15 Things Every Family Packed for Vacation in the 1970s

Practical, noisy, and full of small rituals, 1970s family vacations were. Paper maps, coolers, cameras, radios, and smart packing kept families moving before digital tools simplified travel. The station wagon or sedan became a mobile home with snacks, folding chairs, swimsuits, toiletries, and entertainment for restless kids. Every item helped save money, capture memories, solve problems, or ease long road trips. The packed belongings showed how families traveled patiently, prepared, and imaginatively. They reflected a time when vacations were slower, more hands-on, and shaped by shared effort, familiar brands, roadside stops, and family teamwork.

1. Road Atlas

Before the days of smartphones and dashboard navigation systems, families would often load up a thick road atlas before heading out the door. In the 1970s, glove compartments across America were stuffed with Rand McNally maps. Days before they left, parents pored over routes at kitchen tables, marking highways with pens or bookmarks. The atlas was a constant companion on the trip. One parent drove, the other scouted for towns, gas stations, and alternate roads. Sometimes children are helped by finding future cities. We still made wrong turns, but the atlas usually got us all back on course. Made long drives into little adventures and was a must for nearly every vacation.

2. Polaroid Camera

In the 1970s, a Polaroid camera was often included in the family’s luggage. Polaroid cameras, unlike regular cameras that required film to be developed, produced photographs in minutes. Vacationers loved to take pictures at beaches, campgrounds, amusement parks, and roadside attractions. The children clustered around, eager as pictures began to appear before them. The camera made the ordinary stops exciting, because everybody saw the results immediately. Often, families would exchange photos with relatives or new friends they met during their travels. The film was costly, but many considered it worth the cost. Albums were filled with those instant photos, preserving treasured vacation memories.

3. Metal Cooler

A heavy-metal cooler that went on many station-wagon family vacations. Long road trips could take hours at a time, and restaurants were not always convenient or affordable. Coolers held sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, fruit, soft drinks, and homemade goodies made before leaving. When hunger struck, many families stopped at roadside picnic areas to eat meals from the cooler rather than always eating at diners. Gas stations and roadside stores were key stops, as the ice had to be replenished often. The cooler was economical and made summer rides comfortable. For many travelers, it became as important as the baggage itself.

4. Folding Lawn Chair

Suitcases and beach bags frequently shared the trunk with a folding lawn chair. There were lots of families with aluminum-framed chairs and bright-colored woven plastic webbing. At campgrounds, lakes, motels, and roadside picnic areas, these chairs could convert any patch of grass into a resting spot in no time. Parents opened them; children raced off to the playgrounds, the water, or the snack stands. Some chairs squeaked, sagged, and pinched fingers, but they were practical and familiar. They gave weary grownups a place to rest during fishing, parades, and outdoor meals. By sunset, the chairs usually ended up back in the car, dusty but usable once more.

5. Kodak Instamatic Camera

The Kodak Instamatic camera was a vacation favorite because of its easy picture-taking for ordinary families. Its cartridge film was easy to load, saving parents the hassle of handling loose rolls. Visitors commonly carried extra flash cubes for taking pictures inside motels or cabins or at nighttime gatherings. At national parks, beaches, and family reunions, there was typically a call to gather everyone together for a quick picture. Children squinted into the sun, and parents peered at the frame through a tiny viewfinder. The pictures were never perfect, but they had real charm. After the vacation, families waited for the prints to develop and relived the trip through each slightly faded image.

6. Plaid Thermos Bottle

We often saw a plaid Thermos bottle before dawn on vacation mornings. Before the family pulled out of the driveway, parents filled it with coffee, hot tea, or cocoa. The popular Thermos bottles kept drinks warm on chilly mountain drives, during fishing trips, and at early campground breakfasts. The twist-off cup was part of the ritual, particularly during stops at scenic overlooks or roadside tables. Sometimes kids would have the smaller lunchbox kinds, with soup or juice. A Thermos could allow families to travel farther without purchasing all their drinks. It also put a little bit of home in strange roads, cabins, and campsites.

7. Travel Snack Bag

A paper bag filled with travel snacks kept the backseat whining in check. Families packed it with real 1970s stuff like Fritos, Planters peanuts, Cracker Jack, Twinkies, Fig Newtons, and Wrigley’s gum. The snacks were handed out in traffic jams, on long stretches of highway, and on quiet afternoons in motels. Parents passed out treats across the seat, telling the children not to spill crumbs all over the place. Usually followed by sticky fingers, crumpled wrappers, and soda bottles. But the snack bag saved money and kept everyone happy between meals. It also made the ride feel special because treats showed up more freely on vacation than normally at home.

8. Deck of Playing Cards

There was no place too small to hold a deck of cards, and many families carried them around without a second thought. Cards saved rainy afternoons, long evenings in motels, and quiet nights in campsites. When the TV went out, or the adults needed a break, kids could play Go Fish, Crazy Eights, Old Maid, Rummy, and War. The deck was often worn at the corners and a little sticky from snacks. Still, it called for everyone to gather around a table, a blanket, or the floor of a cabin. No batteries were required, and there was no competing screen. All it takes is a deck to turn wait time into family time.

9. Swimsuits

Many families brought bathing suits even if swimming was only a possibility. The schedule could suddenly take you to a motel pool, a public beach, a lake, a campground pond, or a cousin’s backyard pool. Children usually wore trunks or one-piece suits in bright coloured nylon or polyester. Parents kept towels and swim caps handy, just in case. After a long afternoon in the water, the suits dried on motel shower rods, balcony rails, or on car windows. They smelled like chlorine and sunscreen and lake mud. Even when vacations were all about seeing the sights, swimsuits brought a splash of freedom and made every overnight stop more exciting.

10. Coppertone Suntan Lotion

Coppertone suntan lotion was a must-have vacation item in the 1970s, especially for trips to the beach or lake. Families wanted to be protected, but many still went for a deep summer tan. Bottled Coppertone, Sea & Ski, or Bain de Soleil often sat next to towels and sunglasses. Parents rubbed lotion on children’s shoulders, noses, and backs before they dashed off to the water. The smell came to mean hot sand, vinyl car seats, and long afternoons outdoors. Sun safety habits weren’t as strict as they would be in future decades, so burns still happened. Still, suntan lotion was a staple in almost every warm-weather vacation bag.

11. Portable AM/FM Radio

Wherever the family stopped, a portable AM/FM radio carried music and news. Battery-powered sets from Panasonic, GE, and Sony were playing in cabins, tents, picnic areas, and motel rooms. Parents listened to local stations as they drove through unfamiliar towns, and teenagers searched for rock, pop, or soul songs. Ball games, weather reports, and traffic updates poured from the speaker. Radio softened the silence of strange places at night. Batteries must be packed with care, for a dead radio disappointed all hands. Sometimes the sound was scratchy, but each vacation had its own soundtrack on the go.

12. Flashlight

Families always packed a flashlight because vacations never went exactly as planned. Campgrounds went dark quickly; power sometimes flickered in motels; and evening walks needed more light. Metal Eveready flashlights were a common sight, spare D-cell batteries rolling around somewhere in the luggage. Kids would use them to find shoes under beds, read comic books after lights out, or roam around tents. Parents depended on them to check out car trouble, go to the campground bathroom, or search bags in the night. The beam wasn’t always strong, but it felt comforting. When it was dark and the road, cabin, or campsite was no longer familiar, a flashlight offered reassurance to families.

13. Vinyl Toiletry Kit

A vinyl toiletry kit kept bathroom items from being scattered all over the suitcases. Dad had a safety razor and a bottle of Old Spice, Aqua Velva, or a tube of shaving cream. Mothers packed cold cream, hair spray, toothbrushes, and small bottles of shampoo. Sometimes a child’s comb, toothpaste, and Band-Aids were added to the stack. The kit opened in a motel bathroom beside tiny wrapped soaps and thin towels. It was shared washrooms at campgrounds, and it came back damp. It was the smell of soap, aftershave, and plastic mixed together. The toiletry kit, basic as it was, kept the daily routines alive and made faraway places a little more orderly.

14. Small Car Repair Kit

It made sense to have a spare fan belt or a small car repair kit on 1970s road vacations. Many families drove hundreds of miles in big station wagons, sedans, or vans, and breakdowns were a real worry. Sometimes parents brought jumper cables, screwdrivers, tire gauges, motor oil, fuses, and a flashlight. Some fathers checked belts and hoses before pulling out of the driveway. If the car overheated or broke down, the kit offered hope until a tow truck arrived. You could still get help from attendants at gas stations to fix a car, but remote roads meant you had to be prepared. The kit was a reminder that vacation travel was contingent on keeping the family car in working order.

15. Comic Books and Puzzle Magazines

A stack of comic books and puzzle magazines helped kids pass the long hours in the back seat. Archie, Richie Rich, Dennis the Menace, Superman, and Mad magazine often included word searches, crosswords, or coloring books. Parents bought them at drugstores, newsstands, or gas stations before long drives. Kids swapped issues, dog-eared pages, and fought over who got the latest issue first. These little diversions worked best when the roads were smooth and the car sickness stayed at bay. They also filled the slow mornings in motel rooms before the day’s outing began. Some simple paper entertainment bridged the distance and kept the peaceful vacation feeling.

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