15 Things People Used Before Smartphones Existed in the ’60s

Before smartphones revolutionized our means of communication, planning, and organization, people in the 1960s relied on a variety of tangible items to get by in their daily lives. Public payphones ensured that travelers remained connected, while a pocket address book or a phone directory contained the necessary phone numbers. Paper maps guided people through unfamiliar routes, while a pocket notebook recorded necessary information and observations. Mechanical alarm clocks and wristwatches provided people with a sense of order in their daily routines, while a slide rule helped engineers and students compute necessary mathematical equations.

1. Payphones on Street Corners

Before the development of smartphones, the most reliable means for people to communicate outside their homes was the availability of payphones. In the 1960s, metal and glass phone booths lined the busy streets, train stations, outside the grocery stores, and along the highways. People carried coins for these phones because a phone call was a swift action that could only be accomplished if a person had the correct change. A person would pick up the heavy receiver, hear a dial tone, and place coins in the phone before dialing each number. Many people memorized phone numbers because there was no digital contact list that could help them remember phone numbers.

2. Pocket Address Books

Back in the 1960s, people carried little books of addresses that contained phone numbers, home addresses, and sometimes even birthdays of friends and family. These little books were carried in purses, briefcases, or coat pockets. The addresses were arranged alphabetically, allowing you to quickly locate a friend or family member without having to search through page after page of information. People wrote all of this information by hand, pen or pencil, since this was the only record of their personal relationships that they carried with them. This was a lifeline for traveling professionals, knowing that without it, they would miss their appointment altogether.

3. Paper Maps and Road Atlases

In the 1960s, navigation wasn’t about screens; it was about paper and ink. You flipped through thick road atlases and road maps from organizations like the American Automobile Association, as if you were laying a road out in front of you as you drove. Planning a road trip involved poring over those pages in advance, marking highways, cities, and the two or three rest stops that could become favorite haunts. You sat around the kitchen table with a big map spread out, deciding which route to take for the summer vacation. It took patience, as a wrong turn could leave you hundreds of miles off course. Atlases featured beautiful routes, mountain passes, and coastal routes, fantasies inserted in the margins for you to follow as you traveled.

4. Telephone Operators for Long-Distance Calls

In the 1960s, if someone wanted to make a long-distance call, they would ask a human operator for assistance. If someone wanted to call someone in a different city or state, he or she would pick up the phone and ask the operator to connect him or her to that person. The operator worked in a large switching center, a room that was filled with many cords, lights, and plugs. Every call that came in was a request that had to be guided through the system. The job required precise accuracy since thousands of calls were being handled in these centers daily. The wait times were sometimes as long as several minutes.

5. Printed Telephone Directories

The printed telephone directory was the primary source of contact information in the 1960s. Every year, telephone companies would deliver these thick books, weighing several pounds each, to households and offices, filled with information on thousands of phone numbers arranged alphabetically. These books, commonly referred to as the phone book, contained home and commercial phone numbers, as well as separate sections for government offices. To contact a doctor, a cafe, or a hardware store, you would open these books and search for the required information. This was a reading exercise in itself, tracing words through several columns of small print.

6. Polaroid Instant Cameras

Polaroid instant cameras were a popular sensation in the 1960s, giving users a live preview of their photographs within minutes of snapping the shutter. Unlike cameras that required film to be developed, the Polaroid camera produces a developed photograph almost instantaneously. You take a picture, a small sheet of film slides out, and after a short delay, the image slowly develops on the surface of the photograph. The cameras were a popular choice for families to use on birthdays, holidays, and road trips because they provided a sense of instant gratification. It was a magical time, as the wait for the photographs to develop was eliminated.

7. Portable Transistor Radios

Portable transistor radios became commonplace in the 1960s. Small, battery-powered, and with surprising capabilities, these tiny marvels enabled people to listen to their favourite music, news, and sports programs wherever they roamed. Teens carried them to the beach, park, and playground, tuning in to the latest rock ’n’ roll and pop programs. Transistors were much smaller than the old tube-type sets, making them easy to slip into a jacket pocket or bag. Giants like Sony and Zenith churned them out by the millions, making them a staple of daily life. The small dial enabled listeners to scan the dial, while the built-in speaker played the programs.

8. Pocket Notebooks for Notes and Reminders

Pocket notebooks were ubiquitous in daily life in the 1960s. They were carried in people’s pockets to write reminders, shopping lists, phone numbers, and things to be done. In workplaces, they were used to write the meeting agenda. Students used them to write their assignments, ideas, and thoughts for their school work. The notebooks were inexpensive, readily available at stationery stores or department stores, and each came with a pen or pencil attached to the cover for quickly jotting down ideas. Without digital reminders or apps, the only way to commit things to memory was to write them down immediately.

9. Alarm Clocks for Daily Scheduling

Mechanical alarm clocks helped millions wake up on time in the 1960s. These were placed on bedside tables, running on a consistent ticking rhythm as they were wound with springs and gears overnight. On their face, a small hand indicated when the alarm was set, and when that time came, a loud ring blared out of it. These were necessary for workers who had to wake up early for factories, offices, or job sites, as well as for students who had to wake up early for school before the morning buses arrived in full force. In a world without smartphones or other electronic devices, the trusty old alarm clock was one of the most reliable devices for helping people keep their daily routines on track.

10. Pocket Calculators Were Replaced by Slide Rules

In the 1960s, personal pocket-sized computer calculators had not yet arrived on the scene. For those individuals, like engineers, students, and scientists, a slide rule was the tool used for math calculations. A slide rule is a long instrument that resembles a ruler but has scales that slide relative to each other. It is used for multiplication, division, and finding logarithms. It was not easy to become proficient in using a slide rule; the numbers are not displayed on a screen; rather, they are aligned on different scales that must be read correctly. Many high school and college students carried a slide rule in a protective case that was part of their standard student equipment.

11. Wristwatches for Keeping Track of Time

One of the most common personal gadgets during the 1960s was wristwatches. Almost all adults owned a wristwatch during this period. It was a handy device for telling the time from dawn till dusk. The wristwatches used a mechanical movement powered by a series of tiny springs and gears. Each day, the user wound the watch by turning a small crown located on the side of the watch. Once wound, the watch could tell the time through a series of finely tuned mechanical parts. For business professionals, being on time for business meetings was made possible by the wristwatch. For factory workers, the wristwatch was used for telling the time during shifts. For students, the wristwatch was used for telling the time during classes.

12. Portable Pocket Diaries

Pocket diaries were the organizers of the 1960s. Small, date-stamped books that you could flip open and write in every appointment, every event, and every reminder for the day. You could keep track of client meetings, school deadlines, and upcoming tests. Some had a small monthly calendar at the beginning, a brief look at what was coming up in the month. The size of a pocket diary was important, as it could easily be carried in a briefcase or purse, anywhere you needed it. Writing reminders in a pocket diary became second nature, as a missed line could mean a missed meeting or obligation.

13. Handwritten Letters and Postal Mail

In the 1960s, a handwritten letter was one of the most intimate and reliable means of communication, transcending distance. Friends, relatives, and soldiers overseas stayed connected through a continuous exchange of postal communications. Writing a letter required a lot of patience since the message had to travel through the postal system before reaching the recipient. Someone would sit down and write their thoughts and ideas in a letter, place it in an envelope, affix a postage stamp, and deposit the letter in a mailbox. Thereafter, the recipient would wait days or even weeks before finally reading the letter. Despite the delay in writing and delivery, a letter carried a high emotional value since it bore the writer’s signature.

14. Film Cameras With Roll Film

Film cameras were the main source for capturing moments back in the 1960s. Unlike the current trend of using digital camera-equipped smartphones, which are always snapping digital pictures, the cameras used back then used photographic film. This meant that a camera roll had only 12, 24, or 36 pictures, making every shot carefully considered. The camera user looks through the lens, adjusts the focus, and clicks the shutter to capture a moment. The roll of film, once used up, is shipped to a photo lab for processing, and a wait of several days before the developed photos are ready for collection. The cameras were carried around on vacations, birthday celebrations, and general social gatherings.

15. Pocket Flashlights

Pocket flashlights were uncomplicated, reliable devices. Small, battery-powered lights were easy to stash in a kitchen drawer, a toolbox, or a glove compartment. The flashlights kept dark places illuminated—basements, garages, paths after nightfall. Every household needed at least one flashlight as a backup for emergency situations, a handy device when the electricity flickered, or a fuse blew. Campers, travelers, and dwellers of the countryside needed them too, as the streets were not well-lit after nightfall. The flashlights were powered by replaceable batteries, which provided light through a small bulb with a focused beam. Switching the flashlight on, light was instantaneously available, not dependent on a wall outlet.

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