroline before moving to the BBC.
7. Ghastly paisley shirts
The 1960s were a golden age for fashion, full of colourful, flamboyant design classics, from flared trousers to the mini-skirt. But the decade was not without sartorial sin - the popularity of paisley shirts being a case in point. Two of the biggest offenders, it seems, were the pop duo Sonny and Cher.
8. The smell of boiled cabbage
School dinners in the 60s were a stodgy affair, with potatoes and pastry featuring prominently. The smell of boiled cabbage hung heavy in the air, and most pupils dreaded seeing spam fritters on the menu again. Some desserts were more popular than others, with the skin on a wobbly blancmange, and 'frogspawn' tapioca pudding turning many children's stomachs.
9. Needing a degree to work out your change
It wasn't until 1971 that the UK switched to decimal currency, with people still paying in pounds, shillings and pence during the 60s. That meant children grew up knowing their 12 times table, with 12 pence to the shilling, but it could still be confusing when it came to calculating your change at the checkout. Of course, people were used to it back then, and when the switch came in the 70s many people found that even more confusing at first.
I don’t understand a single one of these things.
That’s because the article is about Scotland, not the USA!
I remember the icy windows, and I loved it. We had a coal furnace with no heat registers. Not only that, but we didn’t buy coal, we went to the docks where they unloaded, and picked up the leavings to save money.
In the 60’s, my dad remodeled, put on new siding, insulating behind. We kids and dad crawled under the house and installed vents for each room, and insulated it for the new electric furnace. Of course, there were no double pane windows, but it was fine. THEN, he covered the tile floors with wall to wall carpet.... NOW we were living. ... Then Mom wanted to move to a nicer neighborhood. Us kids were crushed, it was the only house we knew. I always missed that old house. The new one had three bedrooms and a rec room, and a garage. So the 6 kids could have our own room. Three boys in one room, two girls in another and big sister got her own. Then of course Mom and Dad in the Master.. The boys room was the Rec room... I don’t ever remember bitchin’ about crowding or being too cold.
My cheap ex-husband made sure we had a party line until 1991, in rural Ohio.
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> My folks still kvetch about the threat of nuclear annihilation… <
I almost forgot about that. I was in elementary school at the time. When the air raid siren went off (a drill), the lucky classes went to the air rain shelter in the basement. Everyone else had to duck under their desks.
By the luck of the draw, my class was assigned to the shelter. While there, I would think about the kids hiding under their old wooden desks. Poor bastards.
Any clothing made of polyester is a no-go for me. That stuff is horrible, no matter what the pattern is.
Back in olden times, my neighbor went to Russia for a conference (he was a scientist type), and I knew his kid. After they got back from Russia, the kid showed me a sample of the TP they had to use there. It must have been the same as the "tracing paper" mentioned in this article. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and he agreed that it was painful to use.
So, apparently it wasn't just England that had that problem.
Britain produced an entertaining short film to prepare people for the currency exchange.
They had toilet paper?! They must have been members of the Nomenklatura!.
Regular folks in Soviet Russia used old newspapers, cut into strips.
Regards,
The longer nights of winter must have gotten right cold.
Adams and Franklin shared a bed at one point in 1776, can’t remember which of the two bemoaned it but it must have been a habit borne of the need to keep warm.
Getting up for a little while in the dead of night in the middle of winter was also a common practice during colonial times. Stoke the fires, maybe write a letter under candlelight, then back to bed until the break of dawn.
Luxury.
We used to have to get up out of bed in the middle of the night and lick the road clean, with our tongues!
And mostly the TV fee is paying for the BBC, right? So the government can propagandize you.
The poor Brits, as a kid in the 60’s I never had to deal with any of that.
I never even heard of a coin operated TV. It’s really a good idea, if we had them CNN and most other garbage would not exist.
Our old farm house in Iowa had forced air from the basement going 2 floors up where us kids slept. Had 4-5 blankets on the bed in winter. Frost on the windows. The single thermostat was in the living room downstairs of course!
No AC for those hot summer days either! In the 70’s -80’s.
The paisley shirts and party lines are the only things I recognize from the US in the 60s.
Pretty much was.
I had no idea they lasted nearly that long!
Every once in a while I’ll come across a Youtube video of American Bandstand and its dance contests......Super corny today but it was popular back then.
Oh, the woman on our party line's the nosiest thingI rather like old British £sd, "pounds, shillings, and pence". You should be familiar with it if you read Sherlock Holmes or Dickens.
She picks up her receiver when she knows it's my ring
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