14 Things Every Family Used During Winter in the 1970s That Disappeared

Winter in the 1970s required imagination, patience, and the right home tools, many of which were used every day by families but rarely discussed later. Homes were getting by in frigid weather and with increased heating expenses using electric blanket controllers, radiator humidifiers, wood burning stoves, and plastic storm window systems. Families learned to cope with adverse weather by modest routines that were eventually abandoned because of modern technology and better home design. These neglected relics recalled a period when winter preparation needed labor, upkeep, and resourcefulness. Together they produced a vivid image of ordinary families staying warm and happy and linked during lengthy winters decades ago.

1. Electric Blanket Controllers

Electric-blanket controllers sat next to numerous beds in the winter of the 1970s. Families connected thick blankets to wall sockets and turned small plastic dials with settings like low, medium, and high before bedtime. The blankets heated cold sheets long before central heating was commonplace in many houses. Sometimes the faulty wires would ignite or leave burn marks, so parents would say no to folding the blankets. The controllers frequently glowed orange in dark bedrooms, creating an odd but reassuring vibe at night. Many homes used them to help keep heating expenses down in harsh winters. Later, modern heated beds remained, but those hefty wired controls steadily faded from normal family life.

2. Metal Hot Water Bottles

In many homes, metal hot water bottles persisted as a winter household staple throughout the 1970s. Families would boil water in thick rubber or metal containers and slip them under the blankets before bed. On snowy evenings, children brought them to the couches to watch television programs or read comic books. Grandparents knitted cozies to cover some of the bottles to prevent accidental burning. When the energy crisis of the decade came about and heating oil prices rose, the containers supplied inexpensive heat. Eventually, electric heating pads supplanted them in most households, but hot water bottles were once a useful and familiar element of surviving hard winters.

3. Plastic Storm Window Kits

In the 1970s, plastic storm window kits sprang up in homes everywhere in the wintertime. Families covered drafty windows with clear plastic sheets, secured in place with double-sided tape and handheld hair dryers. Hot plastic was squashed across window frames and stopped cold air from getting into elderly dwellings. Many children watched as parents gingerly smoothed out creases while frigid gusts rattled outside. The plastic cracked often at night as the temperature fell sharply. Eventually, modern energy-efficient windows made them less of a requirement. But most people could recall weekends spent sealing windows in preparation for the first big snowstorm of the year.

4. Coal Scuttles by the Fireplace

In the 1970s, coal scuttles were a fixture by many a fireplace, especially in the older parts of town where people still heated with coal. In chilly weather, families carefully transported black lumps of coal across living rooms, in metal buckets with curved handles. Buckets typically left dust trails by brick hearths and wood flooring. Snow built up outside the windows, and children sat watching the blazing coals pop. On winter evenings, the houses were filled with the thick smell of smoke. Coal was virtually everywhere replaced by modern gas heating systems and electric furnaces. Yet, coal scuttles were formerly functional household appliances that families relied on every winter.

5. Heated Car Seat Blankets

Families traveling through chilly areas in the 1970s sometimes had heated vehicle seat covers as winter accessories. Cars didn’t have many of the contemporary heating amenities, so parents would lay heavy electric blankets across vinyl seats on long travels. Passengers used cigarette lighter-port blankets to keep warm during chilly morning commutes. There were children huddled below, ice on the side windows, slippery roads ahead. Some tangled easily or overheated, but families still relied on them during snowstorms and Christmas travel. As better heating systems and heated seats were introduced in vehicles, the cumbersome blankets gradually disappeared. Today they were still unusual memories of harsh winter driving of decades ago.

6. Frost Shields for Windshields

During the 1970s, frost shields protected numerous car windshields on winter mornings. As evening temperatures dropped, families draped thick sheets of cardboard, blankets, or plastic covers over parked cars. This prevented significant frost and ice from developing overnight, sparing drivers valuable time before work or school. Parents yanked ice covers off windshields in the early mornings as kids waited nervously inside running automobiles. In windy storms, some shields would fly loose, scattering across snowy driveways. They subsequently became unnecessary in many places with heated garages and contemporary defrosters. But frost shields were a familiar winter habit for millions of households all throughout the decade.

7. Wood Burning Kitchen Stoves

In the 1970s, wood-burning cooking stoves were still a source of heat for many family homes, especially in rural areas. The huge cast-iron stoves warmed the kitchens and cooked the soups, stews, and bread during the harsh winters. Families piled chopped wood beside the stove and fed logs into the red fireboxes all day long. There was a constant crackling that created a cozy atmosphere during snowstorms and power cuts. The kids would often dry their wet gloves and socks near the heated metal surfaces after playing outside. These stoves needed regular maintenance and cleaning, and were slowly replaced with modern electric and gas appliances. But many families recalled them as trusty companions for the winter.

8. Snowmobile Suits with Fake Fur Hoods

In the 1970s, snowmobile outfits with fake fur hoods were a winter must-have. Families donned bulky one-piece insulated suits as they shoveled snow, rode sleds, or traveled ice roads on snowmobiles. Orange, yellow, and blue were the height of winter fashion throughout the decade. Big hoods kept out sharp gusts, kept in heat. The kids zipped themselves into the padded jackets and then ventured outside for hours of snowy play. The hefty costumes creaked loudly when walking and were typically wet after heavy snowfalls. Those colorful snowmobile suits were formerly a part of winter life in many cold-weather regions, before being supplanted by modern lightweight winter wear.

9. Fuel Oil Delivery Gauges

In the winters of the 1970s, fuel oil supply gauges were vital household appliances. Families kept an eye on the gauges on their basement tanks. Running out of heating oil in the middle of a blizzard might be a big problem. The gauges usually included floating needles that would slowly descend during prolonged cold spells. During the energy crisis, when oil prices surged and deliveries were slow, parents often worried. Sometimes, before morning, children would hear the rumble of delivery trucks across snowbound neighborhoods. When it gets cold, many homes rely on oil furnaces for heat alone. Modern heating systems and natural gas finally eliminated the need for fuel oil, but their gauges formerly determined winter comfort in thousands of houses.

10. Window Radiator Humidifiers

In the seventies, window radiator humidifiers were a common sight in many homes during winter. Some families put small metal buckets full of water onto hot radiators to try to bring moisture into dry indoor air. Some humidifiers had flower designs or small apertures that released gentle steam all about the room. They were thought by parents to help prevent dry throats, chapped skin, and nosebleeds in brutal winters. Old houses shook with the clatter of radiators, and children often saw the water bubble slowly. These simple metal buckets were eventually replaced by modern electric humidifiers, which operated more efficiently. Still, radiator humidifiers were common wintertime devices, quietly sitting in millions of households for decades.

11. Rubber Ice Cube Trays for Coolers

Rubber ice cube trays had an unexpected role in the winters of the 1970s. During Christmas road trips and winter parties, families lined flexible trays with water and saved the excess ice for portable coolers. Refrigerators didn’t have automatic ice makers, so people were constantly preparing trays in advance of family gatherings. Parents would twist the rubber bottoms hard to get the cubes out into bowls and coolers before the visitors arrived. The trays had a weird freezer smell after years of use. They were later replaced in most kitchens by plastic trays and automatic ice machines. Still, the rubber trays were minor but memorable parts of everyday winter preparation in the decade.

12. Wool Blanket Storage Chests

Wool blanket storage chests were a feature of bedrooms and hallways during the 1970s. In the summer months, families would stuff heavy wool blankets into cedar-lined wooden chests, only to open them up again when winter returned. The blankets had a distinctive cedar scent that would fill the room as soon as you opened the lids. Good wool was costly, and it wore well, and blankets often came down through the generations from grandparents. Children all bundled up close in the scratchy cloth during snowstorms and power shortages. Central heating and lighter synthetic blankets soon diminished the necessity for such storage chests in many households. But they used to signify warmth, readiness, and family tradition during each winter season.

13. Boot Drying Racks by the Heater

In the winters of the late 1970s, most houses had boot drying racks near heaters and radiators. Families came back from snowy sidewalks in saturated leather boots and stood them up in neat rows on metal racks to dry overnight. On the floors, melted snow gathered in trays or newspapers underfoot. Parents told the children not to hold the leather boots too close to the heater, as leather splits easily. After storms, entryways smelled of wet rubber and wool socks. But modern waterproof boots and heated mudrooms did disrupt their habits. Drying racks, however, were useful winter household accessories that discreetly handled countless piles of snow-covered boots each year.

14. Television Antenna De-Icers

In the 1970s, severe winters brought television antenna deicers to roofs. Families had to rely on rooftop antennas for television reception, but ice storms would frequently coat the metal structures, ruining reception. Special heating attachments melted ice so households could continue to watch nightly news programs, holiday specials, and weekend sports. When storms came, and the signals went out altogether, parents occasionally climbed perilous ladders to break ice off by hand. Long winter nights found people congregating in living rooms, annoyed by snowy television static. Later, cable television took the place of many rooftop antennae, and thus the de-icers went, too. But they had guarded a treasured source of family amusement throughout winter.

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