What would you find in a house of the 60s or 70s. Mine are shag carpets, crochet dolls to cover TP

[debm55]

Last edited Wed Oct 4, 2023, 10:50 PM - Edit history (4)

And that awful clear plastic that people put on furniture. Slip on sofa covering?

[EYESORE 9001]

1. Diabolical dust and dirt devils

I abhor shag carpet

[debm55]

3. Me too

[livetohike]

2. A fondue pot and utensils. N/t

[debm55]

4. I still have one.

[livetohike]

10. Me too. I haven't used it in a really long time though. I

think we received it as a wedding gift in 1975.

[Mr.Bill]

79. Garrett Morris skit from SNL.

Audio only:

[debm55]

81. funny

[livetohike]

85. I think I remember this. Haven't heard it in a long time.

Thanks for posting it .

[Mr.Bill]

87. Morris was very funny and

did a lot of good characters on SNL. Very under-rated, IMHO.

[liberal N proud]

5. Avocado appliances

Vaulted ceilings

[debm55]

9. HAHAHAH. Yes, they were the rage.

[regnaD kciN]

26. Or "Harvest Gold"...

“Princess” phones. If you were really advanced, they would have pushbuttons instead of a rotary dial.

[malthaussen]

115. The early push-button phones lacked the * and # keys...

... they just had the numbers from 0-9.

-- Mal

[malthaussen]

116. About those appliance colors...

... the makers of large appliances used to coordinate every "season" with one another and the companies that created wallpaper, paint, rugs, etc, to make sure that the latest season's offerings all matched harmoniously. At first, it was hoped that the appliance colors would change often, providing some built-in planned obsolescence. But as it turned out, people didn't go for buying a new refrigerator every three years like they did for cars.

Anyway, the companies did focus-group their color decisions, and for decades (literally), the colors that won out were the three we are familiar with from the era: Avocado, Harvest Gold, and "Country Copper," which was really just a glossy brown. Appliances were literally made in no other colors (except white, which remained available for those who didn't want to "personalize" their decor).

-- Mal

[debm55]

118. Thank you for that information. It was very helpful.

[sarge43]

129. Also Pumpkin and Turquoise n/t

[malthaussen]

139. Phones, yeah, but not major appliances...

... at least, I never saw any.

People liked to combine Pumpkin and Country Copper, or Harvest Gold, but it would clash with Avocado.

-- Mal

[The Unmitigated Gall]

6. A living room pit.

Carpeted in shag. Lots of macrame throw pillows.

[debm55]

14. And the macrame owls and flower pot hangers.

[KT2000]

7. I thought

you were going to say "what do you find in shag carpets?" An apartment I rented had a 3 pronged fishing hook embedded in the carpet that I never knew about until I ran over it in bare feet and it ripped the skin off my foot. Do not like shag carpets.

[MANative]

8. There was a bright red shag carpet in the room that is now my WFH office

When we moved in 23 years ago, it was the VERY FIRST thing to go! OMG, that thing was hideous!

[DURHAM D]

11. Olive Green and Harvest Gold appliances.

Turquoise bathtubs.

Manual garage door openers.

No garden accent lighting.

[debm55]

16. We had the Harvest Gold appliances, my aunt had the olive green.

[DURHAM D]

17. We had green.

btw - No Microwave

[debm55]

27. true. And I don't remember any whole house air conditioner. Window fans.

[DURHAM D]

28. We had a swamp cooler in the window.

This was in the 50s and early 60s.

[mike_c]

25. at one point in my misspent youth...

...I worked as a painter for Sun Chief Appliances in Winsted, Connecticut. I spent about a year spray painting toasters avocado green, all shift. One after another. Just toasters. I hate that color!

[debm55]

32. That's funny.

[Diamond_Dog]

12. I had green shag carpet in my first apartment!

Blecch….

How about an Indian print textile hanging on the wall behind the sofa? I had that in that apartment, too.

Never had a Lava Lamp though.

[debm55]

29. I found toe nails in my shag carpet in college. YUK And it was green shag too.

[Diamond_Dog]

30. Oh gross!

[FalloutShelter]

13. Stereo cabinet

Hinged lid opens to reveal the turntable and controls next to a deep open cubby for albums. Speakers hidden in the fabric on the front of the cabinet.

Did you have one in your house?

[debm55]

19. we had a combination TV and stereo. It was very long. Yes, a type of burlap hid the speakers.

[LunaSea]

20. Of course!

Along with the console TV cabinet too heavy to steal...or even move.

[WestMichRad]

82. Used to have??

I converted a very old TV cabinet into my stereo cabinet, almost 50 years ago. Still use it, although the tape deck got replaced with a CD changer. Still use my turntable on occasion.

[debm55]

83. Wow, that's neat.

[WestMichRad]

88. My dad's side hustle was radio & TV repair

… so he had a whole battalion of old TV cabinets stored away in the attic above his work shop! I used to go on service jobs with him, but I never caught on to much electronics knowledge.

He also used to repair and service antenna, and sometimes would climb 40 ft towers (always using a safety harness). Those tall towers scared the crap out of me!

[FalloutShelter]

90. That's so cool.

I salute you!

[Ocelot II]

95. We had one of those, part of a big tv-entertainment console.

[DURHAM D]

15. Cabinet full of Corningware.

[debm55]

22. the store we shopped in, had a different piece of corningware--white with blue flowers, offered each

week, You got a reduced price when making a purchase.

[Ocelot II]

96. I still have several Corningware baking dishes.

[mike_c]

18. our house was built in 1963

Lots and lots of painted plywood inside.

[debm55]

23. Ours had regular plywood.

[Harker]

21. A Lava Lamp.

And ashtrays.

[debm55]

24. Yep.

[ProfessorGAC]

70. I've Got A Lava Lamp

It's 4' from where I'm sitting!

[Harker]

78. How fun!

I haven't seen one in over 50 years.

[ProfessorGAC]

89. This Is Big One

Not the huge 27" version, buy 16.25". Blue liquid, yellow glob.
Safer than they used to be because they're not filled with carbon tetrachloride anymore. Not that I'm counting on breaking it.
Fascinating to watch!

[FSogol]

31. A giant phone bolted to the wall and a table with phone books. n/t

[debm55]

33. we had the telephone chair, phone on top, shelf for telephone books.

[FSogol]

35. We had a semi-private line. We had to pick up the phone and make sure the other family wasn't using

it before making a call.

[Upthevibe]

102. FSogol.............

Awwwww yes! The "party line."

It reminds me of one of my favorite Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies, Pillow Talk. In fact, if I can find it on one of my platforms, I think I feel like watching it tonight. They were both at their best! In fact, Doris Day was nominated for an Oscar for her utterly charming performance!

[Hotler]

112. With a 20 ft cord. nt

[FSogol]

114. I had an aunt that had a phone cord so long she would drag it anywhere in her house.

She was on the phone 24/7 while cooking, doing the laundry, etc. When not in use it stayed curled up on the kitchen floor with cat hair, dust bunnies, and crumbs.

[debm55]

119. I remember those long cords. People mostly only had one phone and no I phones to walk around with.

[Harker]

34. An AM radio that didn't blare filthy hate all day and night.

And an encyclopedia set.

I have a 11th ed. (1911) Britannica set that I value highly.

[debm55]

43. We go our encyclopedia from the A &P . First book was 99 cents. Each week the next book was offered.

[Harker]

48. That brings back some fun memories.

I just thought of S&H green stamps, the little dial mechanism that checkers used to dispense them, my mom filling up the little books with them... though I can't think of a single thing she ever got with them.

[Trailrider1951]

64. Yes, the Golden Book Encyclopedia

I read those things cover to cover, several times.

[debm55]

65. Me too

[csziggy]

57. In the 1960s my mother bought the 100th anniversary Encyclopedia Britannica

I kept it out of her estate. I'll probably never use it, but it is still sentimental to me. When I came home from college, Mom & Dad would have me look up information in it for them. They weren't stupid, just didn't get the index system that was new to that edition. Since I majored in Library Science, they used my knowledge to find things for them.

We also got free articles from EB if we couldn't find the info in the encyclopedia. I got one on Elvish from Lord of the Rings and one on the genetics of color in horses. My Dad asked for one on the state of world phosphate mining - a few months later he got a letter asking him to write the article. He was one of the very few independent phosphate mining engineers in the world at that point and had worked for the Peruvian and Brazilian governments to help with their mining operations. He turned down the commission from EB - he wanted to find out what he didn't know, not provide them with what he did know!

[Harker]

61. That's beautiful...

I find myself cracking it open on a whim sometimes, and being charmed by the amount of detail included in even the shorter articles on obscure subjects. How else would I come to know that the joint phosphate production of Tunis and Algeria in 1907 was not less than a million tons?

Library people have always been a joy to me. Thanks for being one!

[Mollyann]

36. We moved into our new house in 1976

The kitchen had harvest gold appliances. The carpet in the bedrooms and living area was rust. Wallpaper covered one wall of the breakfast area and one wall in each bathroom. That wallpaper was a bear to remove several years later. The kitchen appliances are now stainless steel, a choice I regret. A 400 foot addition was added later. It was our first house with central air and heat. Even though the kids are all grown up and gone, I still live here and hope I can for the rest of my life.

[debm55]

40. Did you have radiators? in the rooms. We did.

[Ocelot II]

97. I have radiators; my house was built in 1885. I like the radiators.

You can dry clothes on them; cats like to sleep on them; and they provide pretty efficient heat without blowing dust around. The only downside is that they take up space where I might want to put something else.

[debm55]

100. We used to dry our socks and gloves on them after playing in the snow.

[debm55]

37. Did anyone have the towels in your bathroom that came from detergent boxes or the jelly glasses that

doubled as glasses in your kitchen?

[yellowdogintexas]

42. yes! the ones we got were kitchen towels. We had a few pressed glass

glasses that came in some product box or another.

My grandfather had a hardware/general store, and always had bubble gum, regular chewing gum, candy bars and so forth in big boxes behind the counter.
For years, the bubble gum boxes had really pretty tall glasses which were perfect for iced tea. I don't know how many years they did that, but everybody in our family had a dozen of them, and I even gave a set as a wedding gift. They had bright red panels with an Indian (India) design in gold. They were really nice heavy glasses.
Apparently, a LOT of bubblegum was sold in that store.

[yellowdogintexas]

38. dark faux wood paneling on the living area walls.

We have a 1960s house; when we bought it the paneling had been painted white.

This house has small windows and big shade trees, so the family room is dark to begin with. I shudder to think how dark this room was before the paneling was painted.

I think the original appliances were avocado green, with avocado green floor.

[Kaleva]

39. Popcorn ceilings

"Half a century ago, popcorn ceilings were all the rage, cropping up above brightly colored walls, psychedelic patterns, and shiny furniture. "

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/popcorn-ceilings/

[debm55]

41. They were a bear to clean.

[yellowdogintexas]

46. one of the prior owners covered the attic ceiling with popcorn sheetrock

At least the downstairs ceilings are normal.

[highplainsdem]

44. Pyrex bowls. Though the pattern I have wasn't made till 1981.

Forest Fancies.

https://pyrex.cmog.org/pattern-library/forest-fancies

Love it. Still have 8 bowls. Very useful.

[yellowdogintexas]

47. I have a set of Pyrex nesting mixing bowls from 1969

of course they are avocado, gold, brown and a kind of paprika red.

I love those bowls! My mom had the original ones that were red, blue, yellow and green.

A few years ago, I was at Canton Trade Days and found an identical set to mine - it was priced at $75! I am fairly certain my set probably cost $10 at the most.

[highplainsdem]

130. They're incredibly handy, and so sturdy. I use at least one of my Pyrex

Forest Fancies bowls almost every day, and there've been times when I had company when I used all 8 of them, for microwaving, or serving food, or leftovers. Those bowls are about 40 years old and still look perfect.

I would not want to have to replace all 8 at current prices: https://www.etsy.com/market/forest_fancies_401

[multigraincracker]

45. Parents bough a house in 1958.

That year mom bought all Heywood Wakefield furniture that stayed thru the 60s, 70s, 80s and few years in the 90s.
Too bad she bought the dark walnut ones. If she had only bought the light color, she’d have made her money back.

[debm55]

50. Did you have the matching end tables and the coffee table that would match the wood?

[multigraincracker]

55. Yes and table and floor

lamps.
I got into antiques and she told me she didn’t care for antiques. I told her that her set of Russel Wright dishes are now worth more than she paid for them in an antique shop. She said she loved them because they were “modern”. She bought set in the 1940s.
Her brother was a famous artist. You can google “artist, James Penney/Smithsonian Museum”. He was a Lefty back in the 30s in the NY Art Scene.

[highplainsdem]

49. Decorative hammered brass wall plates

[debm55]

52. We had those! Each one one showed a scene from a different season. They are still there.

[jimfields33]

51. Multi color toilet paper. I kinda liked it.

Someone always have to ruin everything good.

[debm55]

53. Did you have the carpet you put on the toilet lid and tank and around bottom of toilet?

[jimfields33]

71. Personally no, but I do know some who did. Lol.

[yellowdogintexas]

74. those pastel and scented toilet papers were not good for us ladies

for many of us they were very irritating to our lady parts.

A doctor told me to only use white unscented (I was suffering with a severe inflammation)

[jimfields33]

75. For that reason, I'm glad they ditched it.

I just wish they could have found a way to reformulate the material instead of getting rid of it. Maybe too costly and not worthwhile.

[Ocelot II]

101. They stopped making it when concerns arose that the dyes

were irritating people's nether regions and were environmentally unfriendly. And pastel colors in bathrooms became unfashionable and people stopped buying it, which was probably the main reason.

[Mr.Bill]

54. Coffee Percolator

on the kitchen counter. The Formica counter was orange, of course.

Wooden screen doors. I can't remember the last time I saw one of those.

Saloon doors on the kitchen entry. Gold metalwork in the bathroom.

In the 70s, waterbeds. I loved mine. It had a black crushed velvet bed spread. And while we are on the subject of beds, how about round beds.

[debm55]

56. I remember the percolator. Don't remember the round beds. I do remember bunk beds and my quad

speakers for my stereo.

[yellowdogintexas]

72. I still sleep on my waterbed, purchased in 1982 nt

[Mr.Bill]

76. I had several of them, from '72 to '96.

The only time I didn't have one during those years was because of a few landlords that did not allow them. There were no waterbed stores near me when I moved here in '91. I guess you can buy them somewhere, but my wife, who I married in '95 never liked them. The main thing I liked about them was you could have a warm bed in the winter and a cool bed in the summer without the expense of heating/cooling the whole house overnight.

[Alpeduez21]

58. A bean bag chair in my sisters room

Betty Crocker dessert books and and large square electric ‘frying pan’ thing with a lid to collect the spatter

[debm55]

63. I remember the bean bag chair. If you got a hole in it the beads were all over the place. The square

frying pan I got one for my wedding shower.

[Ptah]

59. Kodak Instamatic

[debm55]

68. Yes, and the Swinger.....took photographers and would develop them outside the camera.

[Mr.Bill]

80. Polaroid Swinger Camera

that only took Black & white pictures. Camera was cheaper than regular Polaroid and so was film. Aimed at youth market. I had one for awhile.

[debm55]

84. So did I

[Mr.Bill]

86. I'm not too on-the-ball tonight.

I actually didn't see your post about Swinger cameras before I posted mine.

[debm55]

91. That;s okay Mr.Bill

[Mr.Bill]

92. I shall go forth and sin no more.

[exboyfil]

60. Typewriter

Defunct SF magazines (IF, Amazing)
Old style deep fryer
8 Track Player and cartridges along with Turntable and albums
Slide rule
Mimeographed school and work papers

[debm55]

66. Royal Typewriter. Had to tap, tap, tap.

[Chainfire]

62. Mulit-colored tiles in the showers.

[debm55]

67. Yes, and a roll of linoleum for the floors--kitchen, bathroom

[surrealAmerican]

69. ... also in the shower (or bathtub):

... non-skid stickers, in bright colors, shaped like daisies.

[debm55]

73. I remember those.

[ailsagirl]

77. Shag carpeting was the worst!

[3catwoman3]

94. While house-shopping in the mid-80s, we looked at one home with pale blue...

…very long shag carpeting. A rake was needed to fluff it up. We did not buy that house.

[debm55]

99. Shag, especially the long, is the worst.

[ailsagirl]

104. My family never had it but whenever I saw it...

I couldn’t help wondering how you could even vacuum the damn thing!

Maybe they had special vacuums back then.

[debm55]

93. Anyone remember when one wall was paneled or had stone and a fireplace? This was in the 70s

[3catwoman3]

98. We bought a home in 1986 that was 20+ yrs old. The kitchen...

…appliances were a triple whammy - harvest gold stove, avocado green refrigerator, and a copper color dishwasher. The previous owners had been stuck with an 18% mortgage, and couldn’t afford any updates. One of the first things we did was replace all the appliances with white ones.

We were in that house for 8 years during my husband’s final Air Force assignment at Andrews AFB. We had to live near the base because of a 30 minute report time for the type of flying he was doing. In the DC area, youcan’t live very far from Andrews if you need to get there in 30 minutes because the traffic is usually heavy any time of day or might. Real estates picking were pretty slim in the neighborhoods that were close enough, hence the trifecta of colored appliances.

We spent quite a few bucks on paint, wallpaper, refinishing the hardwood floors and updating the kitchen.

[Hekate]

108. I remember the 18% mortgage: my sis & her husband got stuck with one. They got out of it when...

…they moved with his new job, but they had gotten off on the wrong foot, real-estate-wise and it affected them for a long time.

My husband and I “lucked out” with a variable-rate mortgage that went up to 16% the first weekend after we signed the papers. Hubby watched it like a hawk and we prepaid on the principle, so we never went underwater on it. Paid it off in 18 years instead of 30.

Our own parents’ generation had mortgages about 5% iirc, and it’s finally come around to that again. As a consequence, I am having a hard time understanding the sense of grievance that some youngsters are expressing over what seems to me like almost a gift.

[debm55]

117. We bought our current house back then--18% mortgage rate. Everytime it drop, we refinanced the house

It was very hard. but my husband's parents helped us out.

[Upthevibe]

103. debm55.........

For sure shag carpet and avacado appliances.

[debm55]

105. include with that the harvest gold appliances

[UTUSN]

106. Glad to see you back

[debm55]

107. Thank you

[pansypoo53219]

109. ugly wallpaper. we moved to a dif house + 1 bedroom wall brown plaid. 1st tryed puting a bigger

painting i did, but then i finally ripped the paper off and what was under it is a beautiful mix of green + glue + bits of pink + more wallpaper under that. just a few peeks of that crap. kitchen mostly 20's tile, but back hall + above the tile 70's wallpaper. got that shit off, but they painted over wall paper again. fucked up walls/ceiling better than the wallpaper.

i do estate sales + somebody wallpapered over fancy spanish plaster.

my grandma usually did better, but my childhood bedroom paper was HORRID.

[Emile]

110. Black light and glow in the dark posters.

[debm55]

120. I remember those.

[Niagara]

111. Someone else named the pastel toilet paper this round.

So, I decided to mention the following items:


1. Bagged vacuum sweeper. This generally was a canister shape or upright. Today, a canister vacuum has a canister that one empties without a bag that goes into the vacuum sweeper.



2. Beaded Curtains.



3. Sunburst clocks, sunburst mirrors, sunburst wall decorations.



4. Christmas Tree with a wheel light.


5. Heavy floral prints on wallpaper and curtains.



6. HomeCo Rain Lamps, sometimes homes had the hanging shell lamps.




7. Finally my favorite, the one and only hexagon side table. I purchased a blonde colored set over a year ago and I love them! Mine are similar to this.

[debm55]

121. I had the hexagon table. We bought our first set back in the late 70's where you got the sofa, chair

coffee table and two end tables with two lamps all for one price. Color was fall leaves.

[Niagara]

123. Here are my current old new hexagon side tables.

I have one in the bedroom (top photo) and the other in the living room (bottom photo).


These are awesome and beautiful with LOTS of storage. I first laid my eyes on them in the spring of 2022 and I said, "Those tables are coming home with me!"

[debm55]

124. Did you refinish them? They look nice.

[Niagara]

126. No, I purchased them like that. I tried to walk away; the tables kept calling my name.

[Hotler]

113. One gas furnance in the floor for the whole house. We used to stand over it in the mornings. nt

[debm55]

122. That would be tough.

[highplainsdem]

132. Sounds like my grandfather's farmhouse. Which was built well before

1960, though I don't know if that furnace was as old as the house. I remember standing on the vent over the furnace, in the living room. Only vent for the house, with four bedrooms upstairs. But heat rises...

[jmowreader]

125. Console television

My parents had a Magnavox console television for many years. My mother loved this monstrosity.

[debm55]

127. Same brand, same style. Though I couldn't wait to play with the box.

[JoseBalow]

131. Milk Chute

[debm55]

137. We didn't have milk chutes, but we did have coal chutes for the furnaces.

[GP6971]

133. Popcorn Ceilings. n/t

[debm55]

134. We used to have a coal chute that went to the space under the front porch. This was at my

grandparents house. Even now when you visit older areas around here, you can still see them.

[GP6971]

135. Same here.

We had the remnants of the coal chute and the coal bin in the basement. Never could get the bin clean.

[debm55]

136. During the 60s many people lived in insubrick homes. The material was made of asbestos.

[vanamonde]

138. Plants in macrame hangers

Mostly spider plants.
Oh, and a telephone book.